Chapter 1124: Comprehending Witchcraft, the Style of a Prophet!
Although Hui s.h.i.+ was a savage, he wasn’t stupid. When he saw Sun Mo’s expression, he knew that this fellow whose origins were unknown was thinking about his tribe’s witchcraft.
(Sadly, you won’t be able to learn it!)
“Teacher, he’s smirking!”
The papaya girl instantly reported this.
“You are smirking because you think I won’t be able to learn the witchcraft, right?”
Sun Mo’s tone was very prideful, and he intentionally allowed a hint of contempt to seep into his voice.
“Hehe, that’s only something prophets can learn!”
Hui s.h.i.+ mocked. “Whoever can learn it will become the prophet.”
In the hearts of savages, prophets were wise men, and they were the most intelligent people in the tribe. Without prophets, any tribe would surely decline and fall.
“In that case, your prophet is a selfish man!”
Sun Mo’s expertise in the ancient Nine Provinces Language became increasingly proficient the more he used them. “Why didn’t he teach it to the young people of the tribe?”
“Don’t speak nonsense, our prophet is very generous!”
When Hui s.h.i.+ heard this, he grew anxious. “It is us who failed to learn it!”
“Ah, so it’s you guys who’re stupid!”
Sun Mo was enlightened.
“We are also not stupid. Before the prophet could impart the complete knowledge to us, he was killed by people from the Red Rock Tribe.”
Hui s.h.i.+ explained. When he spoke until here, his expression grew heavy and desolated.
Without a prophet, the tribe would surely be finished.
This was also why Hui s.h.i.+ would always come here to comprehend the ancestral totems every time during his free time.
He wanted to become the new prophet of the tribe.
“What is the Red Rock Tribe? Your opponent?”
Sun Mo frowned. It was so troublesome.
“A tribe that prays to the Fire G.o.d.”
Just when the sound of Hui s.h.i.+’s voice faded, two heavy booming sounds echoed from a location far away.
Boom! Boom!
“Do you know what the sound is?”
Sun Mo asked.
“The Fire G.o.d is venting his anger!”
Hui s.h.i.+ stared into the distance and his expression grew even more unsightly. “d.a.m.n, the Red Rock Tribe is starting their hunt again. Only by contributing sacrificial offerings would they be able to calm the anger of the Fire G.o.d!”
“Fire G.o.d?”
Sun Mo felt a headache. (Can you speak of a new term?)
If the G.o.ds in the primitive era truly had indescribable and mysterious powers, he might as well just choose to lie down and die.
Luckily, given Sun Mo’s masterful questioning, the savage revealed everything he knew.
After all, in this era, there were no such things as technique interrogation. The savage basically didn’t know how to defend against this.
The so-called Fire G.o.d was actually just a volcano.
The Red Rock Tribe lived beneath the volcano, so they treated the Fire G.o.d as their totem. When they saw the volcano erupting, they thought that it was because the Fire G.o.d was angry. Hence, they would contribute various sacrificial offerings, including living humans from the Gray Rock Tribe in hopes that the Fire G.o.d could calm its anger.
“That prophet was correct. You guys should have relocated long ago!”
Sun Mo roughly understood now.
The doomsday prophecy that was spoken by the prophet of the Gray Rock Tribe probably had a connection with this volcano.
As the Earth crust moved, a dead volcano might become a live one and would erupt forth with magma. Hence, no matter how many sacrificial offerings were given, it would be useless.
Hui s.h.i.+ grew silent. This wasn’t something he could understand.
Back then, their ancestors were those who remained of the chieftain’s line of descent.
“Can you tell me more about your tribe’s witchcraft?”
Sun Mo asked with a smile.
Lu Zhiruo crushed some herbs and applied them to the hunting dog’s wound. This scene also caused the wariness in the savage’s heart to be reduced by quite a bit.
“The witchcraft of our tribe can allow a human to transform into various types of birds and beasts, galloping through the world and flying through the sky. During combat, we can transform into a giant elephant, a tiger, or a wolf. When playing, we can transform into various birds of prey to plunder the sky.”
Hui s.h.i.+ was proud.
“Actually, I know those things too!”
Sun Mo chortled. When the Great Desolation Dragon Subduing Scripture was trained to the absolute limits, the pract.i.tioner could become a giant dragon.
“I don’t believe it. Why don’t you transform and show me?”
The savage snorted in disdain.
“Can one transform after comprehending the totems?”
Sun Mo asked.
“Yup!”
Hui s.h.i.+ nodded.
“If you want to lie, can you make things sound more real? By replying so quickly, even if I were an idiot, I wouldn’t believe you.”
Sun Mo was speechless.
Hui s.h.i.+ didn’t want to say anything, but Sun Mo was holding his beloved dog hostage. Hence, he could only choose to compromise.
“In any case, you won’t be able to comprehend anything!”
Hui s.h.i.+ was very calm.
If one wanted to learn this transformation witchcraft, one had to grasp the secrets of the totems. Moreover, they had to be accompanied by prayers to their ancestors. The people of the tribe knew the ancestral prayers, but they only understood a tiny bit of these diagrams.
Before the prophet could finish teaching them, he was already killed by the people from the Red Rock Tribe.
Sun Mo originally had no interest in these totems. However, now that he knew they had a connection with witchcraft, he wanted to try comprehending them.
Luckily, they found plenty of grain. In addition to hunting every day, they needn’t worry about food and drink for some time. Sun Mo could roughly enter close-door seclusion for a week.
Once he learned witchcraft, his combat strength would surely increase.
“Let’s do it together?”
Sun Mo sat cross-legged beside the totem pillars.
“You are wasting your effort. You might as well use your time to go hunting.”
Hui s.h.i.+ mocked.
“My teacher is a reserve saint!”
Lu Zhiruo didn’t understand what Hui s.h.i.+ was talking about, but from his expression, it was clear that Hui s.h.i.+ was looking down on her teacher.
“What is she talking about?”
Hui s.h.i.+ was curious.
He was fond of this girl. Compared to the girls in his tribe, she was fair and tender. And the most important thing was that she was truly huge!
(So huge, the babies she gives birth to will surely be nourished very well and be extremely healthy!)
Hui s.h.i.+ was longing for the future.
There was a certain rule to decipher the diagrams on the totems. It was like solving mathematical questions. One might not succeed even if they racked their brains for a long time if they didn’t apply the right formula.
Because Hui s.h.i.+’s knowledge was superficial, he could only do things blindly. But Sun Mo was different.
He was a great ancestor-level spirit runist!
After knowing the effects of these totems, Sun Mo started to a.n.a.lyze them, distinguis.h.i.+ng their core components, their frame structures. At the same time, there was the Ancient Nine Provinces Language in his mind as a reference.
In this process of disa.s.sembling, a.n.a.lyzing, inspecting, verifying, and unceasing experimentations…many days pa.s.sed.
Sun Mo would hunt once every two days, and he spent the rest of his time sitting beside the altar, studying the totems.
The savage Hui s.h.i.+ originally found Sun Mo displeasing to the eye. But he gradually grew impressed.
At the very least, he didn’t have such determination.
Every time Hui s.h.i.+ came to comprehend the totem, he would leave after three to five hours, and he wouldn’t spend every moment contemplating over it.
However, Sun Mo’s contemplation could last for an entire day.
“He couldn’t have comprehended the secret of the totems, right?”
Hui s.h.i.+ sank into conflict.
He didn’t want Sun Mo to succeed in his comprehension. After all, this was witchcraft belonging to his tribe. But on the other hand, he also hoped that Sun Mo would succeed. Because it meant that the lost witchcraft could appear once more.
On the seventh day, during dinner time.
Sun Mo waited in a stone house. He was currently writing on the ground with a piece of stone.
Hui s.h.i.+ came over after he ate.
“What do you want to do?”
Sun Mo asked with a smile.
“C…can you teach me?”
Hui s.h.i.+ braced himself and smiled as he asked this question.
He could already tell that this Sun Mo was a kind person. If not, he would have long since eaten him up. Why would he have to waste rations and feed him?
Naturally, the most important thing was that Sun Mo was a wise man.
Although Hui s.h.i.+ couldn’t understand the diagrams Sun Mo was drawing, he could sense that they were very logical. He could also tell that Sun Mo was a very able person from his look of contemplation.
“Sure!”
Sun Mo didn’t mind it. He started to share his thoughts and insights.
…
On the eighth morning, Sun Mo woke up and stretched his body comfortably.
After dinner, he placed the stone blade, his bow, and arrows on him.
“Teacher, leave the hunting to me. You should just focus on comprehending the totem.”
Hui s.h.i.+ wanted to take charge of the hunting.
After he saw Sun Mo’s probing gaze on him, he immediately guaranteed. “I won’t flee!”
Hui s.h.i.+ didn’t know how he should address Sun Mo. After seeking Sun Mo’s opinion, he received the answer of ‘teacher’.
Teachers…
Impart the dao, provide education, and dispel doubts!
“It’s fine!”
Sun Mo smiled.
“Oh!”
Hui s.h.i.+ revealed a disappointed expression. (Teacher must have given up, right? No, I should encourage him more.)
“Teacher, please persist for a little longer. I feel that with your intelligence, you will definitely be able to decipher these totems!”
Hui s.h.i.+ bitterly persuaded.
“Haha!”
Sun Mo laughed uproariously!
Lu Zhiruo was familiar with Sun Mo’s personality, and she also felt blind wors.h.i.+p for him. Upon seeing this, she immediately called out happily. “Teacher, could it be that you have already deciphered them?”
“Yup!”
Sun Mo patted Lu Zhiruo’s head. “Today, I’m planning to go and prepare the materials necessary to draw the totems!”
Hui s.h.i.+ couldn’t understand their words, but he thought of a possibility.
(Could it be that Teacher has deciphered the totems?)
(If not, why would he be so happy?)
…
With Hui s.h.i.+’s addition to their group, Sun Mo’s hunting speed became much quicker and safer.
In order to make Hui s.h.i.+ help them wholeheartedly, Sun Mo showed him another trump card.
Under the trunk of a large tree, he plucked a mushroom and tossed it to Hui s.h.i.+.
“Don’t eat it, it might be poisonous!”
Hui s.h.i.+ jumped in fright. In the mountainous region, the most dangerous things were these various types of mushrooms. So, he would rather suffer from hunger than eat them.
“There’s nothing wrong with this.”
Sun Mo explained. “This is called flat mushrooms. It’s sweet and has the effect of lowering blood pressure.”
The people of this era probably wouldn’t live long enough for high blood pressure to set in.
“My teacher is a grandmaster-level botanist!”
Hui s.h.i.+ hesitated but Lu Zhiruo trusted Sun Mo and also ate them.
“You guys are courting death!”
Hui s.h.i.+ felt helpless. He could only pray that the mushroom Sun Mo ate was not poisonous. He even found a few roots that would induce vomiting and was preparing to feed them to Sun Mo if the latter showed signs of being poisoned.
But he was worried too much.
Even when the afternoon came, Sun Mo was still fine.
Also, Sun Mo started to explain the properties of some herbs that they ran into on their journey.
Hui s.h.i.+ couldn’t remember them, and he didn’t bring along any bamboo to take down notes, which caused him to feel extremely anxious.
In the evening, Sun Mo returned to the abandoned village.
He originally wanted to capture a ferocious beast like a tiger or lion, but the combat strength of the three of them was too weak and they couldn’t do so. Hence, he could only seek the second-best option and use the blood of a wild boar.
“Come, remove your clothes and sit here!”
Sun Mo instructed.
Hui s.h.i.+ had no idea that he was being treated like a little lab rat by Sun Mo. After he heard this, he immediately grew emotional.
“T…teacher…”
(If the witchcraft succeeds, I’m willing to be an ox or a horse for you.)
Sun Mo was too lazy to speak more. After Hui s.h.i.+ finished his preparation, Sun Mo used his fingers and dipped them into the blood of a wild boar. He then started to draw the totem diagram on Hui s.h.i.+’s back,
The entire process lasted for an hour.
When the totem was completed, it shone with a blood-red light. After that, it began to seep into Hui s.h.i.+’s flesh.
Hui s.h.i.+ immediately felt his body growing hotter as a layer of sweat appeared on his body.
“It’s done. Now, you can imagine yourself as a wild boar while praying to your ancestors at the same time.”
Sun Mo instructed.
Hui s.h.i.+ immediately followed the instructions.
When those strange-sounding syllables were uttered from his mouth, his body started to transform. His body hair grew longer and his teeth also became larger and sharper, protruding from his lips.
“Teacher, I succeeded!”
Hui s.h.i.+ was very agitated. He could instinctively sense a mighty power in his body. He couldn’t control it, and he swung his fist toward a wall.
RUMBLE!
A large hole appeared on the wall.
“S…so strong!”
Hui s.h.i.+ was dumbfounded. After that, tears flowed down his face. The witchcraft that had been lost had finally appeared again.
“You have failed, why are you so agitated?”
Sun Mo frowned.
“Failed?”
Hui s.h.i.+ didn’t understand. This attempt was a failure but even so, he was so powerful? What if it wasn’t a failure then?
Wouldn’t he be invincible?
“This shouldn’t be a problem with the totem. After all, it’s impossible for me to make any mistakes with my skill. If that’s the case, it must be your ancestral prayers. You didn’t p.r.o.nounce the syllables clearly enough.”
Sun Mo a.n.a.lyzed.
The completed witchcraft should allow one to become a boar-man with thick flesh and boundless might.
“Oh, with regards to this beast transformation witchcraft, you can only use it three times and five minutes at most each time.”
Because totems drawn with fresh blood would lose all their energy after transforming three times.
It was unknown whether Hui s.h.i.+ understood or not. He directly rushed out and screamed excitedly as he destroyed the other stone houses nearby.
Rumble! Rumble!
Hui s.h.i.+ attacked ferociously, causing destruction everywhere.
After playing for over ten minutes, Hui s.h.i.+ finally returned. He then immediately knelt before Sun Mo and kowtowed to him.
“Teacher, please follow me back to my tribe and be our prophet!”
Hui s.h.i.+’s eyes shone brightly as he looked at Sun Mo. “Under your leaders.h.i.+p, the Gray Rock Tribe would definitely become the strongest tribe in this mountainous region.”
“I’m not interested!”
Sun Mo rejected and continued to use thin bamboo strips to weave an enclosing frame. Even if he created an empire, his men would all be savages. What was the point of it?
The next morning, Sun Mo started his hunting lifestyle again.
The three of them went to the lake. After putting some pieces of meat inside the enclosing frame, Sun Mo tossed the frame into the lake.
“Teacher, what is this?”
Hui s.h.i.+ didn’t understand.
“A tool to catch fis.h.!.+”
Sun Mo’s words were concise and comprehensive.
Hui s.h.i.+ scratched his head. Would fish and shrimp be so stupid to enter the basket themselves?
Sun Mo didn’t want to explain. “Oh right, where does the salt you guys consume come from?”
Although Sun Mo wouldn’t go to the Gray Stone Tribe to be a prophet, he wanted to make use of their knowledge. If that was the case, he would need a trump card.
Salt was a very good choice.
After all, this was a rare resource.
He saw that the salt consumed by Hui s.h.i.+ was something like a salt lump with various impurities mixed within.
“I dug this out from the great mountains!”
Hui s.h.i.+ was bewildered. (Why did Teacher not even know about this? Salt can’t possibly grow from the soil, right?)
“I’ll perform a magic trick for you today!”
During this period, Sun Mo was busy comprehending the Witchcraft: Beast Transformation, and he had no time to care about purifying salt. Moreover, he felt that since he was in a game, it was fine even if he ate some heavy metallic substances. In any case, his original body was not here.
“What’s a magic trick?”
Hui s.h.i.+ didn’t understand.
“So troublesome!”
Sun Mo was depressed. It was so much effort to converse with savages.
There was also some salt hidden in the stone house’s cellar. So, Sun Mo already had the materials he needed. What was left was to burn some charcoal and get some mulberries for filtering.
“Mulberries? I know where they are!”
Hui s.h.i.+ led the way.
“Speaking of which, would it be fine for you seeing that you haven’t returned to your tribe for such a long time?”
Lu Zhiruo was curious. There also didn’t seem to be anyone looking for him.
During these few days, the papaya girl had learned the Ancient Nine Provinces Language from Sun Mo, and there was no problem for her to use it in daily communication.
“It’s fine, it’s very frequent for people to go missing in the tribe!”
Hui s.h.i.+’s calm tone revealed a cruel reality.
Sun Mo wanted to console him, but Hui s.h.i.+ suddenly squatted down as a look of wariness appeared on his face.
“Someone’s here!”