Chapter 22 – The flame doesn’t harm anyone (1/2)

Translated by Sunyancai

Shao Xuan’s first reaction towards Tu’s words was rejection. Even if he had been staring at the fire pit, and didn’t care about the coming flames, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t notice the pain of fire burning him.

What’s do you mean “You are burning”?

How could you not feel anything if you were burning?

Just to be safe, Shao Xuan watched the sparks and flames come closer, and only shifted his attention after he made sure it was harmless. What’s more, all the surrounding people were just fine, and even those kids standing right beside the flame pond were totally okay. And now you bloody told me that I’m on fire?

However, even if Shao Xuan did not believe it at heart, but judging from the looks of the kids around him, there really must be something wrong.

He checked his hands, all clear, and there were no visible flames on his legs as well.

“Ah-Xuan… your head… on your head…”

Shao Xuan hesitated, and finally he raised his arm to touch his head.

It felt no different. Nothing abnormal.

On a second try, there was still no abnormal feeling.

His hair was intact, and no smell of burning could be smelt. However, when he looked up…

What the fuck?!

When Shao Xuan finally saw the fire on his head, it had already grown big. At first, there was only a small flame on his head, but now he was basically wearing a bonfire as a giant hat. Also, with more and more flames and sparks flying towards him, the flame on his head grew bigger and bigger, with a downwards spreading trend.

Shao Xuan could clearly feel the fire on his head, and he could also see his bangs being wrapped in flame. However, he felt no pain, and when he touched it with his hand, he felt nothing abnormal.

It was useless when he took off his clothes and tapped them on his head. The flame kept spreading downwards and the flying flames and sparks directly melted into Shao Xuan’s arms, legs and torso, with no obvious sign of moving to the head.

But, aside from the panic caused by the suddenness in the beginning, Shao Xuan quickly calmed himself down.

This was not the world he knew well, and nothing could be deduced with his original logic and theories.

Since the flame was from the fire pit, and he felt no pain of burning, Shao Xuan stopped using his clothes to put out the fire, and instead, he stood there, trying to think about what he should do next.

The people standing in front of Shao Xuan did not notice his condition, as their attention was totally fixed on the fire pit. However, it was a completely different case for the people standing behind Shao Xuan. Especially some elderly, who had attended many Snow Festivals, yet no one had ever witnessed such circumstances as Shao Xuan was experiencing now.

Perhaps to most of the warriors in the tribe, the second Flame was the most remarkable and conspicuous part among the three Flames of the fire pit. Because during the second Flame, a group of new totemic warriors would appear. All hunting teams which had lost some warriors, focused their attention, waiting to recruit some of the kids there once they turned into totemic warriors.

But to the Shaman himself, totemic warriors’ quantity was only a minor aspect. He wished to see the condition of the final Flame.

However, even if he could not leave, the Shaman would not ignore the things happening in there. So as the Shaman kept singing, he winked at Chief Ao’s direction.

Chief Ao standing there, had already noticed the abnormal circumstances at Shao Xuan’s direction, and was hesitating about whether to go there or not. After all, the Shaman knew better about rituals than him, and moving without the Shaman’s permission during a ritual could bring disastrous consequences upon the ceremony. Being the chief of the tribe, naturally he had to consider the big picture and put the tribe’s best interest ahead, instead of a single person or some group of people’s benefit.

Receiving the Shaman’s wink, the Chief hinted others to continue, while he moved his body towards the spot where the abnormal things were happening.

Most of the people were gazing at the fire pit, and since the Chief’s movement was so fast, not many people had realized what had happened.