Chapter 717 - Fish Burial (2/2)

“It wasn’t just that kid. All of them from the Di Mountain tribe have this problem. They just aren’t as affected by it compared to the kid.”

“What?!”

“How is this possible?!”

It wasn’t just Gui Ze and Gui He. Even the two elders who were silent on the side exclaimed in shock.

“Ah Xuan, what you mean is, their entire tribe probably had this problem?” the elder asked.

Shao Xuan nodded, “Very likely.”

“No wonder. At first, I thought only some of their children would have this sickness, but I never thought this was their entire tribe’s problem!”

“Then does the Di Mountain tribe really have two totems? They have two fire seeds burning in their tribe?” the old ex-shamaness shook her head. “No, it cannot be. Or the Di Mountain tribe would have gone extinct long ago.”

“Could it be that they’re trying to merge with another tribe’s fire seed?” Gui He guessed.

This was reasonable speculation. A long time ago, when a tribe won in a battle, they would try to merge the defeated tribe’s fire seed with their own but all of them failed. That was why no one thought about this anymore after a battle. They would rather destroy the other tribe’s fire seed. At least this had been recorded by their ancestors in their notes. They had even warned their descendants not to mess around with this matter, or unpredictable things may happen.

“Instead of us guessing, why not just ask them about it? They need our help, so I don’t think they would try to hide any secrets,” Shao Xuan said.

“Yup, if they don’t tell the truth, we can’t help them anymore,” Gui He agreed.

After their discussion, Shao Xuan went to have a chat with He Bian. Gui Ze went to look for the child in the shell.

Shao Xuan brought He Bian to a room to speak privately to him. He Bian was obviously anxious, but he tried his best to suppress his emotions.

As soon as he saw Shao Xuan, He Bian immediately asked, “Grand Elder, do you have a cure?” He only remembered this person was the Grand Elder. He wasn’t paying attention when he said his name, so he forgot Shao Xuan’s name.

Shao Xuan handed him a cup of herbal tea. “Currently, no. We need to understand more about the situation in your tribe. There are some questions we need answers to before we can find a solution.”

“Just ask!” He Bian didn’t mind telling them. He gulped down a huge sip of herbal tea in the warm cup and waited for Shao Xuan to ask. The slightly bitter taste in the tea soothed the tension in his body and made him feel more relaxed. His anxiety was also calmed, so when he spoke, it was clearer than before.

“Is there only one totem in your tribe?”

“Of course!” He Bian thought this was a dumb question. A totem was something sacred. Of course, they only had one! How could there be two?

“And you only have one fire seed?” Shao Xuan asked again.

“Of course!” He Bian was even more bewildered now. Are the Flaming Horns stupid? How could they ask such dumb questions?

“Have you ever thought about merging another fire seed?” Shao Xuan acted as if he didn’t notice He Bian’s reaction at all.

“Why would we do something so stupid?!” He Bian almost dropped his cup. Their tribe didn’t like to communicate with other tribes, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t know such basic concepts!

Shao Xuan thought to himself, ‘Perhaps everyone else in the Di Mountain tribe had no clue what’s going on. Many probably don’t know the root cause but that doesn’t mean that no one else does. They just haven’t told He Bian. They didn’t even tell their chief, so it’s apparent the chief’s status in the Di Mountain tribe isn’t very high.’

He Bian initially thought that if this Grand Elder were going to ask another stupid question, he would burst out in anger, but the next moment, Shao Xuan asked a question that seemed more normal than the ones he asked before.

“Tell me about the traditions in your tribe,” Shao Xuan said.

Traditions? This is related to the disease?

He Bian gave a suspicious glance but remained hopeful. He decided to calm down and tell Shao Xuan about it.

“There are many differences between our tribe, the Di Mountain tribe, and other tribes, but the most special one is probably the Di Fish,” He Bian said.

“Di Fish?”

“Yup. There is a mountain by the sea called Di Mountain. This fish lives in the mountain, and it is called the Di Fish. They have been living there for generations, and every generation of our tribe has lived in harmony with them. Our ancestors received their help before and arrived safely at Di Mountain, establishing the Di Mountain tribe. That’s why the Di Fish is also part of our totem!”

Shao Xuan recalled the picture of their tribe’s totem. The fish-like patterns on the human face were probably what He Bian was talking about. However, he couldn’t tell what a Di Fish looked like just by looking at the totem.

“The Di Fish are an essential part of our tribe. During our sacrificial rites, the Di Fish would also come to join us. Plus, in our tribe, whenever people pass away, we perform a fish burial instead of a cremation, as you guys would.”

The fish burial that He Bian was talking about was not burying a fish. It meant throwing the dead body into the waters and feeding them to the Di Fish. They were buried in the fish’s stomach.

And the executor of this fish burial method was the Di Fish!

Di Fish… What a nightmare.

If it was exactly like what He Bian had said, then the Di Mountain tribe was not too different from the Drumming tribe. The Drumming tribe had their crocodiles for generations. The only thing that was different about them was this, the fish burial.

The Drumming tribesmen knew how to bury fish, but they never had anything similar to a fish burial.