Chapter 21 – You are burning (1/2)

Translated by Sunyancai

This was Shao Xuan’s first trip to the mountaintop.

In the tribe, people with higher position would also live higher near the top.

As they were closer to the mountaintop, Shao Xuan realized that the kids around, and those warriors leading their way ahead, including Ge, had lost their casualty as they went and became much more serious and reserved.

When Shao Xuan and his companions arrived, there were already a lot of people gathered around the fire pit. People living in mountain foot district stood relatively far from the fire pit. In fact, they were standing according to their living positions. The higher they lived in the mountain, the nearer they stood to the fire pit.

Luckily, even though they stood far from the center, the spot they stood on was a high terrain, so one could also barely see the situation by the fire pit.

How many people did the tribe have in total?

In the past he was not sure, but now, Shao Xuan had an estimation.

Today’s ceremony required all people in the tribe to attend. You had to come even if you were ill in bed, or had trouble walking. Shao Xuan calculated roughly and found out that the population of the tribe should be no less than a thousand, probably around one thousand and five hundred.

Over a thousand people did not seem to be very much in Shao Xuan’s eyes, but since he came to the tribe, it was his first time seeing so many people, so it was a lively day for him.

On the mountaintop, there was an empty ground, in the center of which there was a crater. And in the center of the crater, there was a flame swaying in the wind.

The fire pit.

This was also Shao Xuan’s first time to see the tribe’s fire pit, which was not even close to the image he had in mind.

Shao Xuan had questioned why the tribe’s fire pit would be located at the mountaintop. After all, it was the coldest place in the whole mountain. What’s more, there was already a well-developed fire maker. Why bother to keep a fire pit? Everyone spoke with extreme reverence when they talked about the fire pit. And the way they looked at the mountaintop was with unshakable devotion.

He had heard from people in the tribe, that the fire pit was connected with the tribe’s prosperity. As for how they were connected, Shao Xuan had never heard a word. Now, he may find an answer with his own eyes.

The big empty space on the mountaintop was enough for everyone in the tribe to stand on.

The crater had a radius of four or five meters, but the flame burning in the middle was just like normal candlelight. It was not bright, and it seemed like it could easily be blown out by the wind. Also, inside the fire pit, Shao Xuan did not see any wood or anything burnable. Under the flame, there were no combustion-supporting materials.

This was an eternal fire in the fire pit.

Beside the timber piles there were crowds of people standing there. From the discussion around, Shao Xuan learnt that those were the strongest warriors from different hunting teams. Some of them were still young, while the others were middle-aged. In total there were fifty warriors.

Their faces were painted with the same lines as those on Ge’s face. However, what differed was that the totem on their face was no longer in a single dark color. White and red was mixed up in those lines, and they were dressed up in a grander style. Someone wore a pair of giant antlers on his head, which were much bigger in size than any of the antlers Shao Xuan had seen others wearing. They nearly covered the warrior’s body inside.

Aside from the warrior with the super giant antlers, the other warriors were wearing exaggerated decorations as well. At first, Shao Xuan assumed that the warriors he saw on his way up were already outstanding on their decorations, but unexpectedly there were some with more garish decorations.

Suddenly, the surrounding crowd quieted down. Shao Xuan looked up.

It was the Chief and the Shaman. People automatically made way for them, being extremely respectful.

There were also giant horns on the Chief’s head, while the Shaman had no exaggerated decorations. He was holding a cane, with his back somewhat bent, and wearing a grey animal skin cloak.

This was Shao Xuan’s second time seeing the Shaman, and he felt that the Shaman had not changed much since the last year, when he told him to keep Caesar.

The ones following the Chief and the Shaman, were those who received greatest attention during this ceremony.

Near eighty kids aged from ten to fourteen followed the Chief and the Shaman closely, and then stood in line beside the fire pit.

Shao Xuan saw the four kids from the orphan cave, including Mo-Er.

When they were back in the cave, they were very hot-tempered. However, now they were quiet and calm, standing there in sleeveless tops made from animal skin, with their hair combed and decorated with some bones ornaments. Ever since Shao Xuan knew them, they had never been more tidy and clean.

“So many kids this year!” someone whispered beside him.

“Yeah, I agree. Last year it was only thirty, forty at most. But this year, the number doubled.”

“This is a good sign! With so much fresh-blood joining, our tribe will be much stronger and more powerful than before.”

“……”

People were discussing, and the kids around Shao Xuan also murmured because they all felt envious. Almost everyone wondered when they could stand on the spot by the fire pit themselves.

After some time waiting, the preparation work had been finished, and the ceremony began.

The Chief was a strong warrior named Ao, and people said that his strength ranked in the top three among the tribe.

Ao delivered a short speech first, about last year’s harvest and their hope for the next year, to boost the morale. Shao Xuan had heard a lot of those similar pep-talks during his last life, so he felt no extra excitement. But the people surrounding couldn’t be more thrilled, and some of them even yelled with open arms after the Chief’s speech. All the brats also followed the yelling with their faces flushed.

After the Chief’s speech, the Shaman took over. After all, the Shaman was supposed to serve as the main character during this ceremony.

Nearly eighty kids surrounded the fire pit, and they were standing closer to the center than those fierce warriors standing by those timber piles.