The day of the Great Ritual had finally come.
On this day, Ye Xi woke up very early. He lay back on the hide, his eyes staring up at the pitch-black ceiling as his right hand rested over his heart.
He could feel it pulsing rather quickly.
Ye Xi sat up and let out a long breath.
Today was the day he would become a Warrior.
The scenes from when he first arrived at the tribe flitted through his mind. He had once admired the strength of Totem Warriors, and now, he was only one step away.
As he neared the entrance to the cave, a gust of moist wind swept toward him.
Ye Xi realized to his surprise that it was raining hard outside, a thick curtain of water enveloping the earth. Moisture was constantly being blown into the cave by the wind.
The cave entrance was very lively. Almost all of the tribe members were standing there, packing the entrance as they avidly talked.
Ye Xi glanced over and noticed that the tribe members had all dressed up.
The original skirts of grass were no more, replaced by various hide clothes that had been carefully washed. Greasy hair was now clean and pleasant, adorned with bone ornaments that would clatter when the person walked.
All of them were excited, not affected in the slightest by the downpour outside.
Awl, whose body was entirely covered in bone ornaments, his hair tied up in numerous small braids, was happily chatting with someone when he spotted Ye Xi. He hastily ended his conversation and called out, "Ye Xi, you're here!"
Ye Xi nodded as he inspected the new hairstyle. Finding it quite an eyesore, he decided to withhold his opinion.
Awl noticed Ye Xi's gaze and shook his head, proudly saying, "What do you think about my braids? Don't they look good?" As he shook his head, the many bone ornaments on the braids clattered.
"My mother spent the entire morning on it!"
As he spoke, a white beast tooth was shaken loose from the swinging.
"Ah!" Awl bent down and picked it up, using his fingers to wipe the dirt off the tooth. "It dropped! Ye Xi, help me put it back on!" He put the tooth in Ye Xi's hand.
Ye Xi took the beast tooth and watched in distress as Awl squatted down, showing the back of his head to him.
He inspected Awl's hair and found that the bone ornaments were all tied down with hair. Looking down at the tooth, he spotted a small hole bored through it.
Ye Xi threaded a hair through the tooth as he would thread a needle, and tied it tightly.
"It's done."
Awl rubbed his head and giggled, "Thanks!"
"…You're welcome."
Awl saw that Ye Xi's hair was completely devoid of any decoration, so he warmly said, "Ye Xi, I'll tie a few braids for you!"
Awl thought to himself, What a pity that Ye Xi doesn't have a mother, and he hasn't gotten close to any of the women in the tribe, so he has no one to braid his hair.
Ye Xi's face went stiff. Looking at all the braids in Awl's hair and the fifty-some bone ornaments decorating it, he firmly said, "There's no need."
"There's no need to be so courteous with me!"
"…With so much rain today, are we still holding the Great Ritual?" Ye Xi hastily changed the subject.
Awl gave him a strange look. "Of course! How could the Great Ritual be delayed because of some rain?"
Ye Xi spotted Mink standing in a corner, and after exchanging a few words with Awl, he walked over to Mink.
Mink had his head lowered, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking.
Ye Xi stood in front of him and said, "Mink."
Mink slowly raised his head and silently looked at Ye Xi.
His eyes had no energy and were like two pools of stagnant water. The slave tattoo was prominent on his cheek.
Though Ye Xi had brought him to the Mud Mountain Tribe, he still seemed to be that taciturn slave from the Blackpond Tribe, his entire body exuding a gloomy aura.
Ye Xi stood right in front of him and said, "Do you want to become a Warrior?"
Mink's eyes suddenly seemed to leap with fire, but he said nothing.
"Do you want it?" Ye Xi asked again.
Mink clenched his teeth, and his hoarse voice managed to squeeze out, "…Want."
His dreams were haunted by thoughts of revenge, and as this desire grew stronger and stronger, he came to hate his weak self, hate how he didn't even have the ability to strike back against his foes, hate how he could only allow himself to be trampled on.
But what did it matter if he wanted it? Even if he had astonishing talent, what did it matter?! It was already good enough that Mud Mountain had accepted him. Would they even let him become a Warrior?
When Ye Xi heard the answer, he placed his hand in front of him and opened it, revealing a jade Fiendbeast Core the size of a date.
Mink's pupils constricted as he stared at Ye Xi.
Ye Xi smiled. "This is for you."
Mink began to tremble. "…This is a pureblood Fiendbeast Core, the one from the bird of prey that you killed. You're giving it to me? Then what will you use?"
"Take it. I have another." Ye Xi stuffed the Fiendbeast Core into Mink's hand and softly said, "Use it well and get stronger. Don't make me regret this decision."
As Mink tightly gripped the Fiendbeast Core, something in his eyes seemed to change.
"…Okay."
At this moment, numerous footsteps came from inside the cave.
"They're coming! They're coming!" The tribe members immediately stopped talking and excitedly turned toward the cave.
The Warriors walked out from the depths, all of them sumptuously dressed.
Ye Xi had believed Awl's appearance to be overdoing it, but only when he saw the Warriors did he truly understand what 'overdoing it' meant.
The chief was wearing two long horns on his head, each one half a meter long, and the massive white skull of some unknown creature was hung in front of his chest. Heavy necklaces hung from his wrists and neck, some of them made from bones and others made from some unknown ore.
The Warriors behind him were also dressed in a garish manner. Some of the Warriors even had colorful feathers thrust into their hair, making them seem like peacocks. The various costumes left him dazzled.
Ye Xi looked at their costumes and then looked down at his simple clothes of black snake skin, silently questioning himself.
The chief scanned the crowd, briefly pausing when he saw the simply garbed Ye Xi before continuing onward.
The Warriors charged out of the cave, not caring about the mighty downpour.
Once the Warriors had all walked out, Ye Xi said to Mink, "Let's go too!"
The rain was too great, and the moment they walked out, they were instantly drenched.
The rain poured down, flowing into his eyes. Ye Xi squinted as he stood in the rain, occasionally wiping the water off his face.
Everyone neatly stood in the clearing, both ordinary people and Warriors all looking toward the cave as if waiting for something.
No one said a word as they silently stood in the rain, their backs straight. The Warriors were particularly erect, like towers that had been cast from steel, and in their silence, they exuded an intimidating pressure.
Ye Xi saw that no one else was speaking, so he also remained silent and looked at the cave.
After a little while, heavy footsteps could be heard from the cave.
Ye Xi slightly widened his eyes.
Ten Warriors carrying five enormous drums walked out of the cave.
The drums had a diameter of two meters, and a person could easily dance atop one.
Some sort of unknown dye had been used to evenly color the drums a dark red, and complicated and beautiful patterns had been carved on their surface. The front of the drums also sported a large and savage white beast skull.
These beast skulls shone like jewels, exuding a faint glow. No mixed-blood fiendbeast skull could ever compare to this.
Ye Xi wondered whether they were all the skulls of pureblood fiendbeasts.
These drums were probably extremely heavy, because even though there were two Warriors to each drum, they still seemed to be straining, their faces red and their arm muscles bulging. Each of their steps audibly thumped against the ground.
The water soaked the soil, turning it into soft and loose mud. The ankles of the Warriors transporting the drums sank into the mud.
The ten Warriors spread out in a row and gently placed the drums on the ground before quietly standing behind them.
Warriors came out with round logs that they began to stack on the ground in a ritualistic manner.
Splash!
Bean-sized drops of rain crashed through the jungle and splashed against the ground.
But Ye Xi noticed that these raindrops did not make a single sound when they struck the drums.
Ten seconds later, a familiar figure slowly walked out of the cave.
It was the shaman.
The shaman now wore cloth robes of snow white, and that disheveled hair was now neatly combed and bound up behind his head.
He gripped his bone cane and stepped into the pouring rain.
"Shaman!" everyone cried out as they bowed.
The shaman nodded. Looking around at the assembled tribe, he began to speak.
"Let the Great Ritual begin!"