Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 187 Shehuo is a spiritual totem.
Under the moonlight, the elephant-boars were as black as clumps of ink. Their sorrow was not concealed at all. They raised their noses and grunted to the sky, as if they were protesting the injustice of the world.

Before the fish could fall, Shehuo abandoned it, letting it drop into the water. The next instant, Shehuo landed on a boar. As soon as it made contact, Shehuo bounced off the boar and then flew across the vast wilderness like a shooting star, plunging into the candle flame at Yun Ce's fingertips, where it never moved again.

Shehuo is unhappy, very unhappy.

"There's something very strange at Huishui Bay, and it's something completely different from Shehuo. You need to take this seriously," Gouzi's voice echoed in my mind.

"I don't want to get involved in anything too dangerous right now. We should avoid things that even folk performers would avoid like the plague."

"The reason we avoid it is not just because of fear, but also because of the filth and pollution."

"Fire is of the attribute of light, and it has the power to cleanse the world of its filth. Things that are too dark should not be something we should come into contact with. That is the business of High Priest Liu Changsheng."

There's no point in talking when we don't see eye to eye. The dog's recent evolutionary path might be problematic; it's become aggressive.

Yun Ce knew that his career was just beginning, and at this time, "building high walls, storing up grain, and delaying the declaration of kingship" was the pragmatic approach.

If you are greedy and want everything, you may end up with nothing.

From the moment he discovered that something was amiss at Backwater Bay, Yun Ce had already assessed the power gap between himself and the Elephant Pig. He felt that anyone who could influence and control such a behemoth as the Elephant Pig was definitely a threat to him.

If it weren't for the fact that Backwater Bay was so close to his camp, he wouldn't have bothered with it at all.

To change or assimilate this world, one must first be alive; inanimate objects can change nothing.

The Shehuo festival begins the moment the first light appears in the sky.

This ancient ritual began a very long time ago and has continued uninterrupted to this day. So much so that the people in the camp spontaneously began the ritual without Yun Ce's command.

The women, carrying plates on their heads filled with all the food they could find, lined up and slowly climbed up the hillside to a small hill they had chosen long ago.

Eji walked at the very front. The plate on her head was filled with the most food, and there was also a pool of candlelight. The reason for using the phrase "pool of candlelight" is that what Eji was carrying on her head was actually a bowl of grease. After the grease was lit by the folk fire, it became a ball of fire rolling in the grease.

They climbed the mountain at a moderate pace, aiming to reach the summit just as the sunlight touched the top of the small hill, so that Eji could raise her torch and greet the rising sun.

This is the first encounter between light and light, and it is also a way for the Shehuo (a traditional folk performance) to prove to the sun that even if the sun is not visible, it can continue to protect the people here.

This seems like a warning from the Shehuo (a traditional folk performance) to the sun, which is somewhat arrogant. But upon reflection, the sun overhead is just the last one that Hou Yi shot down, so the Shehuo's actions are quite reasonable.

This ritual also allows us to imagine how powerful and unyielding the ancient human kings were when facing the natural world.

If you can protect me, I will respect you; if you cannot protect me, I will rely on myself.

Yun Ce was beating the drum, Cao Kun was beating the drum, and all the nobles who had come were beating the drum. The drumming was deafening, and everyone was beating the drum very seriously. Even the most shameless playboy would not dare to beat a single wrong beat at this time.

Women lined up to climb the mountain to meet the sun, while children painted their faces white and wore strangely shaped crowns made of various tree branches. They crawled and jumped on all fours like little dogs at the foot of the mountain, occasionally standing up, pounding their little chests, and letting out a series of clear shouts.

Just as Eji, who was walking at the front, was about to appear on the mountaintop where the sun was beginning to rise, several strong men puffed out their cheeks and blew a long horn.

"Woo-woo-woo—"

"Woo-woo-woo—"

Normally, when this horn, which is a full ten feet long, is blown alone, the sound is dull and unpleasant. But now, mixed with the sound of drums, the sound of the horn reveals an indescribable sense of boldness amidst the drumbeats.

The sun seemed to be placed on the wooden plate held high by Eji, radiating infinite light. At this moment, the sun and the folk performance merged into one.

Yun Ce beat the drum even more vigorously, while Cao Kun had long since disregarded his image as a refined gentleman in this turbid world. He shouted wildly while jumping up and beating the drum, as if he wanted to pour all his strength and hope into the drumbeats.

At that very moment, a group of burly men wearing only underpants and shoes leaped out of the dark woods, pounding the waist drums on their waists. As soon as they left the woods, the sunlight fell on them. The sound of the waist drums was not loud to begin with, but with the powerful pounding of these hundreds of men, the drums could be vaguely compared to the large drums that Yun Ce and his men were beating.

At this moment, only the sound of drums remained between heaven and earth. Until the sun left Eji's sacrificial plate, when Eji could no longer keep the sun on her plate, even if a large group of women lay on the ground to serve as her footrests, Eji finally let the sun go, allowing it to rise higher and higher.

The women, having completed their sacrificial duties, came down the mountain in high spirits, only to be ambushed by a large group of children whose target was the offerings on the women's plates.

Cao Kun, who had stopped drumming, looked regretfully at the meager offerings on the woman's plate and turned to Yun Ce, saying, "On the day of the Shehuo Festival, there should be a cloud and a little rain. The cloud should cover an area of ​​no more than ten miles, and the rain should just wet the ground. This is called 'moistening the light dust'."

It's a pity your family doesn't have a traditional folk performance; otherwise, it would be a very auspicious sign for a year of good weather and abundant harvests.

Yun Ce pointed to a dark cloud emerging from behind the hill and said, "When the dark cloud comes, the light rain will follow."

Cao Kun scratched the back of his head and said with difficulty, "That's impossible."

As soon as he finished speaking, the first spring rain began to fall from the sky. No one sought shelter from the rain; everyone with a mouth opened their mouths wide, hoping that more spring rain would fall into their mouths so that they would be free from illness and disaster throughout the year. Even Cao Kun was no exception.

The rain lasted at most five minutes from the moment it fell to the moment it flew away. Just as Cao Kun said, the ground was just wet. However, the clouds did not linger there and continued westward, sprinkling light rain along the way.

"When my family held a folk festival, a little rain fell from the clouds and then stopped. It formed a cloud cover over people's heads, blocking the sunlight so that people could continue to sing and dance."

Yun Ce, your folk performance is terrible, it comes as soon as it starts raining…

"Yes, yes, the auspicious omen of 'playing with the canopy' did not form, which means that the Yun clan did not have a Shehuo (a type of folk performance). Oh, I understand. The Yun clan's Shehuo ritual was heard by the ancestral fire, which gave the Yun clan a little auspiciousness. The ancestral fire was also busy going to other places to give auspiciousness to others, so it left."

The words of these playboys sound like myths and fairy tales, but no one thinks they are absurd or ridiculous. On the contrary, they all agree with them more than anything.

Cao Kun summoned many纨绔 (sons of wealthy families), but only four of them owned Shehuo (a type of folk performance). Those who didn't own Shehuo and held Shehuo rituals were actually quite foolish. After Shehuo gained popularity through rituals, it wouldn't just benefit them; the biggest beneficiaries would definitely be those who owned Shehuo.

The fact that the Yun family's Shehuo sacrificial ceremony could receive feedback from the ancestral fire was already an extremely rare occurrence, a scene that had already made many noble and dissolute young men feel envious.

"I really like Shehuo. I like the lively and happy atmosphere. I don't like the dead-like nights, especially the deathly atmosphere in Huishui Bay."

The dog's voice rang in Yun Ce's head again.

"When will you be able to communicate with the Shehuo (a traditional folk performance) again?"

"I'm guessing. You should come in and see the Shehuo performance. It's gotten much bigger and more lively. Right now, it's gnawing on your lance."

We can't listen to what Gouzi says anymore. This guy has been talking too subjectively lately. He just throws his own ideas at Shehuo, or Dragon Ball, or that star map floating in the void whenever he has nothing better to do.

Without hesitation, people threw the pound of grain they received into the large pot. The cook in charge of the pot would then add some meat powder with a smile. If there were many people delivering grain, she would carefully scoop a spoonful of white grease from a clay pot and put it into the grain, then stir it vigorously.

Pouring everything into the pot naturally results in food that isn't very tasty. However, these have been some of the few good days in the past two months when everyone has had access to oil. Everyone has packed a lot of food, either gathering together or enjoying it quietly by themselves.

Huo Liao is the one who enjoys it alone.

Feng An also filled a plate with rice from the big pot. Seeing that Huo Liao was all alone, he came to his side, took a piece of fried pork fat from his own plate, and put it on Huo Liao's plate.

Huo Liao, who was eating in a depressed mood, glanced at the piece of burnt oil residue in front of him and said softly, "I am not one of those refugees and slaves here. I have seen good things and eaten good things."

Feng An scooped up a spoonful of rice and put it in his mouth. After eating, he pointed with the spoon at the hot spring villa not far away and said, "Your enemy is in the villa now. Don't you plan to kill your enemy and cut off his head?"

Huo Liao chuckled and said, "I remember your lord seemed to look down on my Fire Clan's meager treasury. If he didn't care, what are you doing here?"

Feng Andao said, "Of course our lord wouldn't be interested. To be honest, the technology of your Fire Clan is nothing to my Yun Clan. The indestructible armor and weapons that the Fire Clan has in their collection are nothing to my Yun Clan either. As long as we have time, it won't be difficult to forge armor and weapons that are ten times better than your Fire Clan's."

　There's one more chapter. If you have any monthly tickets, please give them to me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)