The thick fog didn't bring any trouble to the Tuoba clan, only about a hundred people went missing from the tribe.
The Tuoba people seemed accustomed to this; they held a sacrificial ceremony in front of the large cauldron. Jiang Wen used a spell to understand the Tuoba language, but he could only make out their short, forceful cries.
"Sacrifice!"
"Hulai!"
"Teng Snake!"
"Next life!"
The people gathered before the Teng Snake totem, constantly chanting with sacrificial rites. The totem banner flapped wildly in the sky, even without wind.
Why is it necessary to sacrifice human flesh and blood to dispel the fog? Jiang Wen posed this question to Jiang Wenji.
Jiang Wenji simply told him that this ritual had been passed down for countless years. The ancient people of the ancient imperial era knew that offering blood and flesh to the heavens could dispel the surrounding fog. As for how long the fog would be dispelled, it depended on the nature of the sacrificed person. The younger and stronger the youth, the better the sacrificial effect.
Jiang Wenji spoke of this matter as if she were merely recounting an insignificant story. To her, sacrificing people to the heavens was a very normal thing. But Jiang Wen saw the pain of lives being burned away throughout these countless years, the countless people who exchanged their flesh for a chance at survival.
The Tuoba clan numbered only ten thousand, yet when the fog appeared, they had to sacrifice a dozen people every day. How many cities were there in the Taicang Dynasty, and how large was Licheng in Jiang Wenji's words? How many people would need to be sacrificed then? Jiang Wen felt that this was a terrifying number.
He just thought that if there were other ways, perhaps the people wouldn't resort to such extreme methods.
"Other ways?" Jiang Wenji's gaze focused on Jiang Wen after hearing these words. She was silent for a moment before opening her mouth. "Actually, it's not that there aren't other ways."
"What other methods could there be?" Jiang Wen asked.
"The fog appears once every cycle, but how long it lasts is unknown. Even the Emperor doesn't know how long the fog will exist in the world, and can only use his own life to explore these things. Someone once captured a cultivator and threw him into the cauldron for sacrifice. And that area hasn't seen fog for three cycles. So, if a cultivator could be sacrificed, perhaps the fog could be avoided for a very long time."
"..." Jiang Wen was speechless. He now understood why the people of Taicang were hostile to cultivators. Perhaps both sides intended to gain something from the other. The so-called cycle is Taicang's method of measuring time; in Jiang Wen's understanding, one cycle is about twelve years.
Jiang Wen then asked how cultivators survived in the fog, but Jiang Wenji shook her head, saying she didn't know. Because for thousands of years, cultivators had been at odds with Taicang. There was no point of communication between the two. If Jiang Wen hadn't saved them, perhaps the two of them would have attacked him as well.
Taicang and cultivators could only be mortal enemies.
Although Jiang Wen didn't understand what had happened between the cultivators and the Taicang people, seeing Jiang Wenji's resolute expression, he knew that the secrets within were probably very tortuous.
"Let's not talk about these things; take a look at this." Jiang Wenji handed him a roll of animal hide. Jiang Wen opened the hide; it was a rough geological map.
It marked the location of the Tuoba clan with ancient and abstract characters, and then drew a long line extending into the distance, which was the route. Triangular forests were drawn on both sides as markers, and the road extended all the way into the mountains.
"This is the map to the old territory, and it's also the reason why I was sent to the Tuoba clan. The Nanqi people were defeated in the old territory, and the next target of those foreign tribes is Licheng. We need to build a solid defensive base in the old territory to resist the invasion of the foreign tribes," Jiang Wenji said, and then took out a bronze token from her bosom.
"This is my personal guard token; I'm giving it to you. From now on, even in the Taicang royal capital, you will be a noble with a name. You will no longer be a wild man and wanderer without any status. You must keep this thing safe; it will be convenient for you to travel to various places in the future."
"Thank you." Jiang Wen expressed his gratitude. With this thing, he was equivalent to having proof of identity, and he would no longer encounter trouble in the Taicang territory.
"Do we still need to say thank you between us?" Jiang Wenji smiled. "You not only saved me, but also the clansmen of the Tuoba clan; these things alone are enough for the Emperor to enfeoff you as a lord."
"The Tuoba clan will send a thousand tribal warriors to assist me in establishing a base; are you willing to go with me?" Jiang Wenji's face was filled with anticipation; she seemed to want Jiang Wen to agree to her very much.
Jiang Wen thought that he had nowhere to go for the time being, and decided to make plans after he was familiar with the situation in Taicang. He agreed to this matter, and Jiang Wenji was visibly happy.
"Really, that's great."
After staying in the Tuoba clan for a few more days, Jiang Wen found that the women of the Tuoba clan began to harass him frequently. They didn't even look at him when he first came, but now they not only openly took advantage of him, but also took off their clothes to show off their slender bodies.
It must be said that these tribal girls, who worked and hunted all year round, all had beautiful figures. Even people who exercised regularly felt jealous of their vest lines.
Few of them had small breasts; most of them were rounded and upright.
Amidst such a fragrant and seductive scene, Jiang Wen's heart was as still as water. It wasn't that he had no intention, but that these Tuoba women were too tall.
Jiang Wen prided himself on being meters tall, which was considered the standard height in the modern world.
But under the average height of two or three meters of the Tuoba people, he seemed particularly small. These Tuoba women were often two meters six or seven, half a head taller than Jiang Wen.
They were like giants, and Jiang Wen had to raise his head to look up at them. The gap was too big, and Jiang Wen didn't want to be a small child pulling a big cart.
If they were placed in the ancient times of his world, I'm afraid this thousand alone would be enough to sweep the entire world.
Jiang Wenji said goodbye to the clan leader, and then led the team towards the destination. The warriors of the Tuoba clan led the giant beasts behind them, each with a happy smile on their faces.
"If the death worm appears again, will the tribe lack warriors?" Jiang Wen looked at the warriors of the tribe. Although the Tuoba clan was a tribe of ten thousand people, taking away a thousand people would weaken their defense force to some extent. Thinking of the death worm, he felt a little worried.
"Don't worry, that death worm should have been lost and strayed into the tribe," Jiang Wenji said. "If the death worm was nearby, then they would have already found the tribe. It's just because the death worm needs to constantly eat, they will search for food in all directions as much as possible."
Before Jiang Wenji could finish speaking, they heard a roar in the distance. The warriors of the Tuoba clan formed a defensive formation to deal with the approaching crisis.
