Chapter 148 – Collection
Translated by Idontreallycare
Shao Xuan knew that the tribe members had an unnatural curiosity for items found outside the tribe, but for Xing, who was always serious and wore a “The Shaman is first, but I’m second” attitude, to think he would also get excited was surprising.
Xing’s nose twitched, his nostrils flaring as his breath grew ragged, each breath becoming harder than the last as this old face grew red.
“This….. This is……”
Xing carefully put the stone in his hands, meticulously examining it. At his age, whether it’s hunting or polishing stone tools, his experience outstripped the rest of the tribe’s. He could naturally see that this stone was polished not that long ago, perhaps within these few years, and at most within the last ten years.
However, since this stone wasn’t a remnant of the ancestors, where did it come from?!
Thinking back to how hurriedly the Shaman rushed here, if it were only for the sake of a kid from the mountain foot, wouldn’t this be excessive? And so, the purpose for the Shaman’s visit naturally must be because of this stone.
Thinking this far, Xing didn’t care about some spot on the 30 name list either, what new route, what competition? Right now, the only thing he wanted to know was this stone’s history!
Sitting there, the Shaman had finally managed to calm down, albeit still taking ragged breaths. Although his hands were still shaky, his expression had already reverted back to being unperturbed and profound.
“This is the reason I’m here.” the Shaman stated.
Unconsciously, Xing’s body leant towards the Shaman, and he pricked up his ears, ready to listen carefully. With a slightly shaky voice the Shaman started, “Ah Xuan, tell Old Xing how you obtained this stone.”
Xing’s eyes widened in shock as he looked at Shao Xuan. The Shaman’s words had stunned him.
What? This stone was obtained by Ah Xuan?! Where did it come from?
Wait, this kid disappeared for a year!
“You, talk quickly!” Xing commanded as he turned to face Shao Xuan. Xing’s harsh tone was more intense than normal due to the urgency of the matter. When people heard him talk, they would feel as if they were being interrogated, as his two eyes seemed like a pair of daggers stabbing into you.
However, Shao Xuan didn’t mind his tone. Since the Shaman was here, Xing couldn’t do anything to him.
“It’s like this…..”
Shao Xuan quickly explained the stone’s origin, however due to Xing’s urgency he omitted quite a bit, focusing only on how he obtained the stone.
“Hui….. It’s the Hui Tribe!” Xing’s eyes turned red. Looking at the Shaman he asked, “The reason for you coming here, it was to verify this, right?”
The Shaman nodded his head, “Yes, I hope that you will bring that thing out.”
Taking a deep breath, Xing carefully put the stone back. He moved as if he was dealing with something fragile, every small action was extremely cautious, putting in every effort to control his body, afraid of breaking this stone.
Usually, Xing would pass through like thunder and move like the wind, his methods were heavy and fierce. To see him acting like this, his family members would be scared to death.
Xing’s house was about twenty square meters. Apart from a stone table, his house only had a few wooden chairs, and an extremely large stone jar that Xing used as storage.
Half kneeling, Xing opened the jar, extended both hands within, and pulled out a stone box. Each and every one of his movements were as cautious as when he was handling the patterned stone.
Shao Xuan noticed that Xing was looking at the box with eyes full of reverence, his emotions clearly visible. At this moment, his sharp eyes were focused on the stone box, as if nothing else in this world mattered.
Carefully placing the box on the table, Xing opened it.
Shao Xuan stretched his neck to look inside. Inside there was another box. [TL: Boxception O.o]
Between these two boxes were some wood shavings, evidently meant to protect the inside box.
Slowly taking out the smaller box, Xing gently wiped the wood shavings away with the utmost care, his actions vastly different to his usual behaviour.
He opened the cover.
Inside, there were more wood shavings, and in the middle of all that was an object covered with thick animal hide. After so much experience in hunting, Shao Xuan could tell how high quality this hide was.
Ordinarily, high quality animal hide was hard and stiff, but there were also softer areas, it was just harder to come by.
These materials were all top-notch. Exquisite wood shavings, and this hard to come by animal hide, all in order to protect the object inside. All this careful packaging was making Shao Xuan extremely curious, attentively watching Xing’s actions.
With full concentration, Xing carefully took out the wrapped object and started unwrapping it, immediately letting Shao Xuan see.
Shao Xuan focused on this precious object that had Xing and the Shaman so worked up. He blinked a few times; then blinking again, he gave it one more look.
Shao Xuan didn’t know what kind of expression he should bring out regarding this object. He felt that, in his heart, there was a flock of birds pecking at him repeatedly.
Based on what they had said, and seeing how Xing and the Shaman behaved, Shao Xuan had expected the object to be from outside the tribe, something extremely precious; a treasure that was hard to come by. For example, the pieces of ice located in Eagle Mountain, or perhaps the skin or threads from the white insect, or perhaps a type of fire crystal. Perhaps even something rougher, like a valuable part from a high level beasts.
But the thing he saw now was totally outside his expectations.
He watched as Xing carefully handled this clay jar, or more accurately, this coloured pot.
The paintings on the pot had a style similar to the paintings on the stone that Shao Xuan had brought back, with each brush stroke seeming like a swirling curve.
Seeing Shao Xuan staring dumbly at the pot, the corner of Xing’s mouth couldn’t help but rise.
“Haven’t seen something like this before huh?!” Xing smiled proudly.
Shao Xuan was speechless.
“Struck dumb huh?!” Xing continued.
Shao Xuan was still speechless.
“This jar is something that has been passed down from my ancestors. It came from outside the tribe, and isn’t even made out of stone!” Xing explained this to the child who came from the mountain foot. With Shao Xuan’s lack of response, Xing felt that he wasn’t all that knowledgeable, and thus was incapable of understanding how precious this object truly was. Because even when they used the instructions in the ancestor’s scroll, they had yet to successfully recreate a jar.
Fast forward a few thousand years, items like this jar became the tribe’s priceless treasures, something kept hidden away to safeguard. And so, the people protecting the jar naturally formed an air of superiority.
Although this jar was extremely fragile, no one would ever hand this treasure over, even if they were faced against strong totem warriors or untamable ferocious beasts!
“Thinking about it, there is another family that also has an inherited treasure, and it’s also a clay jar. It’s only a shame that their jar doesn’t have paintings on it, making it extremely ugly. If we placed them together, ah, the difference would be like a carnivorous ferocious beast and an herbivore,” Xing continued.
In the hearts of the tribe members, the creatures that weren’t strong and didn’t eat meat were all useless. They were looked down upon by all, as herbivores were unable to compare with the highly looked upon bloodthirsty carnivorous beasts.
Shao Xuan once again became speechless. This old man is way too proud! Shao Xuan, seeing Xing’s smug, smiling, proud face, almost wanted to beat him up.
No wonder that when listening to the gossip, he would always hear about a dispute between Xing and someone new every time. Apart from his manner, it must also be because of his family’s clay jar, something they have that is superior to others.
Opening his mouth, Shao Xuan did not know how to respond. This was the difference between him and the native people of this world.
Observing this jar and what was on it, he noted the simple lines, some resembled clouds and some resembled wind. In addition, there was a face with such swirling brushstrokes, the face seemed oddly exaggerated. The jar was fully decorated in three colors, red, brown, and purple.
To the tribe’s people, not only was this beautiful, but more importantly, this painting contained the totem image of the tribe. This image gave off a strange feeling unique to shaman drawings, and was an indication of the tribe that it came from.
Just now, Xing had said that this was a product from the Hui tribe. So, back then the ancestors had contact with this Hui tribe?
The Shaman was watching the rambling Xing, forcing a smile and nodding his head along. Whenever talk about this jar came up, Xing would always be like this, acting totally opposite to usual manner.
After talking for a while, and seeing the other two people weren’t responding, Xing returned back to the stone that Shao Xuan had brought back. Excitedly, he closed his eyes as he recalled the patterns on the stone. Xing then carefully lifted the jar up, letting Shao Xuan and the Shaman look at the bottom. They found that the pictures matched.
“It should be from the Hui tribe.” Xing explained. Before, he had always believed that the other tribes were millions of miles away from them, and that was why they hadn’t seen anything else come from outside.
He never thought that today, something like this would actually happen. That before he died, he would see more things from the Hui tribe, and maybe, possibly meet the people?
Thinking for a while, Xing found his excitement hard to contain. Fervently looking towards the Shaman, he wanted to get a clear answer from him. At least, getting some hope was good. The Shaman was the wisest person in the tribe, and apart from him, Xing couldn’t think of anyone else who could solve this problem.
“I have an idea.” The Shaman told Xing about how his method involving flying on Chacha’s back to get over the mountain.
Focused on listening, Xing repeatedly nodded his head. “Not bad, the forest over there does have many obstacles. If we can fly over, it would be good.”
Shao Xuan heard the discussion between Xing and the Shaman, and inserted, “Actually, we can try passing by the large river.”
The two people, thinking about how to get across, both turned towards Shao Xuan.