Chapter 278
C278 – One by One
Posted on October 11, 2018 by AzureOrchid92
From the tribe to here, they had travelled for five days, with only a short rest midway. Along the way, they found two caves that could be used as a stronghold. Of course, the caves were originally a fierce beasts’ dwelling, but for both, they forced them into an encirclement, and it became their dinner that day.
Everyone experienced a bloody battle. As they moved deeper into the forest, the once familiar, stimulating, dangerous, blood-boiling feeling of hunting came back again. They were very fond of the haunt and were satisfied with the forest.
If the other tribes knew these feelings of the people of the Flaming Horns tribe regarding the forest, they would certainly think that these people were neurotic, liking to be neighbors with fierce beasts and always looking for fights.
But, for these people from the other side of the river to come over to such an environment, in the face of it, they were more likely to adapt well.
Sometimes, the two team leaders still thought that, in the deeper part of the forest, might there be a green land where a variety of precious and dangerous plants grow?
In just five days, everyone was like a killer who has climbed out of a thick sea of blood, full of suffocating feeling and ruthlessness. And the fierce beasts they brought together were even fiercer. If they had not caught a glimpse of the warriors from the Flaming Horns tribe, they would obediently avoid them. Otherwise, if they were caught, they would have to face the same feeling as any other native beasts.
“There it is.” Shao Xuan said as he pointed to a place on the hill.
Although they haven’t gone there yet, Ta and Gui He could surmise the direction Shao Xuan was pointing at, as they could clearly see a place where a large stone was blocking. Behind the stone must be the cave where Shao Xuan said the ancestors were.
Thinking of the arrogant faces of the other tribes from a few days ago and comparing it to the once dominating Flaming Horns tribe, Ao felt that they had a long way to go. The tribe needed to develop to return to their previous strength, but that would take time.
“Who are the ancestors that came back?” Shao Xuan asked the Shaman when he was caught in the gap.
The Shaman was silent for a while, then slowly said, “At the time of the disaster, the Shaman of the Flaming Horns tribe passed his position to the next one, letting the new shaman and the chief lead the tribe as they left. He himself took with him more than a hundred people, bringing these precious history to the forest to prevent it from getting damaged by natural or man-made disasters. With more than a hundred people, the Shaman kept these history until the end of his life.”
“More than a hundred people?” Shao Xuan wondered why when he found the cave, there were only seven, including the old Shaman.
“The others… are dead … their bones gone!” The Shaman carressed a small volume of animal skin roll in his hands. This was the last record of the Shaman, the feeling of the words were bloody and heavy.
At the time of the natural disaster, the fierce beasts in the forest were frightened by the sudden and abrupt turn of heaven and earth, becoming manic. Encountering such a crazy beast, every day, there were people who went out hunting, then die with no bodies remaining. In the end, only seven of them remained, until they died, not managing to wait for the tribe.
“If, one day, I’m in the same situation, I will do the same,” said the Shaman.
“When are we going to hold the sacrifice?” Shao Xuan asked.
The Shaman did not answer, instead asked Shao Xuan, “Can you re-engrave the carvings on the stone pillars?”
“No problem.” Shao Xuan replied.
During the time of Shao Xuan and his team’s departure to the Ferocious Beast Mountain Forest, Ao had ordered more than a thousand people to transport a number of huge stone pillars. Shao Xuan understood the Shaman’s meaning that he hoped to be able to fix the stone pillars before the cremation of the ancestors.
Because the stone pillars were too large, they couldn’t all be completed by Shao Xuan alone. The Shaman and the chief called over some stone-skilled kind of people to first polish the stone pillars, remove the potholes here, a raised corner there, and so on. After the first polishing of the stone pillars, Shao Xuan will engrave those patterns from his memory.
Before, Shao Xuan only remembered the pattern of the stone pillar but did not understand what it was. With the detailed records the ancestors left behind, he found that many of the stone pillars were of special significance. There were different positions on the stone pillars with various depicted patterns. In addition to being used as a sundial, they also had a sacrificial meaning.
It was no wonder that the Shaman hoped to restore the destroyed pillars before the cremation of the ancestors. According to the records left, that was the most orthodox ritual of the Flaming Horns tribe.