Original War

Chapter 22-You’re Burning

This is Shao Xuan’s first time going up the mountain.

The higher the status of the tribe, the higher the place to live.

As he got closer and closer to the top of the mountain, Shao Xuan felt that the children beside him, as well as the grid and other fighters who led the way in front, had long since disappeared from the casualness when they were down the mountain, and became a lot more cautious.

When Shao Xuan and the others arrived, there were already a lot of people around the firepit. People in the foothills were standing farther away from the firepit. They were distributed according to their residence. The higher the mountain was, the place they were standing was far from the firepit. Closer.

Fortunately, although I was far away, the terrain was high, and I could barely see the situation by the firepit when I stood up.

What is the total number of people in the tribe?

I didn’t know before, but now, Shao Xuan probably has an estimate in his heart.

Everyone in the tribe must attend today’s ceremony, whether you are sick in bed, or having inconveniences, you will be there. Shao Xuan roughly estimated that the number should be no less than 1,000, which should be around 1,500.

In Shao Xuan’s opinion, more than 1,000 people are not many, but after coming to this tribe, Shao Xuan saw so many people for the first time, and it was still very lively.

There is a clearing on the top of the mountain, with a circular depression in the center, and a flame swaying in the wind in the center of the depression.

Fire pond.

This is the first time Shao Xuan has seen the fire pond of this tribe. It’s very different from what you imagined.

Shao Xuan once wondered why the firepit of the tribe was on the top of the mountain, where it was the coldest place in the whole mountain. Besides, the tribe already had more mature firearms, why still keep the firepit? When everyone talks about the firepit, they are always in awe, and their eyes look at the top of the mountain with unshakable piety.

People from the tribe said that the fire pond is related to the rise and fall of the tribe. As for the relationship method, Shao Xuan has never learned from others. Now, he can only use his own eyes to find the answer.

There is a large area on the top of the mountain, enough to stand down to everyone in the tribe.

The radius of the depression in the middle is four or five meters, but the small flame burning in the center of the depression is like ordinary candlelight, not bright, and it will go out as soon as the wind blows. Moreover, in the firepit, Shao Xuan did not see any firewood or other burning objects, nor did he see any combustion-supporting objects under the ignition seedlings.

There is a kind of fire that lasts in the fire pond.

There is also a circle of wooden stakes surrounding the firepit. The stakes are tall and thick. Each stake is placed with a stone basin. The basins are filled with fresh meat, fruits, bird eggs and other things, which should be sacrificial tributes.

There were people standing next to the stakes. Listening to the surrounding discussions, Shao Xuan knew that those people were the strongest hunters in every hunting team, some were young people, some were nearly middle-aged, and there were fifty people in total. .

Those people’s faces are also painted with the same patterns as they are. The difference is that the color of the patterns on those faces is not just a single black, but also white and red, and they are more “dignified”. He wore large antlers on his head, much larger than those worn by other people that Shao Xuan walked along the road and saw, almost covering the whole person in the antlers.

Except for the warrior wearing oversized antlers, the other few did not give in too much. Originally, Shao Xuan thought that what he saw on the way up the mountain was exaggerated.

Suddenly, the surrounding discussion fell silent, and Shao Xuan looked over.

It was the leader and the witch who came, and wherever they passed, the crowd voluntarily stepped aside, very respectful.

The leader also wore heavy horns on his head, while the witch went into battle lightly, not wearing anything too exaggerated, just holding a crutch with a rickety back and wearing a gray animal skin cloak.

This is the second time Shao Xuan has seen Wu, and he feels that it has not changed much from when he raised Caesar last year.

Following the leader and the witch is the person most concerned about in this ceremony.

There were nearly eighty children, ranging from ten to fourteen years old. These children followed the leader and the witch and came to stand next to the firepit.

Shao Xuan saw four people in the cave, including Moore.

When they were in the cave before, the children were irritable, but now they are as quiet as a good baby, their hair is well combed, and some bone ornaments are woven. Since Shao Xuan knew them, I have never seen these people so neat.

“There are so many children this year.” Someone nearby whispered.

“Yes, last year there were only thirty or forty, and this year it has doubled.”

“This is a good sign. With so much new blood joining, our tribe is stronger.”

“…”

The people around were discussing, and the group of children around Shao Xuan also whispered quietly, all envious, thinking about when they could stand in that place by the fire.

After waiting for a while, the preparations for the ceremony were done and the ceremony began.

The leader is called Ao, he is a very strong person, and he is said to be ranked in the top three of the tribe in strength.

Ao first said a few words, talked about last year’s harvest, and then looked forward to the future to boost morale. In the previous life, Shao Xuan had heard a lot of these similar words, and didn’t feel much, but some people next to him were excited like something. After the leader’s speech, he raised his arms and roared twice, and a group of little boys also screamed with small faces. Rose red.

After the leader had finished speaking, the next thing was Wu’s business. The ritual is based on witchcraft.

Nearly eighty children stood around the firepit, closer to the firepit than the soldiers who had stood by the stakes before.

Wu held a cane, leaned back, fought to the edge of the firepit, opened his arms, and began to sing.

The scene suddenly became tense from the excitement just now, everyone closed their mouths tightly, even breathing carefully, for fear of affecting the singing over there.

Shao Xuan didn’t understand what the witch sang. It seemed that it was not the language the tribe usually spoke, and the tone was also strange.

However, what’s even stranger is still to come.

With the chanting of the witch, the igniting seed in the middle of the fire pond jumped and rolled. Without any combustion-supporting objects, the flame grew bigger and bigger, spreading around, and the flame body rose higher and higher until it spread to the edge of the fire pond. Covering the entire sunken fire pond, the flame body also jumped to a height of three meters. At the same time, at the top of the flame, a figure composed of flames gradually appeared, becoming clearer and clearer. The flames formed a bottom connected together and faced the same direction. Curved, one inside and one outside corners, surrounded by flashing flames.

That is the double-horned totem of the tribe!

The fire pond has three Yan, the first Yan-Yan Teng!

Yanteng, the totem is now!

Not only did the totem appear on the side of the fire pond, but also the totem patterns on all the soldiers present.

Everyone is staring at the direction of the fire pond with pious eyes.

The sky was completely dark, and two moons appeared at both ends of the night sky. But at the top of the mountain, because of the tumbling flames in the fire pool, the surrounding area was illuminated very brightly, shrouded in a layer of red.

The witch’s singing did not stop, instead it became more and more high-pitched. Then, a drumbeat joined in, with a specific rhythm, including the sound of bone beating and stone beating.

Someone patted the animal skin drum. The sound of the drum was high or low, but it was different from the sound of some drums that Shao Xuan had heard in his previous life.

Beat bones, rocks, and drums.

The male and female soldiers standing next to the wooden stakes also moved, joined in, sang along with the witches, one after the other, separated by a certain distance, around the firepit in a circle, swinging their hands and feet and beating.

That is the old ancient dance that has been passed down since the establishment of the tribe.

Shao Xuan remembered the words of a classmate who studied archaeology, “Many tribes have their own old ancient dances, which are also a very important part of each tribe’s sacrifice ceremony. It carries the unique etiquette of tribe sacrifice in the environment of that particular era. It also conveys the people of the tribe’s worship of their ancestors. This kind of dance is not something anyone can learn or dance. It must follow the ancient teachings passed down by the tribe.”

And now, those people who are dancing around the firepit are all the elites of the tribe, and they are also the people who are recognized by the tribe who are qualified to dance the ancient dance in the sacrificial ceremony.

Although those actions appeared to Shao Xuan to be funny, everyone in the tribe really wanted such an honor. When he was in the cave, Shao Xuan listened to those little boys fantasizing that one day he would become one of the members of the old ancient dance in the sacrificial ceremony.

The rhythm of the performance is unspeakable. The individual notes sound either harsh or dull, but the combination of these syllables is very suitable for the situation at this time. It feels like it should be at this time and place. In such an occasion, it should be such a rhythm.

However, compared to old ancient dances and peculiar rhythms, Shao Xuan cared more about the children standing by the fire.

When the selected soldiers danced the old ancient dance around the firepit, the flames in the firepit rose higher, and many flames flew out from there.

Yes, fly out.

Sparks and flames flew out directly from the firepit and floated out in the air.

The second flame of the fire pond-Yan Fei!

And the children closest to the fire pit, none of them avoided, still standing there respectfully, letting the flames fly on them.

Shao Xuan widened his eyes and looked over there. After the flames flew on the children, they did not burn them, and even the clothing did not burn, as if it melted directly into their bodies.

More and more flames were integrated, and the following change was that some children gradually showed patterns unique to totem warriors, and such patterns became clearer and clearer as the flames were exposed to more and more. Complete.

The boiling flames not only touched the children who were selected by the witch around the firepit, but also spread to the edge of the gathering place. A lot of flames floated over where Shao Xuan was sitting.

Seeing the approaching flames, Shao Xuan reflexively wanted to avoid him, but he still calmed down. Since the others were not moving, it should not be as harmful as he thought.

Indeed, after the flame contact, Shao Xuan only felt a very comfortable warmth, but there was no burning sensation.

Now Shao Xuan was relieved, staring at the fire pond and continued to watch, ignoring the more and more flames flying over. Those children by the fire pond are the luckiest people of the year. They will gain power from the fire in the fire pond and awaken the power of totem. I don’t know if the three children coming out of the cave plus half of the man in the cave can be successfully awakened.

As he was watching, Tu Bian, who was standing next to Shao Xuan, called his name in a low voice and hastily.

“A…A Xuan! A Xuan!”

“What?” Shao Xuan returned to his senses, looking away from the fire pond, only to find that the children around him were looking at him like a ghost.

“What’s the matter?” Shao Xuan wondered. I was too engrossed just now and didn’t pay attention to the surroundings.

The children next to him hurriedly backed away, still looking at Shao Xuan in horror.

Tu swallowed, and said: “You…you are…”

“What is it?” Shao Xuan was still a little confused, what did he say? What am I doing?

“You… burned…”