Chapter 288 – Praying For Rain 5

The upper totem of the Rain tribe was an arc, under which were rain-drop-like dots. Shao Xuan counted the dot, eight in all. Around the totem, some foggy matters were flowing.

When the Drumming tribe’s totem emerged from the “eggshell”, Shao Xuan was very surprised, and now, the Rain tribe’s totem had also appeared in it.

Nice consistency. Shao Xuan thought.

Although the totem that emerged from the “eggshell” was neither big nor bright as the Flaming Horn tribe’s totem, it did exist there, and it was still flashing.

The totem of the Rain tribe that emerged was not the same as the Flaming Horn’s totem, but similar to the Drumming tribe’s. Flashing white and translucent light, it was just like the liquid’s brightness.

Shao Xuan kept observing the flashing Rain tribe’s totem. Maneuvering the power of inheritance, he wanted to take a closer look at the foreign tribe’s totem that emerged suddenly.

The blue flame separated from the bottom end of the flame around the Flaming Horn totem, reaching out to the much smaller totem of the Rain tribe.

It stood to reason that there should be exclusion between the different tribes’ Power of Totem, but here, it was not. The separated blue flame easily got in touch with the totem of the Rain tribe.

At the time of their contact, Shao Xuan felt that the totem of the Rain tribe trembled, and the eight dots moved as well. Shao Xuan was curious why the eight dots looked more like drops of liquid.

A bright liquid-like dot, falling from the totem of the Rain tribe, Shao Xuan stared at the falling drop, intending to see where it would fall, but only found that drop just fell down a little. It turned into a mist when it fell down from the Rain tribe totem, blending with the mist around the Rain tribe totem. Look at the totem again, in the place where it fell down, the gap has been filled and another of the same drop appeared.

Original translation from wangmamaread.

This was just the beginning. As if a start switch was pressed, the new dot on the Rain tribe totem began to fall down like the previous one. After the dot became fog, another dot was formed again.

In the beginning, only one or two drops were formed. After a while, all the eight drops began to move and rotate. It looked like it was constantly raining.

Suddenly, Shao Xuan remembered what Yang Sui had told him about Inner Flame of the Rain tribe.

Yang Sui said that there was something wrong with the Rain Tribe’s Inner Flame. Therefore, it was hard to wake it up except during the large-scale annual sacrificial ceremony at the beginning of each year, which was the reason why they always failed in praying for rain.

But now, Shao Xuan felt that this moving totem looked like it was waking up from a deep sleep.

Shao Xuan felt a shock and he felt a powerful force in the outside world.

Although the room was dark due to the weather, Shao Xuan could still see the reaction of Lei and Tuo. The two who were resting stood up and looked in the direction of the Rain tribe.

“What happened?!”

“Why is there such a strong totem power?”

Feeling the sudden rejection of the totem of a foreign tribe, Lei and Tuo opened the door and went out.

Outside, the wind and sand were all over the sky, which was even worse than the previous days. Lei’s hair was blown up, and his eyes squinted because of the dust. The sand could also be smelled clearly while breathing.

The sky and the surrounding were all full of yellowish dust. Because of extremely low visibility, even the wooden houses in front could not be seen clearly, let alone the Rain tribe further away.

They tried to see what happened there, but could only see turbid sand.

Shao Xuan covered his face slightly with his hands, and thus shielded himself from the sand and dust that were blown straight towards him. Shao Xuan listened carefully to the riot of sound over there. There were lots of people over there, so it was too noisy to clearly understand what they were talking about. But he could clearly feel the increasing power of the totem in that direction.

Not only the three people, but also the rest of the traveling team came out. When they found nothing different – the weather was still too windy and dusty – they grumbled for a few minutes and then went back to their houses.

“You say, what’s going on over there? Could it make such sound when praying for rain?” Asked someone.

“I don’t know what it is like, but it certainly won’t rain.”

“Whatever it is, I just hope the weather gets better soon and we can leave.”

On the altar built above the fire pit of the Rain tribe, the dance and mantra to pray for rain had already reached completion. At last, all people knelt down, with their foreheads touching the sandy wooden board, and didn’t get up.

Like others around him, Yang Sui kept silent and waited for death. Since they stepped on the altar, they didn’t intend to leave alive.

The wooden nut bells tied to Yang Sui’s waist swayed in the wind and made a constant rattling sound that sounded like a shower. However, it just sounded so, it was not a real rainfall.

The ceremony ended and the music and dance also stopped. Beneath the altar, of all the people who knelt down, some of them were disappointed. Although they had failed for many years, they still held the slightest hope for rain every time. Some people had been accustomed to the annual situation, with numbness on their faces. The rest were happy secretly, such as He Chao who once competed with Yang Sui for the position of the Shaman.

Looking at Chief Hang Mang in front of him, He Chao took two steps ahead and whispered, “All is ready.”

Hang Mang’s eyes flashed and he looked at the several old men a few steps away. Among them, some were their supporters and some were neutrals. Who he was worried about were those neutrals.

Fortunately, those people were quite disappointed when Yang Sui failed to pray for rain. Therefore, Hang Mang couldn’t help but raise the corners of his mouth and said loudly, “As Yang Sui has offended the ancestors and gods, violated the ancestors’ intentions and provoked the Rain God, he will no longer be the Shaman of our tribe!”

Hang Mang and He Chao looked around and found that people who had opposed them before became silent.

After the words of Hang Mang, He Chao suppressed excitement in his heart and shouted, “Prepare firewood!”

People who had been waiting there, carried bundles of firewood and hay, which were placed around the altar.

People on the altar knew what was happening below very clearly.

Hearing the noise of gradually approaching firewood, Yang Sui said in a voice that everyone on the high platform could hear, “Sorry!”

Under the altar, He Chao, who was the most likely to take over the position of the Shaman after Yang Sui was dismissed, took the torch in person and walked to the side of the altar to ignite the firewood around the altar.

“Burn them to death!”

“Burn all of them to death!”

Original translation from wangmamaread.

“People who disregard the ancestors and provoke the Rain God should be burnt to death!”

Hearing what people said, Yang Sui closed his eyes and waited for death with everyone. Though the ceremony failed, he had spent almost all his energy on it, and thus he only felt exhausted, desperate and sad now.

Suddenly, Yang Sui’s body trembled and his closed eyes opened suddenly, showing incredulity. Again he felt it carefully. Indeed! Inner flame! It was the sign of the inner flame!

Underneath the altar, the people who had been shouting “burn them to death” also noticed something different, especially those near the fire pit.

They were very familiar with the power since they always felt it at the annual big sacrifice. However, it wasn’t the time for a big sacrifice, and compared with a big sacrifice, the present situation wasn’t exactly the same.

The surrounding temperature began to drop rapidly.

Through the erected firewood, they could see that the fire in the fire pit had changed its color again. It lightened and turned translucent at last.

“This… this is…”

The blowing wind and sand around the fire pit seemed to disappear gradually, and the field of vision became much clearer.

An old man with calloused hands and cracked skin snapped his fingers, felt the wetness on them, and then looked up at the fire pit. Looking at the altar built above the fire pit, an idea suddenly struck him and it changed his blank expression into a shocked one. He shouted, “Fire! Put out the fire! Remove the firewood!” He was so excited that his voice cracked. The old man rushed to the altar and disregarding the burning firewood, he waved his arms and kicked away all the firewood that had been placed over there earlier.

Hang Mang felt a bursting chill in his mind, trembled with shock, rushed toward there as fast as he could and removed the firewood, together with the old man. Others also began to react to his action and though they didn’t know what happened on earth, they just followed the order.

People who stood farther away could not see what was going on around the fire pit, but they guessed what happened by listening to the movement. Though they couldn’t see it clearly, they could feel the familiar power from the inner flame.

From the fire pit, the white and bright flames rose. Starting from the top, it turned into a white mist, rushing out of the fire pit like a Dragon rushing out of the water.

The surrounding temperature became lower than before.

The firewood that had not been kicked away was extinguished instantly when it was swept by the mist.

Yang Sui couldn’t figure out what was going on underneath. He didn’t get up, just looked up at the sky. Then, his original stiff expression melted away, and it was replaced with delight and surprise.

It seemed to rain finally…

Underneath, like a long dragon, the rising white mist was hovering around the fire pit and then its range was wider and wider as its body grew. The people standing near the fire pit couldn’t help but step back hurriedly.

They were not sure what such a change meant, but the speculation, which was unbelievable even for themselves, had risen in their mind.

As the misty dragon spiraled, the places it passed, including the piles to build the altar and the piles that had not been ignited or had been extinguished, were all covered with a layer of hoarfrost.

The misty dragon was still expanding rapidly, and within the range around the fire pit, the feeling of chaos caused by sand and dust was also rapidly disappearing.

Taking a deep breath, everyone present could feel a refreshing coolness without the smell of sand. It felt like the whole person was being poured with a bucket of ice water.

Because of such a change, other people of the Rain tribe were shocked. They didn’t know what was happening, neither knew how to react now, and the Chief didn’t say anything.

“Did the… praying for rain ceremony… succeed?” Someone asked the people around.