After passing through the gate made of the skeletons of giant totem beasts, they saw rows of scarlet flags in front of them.
Four bloody hoofprints were placed at the four corners of the flags, representing the taurens, centaurs, boar-men, and elephant-men. These were the four most powerful settlements of the Bloodhoof Clan.
In the middle was a broken skull, which symbolized the bravery of the Bloodhoof Clan. They would definitely trample on the barbarians in the north who believed in the Holy Light.
After passing through the rows of flags, the captives who had luckily escaped being swallowed by the Bison River were deeply shocked by a gigantic datura tree. They could not help but gasp.
Ye had never seen such a gigantic datura tree.
Compared to this gigantic datura tree that was at least dozens of arms tall, no, hundreds of arms tall, the so-called "tree kings" on the cliffs of his hometown were like children who had just learned how to speak.
Normally, this datura tree, which would take more than ten Turanians to encircle, would bear fruits that were enough for the entire village to eat for half a year, right?
But now, not a single yellow fruit could be seen on the luxuriant crown of the tree.
They could only see colorful flowers blooming and spilling rainbow-like spores into the air.
The trunk and branches of this gigantic tree were covered in red and green, and they were covered with wind chimes made of the bones of totem beasts.
When the wind blew, it produced fine and ethereal sounds, like the orders and summons of the ancestral spirits.
In front of the gigantic tree, there was also an altar made of the bones of totem beasts.
It was made of the most hideous and most exquisite skull of the totem beasts. There were naturally profound and complicated totems that contained mysterious power growing on it, faintly emitting a suffocating aura.
More than ten priests of the Bloody Hoof Clan, wearing glamorous masks and armors that were carved from wood and smeared with totem beast grease and metal powder, were dancing in front of the giant tree, performing a solemn and complicated ritual.
Ye knew that this gigantic datura tree could already be called a "Spirit Tree". It was where the ancestral spirits slept, and it was often used for sacrifices and totem poles.
Many Blood Hoof Warriors who had returned from capturing captives had piled some particularly large and muscular corpses of the rat people in front of the Spirit Tree.
Leaf saw that the bull-headed warrior with broken horns also had a serious expression on his face. He was holding his brother's body that was carefully preserved with the juice of the Mandala tree. Step by step, he walked to the Spirit Tree and gently put it down.
Leaf's friends identified several bodies.
They were the ones who had put up the most tenacious resistance in the past few days during the capture operation. They were especially brave and strong.
Because of this, he won glory for himself and the favor of the Bloodhoof Warriors. Through the Blood Bestowal Ceremony, he became a member of the Bloodhoof Clan.
Of course, just like her brother, she was a corpse.
The priests, who wore huge masks and looked like human-shaped totem beasts, sang and danced around the square piles of corpses for a long time.
All the Bloodhoof Warriors and Ratfolk captives paid their utmost respect to the brave ones in the most pious manner, praying that the ancestral spirits would open the gates of the Sacred Mountain and lead these brave warriors back to the hall of glory.
"Wow, kill!"
Suddenly, a priest held a long spear in his hand. His eyes were wide open as he stabbed the pile of corpses.
The other priests also wielded extremely exaggerated and sharp magical artifacts and hacked at the corpses. The corpses that were already too horrible to look at were even more fragmented.
"My brother … has obtained his glory …"
Leaf opened his eyes wide and searched carefully. Finally, he found his brother's corpse in the messy pile of corpses.
Looking at his brother's unrecognizable appearance, Leaf heaved a long sigh of relief and showed a knowing smile.
The people of Turan sacrificed the most tragic way for the highest glory.
Lying on the sickbed, struggling at death's door, and finally dying in one piece was the most humiliating, sorrowful, and filthiest way to die.
If they died in such a cowardly way, their souls would never be able to pass through the gates of the Sacred Mountain and return to the hall of glory where the ancestral spirits resided.
Only on the battlefield, where they challenged opponents who were far more powerful and terrifying than themselves and were killed in the most cruel way, was the way that every Turan person envied and pursued.
The higher the status of the opponent, the stronger they were, and the more brutal their killing methods were, the greater glory the deceased could obtain.
Originally, the rat people were not qualified to enjoy such a glorious death.
But the Bloodhoof Clan was very generous and granted them the same glory as themselves.
These priests wearing huge masks and wielding exaggerated magical artifacts played the role of the ancestral spirits and ancient totem beasts.
Stabbing the corpses of their brother and the others meant that their brother and the others were unfortunately defeated and died tragically in the battle against the ancestral spirits.
This was the best way for the people of Turan to die.
All the captives were moved.
Even though their hometown had just been burned to the ground by the Bloodhoof Warriors a few days ago, and their relatives and friends were also slaughtered.
This grand sacrificial ceremony had slightly worn away the hatred and enmity in their hearts.
It also evoked their impulses to join the Bloodhoof Clan and win the supreme glory.
The long ceremony finally ended.
The priests poured the totem beast's fat on the pile of corpses and burned the pile of corpses to ashes.
Then, he buried the hot ashes of the warriors under the Spirit Tree.
All the Bloodhoof Priests and warriors faced the Spirit Tree, prostrated on the ground, trembling and muttering.
"Are they praying to the ancestral spirits to let the Datura Tree bear fruit again?"
Leaves turned his head with difficulty and asked his companion behind him.
This companion's village was by the Bison River, not far from Blackhorn City.
He knew a lot of things about the Bloodhoof Clan and the rules of the warriors.
Faintly, Leaves felt that what happened in the past few days was related to the blooming of the Datura Tree.
When the Datura Tree was not blooming, it was desperately growing fruits all the time. One Datura Tree was enough to feed a family of seven or eight people.
At that time, the days were carefree, and everyone was full of smiles. Even if the clan masters went hunting in the mountains, the main reason was not to obtain food, but to prove their strength, wisdom, and courage in front of the totem beasts.
But all the Datura Trees bloomed together.
An exotic fragrance assailed the nostrils, and the magnificent and magnificent datura flowers decorated the entire world into a fairyland.
But after blooming, the Datura Tree no longer bore fruit.
Not even a single fruit.
Leaves heard his mother curled up in the hammock in the dead of night, silently sighing and sobbing.
He knew that not only his family, but also the village's storage of Datura Fruits was getting less and less.
Even without the Bloodhoof Warriors slaughtering the village.
Not long after, the last Datura Fruit in the village would be eaten.
At that time, they would either starve to death.
Otherwise, the villagers would do things a hundred times crueler to each other and to other equally hungry and desperate villages than the Bloody Hoof Warriors did.
This was the rule of the Glory Era.
Leaves knew that the Glory Era meant war.
But he naively thought that the reason for war was that everyone had no food to eat.
As long as the Datura Tree could bear fruit quickly, everyone could fill their stomachs, and they could get through the Glory Era and return to the carefree and peaceful "Prosperous Era", right?
But this companion looked at him as if he was an idiot.
"The Datura Tree will not bear fruit anymore."
His companion said, "In order to win more glory for the ancestral spirits, using the blood and corpses of more powerful enemies to nourish the roots of the Datura Tree, the Datura Tree will not bear fruit until half or more of the Turan people die.
"These old men are not praying to the ancestral spirits to let the Datura Tree bear fruit quickly.
"On the contrary, they are praying to the ancestral spirits to let the Datura Flower bloom more, make it bigger, and brighter.
"The bigger and brighter the Datura Flower blooms, it indicates that the war that will follow will be grander, more spectacular, longer, and more tragic.
"Only the Turan warriors will be able to obtain more and higher glory from the grand and long bloody war.
"You must know that before the Datura Flower blooms this time, a full ten palm years of 'Prosperous Era' has passed.
"The peaceful Prosperous Era is a good time for us rat people, but to the old men who carry the totem power on their backs, they have long gone mad!
"After a palm year of Prosperous Era, there will be a palm year of Glorious Era.
"After two palm years of Prosperous Era, there will be two palm years of Glorious Era.
"It has always been like this.
"But the prosperous eras of the past didn't last more than three or four palm years.
So that was how it was.
It was a grand, sacred, and unprecedented war.
Before this, Ye didn't have much of a concept of war.
After all, most of the rat people were cowardly, and they had plenty of food to pick.
The most "war-like" thing he had ever seen was the conflict between the Mountain Foot Village and the Half Mountain Village over a big and beautiful Mandala Tree. That was all.
However, after burying her brother, completing the ritual, and continuing forward …
The scene in front of Black Corner City, on the other hand, was like a totem beast in iron armor that was charging over brutally. Leaf's eyes, brain, and soul all received the heaviest blow. He immediately understood the meaning of "war".
He saw tens of thousands of Minotaur Warriors. Even though they weren't as strong and fierce as the Minotaur Warrior with a broken horn that killed her brother, they were almost the same.
They all bared their strong muscles, showing off the metallic luster and gorgeous tattoos on their skin. They waved giant axes and maces that were made from the leg bones and tail bones of totem beasts, and were studded with sharp metal teeth. Their footsteps were deafening and earth-shaking. They set off from the Minotaur Village in all directions and gathered at Black Corner City.
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