Chapter 58: Sacrifice Begins
Early the next morning, all the members of the Teng tribe stayed in the tribe, busy preparing for the sacrificial ceremony.
Even the weeds, bushes and bamboos around the altar were cleared away.
In the bamboo house, Chishao followed the old witch to practice the sacrificial language and rituals for the last time.
"When chanting the mantra, be reverent and stretch your arms out straight, like this..."
The old witch demonstrated it to Chishao, chanting a dry and difficult to understand spell. This spell had a special charm that made people excited after listening to it.
After teaching several times, the old witch said with satisfaction: "You are very talented and learn very quickly. These incantations for summoning gods and blessing spells are difficult for people without talent to learn."
"Okay, get ready and go to participate in the sacrifice. Remember, when you are at the altar, don't be nervous and be pious in your heart."
Chishao nodded solemnly. She was well aware of the importance of this sacrifice and did not want to make any mistakes.
This was not only the first sacrifice of the Teng tribe, but also the day when Gan Song and others officially became members of the Teng tribe. There were also more than a hundred new tourists watching the ceremony.
As the main priest, Chishao's every move will affect the effectiveness of this sacrifice, so she is under tremendous pressure.
But Chishao did not retreat, nor was she afraid. Instead, she resolutely took on this important task. This was due to her tenacious character.
Chishao left the bamboo house. The old witch sat in the bamboo house and solemnly painted the totem pattern of the Eagle Tribe on his old face.
He painted meticulously. He had done this countless times, but he was very serious every time.
He was also invited by Jiang Xuan to watch the sacrifice and draw the totem patterns, which was the most basic respect for the Teng tribe.
After drawing the totem pattern, the old witch tidied up his animal skin clothes, hung up bone ornaments, put on a feather crown, and walked towards the altar of the Vine tribe.
Not far away, the tourists who had spent the night outside the Teng tribe gathered together, looking anxiously at the busy figures at the Teng tribe.
After a whole morning of observation, they found that the Teng tribe was even smaller than they had imagined, with only a dozen members, not even as good as a small tribe.
"Are we really going to stay here?"
"There are so few people in this tribe. Do they really have so much food for the winter?"
“But that big bird is so scary.”
…
The tourists were talking about it and were all worried about their future fate.
Jingjie was sitting on a rock, holding a weapon similar to a mace. His face looked solemn and his eyes were a little melancholy.
This "mace" is actually made of a tree covered with thorns.
This tree is very hard and has a certain toughness. The tribesmen are accustomed to grinding off all the sharp thorns on it and using them to make weapons such as spears.
But Nepeta had a sudden idea and kept the spike at one end, turning it into a mace. It was very easy to use and had great lethality.
Jing Jie had been thinking about the two choices Jiang Xuan gave him, but in fact, neither of them was a good choice.
The first option is for Jingjie to join the Teng tribe with twenty-nine people, then there is a high probability that the others will freeze to death or starve to death this winter.
The second option is for everyone to stay in the Teng tribe, using the rations for thirty people and the method of obtaining food in winter mentioned by Jiang Xuan, to wait until the ice and snow melted.
If Jingjie was a very heartless and selfish person, he wouldn't have to hesitate at all and would have chosen the first one directly.
Unfortunately, he is not. On the contrary, he is a responsible person and he hopes to keep all the tourists alive.
Because it is heartless, it is painful and it is difficult to make a decision.
"Well, let's take a look again."
Jingjie looked at the mysterious ancient vine behind the Teng Tribe, hoping for a miracle to happen.
…
At noon, when the sun reached its highest point, the sacrificial ceremony of the Teng tribe finally began.
On the altar, three large tripods were filled with various wild fruits and grains, which looked quite spectacular.
The sacrifices, such as the ground beast, giant turtle, bighorn sheep, colorful pheasant, five-colored duck, giant bamboo rat, etc., all had their necks cut with stone knives, and then were neatly placed on the altar, allowing the blood to flow and soak the totem patterns.
The eight totem poles surrounding the altar were also smeared with animal blood, adding a touch of mystery.
Even the old witch was surprised to see so many sacrifices, which exceeded the scale of sacrifices of many small tribes.
The three large pottery tripods filled with food shocked the old witch even more. This was a way of sacrificial offering that he had never seen in the records of other tribes, or even in the Eagle Tribe.
The old witch sighed: "Just looking at their sacrificial rituals, who would dare to say that this is a small tribe?"
All the members of the Teng tribe took a bath, put on their best animal skins, and wore the best animal teeth, horns and other ornaments. They stood in front of the altar with solemn expressions and excited moods.
The old witch, as one of the people invited to watch the ceremony, stood at the front on the left, while the more than one hundred tourists stood at the back, nervously waiting for the Teng tribe's sacrifice.
Jiang Xuan glanced at the position of the sun, then shouted loudly: "The Autumn Festival begins now!"
Everyone became nervous. Even the tourists didn't dare to talk to each other anymore. They all stared at the altar intently.
Chishao took a deep breath, then took off his animal leather boots, walked barefoot up the steps, step by step, to the altar which was more than three meters high.
Facing the ancient vines on the stone mountain, she slowly opened her arms and began to chant the spell to summon the gods taught by the old witch.
"Oh, oh, oh, oh..."
The mysterious spell to summon gods has dry and difficult to understand words, but it is very rhythmic, just like an ancient ballad. The ups and downs of the tones can unconsciously stir people's emotions.
As Chishao sang, a scene appeared that shocked all the tourists and the old witch.
On the tall stone mountain, there was a divine vine coiled like a giant dragon, emitting brilliant green light all over its body.
Although it is late autumn, the branches and leaves of the sacred vine are as green as jade, showing vitality.
The giant dragonfly that was lying on the ancient vine and was dying due to the cold weather seemed to be injected with new life force and flew lightly around the stone mountain.
Countless roots broke out from the ground, coiled around the altar, and finally wrapped up the three large tripods and all the offerings on the altar. The blood on the altar was quickly absorbed by the roots.
Even the eight totem poles were completely wrapped by the roots of the divine vine, and not a single bit of the beast blood smeared on them was wasted.
After Chishao finished reciting the spell to invite the gods, she bowed down and waited for the divine vine to enjoy the offering. The roots were entwined around her, but not a single one of them touched her. It was very magical.
"sky……"
Among the tourists, someone was about to scream, but his mouth was immediately covered by the person next to him, for fear that he would offend the guardian god of the Teng tribe and bring disaster upon them.
Even Jingjie was deeply shocked, because in their original tribe, the totem god had long become a legend, and except for some things that were said to be divine bones, no one had ever seen a living totem god.
But now, he saw the living totem god with his own eyes in the Teng tribe. The shock he felt was indescribable.
Almost in an instant, he decided to stay in the Teng Tribe with everyone, and the two choices that had troubled him for a long time disappeared.
What does it matter if the tribe is small? What does it matter if there are few people? Having a living totem god to protect us is more important than anything else! Thanks to the book friend "I am so high that I can't help it" for the reward.
(End of this chapter)
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