Chapter 105 - Hibernating (2/2)

While Zhou Ji was talking to the priest, the people who had only just joined the Big Bear Tribe were all observing Zhou Ji.

It had been ten days since Xiong Ye had led these people back to the tribe. During these ten days, they had already become familiar with the priest and Xiong He as well as some of the other people from the Big Bear Tribe, but they hadn’t even seen this Zhou Ji who was supposed to be the Beast God’s messenger at all.

Now that they finally had a chance to see him, it was natural for them to be curious.

“This person is very good looking.”

“The clothes he wears also look good.”

“Is that Zhou Ji?”

……

Everyone was discussing him, and someone even said, “I heard that Zhou Ji is the Beast God’s messenger. Does that mean that he can… say, do you guys think that he can have a baby?”

Zhou Ji, whose spiritual powers were so strong that he had been able to hear everything clearly: “……”

By the time the barley tea was finished, everyone from the tribe had all arrived.

At this time, the priest stepped out into the open space in the middle of the valley, “Today is the day when Xiong Ye will take over as the tribal chief of the Big Bear Tribe. I will pray here and ask the Beast God to bless our tribe…”

The priest said a long string of words, and after he spoke, he once again started to dance.

Zhou Ji felt that the priest’s dancing was as difficult to watch as ever.

If Xiong Ye was the one dancing, it would definitely be good to watch… Hold on, Xiong Ye shouldn’t dance for these kinds of events. If he wanted to dance, he should dance for him alone in their room for him to watch.

After dancing, the priest then started to speak again. He also had someone bring up a bowl of meat, a single fish, a bowl of barley, and a bowl of earth eggs. “Great Beast God, I offer up these delicious foods to you, may you bless our tribe…”

The priest had organized quite a lot of things. He was really quite capable.

All of this seemed very basic for Zhou Ji, who had participated in many modern day ceremonies, but it felt very grand to these ordinary beastmen who had gathered around to watch.

The people who had just joined the Big Bear Tribe felt nothing but admiration when they watched this-the Big Bear Tribe was really different from other tribes!

They had never known that such things should be done when a new tribal chief stepped up to the position, and they had never known that they should offer food to the Beast God… The people of the Big Bear Tribe really knew a lot of things!

These people looked at those who had been born and raised in the Big Bear Tribe with envy, and thought that they must have had a great life from childhood. They didn’t know that the natives of the Big Bear Tribe were actually in a bit of a daze at the moment.

It hadn’t seemed so troublesome last time when Xiong He became their tribal chief! Was it because they had been too poor back then that the priest had omitted all these steps?

Singing songs, dancing, and the priest even had all the tribesmen dance with him, making Xiong Ye and Xiong He dance along as well.

Everyone started to dance, and only Zhou Ji and a few people who were unable to dance didn’t perform. ‘Those who were unable to dance’ actually referred to children who couldn’t walk yet, and people in other similar states.

Zhou Ji felt that he was a little out of sync with everyone, but he really couldn’t dance.

Zhou Ji had heard Xiong Ye say early on that this succession ceremony would be a little more complicated, but he hadn’t expected that it would become like this… However, it was really very lively.

Although he couldn’t really understand it, it was obvious that everyone else was very happy, Xiong Ye especially so.

Finally, Xiong Ye accepted a baton made of pottery from Xiong He’s hand.

This baton should be a piece of pottery that had been completed recently, but it was clearly now a symbol of power… Zhou Ji watched as Xiong Ye raised the baton above his head and said, “Big Bear Tribe! Big Bear Tribe!”

Everyone picked up the chant and shouted along, “Big Bear Tribe! Big Bear Tribe!”

The atmosphere in the tribe was very heated for a while. After that, everyone gathered together to eat.

Everyone was very happy, but Xiong He alone was very unhappy.

He was unhappy not because he had handed over the position of tribal chief, but because… While he had been about to happily settle down to eat, the priest had said to him, “Xiong He, you have to memorize the words that I spoke and the dance from today’s ceremony. All the Big Bear Tribe’s tribal chief succession ceremonies will be conducted like this in the future! The priest’s succession ceremony can be held like this too!”

Xiong He: “……” If he’d known it would turn out like this, he would’ve told the priest to say less! So, what exactly had the priest said before?

He really didn’t want to memorize it at all!

Hold on, he shouldn’t think about whether or not to memorize these things right now. He should first find a suitable student for the priest!

He was too old now and really couldn’t memorize anything!

While Xiong He was depressed, Xiong Ye was in high spirits.

He was smiling as he spoke to everyone in the tribe, and finally arrived by Zhou Ji’s side. He tugged at Zhou Ji’s hand, “Zhou Ji, let’s go dance.”

Zhou Ji didn’t actually want to dance at all, but perhaps because Xiong Ye’s gaze was too enthusiastic, he actually stood up and really started dancing…

The ceremony was over, but the dancing was still ongoing. Only, everyone had shifted to dance around the fire instead.

Although this dance was very casual, and everyone was dancing as they liked, it seemed as though this dancing was making everyone very happy?

Zhou Ji’s thoughts were indeed correct. After such a lively and energetic dance, the people of the Big Bear Tribe were all very happy.

The smiles on the faces of those who had been living dark lives as slaves for so long had grown wider and wider.

Everyone became even more filled with energy, and under Xiong Ye’s leadership, they took advantage of the fact that winter hadn’t yet fully arrived to stock up a lot of firewood and food.

There was an empty room in the place where Zhou Ji and Xiong Ye lived. Zhou Ji hadn’t paid attention to it, and so Xiong Ye had stuffed all kinds of things inside. Firewood alone took up half the room.

But this wasn’t all… Xiong Ye had piled up the larger pieces of wood outside the house.

Everyone was constantly busy, and winter quietly crept in.

One morning, Zhou Ji suddenly discovered that it was snowing outside.

They had basically finished all kinds of preparation, and the time had come… The priest immediately announced that winter had begun and that there was now no need to go out on collective hunts. Xiong Ye and Xiong He took out the food that the tribe had stored up and distributed it amongst the people of the tribe together.

Xiong Ye was given a lot of meat. He took the meat home and saw Zhou Ji standing under the eaves of their house, looking at the snowflakes.

“Zhou Ji, it’s cold outside. Why aren’t you staying inside the house?” Xiong Ye asked.

“I’m watching the snow.” Zhou Ji said. How many years had it been since he’d seen snow like this?

No, he had never seen a snowy scene like this.

The scenery here was too beautiful, and the person standing there was too attractive.

Zhou Ji and Xiong Ye worked together to bring the meat into the empty room and hang it up in the kitchen. After everything was done, Zhou Ji asked, “Xiong Ye, will you hibernate?”

Bears were animals that would usually hibernate. In winter, when food was scarce, they would dig a hole or find a cave to sleep in in order to wait for spring to arrive.

“There’s a lot of food this year, so I won’t go into hibernation!” Xiong Ye didn’t think twice before replying.

Bears would hibernate, but their hibernation wasn’t that deep and was actually more like sleeping. At least, they were able to wake up immediately if danger came along.

If there was food, they would even wake up and eat.

Xiong Ye had hibernated last year because there wasn’t enough food. This year, though… He wanted to stay together with Zhou Ji every day, eating and drinking and hugging and kissing!