Shao Xuan listened to He Bian talk about a lot of things, mainly about the customs of the Di Mountain tribe. He Bian was still very cautious when it came to the secrets of the tribe. However, Shao Xuan already had a basic understanding of the tribe.
All in all, the Di Mountain tribe was a tribe that would rather live with fish than interact with humans. Their main source of food was the wild fruits in the forest and the fish in the sea. Compared to the land and rivers, they preferred the boundless blue ocean. Their understanding of the fish and sea beasts in the sea was much greater than that of the land.
They didn't use nets often and rarely made complicated stone tools. They preferred harpoons made from horn stones or the bones and shells of other sea creatures as weapons. Horn stones were the horns that Shao Xuan saw the Di Mountain tribesmen wearing. They were actually a type of animal that lived in the sea. Its shape and material were very suitable for making weapons, so the Di Mountain tribesmen would often look for horn stones when they were catching fish in the sea. Some horn stones were much bigger than a human's body length.
What was special about the Di Mountain tribe was that they were good at diving. Perhaps it was because they lived by the sea and their physique, but they were good at swimming and diving. They could dive deeper than other tribes. Even the Zhi tribe couldn't compare to them.
The sea was the Di Mountain tribesmen's main hunting ground. When Shao Xuan heard He Bian talk about how they hunted in the sea, he felt that the Di Mountain tribe was indeed more suited to the sea.
As for the Di fish that Shao Xuan was interested in, He Bian tried to draw it. However, compared to the totem, the fish he drew didn't look like a fish at all. Shao Xuan temporarily gave up on trying to understand what the Di fish looked like from He Bian. However, when He Bian mentioned the Di fish, he had a complicated expression on his face. He wouldn't tell Shao Xuan exactly why.
After He Bian left, Shao Xuan chatted with a few of the injured members of the Di Mountain tribe. He casually mentioned the Di fish, but these people were different from He Bian. Their feelings towards the Di fish weren't as complicated as He Bian's. They completely treated the Di fish as their true companions. This was an idea passed down from their ancestors. They had been taught this since they were young.
However, there must be another secret behind this, and it must be related to the Di fish.
On the other side, Gui Ze finished talking to the child in the shell. Because the child said that his condition would be better in the water, Gui Ze asked someone to prepare a large stone vat. Ever since pottery became popular in the tribe, stone tools were gradually used less and less. Gui Ze asked someone to find an empty stone vat and fill it with river water. Then, he asked He Bian and the others to put the child in.
"Seawater is still different from river water, but having water is good. It's better than being in a shell all the time," Shao Xuan said.
Although the child in the shell did not show it, it could be seen that she was in pain. It was impossible for her body to fester without her noticing. He Bian and the others said that when they were still in the Di Mountain tribe, they would dig a big hole and let the sick children stay in it. They would get fresh seawater every day. During this long journey, the Shaman thought of putting Diandian in a shell. Before they set off, the shell was filled with seawater, but on the way, the seawater gradually disappeared.
With the Di Mountain tribesmen taking care of Diandian, they did not have to worry too much about Yanjiao. Although the Di Mountain tribesmen were anxious, they were still well-behaved.
"How did it go on your side?" Shao Xuan asked Gui Ze. He briefly told him what he found out from He Bian, but he felt that Gui Ze would definitely be able to get more information from the child.
"That child …" Gui Ze seemed to have encountered a difficult problem. "She is the next shaman of the Di Mountain tribe, if she survives."
The child did not hide this from Shao Xuan. Shao Xuan realized that there were many things that He Bian did not know. Perhaps He Bian had noticed it, but he did not know more about it. This was a team that came all the way here to find a cure. It was impossible for everyone to be clueless. That was why there was at least one person in this team who knew the truth.
If He Bian, who was the leader of this team, was not that person, then who else had a higher status than He Bian?
Now he knew.
No wonder He Bian and the others valued that child so much. After all, they were raising her as the next shaman. This was something that Gui Ze deeply understood.
"That child knows her own condition very well. She didn't hide anything from me and told me everything. Just as we guessed, the cause of her illness is the conflict between the two totemic powers in her body, "Gui Ze said.
"What is her attitude towards the Di fish?" Shao Xuan suddenly asked.
"That's the strange thing. Xuan, tell me, He Bian's attitude towards the Di fish is very complicated. The other Di tribesmen seem to be very close to the Di fish, but when the child talks about the Di fish, her gaze is … guarded!" Gui Ze did not understand this. Because she was familiar with the Drumming tribe, she initially thought that the Di Mountain tribe was similar to the Drumming tribe. The Drumming tribesmen also saw crocodiles as their companions. However, none of the Drumming tribesmen treated crocodiles differently.
"She still has many things that she hasn't told us," Shao Xuan said.
"When we were talking to her, she asked everyone to leave. It seems like there are some things that she doesn't want others to know, including He Bian."
Shao Xuan thought for a moment. "She's observing and probing. If we don't have a solution, or if we don't want to interfere, she won't say anything else."
Gui Ze nodded. "She asked if we could extract one of the totemic powers from her body. I can't think of a solution for this at the moment. After all, I've never seen anyone with two types of totemic powers."
"Extract one?" Shao Xuan also didn't know how to extract one of the two types of powers from his body. His situation was special too. Other than Yan Jiao's fire seed and totemic power, there was another type of power in his body. However, unlike the Di Mountain tribesmen, the two types of powers in his body did not conflict with each other. In fact, most of the time, Yan Jiao's fire seed and totemic power would become more active under the influence of the other type of power.
"Next time, when you go look for that child, I'll go too. I have some questions for her." Shao Xuan could tell that the child was closer to Gui Ze, probably because she was the successor of the shaman. Other than Gui Ze, she didn't want to talk to anyone else. Shao Xuan wanted to ask Gui Ze to pass the message, but after thinking about it, he decided that it would be better for him to ask her personally.
They could totally ignore the Di Mountain tribesmen's situation, but Shao Xuan was very curious about the 'cause' of the Di Mountain tribesmen. Besides Shao Xuan, Gui Ze and the two retired shamans also had the same thought. They also wanted to know the cause and the solution. Anything related to the fire seed always piqued the shamans' interest.
On this day, Shao Xuan went to the place where the Di Mountain tribesmen were settled down.
The Di Mountain tribesmen treated Gui Ze much better than Shao Xuan. This was because the shaman was the absolute leader in the Di Mountain tribe. The chief was only secondary. It wasn't rare to see a tribe like this, so Shao Xuan wasn't surprised.
When he walked over, he heard laughter coming from inside.
The stone vat was placed in the middle of the room, and the large shell was still in its original position. It was open, but there was no longer any water inside. Perhaps it was because the child was soaking in the water, so the smell in the room wasn't as strong as it was on the first day.
Just like the first day, the child was wearing clothes made from the skin of a type of sea fish. There were a few fish in the large stone tank that the Di Mountain tribesmen had caught in the Flaming River themselves. They said it was for the child to play with. What was the most abundant fish in the Flaming River?
Piranhas!
Yes, the toys the Di Mountain tribesmen had caught for the child were the famous piranhas in the Flaming River. They were the kind that were very active before their teeth were pulled out.
The three fish in the vat weren't big. They were about the size of an adult's palm. After all, there was a limit to how big they could fit in the vat.
If it were anyone else, they would definitely be attacked by the three piranhas in the vat. No matter how big or small they were, they were born to be vicious. But now, the three piranhas that were so arrogant in the Flaming River were like little chicks being chased. They dodged the human's palm, even if the human's palm was much smaller than theirs.
The laughter Shao Xuan heard came from the child in the water as she slapped the piranhas in the vat. It seemed like she was very satisfied with this toy.
If the Zhi tribesmen didn't have the crocodiles to protect them, they might not even be able to do this. However, this child in front of him did it. Shao Xuan wondered if it was because of the child's illness that the piranhas were avoiding her. Or was it because all the Di Mountain tribesmen could do this?
When she saw Shao Xuan and Gui Ze walk in, the child called Dian Dian stopped slapping the fish. The water in the stone vat calmed down, but the three piranhas were still trying their best to stay away. They were practically sticking to the walls of the stone vat. If there was a gap in the wall, they would probably jump out through it.
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