Orc Girl's Tribal Daily Life

Chapter 126 The Sacrifice of the Frost Tribe

Jiang Luoluo was so busy that she was completely overwhelmed. It wasn't until one morning, after she had washed up and eaten breakfast, that she realized Ge had no intention of going out hunting.

Meeting the cub's questioning gaze, Ge scratched his head somewhat awkwardly.

"Luo, didn't you notice? The tribe's ritual is about to begin."

Jiang Luolu blinked, then blinked again.

My mind started to recall my experiences over this period of time... Oh no, because I had been with the children of Yuerdong, they were not very clear about the timing of the tribe's sacrificial rites, they only knew that this event happened.

Therefore, Jiang Luoluo never received the exact time when the sacrificial ceremony was to begin.

Wait, no, it seems that when I went to check on the winemaking process at He's place the day before yesterday, He mentioned it, but Jiang Luoluo drank a small bowl of fruit wine to taste it and was a little dizzy, so she overlooked it.

Jiang Luoluo smiled, trying to get away with it.

Ge shook his head, not caring about these trivial matters concerning the cubs. Although the sacrificial ceremony was supposed to begin, it would actually be three days later, and all that would happen in the meantime was some preparatory work.

The fact that the tribe members could take three days off from hunting during such an important season of wild animals, and instead spend some time in the tribe doing simple preparations and enjoying the leisure before the sacrificial ceremony, is enough to show how important the ceremony is to the tribe members.

The fishing line is still being made. This batch of handmade fishing line will probably be officially completed after the sacrificial ceremony.

However, the only remaining task was drying the crops, so during this time, the children of Yuerdong could relax a bit, no longer needing to focus on their work, and could take the opportunity to move around and see scenery they had never seen before.

What are we going to do? Jiang Luoluo looked at Ge.

"Does Luo want to go and see?" Ge suddenly asked Jiang Luoluo, looking down at her. "The things the priests do."

Jiang Luoluo was taken aback, realizing that Ge was referring to "the things that need to be done in the ritual," not "the things that we need to do in the ritual."

Without hesitation, Jiang Luoluo nodded excitedly!

Yes! Of course I want it!

So Ge took the cub up the mountain, where the cub could see most directly what the ritual was about to do.

The usually quiet summit of Yinfeng Mountain suddenly became lively, with tribespeople coming and going. Some were busy carrying different things, while others, like Ge, came up the mountain empty-handed with their young children to watch the show.

Jiang Luoluo thought the mountaintop would be no different from before, but she found that it was not just different, it was completely different.

The already large bonfire was further enlarged by the addition of many large pieces of wood around it, creating an even bigger fire. The flames seemed to grow even hotter, dancing and expressing joyful emotions.

Some people even built a wooden platform more than two meters high next to the fire—there weren't so many fancy things at the previous bonfire parties.

Different areas were drawn on the ground using different stone powders.

Jiang Luoluo hesitated, looking at what seemed to be the scene of marking the 800-meter track on the school playground, and couldn't help but tug at Ge's arm.

what is that?

“In previous years, some clansmen would get injured if they got too close to the front during the sacrificial rites. So the shaman came up with a solution: he drew paths to prevent clansmen from crossing them during the rites. In recent years, there have been very few injuries.”

Ge began to explain, but his face suddenly turned a little red halfway through his sentence.

A tribesman nearby heard what Ge said, turned his head to look, and then burst out laughing, "Hahaha, but someone is still injured, right, Ge?"

Ge's face turned even redder.

Seeing that Jiang Luoluo didn't understand what was going on, the tribesman smiled and explained, "This path can only prevent the spectators from moving forward, but it can't stop the people inside from rushing out. So this year, the shaman specifically instructed that it should be moved back a little further."

Jiang Luoluo's eyes darted around before her gaze fell on Ge... Suddenly she remembered that Ge seemed to have awakened his orc bloodline last year, so the person rushing out was Ge?

Seeing Ge's embarrassed expression, Jiang Luoluo pursed her lips, concealing her smile, and pretended not to have guessed, pulling Ge forward to look at other things.

Ge unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Luoluo, who was next to Ge, took the opportunity to turn around and give the tribesman a knowing smile.

Haha, so even Ge has such a dark history.

……

Furthermore, tribesmen continuously carried up huge prey from the ice storage in the back mountain, far exceeding the number of prey during the previous bonfire feasts.

Jiang Luoluo tilted her head in confusion. What to do with so much food that they couldn't eat it all? Once it's frozen in the freezer and then taken out, there's basically no chance of freezing it again.

Do people in tribes also waste food like this?

Walking to the side of the shaman's wooden house, Jiang Luoluo peeked inside through the open window and found that the shaman was also very busy. The once neat and clean wooden house was now filled with a pile of fresh herbs.

Not only the shaman himself, but also many tribesmen were helping to process the herbs. Buckets of herbal juice were being made and then carried to the back of the wooden house. It was unclear what other processing steps were involved.

Jiang Luoluo continued strolling around when she suddenly spotted Mao standing with a group of unfamiliar fifteen-year-old boys.

In the past, Mao might have chosen to stand in a corner and act as an invisible person. However, after this period of change, although Mao has not become a talkative and cheerful person, he is no longer too detached from people.

Standing discreetly in the crowd, neither too close nor too far, it neither vies for the center position nor strays too far, blending in perfectly.

This is actually a manifestation of self-confidence.

In the past, Mao's father, Ke, was away hunting all year round and had little time or energy to teach him, and could only barely maintain the normal survival of the two of them.

Mao's strength is not particularly outstanding. It's just that the other children can go to the site to learn with their parents, leaving him, the oldest child, to become the most powerful on Little Stone Mountain.

There's absolutely nothing for him to be confident about.

However, during this time, Mao's father, Ke, was able to stay in the tribe to accompany him, and the relationship between the father and son warmed up as they spent time together.

In addition, Mao has been studying under Chi during this time—who is Chi? He is a powerful orc warrior who is nearsighted, practically half-blind, yet still manages to hold a place in the tribe with his extraordinary personal strength.

Having studied under such a formidable opponent as Aka for so long, Shigeru was naturally inspired by Aka's confidence and became even more self-assured.

What are they doing? Jiang Luoluo curiously tugged at Lago's arm.

Go looked at the group of teenagers, a nostalgic expression in his eyes. He had felt the same way last year…

“They’re picking up their new clothes,” Go replied with a smile.

When Jiang Luoluo saw the hunting team return, she was curious about one thing: what was done with the fur of those huge prey?

Jiang Luoluo finally got the answer from Ge.

The pelts of wild animals hunted in a unified manner are included in the food allowance according to a certain ratio when exchanged for food.

For example, if a prey can be divided into ten portions of meat and one portion of fur, then the distribution would be based on eleven portions of meat, equally distributed among all those involved in the hunt.

Of course, the furs weren't actually distributed; instead, tribespeople who needed them would exchange them for meat of equal value.

However, the pelts of these large, giant beasts are quite valuable, so not many members of the tribe would choose to trade them, since everyone was struggling to find enough food.

It seems that the tribe would have a lot of wild animal pelts that it couldn't exchange—so during the annual festival, the tribe would make a set of giant wild animal pelt clothes for each child who awakened the orc bloodline that year.

The fur of these giant wild beasts is far more defensive than that of ordinary small wild animals. When hunting, the tribe members would try to choose the fur of larger wild animals to make clothes, whenever possible.

It was originally a privilege prepared for the children of the Fish Caves—children from ordinary families would have new clothes prepared by their parents to welcome their first hunt.

However, many children in Fish Cave wear old clothes that have been passed down from countless people. Not only are they tattered and worn, but they also offer little protection and cannot withstand the sharp teeth and claws of wild beasts.

After so many children in Yuerdong were injured or even died because of such incidents, the shaman decided long ago that the tribe would give each child a new piece of clothing, carrying the blessings of the entire tribe.

However, if this kind of thing is only given to the children of Yuerdong, there are still many children from ordinary families like Mao whose parents cannot afford to prepare better new clothes for them.

What about the children from families even more disadvantaged than the Mao family?

Therefore, instead of trying to figure out who deserves such preferential treatment, it would be better to bestow it fairly upon all children as a blessing.

Now, Mao and other children his age are waiting to have their bodies measured, to have their new clothes made, and to receive their new clothes at the festival.

Incidentally, the orc warriors from the tribe were responsible for making the new clothes for these children.

That's right, they are orc warriors, not ordinary orc soldiers.

The official reason is that the clothes made by the orc warriors themselves will carry their blessings, and the children will inherit this power and become new orc warriors.

The real reason is... the fur of the giant beasts is too tough, and ordinary orc warriors are not strong enough to sew it into clothes, so only these orc warriors can do it.

Fortunately, most people know how to sew clothes, and even if the sewing is a little ugly, there are other people to help adjust it, so it's not a problem at all.

Jiang Luoluo thought for a moment and felt that changing "new clothes" to "new armor" sounded much more reasonable.

Another benefit of tribal rituals is that there is an unlimited supply of food at the fire pit on the mountaintop for the three days leading up to the official start of the ritual.

The giant prey that Jiang Luoluo saw served one purpose in this regard.

The purpose is to ensure that the children who are preparing to awaken their orc bloodline can eat their fill during these few days and awaken in the healthiest possible condition... Although accidents are rare, awakening orc bloodline is not a completely safe process.

Naturally, it would be too troublesome to distinguish who needs help and who doesn't, so the tribe makes a unified arrangement so that... everyone can come and eat.

However, during the Great Beast Season, a time when a casual stroll can bring back enough food, those who don't truly need food won't join in the fun. In fact, many tribespeople will bring their favorite foods from home to share here.

Ge also asked Jiang Luoluo if there was anything she wanted to eat—if the cub wanted to try something, he could just bring more food to replenish it later.

Jiang Luoluo was about to shake her head when she suddenly thought of the children in the fish caves by the river, who basked in the sun every day by the hooked vines.

Although they were able to leave Fish Cave, they still couldn't run around freely and could only move within that area.

The food they eat most often is still soft-shelled turtle, but compared to the time before when they could only occasionally eat enough water to fill their stomachs, now they can eat as much soft-shelled turtle as they want until they are stuffed.

Although the shaman increased the amount of meat in the Fish Cave, it only reduced the children's daily food intake from about 40-50% to about 70-80%.

It's impossible to increase too much at once; we must consider the future.

Since there is so much food here, could she bring the children from Fish Cave over to eat?

With this in mind, Jiang Luoluo, led by Ge, found the leader, Jing, who was setting up a platform and carrying a tree trunk thicker than a person...

"Okay." Chief Jing looked at the somewhat apprehensive cub in front of him, who was afraid of being rejected, and nodded after thinking for a moment.

The shaman had already discussed it with him. With a fishing line, they could use soft-shelled turtles to replace some of their food during the snowy season. There were countless soft-shelled turtles in the river, but they certainly wouldn't have to worry about food.

In that case, it's not necessarily a bad thing to let the children in the Fish Cave eat more.

If it weren't impossible, who wouldn't want the children in the tribe to grow up healthy and happy?

“You’re a good boy, Luo.” Chief Jing patted the cub’s head with his thick, large hand. “Go do what you want to do.”

……

When Jiang Luoluo arrived at the foot of the mountain, Little Fish King Biao was sitting on a large rock, looking down at the children of Fish Cave.

Jiang Luoluo only comes over once a day to check on various situations, but Xiaoyu Wangbiao stays here every day, guarding every place and watching over every child.

He hadn't even gone fishing many times. People no longer needed him to catch fish, and his "Little Fish King" label seemed to be fading.

"What's wrong?" Little Fish King Biao looked at the cub's figure. He seemed to have completely understood how to communicate with the cub, and didn't even need to look at Golai next to the cub to translate.