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.

Taking a deep breath, they could not help but tidy up their animal skin clothes, patting the sticky grass crumbs off the furs. In a clear spring on the mountain side, they washed their face and rubbed off some dried blood on their arms and legs.

In the face of the ancestors, they were to move solemnly.

After carefully tidying up, a line of warriors went to the mountain.

The cave did not have the guardian power that Shao Xuan came across last time. It now looked like a normal cave.

They moved the large stone blocking the hole, and let a few fierce beasts guard outside, while Shao Xuan together with the two team leaders and other people went inside the cave.

The insect-resistant herbs that he sprinkled in the cave last time were still there, but the smell was a lot lighter.

Before Shao Xuan left last time, although he had set up traps and sprinkled some insect-resistant herbs, because the power of the guardian of the cave was gone, Shao Xuan feared that the ancestors' bodies would rot, so he placed the bone ornament on his neck with the ancestor sitting on the ground. Its state of dress was the same as the Shaman, so he also moved the other six ancestors near it. Since the bone ornament was able to protect those ancestors in the King Stone Worm's cave, that should also be the case now.

After entering the hole, Shao Xuan looked around carefully. The bodies of the seven ancestors were the same as when he saw them last time and did not quickly rot away, which reassured Shao Xuan a lot.

Every time they saw the remains of the ancestors, the people of the Flaming Horns tribe were always particularly excited, especially after listening to what Shao Xuan said the last time he went inside the cave. Ta and Gui He as well as the others were more anxious to kneel down and show their admiration of the ancestors.

Ta took a torch and carefully followed Shao Xuan as they approached the innermost part of the cave.

"These are the 'history'." Shao Xuan pointed to the boxes.

Whether it was the ancestors or those boxes with the "history" of the Flaming Horns tribe, they would send it back to the tribe at all costs.

After seeing the ancestors and their "history", the two team leaders took people out of the cave to lead them down the hill to chop wood for a sedan chair. In fact, it was not a sedan chair. It just looked like three wagon carriages, each with four people carrying while other people guard around it.

Shao Xuan and the others took a rest in this cave for two days. These two days were also spent to make the sedan chair to carry the ancestors. They carefully put the seven ancestors in a sedan chair, and those boxes with their "history" were placed in the other two sedan chairs in two batches.

The things left in the cave were limited, many have lost their original appearance. If it was like usual and these were seen in the tribe, it would certainly be treated as garbage to be thrown away. However, these were things left by the ancestors, the meaning was different and should be taken together. If they felt that it was not needed to be taken away, then they would let it remain in the cave.

"We will come back after the route is opened up." Gui He said.

Going back was a lot slower. After all, they had to take the ancestors and their "history", while not letting it be destroyed by other fierce animals, which naturally, took more time.

At such times, the performance of several fierce beasts was very good. They would attract the other fierce beasts they encountered, then find a place to finish it, rather than fight around those sedan chairs.

Eight days later, the group returned to the tribe. At some distance from the tribe, they met with the people sent by the Shaman and the chief, to share the burden of the others.

Everyone has injuries, as well as a few fierce beast, but their spirit was good. The former felt supreme honor because they brought back the ancestors and their "history", the latter felt good after running out a good fun lap. Although, several times they almost died, as their bodies also had a lot of injuries, but it was carefree enough.

Those outsiders who visited had long since left, and the tribe had stopped all their affairs and followed the Shaman and the chief to the border.

Some people didn't know what was happening in the beginning. When they were told by others, they couldn't restrain themselves from their excitement.

"That's the ancestors!"

"What did the ancestors look like?"

"Must be mighty extraordinary!"

"I heard that those who have worshipped the ancestors will be blessed by the ancestors! One of the warriors I knew had been praying before, and then he never ran into a crisis when he was in the hunt several times."

"Have they ever found an ancestor before?"

"Yes, I heard it was Shao Xuan who discovered it."

"What about this time?"

"I heard that it was Shao Xuan."

"...... Indeed an elder ....."

......

For the Flaming Horns tribe, the ancestors' remains, even if it was rotten with only a skeleton left, were a lot more sacred and inviolable.

Unfortunately, they did not see the ancestor's appearance, and only saw the three big "boxes" that was carried by ten individuals.

"Welcome to the ancestors' return!"

The Shaman and the chief kneeled down first.

The border was densely packed with thousands of people, all following to kneel. Even the children who did not know anything, this time, also followed the adults as they kneeled down, not having their usual stubborness. They had a very strange feeling, some heaviness, but also some excitement.

Previously, when Shao Xuan brought back the ancestors from inside the King Stone Worm's cave, the tribe held a ceremony where the ancestors were cremated. Naturally, it would be the same this time, but it was not immediately held.

Because of the protection of bone ornament, the bodies of the seven ancestors did not decay quickly. The Shaman put them in a room inside a stone house, and then, they had not left the house for a few days. They were not always facing the ancestors, but studying those carried back "history."

Ao went to look every day, while the heir of the Shaman followed the Shaman to look at those left "history."

There were too many news in there that they needed to master. Shao Xuan and Gui Ze divided the works selected by the Shaman on general knowledge, then re-write it, such as the record of the sky, farming, livestock, handicrafts, and so on. Although it had been thousands of years ago, some were still helpful.

Whether it was the Shaman or Chief Ao, they knew that the Flaming Horns tribe was once known for its glory, but after all, there was no more specific stories. The records left by the ancestors were limited, but now, through these "history", they deeply felt the prosperity of that year.

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.