This Is My Primitive Tribe-Chapter 60 - 56: The Wanderer Drawn to the Bonfire

On September 10th, the Vine Tribe had prepared the sacrifices, and Jiang Xuan spent another day firing the clay blanks of the three Large Pottery Cauldrons into ceramics.

Due to the great experience gained previously, coupled with the fact that the cauldrons were quite thick and not easily cracked, all three cauldrons were fired successfully this time.

The surfaces of these pottery cauldrons were dark red, with totem patterns of the Vine Tribe carved on the outer walls, and motifs of flowers, birds, insects, fish, and fierce beasts, giving an impression of simplicity and grandeur at a glance.

Jiang Xuan carried these three new cauldrons to the center of the new altar, arranging them in a triangular shape, symbolizing the concept of life spawning myriad things.

Apart from the cauldrons, the altar was encircled by eight huge totem poles, and even the large beast bones were placed neatly.

The Vine Tribe’s altar finally possessed some mysterious and sacred atmosphere, even the Old Witch often wandered around, feeling that this setup was quite impressive.

On the early morning of September 12th, Jiang Xuan awoke to find the ground had already turned white, not from snow, but from frost.

Jiang Xuan returned to the bamboo house, holding his bamboo tube calendar, and carved the small characters for "Frost Fall" next to "September 12th" using a Stone Knife.

"The weather is getting colder and colder, it probably won’t be long before it snows. Everything is already prepared, it’s time to hold the sacrificial ceremony."

If delayed further, Jiang Xuan worried that the Divine Vine might be affected by the arrival of winter, as it was, after all, a plant.

"With winter approaching, the battles between the tribes should already be finished. Now is the perfect time to recruit Wanderers!"

Jiang Xuan intended to immediately start recruiting Wanderers, ideally allowing them to witness the sacrificial process firsthand, especially the part where the Divine Vine revives, so it would have a deterrent effect on those Wanderers.

Previously, Jiang Xuan recruited people like Gan Song by chance encounters and persuaded them to join the Vine Tribe.

But that method was too inefficient; searching for Wanderers in the vast forest wasn’t an easy task.

Jiang Xuan recalled a simpler method: lighting a huge bonfire on the wide open ground in front of the Vine Tribe and adding some fresh branches and wet grass to the fire.

This way, the bonfire would produce thick smoke rising to the sky, visible from far away.

Nearby Wanderers, those at the end of their rope, upon seeing these obviously manmade smoke signals, would have a high probability of coming to investigate.

At that time, Jiang Xuan could fairly easily recruit some Wanderers who wanted to join the tribe.

Moreover, this past year, Jiang Xuan and others had explored a very wide area around the Vine Tribe, not discovering hostile tribes, so there was no worry that the smoke would attract attention from hostile tribes.

Because the Southern Wilderness was filled with towering mountains, unless one was standing atop a mountain peak, it was very difficult to see far distances.

Jiang Xuan shared this method with the others, and everyone agreed there was no problem with it.

Jiang Xuan gathered a few people, collected a large amount of firewood, and piled it in the center of the harvested farmland, forming a three-plus-meter-tall large woodpile.

"Ignite the fire!"

With a burning torch in hand, Jiang Xuan lit the giant bonfire.

"Crackle crackle..."

The wood was very dry, and once ignited, the fire quickly spread until the entire bonfire was blazing fiercely, sending waves of heat rolling outward.

Next, Jiang Xuan covered the burning bonfire with a large amount of fresh branches and some wet grass.

Thick smoke soon billowed forth, turning into a giant smoke column soaring into the sky. freewёbnoνel.com

"Such high smoke!"

Gan Song looked up at the billowing smoke in admiration, joined by similar exclamations from others.

This bonfire would burn for several days until Jiang Xuan had recruited enough Wanderers needed by the Vine Tribe.

Standing by the bonfire, Jiang Xuan addressed the group: "Sister, Gou Teng, Shi Qiu, Nan Xing, you all go ahead and temporarily remove the traps on both sides of the tribe so as not to injure any Wanderers coming to investigate."

"Tomorrow noon, when the sun reaches its highest point, whether we have recruited Wanderers or not, the ceremony will be held as planned."

Many tribes held their sacrificial ceremonies at night because animal totem gods typically preferred to forage at night and were more active than during the day.

But it was different for the Vine Tribe; their totem god was a Divine Vine, more vibrant during the day when there was sunlight, making it more suitable for sacrificial ceremonies.

"Alright, we’ll go right away."

Chi Shao and others immediately set off to temporarily dismantle the traps around the tribe.

"From here on, we’ll have to rely on luck."

Standing by the bonfire, Jiang Xuan looked up at the thick smoke, feeling wave after wave of heat as he prayed to successfully recruit enough Wanderers.

Meanwhile, within a forest between two mountains near the Vine Tribe, hundreds of Wanderers were aimlessly wandering.

They were a group of individuals who had lost their tribes, coming from a multitude of tribes, choosing to band together to survive the perilous Primitive Forest.

They had traveled far, encountering various dangerous beasts and plant attacks along the way, with members constantly joining or dying, with no one knowing where their destination lay.

Each year, many Wanderers perished in the forest this way.

Some froze to death, others starved, some were eaten by fierce beasts, or became fertilizer for strange plants.

They had no tribal protection, no powerful warriors to shield them, no time to find enough food to survive the winter, nor enough beast hides to keep warm.

In such harsh conditions, it’s too difficult to stay alive.

"Jing Jie, do you think we can find a large tribe?"

Among the wanderers, there was a tall tribesman named Jing Jie. He was the only One-Color Warrior among them. Without him, they would have died even faster.

Because of his strength, Jing Jie became the leader of the group, guiding them to race against the winter, hoping to find a large tribe to take them in.

Jing Jie did not turn back. He said firmly, "I believe we will definitely find a large tribe!"

However, Jing Jie had no idea if they could actually find a large tribe that would take them in.

He only knew that if he lost hope, then this group of people would truly have no hope at all.

"Yes, we will definitely find it."

"That’s right, by then we won’t have to starve."

"Maybe we can even wrap ourselves in thick beast hides during the winter."

...

A few of the younger wanderers started discussing, growing more excited as they talked, as if the good days were right before their eyes.

However, the older wanderers appeared very pessimistic, or rather numb, as they had experienced too much disappointment and no longer held such naive thoughts.

Their only hope was to survive, even if it was just for one more day.

This is the instinct to survive.

"Shshsh..."

Suddenly, a giant-toothed tiger leaped from the nearby bushes, biting a wanderer at the edge of the group.

"Ah..."

The wanderer let out a miserable scream and was dragged away by the giant-toothed tiger, leaving behind only a trail of blood on the ground.

"It’s a giant-toothed tiger!"

The wanderers fell into chaos, crying out in terror and desperately pushing towards the center, fearing that other beasts might spring out.

"Don’t panic; the more you panic, the faster you’ll die. Do you want to die?"

At the crucial moment, Jing Jie stepped forward and shouted.

But the wanderers were too scared, and Jing Jie had to spend a good amount of time, shouting and kicking, to stop them from running and shoving wildly.

"Keep moving forward, and be alert to any movements around."

Holding a Stone Axe, Jing Jie continued to lead at the front. Such scenes had occurred many times along the way. Although furious, he was powerless.

He must find a tribe willing to take in the wanderers!

Jing Jie gritted his teeth in secret; he could only rely on this belief to continue moving forward, afraid that he might collapse like the wanderers.

As they walked, two more wanderers were dragged away by beasts, and another had a mental breakdown and ran off from the group, likely to die in the jungle.

Jing Jie’s heart kept sinking, but he had no choice but to grit his teeth and persevere.

They reached a high point in a mountain pass. Jing Jie climbed onto a large rock to survey the surroundings and suddenly saw a plume of thick smoke in the distance.

This smoke rose almost straight into the sky and was isolated, unlike the continuous smoke caused by a mountain fire.

"A bonfire, a large bonfire!"

Jing Jie was so excited that he almost jumped up. As a tribesman, he was very familiar with the smoke produced by bonfires.

If it were a small bonfire, it couldn’t produce such thick and large smoke columns. Only those large bonfires lit during big tribal events could have this effect!

"There must be a tribe ahead, a large tribe!"

"Keep going. If we reach that large tribe, maybe we’ll be taken in!"

Jing Jie climbed down from the large rock, excitedly shouting to the wanderers.

"Is there really a large tribe?"

"Great!"

"We can all survive!"

...

Some of the wanderers cheered, then followed Jing Jie and continued moving forward.

But others appeared more numb, as they had been excited many times before, only to be repeatedly let down by reality, and now they dared not believe in miracles anymore.

With various thoughts in mind, the group of wanderers moved quickly towards the direction of the smoke, losing more lives along the way.