Early the next morning, Xu Chen was awakened by the sound of voices outside the window. He got up and went out, only to find that the chiefs of the Gonghuo tribe and several neighboring tribes had already arrived.
The leader was the little witch from the Five Ghost Tribe. She stepped forward a little nervously and knelt down to salute, then asked about the arrangements for today's funeral.
Xu Chen waved his hand and said not to be anxious at this time, so that each tribe only needs to leave a few hunters to send messages, and the rest will return to their own tribes to step up preparations for the witchcraft conference.
So after a large group of people dispersed, Xu Chen went to the next room to visit the little witch. He found that she looked much better after a night's rest, so he accompanied her to have breakfast and explain for a while before riding on horseback and leading a group of hunters.
Go to the trading area on the river beach.
There is currently a carpenter and stonemason training center here. Both the Gonghuo Clan and the Yugong Clan have arranged for men to learn carpentry and make stone tools here.
When Xu Chen arrived, a group of carpenters had already begun preparing wood to make a coffin. Xu Chen found a ceramic board, drew a picture of a coffin, and explained it carefully.
The so-called coffin is nothing more than a square wooden box with a very simple structure that can fit a person inside. It is very different from the traditional Chinese coffin style.
The first reason is to rush for time, and the second reason is that the skills of a group of carpenters are not up to par.
Next, Xu Chen went to the stonemason's workshop and drew a pattern of a tombstone on a clay tablet, asking them to find a stone of suitable size as soon as possible to start building it.
In later generations, tombstones were not installed immediately after the deceased was buried. Different places had different customs and the installation time was also different. In some places, it was after the first seven years, in some places, one year later, and in some places, it was even three years later.
Although these customs and habits are different, the essence of tombstones is the same, which is to record the gender of the deceased, the time of birth and death, age, life events, family relationships, etc.
The function of a tombstone is firstly for people to pay their respects, and secondly to trace memories, so that future generations can clearly understand what kind of person is buried in the tomb through the content of the tombstone.
For the family, it is a very important clue to trace their roots.
Chinese people worship ghosts and gods and believe more in their ancestors.
In this barbaric era where the system of gods has not yet been formed, Xu Chen hopes to use such a funeral form to provide future generations with a place where they can worship and pursue their memories.
What the old witch did is worthy of being remembered and praised by future generations.
As for the deceased great shaman of the Wu tribe, Xu Chen had no such interest.
After all, I'm not familiar with her.
Although the great witch had given him a lot of help and made great contributions to the development of the Uzbek people, he even prevented the Uzbek people from expelling and annexing the Ba people.
But her contribution is far inferior to that of the Great Witch of the Gonghuo Clan, and Xu Chen will not do anything unnecessary.
After arranging the coffin and tombstone, Xu Chen rode a horse to the mountain col where the Gonghuo tribe lived.
At this time, the little witch, together with the little witch of the Five Ghost Tribe, and the Gonghuo Clan's chief and many tribesmen, were conducting a simple witch blessing ceremony in front of the room where the old witch's body was placed.
After the group of people finished singing and dancing, Xu Chen asked the Gonghuo tribe leader to arrange for some strong men to go up the mountain to find a suitable cemetery with tools such as knives, axes, and copper hoes.
Hearing that Xu Chen was looking for a place to bury the great witch, the Gonghuo clan leader quickly started arranging manpower, and soon followed him up the mountain with a large group of people. Even the two witches were curious to follow him to see how Xu Chen planned to bury him.
Currently, all tribes have different funerals, but there is not much difference. They either hold a cremation ceremony or find a suitable place to bury them with stones.
But looking at Xu Chen's appearance, it seemed that the situation was different, so there was a hint of excitement in the sadness.
The leader of the Gonghuo Clan personally led the way, and hundreds of people headed up the mountainside along the road that the Gonghuo Clan used to go up and down the mountain.
Since moving down the mountain, the cave has been completely abandoned, and no one has walked on this road for two years. It has long been covered by thorns and weeds.
Fortunately, it was autumn and winter, and the vegetation had withered, so there were still traces of this road. A group of people searched for it while walking, and finally came to the cave where the Gonghuo tribe used to live.
Looking at the cave, which was still covered with thorns and weeds and covered with thick fallen leaves, Xu Chen couldn't help but sigh.
Three years ago, he led more than forty people across the mountains and arrived here from the Ji tribe in two days. Then he attacked the Gonghuo tribe at night and captured the Gonghuo tribe's great shaman and hundreds of men, women and children in one fell swoop.
In order to threaten them, they finally surrendered to the more than two hundred Gonghuo tribe hunters who were attacking the Cang tribe.
And that time, they also killed an evil dragon here.
As time has passed, the place has become so deserted that it is almost impossible to see the lively life of hundreds of people gathered together and the fierce battle.
However, if you look carefully, you can still find a few scratch marks left on the rocky clearing by the giant claws of the adult dragon. Although they have been covered with moss, they are still clearly visible.
Xu Chen stood in front of the cave for a long time, and then he felt that there was no need to look for the cemetery.
This cave is the most suitable.
After all, this is the place where the Gonghuo tribe has thrived and lived for generations, and it is of great significance to the Gonghuo tribe.
In addition, it would be best for the old witch to be born and raised here, and then her fallen leaves would return to her roots and be buried here.
Anyway, this place is abandoned and no one will live in it anymore.
So he pointed to the cave and said to the Gonghuo chief and a group of tribesmen: "This cave is your ancestral land. Rather than letting it be abandoned, why not bury your great witch here so that she can continue to accompany the tribe after her death?"
, what do you think?"
The group of people fell silent for a moment after hearing this. After a long time, the Gonghuo clan leader cried with joy, squatted on the ground and said: "Everything is arranged by His Majesty the Witch King!"
The little witch also nodded with bright eyes and said: "This place is indeed good. Our Ba people's cave has built the Temple of the Ancient Mother, which has become the residence of the Ancient Mother God. The great witch Gonghuo is buried here, and the gods will not abandon Gonghuo."
If we go, we will look after and protect the Gonghuo Clan even more in the future!"
Hearing the great witch say the same thing, a group of Gonghuo tribe members were immediately grateful and squatted down one after another, saying that it would be best for the great witch to be buried here.
So Xu Chen looked around the cave and asked a group of men who came with tools to clear away all the thorns and weeds near the cave, and also to clean up the road up the mountain.
Seeing a group of people busy, Xu Chen slowly walked into the cave.
This cave is larger than the caves of the Ba people, and there are several smaller caves nearby, forming an intermittent natural rock cave community half a circle around the mountain col. At first, more than 600 people of Gonghuo people, old and young, lived here.
.
The largest cave in front of us is where the old witch lives.
On the rock walls inside and outside the cave, there are various graffiti patterns carved with various charcoal pigments and even carved on hard stones. Most of them are the inheritance left by the great shamans of the Gonghuo tribe, the sun, moon, stars, birds and animals.
Insects, fish, flowers, trees and various human shapes, among them there are many shamanistic patterns with an abstract or pictographic structure that Xu Chen has seen before, and there is a sense of ancient mystery in the simple scrawling.
Therefore, standing in the cave and looking around, it is like suddenly traveling through time and space, and there is an aura of prehistoric and barbaric atmosphere rushing towards you.
Of course, there is also a lingering stale flavor mixed in, just like the eternal flowing memory of time and space, as if it is still telling the simplicity and liveliness of the past when people lived in groups.
But now that people are out of the cave, the ground is full of wild animal excrement and scattered discarded stones and sticks. There are even dense stone nests against the wall, which are also cushioned by moldy withered grass.
On the walls near these stone nests, there are even more graffiti, as well as handprints and traces of various inexplicable colors.
Xu Chen was not unfamiliar with this cave. It was already his third time here and he had even stayed here for several days before.
But now that he comes back, things have changed and people have changed, which makes him feel like the world has changed.
The Gonghuo tribe has all moved down the mountain and built several compounds in the mountain col. Hundreds of acres of farmland have been reclaimed in the entire mountain col. It is no longer what it used to be.
The two little witches were inside the cave and carefully looked at the various patterns and witchcraft inscriptions painted on the cave walls. They also whispered a few words to each other to confirm the knowledge and witchcraft songs inherited by each other's great witches. They were also discussing the next steps.
How to hold a sacrificial ceremony at the funeral of Gonghuo Shaman.
Xu Chen is not a witch. He can plan and arrange funerals for the Gonghuo tribe, but some of the necessary rituals during the funeral still need to be completed by witches.
The little witch has grown very fast in the past few years, especially after holding several large-scale comprehensive gatherings of the Ba people, and has become very familiar with various sacrificial activities.
Although the little witch of the Five Ghost Tribe is much worse, she has been studying with the great witch of the Gonghuo Tribe in the past two years. At the same time, she is also working hard to learn new knowledge such as the Witch King's dictionary and calculations. In addition, she has participated in several Ba clan gatherings and great witch meetings, and has gradually
She began to grow up, at least before Xu Chen and the little witch came, she had already led the Gonghuo tribe and several tribes to start arranging the funeral of the old witch without any chaos.
The existence of the witch group is often like a reassurance. They don't need to do anything. As long as they show up, they can greatly appease the emotions of the tribe.
At present, the Gonghuo Tribe and the Lei Tribe, the Five Ghost Tribes, and two other small tribes affiliated with the Gonghuo Tribe live together. Although the two witches are not affiliated, they both belong to the Ba League and accept the inheritance of the Ba Tribe's great witch.
, so theoretically and emotionally, both witches have the responsibility and obligation to lead and guide all tribes, and all tribes are very respectful and respectful to them.
Therefore, after the old witch died, the little witch of the Five Ghost Tribe became the backbone of this mixed tribe, and it was natural for her to come forward to appease the Gonghuo Tribe.
Although she was very frightened at first, after Xu Chen and the little witch arrived, her mental pressure disappeared.