Orc Girl's Tribal Daily Life

Chapter 274 Another Year of Sacrifice

Jiang Luoluo's family also dug a cellar, indicating that they would be living there for the next few years.

Ge had promised Jiang Luoluo that he would take her back to live in the wooden house in two years.

Given Ge's current strength and situation, moving into the wooden house wouldn't be too much of a burden for him.

Jiang Luoluo just didn't want to move.

Mao and Ke lived in the cave on her left, and Xing lived in the cave on her right. It was convenient for them to come and go, and they could also help each other.

Now, if Jiang Luoluo were asked to move to a new place, meet new neighbors, and get used to a new environment, she really wouldn't want to move.

Moreover, Ge said he wanted to move to the log cabin because the environment there was indeed better than the cave.

But now, thanks to the heated kang bed that Jiang Luoluo developed, the cave won't be damp or cold, whether it's the rainy season or the snowy season, so there's really not that much difference between living in a wooden house and not living in one.

So Ge stopped insisting and decided to move whenever Jiang Luoluo wanted to.

With so many things to do, Jiang Luoluo's training was naturally delayed. Even though she tried her best to find time to train, she still lost when Nan challenged her again.

Yes, she lost to Nan.

After all, while she was busy with various things in the tribe, Nan was constantly fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting.

And they won them all.

What I fear most is that others are more talented than me and also work harder than me.

This phrase truly describes the South.

When we met before, Nan was about 1.6 meters tall, but this time he has reached 1.7 meters.

Nine years old, 1.7 meters tall.

Jiang Luoluo felt she couldn't understand these two words together.

Of course, Jiang Luoluo was no less impressive.

She is nine years old and 1.6 meters tall.

Unfortunately, Jiang Luoluo's parents didn't have the exaggerated genes of Nan's parents, so her growth rate will probably be slowed down a bit. After she awakens her beast form, she will undergo a second development and grow again before finally reaching her final size.

So it wasn't too surprising that Jiang Luoluo lost to Nan.

During the competition, Angela, who had also grown a bit bigger and had much stronger feathers, was thinking of using the same methods she used against the python to launch a sneak attack on Nan.

Unfortunately, by the time Angela returned from going home to retrieve the ashes, the competition was already over.

Otherwise, it might really turn the situation around.

Jiang Luoluo was very unwilling to accept her defeat. She could barely accept losing to Mang, knowing that there was a big gap between her and Mang. If she could last a few more seconds under Mang, that would be a remarkable improvement.

But the fact that Nan, a child of the same age, could beat her, and even lost to her last time, made it even harder for her to accept.

Fortunately, Jiang Luoluo didn't cry this time—Ge carefully confirmed it again.

In other words, Jiang Luoluo didn't know what Ge was thinking. If she did, she would definitely say that the time she cried was two years ago! She's grown up now, and she won't cry anymore!

Since there wasn't anything else for Jiang Luoluo to do, she focused on training on Little Stone Mountain, hoping to avenge her previous defeat and win back what she had lost.

The people on Xiaoshishan also experienced a major water change.

Baby Jiang Luoluo is one year older and is now 10 years old. She has officially left the previous group and is no longer serving as the acting leader of the group.

Instead, he often met Jiang Luoluo on Little Stone Mountain, serving her every need. He had already recognized Jiang Luoluo as his leader and was just waiting for her to turn ten years old before officially joining Little Stone Mountain.

Xi awakened her beast form this year and, apart from occasionally coming to play with Jiang Luoluo and Zhuang, she rarely appears on Little Stone Mountain anymore.

Once she awakens her beast form, she won't come to Little Stone Mountain anymore. It's not that she doesn't want to come, but that's the rule of the tribe.

Zhuang is a year younger than Xi and will awaken his beast form next year. He won't be coming to Little Stone Mountain as often anymore, as he will need to frequently learn hunting skills with his parents.

Currently, Zhuang has successfully become the "boss" of the entire Xiaoshishan area, living up to his physique. When Zhuang stops coming to Xiaoshishan much next year, the position of Xiaoshishan boss will change hands.

Yu's older brother, Li, awakened his beast form two years ago. Yu and Jiang Luoluo are the same age and will also appear on Little Stone Mountain next year.

Xing's younger brother, Ping, awakened his beast form last year, a year after Xing moved out to live on his own.

As Jiang Luoluo grew up, the children who were older than her also grew up together.

There's also Fish Cave. The little fish king Biao in Fish Cave also awakened and transformed into a beast this year. Once the little fish king Biao has fully awakened and transformed into a beast, he will have the ability to live alone and will no longer be able to stay in Fish Cave.

This made everyone in and around Fish Cave feel uneasy and panicked.

Because of the appearance of fishing lines, the children of Fish Cave no longer rely on catching fish in the river, so the next Little Fish King who can succeed Little Fish King Biao has never appeared.

Little Fish King Biao had been in charge of guiding and managing things in Fish Cave. After he left Fish Cave, he had already arranged for replacements for various tasks.

However, without a leader who inspires respect and trust, people will inevitably feel afraid of the road ahead and dare not take a step forward.

However, neither Little Fish King Biao nor Jiang Luoluo, nor even the adults in the tribe, ever worried about this issue.

Because many children are simply used to having a goal in front of them. When that goal disappears, after a brief period of panic, they will find a new goal for themselves.

Moreover, there is really not much to worry about in Yuerdong anymore. Most of the younger children, under the age of 6, have returned to Jiangmadong to live with their parents.

Only a small number of children still need care.

But there is a heated kang bed in Yuerdong, so it is not afraid of dampness in the rainy season or cold in the snowy season, and even fewer children get sick.

Making fishing lines, trading soft-shelled fish with the tribe for supplies, and salvaging and polishing transparent stones... were enough for them to obtain sufficient food.

All the children in Yuerdong have grown nearly 10 centimeters taller than before. Their average height was 1.7 meters before, but with a little effort, they can now reach 1.8 meters.

One reason is the abundance of food, and another is that the children of Yuerdong had something to do and were no longer confined to the cave, which allowed them to exercise and grow healthier.

However, his physique remained the same: dark-skinned and lean.

……

Jiang Luoluo had witnessed the sacrificial ceremony of the Great Beast Season many times, but she was still amazed every time she saw it.

The shaman meticulously tattooed beast shadows on the backs of each child, then splattered beast blood on their backs and set them ablaze.

Amidst the flames engulfing its entire body, a gigantic red wolf materialized.

"How extravagant," Jiang Luoluo heard Python's soft sigh, its eyes seemingly filled with memories.

Jiang Luoluo turned to look at the python, "Extravagant?"

“Yes, outside…” Because Jiang Luoluo was used to calling the other side of the river “outside,” Mang followed suit.

"Outside the tribe, not everyone can become an orc warrior. Out of ten people, maybe only one or two can become an orc warrior."

At its peak, the Frostfire Tribe, with over 200,000 members, had only 30,000 to 40,000 orc warriors.

Unlike now, apart from the tribespeople in Jiangma Cave who are born with congenital deficiencies and children who are too young to be adults, everyone else is an orc warrior.

"Why?" Jiang Luoluo was a little puzzled. The physique of the tribespeople didn't seem to have changed much.

"Because there isn't that much powerful beast king blood," the python said, pointing to the red blood the shaman had splattered on the children's backs.

“Outside, such powerful beast king blood is very rare, so only those with sufficient talent can awaken the orc bloodline with beast king blood, not like this…”

The python stopped speaking halfway through its sentence.

Jiang Luoluo understood what the python meant.

Not all members of the tribe have enough talent to become orc warriors. For example, Ke is not a very powerful orc warrior; he is mediocre in many ways.

Given Ke's circumstances, in the era of the python, he could only be an ordinary member of the tribe. It was not worth wasting precious beast king blood to help him awaken his beastman bloodline and transform into a beastman.

But things are different here. Because the tribe's population has decreased, in order to ensure that the tribe has enough fighting power, even tribesmen with ordinary talents like Ke must awaken their beast transformation to become fighting forces.

Of course, most importantly, this place is full of both danger and opportunity. Beast Kings, which are hard to find outside, are everywhere here, giving the tribe the capital to "waste".

At this point, Jiang Luoluo became somewhat curious and turned to ask the python, "What were the previous sacrificial rituals like? Were they the same?"

Jiang Luoluo thought for a moment. There were only thirty or forty awakened beast-transformed people, and the witch would be busy for a whole day.

In the era of pythons, there were probably two or three thousand people who awakened to beast form at the same time every year.

Wouldn't that shaman be busy for two or three months at a time, spending every day carving tattoos for his people?

Is there nothing else we can do?

The python turned to look at Jiang Luoluo with a bit of helplessness. She was clearly a smart person, so why did she sometimes suddenly do something stupid?

“Witch, you have people under your command too.”

Python sighed, “Back then, the shaman had various teams under his command that specialized in collecting, planting, and making medicines, as well as many apprentices and successors who were responsible for treating illnesses in various parts of the tribe. The shaman had dozens of successors who would follow him until he grew old, at which point a suitable successor would be chosen from among them.”

Jiang Luoluo opened her mouth in surprise. She looked at the tribe now. Having been "poor" for so long, she could hardly imagine the "rich" life they had lived in the past.

"During the sacrificial ceremony, only the most talented members of the tribe are actually tattooed with animal marks by the shaman himself, and only a few people do it each time." As Python said this, a hint of pride unconsciously appeared in his tone.

Clearly, he was one of the few people whose animal tattoos were personally done by the shaman.

Jiang Luoluo couldn't help but look at the shaman, her eyes filled with deep admiration. The shaman was now completing the sacrificial ritual all by himself, without even planning to train an apprentice or anything.

The reason is that there are not many people in the tribe. Those who are capable of fighting have to participate in hunting. Those who can stay by the shaman's side for a long time are people like Chi and Tong from before. Because they have certain physical defects, they retain their fighting ability but are no longer suitable for participating in hunting.

But Jiang Luoluo felt that the witch should at least think about the successor. If she didn't train the successor now, what would happen if the witch suddenly became unwell and didn't have time to teach the successor?

This tattoo design looks quite intricate.

Python seemed to have sensed Jiang Luoluo's thoughts. After a moment of silence, he spoke in a solemn tone.

“Witches don’t need to learn these things.”

“When a shaman becomes a shaman, they will naturally know how.”

Jiang Luoluo had never really understood the existence of witches. Although everyone had answered her questions about witches, no one had explained it very clearly.

Jiang Luoluo then pressed, "Why? Why...why does the witch know everything?"

Unlike the others who were vague, Python smiled and asked Jiang Luoluo, "Do you know how witches first appeared?"

Jiang Luoluo shook her head.

"It's for the continuation of the tribe," the python replied.

"At first, the tribespeople came to this unfamiliar land. They didn't know what was edible and what wasn't. Some died after eating poisonous plants, and others were eaten by powerful wild beasts."

"But the dead cannot speak, and they cannot tell their tribesmen about their experiences of death. So one tribesman after another died because of poisonous plants and was eaten by powerful beasts."

"At this time, the shaman appeared. He merged the consciousness of the dead tribesmen into himself, remembered their deaths, and used their bones as a guide to lead the tribe to take root and survive in unfamiliar lands for a while."

"Therefore, the body of a shaman contains the souls and consciousness of all the deceased members of his clan. Their knowledge and wisdom will enter his body when he becomes a shaman, helping him to become a shaman."

Jiang Luoluo blinked.

"Is this a matter of the tribe crossing the river?"

The python looked at Jiang Luoluo and shook its head. "No, it's when the tribe leaves from here and reaches the other side of the river."

Jiang Luoluo pondered, Jiang Luoluo paused, Jiang Luoluo was shocked.

"what???"

"The tribe leaves from here???"

The python was amused by Jiang Luoluo's expression. "Why do you think the tribe chose to cross the river to come here? Because in our tribe's most primitive records, we crossed the river from here to the other side."

However, in the very beginning of the tribe, there was no shaman, so the records of the heritage were not very clear. It was only after the shaman appeared that the history of the tribe was clearly recorded.

It now seems that the tribe's most primitive record should be true, because the python saw the Crimson Wolf King, which resembled the beast-like appearance of the tribe's people, here.

So, in the beginning, the Frostfire Tribe did indeed originate from here, but for some unknown reason, they crossed the river and settled outside, and then established the Frostfire Tribe that Jiang Luoluo was familiar with.

For various reasons, and with no other choice, the tribe eventually returned to the "original source" in its own records.