Chapter 398 (1/2)

Fire Pond Synchronization

After the snow, the forest was covered with a layer of white.

Shao Xuan followed the hunting team out, mostly to look for beasts with thick skin but there were no hairy beasts around. In the winter, they came out less. They also hunted mostly the long-haired beasts that could be made into fur coats.

Because Shao Xuan, an Elder, participated, this winter hunting involved a lot of people. Everyone was really motivated.

In addition to hunting, Shao Xuan also went to the dry riverbed to pick up some stones. In his free time, he’d make some glowing crystal again for everyone to use as a light source, since the winter nights would be longer. With those crystal stones, everyone’s lives were made easier.

During the winter hunt, Shao Xuan hunted a long-haired beast for his ritual clothes.

When the snowfall in the mountains increased, the tribe would no longer be able to go out. The river around the tribe was also frozen. Instead of putting down the bridge, you could directly walk on it. The children of the tribe liked to skate on it too.

For the tribes, winter equates to boredom. Every day, a group of three to five would get together to plan activities to teach the new warriors. They couldn’t go out to hunt, so they could only use other ways to spend their extra energy.

Most of Shao Xuan’s time was spent staying inside his house to study those cloud patterns but occasionally went out to join the activities, then return to study it again. Sometimes, he’d go out to consult the tribe’s craftsmen. Their craft came from the ancestors, and the ancestors learned it from elsewhere, then summed up their own experience to pass down to the later generation. They had an understanding of the casting or forging style of each faction and were much more exposed to the work of the Xia people.

However, when Shao Xuan asked them about the cloud pattern, the tribal craftsmen didn’t know much. They told Shao Xuan that some of the ancestors had recorded it but it was mostly incomprehensible. What the shamans left were messy, with some parts missing or not clear. Shao Xuan could barely understand the records himself.

In order to express his gratitude, Shao Xuan sent them a few glowing water sun stones to the great delight of the craftsmen.

His winter was spent studying the cloud patterns and producing water sun stones, until Shao Xuan heard the cheering outside. He then only realized that winter had passed.

Winter here came late. The days with no hunting at all were not too long, which made Shao Xuan not react at once when he heard the noises outside.

“It’s over so soon!” Shao Xuan got up and shook the crumbs of leaves on his body, then pushed the door.

Now, the two round moons that had disappeared in the sky appeared again. After this, the sky will be illuminated by them again next year.

Once the moons came out and winter had passed, the first thing that the tribe would do was the ritual.

The place was different, but the timing was synchronized. No matter if one side was day while the other side was night, both Flaming Horns tribes were using the moon in the sky as their reference. They just did not know if the specific timing was the same.

The shamaness was the one who told the tribe the time of the ceremony. After the announcement, the tribe started to get busy, readying themselves for the ritual. Shao Xuan was the only Elder, second only to the Shaman and the Chief, so he obviously had a huge role to play in the ritual.

Like the past years, the awakened young warriors would be in the top spot at the time of the sacrifice, because from today on, they would officially be part of the tribal warfare, even if they couldn’t begin hunting immediately. They needed to go through a period of adaptation and training, and also be made aware of their abilities. They couldn’t continue to walk around like children.

As night fell, all the tribesmen gathered.

The fire in the fire pond had been ignited by the shamaness. Shao Xuan, the shamaness and the chief stood in position from the fire pond.

Looking at the flame in the fire pond, the shamaness started singing. Suddenly, Shao Xuan saw a vision from far away on the other side of the fire pit. It has the same feeling as the fire, so he couldn’t help but stare in that direction. On the other side of the sea, the other branch of the tribe should be celebrating today too.

There was no communication between the two, but in their hearts, they felt a connection.

The shamaness originally thought that in today’s sacrifice, the ancestor from the bone ornaments would appear again as a flame giant. As she sang, she found that the flames in the fire pond today were particularly active compared to that previous day.

What’s going on?

The shamaness set part of her attention towards the fire in the fire pond.

Only twice they had seen the flames change like that. One was last year, to greet Shao Xuan, one was this moment.

The fire roared.

There was no wind.

Afterwards, as if a beast had awakened from its hibernation, it waved its claws and roared.

The flame rolled up, and their totem with the two horns appeared clearly. It was much clearer this time than it was during the ceremony to greet Shao Xuan last year.

Such changes also surprised the tribesmen who were farther from the fire pit. They had never seen such a change.

However, Shao Xuan has seen it before. Seen it even more than once.

It’s the Three Flames of the Fire Pond, the first flame—Soaring Flame!

As if confirming Shao Xuan’s speculation, soon, the flame in the fire pit instantly rose. It felt like it would rise straight to the sky. At the same time, there were a lot of flames flying out of the fire pit outwards. It was lighter than the flame in Shao Xuan’s memory, not so much a flame but a reflection of the flame.

Looking at the sparks flying out of the fire pit and the swarm of flames rising out in succession, the tribesmen were stunned.