(Sheepskin Fragment Story 4)

The tribes of the Xuanyuan clan are located north of the Great River, and it is not easy to reach their territory.

Not to mention which tribe's territory to go to find ginseng, it took a lot of effort just to get through the big river in front of me.

Just like the master said, ginger water is indeed insignificant compared to the big river, and after the big river converges with several rivers, the river on the river surface is turbulent and rushes madly to the east like a mountain and the sea, and the ground near it is shaken and rumbles loudly.

I don't have much experience in the world, and I don't have much skills, and I panic when I look at this big river, and I don't know how to cross it.

I squatted by the river for three days in a row, and then I met a hunter from a nearby tribe, and under his guidance I continued to walk east along the river!

Unexpectedly, the river did not go far to the east, and the river surface here became very wide, and there were potholes everywhere, perhaps this is the area where the river flooded in the legend! No wonder I often hear people from the Lieshan clan say that the big river in the east often floods many areas, and it is reasonable that such a turbulent river often breaks out into floods.

A kind tribesman who was fishing carried me across the wide river on a raft, and I finally came to the northeast side of the river!

The Great River is the dividing line between the territory of our Lieshan Tribal Alliance and the Xuanyuan Tribal Alliance, and we both belong to the descendants of the Suiren Clan, and we live in harmony with each other and often help each other! Legend has it that our distant ancestors came from the far west, when our ancestors were only half-human and half-ape! The Jiuli people in the south are different, their distant ancestors are said to have come from the distant southwest mountains, and they may even have come to this land before us, and they are different ethnic groups from us. Therefore, for many years, our Lieshan clan and Xuanyuan clan have been at war with their Jiuli people, fighting each other for the fertile land in the north and south of the river! Of course, I am only speculating from the legends handed down by the clansmen, whose ancestors have always worshipped totems and believed that they were incarnated from local animals, and I am very skeptical about this.

As human beings, how can we suddenly change from animals? Our ancestors of the Shennong clan thought that our ancestors were oxen, while the Xuanyuan clan felt that their ancestors were dragons and snakes! Cows and snakes are often seen, but I have never seen what a dragon is, and it is estimated that it may have lived for thousands of years as a spiritual giant snake, with horns and whiskers on its head and four legs on its body! But it is said that dragons can soar into the clouds and ascend to the heavens, and can also call for wind and rain!

I can only respect the legend of the dragon, since the distant ancestor is so powerful, then why did he want to bring huge floods to the heads of our descendants frequently, so why did the great ability not be passed on to our descendants? Otherwise, how could there be such a huge flood in our land!

Of course, I can only think about it in private, but I must not tell others, otherwise I will be regarded as a demon in the clan who is disrespectful to the ancestors, and will be captured and used to sacrifice the ancestors alive.

As for why I think our ancestors are half-man, half-ape, it is because in the tribal temple of our Lieshan clan, there is a distant ancestor's skeleton worshipped, and the jaw of the skull protrudes and looks like a half-man, half-ape, which is a fact that I have seen with my own eyes!

After coming to Xuanyuan's headquarters, I was completely lost, and I didn't know what ginseng looked like, let alone where to find the kind of ginseng that Master wanted.

Actually, don't talk about me, I'm afraid that even the master himself has only heard of ginseng, a herb, and gave me such an impossible task, I'm afraid that the master is to let me go out to hone me, it's better than staying in the grass hall all day long and doing nothing.

Although I don't know anything, but I am a very humble person, after I inquired in some small tribes along the way, I learned some ginseng-related information, saying that many people in the Xuanyuan tribe have collected some ginseng in the cold region of the north.

Legend has it that in the cold regions of the north there are many snow-capped mountains, and on the mountains live a tribe of tall giants, Kuafu, if they go to Kuafu's territory to collect ginseng, it will undoubtedly be sent to death! I heard that these giants only eat meat, and when they are hungry, they eat people, and all the tribes are far away from them and dare not offend them.

It's terrifying to think about, let alone go to their mountains to pick ginseng!, but I still pretend to be guts, and plan to go to their Xuanyuan tribe to inquire, and maybe there are other places where ginseng can be collected.

The people of the Xuanyuan tribe are very kind, and when they heard that I was sent by the Lieshan clan to collect herbs, they all showed me the way and gave me a lot of food.

With the help of these well-wishers, I soon came to the valley where the Xuanyuan clan lived! Their people were so populous that they could see countless houses every few miles, and their houses were built so big and sturdy that they were much more beautiful than the houses of our own tribe of the Lieshan clan!

When I arrived at their own tribe, a hunter led me to the house of the high priest of their tribe.

Wizards and priests have a very high status in our tribe, they are not only the wisest of the tribe, but they are also very prestigious and wealthy in the tribe!

Although my master's witchcraft is not very effective, and his prestige is not as high as that of other sorcerers in the tribe, we have never been hungry, and the tribesmen will give us some of it whenever they have food!

Obviously, the status of this high priest of the Xuanyuan clan was even higher, and his house was built very large, in addition to the resting room, he not only had a large grass hall but also a large courtyard surrounded by mud walls, in which the cries of pigs and sheep were heard from time to time.

After a while, the priest returned, but unexpectedly it was a neatly dressed and beautiful eldest sister! She wore a ring of animal teeth, a necklace around her neck, a few bear claws, and a delicate deerskin animal robe, revealing skin as white as snow! Such a noble dress was like a goddess descending to earth, and people unconsciously had infinite respect for her.

I hurriedly knelt on the ground, knelt down with my hands on the ground as if bowing to the ancestral spirit, and said, "Honorable priest, please give me some hints to collect some ginseng for our wounded and dead in battle!"

The priestess gave me a fluttering look, bowed her head and whispered a few words to the hunter, and then led me into the courtyard of her house.

In the thatched hall, I continued to kneel in front of her, silently listening to her teachings!

The priestess asked me very calmly, "Are you from the Lieshan tribe, and the tribe you were born from is located in the remote mountains and forests on the southwest side?"

Her voice was very soft, judging from her appearance and voice, she was no more than eighteen years old! But if the eighteen-year-old eldest sister sat on the throne of the high priest of the Xuanyuan clan, could it be that she was really the god of protection assigned by God to assist the great leader?

Seeing that I didn't say a word, just staring at her stupidly, the priestess reprimanded a little unpleasantly: "Boy, do you know that you look at me with such eyes, and you have committed a great crime of disrespect in our Xuanyuan tribe, aren't you afraid of being sent by our tribe to sacrifice to the gods?"

I was so frightened that I immediately fell to the ground, hung my head very low, and said in a panic, "I'm sorry, I, I didn't mean to! I just, just ......."

After listening to this, she casually asked, "Just what?"

Although I felt a little embarrassed, I still answered truthfully, "It's just that my sister is so beautiful, I can't help but be dumbfounded! I don't mean anything disrespectful, and I hope the priest will forgive me!"

The priestess sneered and said, "Pull you down, you're so confused at such a young age, you can't drive when you see a beautiful girl?" I told you that I'm a priest, even if I like you, I can't marry you in the future, so you'd better be honest!"

I seemed a little naïve, and looked up curiously and asked, "Why?"

The eldest priest was also a little surprised, she looked at me, and replied with a slightly sad face: "There is no reason, a priestess is not allowed to marry, this is the rule of the tribe! Aren't the witches and priestesses of your Lieshan tribe the same, don't you know?"

Apparently I don't know anything about it, I've never even seen a witch priestess or anything in our tribe!

Looking at me who was ignorant, she couldn't help but look down and giggle, the soft laughter was so charming and sweet, it made me feel very comfortable.

The eldest priest quickly put away her smile and continued to say coldly: "Okay, don't talk about it! If you want to collect ginseng, I'm afraid it's not so easy, that ginseng grows in the northern cold valley area, the road to the north is far away, and there are many fierce beasts around, if you don't know the place well, it is equivalent to sending you to death!"

After listening to this, I anxiously asked, "What should I do, is there any other place where ginseng can be collected?"

The eldest priest shook her head decisively and said, "Ginseng is very precious, you should be a wild flower on the side of the road, and you want to pick it all over the place?"

I sat on the ground disappointed, sighed and said, "That's the end, how can I go back to see Master if I can't pick ginseng, how is this good!"

The eldest priest looked at me and asked tentatively, "There is always a way, I can help you go to the big chief's cottage and get some back!" But we have to have a deal, and the ginseng that the clan has collected at the risk of their lives can't just be given to you for nothing, what do you say?"

As soon as I heard this, I nodded again and again and said: "That's that, our tribesmen have always paid attention to the equivalent exchange of goods! You say, Lord Priest, whatever you want to trade with me, as long as I have it, I can give it to you, but ...... Unless you want to sacrifice me to the gods, if you will give me ginseng, I will come back and dedicate myself to the altar!"

When the priest saw that I looked cute and honest, he couldn't help but bow his head and laugh happily a few times, and then looked up happily and said, "Oh, where did you come from, it's so cute!"

Seeing her smile charmingly, I couldn't help but blurt out, "Sister Priest, you smile so charmingly!"

The priestess immediately put away her smile after hearing this, she lowered her head implicitly, her cheeks were slightly red, and then she said unhurriedly: "I can give you the ginseng first, but you must promise me to do something for me!"

"Oh!" It turned out to be a task for her, so it shouldn't be too much trouble, so I immediately agreed, "Okay, no problem, what is it?"

The priestess looked up at the sky, thought for a while, and said slowly: "There is a plain to the south of the west side of the tribe you were born into, and there is a valley to the west along the plain, where a large group of evil wolves live, and then to the west along the ridge is a river, and from the valley to the west is a black forest, and there is a black swamp in the depths of the black forest!

Without hesitation, I agreed, "Okay, no problem, but you have to tell me what kind of grass the Ancient Ten Thousand Spirit Grass looks like!"

The eldest sister of the priest said with a solemn expression: "I haven't seen it specifically, it is said that this grass has survived from ancient times to the present, and grows in the moist primeval swamp soil! This grass has absorbed the essence of the sun and the moon for tens of thousands of years, and has gathered the aura of all things on the earth, and its whole body emits a shining white light, which can be easily identified even in the daytime!"

As soon as I heard it, I knew that there was no play, and I replied very discouragedly: "Tens of thousands of years, no matter how much aura you have, it is impossible to live from ancient times to the present! Sister priest, have you been misled? There can be no such thing in this world at all, otherwise it would have been picked up by our tribesmen of the Lieshan clan!"

The priest's sister smiled slightly, and slowly continued: "This grass is full of spirituality, and that black swamp is not something that any living creature can survive! Pangu opened the heavens and the earth, and the whole body turned into everything in the world, and the spirit of the Pangu god did not disappear after that! Legend has it that almost all of the hair of the Pangu god flew up and turned into stars in the universe, leaving only one stranded on the earth, and finally grew into a huge towering spirit tree! In the end, those spirits gathered around the spirit tree, and never left for hundreds of millions of years, as the nectar kept pouring over the earth, other trees continued to grow around, and finally became the current Black Swamp and Black Forest! All the creatures in the swamp are spiritual, and even the wolves living in the valley hundreds of miles away seem to be subconsciously protecting it, preventing any living beings from approaching the Black Forest!"

I could hear in the clouds, Pangu opened the heavens and Nuwa created people, this is an ancient myth and story that has been passed down from generation to generation by our tribe! Although all of us people believe in this, I have never seriously believed it! But when I heard the priest's sister say this, the hairs on my whole body stood up, and I couldn't help but ask in fear: "According to this, the Black Forest is not something that can be approached casually?"

The priest's sister nodded and said: "Yes, you must pay attention when you go, those wolves are not easy to deal with! And according to the legend, that black forest is called the ghost forest, that swamp is called the ghost pool, and even the valley where those wolves live is also called the ghost valley! After entering here, you must be careful, you must not be confused by ghosts, especially the three spirits in the ghost pool, you have to be especially careful!"

I was confused and asked, "Are there three, what are they, sister, don't scare me!"

Sister Sacrifice nodded seriously and said: "Yes, legend has it that these three spirits have lived in the ghost pool for tens of thousands of years, they have absorbed a lot of Pangu's spirit, and they are about to cultivate the immortal body! One of them is a 10,000-year-old giant crocodile, one is a 10,000-year giant python, and the other is a 10,000-year-old turtle, they are all huge monsters, and they have been guarding the towering spirit tree! When you go, you can only avoid these three giant beasts, and secretly pick some ancient spirit grass to come back, don't alarm them!"

I was terrified when I heard this, and asked intermittently: "Then, then you want those ancient spirit grasses, what the hell do you want to use them for!"

The priest's sister sighed and said, "Our great leader doesn't want to be like your Yan Emperor, who has been replaced by new Yan Emperors one after another because of aging, which will gradually reduce the prestige of the Yan Emperor, and finally lead to the continuous decline of your Shennong clan!" Therefore, our great leader, the Yellow Emperor, gave me an order to find the ancient Ten Thousand Spirit Grass for him, and then cooperate with the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ginseng in the extremely cold land to prepare an elixir for him to prolong his life, so that he can live for a hundred years, so that he will have enough time to lead our Xuanyuan tribes to unify both sides of the Great River!"

I muttered in amazement, "Oh my God, it's good that we can live to be thirty years old, this is really a hundred years to live, isn't that going to be an old ......?"

At this point, I realized that I had lost my words, so I didn't dare to go on!

The priestess sister frowned and looked at me and said, "Old monster, right?", after saying that, she smiled slightly, and continued coldly: "For the emperor, who doesn't expect that he can live for a hundred years, thousands or even tens of thousands of years, and it is best to live forever, so that he can better enjoy the noble imperial life!

I sighed and said, "But even if we find the Ten Thousand Spirit Grass, it may not have this effect! If it really has this effect, our Yan Emperor would have sent someone to find it, don't forget that our Lieshan Clan's exploration of medicinal herbs is much more experienced than yours!"

The priest's sister shook her head and smiled: "What's the use of groping too much, if you don't get the essentials and grope again, it's just that a blind man arrives at the river and can't find the intersection!"

I nodded, and although what the priest sister said was very reasonable, I suddenly asked curiously, "Why, priest sister, you are not much older than me, how can you know so many magical things?

The priest's sister shook her head and replied, "Of course I haven't been there, this is a secret that our high priests have passed down from generation to generation since the time of the Suiren clan!

I shook my head and replied, "I don't know, my master is only a wizard of a small tribe, and he is not good at witchcraft, obviously he has not received the true inheritance of the great wizard! How do we know these magical secrets!" After speaking, I asked with great interest: "Sister priest, since we are all descendants of the Suiren clan, then we are a family, can you teach me some real witchcraft, so that I don't have to be looked down upon anymore!"

After hearing this, the priest's sister said happily: "Hehe, you little brother, you are really good at talking! That's good, as long as you can help me bring back the Ancient Ten Thousand Spirit Grass, my sister will not only teach you real witchcraft, but also teach you how to divinate and use gossip!"

As soon as I heard this, I came to the spirit, divination and gossip are the priest's best housekeeping skills, and the highest knowledge of all wisdom, if I can learn this, then I will also be the high priest of our Lieshan clan in the future!

Thinking of this, I happily agreed to the priest's sister's request, and swore that I would definitely find the ancient spirit grass for her, and then find her to learn the great skills of the priest!

The priest's sister trusted me very much, and brought me three 10,000-year-old ginseng from the great chief's grass hall that day, and then accompanied me out of the tribe and sent me all the way to the top of the mountain!

When I had walked a long way, I turned my head to look back at the top of the mountain, and I found that the priest's sister was still standing there looking at me, and that reluctant figure made me unforgettable for a long time, and I thought I must have been infatuated with her unconsciously!

In this way, I happily left the Xuanyuan clan's native tribe with Gu Shen, and began to return to our Lieshan clan's native tribe, and my life began to be different from then on!