Di Ming

Chapter 22 Shaman
As everyone wept, many people drew daggers from their waists and slashed their foreheads or cheeks, tears and blood flowing together.

One by one, they beat their chests and stamped their feet, their faces covered in blood, their cries like the wailing of ghosts and wolves.

This was originally a custom of facial disfigurement among the Turks and Xiongnu, used in funerals and oaths. Not only was the face cut with a knife, but noses, ears, fingers, and wrists were also cut off.

The Khitan and Jurchen also adopted the custom of facial disfigurement. However, among the Jurchen tribes today, facial disfigurement, like funerary sacrifice, is a ritual reserved for the nobility.

Ning Caiwei felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at the Jianzhou nobles weeping in the hall.

She tried to communicate in her broken Jurchen language. But she knew very well that in this atmosphere, her communication was pointless.

Besides her, who was buried alive with the deceased, there were two others who were buried with her.

Two people were buried with her: one was her friend Galo, and the other was the Jurchen boy Lancha.

The two people buried alive were tied outside the hall and were not even allowed to enter the ceremonial hall.

That's right, those who are buried alive with the deceased and those who are buried with the deceased are not the same thing.

Those buried alive were wives, relatives, friends, and beloved dogs and horses. Their status was relatively equal to that of the deceased.

Those buried with the deceased were slaves or prisoners of war, of lowly status.

Ning Caiwei, as Deshiku's sacrificial victim, held the same status as Deshiku's beloved dog, which was truly an "honor."

So when Bao Shi, that old man, saw her, he said with great emotion:

“My child, how glorious you are! You will enjoy happiness with your brother Deshiku.”

When Ning Caiwei was captured three days ago, a Jurchen nobleman named Kang Jia said that she was an excellent person to be buried alive with.

That's why she wasn't mistreated during those three days.

“Big brother!” Bao Shi pointed at Ning Caiwei, “Your little brother found you a Han princess, she’s as beautiful as a jade carving! As delicate as snow! She’s like a painting.”

"Let her accompany my elder brother to Changbai Mountain, so that he may stay with him for eternity!"

As Bao Shi spoke, he slashed his cheek with a dagger, and blood dripped onto the gorgeous silk.

“Father,” his son said, pointing to Ning Caiwei.

“The sacrificial victim was found by my son. He saw that although she was young, she had a round forehead and was full of spirit, so he knew that she would be loved by the gods.”

"Therefore, your son has a request, and hopes that his father will grant it."

He is Bao Shi's eldest son, Kang Jia.

He was the one who led the cavalry to capture Ning Caiwei.

“Go ahead and say it,” Bao Shi said. “In front of your uncle’s coffin, as long as you don’t go too far, I will grant your request.”

"Thank you, Father." Kang Jia's expression showed a hint of joy. "After she was buried alive with the dead, my son wants to use the bead from her forehead bone as a spirit pendant."

According to an ancient Jurchen custom, those who were buried alive were considered to have received divine blessings, so their forehead bones were considered very auspicious and imbued with spirituality.

A bone bead made from the forehead bone of a person buried alive and inlaid on one's own forehead is a rare and precious spiritual pendant, even more spiritual than a wild boar tusk that has been polished for hundreds of years.

Many Jurchen chieftains living near the sea in the east liked to have beads embedded in the forehead bones of those who were buried alive with them.

“I agree.” Bao Shi did not refuse his eldest son’s request. “Alright, after she ascends to heaven, her forehead bone will be yours.”

"Remember, do not desecrate her body."

"Yes, sir!" Kang Jia nodded.

Ning Caiwei could barely understand what they were saying, and upon hearing this, she felt as if she had fallen into an abyss.

They not only killed themselves to be buried with the dead, but also ground their own forehead bones into bone beads!
These nobles wore Han Chinese silk that even poor Jurchens could never afford in their entire lives, yet they lacked the civilization of the lower-class Jurchens.

Even the most luxurious silks could not conceal their barbarity and cruelty!
She tried her best to calm herself down and was about to start negotiating when someone suddenly shouted:

"The shaman master has arrived!"

Before he could finish speaking...

A tall man, dressed in a shamanic robe adorned with bronze mirrors, wearing a tall hat with eagle antlers, a shamanic bell hanging from his waist, and holding a fork, strode into the shrine.

The Great Shaman of Hetu Ala!
Behind him were two junior shamans, known as "divine attendants," who were his disciples.

Two “divine attendants,” a man and a woman, carried ritual implements such as the Nima harp, a divine mirror, a Tongken drum, a Kala instrument, a toad-shaped divine knife, and a red-feathered arrow.

"The shaman has arrived!" Everyone stopped crying and stood up.

Then, the solemn and dignified shamanic ceremony began.

The young shaman, holding a bow and arrows studded with copper coins, shot three red-feathered arrows westward.

This signifies that the soul of the deceased flies to the western heavens where the gods reside.

Holding a fork symbolizing a python's tongue, the shaman leaped and used the fork to imitate a python's tongue, licking various parts of the mourning hall while chanting the "Song of Sending Off the Soul" in a mysterious tone.

"Master Cuohazhan rides the Red Hare Heavenly Horse, and above the auspicious clouds is Mother Foduo..."

…The divine eagle soars through the three heavens and nine realms, my soul has gone to the land of the gods… Brave and wise ancestral spirits, you hang on the west wall, becoming the Mani on the altar…

Your descendants and clansmen have received the blessing of Mother Willow Goddess, and their offspring will be numerous and many…”

The song of sending off the soul, accompanied by the sounds of drums and bells, is eerie and mysterious, creating an exceptionally solemn atmosphere.

After the chanting, the great shaman suddenly stopped, his whole body trembled violently, and his eyes rolled back.

The two attendants, one ringing a bell and the other beating a drum, asked together:
"Where did Deshkuberle go?"

The great shaman's voice changed; it sounded like someone else's voice, as if he were a completely different person.

He replied, "Deshiku Beile stands before Cuohazhanye's Red Hare Heavenly Horse, holding Cuohazhanye's sword."

"The red-faced, long-bearded Lord Cuohazhan, his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, was being carried on the shoulder of Beile Deshiku..."

At this point, the great shaman trembled as if possessed, his eyes rolled back, and his body, covered in bronze mirrors, rattled loudly.

The prototype of Cuoha Zhanye (the God of War Marshal), worshipped by the Jurchens of the Ming Dynasty, should be Guan Yu.

This is one of the reasons why the Manchu people in later generations worshipped Guan Yu.

Then, the great shaman opened his eyes as if waking from a dream, and his voice changed again.

Holding a horse fork, he danced his way to Ning Caiwei's side and licked her with his "python tongue".

With each lick, he solemnly said:
"Her ignorance has been licked away."

"Her filth was licked away."

"Her disrespect has been licked away."

"Her soul has been thoroughly cleansed."

Seeing this scene, Ning Caiwei felt both fear and a desire to laugh!
Screw you!

She found it ridiculous, foolish, and absurd.

How scathing is the sneer that even fear cannot erase?
She was desperate. Even if she claimed to be a princess of the Ming Dynasty and fabricated an incredible backstory, these people would only kill her to silence her; they wouldn't stop.

At this moment, amidst boundless despair, she only hoped to buy time until Zhu Yin came to rescue her.

She firmly believed that Zhu Yin would come.

Zhu Yin won't let himself down; he will definitely come!

What I need to do is delay as much as possible.

After completing the ritual, the shaman addressed the crowd:

“The soul of the person who was buried alive is already clean; even if she curses loudly, her soul remains clean.”

Bao Shi stood up. "Can we start the entrapment now?"

The high shaman nodded. “You can strangle her now. When the sun goes down, put her body in the coffin.”

With a wave of her hand, a masked man holding a large bow appeared before Ning Caiwei.

Ning Caiwei will be strangled by a bowstring. It's a very dignified way to die, without drawing blood.

Others carried copper basins and rags, which were used to clean the bodies of those who were to be buried alive.

When a person is strangled to death, they will most likely lose control of their bladder, which would make them unclean.

Therefore, the body must be cleaned so that it can be laid to rest in peace.

Just as the hideous, man with a grotesque face was about to put the bowstring around Ning Caiwei's neck, Ning Caiwei suddenly looked up.

"Wait!" Ning Caiwei said calmly, "I just sensed a divine revelation from Mother Foduo!"

Her eyes were frighteningly bright, carrying a sacred and solemn quality.

“My mother’s divine revelation told me that I have spiritual knowledge that even shamans rarely possess!”

"A prodigy will descend with a baby and a dog! The Jianzhou Jurchens will become great!"

"I will become a figure revered by the Jurchens!"

"If you force me to be buried alive with you, it will bring misfortune and punishment!"

At this point, Ning Caiwei suddenly showed a pained expression, looked up at the sky, as if she saw something.

“I saw people on the northern snowfields; those are your ancestors.”

"I see a huge fire, Ming soldiers are killing you... Ah!"

Ning Caiwei suddenly cried out and fainted.

It doesn't look like an act to anyone. Could an ordinary person fake it this convincingly?
"What's going on?!" Bao Shi suddenly stood up.

　I hope everyone will read it every day and accompany this book as it grows. Let it be nurtured by everyone from its very first sprout. Thank you!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)