Chapter 1122: Burial Ground

"Fine, then I'll listen to you. Let's just take it slow these next few days. I reckon the Jiang Surname Tribe isn't having an easy time of it either; they haven't suffered any fewer dead and wounded soldiers than we have."

"Xiong, our wars are just like this; it's unavoidable that many people will die. We can't be like your Huaxia, having so many bombs to use. I don't know what your Huaxia was like before, but perhaps for you, it's hard to accept so many soldiers dying, but to us, it's normal."

"Also, that medic of yours, I remember his name is Hu, right? You tell him that after we return, I will thank him. Thank him for saving so many of our soldiers. I, Xuanyuan, will certainly give him a sufficiently large reward."

Xiong nodded slightly: "Fine, I will tell him. But this is the meaning of our alliance. I think if you had military doctors, you would also not distinguish which tribe a person belongs to and would do your utmost to treat them."

Xuanyuan said without hesitation: "That goes without saying. However, our Xuanyuan Tribe doesn't have that many medics right now, so we can only rely on your Huaxia. How your Huaxia rewards him is not for me to say, but I will certainly give him a generous reward. Saving our soldiers is what he deserves."

"Alright. But Xuanyuan, let's prepare to bury the dead soldiers now. See how your soldiers want to handle it. The soldiers here on my side mostly want to be cremated and have their ashes brought back to Huaxia; only a portion want to be buried here. What about yours?"

Xuanyuan had never considered this problem because they did not yet have the same views on life, death, and funeral rites as Huaxia. However, burial was necessary because he knew that one must bury people to avoid them being gnawed on by wild beasts and to prevent the outbreak of plagues; these were all things Huaxia had taught him.

"As for our soldiers, just bury them all; there's no need to bring them back to the Xuanyuan Tribe."

Xiong nodded: "Fine. Since that's the case, let's find an open space and start digging graves to bury our soldiers. We also need to find a place and gather wood to burn our soldiers' corpses. We can't let them go home alive, but we must let their bodies go back."

Xiong's words made Xuanyuan feel strange inside. He also had a peculiar feeling: should people really go back after they die? They are just bodies; what is the problem with leaving them in the wilderness? There shouldn't be any problem at all.

In the end, some soldiers remained on guard to observe the enemy's movements, while the others found a spot, took up iron shovels, and began digging graves. For the Huaxia graves, each soldier had an individual pit, while the Xuanyuan Tribe simply dug one large pit and then stacked the corpses inside.

Not many Huaxia people chose to be buried here, so they didn't dig many pits and it didn't take much effort. However, finding firewood and stacking it up for cremation took a great deal of effort. Huaxia even kept their undergarments, only removing their outer clothes to leave for their families; after all, these were assets, and burning them in the fire would be too wasteful.

The Xuanyuan Tribe was much simpler and cruder. At first, the Xuanyuan Tribe soldiers didn't understand why Huaxia was doing this, but watching the cumbersome steps of Huaxia and hearing the eulogies recited by their comrades made them feel a bit uneasy. Suddenly, they had a feeling that they, too, should go home after they died.

If one's soul wandered in such a wilderness after death, wouldn't it be a bit too miserable? The people of Huaxia looked so happy. It was just that the smell of burning corpses was truly not very good. In the end, one still had to search through the fire for ashes; whether the ashes were complete, or whether grass ash and mud were mixed in, was likely uncertain. Such a method was still not good; being able to be buried in one's own tribe was the best.

The Jiang Surname Tribe looked at the thick black smoke rising on the opposite side, feeling somewhat puzzled. But what they found even more puzzling was that loud explosion; no one knew what it was about at all, because those who had seen it were now already shattered.

After Jiang Ming and Jiang Cheng discussed it, they both believed that the other side had a very powerful Great Shaman; otherwise, how could they have such a powerful thing? The Shennong Clan previously had those who could summon wind and those who could summon rain, so it was entirely possible for the Xuanyuan Tribe to have someone who could summon Heavenly Thunder.

It was just that this thunder was truly a bit too terrifying. They didn't know how to respond for the time being, and no one even dared to go over and look at that large pit.

However, Jiang Ming and Jiang Cheng both believed that summoning such Heavenly Thunder must not be an easy task; otherwise, why not let the Heavenly Thunder strike them at the very beginning? They must have waited until their own tribesmen had suffered so many casualties before releasing just one.

Communicating with the gods was a very difficult thing. Just like Fengbo and Yushi, it didn't work every time. Many times they couldn't communicate with the gods and couldn't bring wind and rain, so this Great Shaman of the Xuanyuan Tribe must be the same.

Therefore, they must wait until after the Heavenly Thunder sounds before they launch a full-scale attack. It was impossible for that Great Shaman to be able to release Heavenly Thunder continuously and without stopping. If he were truly that powerful, then they would just stop fighting, return to Changyang Mountain, and let Shennong himself come to invite that Great Shaman to join the Shennong Clan.

The Shennong Clan had had Fengbo and Yushi, so having a Thunder Count or Thunder Duke join would be perfectly fine. The Shennong Clan would certainly give him the best treatment; after all, such a powerful Great Shaman seemed even more powerful than Fengbo and Yushi.

Moreover, now that Fengbo and Yushi had both fled the Shennong Clan, this made Shennong feel very angry. That these two tribes would leave was something they hadn't expected and was indeed hard to understand; after all, Shennong had treated them quite well.

Now they still had to pacify their frightened tribesmen, tell them what the situation was, and also tell them how to respond. That smoke of an unusual color rising on the opposite side was likely their Great Shaman communicating with the gods; fire was the main medium connecting humans and Heaven.