After ascertaining that this' Five Coloured Rice 'didn't contain human flesh, nails, hair or toxins, Sheyan started eating. Following that, a black chick used a reed woven basket to carry up a plate of steamed pastries.
The pastries were extremely unique. A local specialty, sorghum powder, was poured into a gourd ladle filled with fine holes. Then, the ladle was placed over an iron pot filled with water, before being steamed into a delicious cake. Lastly, a powder of bananas, peanuts, tapioca, palm oil, chilli and salt was sprinkled on top. In their native language, it was called 'Yingjela'.
The surface of the cake was greyish, with a sour taste. Sheyan even saw some tribesmen sprinkling some greyish powder into their wine cups. He tried it, but discovered that the powder wasn't pepper or salt like he imagined. Instead, it was a powder ground from ores. Grinding his teeth, it produced a 'Sha Sha Sha' sound, it was rather unbearable. However, the natives who ate the food shook their heads in satisfaction. Later on, they even lifted their grass skirts and began to dance.
Observing their actions, Sheyan suddenly recalled something. During the ancient Jin dynasty of China, it was similarly popular to consume mineral powders, known as the 'Five Minerals Powder'. The famous Wang Xizhi also died because of this. Sheyan didn't expect there would be similar people thousands of miles away in Africa. It was a pity that these tribesmen didn't seem to be able to leave behind a legacy like the 'Preface to the Orchid Pavilion'.
Following that, numerous tribesmen started offering Sheyan their own foodstuffs. Insect eggs, grasshoppers, worms ….. such an action was somewhat similar to the present world, where a group of young girls with red dots on their forehead and red scarves would offer flowers to uncles and aunties disembarking from a plane ….. of course, the symbolic meaning was the same. However, the feelings it brought to Sheyan were two different things.
Faced with these African specialties, Brother Black devoured till his belly was round. Sheyan noticed that Brother Black's favourite food was something wrapped in black charred leaves. He seemed to be enjoying it so much, Sheyan couldn't resist tasting it as well.
The first time he ate it, it tasted a little sour and tasted a little like the yolk of a salted duck egg. The second time, it was probably because the person who roasted it had a strong taste, just like how they liked to cook poached eggs. Instantly, Sheyan detected an indescribable fishy smell. He grabbed Brother Black and whispered to him. Instantly, his eyes widened and his stomach churned. As it turns out, this place was teeming with palm-sized giant spiders that could even hunt small birds. This barbeque was made by tearing off the fleshy abdomen of these giant spiders and wrapping them in the fire...
Sheyan had previously inquired about some matters in a roundabout manner, but he wasn't able to obtain any useful information. He didn't know if the natives were pretending to be ignorant or were tight-lipped. Sheyan no longer dared to eat the strange food offered by those people. After waiting for roughly half an hour, the effects of the rum started to take effect, gradually breaking down the local's defensive mentality. As the saying goes, one speaks the truth after getting drunk. Only then did Sheyan start conversing with the nearby chieftain.
"Don't you have any precious specialties here?"
"No, there's nothing else. That's all …"
"Come, try our special Golden Rum (gulp)."
"The taste isn't bad. Oh, not bad right?"
"Chieftain, is it because your tribe's warriors aren't brave enough?"
"Bullshit (roar). Our tribe's warriors are as cunning as wolves, and as ferocious as lions!"
"Then why are you so fearful of those enemies of the Ndipaya tribe?"
"You, what do you know! The Ndipaya tribe aren't humans, they're demons! They're the descendants of evil gods. Anyone who enters that damnable swamp will be dragged into their ruins, and become horrifying slaves of death! "
"That's just a legend. Legends are always exaggerated."
"This, this isn't a legend!! Twenty years ago, I followed my father into that great swamp. The horrors of that place are absolutely beyond your imagination. Those ferocious and ferocious Ndipaya barbarians, they relentlessly pursued us! It's simply like a nightmare. Not only that, even nature has become our enemy. Even the God of Nature, Mahalu, has gone completely berserk! Danger pervades the air, soil, and water. Even those who were slain crawled back up to assault us … … "
Listening to the old chieftain's words, the trio's eyes simultaneously flickered. Indeed, even though the old chieftain appeared to be tight-lipped, under the lethal effects of the Golden Rum, he spat out the truth after drinking. From Little Lord Fokke, one could tell that this place called the Kijuju Marshland was undoubtedly gloomy and putrid, brimming with diseases, plagues and dangers.
Under such circumstances, if they could obtain the guidance of an experienced guide, it would undoubtedly yield twice the results with half the effort. Their efficiency would be exceedingly high.
Nevertheless, those natives probably found it hard to even fill their stomachs, and definitely couldn't spare too much time and rations to brew wine. Therefore, they were addicted to alcohol, and had an exceedingly low resistance to it. When Sheyan wanted to continue questioning the chieftain, the old chieftain fell into a deep slumber, and couldn't be awoken.
Nevertheless, since they grasped this piece of information, it was equivalent to finding a thread amidst a tangled mess. Following that, they would naturally be enlightened. Sheyan immediately called for several quick-witted pirates, and ordered them to immediately bring some fine wine to scout for information. Very quickly, various information was swiftly relayed back.
Firstly, the old chieftain had contracted a strange illness, where he tossed and turned in bed all day long, wailing and groaning in agony. Hence, the old chieftain's son, Aram, led the tribe's brave warriors into the depths of the Kijuju Marshland, and risked their lives in search of the secret root of the Ndipaya tribe – the 'Stairway of the Sun'.
It was rumoured that this flower contained a frightening and mysterious power, and could allow one to grasp the source of immortality. As a primitive tribe closest to the Kijuju Marshland, they had grasped certain patterns of activity of the Ndipaya tribe. The timing they chose to enter the Kijuju Marshland, coincided with the critical juncture of the Ndipaya tribe's sacrificial ceremony.
That year, a total of 147 individuals had followed the chieftain into the Kijuju Marshland. However, only 13 of them managed to return alive. Among those 13 individuals, 4 of them had transformed into freaks within 7 days of their return. Some were slain, while others fled into the primitive forest. Presently, only 5 individuals remained.
Another piece of information was – the local natives were living in dire straits. Hence, one only needed to pay a small price to obtain their loyalty.
After obtaining this piece of information, Sheyan swiftly set into action. Naturally, his first objective was to search for the survivors of the Kijuju Marshland. However, this process wasn't smooth at all. They discovered that all the survivors they found had turned into fools who only knew how to salivate and giggle foolishly. The only one who remained conscious was the current chieftain of the Kijuju Marshland.
However, this chieftain obviously wouldn't follow them. If they resorted to force, they might end up making a fool of themselves. According to Sheyan's methods, he could naturally deal with them using both soft and hard methods. However, it would require a certain amount of time. Nevertheless, Sheyan and his crew were only left with a mere few hours. After weighing various factors, one of Sheyan's pirate subordinates reported back with another piece of information.
"Boss, there was another individual who invaded the Kijuju Marshland during that year. His name is Mbenga."
Sheyan instantly felt that name was rather familiar. Carefully recalling, when they were slaughtering zebras, one of the natives suddenly went berserk. Wasn't that guy called Mbenga? Judging from his state of mind and consciousness, he definitely didn't seem like a lunatic or a fool. Thinking of that, Sheyan immediately called out Jinkuang, and instructed Mogensha and Reef to cooperate with him in recruiting natives, to be his core team for the Ndipaya Marshland expedition.
Sheyan then used an exquisite mirror to bribe a black chick. He reckoned that her boyfriend (or suitor) was in charge of guarding the sinners. Therefore, although the guard revealed an awkward expression, his ears were forcefully tugged at in the next second. The agony caused his facial features to distort.
The black chick then mumbled a few sentences. Probably because his ears weren't being tormented anymore (or perhaps because of the smoothness of the past few nights), the tall and mighty guard, who was actually extremely afraid of women, stepped aside. Without expending much effort, Sheyan finally found Mbenga, who was being held captive at the outskirts of the Kijuju Marshland.
Mbenga was a black man.
He was rather tall, with muscles knotted from head to toe, and a robust black man with beady eyes.
Using eye-catching paint, he had a tattoo of a spider on his left cheek.
When Sheyan finally caught sight of him, this burly man was currently using his thumbs to forcefully press against his temples. His brows were tightly furrowed, as though doing so could expel distracting thoughts from his mind.
On his forehead was an exceedingly distinct scar. That scar was blood red in color, and meandered across his forehead like a centipede. Probably due to the destruction of his dense bone mass, the newly regenerated skin around the scar was strangely sunken in. It appeared as though his brain was missing a piece.
Even with Sheyan's superficial medical knowledge, he could tell that Mbenga was exceedingly fortunate to be able to survive from such a traumatic brain injury. Not to mention maintaining his normal consciousness. Upon seeing Sheyan, Mbenga was startled.
"You ….. I recognize you. You're the leader of that group of people from across the sea. What are you doing here?"
Sheyan's reply was a loud bang.
That was the sound of the wax cork of rum being forcefully squeezed out. Following that, the mellow aroma of golden rum naturally wafted into his nostrils through the air. (To be continued.) If you like this work, I welcome you to donate your recommendation votes or monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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