Chapter 56: Visitors Attracted by the Bonfire

On September 10th, the Teng tribe prepared the offerings, and Jiang Xuan spent another day opening the kiln to burn the three large pottery tripods into pottery.

Thanks to the extensive experience accumulated previously, and the fact that the pottery tripods themselves are relatively thick and not prone to cracking during firing, all three pottery tripods were fired successfully this time.

The surface of these pottery tripods is dark red, and the outer walls are engraved with totem patterns of the Teng tribe, as well as patterns of flowers, birds, insects, fish, and fierce beasts. At first glance, they give people a sense of simplicity and grandeur.

Jiang Xuan carried the three new pottery tripods to the center of the new altar and arranged them in a triangle shape, representing the meaning of three giving birth to all things.

In addition to the pottery tripod, the altar is surrounded by eight thick totem poles, and even the huge animal bones are neatly arranged.

The altar of the Teng tribe finally had some mysterious and sacred feeling. Even the old witch often went there to take a few turns and found the arrangement amazing.

On September 12, Jiang Xuan got up early in the morning and found that the ground had turned white, but it was not snowing, but frost.

Jiang Xuan returned to the bamboo house, holding his bamboo tube calendar, and used a stone knife to carve the two small words "Frost Descent" next to "September 12th".

"The weather is getting colder and colder. It will probably snow soon. Everything is ready. It's time to hold the sacrificial ceremony."

If it was delayed any further, Jiang Xuan was worried that the divine vine would be affected by the coming winter, because it was a plant after all.

"Winter is approaching, and the fighting between the tribes should have ended. Now is a good time to recruit tourists!"

Jiang Xuan planned to start attracting tourists immediately. It would be best if he could let them witness the sacrificial process with their own eyes, especially the part where the sacred vine was reviving. This would have a deterrent effect on those tourists.

Before, Jiang Xuan recruited Gan Song and others by chance and persuaded them to join the Teng tribe.

But that would be too inefficient. It is not easy to find tourists in the vast forest.

Jiang Xuan thought of a simpler method, which was to light a huge bonfire in the wide open space in front of the Teng tribe, and add some raw branches and wet grass on the bonfire.

This way, the bonfire will produce thick smoke that rises straight into the sky and can be seen from a long distance away.

There is a high probability that desperate tourists nearby will come over to check after seeing the obviously man-made smoke.

At that time, Jiang Xuan could easily recruit some tourists who wanted to join the tribe.

Moreover, over the past year, Jiang Xuan and others have explored a wide area near the Teng tribe and have not found any hostile tribes, so there is no need to worry that the thick smoke will attract the attention of hostile tribes.

Because the Southern Wilderness is full of towering mountains, it is difficult to see too far unless you stand on the top of a high mountain.

Jiang Xuan told this method to others, and everyone thought there was nothing wrong with it.

Jiang Xuan found a few people, picked up a large amount of firewood, and piled it in the middle of the farmland where the crops had been harvested, forming a large firewood pile more than three meters high.

"ignition!"

Jiang Xuan held a burning torch in his hand and lit the huge bonfire.

“Crackle, crackle…”

The wood was very dry, and once one spot was lit, the fire spread rapidly until the entire bonfire was burning brightly, with waves of heat rolling.

Then, Jiang Xuan covered the burning campfire with a large amount of raw branches and some wet grass.

Thick smoke soon billowed out and turned into a huge column of smoke that shot straight into the sky.

“What a high smoke!”

Gan Song looked up at the billowing smoke and exclaimed in admiration, and others also exclaimed in amazement.

The bonfire will continue to burn for several days until Jiang Xuan recruits enough tourists for the Teng tribe.

Jiang Xuan stood beside the fire and said to everyone, "Sister, Uncaria, Stone Eel, Nanxing, go and temporarily remove the traps on both sides of the tribe to avoid hurting the tourists who come here."

"Tomorrow at noon, when the sun is at its highest, the sacrifice will be held on time, regardless of whether there are any tourists."

Many tribes hold sacrificial ceremonies at night because animal totem gods mostly like to forage for food at night and are more active at night than during the day.

But the Teng tribe is different. Their totem god is a sacred vine, which is more active during the day when there is sunlight and is more suitable for sacrifice.

"Okay, let's go now."

Chishao and others immediately set out to temporarily remove the traps around the tribe.

"Next, it all depends on luck."

Jiang Xuan stood beside the campfire, looking up at the billowing smoke, feeling the wave after wave of heat, and praying that he would be able to attract enough tourists.

At this time, in a forest two mountains away from the Teng tribe, hundreds of tourists were walking around in a daze.

They are a group of people who have lost their tribe, and they come from many tribes. In order to survive in the dangerous primeval forest, they chose to stick together.

They have come a long way, and along the way, they have experienced all kinds of dangerous attacks from wild beasts and plants. People keep joining the journey, some die, and no one knows where the destination is.

Many tourists like this die in the forest every year.

They may freeze to death, starve to death, be eaten by wild beasts, or be used as fertilizer by exotic plants.

They had no tribe to shelter them, no strong warriors to protect them, no time to find enough food to survive the winter, and no enough animal skins to keep them warm.

It is very difficult to survive in such a harsh situation.

"Jingjie, do you think we can find the big tribe?"

Among the tourists, there was a tall tribesman named Jingjie. He was the only warrior among the group of tourists. If it weren’t for him, these tourists would have died even faster.

Because of his strong strength, Jingjie became the leader of this group, leading them to fight for time with winter, hoping to find a large tribe to take them in.

Jingjie didn't look back. He said firmly, "I believe we will find the big tribe!"

However, Jing Jie had no idea whether he could find a large tribe to take him in.

He only knew that if he gave up hope, then this group of people would really have no hope.

"Yes, we will find it for sure."

"That's right, then we won't have to go hungry."

"Perhaps we can even cover ourselves with thick animal skins in the winter."

…

Several younger tourists started a discussion and became more and more excited as they talked, as if good days were just around the corner.

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However, the older tourists had very pessimistic or numb eyes, because they had experienced too many disappointments and no longer held such naive ideas.

Their only hope is to survive, even if it's just for one more day.

This is the instinct for survival.

“Rustle…”

A giant tiger suddenly jumped out from the bushes nearby and bit a tourist at the edge of the team.

"ah……"

The tourist let out a scream and was then dragged away by the saber-toothed tiger, leaving only a trail of blood on the ground.

"It's a Megalodon!"

The tourists were in chaos. They screamed in fear and tried to squeeze into the middle, fearing that other ferocious beasts would jump out from the surroundings.

"Don't mess around. The more you mess around, the faster you'll die. Do you want to die?"

At the critical moment, Jingjie stood up and roared.

But the tourists were too scared, and Jingjie spent a long time yelling and kicking to get these frightened tourists to stop running and crowding around.

"Keep moving forward and pay attention to the surroundings."

Jingjie continued walking in front with a stone axe in his hand. Such scenes had happened many times along the way. Although he was angry, he was powerless.

Be sure to find a tribe that can take in tourists!

Jing Jie gritted his teeth secretly. He could only rely on this belief to support himself and keep moving forward, otherwise he was afraid that he would collapse like those tourists.

As they walked, two more tourists were dragged away by wild beasts, and another tourist suffered a mental breakdown and escaped from the group, most likely dying in the jungle.

Jingjie's heart kept sinking, but he had no choice but to grit his teeth and persevere.

They reached the top of a valley, and Jingjie climbed onto a boulder to look around. Suddenly, he saw a thick smoke in the distance.

The smoke rose almost straight into the sky and was isolated, unlike the smoke caused by wildfires that was continuous.

"Bonfire, big bonfire!"

Jingjie was so excited that he almost jumped up. As a tribesman, he was very familiar with the smoke produced by the campfire.

If it was a small bonfire, it would definitely not produce such a thick, large column of smoke. Only the big bonfires lit when the tribe held a grand event would produce such an effect! "There must be a tribe ahead, a big tribe!"

"Keep going, and rush to that big tribe, maybe we'll be taken in!"

Jingjie climbed down from the boulder and shouted excitedly to the tourists.

“Are there really big tribes?”

"Very good!"

"We can all survive!"

…

Some of the tourists cheered and then continued to move forward following Nepeta.

Some tourists were rather numb because they had been excited many times before but were hit by reality again and again and now they no longer dared to believe in miracles.

With all kinds of thoughts in mind, the group of tourists quickly moved towards the direction of the thick smoke, and in the process, some more people lost their lives.

Thanks to the book friend "Yun Zhike" for the reward.

Thanks to the book friend "Yuqu" for the reward.

(End of this chapter)