After Yan Bugui and the three of them left the temporary home of the Taoli brothers, they walked on foot for another one or twenty years from the ground, and when their brothers' sight could no longer reach, they summoned another white cloud and went in the direction they said to a place called Tietun.

Along the way, you can see one or two groups of herdsmen herding sheep every dozens of miles, but of course, the herdsmen behind are no longer one or two people guarding, but they seem to be many cooperative animal husbandry. It's just that Yan didn't return but never fell off the clouds, so it was two or three hundred miles to the west, and only after they reached a relatively remote corner near Tietun and fell on the clouds, the three of them rushed to Tietun together.

Tietun was also nothing more than a supply depot for these nomads, a place for some daily trading. There are no permanent settlers here, and some are just merchants who come and go, and the area is not large, that is, it covers an area of two miles. In addition, there is a doctor here, and there is a church.

Elsewhere, this size would be a small township at best, but it was a nerve hub for these nomads. This is not only the center of trade in the vicinity, but also the center of religious belief. Compared with the nomadic people, although it does not have the status of the capital of a country, it is not much different from the capital of a state.

Doctors, as the foundation of the people, are an indispensable profession when both people and livestock may get sores and diseases, as long as there is a place where people gather.

But there is only one doctor here in Tietun, Dr. Zhang, whether it is a businessman who does business here is sick, or a traveler from the north and south is sick, you have to find him, because you have no choice. At the same time, for those nomadic herdsmen, if there are cattle, sheep and horses that are sick, they also come to him to grab some medicine and go back to give it to their livestock.

After all, there is no full-time doctor here, and those herdsmen have accumulated a lot of experience in dealing with those livestock all year round, and some minor diseases such as livestock can also be cured according to the signs of illness, etc., only when they encounter some serious situations to come to Dr. Zhang, after all, Dr. Zhang is still a full-time doctor, not to mention its medical foundation, even the medicine is much more complete.

Dr. Zhang's pharmacy is located in the easternmost part of Tietun, and in the eyes of others, he has also traveled to many places to practice medicine, and he has come into contact with a wide variety of people, and he should have seen and heard a wide range of people. After Yan Bugui heard others say that he could ask him about some things, he also came to his house. There was no one else here, and Dr. Zhang was reading a medical book.

When Dr. Zhang heard the intention of Yan Bu Return, he said: "I also grew up here, and I haven't been to a place too far, I only know that the place where our Tietun is located is called Saltu, and the west of Tietun is Lamadian." The vast majority of our people here are herders, and then there are very few hunters. We all believe in shamanism and worship the god of fire because our ancestors believed in nature and animism. We have a monthly festival and a yearly festival every year to worship the god of fire. As for what happened to the west of Lamadian, I don't know very well. ”

Although this Doctor Zhang didn't say that he knew astronomy and geography as those people said, and even she didn't know much about their apprentice of Saltu, Yan Bugui still talked to him about some basic information.

After chatting for a while, Yan Bugui also learned that shaman means "witch god" in Tunguska, which believes that the world is divided into three realms, heaven is the upper realm and the gods dwell, the earth is the middle realm and humans live, and the hell is the lower realm and the devil dwells. Shamans eliminate demons and subdue demons for human beings and bless human beings with happiness.

The nomads here believe in shamanism, believe that everything in the world has a spirit, that the god (also known as Bahan Duli) is the greatest god and is in charge of all things in the world, that the worship of the god has a fixed place in the patriarch's house, and that the worship of the god is only held when there is a great plague or disaster or when a good harvest is obtained. Offerings are placed and a shaman with profound and virtuous morals presides over the ceremony.

In the northwest corner of each house of the nomadic people here, there are different gods - woodcarved statues, which must be worshiped every New Year's festival to bless the happiness of the whole family, and when people are sick, they ask the shaman god for treatment. Dressed in shamanic garments, tied with waist bells, the whole body trembles, reciting mantras, dancing with hands, and asking the gods for healing. Whenever he goes out hunting or fishing, he will bow down to the shaman and then set out. The big and small things in the family are entrusted with the blessing and resolution of the gods.

The people here often sacrifice to "Tengri", which means "heaven" in transliteration, which is one of the nomadic people's concept of shamanism. It refers to the upper world, that is, the heavens, and refers to the "ancestors" who govern all natural phenomena, and also contains the meaning of "fate".

The "Tengri" festival is one of the important festivals of their nomadic people. There are two types of sacrifices: the "white sacrifice" with traditional dairy products and the "red sacrifice" with the blood of slaughtered sheep.

Fire, which is what they call Ga Le. The herdsmen and hunters here worship fire very much, because their ancestors believed in shamanism with natural attributes and animistic concepts, believing that fire was created when heaven and earth were separated, so they revered "Wodegarai Khan Ekh" even more. The fire sacrifice is divided into annual and monthly sacrifices.

The annual festival is held on the 23rd day of the lunar month, under the auspices of the elders, butter, liquor, beef and mutton and other offerings are thrown into the fire, thanking the fire god for his protection, and praying for the prosperity of people and animals, abundant grains, and good luck in the coming year.

The Moon Festival is usually held on the first and second days of each month. And tomorrow is the first day of the new year, and it is the moon festival here to worship the god of fire. In their minds, the god of fire is the great god on which they depend in their lives. Whether it is a monthly festival or a new year festival, the people here also sacrifice Ao Bao, which is a religious custom handed down by the herdsmen here since ancient times, and is held in the season when the water and grass are abundant every year.

Ao Bao actually means a stone pile. That is, in the high part of the mountain with open ground and beautiful scenery, a round solid tower is piled with stones, and a long pole with scripture cloth or livestock horns is tied at the top. At that time, the cooked beef and mutton will be sacrificed, the host will give a prayer, and men, women and children will worship and pray, praying for good weather and the safety of people and animals.

After the ceremonies, horse racing, archery, wrestling and other competitive activities are often held. It is the most important ritual of shamanism and has evolved into an annual festival. There will also be religious music, also known as shamanic songs and dances, performed by Mongolian shamans. It is accompanied by a round single drum, and the drum handle ring is covered with a copper coin and other metal objects, and the drum rustle is shaken. Beat the drum with a drum whip and dance to the rhythm of the drum. Sacrificial songs and witchcraft songs are mainly chanting and greetings, and there are few dance components. The form of performance is mostly solo dance, but there are also group songs and dances, which can attract onlookers to participate in the performance.

Yan Bugui is not interested in participating in the Moon Festival and New Year Festival here, but Dr. Zhang's meaning is obvious, that is, this shaman has been busy with the Moon Festival in the past two days, and he will not have a separate time to accompany them, so the best way is to visit during the Moon Festival tomorrow to make a good impression, if you can ask some questions after the Moon Festival, it should not be much of a problem.

Speaking of this, Dr. Zhang also said that the shamanic branch here is called Yike Zhaomeng, which is in the westernmost church of Tietun, where there are more than a dozen long-term believers, and the leader of the believers here is a middle-aged altar master surnamed Tie.

According to Dr. Zhang, in his early years, this iron altar master was a figure who traveled from south to north, and he was a well-informed figure. If you want to consult something, it's best to go to him. If there is something in Tietun that he doesn't know, then there is no need to ask anyone else.

At dusk the next day, the sacrifice of Tietun was carried out as scheduled. When Yan Bugui and his entourage arrived at the westernmost part of Tietun, they didn't need to ask anyone, just saw groups of people going towards a place, and knew that they must be going to Yike Zhaomeng.

Yike Zhao League, the vermilion gate was wide open to welcome the disciples who came to celebrate the moon festival, and the entire altar covered an area of more than ten acres, surrounded by high walls made of cyan bricks and stones. After entering the gate, I saw that the building here was only the last one dedicated to missionary churches, with an altar of ten zhang in front of the church and a large square in front of it.

On the far left side of the square, however, there is a fence surrounding some cattle and sheep.

On the square, however, there was a sea of people, but they all stood there quietly and did not move, and above the altar was smoky, and on the altar at this time there was a man of nearly forty years old standing in the center of the altar with his back to the door, and I saw him holding a handful of incense in both hands, respectfully inserting it in an incense burner, and kneeling reverently and buttoning nine heads before standing up.

When he turned his head, Yan Bugui found that this iron altar master was not only handsome, but also had a goatee.

After the iron altar master changed hands, he only glanced at the audience and continued to chant some church greetings, while there were three full-time congregants on the left and right and behind him, beating the single drum in their hands rhythmically, but they were all chanting in their mouths.

After that, it was time to slaughter cattle and sheep and sacrifice to the gods, in fact, after the lord of the iron altar finished reading the blessings, there were already believers who went to the left side to lead the cattle and sheep to be slaughtered under the big platform, and then some believers came up and pressed the heads and pressed the legs, and the cattle and sheep were pressed to kneel on the ground. Then before each animal stood a burly man with a large knife, ready to slaughter sheep and cattle.

After the cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered were given to kneel under the great platform, they saw that the lord of the iron altar shouted again, and then asked the gods to come down to earth and prepare to enjoy their sacrifice = sacrificial gifts.

After hearing the shouts of the iron altar master, the disciples in the audience raised their knives and slashed at the necks of the livestock on the ground. When the knives fell, the heads of the cattle and sheep rolled to the side......