Chapter 373: Beast Gods and Sacrifice

"Dear guests, the banquet is ready. Wuhe Chief invites you to come over."

In the residence prepared by the Mang tribe for Wu Mu and others, a slave with a shaved head and a green totem carved on his head walked in.

Wu Mu nodded and said, "I understand. Lead the way."

Following the slave, Wu Mu passed through the buildings in Mang City, holding a template, writing and drawing with charcoal, and asking the slave questions from time to time.

Although Wu Mu has only been in the Central Plains Tribe for a month, he has gained a lot.

For example, the slave in front of us represents another form of slavery.

Although their bloodlines have also degenerated, making their strength weak, the Mang tribe specially trains these slaves from a young age to serve the leader and warriors of the Mang tribe. The blue totem tattoos on their heads indicate which warrior family they are the private property of, which is completely different from the totem bestowed by Zhou Tieyi, which can directly grant power and symbolize honor.

Apart from the differences in slaves, the gods worshipped by the Central Plains tribes were the same as those of the Yanhuang tribes, mostly ancestor gods, gods born from generations of fire pit sacrifices.

This also leads to the fact that even though the warriors of these tribes are the followers of gods, their bodies will not show animal characteristics. On the contrary, the Zhulong tribe, a tribe that believes in a natural god, will be naturally excluded from the plains tribe if their warriors show animal alienation symbols. This is also the reason why the Zhulong tribe lives in seclusion.

The Zhu Cage Po Tribe is considered good, because the main body of the Zhu Cage Po Tribe is "human", although the god they believe in is a "natural god".

From the communication with the Pu tribe, Wu Mu also learned that further north, there were the "Beast Gods". Those gods chose to transform their tribesmen into followers, and the main body of their believers were "beasts" rather than "humans".

Therefore, the beast gods and the tribal gods are like water and fire. Especially when winter comes and food is scarce, the beast gods often attack the plains tribes. This is one of the reasons why the Mang tribe unites the surrounding tribes.

These were questions Wu Mu had never heard of before. He couldn't help but sigh that his tribe was cramped in the Xishan Mountains and was too well protected and had been away from civilization for too long.

While Wu Mu was writing and drawing, recording what he saw and heard, he was brought to a huge circular building.

This is the Colosseum.

When he came to the Mang tribe, he heard about it from the people of the Pu tribe. At the same time, the Colosseum was also a building to please the gods.

So when entertaining distinguished guests, they should be brought to the Colosseum first?

Wu Mu looked slightly confused.

Stepping onto the stone platform, Wu Mu saw several people wearing gorgeous animal skins sitting in the center. On both sides of them were people from the Pu tribe whom Wu Mu knew, as well as some guests from other tribes. Clusters of torches were lit around them, and the bright moonlight was enough to hold a dinner party.

"Friends from afar, in the name of the gods we believe in, please pay respect to our gods."

In the center, a very tall warrior radiating strength stood up and raised the cup in his hand. The cup was a strange head, similar to a human, but with protruding facial bones like a wolf. It was very huge, even for a warrior nearly ten feet tall.

Wu Mu looked at the witch who was obviously older and shorter next to the warrior. He thought that when receiving foreign guests, the tribe should have a leader, and the witch was a person who specialized in serving the gods.

This kind of system did not exist in the Yanhuang tribe in the past, because the Yanhuang tribe had few people, and the witch was the leader of the tribe, and the two were never separated.

He stepped forward, and the slave next to him knelt down and handed him a new small cup, also made of animal bones, but not as big as the one given by the leader of the Mang tribe.

Wu Mu looked at the "water" in the cup. It was a turbid "wine" with a pungent smell. The word "wine" was coined by Professor Zhou Tieyi in the tribe. However, since the wheat production was not enough at present, it was even more expensive than meat in the transactions of the Yanhuang tribe. Naturally, the tribe was reluctant to use it to make wine.

The leader of the Mang tribe picked up the wine in the cup and drank it in one gulp, then showed the empty cup to Wu Mu.

Wu Mu looked at the pungent "wine" in front of him. He thought for a moment and realized that since the other party was doing it in the name of worshipping God and now had an absolute advantage in strength, there was no need to poison the wine, so he drank it all.

When the wine entered his stomach, Wu Mu tasted the flavor of blood from the wine. Not only blood, the wine had other effects, just like the snake blood pills developed by the Yanhuang tribe. Wu Mu could clearly feel that his own power began to boil and rage, making his face slightly red.

Seeing Wu Mu finish drinking the wine, the leader of the Mang tribe laughed and said, "As expected, you are a witch from a powerful tribe. Let's start today's worship ceremony."

As soon as he finished speaking, huge animal drums were struck around him. The people sitting around him showed eager expressions, and a dozen slaves carried over strange weapons. Most of these weapons were made of animal bones, but in different shapes.

The leader of the Mang tribe stretched out his hand and said to Wu Mu, "Choose your weapon and gain glory for your god."

Wu Mu was stunned and before he could come to his senses, he looked at the people from the Pu tribe.

The man from the Pu tribe coughed and said, "Witch of the Yanhuang tribe, what you just drank was precious wine offered to the gods. In the ritual, you are now offering a sacrifice to your gods."

Wu Mu frowned and said, "My god did not convey the oracle for me to be a sacrifice."

His answer made the tribesmen sitting around him laugh slightly. The people from the Pu tribe explained, "You misunderstood me. The sacrifices to please the gods don't necessarily have to be human lives. In our plains tribe, we can also please our gods by winning the battle."

Many people from the tribe had a mocking look on their faces, because they knew that the savage crocodile god of the Zhupolong tribe loved to enjoy blood and even devoured the warriors of his own tribe. And the news they heard was that the Yanhuang tribe was a more remote and savage tribe, so they directly equated the two.

In the plains tribes, the gods here are more "civilized". Apart from enjoying prisoners of war and slaves as blood food, the ancestral gods rarely use the descendants of their own tribe as blood food.

The leader of the Mang tribe smiled and took out a ferocious bone whip from the side and said, "Of course, you can also choose not to sacrifice to your gods." After that, he jumped more than ten feet and jumped into the huge arena in the center. The sound of his landing was even louder than the sound of war drums around him.

Wu Mu frowned and looked around. Although other tribesmen had teasing expressions on their faces, they were not frightened or angry, which showed that this was normal behavior and he just accidentally fell into the trap.

Does it mean that every tribe that comes to pay tribute to the Mang tribe needs to fight with the leader of the Mang tribe once?
There is no need for that.

Just as he was thinking, changes occurred in the center of the Colosseum. Invisible divine power expanded and formed a portal, through which the howling of wild beasts could be heard.

Wu Mu also reacted. It turned out that the leader of the Mang tribe died to set an example for him. No wonder the people from other tribes around him had teasing expressions but were not frightened or angry.

After thinking it through, he looked towards the center of the field again. In the center of the portal that had been formed, after the howling of a wild beast, a giant wolf as tall as a man appeared.

The giant wolf had gray-black fur, with numerous weapon wounds on its bald spots. Its eyes showed not only madness and bloodthirstiness, but also cunning and viciousness.

Wu Mu immediately realized that these were the followers of the beast gods, the "slaves" imprisoned by the Mang tribe, but these slaves were always different from human slaves. They were difficult to tame, and when their bloodlines degenerated, their wisdom and strength would also degenerate, so they could only be used as sacrifices.

One of the biggest threats to the human plains tribes is the beast gods and their followers, so the leader of the Mang tribe said that this was a ritual of sacrifice to the gods, but at the same time this ritual also had the support of the people of the tribe.

The leader of the Mang tribe tilted his head and paced slowly, circling around the wolf beast that came out of the gate. On the other hand, even though the wolf beast was taller and heavier than the leader of the Mang tribe, its intelligence made it know who it was facing. It bared its teeth, but its erect ears were pressed tightly against its scalp, showing its fear and tension.

The wolf beast's tall, upright body crouched down slightly, with its claws folded.

Next to Wu Mu, at the banquet table, guests from other tribes couldn't help but laugh, "He is indeed worthy of being the leader of the powerful Mang tribe. Even the most ferocious wolf beasts are as obedient as tamed hounds in front of him."

Just as he finished speaking, a voice interrupted, "Wolves and dogs are different. Only when the wolf's god dies and their bloodline degenerates completely, can we tame them. Otherwise, they will always want to tear our throats with their claws, even if they are full."

The guest who was interrupted was originally unhappy, but when he looked at the source of the voice, he saw that the speaker was a witch from the Mang tribe. He immediately said respectfully, "You are right."

Just as everyone was talking on the stage, the leader of the Mang tribe casually went around to the left side of the wolf beast. Suddenly, the wolf beast stood up, but it did not rush towards the leader of the Mang tribe, but towards the audience on the stands on its right.

The muscles hidden under its hair were strong and powerful, like a huge shadow, which could cover a distance of more than ten feet in just one leap. Along with it came a gust of icy wind, which for a moment made the bright moonlight seem to be blocked.

But before it could fully leap up, an icy bone whip came through the air, piercing through the frost and wind. When the whip was about to hit the wolf, the sharp bone spurs on it popped out like a knife, easily tearing the wolf's tough fur. A powerful force came from the hands of the leader of the Mang tribe, and with a pull, he dragged the wolf, which was flying nearly ten feet in the air, backwards.

Bang.

The wolf beast was thrown heavily in front of the leader of the Mang tribe. The madness and fear in the wolf beast's heart completely took over. It no longer cared how powerful the leader of the Mang tribe was. Its outstretched claws shone coldly under the moonlight. A layer of terrifying shadow emerged behind him, but before the shadow could completely solidify, a ray of light leaped from the light gate, interrupting the condensation of the shadow.

The leader of the Mang tribe stretched out his left hand, and was the first to arrive, firmly grasping the wolf's falling front paw. A chill gathered on the front paw, but before it reached him, it was melted by a scorching force. In the face of this scorching force, the surrounding air was slightly distorted.

Then the leader of the Mang tribe did not continue to tease the wolf beast. He clenched his front paws and exerted force, directly twisting the wolf beast's front paws off. Amid the wolf beast's wailing, the leader of the Mang tribe swung the whip in his right hand, and the whole wolf beast was thrown into the air. The whip wrapped in bone spurs tightened, like a giant python entwining the wolf beast. The wolf beast wailed and struggled wildly in mid-air, but only more steaming blood gushed out of its body, eventually completely infecting the entire bone whip. The next moment, the whole wolf beast was eaten by the bone whip in mid-air and broke into seven pieces.

The leader of the Mang tribe retracted the bone whip, and the whip sections retracted nimbly. He then saluted respectfully to Guangmen, "Praise you, the ancestor of the Mang tribe."

The blood on the ground seemed to have a soul and gathered into the light gate, proving that the sacrifice of the leader of the Mang tribe was successful.

He jumped back onto the banquet table and looked at Wu Mu, "It's your turn now. Of course, you can also give up this sacrifice."

Wu Mu looked at the expressions of the people around him and realized that if he gave up, the Yanhuang tribe would be humiliated and would never be able to hold their heads up again among the plains tribes.

He looked at the pieces of corpse in the center of the venue. Although it was easy for the leader of the Mang tribe to kill the wolf beast, according to the knowledge taught by God, the wolf beast that appeared should be of middle grade, able to call upon the ancestral Qi of heaven and earth. It was fundamentally different from himself who relied on totems and Shinto talismans and was only of the seventh grade. Of course, he had the power bestowed by God and a chance of winning.

Wu Mu thought for a moment and instructed his companions, "If my sacrifice fails, you still have to take the slaves back with you. You also have to take the wooden planks I left behind with you and give them to the gods."

Beside him, Yan Xing, the leader of the slave warriors, suddenly stood up and said to the people at the banquet, "We want to change someone to be sacrificed. I will be the sacrificer."

Naturally, someone at the banquet was dissatisfied and said, "He has already drunk the sacrificial wine!"

Yan Xing sneered, "Will your tribe sacrifice its own witch? He will suffer the same fate!"

He pointed at the witch of the Mang tribe without any hesitation.

Many tribesmen paused for a moment. Indeed, the witch was the most valuable asset of the tribe. If it weren't for the plot of the people of the Mang tribe, who would be willing to let the witch go down to fight?
Wu Mu, who was beside Yan Xing, stretched out his palm and held Yan Xing's arm, with a serious expression, "This is not their business. I am a witch of the Yanhuang tribe. I drank without understanding the ritual and made a rash mistake. So I can't let the gods down. The gods are always watching me."

After hearing what Wu Mu said, people from the surrounding tribes looked solemn and nodded slightly. This witch from the Yanhuang tribe was indeed worthy of praise.

The leader of the Mang tribe, who had just been provoked by Yan Xing and was about to take over the Yanhuang tribe, interrupted with a sneer, "Your god is watching you, so let Him continue to protect you."

All tribesmen who have gods know that gods can only protect their followers within their territory.

(End of this chapter)