After a century of worship, I became the ancestor of the tribe.

Chapter 30 The Origins of Witchcraft, Ideas for Reform (Please continue reading)

Shen Can breathed a sigh of relief after getting rid of the clan leader.

Why is the clan chief so tired? Wouldn't it be better for him to eat and drink large portions as a temple deity and stay in the ancestral temple as a senior member?
That is to say, we haven't been worshipping our ancestors these days.

It's not that we don't respect our ancestors, it's just that even the villages in the mountains and fields are empty, let alone wild beasts.

Plague worms treat humans and animals the same.

"Ah-Can, don't you want to be the clan leader?"

Shen Can got up and walked to the fire pit, pouring Huo Xian a bowl of medicine.

“Master, what’s so good about being the clan leader? Look how tired Uncle Huotang is. I’d rather stay behind and assist him.”

After the plague subsided, Huo Xian's health deteriorated, and he coughed frequently.

“A-Tang is indeed quite tired.” Huo Xian nodded. “He was also exhausted during this plague, but he just didn’t show it to his people.”

Even Huo Xian, who has lived for decades, was terrified this time.

Having no prior experience and no inherited wisdom to follow, he lived in constant fear, praying to his ancestors for protection countless times each day.

After watching Huo Xian finish his medicine and fall asleep, Shen Can carried the animal skin scroll back to his ear hole.

The volcano sent back too many animal hide scrolls, and he needs to sort them out one by one. He has already read more than half of them, but he has not yet found any descriptions of witchcraft.

Shen Can wasn't disappointed; he had chatted with Huo Xian.

The Blazing Flame included various nearby tribes; to put it bluntly, it was a group of remnants and savages that came together to establish it.

Just like this flood and plague, the surrounding areas were destroyed.

The remaining people from various tribes would gather together after the plague to form new tribes and reclaim this vacant area.

The appearance of the blazing flames three hundred years ago was perhaps similar to the scene before us.

A tribe organized in this way has no foundation; even if it can survive for another three hundred years, it can only barely guarantee its survival.

Rolls of animal hides were being passed around in front of Shen Can.

As dawn approached, Shen Can pulled out a similarly bare and unblemished scroll. His eyes lit up; he had finally found it.

Although it is not witchcraft, it records things related to witchcraft.

Both witchcraft and martial arts originated from wild beasts, except that they were powerful, exotic wild beasts.

The alien beasts possess supernatural powers; yes, just like the plague birds we killed before, they have a pale light on their bodies that can deflect the power of javelins.

These miraculous phenomena seem to be related to certain mysteries of heaven and earth.

It would be an exaggeration to say that the ancestors of the human race created 'shamanic script' by comprehending the mysteries of the universe and combining it with the secrets of heaven and earth. It is more like they depicted these 'shamanic script' that already existed in the world in the form of characters.

Witchcraft script consists of basic characters that can be used to create different spells.

In addition, the inheritance of witchcraft is somewhat different from what Shen Can had previously imagined.

Unlike the Kui Niu Fist in martial arts, which can be practiced by many tribes, the different tribes have their own secret witchcraft traditions because they observe different exotic beasts.

It's more like the kind of scripture transmission within aristocratic families in the Eastern Han Dynasty that he read in his previous life in historical novels.

The Yuan family of Runan passed down the Mengshi Yi (Book of Changes) and were also well-versed in the Shangshu (Book of Documents), while the Yang family of Hongnong were experts in the Ouyang Shangshu (Book of Documents).

In the context of the Great Wilderness today, taking the Lingyu tribe as an example, the Lingyu tribe is well-versed in the "Lingyu Water Control Book," while unknown large tribes may specialize in the "Kui Niu Thunder Control Book."

There may be some overlap in the transmission of witchcraft between different groups, but each family has its own fundamental witchcraft tradition.

The foundation upon which a tribe is founded is what ensures its survival for generations to come, so it is understandable that it would not be easily revealed to outsiders.

They would also study, refine, and supplement the art from generation to generation, gradually increasing its power.

It's no wonder that small tribes don't have access to witchcraft.

After putting the animal skin scroll away, Shen Can stretched.

The practice of shamanism is indeed not easy. Most small tribes do not have access to the initial shamanic script, and even if they do, there is no one to guide them in learning to read.

The barriers to inheritance are extremely high.

What is now certain is that there should be many basic shamanic runes.

However, because he came into contact with the animal patterns of the Lingyu tribe, and the Lingyu tribe was familiar with water, the basic shamanic script he deduced was biased towards water-related aspects.

The eighteen basic shamanic scripts of the Lingyu Water Control Book have already been deduced, and it is only a matter of time before the Lingyu tribe's shamanic arts are completely stolen.

After putting away the animal hide scroll, Shen Can lay down on the stone bed.

Rest awhile.

……

Shen Can drifted off to sleep, but Huo Tang was still biting his pen, his brows furrowed.

He didn't feel resentful about Shen Can's advice, thinking that in the Great Wilderness, only the capable could lead everyone to survive.

If you're capable, everyone will respect you. Selecting a group of people from the tribe to train together in martial arts is indeed a good method.

Now that the volcano is bringing back resources from other tribes, he no longer wants to be a miser.

In the past, there was no other way; if we didn't eat sparingly, we would easily go hungry if we encountered a disaster.

With so many resources from tribes, and a tribe with less than three thousand people, it's enough to feed them for many years.

If we don't use it up, we might end up like other tribes in the area, where the food is still there but the people are gone—we'll be at a huge loss.

The list of his clansmen was right in front of him, with simple portraits following each name.

Regardless of whether the drawings are lifelike or not, at least the basic characteristics of each person have been described to ensure that they can be identified.

"The older ones won't do."

Huotang considered the selection criteria in his mind.

In fact, this plague has once again reduced the burden on the Blazing Flame Tribe, as most of the deceased tribespeople were elderly.

"Women with babies cannot be selected."

"Firestone..."

Looking at the names recorded on the animal skin scroll, Huo Tang frowned even more deeply.

Because there are three volcanic rocks above, their ages are seventeen, thirty-four, and fifty-three respectively.

Three generations: old, middle-aged, and young.

The probability of duplicate names in the entire tribe is quite high because when people are born, they are used to naming their children after whatever they see nearby.

Those named Yan are alright, but there are more than a dozen people named Shi, which also cover the same generation and three generations above and below.

It's easy to have the same name within the tribe; you can just call out a few more times. But when you're out hunting and in danger, it can be quite troublesome to call out someone with the same name.

Now that the tribe has a shaman, an improved version of the Kui Niu boxing style, and so many resources, it is clearly on the verge of prosperity.

Shouldn't we change our old, complacent ways of doing things?
Huotang put down his pen and leaned back in the stone chair to ponder.

change!
Need to change.

After a brief moment of thought, he made up his mind.

Not only that, Huotang also thought about the chaotic blood ties within the clan. Over the past three hundred years, the clan members have become relatives.

Otherwise, he would have been in a hurry to send the volcano out before the plague had even ended, just to bring in a few outsiders before the plague killed everyone.

There were simply too many bachelors in the tribe, and they hadn't had any outside bloodlines to replenish their numbers for a long time. Occasionally, they could recruit a few savages, but over time, they would become relatives.

……

The next day, Shen Can was practicing Kui Niu Fist early in the morning when he saw Huo Tang appear before him with a bloodshot face.

"Chieftain, you're still awake."

“Ah-chan, I thought about it all night yesterday and I feel that the tribe may be falling behind. We should make some changes.”

"We also need the cooperation of the ancestral temple to reduce the resistance of the clansmen."

Hearing Huotang say that, Shen Can stopped.

It startled him; he thought the chieftain had just given him some advice and was now stuck in a rut again. But the chieftain brought a pleasant surprise.

"Chief, please explain in detail."

"Change your name."

The two returned to the ear canal and sat down. Shen Can listened to Huo Tang's idea.

Huotang discovered that the duplicate names among tribes were causing chaos within the tribe.

We didn't care before because everyone was just getting by and surviving was enough.

The reason for this change is that I feel the tribe has a solid foundation for growth.

With development on the horizon, continuing to drift along as before will only hold us back.

Shen Can knew that Huo Tang, as the clan leader, actually had a lot of ideas.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have immediately hidden the fragments of the Lingyu tribe's ironwood ship upon discovery, nor would they have secretly gathered the beast blood of advanced martial artists.

This all demonstrates that after decades in the position of clan leader, he has accumulated considerable experience.

However, these small ideas were like a ripple in the face of the subsequent plague.

In terms of ideas, Shen Can felt he had more than Huo Tang, and he was capable of driving the tribe's transformation from behind the scenes.

Huotang's proposed changes were still too small in his opinion. Since he had decided to make changes, he should make changes in every aspect.

(End of this chapter)