Translated by Lesyt Team
Edited by Ilesyt
Holding the bone ornament, Shao Xuan recalled the situation of that time. He remembered that it was the ball in the middle of the bone ornament that was the cause and asked,
Do you know what this ball is, and where did the ancestors get it?
In the cave where the king stone worm lived, it was dark, but with his special vision, Shao Xuan saw the light of the ball. The light shone the surroundings. But with the ordinary vision, it did not emit any light.
This was a very special thing.
Treasure? It is indeed a very precious thing.
The Shaman showed admiration in his eyes and stared at the ball. He said:
Long long ago, when the tribe was first established and the first shaman passed away, the chief put him in the fire pit. He saw that the first shaman did not disappear like the others, he left behind six balls.
Is this one of them?
Shao Xuan was surprised and asked.
The Shaman nodded and said,
Later, the six balls were given to those who made great contributions to the tribe. They were called ‘elders’. Except the shaman and the chief, they had the highest status in the tribe and worked as the assistants of the shaman and the chief. The six balls were also the light of the tribe. Even in a place far away from the fire pit, they could bring light to the people of the tribe… Unfortunately, after the fire seed was divided, the six balls became dim.
Shao Xuan paused and felt that the bone ornament in his hand was heavy. What should he do if he lost it? The Shaman would kill him. If it was only something precious, the Shaman might forgive him. But this was a thing left by the first shaman, and in this world he could not find a seventh one.
Shao Xuan was in a daze for a moment. Six balls?
Shao Xuan asked with doubt:
The six balls left by the first shaman are kept by you?
He had just seen only three bone ornaments in the box which the Shaman took out.
The Shaman shook his head and said with regret and pity:
The other three disappeared with the missing half of the fire seed. So far I have not been able to sense where the other half of the fire seed is.
The Shaman could not feel it, and no one knew where it was. The fire seed was still divided. No one knew when they would find the missing half.
In regards to the ritual ceremony at the end of winter, the Shaman told him some things about it and then let him leave. This time, as expected, Shao Xuan was still one of the dancers of the ritual dance.
After Shao Xuan left, the Shaman sat in the original place and looked at the other two dim balls in the stone box. He had been in deep thought for a long time and he eventually let out a sigh. He had always thought about how to cross the river to return to the old land and what to do after the return. However, after coming back, the Shaman felt very stressed as he became more aware of the situation here.
Was the Flaming Horns tribe strong enough? Yes, it had been strong. However, it is weaker than the several large tribes in the central region nowadays. If it confronted with the Wan Shi tribe next to it, maybe it would suffer a crushing defeat. He didn’t want this to happen. After the winter ritual ceremony, the wanderers would awaken their power.
They had to become stronger. Only by doing so could they settle here.
Shao Xuan left the Shaman and then went back. At this time, it was dark. Few people were active. Fortunately, there were no night swallows. There were also less annoying nocturnal insects, partly because of the fire seed.
After the fire seed was connected with the fire veins, it had a bigger impact on other creatures, Chacha now did not like to stay close to the fire pit. He came here every day once to bring some prey toOld Ke and then left in a hurry.
After dinner, Shao Xuan had planned to go see the birds of prey that Ke Ke raised. Finally, he did not go out because of the bone ornament that the Shaman had given to him. He sat in the room to study it.
The most important part of the ornament was the ball, Shao Xuan touched the surface of the dim ball. It was not as cold as the other things in the winter. Instead, it was warm. Such a thing was left after the cremation of the first shaman. If the Shaman hadn’t told him, Shao Xuan would not have known where it came from.
Shao Xuan knew it was special, but he did not discover anything. In the end he fell asleep and had a dream.
In his dream, a figure in the shape of a person. made of flames, appeared and it slowly became clearer. In the beginning it was only in a distant place, but gradually the burning person walked straight towards him. The person was getting closer and closer, but he could not see person’s facial features and knew nothing about the age and the gender. He was only sure that it was a person that was wrapped in flames.
That flaming person opened his arms and did what the Shaman did while summoning the fire seed near the fire pit. It seemed that he was saying something, but Shao Xuan could not hear what he said.
A shaman?
Shao Xuan, like a bystander, watched the flame person’s movements.
As Shao Xuan was immersed in such a strange dream, the bone ornament he wore flashed in the dark night and then became dim again. Nothing had changed.
Shao Xuan woke up the next day, he still remembered his dream clearly. He looked at the bone ornament on his neck and thought whether it was a dream in which the ancestor wanted to tell him something. Maybe nothing had happened and it was just only a common dream,right ?
He shook his head, he saw the ball was still as dim as yesterday and no longer thought about it. Today he didn’t go hunting, but the needed to patrol.
The people of the Wan Shi tribe occasionally came to the border to get some information secretly before winter, When the winter came, few of them came here but they still had to be alert. Moreover, there were now a lot of wanderers in the tribe, no one knew whether they were loyal enough.
Most of the wanderers who followed them all the way here should be loyal and know what kind of life they wanted. Even though they didn’t have any good skills, as long as they were willing to learn they would not starve.
Shao Xuan, how many people can awaken in this ritual ceremony?
Lang Ga asked.
It depends. Maybe one or two thousand people can.
Shao Xuan replied.
Only one or two thousand?
Not only Lang Ga, but the other patrolling warriors were also doubtful.
In the tribe, there had been more than 1,500 totem warriors with or without the ability to hunt. There were women and some children who were not old enough to be awakened. In the future, most of the children would also awaken and become totem warriors. After their return to the old land, including all the wanderers, there were six or seven thousand people, which surprised them. If most of them could awaken, they would help a lot.
But that was in fact not the case.
Many of the families of wanderers who were considered to be members of the tribe were not people of the Flaming Horns tribe, such as Yan Shuo’s wife and Old He’s wife. Some women were members of the Flaming Horns tribe, while their husbands were not. All of them were registered as members of the Flaming Horns tribe. Therefore, strictly speaking, among the six or seven thousand people, 30% to 50% should be reduced. It was estimated that only one or two thousand people could awaken.
Listening to Shao Xuan’s analysis, the patrolling warriors were upset.
However, among these wanderers, nearly half of them are female.
Shao Xuan said. Most of the wanderers who had left on the way were men and few women left. Perhaps the women knew that even if the tribe was facing a crisis, it was the best choice for them.
Hearing him mention this, Lang Ga and the others, who had been upset, suddenly cheered up. This was indeed a good thing.
In the past, there had been few women, so the shamans had been strict on the other side of the river. Therefore, in each generation there were a lot of bachelors. And because of the low birth rate and the harsh environment, the tribe had only a small population over the past years.
Now, among these wanderers who came back, there were many women, so the birth rate will rise. In Yan Shuo’s family, two babies were born. Thanks to the improved living conditions, his wife was in good health and got pregnant again. Lang Ga and others felt he was enviable.
It was believed that the tribe would soon develop.
Shao Xuan was thinking about it. He suddenly stopped walking and turned to look in one direction. That was the place where the wanderers lived.
What’s wrong?
Lang Ga and the others noticed him stop and asked.
Shao Xuan said with doubt and vigilance:
I always felt that someone was looking at me.
Nothing strange. You are so popular, maybe a girl is into you…
Lang Ga said after a pause.
Shao Xuan’s face looked serious, the others no longer joked about it. He had experienced a lot in the hunting, and since he had such an intuition, there must be something wrong! Not all of those wanderers were trustworthy.
Go and have a look?
Lang Ga asked.
No,
Shaw Xuan stopped him,
you had better pay more attention to that place.
If he guessed correctly, among the wanderers, some others were hiding.
Shao Xuan was just looking at a place where the wanderers lived. It was a plain hut.
…
I had asked you to be careful and you did not.
In the hut, an honest looking young man was sitting on a wooden stool with his legs crossed. However, at this time, his face showed ridicule.
Close to the window of the hut, a beautiful and slender woman shrank against the wall. She had planned to observe his reaction, but unexpectedly the young man looked towards her. Fortunately, she moved quickly to dodge his sight and he didn’t see her.
The woman was looking for something. But at this moment, she heard the sounds of footsteps outside the hut. Those were not the footsteps of a totem warrior, which made them feel relieved.
They came for me, I have to go out to work, so you must be careful. In the next two days, you had better stay here. Otherwise, we will be found out.
When the man said this, his face no longer showed ridicule. He looked honest again, and even a little dumb…
In the following days, each patrolling team would pay more attention to those wanderers. Nothing unusual happened over the past days.
The winter soon passed. The most significant ritual ceremony in the tribe’s history was to be held.
