Chapter 284

C284 - Asking for Rain (I)

Posted on October 14, 2018 by AzureOrchid92

In the wooden huts area for the Rain tribe's visitors to rest, the people of the travel team rested for a night. As for how was their sleep, seeing their pale complexion the next day would give an idea.

In Shao Xuan's eyes, the room was very dark, but, with so many years to form his biological clock, he knew that the time now should have been when the sun has come out.

The huts here were poorly constructed, and the roofs and the surrounding wooden walls have a lot of crevices. If there was any sunshine outside, they could penetrate through the cracks.

However, now, the feeling of the people in the room was like it was just dawn, that the night was still there. There was a little misty light, but it was still mostly black.

"What's going on?" Lei rose from the hay-covered plank bed, slightly above the ground. He also felt that it was time for the sun to be up, but he did not see the light, feeling a slight gloomy depression.

"Hey?" Tuo screamed in confussion.

Shao Xuan also turned up with his feet on the ground, feeling the soft layer of sand on the room's floor.

A click followed by a squeak—

Shao Xuan opened the door.

The gray wind blew in and let the men breathe it in.

The door opened and there was a dim light in the room. Through the light, the three men saw the situation inside the house.

Except for the places where they slept, basically, a thick layer of ash fell and there was a lot of dust leaking from the roof.

The people of the Rain tribe were still thoughtful. Above the plank bed, near the roof, there was a layer of straw mat for cover so the dust leaking from the roof all fell onto the mat.

"It's no wonder that last night, I heard rattling sounds. I didn't sleep well." Lei looked at the situation inside the house and yawned.

These people who often hunt in the forest would certainly not sleep deeply. A little movement could make them alert, even if it was just the sound of dust and sand in the quiet night. They could also hear quite clearly with their ears.

"Are we going to leave in this weather?" Tuo asked.

"We should not go." Shao Xuan heard the sound of footsteps outside the house.

Soon, Huang Ye's figure appeared at the door of their house.

"The team will stay here for two days, and then start again when the weather is a little better." Huang Ye said to the three men.

"Yes, I know." Shao Xuan said.

"And you better be careful. Every time this kind of dusty weather came, there will be some kind of beasts coming out, so be on your guards." Huang Ye intended to warn the young warriors who had come to this place for the first time. Additionally, to make things worse, the creatures were more frightening, alarming the light-hearted young warriors.

However, as he was speaking, Huang Ye found the atmosphere next to him wrong so he looked up. On the three pairs of shiny eyes, there was a hidden meaning he couldn't immediately tell.

After thinking about it, Huang Ye became stunned.

Yes, the people of the Flaming Horns tribe were different compared to the other tribes. This group of people lived next to fierce beasts, how could they be afraid of the sudden appearance of these creatures? Maybe they were even thinking about catching those as food.

Huang Ye was right. Shao Xuan as well as the other two were really thinking of trying to catch a few of these beasts for a change of taste. Their most favorite was still meat. The hard dough offered here could not let them add enough energy.

Huang Ye sighed. Anyway, he delivered his words here, so he turned to another cabin to notify others.

Shao Xuan looked at the sky outside. Far into the distance in the Rain tribe, there came a ding-ding and bang-bang sounds. Because the dust was too much, he could not see the situation there, but according to what Yang Sui said, they were building an altar to call for rain.

Thinking of rain, Shao Xuan sighed and was ready to close the door but stopped suddenly. Lei and Tuo behind him also stopped, and the eyes of the three men swept toward the wooden table near them.

A thick layer of dust fell on the side of the table leg. Now, the surface of the dust was slightly uplifted and moving. Apparently, there was something underneath the dust.

Lei and Tuo looked at each other, then moved almost at the same time.

"Mine!"

"It goes to whoever caught it!"

The creature beneath the dust was aware of the imminent danger, and suddenly sped up and rushed out of the house.

Shao Xuan saw an earth-colored slender figure flashed to the doorway and rushed into the dust outside.

"It's a snake!" Shao Xuan reminded the two people to be careful. In such places, snakes always have their own ability to protect themselves. It might be poisonous.

Lei and Tuo were somewhat shackled inside the room, afraid that they would destroy the house and they won't have a place to live. Now that the snake ran out, they were happy and rushed out of the door too.

The snake under the dust was originally buried inside. As Lei and Tuo quickly approached, it suddenly ejected like a spring. It's a snake that was as thick as a thumb and a metre long. It stood up to face what was in front, opening its mouth and exposing its two fangs. The venom was sprayed out.

Spritz—

Shao Xuan who was standing at the door could hear the sound of venom corroding the dust.

The first step was to chop off the snake's head, then use a knife to beat the snake's cut off head. In the forest, when they catch snakes, they would use this method, because some snakes with the head cut could still bite people. After learning, everytime they encountered a snake, regardless of which, they'd kill all in such a way.

"Ha, it's mine!" Tuo took the headless snake, swinging it in his hands towards Lei.

Lei did not look at it, as if he was seriously listening to something. He took two steps, then leaped, under the totem patterns on half of his arms, his muscles tightened. His swinging arm waved the stone knife vigorously and slashed down in one place.

Boom!

A figure quickly leapt out of the hard ground, blasting dirt and dust.

Shao Xuan's sight trained on the creature that had rushed out.

A pangolin?

No. The creature looked like it has a hard armor much thicker than a pangolin's scales. The body was also more slender, nearly two meters long, with a body color similar to tgst of mud. The whole thing was not slow to act despite its layer of hard armor. Instead, its actions were very agile.

The creature had been trying to find a chance to run away, or to go underground, but Lei and Tuo didn't give it a chance. Under their hands, it had not lasted three breaths, and had been chopped off.

Not staying outside for long, Lei dragged the creature and hurried to skin it. Although it was their first time seeing such a creature, it was similar to what they had already encountered, so skinning it was not unfamiliar. The treatment was done in under two to three minutes, but he was not expecting that they still have extra water to clean it, so Lei walked towards the house. Today, their food was guaranteed. That layer of hard armor was not left behind, since, with some treatment, it could be used as a shield.

They wanted to catch another one. Unfortunately, their movements were too big that even if it was underground, but it could avoid them, so they could only wait and see.

The movement of Lei and Tuo allowed the people who were resting inside the other huts to open their windows or doors, and saw what just happened outside.

Shao Xuan did not shoot and just guarded against these other people. There were also some Rain tribe people nearby, not everyone were friendly to them. Just now, someone wanted to come to rob, but saw Shao Xuan stare at them, so they did not shoot.

After Shao Xuan and the other two entered their room, the other warriors took back their stares.

"The people of the Flaming Horns tribe are really..." Inside a room, someone spoke.

It's really how everyone thinks differently.

Shao Xuan and the others lit a fire inside the house to simply grill the animal meat. Although the meat was not good since there was a lot of sand, it was better than the hard dough.

After eating a little, Shao Xuan went out for another trip.

Lei and Tuo now knew that Shao Xuan was acquainted with the Rain tribe's current Shaman, so they didn't say more. After eating, they began to rest. They thought of going outside again after waking up to see if they could catch another one or two.

Against the wind and sand, Shao Xuan went to the small hill yesterday.

Yang Sui still stayed in the cabin, holding an ox's tail in a daze. He had probably been here for a long time that his body had a layer of ash.

"Why do you use an ox's tail to call for rain?" Shao Xuan went in and asked.

Hearing Shao Xuan's question, Yang Sui returned to himself and looked at Shao Xuan, swinging the ox's tail in his hands. He did not have to hide it, since this was not such an important secret.

"Reportedly, in the early days, the ancestors used a stone for the sacrifice. Those stones are not ordinary stones, but a kind of stone called rain stone. If you dig in the nearby mountains, you can find some. It's black and cold even on a hot weather. The use of rain stone was almost always the case. When asking for rain, a hand was holding the tail, then used it to whip the rain stone."

"That was how to call for rain?" Shao Xuan asked.

"There was also a ritual dance, but it's mostly about support. Whipping the rain stone was indeed the earliest method the ancestors used. But later, I did not know when, the method to call fotmr rain changed. The ancestors said that behind the rain stone, there is a more ancient ancestors spirit, a symbol for favorable weather, the protector of agricultural harvest, can eliminate disease and eliminate disaster. Everyone began to fear the rain stone. Therefore, for the protection of the tribe prosperity, they no longer used the rain stone, otherwise, they will be cursed. The whipping would not be for longevity!"

When Yang Sui said these things, his tone was with a little irony. Not to say that he did not respect the ancestors, but some things he doubted. And these suspicions an average person would be afraid of, but the people with the deepest contact would delve into.

The so-called "whipping not for longevity" was probably because the task of seeking rain was too expensive to inherit, needing to sacrifice some as a price. A slightly weaker person would probably be exhausted after the rain. Plus, as Yang sui said, calling for rain was getting more and more difficult. The Shaman naturally had to bear a great psychological burden. After all, in the Rain tribe, they also burn an incompetent Shaman. Under the dual physiological and psychological pressure, it would be strange if a weak person was asked, and once it rained, their strength would be squeezed dry.

"Then if the whipping of the rain stone was not done anymore, how come you still use tail?" Shao Xuan refered to the ox's tail in the hand of Yang Sui.

"This is for repenting. We ask the ancestors and beg the gods to forgive our sins. The tail whip is a sacrifice to repay the sin." Yang Sui shook the tail at random, his eyes flashed with sarcasm, "I heard that there was a shaman who, after asking for rain, was whipped by the gods too."

Shao Xuan was shocked.

Therefore, when one asked for rain and it didn't come, they will be whipped. Wasn't it excessive to beg for a whipping? Were the people of the Rain tribe into S/M games with their gods?

Note: Uh.. I found the last paragraph kinda weird. But since Shao Xuan was from the modern times, I guess that's how he thinks? ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Actually, mostly, I'm not too sure if I understood the things that were said here. Ha ha ha