Chapter 215 Internal and External Troubles
The old witch looked at Jiang Xuan's tall back and admired his mentality and adaptability.
Chishao was also infected by Jiang Xuan's courage. Without hesitation, she followed the old witch and went outside with Jiang Xuan.
At this time, the more than 2,000 members of the Teng tribe in front of the altar were already anxious. If it weren't for the control of leaders such as Gou Teng, the crowd would probably have rioted.
After Jiang Xuan, Chi Shao and Lao Wu came back, everyone's eyes were on them.
Jiang Xuan calmly cleaned the stones on the altar, then walked up to the altar step by step.
Because the altar was relatively close to the rocky mountain and was built of mud, it was hit quite hard by the rocks. Some parts were smashed, and large cracks appeared in some places, making it look dilapidated.
But an altar is an altar. Even if it is rather dilapidated, it still holds a very high status in the hearts of the tribesmen.
"Everyone, be quiet for a moment!"
Jiang Xuan shouted and stretched out his hand to press down. The more than 2,000 members of the Teng tribe gradually quieted down. Everyone looked at Jiang Xuan and no one whispered to each other anymore.
At this time, Chishao also walked up to the altar step by step and stood beside Jiang Xuan.
As for the old witch, he is not a member of the Teng tribe and is not qualified to ascend the altar.
Jiang Xuan whispered to Chi Shao, "Sister, let's do as we discussed before."
Chishao nodded slightly, and then announced to everyone:
"My fellow tribesmen, the Vine God has not left us. He just consumed too much of his divine power while going through the thunder tribulation, and needs to sleep for a while. Once the Vine God recovers his divine power, he will protect everyone as before!"
"Very good……"
The crowd burst into cheers. As long as Fujigami was still there, there was nothing to fear.
Even though some minority members had doubts about Chishao's words, no one dared to speak out.
In a tribe, the witch often represents the will of the totem god. Questioning the witch's words is a very serious crime and the person will be executed.
After Chishao finished speaking, Jiang Xuan said some more words to boost morale, then asked the soldiers to stay and clear the rocks, while the others went back to do their own work.
The huge stone mountain was broken into pieces, and there were a lot of rocks around it, which definitely needed to be cleared.
Uncaria asked, "Chief, where should we move these stones?"
"For now, pile them up in the open space next to it, and move them wherever they are needed later."
"yes!"
After receiving the order, the warriors of the Teng tribe began to work.
They carried or lifted the stones of all sizes to both sides and placed them in piles.
Three days later, all the stones were piled up to form small hills of stones.
Immediately afterwards, Chishao led people to repair the altar and the totem pole next to the altar.
During this process, the half-charred divine vine did not change at all, as if it was really dead.
At the same time, the news that the totem god of the Teng tribe had survived the tribulation gradually spread to the nearby tribes.
When the divine vine was undergoing the tribulation, the noise was so loud that the terrifying and thrilling scene could be seen from a long distance away, and it could not be concealed from other tribes at all.
However, after the divine vine passed the tribulation, the totem gods of several nearby small tribes did not feel the powerful aura of the totem god of the large tribe. Even the original aura of the divine vine disappeared.
As a result, these small tribes inevitably became confused, and some people speculated that the divine vine might have failed to survive the tribulation.
Of course, speculation is just speculation. Before there is definite news, the nearby small tribes dare not have any thoughts about the Teng tribe.
Because in recent years, the Teng Tribe has successively destroyed several powerful small and medium-sized tribes, and even the Black Snake Tribe has not been able to gain any advantage over the Teng Tribe.
The various past performances of the Teng tribe are like halos, blessing the Teng tribe.
Before the halo disappears or is broken, any tribe that wants to touch the Teng tribe must think carefully.
The trading area of the Teng tribe also remained open, as Jiang Xuan didn't want the Teng tribe to show any abnormality.
However, the stone mountain was chopped down to only a large stone, and the sacred vine was chopped down to only half of the charred main stem and invisible roots underground.
Both people from other tribes and members of this tribe were very uncomfortable with the situation.
Whenever they looked at that place, the empty scene made them feel particularly uneasy.
The only good news for the Teng Tribe was that the 108 giant dragonflies did not leave after the Teng God passed the tribulation.
They used to live on rocky mountains and keep company with the sacred vines.
Now, the stone mountain is gone, and the sacred vines are gone, and they can only live on the tall vine walls.
Many people rely on these giant dragonflies to keep their faith alive every day.
As long as the giant dragonfly is here, the Fuji God must still be here too. He might wake up from his slumber one day...
However, as time passed, the divine vine still showed no signs of awakening. Even the half of the vine that was burnt to charcoal was becoming smaller and smaller under the sun and rain.
As time went on, some people in the tribe began to lose their patience.
…
On the evening of July 20th, a man and a woman were arguing in a wooden house on the edge of the Teng tribe residential area.
The woman shrieked, "Everyone else is working in hunting teams, fishing teams, or at worst in workshops. What about you? You're patrolling and guarding the gates there every day, but you don't get any benefits at all!"
The man argued: "We are protecting the safety of the tribe!"
"Safe? There are so many soldiers in the guard team. One more or one less won't make a difference. Do you think you, a soldier of the same color, are irreplaceable?"
The woman became angrier and angrier as she spoke, her tone becoming more and more harsh: "The hunting and fishing teams often get a share of meat, and the people in the workshops often get rewards from the tribe, but what about you? You've worked for so long, and what have you got?"
The man opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. Compared to other teams, the guard team did less work and faced less danger, so they didn't get as many rewards.
Seeing that the man didn't say anything, the woman became even more furious. She pointed at the man and cursed, "I was so blind that I followed a loser like you and lived such a hard life."
"Others live in mud brick houses, but you live in this broken wooden house. Others can exchange goods for knife coins, but you haven't even taken a single knife coin back. I've had enough of this life!"
The man's face turned pale and blue, and finally, he yelled, "Enough!"
“Boom!”
Just then, thunder suddenly sounded outside, accompanied by strong winds, and then heavy rain began to fall.
The woman was frightened by the man's roar and thunder, and did not dare to push him too far.
But soon, because of the heavy rain, several places in the wooden house began to leak, and rain water dripped onto the ground.
This made the woman feel even worse.
The men used wooden troughs and clay pots to collect rainwater, while the women sat by the fire, finding everything unpleasant.
After the man finished his work, the woman held back her breath and spoke again, "Why don't you go and ask the leader to transfer you to another team?"
The man didn't say anything, because he knew that his strength was relatively weak, and he joined the Vine Tribe relatively late, so it was not easy for him to join the guard team. Except for the planting team and the breeding team, it was difficult for him to join other teams.
The woman wanted to lose her temper, but seeing the man's expression, she felt that it wouldn't do much good, so she endured it again.
"Spear, you should think about our future. We will have a child soon. Do you want the child to suffer with us?"
The man named "Spear" continued to keep his head down and remained silent, but when he thought of his future children, his heart softened a little.
The woman looked around and lowered her voice and said, "I heard that Fujin was actually killed by lightning."
Mao was shocked by the woman's words. He quickly covered her mouth and said, "Are you crazy? How dare you say such a thing?"
The woman struggled to pry open the spear's hand and said, "Many people say this in private. What are you afraid of? If Fujin was still alive, the first person who said this would have died long ago."
Spear frowned and fell silent again.
The woman lowered her voice and said, "With the Vine God gone, I don't think the Vine Tribe can hold out for much longer. If other tribes attack us at that time, I'm afraid we will all be in danger."
"So, we have to make plans for ourselves and our future children."
The woman approached the spear and said in a low voice, "I heard that other tribes are asking for news about the Teng Tribe. We can find a powerful tribe and exchange the news about the Teng Tribe for you. I can make you a leader, and my child and I can also enjoy the good life."
Mao flatly refused: "No, the tribe has been so good to us. We have never been short of food, clothing, and daily necessities. How can we betray the tribe?"
The woman poked Mao's head angrily and said, "Are you crazy? If the Teng tribe really treats you well, they should let you join a better team, let you live in a house you own, eat good food, and use good things!"
"But what about now? Look at this shabby house. It's far worse than the houses where other soldiers live!"
"We were tourists before, and we joined the Teng Tribe just to live a good life. Now we don't have a good life, and we have to face danger. What are we still doing guarding the Teng Tribe?"
"Since the Teng tribe has lost its totem god, it will be destroyed by other tribes sooner or later. What's wrong with us using the information of the Teng tribe to exchange for some benefits?"
Mao subconsciously wanted to refute, but didn't know how to refute, and his face turned red.
Human desires can never be satisfied.
When they were hungry, cold and worried about being eaten by wild beasts in the forest every day, having a wooden house, food to eat and clothes to wear was what they had always dreamed of.
Now, they have a wooden house, are well fed and well clothed, but seeing others living better, they feel unbalanced and also want to have such a good life.
But they never think about whether they have the ability or whether they are willing to give as much as others.
The woman continued to induce: "Mao, we are not members of the Teng Tribe. We don't need to perish along with the Teng Tribe."
"When we join the new tribe and live a good life, I will listen to you in everything, okay?"
The woman was just an ordinary person, not even a warrior. She knew very well that even if she wanted to sell the news, other tribes might not believe it.
But Mao is different. He is a guard warrior of the Teng tribe, and his words are much more credible to other tribes.
If it weren't for this, the woman would have given up and done it herself long ago, and there would be no need to waste so much time talking about it here.
"Let...let me think about it..."
Mao felt his mind was in a mess. On the one hand, the Teng tribe was really good to him. On the other hand, they had only been members of the Teng tribe for two years and their feelings for the tribe were not deep enough to allow them to sacrifice their lives for them at any time.
Outside, the rain was still falling, and the woman continued to persuade Mao with various reasons, hoping that he would not perish with the Teng tribe...
Teng tribe, in the bamboo forest.
“Clatter…”
It was raining very heavily. Jiang Xuan stood by the door, looking at the dark night sky, listening to the sound of rain, with a serious expression on his face.
Soon, a beam of fire appeared in the bamboo forest and quickly moved towards Jiang Xuan's yard.
Nowadays, Jiang Xuan's yard no longer has a gate because Yueya and Tangyuan are too big and it is inconvenient to enter and exit.
The flame kept flickering in the wind and rain, as if it would go out at any time, but it never went out.
It turned out that this was a torch, and the owner of the torch was Fengcao, who was holding a fur umbrella tightly.
The animal skin umbrella is the latest product of the garment workshop. The umbrella handle and ribs are made of bronze, and the umbrella cover is made of animal skin. Although it is not possible to make an umbrella that can be opened and closed freely due to technical reasons, it is sturdy.
"leader."
Fengcao walked under the eaves and put down the heavy bronze animal skin umbrella.
"Thank you for your hard work. Come in."
Jiang Xuan took the torch from Fengcao's hand, walked to the fire pit, poked the torch into the ashes to extinguish it, then picked up a clay pot from the fire pit and poured a bowl of hot ginger soup.
"Have a bowl of soup first to warm yourself up."
Although he had an umbrella, the rain was so heavy that Fengcao's lower body was soaked and was still dripping when he came in.
"Thank you, Chief."
Fengcao caught the ceramic bowl, blew on it, then drank the ginger soup in small sips and gently placed the ceramic bowl on the table.
Only then did the two begin to talk about business.
"How's the investigation going on?"
"Chief, there are indeed a few people in the tribe who are privately spreading false information about Fujin."
"What did they say?"
Feng Cao looked at Jiang Xuan and said cautiously, "They said... Teng Shen was struck to death by lightning... by lightning..."
Jiang Xuan seemed to have expected this, and his expression did not change.
"Does anyone want to leave the tribe?"
"have."
"How many people are there?"
"Only three people have been identified so far, and the others are still being investigated."
"Okay, don't alert the enemy for now, and continue the investigation in secret."
"yes."
After saying this, Fengcao looked at Jiang Xuan again, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.
"Just say what you want to say."
"Chief, the vine god has not yet awakened. The people in the tribe are in chaos, and the outside tribes are eyeing us covetously. I'm worried that someone will sell out the tribe for profit."
Since becoming the leader of the Thorn Vines, Fengcao has learned a lot of dirty things. She is no longer the simple girl she used to be, and she will not underestimate the viciousness of human nature.
Jiang Xuan said: "The tribe is big, there are all kinds of people, you are right to worry like this."
"But the crime of betraying the tribe is too serious. We must find evidence to arrest the person. During this period of time, please keep a close eye on the people entering and leaving the tribe for me."
"Don't worry, Chief. I have deployed personnel near the four gates to guard them day and night!"
Jiang Xuan nodded and said, "Please keep an eye on the tribes around us. If there is any unusual movement, report it to me immediately."
"yes!"
"Chief, I'll go back first."
"Okay, be safe on the road."
Fengcao lit the torch again, held up the heavy bronze animal-hide umbrella, and walked into the rain...
(End of this chapter)
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