Chapter 381: The Red Ant Tribe is destroyed

Central part of the Southern Wilderness, the Red Ant Tribe.

Half a month after the human-ant conflict, the Red Ant God still had no intention of re-granting the tribal warriors the power of the totem, and even used the red giant ants to replace the warriors to guard the tribe.

The fighting power of the tribesmen who had lost the power of their totems was greatly reduced. In addition, the giant red ants were collecting food on a large scale, making it more difficult for them to obtain enough food in the dangerous forest. The number of casualties each time they went out hunting was rising sharply.

"Wu, if this continues, our tribe will really be finished."

Inside the ant nest building, Gu Li squatted on the ground, covering his face in pain.

Without the power of totems, without security and without food, the members of the Red Ant Tribe are in no different situation from those tourists, except that they still settle down and act in groups.

The tribesmen could no longer make ends meet and naturally had no sense of belonging to the tribe. A small number of them had already begun to defect.

The witch of the Red Ant Tribe seemed to have aged several dozen years in an instant. He lowered his head and said dejectedly, "I have prayed to the Ant God to grant me the power of the totem again, but the Ant God said that it would be impossible unless we hold a grand sacrifice to make amends to him."

Gu Li said excitedly: "Our people can't even fill their stomachs now. Many old people and children are almost starving to death. Where can we get prey for the grand sacrifice?"

The witch of the Red Ant Tribe lowered her head even more: "The Ant God said that if there is no prey, we can...use human sacrifice."

"Human sacrifice?"

When Gu Li heard these two words, he felt like he was struck by lightning and could hardly believe his ears.

The so-called human sacrifice is the sacrifice of living people, which is an extremely cruel method of sacrifice.

Except for a few tribes that were in poor conditions and could not provide sacrifices, or those that had fought tribal wars and obtained a large number of captives, almost no tribe would perform human sacrifices.

After all, the tribesmen have a small range of activities and most of them have close relationships. Who would be willing to use their relatives and friends to sacrifice to the totem god?

More importantly, if this happens once, it will definitely happen twice, three times, or even countless times.

The population of the Red Ant Tribe is already very small. If they continue to rely on human sacrifices to satisfy the totem god, they will probably be eaten up in no time.

In this situation where everyone is in danger, the tribe will only collapse faster.

Both Guli and the witch of the Red Ant Tribe were aware of this, so there was no way they would agree to the condition of human sacrifice.

The witch of the Red Ant Tribe whispered, "Let's think of another way..."

As a witch, facing the collapse of faith and the imminent collapse of the tribe, he endured much more pain and pressure than anyone else.

But he cannot fall. Right now, he is the only person in the Red Ant Tribe who can communicate directly with the totem god. If he falls, the tribe will be completely hopeless.

Guli looked at the old and tired Wu with bloodshot eyes and wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, he didn't know how to start.

In the end, Gu Li said nothing, just patted the old witch on the back gently, then turned and left.

In the dim room, the old witch was like a candle that was about to burn out, lonely and desperate.

…

Three days later, after countless ideological struggles and weighing the pros and cons, leader Guli made a very difficult decision.

He took almost everyone except the old, weak and sick to go hunting, saying it was to prepare for the great sacrifice.

They passed through the territory that had long been plundered by the giant red ants, traveled day and night, and finally arrived at the forest by the South River. This place was far away from the red ant tribe and the terrible red ant god.

“Clatter…”

Guli stood in the forest, listening to the river running in the distance and looking at the thousands of silent eyes in front of him, feeling a sense of despair that he was at the end of his road.

The leader of a hunting team was the first to break the silence: "Leader, are we going to hunt water beasts by the river?"

Gu Li shook his head and said, "No, I lied to you. We are not going to hunt this time."

"No hunting?"

The leader of the hunting team looked very surprised. He guessed something in his heart but didn't dare to say it out loud.

The tribesmen around also began to talk about it. They were almost coming out in full force this time. If they didn't hunt, let alone offer sacrifices, even filling their stomachs would be a big problem.

Gu Li climbed up a branch of a nearby tree and shouted to everyone from above, "Everyone, be quiet and come closer. I have something to say."

The tribesmen in the forest are very disciplined, especially since the person who was speaking was the leader.

The members of the Red Ant Tribe stopped discussing and crowded together near the big tree. Only the sound of heavy breathing could be heard.

Gu Li took a deep breath and said with difficulty: "I brought everyone out this time because I want to tell everyone a great secret about the tribe and the Ant God. This secret is only passed down by word of mouth by each leader, and even the witch doesn't know it."

"The secret is that the god of our ant tribe died a long time ago!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the tribesmen were immediately furious, and many of them even became so emotional that they wanted to hit others.

If the person who said this was not the leader Guli, and if it were not for the recent human-ant war, the person who said this would probably have been killed immediately by the excited tribesmen.

At this moment, Qie Ye stood up and shouted loudly: "I testify that before my grandfather died, he specifically asked us to carry him to the forest outside the tribe and told us this secret in person!"

After hearing what Qie Ye said, everyone started talking again. They all knew that the body of the previous elder was not brought into the ant nest but buried outside. This incident caused quite a stir at the time, but they didn't expect there was another hidden story.

Gu Li shouted again: "Everyone listen to me, I know it's hard for everyone to accept, but the time has come for this secret to be revealed."

Gradually, everyone quieted down again, staring at Gu Li with all kinds of emotions, hoping that he would give a clear explanation.

Guli recalled carefully and repeated in a heavy tone the secret his father had once told him.

"A long, long time ago, our tribe was called the Ant Tribe. Our tribe's patron saint was not the ferocious red ants, but the powerful black ant god."

"At that time, the ant tribe was very powerful, and the relationship between us and the black ants was very deep. We fought and lived together, and regarded them as friends and brothers."

"But then one day, the Red Ant God came. He sneaked into the ant nest and killed the Black Ant God. He also used a special method to confuse the black giant ants in the ant nest, making them support him as the new queen."

"After the red ants became the guardian gods, they began to reproduce red giant ants in large numbers. Gradually, all the black giant ants in the tribe were replaced by red giant ants. Our tribe was occupied by red giant ants!"

"Under the rule of the Red Ant God, the tribe has more and more rules, and there are more and more giant red ants. Our people have gradually become slaves without freedom and dignity, and are driven and exploited at will by the Red Ant God!"

"Those giant red ants have occupied the ant nest, occupied our territory, and robbed us of our food, making our lives worse and worse. We can't even fill our stomachs, and people often starve to death!"

"Everything we have has been taken away by the giant red ants, even the power of our totems. All of our tribesmen are slaves while alive, and will become food for the giant red ants after death."

"Two days ago, the Red Ant God even asked us to hold a human sacrifice and use our brothers and relatives to exchange for the power of the totem. It wants to force us to death!"

Gu Li almost shouted out the last sentence, because this secret had been suppressed in his heart for too long, and what he had experienced recently made him see no hope for the future of the tribe.

In the forest, after hearing Gu Li's words, thousands of tribesmen fell into deathly silence, with only heavy breathing.

Some people instinctively wanted to refute, but when they thought about their recent experiences and the unfair treatment they had suffered in the past, they turned pale and closed their mouths.

Especially the word "human sacrifice" is something that most people cannot accept at all, because once they agree, the next sacrifice that is sent into the Red Ant God's mouth may very likely be themselves or their relatives.

After a long time, someone finally asked in a trembling voice: "Chief... Chief, what should we do?"

Gu Li took another deep breath and spoke with great difficulty: "At this point, we have no other choice. Staying in the tribe will only lead to death. Leaving the tribe may give us a glimmer of hope."

"Leave...leave the tribe..."

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Everyone's faces turned paler. Although many of them had thought about this problem recently, and a small number of them had already fled the tribe, many people still could not accept it when they really faced it.

Gu Li pointed in the direction of the river and said, "That place is the narrowest section of the river nearby. I noticed a long time ago that there are some huge vines entwined around the big trees on both sides of the river, connecting the two sides of the river."

"As long as we follow those giant vines, we can cross the river bank, completely leave the Red Ant Tribe, and seek a living somewhere else."

"We have more people and we are all experienced warriors. Even if we lose the power of the totem, as long as we hold on together, our chances of survival will be much greater than that of other tourists."

Someone questioned, "But we didn't bring anything except weapons this time, and there are still some people left in the tribe. What will they do if we leave?"

Gu Li said in a heavy tone: "The tribe has been completely controlled by the giant red ants. If you want to leave, you must take them by surprise and give up something."

"This may be the only chance to leave the tribe. Think carefully. Those who are willing to go with me, we can cross the river together later. Those who don't want to go can go back to the tribe. However, with the attitude of the Red Ant God, the days ahead will definitely be more difficult. It will be difficult to survive if you go back."

Everyone started discussing it again. After all, this was a matter of life and death, and there was only one chance. If they made the wrong choice, they might lose their lives.

At this time, the hunting leader said, "I will go with the chief. The Red Ant God treats us as slaves and food. If we stay in the tribe, we will die. It is better to go to the other side of the river and try our luck. Maybe we can survive!"

As soon as the hunting captain made his statement, many warriors in the hunting team immediately shouted, "Let's follow the leader too."

Most people followed the crowd, and when more than half of the hunting team's warriors said they wanted to leave, the rest followed suit.

"I'm following the leader. My father has been eaten by giant red ants. Why should I go back?"

"I'll follow the leader too. There's nothing to eat in the tribe and I'll starve to death sooner or later."

"We will follow the leader..."

When more than 80% of the people were willing to leave, the leader Guli stopped hesitating and raised his spear, shouting, "Those who are willing to leave, follow me. I will lead you to the other side of the river and fight your way out!"

After Guli finished shouting, he walked towards the river first, looking for a giant vine suitable for crossing the river.

Qie Ye followed his father excitedly. He was a rebellious teenager and hated the giant red ants very much. Leaving the tribe was a relief for him.

However, before leaving, he suddenly remembered the tourist girl named "Fengcao". He looked back in the direction of the tribe and suddenly felt a little sad, because once he crossed the river, he might never come back, and he didn't know whether he could see her again in the future.

Under the leadership of Guli, thousands of people crossed the river in a mighty procession along the giant vines that spanned the river. They were all people who had been active in the forest for a long time, and even if they had lost the power of the totem, they were still agile and could easily climb the vines and cross the river.

Of course, there were also a small number of people who were reluctant to leave the tribe for various reasons and did not choose to cross the river with everyone.

They searched for some food nearby, and then returned to the tribe with sad hearts, waiting for an unknown fate to come.

After these people returned to the tribe, the news that Guli had defected with most of the tribe members spread throughout the entire Red Ant Tribe.

"It's over, it's all over. How can I face the great witches of the Ant Tribe?"

The witch of the Red Ant Tribe smiled miserably and committed suicide by taking poison.

After the witch died, the Red Ant God realized that he had been fooled and became furious. He ordered the killing of all the people left in the tribe and devoured their bodies.

From that day on, the Red Ant Tribe existed in name only, and there was not a single member of the tribe left in the vast territory.

However, although there are no people in the Red Ant Tribe, the Red Ant God and those ferocious red giant ants are still there, and they still pose a great threat to nearby tribes.

…

The great changes in the Red Ant Tribe soon reached Jiang Xuan's ears through the information provided by the thorn vine.

When Jiang Xuan heard this information, he felt it was hard to believe, but he also felt that there seemed to be signs of this.

He sighed, "I never thought that a large tribe with a long history would perish in this way."

At the same time, Jiang Xuan felt that it might not be a good thing for a tribe to rely too much on totem gods.

However, most tribes in the past followed this model, and the totem gods could indeed bring strength to people and protect the tribe, so no one would think about this issue at all.

The destruction of the Red Ant Tribe gave Jiang Xuan a wake-up call.

If a tribe relies too much on a totem god, once the totem god's mentality changes or an accident occurs, the tribe, no matter how powerful it was, will fall apart in an instant.

He also thought that the Mountain Turtle Tribe was also a large tribe in the central region. After suffering a devastating disaster, although they fled to the north and their strength and size were sharply reduced to a small tribe, they survived at least.

Because when the old turtle god was dying, he supported a young turtle god and let it lead the tribe to continue to reproduce and thrive.

Jiang Xuan suddenly thought, if a tribe can support a few more totem gods, own a few more territories, and put eggs in several baskets, wouldn't its ability to resist risks be improved? The more he thought about it, the more reliable it seemed. He just didn't know if the vine god knew about this idea and would strangle this rebellious leader to death...

Thanks to the book friend "Longwu Loves Reading" for the reward.