This is Shao Xuan's first time up the mountain.
The higher the status in 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 Ge and a few other soldiers who were leading the way in front, had long lost the randomness they had when they were at the bottom of the mountain, and had become a lot more restrained.
When Shao Xuan and the others arrived, there were already a lot of people gathered around the fire pond. People in the area near the foot of the mountain were far away from the fire pond. They were distributed according to where they lived. the closer.
Fortunately, although the distance is far away, the terrain is high, and when you stand up, you can barely see the situation by the fire pond.
What is the total number of tribes
I didn't know it before, but now, Shao Xuan probably has an estimate in his heart.
Everyone in the tribe must be present at the ceremony today, whether you are sick in bed or have trouble with your legs and feet. Shao Xuan roughly estimated that the number was no less than 1,000, and it should be around 1,500.
In Shao Xuan's view, more than a thousand 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 in the center of the depression is a flame swaying in the wind.
Fire pond.
This was the first time Shao Xuan saw the fire pond of this tribe. Contrasted with imagined.
Shao Xuan once wondered why the tribe's fire pit was on the top of the mountain, which was the coldest place in the entire mountain. Besides, the tribe already had relatively mature firearms, so why did they still keep the fire pit? Everyone is always in awe when they talk about the fire pit, and they look at the top of the mountain with unshakable devotion.
According to the people of the tribe, the fire pit is related to the rise and fall of the tribe. As for the relationship law, 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 for everyone in the tribe to stand.
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 feels like it will go out as soon as the wind blows. Moreover, in the fire pond, Shao Xuan did not see any firewood or anything else that could burn, nor did he see anything to support the combustion under the fire.
There is the kind of fire that persists in the fire pit.
There is also a circle of wooden stakes surrounding the fire pond. The wooden stakes are tall and thick. On top of each stake is a stone basin. The basins are filled with fresh meat, fruits, bird eggs and other things, which should be sacrificial offerings.
There were also people standing beside the stake, listening to the discussions around him, Shao Xuan knew that those people were the most capable of hunting in each hunting team, some were young people, some were nearly middle-aged, and there were fifty people in total. .
Those people also had the same patterns as them on their faces. The difference was that the patterns on those people's faces were not just black, but also white and red. They also wore more "dignified" clothes. He wears big antlers on his head, which are much bigger than those worn by other people Shao Xuan saw along the way, almost covering the whole person in the antlers.
Apart from the warrior with the oversized antlers, the others were not far behind. Originally, Shao Xuan thought that what he saw on the way up the mountain was exaggerated enough, but he didn't think there would be more exaggeration here.
Suddenly, the surrounding discussions fell silent, and Shao Xuan looked over.
It was the leader and the witch who came. Wherever they passed, the crowd automatically moved away, and they were especially respectful.
The leader also wore heavy horns on his head, while Wu went into battle lightly, not wearing anything too exaggerated, just holding a cane, with a hunched 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.
The people who followed the leader and the witch were the people who were most concerned about in this ceremony.
There were nearly eighty children, ranging in age from ten to fourteen. These children followed closely behind the leader and the witch, and came to stand by the fire.
Shao Xuan saw four people in the cave, including Moore.
When they were in the cave before, those children were so irritable, but now they are quiet like good babies, with their hair combed and some bone ornaments braided. Since Shao Xuan knew them, he had never seen these people so neat.
"There are so many children this year." Someone nearby whispered.
"Yeah, last year there were only thirty or forty, and this year it has doubled."
"This is a good sign. With so many fresh blood joining in, our tribe is stronger."
"… "
The people around were discussing, and the group of children around Shao Xuan whispered, they were all envious, thinking that they would be able to stand by the fire pond anytime.
After waiting for a while, the preparations for the ceremony over there were done, and the ceremony began.
The leader is called Ao, who is a very strong man. I heard that the strength ranks among the top three in the tribe.
Ao first said a few words about the harvest of last year, and then looked forward to the future to boost morale. In the past life, Shao Xuan heard similar words a lot, but he didn't feel anything, but some people around him were so excited. rose red.
After the leader finished speaking, the next thing was Wu's business. Ceremony is based on witchcraft.
Nearly eighty children stood around the fire, closer to the fire than the soldiers who stood by the stake before.
Wu holding a cane, hunched his back, fought to the edge of the fire, spread his arms, and began to sing.
The scene suddenly became tense from the excitement just now, and everyone kept their mouths tightly closed, even breathing carefully, for fear of affecting the singing over there.
Shao Xuan didn't understand what the witch sang, and it didn't seem to be the language the tribe usually spoke, and the tone was strange.
However, the strangest thing is yet to come.
As the witch chanted, the flame in the middle of the fire throbbed and rolled. Without any combustion-supporting objects, the flame became bigger and bigger, spread around, and the flame rose higher and higher until it spread to the edge of the fire. Covering the entire concave fire pool, the flame body jumped to a height of three meters. At the same time, at the top of the flame, a figure composed of flames gradually appeared, which became clearer and clearer. The curved, one inside and one outside horns are surrounded by flickering flames.
That is the two-horned totem of the tribe!
Three flames in the fire pit, the first flame—Yan Teng!
Yan Teng, the totem is now!
Not only did the totems appear over the fire pond, but even the totem patterns on all the soldiers present also appeared.
Everyone stared in the direction of the fire pit with pious eyes.
The sky had completely darkened, and two crescent moons appeared at both ends of the night sky. But at this time, because of the churning flames in the fire pit, the surrounding area was brightly illuminated and covered with a layer of red.
Wu's singing did not stop, but became more and more high-pitched. Immediately afterwards, a drum beat joined in, with a specific rhythm, among which there were the sounds of bones hitting and stone hitting.
Someone beat the animal skin drum, and the sound of the drum was high and low, but it was different from the sound of some drums that Shao Xuan had heard in his previous life.
Bone, stone, drum beat.
The men and women standing next to the stake also moved and joined in, singing along with the witch, one after the other, with a certain distance from each other, forming a circle around the fire pit, swaying their hands and feet.
It is an ancient dance that has been handed down from the beginning of the tribe's establishment.
Shao Xuan remembered the words of his former classmate who studied archaeology, "Many tribes have their own ancient dances, which are also a very important part of the sacrificial rituals of each tribe. It carries the unique rituals of tribal sacrificial rituals in that particular era and environment. It also conveys the tribal people's worship of their ancestors. This kind of dance can not be learned or danced by anyone, it has to follow the ancient teachings passed down by the tribe."
And now, those who are dancing around the fire pit are all elites in the tribe, and they are also people recognized by the tribe who are qualified to dance the ancient dance in the sacrificial ceremony.
Although those actions were funny in Shao Xuan's view, such an honor was indeed what everyone in the tribe wanted. When he was in the cave, Shao Xuan listened to those little cubs fantasizing that one day he would become one of the members of the ancient dance in the sacrificial ceremony.
The rhythm of the playing is indescribably weird, and the single tone sounds either harsh or dull, but these syllables together are very suitable for this scene, which makes people feel like this is how it should be, at this time and place In such an occasion, this should be the rhythm of the rhythm.
However, compared to the ancient dance and the unique rhythm, Shao Xuan cared more about the children standing by the fire.
When the selected warriors danced the ancient dance around the fire, the flames in the fire were soaring higher, and many flames flew out from there.
Yes, fly out.
Sparks and flames flew out directly from the fire pond and floated out in the air.
The second fire in the fire pit - Yan Fei!
And the children closest to the fire pond, none of them avoided them, they still stood there respectfully, letting the flames fly to them.
Shao Xuan stared over there with wide eyes. After those flames flew to the children, they did not burn them, not even the clothes burned, as if they were directly melted into their bodies.
More and more flames are integrated, and the following changes are that some children gradually appear the unique lines of totem warriors, and such lines become clearer and clearer as they come into contact with more flames. Complete.
The boiling flames not only contacted the children who were chosen by the witches around the fire pond, but also spread to the edge of the gathering place, and many flames floated over where Shao Xuan was sitting.
Looking at the approaching flames, Shao Xuan reflexively wanted to avoid it, but he forced himself to calm down. Since no one else was moving, it shouldn't be as harmful as he thought.
Indeed, after the flames came into contact, Shao Xuan only felt a very comfortable warmth, but he did not feel burnt.
Now Shao Xuan was relieved, and continued to stare at the fire pond, ignoring the more and more flames flying over. Those children by the fire pond are the luckiest people this year. They will obtain the ability from the fire of the fire pond and awaken the power of the totem. I don't know if the three children who came out of the cave plus half of the man in the cave can wake up successfully.
While watching, Tu, who was standing beside Shao Xuan, called his name in a low voice and hurriedly.
"Ah... Axuan! Axuan!"
"What?" Shao Xuan came back to his senses and looked away from the fire pond, only to find that the surrounding children were looking at him like a ghost.
"What's wrong?" Shao Xuan wondered. I was so engrossed just now that I didn't pay attention to my surroundings.
The few children next to him hurriedly backed away, still looking at Shao Xuan in horror.
Tu swallowed his saliva and said, "You... you're on..."
"What?" Shao Xuan was still a little confused, what did he say? What am I doing with me
"You... burnt..."