Chapter 136 – The Severing Land
Translated by Sunyancai
In the winter, the seven beasts that the Shaman had branded gradually began to change. Their size and appearance changed.
Before the winter, the Shaman had reminded them to prepare some food, but the seven beasts grew bigger and had larger appetite, so the food was not enough for them. After all, with the promotion of their level, their demand for energy would also increase, like intermediate and senior totem warriors for whom the ordinary beast meat could not provide enough energy.
Until the end of the winter, each of the seven beasts became as skinny as Caesar when he had just been branded, even though the beasts were raised well. Even the chunky Si Ya lost weight.
After the winter, the most important ritual ceremony would be performed as usual.
According to the ancient volumes, the beasts that were successfully branded could participate in the sacrifice ritual because the fire would no longer keep them away.
Then on the day of the ritual, except Chacha, the other eight were brought to the top of the mountain, and they stood near the flame pit.
Participation in rituals meant that they are officially a member of the tribe.
This was a very strange picture. Over the past hundreds of years, it was the first time that men and beasts participated in the ritual ceremony.
Everyone was very excited, because they were lucky enough to witness such a great event that their ancestors also witnessed!
After the ritual, the Shaman made detailed records in the form of a Shaman Volume. This was a great achievement worth remembering since he took the position, so he should pass it down from one generation to another.
In contrast, left at home to avoid the flame, Chacha was lonely. Although he still had a good appetite, he had a much lower spirit.
After the ritual, the coldness of the winter had gradually vanished. From the top to the foot of the mountain, many animals became active again.
A few days before the first hunting mission, the branded beasts often went down the mountain.
When they were small, they were often bullied by Chacha. Each of them was caught by him, and then pull around in the sky, except for the falcon raised by Gui He and the turtle kept by Gui Ze.
Now, they became ferocious beasts, or close to the extent of ferocious beasts, so they were not afraid of Chacha. If he couldn’t fly, they probably would have taken revenge on him.
Fortunately, Caesar prevented them from provoking Chacha.
Caesar was originally inferior to these beast races. Even in the wolf species, he belonged to a relatively weak group, not as strong as the others.
But after being branded, they all grew into ferocious beasts, but they were much weaker than Caesar; including Liao, the cave lion, and Mao’s Si Ya. That was why they were afraid of annoying Caesar.
Chacha still felt depressed in his nest, for those once bullied by him now became strong.
Shao Xuan was also helpless with this situation.
After the Shaman finished disciplining a batch of warriors who were newly awakened, Shao Xuan went up the mountain to have a talk with the Shaman.
“I plan to take Chacha there during this hunt.” Said Shao Xuan who was sitting opposite the Shaman.
The Shaman knew the place Shao Xuan was referring to. Hearing his intention, he was silent for a while, and then entered a room to take out a skin reel. He handed it to Shao Xuan and said, “This is the volume in which the ancestors recorded the place.”
Last year, after Shao Xuan mentioned Chacha’s condition to him, he carefully read the volumes, and extracted some relevant records.
Shao Xuan took the animal skin volume, and read the text records.
These were only ordinary text records, and were obviously based on the others’ retelling, for the meaning was not so clear.
The volume also mentioned the “Severing Land” that Mai had told him of.
When the ancestors had started the hunting route, they had been blocked by some thorny plants. But when they stood high, they could see the distant mountains, but due to the plants, they did not move forward.
So the ancestors called it the “Severing Land”, for it cut off the roads between the mountains so no one could go there.
And the volume also mentioned something interesting.
The Shaman had said Chacha was a giant mountain eagle.These eagles had their own beliefs and source of power, which Shao Xuan did not understand. This volume also mentioned the following.
It was said the power of the giant mountain eagle came from the abyss of the snow-capped mountain, and its top and bottom could not be seen. It was always covered with the snow and ice. It was also called the Eagle Mountain.
Ao, the Chief, had said that the giant mountain eagle came from the Eagle Mountain, but now it didn’t seem to be exactly correct. The Eagle Mountain was the source of their power, but whether it was their birth place had not yet been concluded.
Long long ago, the ancestors had only heard of the legend of the giant mountain eagle, but never seen them. Some people said that the mountain was the eagles’ cemetery, while some said that it was the eagle’s birth land.
There were not that many recordings in the volume, so Shao Xuan soon finished reading.
“Is it the Eagle Mountain where Chacha wants to go?” Shao Xuan felt puzzled and said.
“Maybe.” Said the Shaman.
Considering for a moment, Shao Xuan said: “I still intend to take him there to take a look.”
The Shaman looked at Shao Xuan, and was silent for a moment. Then he said, “It is very dangerous. You may not be able to return.”
“I know.” Shao Xuan had made the decision, and would not change his mind. “Please tell Uncle Mai about this.” He added.
The Shaman gave up persuading him out of this decision, and just let out a low sigh.
Shao Xuan knew he accepted his decision. Then he grinned, saluted him, and said, “Don’t worry, I will come back safely.”
The Shaman felt his eyelids twitch, and then waved his hand helplessly to let Shao Xuan go out at once.
In the following first hunting of this year, with the help of several ferocious beasts, Ta and the five group leaders would try to give good performance.
Mai was talking about the upcoming hunt with Qiao excitedly, and then he heard the message brought by Shao Xuan.
“Are you going to the Severing Land?”
The muscles on Mai’s face were twitching. He almost asked him word by word. He took a deep breath several times, pinched his hands, and almost could not help beating the person in front of him.
He knew that Shao Xuan would not give up without a try. What the hell was his promise last year!
This time he directly asked the Shaman for agreement, and the Shaman had agreed. What could he say!
“No, that place might be located on the other side of the mountain, or in other places. I’m just going to have a look to find out why Chacha always wants to go there.” Shao Xuan explained.
Hearing his explanation, Mai and Qiao felt even more worried.
They appreciated the courage of the warriors who were not afraid of death, but were unwilling to witness them taking unnecessary risks of death. Even the ancestors did not go to that place. Could Shao Xuan, who was not even a senior totem warrior, come back safely?
So terrible! Really terrible!
However, the hunting group did not know Shao Xuan’s plan of going there until they went from the first location to the third.
“The Severing Land! Don’t go there!”
“Ah-Xuan, listen to Mai. Don’t go.”
“If you go, you will not be able to come back. Don’t go. If Chacha really wants to go there, you can let it go alone. Why do you follow it?”
People in the hunting group were trying to persuade him out of going there. Over the past few years, they became closer with Shao Xuan, and were very optimistic about his development as a new warrior. More importantly, Shao Xuan was born in a cave near the mountain foot, but he was not inferior to those born higher up in the mountain, which made them proud of him.
In the eyes of many old warriors born near the mountain foot, Shao Xuan would have great achievements in the future, like those higher up on the mountain. He was supposed to live directly up on the mountain. Many of them often took Shao Xuan as an example to motivate their own children, like Sai’s father. Every time when he found Sai did not behave well, he always mentioned Shao Xuan. So now, Sai always very disliked seeing Shao Xuan.
But now, Shao Xuan intended to go to where the ancestors had not been. Did he want to die?!
Unfortunately, their persuasion was useless.
Why did the Shaman agree?
They did not understand.
But since the Shaman had agreed, they would no longer persuade him.
Mai asked Shao Xuan to have a talk with him alone, and also gave him a few good stone spears.
“Uncle Mai, if six days later I still do not come back, you don’t need to wait for me.” Said Shao Xuan.
Mai hesitated, but finally nodded.
Shao Xuan was not going to take Caesar with him, and he told Old Ke that if he did not come back, Old Ke could keep Caesar as a company.
The day before the departure for hunting, Shao Xuan did not bring Caesar, but left him in the tribe. When Shao Xuan left, Caesar also followed him for some distance. He did not stop until Shao Xuan scolded him.
After saying goodbye to the hunting group, Shao Xuan told Chacha to set out with him. And then, he held his feet as Chacha flew into the air. It was not easy to travel over the mountain, for there were hurdles on the way, and it was time-consuming. It would be easier for them to fly in the air, and there were not many large birds.
While standing on the ground, Chacha was slightly higher than Shao Xuan’s shoulder, so it was not so tiring for him to carry Shao Xuan.
They had been flying over this jungle, the more they moved forward, the fewer animals were found in the woods.
Half a day later, Shao Xuan saw the “Severing Land” that was recorded in the ancient volumes from the air.
It was a brown-colored thorny region, where there were very thick thorns, and branches covered with hard and sharp thorns. They overlapped with each other to keep people away. It looked like a horrible forest, almost blocking everything.
Some of the thorns near the ground were not very large, but they were still terrifying, like a pair of bloody eyes. They looked like an evil staring at each creature flying over the thorns.
Even the ferocious beasts that dominated the other places in the woods did not set foot here.
Looking at the endless thorny region, and glancing at the figures flashing in the gaps of the thorns, Shao Xuan decided to take a break first. After Chacha recovered from the fatigue, they would fly past that place.