On September 10th, the Teng tribe prepared the sacrifices, and Jiang Xuan spent another day opening the kiln to bake the three large pottery tripods into pottery.
Due to a lot of experience accumulated in the past, and the fact that the pottery tripod itself is relatively thick and not easy to crack, all three pottery tripods were fired successfully this time.
The surface of these pottery tripods is dark red, and the outer walls are engraved with totem patterns of the rattan tribe, as well as patterns of flowers, birds, insects, fish, and beasts. At first glance, they give people a sense of simplicity and grandeur.
Jiang Xuan carried the three new pottery tripods to the center of the new altar and arranged them in a "pin" shape, which represented the meaning of three lives and all things.
In addition to the pottery tripod, the altar was surrounded by eight thick totem poles, and even the huge animal bones were placed neatly.
The altar of the Vine Tribe finally has some mysterious and sacred feeling. Even the old witch often goes there and walks around a few times, thinking that this arrangement is amazing.
On September 12th, Jiang Xuan woke up early in the morning and found that the ground had turned white, but it was not snow, but frost.
Jiang Xuan returned to the bamboo house, held his bamboo tube calendar, and used a stone knife to carve the two small characters "Frost Descent" next to "September Twelfth".
"The weather is getting colder and colder, and it will probably snow soon. Everything is ready, and it's time to hold the sacrificial ceremony."
If the delay continues, Jiang Xuan is worried that the divine vine will be affected by the arrival of winter, because it is a plant after all.
"Winter is approaching, and the battles between the tribes should have ended. Now is a good time to recruit tourists!"
Jiang Xuan planned to attract tourists immediately. It would be best for them to witness the process of sacrifice with their own eyes, especially the part about the resurrection of the divine vine, so that it would have a deterrent effect on those tourists.
Before, Jiang Xuan recruited Gan Song and others by chance and persuaded them to join the Vine Tribe.
But that is too inefficient. It is not easy to find tourists in the vast forest.
Jiang Xuan thought of a simpler method, which was to light a huge bonfire in the wide open space in front of the Vine Tribe and add some raw branches and wet grass to the bonfire.
In this way, the bonfire will send out billowing smoke straight into the sky, which can be seen from a long distance away.
Desperate tourists nearby will most likely come over to check after seeing the obviously man-made smoke.
By then, Jiang Xuan will easily be able to recruit some tourists who want to join the tribe.
Moreover, over the past year, Jiang Xuan and others have explored a wide area near the Teng tribe and have not found any hostile tribes. There is no need to worry that the thick smoke will attract the attention of the hostile tribes.
Because Southern Wasteland is full of high mountains, unless you stand on the top of a high mountain, it is difficult to see too far away.
Jiang Xuan told other people about this method, and everyone thought there was no problem.
Jiang Xuan found a few people, picked up a large amount of firewood, and piled it into a large firewood pile more than three meters high in the center of the cultivated land where the grain had been harvested.
"ignition!"
Jiang Xuan held a burning torch in his hand and lit the huge bonfire.
"Crack, crackle, crackle..."
The firewood was very dry, and after it was ignited in one place, the fire quickly expanded until the entire bonfire was ablaze, with waves of heat.
Then, Jiang Xuan covered the burning bonfire with a large number of raw branches and some wet grass.
The billowing smoke soon came out and turned into a huge column of smoke, rising straight into the sky.
"The smoke is so high!"
Gan Song looked up at the billowing smoke and exclaimed, and others also exclaimed.
This bonfire will continue to burn for several days until Jiang Xuan recruits enough tourists for the Teng tribe.
Jiang Xuan stood next to the fire and said to everyone: "Sister, Uncaria, Stone Loach, Nanxing, you go and temporarily remove the traps on both sides of the tribe, so as not to hurt the tourists who come looking for it."
"Tomorrow at noon, when the sun rises to its highest point, the sacrifice will be held on time, regardless of whether there are tourists or not."
Many tribal sacrificial ceremonies are held at night, because animal totem gods mostly like to forage at night and are more active at night than during the day.
But the Vine Tribe is different. Their totem god is a sacred vine, which is more active when there is sunlight during the day and is more suitable for worship.
"Okay, let's go right away."
Chi Shao and others immediately set off to temporarily remove the traps around the tribe.
"From now on, it just depends on luck."
Jiang Xuan stood next to the bonfire, looking up at the billowing smoke, feeling the heat waves one after another, and praying to successfully recruit enough tourists.
At this time, in a forest two mountains away from the Teng tribe, hundreds of tourists were walking at a loss.
They are a group of people who have lost their tribes and come from many tribes. In order to survive in the dangerous virgin forest, they chose to stick together.
They have traveled a long way, and along the way, they have experienced various dangerous beasts and plant attacks. People are constantly joining them, and some people have died. No one knows where their destination is.
Many tourists like this die in the forest every year.
Either froze to death, or starved to death, or were eaten by wild beasts, or were used as fertilizer by strange plants.
They had no tribal protection, no powerful warriors to protect them, no time to find enough food for the winter, and no enough animal skins to keep out the cold.
It is too difficult to survive in such a harsh situation.
"Nepeta, do you think we can find the big tribe?"
Among the tourists, there was a tall tribesman named Jingjie. He was the only one-color warrior among the tourists. If it weren't for him, these tourists would have died faster.
Because of his strong strength, Nepeta became the leader of this group, leading them to compete with Winter for time, hoping to find a big tribe to take him in.
Nepeta did not look back, he said firmly: "I believe we will definitely find the big tribe!"
However, Jingjie had no idea whether he could find a big tribe to take him in.
He only knew that if he gave up hope, then there would really be no hope for this group of people.
"Yes, we will definitely find it."
"That's right, then we won't have to go hungry."
"Maybe we can cover it with thick animal skins in the winter."
…
Several younger tourists started discussing, and the more they discussed, the more excited they became, as if the beautiful days were just around the corner.
However, the eyes of older tourists are very pessimistic, or numb, because they have experienced too many disappointments and no longer hold such naive ideas.
Their only hope is to survive, even for one more day.
This is a survival instinct.
"Shashasha..."
A giant toothed tiger suddenly jumped out of the bushes nearby and bit a tourist on the edge of the group.
"ah……"
The tourist let out a scream and was dragged away by the giant toothed tiger, leaving only a line of blood on the ground.
"It's the Megalodon!"
The tourists formed a mass in confusion, screaming in fear and squeezing desperately into the middle, for fear that other beasts would appear around them.
"Don't be chaotic. The more chaotic you are, the faster you will die. Do you want to die?"
At the critical moment, Jing Jie stood up and roared.
But the tourists were too scared. It took Jie Jie a long time, yelling and kicking, to get these panicked tourists to stop running and crowding.
"Keep going, pay attention to what's going on around you."
Nepeta held a stone ax in his hand and continued walking in front. This scene had happened many times along the way. Although he was angry, he was powerless.
We must find a tribe that can accommodate tourists!
Jingjie secretly gritted his teeth. He could only rely on this belief to support himself and move forward, otherwise he was afraid that he would collapse like those tourists.
While walking, two more tourists were dragged away by wild beasts, and another tourist suffered a mental breakdown and escaped from the group. He will most likely die in the jungle.
Jingjie's heart kept sinking, but he could only grit his teeth and persist. He had no choice.
They reached the height of a mountain col. Jie Jie climbed onto a boulder to look around. Suddenly, he saw a thick smoke in the distance.
This thick smoke rose almost straight into the sky and was isolated, unlike the continuous smoke caused by wildfires.
"Bonfire, big bonfire!"
Nepeta was so excited that he almost jumped up. As a tribesman, he was very familiar with the smoke produced by campfires.
If it is a small bonfire, it will never produce such a thick and large smoke column. Only the large bonfires lit when the tribe holds grand events can produce such an effect!
"There must be a tribe ahead, a big tribe!"
"Keep moving forward and get to that big tribe. Maybe we will be taken in!"
Nepeta climbed down from the boulder and shouted excitedly to the tourists.
"Are there really big tribes?"
"Very good!"
"We can all live!"
…
Some tourists cheered and continued to move forward with Jie Jie.
There are also some tourists who are relatively numb, because they have been excited many times, but have been hit by reality again and again, and now they no longer dare to believe in miracles.
With various thoughts, the group of tourists moved quickly towards the direction of the thick smoke. In the process, some people lost their lives.
