Chapter 101 – The Shaman’s requirement
Translated by Sunyancai
If the Shaman asked this question to another person in the tribe, that person would’ve been thrilled. However, it was Shao Xuan who was sitting in front of the Shaman.
In fact, the Shaman had long expected that Shao Xuan would refuse him. He just didn’t expect Shao Xuan to have such a firm refusal.
Speaking about the Shaman’s savage hunt of an heir… Well, let’s just say it was a long story.
Being the whole tribe’s spiritual guide meant that the Shaman must take it very seriously when finding an heir. So, a few Shamans in recent history had all spent a lot of time and energy in selecting their successors.
When Gui He, the team leader of the other hunting team, was little, he was chosen by the Shaman, and the Shaman intended to cultivate him from a young age. Also, the Shaman named him “Gui He”.
The name “Gui He” came from the blessing chant “All water belongs to the gully”. One could see how much expectation the Shaman had for this child.
However, it was a shame that back then, the Shaman was working on the research of a few newly-found plants. He became so obsessed with it that he forgot to keep an eye on Gui He. When he was less busy and realized the importance of cultivating the child, he found that Gui He already had his goal set on becoming a strong warrior. All he wanted was to pursue the pinnacle of power and nothing else would ever distract him.
Gui He admired and respected the Shaman just like everyone else in the tribe. He would literally start a death fight if he heard any bad words about the Shaman. However, ever since he had his own mind, all he wanted to be was a powerful warrior.
The Shaman wasn’t mad about Gui He’s goal. However, he started to rethink.
The main priority of the people in the tribe was to become powerful warriors, and they had a very persistent pursuit of strength. Forcing someone to alter his goal wouldn’t make him into a qualified Shaman. The successor must be someone willing.
After Gui He, the Shaman began to pay attention to other people in the tribe.
However, since everyone wanted to become warriors, the Shaman thought perhaps he could choose from those who had yet to awaken. If one couldn’t be awakened, will he or she be willing to become the next shaman?
It really didn’t matter if the shaman had totem power or not. As long as he or she was a qualified successor, he or she could naturally obtain the inherited power of the shaman from him.
As for the totem power…. Well, it would be useless after one becomes the shaman. Because, the shaman would never leave the tribe.
The shaman of the tribe must remain in the safe region. No one would ever dare to guarantee that no accident would happen. So normally, the shaman would never step out of the tribe once he inherited the power and responsibilities from his predecessor. No one in the tribe would ever let the shaman step into a dangerous place.
If one chief was gone, they could always select the next strongest person to be the next chief. However, it wasn’t the case with the shaman. Every shaman was raised and cultivated since childhood. Once the candidate was selected, the shaman would keep the candidate by his side and teach by lectures and examples.
As for the “requirements” for the potential candidate… No one knew, and no one could tell. It was totally up to the present shaman.
There had been male, female, totem warrior, and non-totem warrior shamans. So, the awakening of totem power was no decisive factor of being selected. However, about twenty years after the birth of Gui He, the Shaman found no one suitable for being the candidate. He would constantly go down the mountain top to see the kids at the mountain foot area. But, he was disappointed every time.
Until one day, Gui He carried his newborn daughter to the Shaman, asking for the Shaman’s honor to name his little girl. The Shaman was tempted again once he laid eyes on the infant in Gui He’s arms. He named her “Gui Ze”. It was also a name that came from a blessing chant.
“All earth returns to the mansion, while all water belongs to the gully. Insects do not labor, by the blessing of nature……”
So, since childhood, Gui Ze was raised and cultivated as the next shaman. Only a few people living on the mountaintop were aware of that.
However, the Shaman didn’t expect to meet Shao Xuan.
Ever since his awakening, Shao Xuan wasn’t like the others. The Shaman had been paying extra attention to him ever since. Moreover, his view of Shao Xuan was improved by Shao Xuan’s every moves and actions as time went by.
If we say that it was because of his physique that he could make faster progress than the others. Then, how should we explain when Shao Xuan could see the things that others couldn’t see? What about Shao Xuan’s recovering ability that was better than an intermediate totem warrior?
And now he understood the Shaman Volumes!
Why did he obtain such power?
In fact, the Shaman had no explanation for that. He learnt that Shao Xuan had a complete flame inside his body the day he awakened. Whilst other people in the tribe only had an incomplete flame. However, meanwhile, he seemed to have some kind of shaman power. He could see the things that the other warriors couldn’t see.
When a shaman determined that it was the right time, he would pass on all his power to his successor. However, Shao Xuan seemed to have acquired it without inheriting it from the Shaman.
Was he the offspring from a former Shaman? But that still made no sense, for the shaman would totally pass on his or her power to the successor completely, nothing was held back. The shamans were people of no selfish intentions. Their loyalty was to their tribe.
Also, after re-examining a few animal skin rolls of the family trees in the tribe, he was positive that Ah-Xuan’s ancestors were ordinary warriors.
Until now, the Shaman had no exact answers to all his questions, but he decided not to tangle with that.
As he was about to persuade Shao Xuan into taking his place, he was refused by Shao Xuan firmly.
“Are you certain?” The Shaman asked a further question, which was rare.
Shao Xuan looked at the Shaman in silence. He was different from the members of the tribe in terms of concepts, thinking, and principles of dealing with things. He was very different, so how could he become their spiritual guide? However, all those reasons must be kept to himself.
“Fine.” The Shaman sighed and left the question behind. He asked: “Have you read all those animal skin rolls?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then, do you want to read more of the Shaman Volumes?” asked the Shaman.
“Yes, I do.” There were a lot of things recorded in the Shaman Volumes that amazed Shao Xuan deeply. Meanwhile, he guessed that there would be more secrets buried in the more ancient Shaman Volumes. If he wanted to have a better understanding of the tribe, he needed to start with the shaman. And the Shaman Volumes were excellent historical books.
“Then I can bring you more of the Shaman Volumes.” The Shaman said slowly.
Shao Xuan said nothing about it right now, instead he was waiting for the things that the Shaman would say.
The Shaman raised his head and glanced over the stone table that had different kinds of herbs on it. He continued: “I hope that you will help Gui Ze.”
“Of course, I’ll do that.” Shao Xuan intended to tell Gui Ze the things he knew even without the Shaman’s demand. To help the others was to help oneself. The herbs that were packed before a hunting mission were all prepared by Gui Ze. Shao Xuan would be happy if he could help with that and raise Gui Ze’s efficiency.
The Shaman nodded, satisfied. He was getting old after all, and he already had a lot on his plate. He was willing to teach Gui Ze, but the flesh was weak. It was impossible for him to take care of every aspect. The way of processing different herbs couldn’t be fully delivered by him to Gui Ze. In fact, Gui Ze gained her knowledge from others. For example, Gui Ze would master the processing methods of the heart piercing stem better if someone were to teach her.
In the past, the Shaman thought that Gui Ze would naturally understand the things described in the Shaman Volumes once she inherited from him. So, he spent more time teaching her the right mind, attitude and view of the world. Also, he focused on the development and trend of the tribe. Those things were the most important ones.
While Shao Xuan’s presence today could well solve the problem.
The Shaman felt a little sorry, but on the bigger picture, he was satisfied with the situation. He stood up and intended to leave after talking with Shao Xuan about the herbs described in the Shaman Volumes.
Before leaving, the Shaman told Shao Xuan: “You come to my room in the mornings starting tomorrow. Some Shaman Volumes can’t be brought in here. You can come to the medicine house in the afternoons.”
“Okay.” Answered Shao Xuan as he made a sincere salute towards the Shaman.
Since Gui Ze didn’t return to the medicine house, Shao Xuan felt a little bored. He processed all the raw plants on the stone table. It wasn’t very hard, since the only thing the herbs required was the pre-processing. He had seen Gui Ze process the herbs before, and he also learnt the way of processing from the Shaman Volumes that he read these days. He was aware of the things that he should be aware of. He was very skillful and proficient when processing them, just like when he was processing the heart piercing stem.
When leaving the medicine house and heading back home, Shao Xuan looked up in the sky.
Chacha was hovering over his head in the sky.
“Do you want to see it for yourself, since it is such a big world?” whispered Shao Xuan.
“土反其宅，水归其壑，昆虫毋作，草木归其泽”一句出自远古歌谣《蜡辞》，本文在此借用。
“All earth returns to the mansion while all water belongs to the gully. Insects do not labor, by the blessing of nature……” – this is from an ancient chanson called . The author quoted a part of it in this chapter.
[EN: I did the best I could, please don’t kill me.]