Chapter 1205: Winter at the Great Wild Marsh (Part 2)

However, Chiyou was still unwilling; although he had many children, Bingzhu was the one in whom he placed high hopes, as were his two excellent daughters.

Furthermore, with so many Soldiers, it was impossible for them to have died without a trace. The Jiuli had already traveled the road to the Xuanyuan Tribe many, many times; it was impossible for there to be danger on the road.

The same went for the Xuanyuan Tribe; if they still wanted the Crocodile Skin and Ironware of the Jiuli, it was impossible for them to take action and attack the people of the Jiuli.

Besides, according to the descriptions of Fengbo and Yushi, Xuanyuan himself was not even at the Xuanyuan Tribe, so how could anyone make such a major decision? If they had attacked the Soldiers of the Jiuli, that would mean they had declared war on the Jiuli.

The Leader Kaiyang said thoughtfully: "Leader, think about it, what if the Xuanyuan Tribe had problems of their own? Now that Xuanyuan, their Tribal Chief, is away, what if someone within their tribe wanted to replace Xuanyuan, then completely rebel within their own tribe, and at the same time wanted to go to war with us, so they killed our people? Is that possible?"

Chiyou stared at his group of brothers below and asked: "Brothers, if one day I were to leave the Jiuli and go to another tribe, would you think about replacing my position and ruling the Jiuli?"

The group of Leaders shook their heads hurriedly: "No, no, Leader, we would not! The Jiuli must be managed and ruled by you!"

"Right, I believe what you all say is true, and you yourselves know and are clear about what you are thinking.

Then think about it, since I, Chiyou, can manage to leave the Jiuli and you are still able to wait for my return instead of replacing me, then why couldn't the Xuanyuan Tribe do the same?

I have also met this man Xuanyuan; he is quite good, and I feel that in their Xuanyuan Tribe, there shouldn't be anyone who wants to replace Xuanyuan.

Even if there were such a person who wanted to do it, could they succeed without the support of enough Soldiers?

Not only would they have to kill their own Soldiers, but they would also have to kill our Soldiers; just how many Soldiers would that require? I think it is unlikely.

Therefore, I still believe that Bingzhu and the others must have encountered something on the road, which is why they were delayed; it is definitely not because of the Xuanyuan Tribe."

Afterward, Chiyou pointed his hand: "Fengbo, are you not a Great Shaman who can divine? Then divine for me, ask the Heaven gods, and see whether my son Bingzhu and those Soldiers of mine are dead or alive!"

Everyone looked toward Fengbo. Fengbo felt no pressure at all; as a Great Shaman who had inherited such traditions, he was always quite confident. He might not be confident in his own martial strength, and he might not trust the Shennong Clan, leading him to flee to the Jiuli, but he was very confident in his ability to channel spirits and communicate with the Heaven gods. He had already successfully summoned great winds many times, and every sacrifice had gone very smoothly.

Divination was also his specialty; there had never been a Great Shaman who could not divine. Fengbo naturally could, so he accepted this, his first task since arriving at the Jiuli.

And right then and there, he immediately began preparing for the divination.

"Leader, prepare a large Tortoise Shell for me, prepare one Rhino Horn, and prepare a handful of Yarrow."

Chiyou waved his hand, and people immediately went to prepare. Such things were the most commonly used for divination and were also essential to prepare; the Jiuli had plenty of them.

Soon the items were ready. In the brightly lit cave, Fengbo found a campfire spot he deemed most suitable, then muttered words under his breath.

"... Heaven gods, Heaven gods, I wish to ask about the life or death of Bingzhu of the Jiuli and his Soldiers. If they are not dead, please grant me the highest sign of great fortune..."

The chanting ended, and under the gaze of everyone, Fengbo threw the Tortoise Shell into the fire, then asked for a Small Knife to scrape powder from the Rhino Horn, which he threw into the fire along with the Yarrow.

Soon, a very peculiar scent permeated the entire cave. Fengbo said this was his most special method of communicating with ghosts and gods; the Yarrow itself could receive the answers of the Heaven gods, and the most important thing was the Rhino Horn. The smoke produced after burning it with fire could allow the ghosts and gods to hear his questions, and at the same time allow them to record the answer onto the Tortoise Shell.

Following a few crackling sounds, the scent gradually dissipated. Fengbo picked the Tortoise Shell out of the fire, then rinsed it with cold water, and the cracks became even more obvious.

By the firelight, he interpreted the contents on the Tortoise Shell bit by bit. Amidst the expectant gazes of everyone, Fengbo smiled and said to Chiyou: "Leader! Bingzhu and those Soldiers are not dead!

The Heaven gods have spoken; when the Snow finishes falling and the sun rises again, that is when they will return."

Everyone was greatly overjoyed; this was wonderful news, and not a single person questioned Fengbo's divination. Such things could not be questioned.

Daye and the others had even more complicated feelings; was it better for them to return, or not to return?

Of course, there was also a young man who was very happy, and that was Shi, a serious suitor of Ayuduo. Originally, in this era, the relationship of chasing and being chased did not exist at all; many times, you could even take someone by force without issue.

But the problem lay in the fact that Ayuduo's status was rather special; just anyone would not do. Besides, ever since Ayuduo learned Gu, she had become a bit dangerous, and many men did not dare to approach her.

Ayuduo would not talk about marrying for love, because primitive people did not have love; it was just that Ayuduo wanted to find a man she could look upon with favor, but she had never encountered one in the Jiuli, so she had always been by herself.

There were many men like Shi who wanted to take Ayuduo back to be their woman, but unfortunately, none had succeeded. Shi was the most famous one in the entire Jiuli, but unfortunately, Ayuduo always felt he was too thin and just did not like him.

Those men, when sleeping with their own women, were all thinking of Ayuduo. Shi, having learned that his father had already spoken to Leader Chiyou, was even happier, thinking that this time when Ayuduo returned, as long as he could eat until he was fat, Ayuduo would definitely be his; his wish was finally about to be realized.

He listened to his father's instructions and began to increase his food intake every day, and he himself felt his appetite was even better. His already good appetite was still increasing, and he was eating meat every day.

But truly, he was eating more, and that occasional piercing pain in his stomach had actually disappeared. It seemed that the illness of that pain was just because he was too thin; eating more was good. Those Shaman fathers had not found the cause and did not know why his stomach hurt.

Even that Da Mi Re Lou wanted to use Gu on him, but Shi was afraid of those strange bugs, so he would not do it. It was impossible; he would die before he would ever eat those strange bugs into his stomach.