Chapter 407

Chapter 330: Spirit Sacrifice

After observing for several days, the old shaman found that this mysterious spirit he believed existed within Kapak’s body seemed harmless. Apart from giving Kapak medical knowledge and helping him resist the poison of knowledge, the only abnormal behavior was that it helped increase his spirituality. In the old shaman’s view, this strange spirit seemed indifferent to the tribe, merely providing help to Kapak for reasons unknown.

Although the old shaman couldn’t see that spirit, he still helped Kapak complete his ascension ceremony. After all, having one more apprentice in the tribe was always beneficial. He also wanted Kapak to enhance his perception of spirits through the ascension, thus better understanding the spirit within himself. However, even as a medium, Kapak couldn’t see the truth of the spirit inside him. He said he wasn’t possessed at all.

Despite many doubts and concerns, the old shaman still taught Kapak as if he were his own disciple. Kapak continued his journey on the path of the shaman, and today was the first time he participated in a spirit sacrifice since becoming a medium.

“By the way, Brother Kapak, I heard you are not just a shaman apprentice but also skilled in medicine, curing many tribespeople, and gaining high prestige. I remember after Chief Uta didn’t designate a new leader following the conflict with the white-skinned people, I don’t think anyone else would be more suitable than you.”

As they walked through the forest, Banu continued questioning Kapak, who responded with a bitter smile and shook his head.

“Don’t mention the chief’s position; it’s been troubling me for a long time.”

Kapak replied, as his growing prestige in the tribe had offended the original hunting leader, Sadu, who had once been a likely candidate for the chief position. Now, due to this matter, conflicts between Kapak and Sadu and his subordinates kept arising, causing Kapak great distress. He didn’t want to be an enemy of Sadu; he simply wanted to do his best to help the tribe.

“I’ve told both Uta and Sadu that I don’t want to be the chief, but Sadu thinks I’m lying and doesn’t believe me. Uta didn’t mediate or directly point out Sadu; instead, he let things be… Now, Sadu’s hostility towards me has grown increasingly intense… Sigh…”

Kapak sighed, and Banu, listening to his words, paused slightly before saying with a peculiar expression,

“No matter what, your tribe lacks only a chief; there’s still a shaman present. As for ours…”

During their conversation, they continued walking until they finally reached their destination, an open clearing in the forest.

In this clearing, under a large tree, there was a small stone altar made of rocks covered with fallen leaves. Seeing the altar, Kapak and Banu exchanged glances, then approached it to clean it. They then began placing some items they had brought with them.

Upon closer inspection, these items included strange flowers and fruits, along with some bone fragments, which were either human or animal bones, inscribed with intricate symbols.

After setting up the altar, Kapak and Banu sat down facing it, bowed their heads, closed their eyes, and began chanting incantations together.

The combined voices of Kapak and Banu echoed across the clearing and deep into the forest. After about half a minute of chanting, unusual phenomena appeared around them.

From the shadows between the trees, clusters of deep blue soul flames flickered into existence, hovering above the clearing. Under the guidance of mediums, the spirits of the forest were gathering.

Before Kapak and Banu, a tall, semi-transparent spirit body emerged from the large tree and floated above the simple stone altar.

This was the spirit of a wild buffalo, a majestic, muscular, sharp-horned creature with mysterious patterns, its body translucent. It slowly approached the plain stone altar, looking silently at the two shaman apprentices bowing their heads.

Feeling the presence of the wild buffalo spirit, Kapak and Banu opened their eyes. With the ability of a medium, this was the first time Kapak had clearly seen the form of the wilderness spirit. Suppressing his excitement and emotion, he leaned down beside Banu and spoke in the language of spiritual seals.

“Great Lord Black Hoof, please accept this offering…”

Kapak and Banu spoke like this, and the wild buffalo spirit known as Black Hoof began lowering its head, seemingly absorbing something from the offerings on the stone altar. The fruits and flowers lost their color and luster after being absorbed, while the bone fragments emitted a faint glow.

The offerings the spirits needed were, in a sense, souls, specifically the remnants of souls.

In the shamanism widely practiced in the tribes of the New World, it was commonly believed that souls returned to the Great Soul after d*ath. To ensure the soul could return smoothly without being attacked by evil spirits, shamans performed funeral ceremonies for tribal members after d*ath. During the ceremony, the bodies were cremated, and the souls would return through smoke, while the bodies turned into skeletons.

According to the shamanistic theory of souls in the New World, a soul born from the Great Soul entered the world as a newborn. At this stage, the soul and body were equally weak and fragile. As the body grew, the soul also grew through continuous learning and receiving information. By the time of d*ath, the soul would become larger and more complex than when it was born.

However, according to shamanistic beliefs, the spirit returning to the Great Soul would only be the pure part at birth, with the impurities acquired later needing to be removed during the cremation ceremony. The remaining soul ashes would be stored in the bones after cremation, while the most essential part of the soul would return to the Great Soul in a pure and unadulterated state.

Wilderness spirits and essences enjoyed feasting on these soul ashes, so practitioners of the shamanic path would offer these ashes to them. The bone fragments on the stone altar were precisely those of deceased tribal members, processed and offered as funeral fees. Shamans would request a few pieces of the richest soul ashes from the family of the deceased, which would then be offered to the wilderness spirits and essences.

Before Kapak and Banu, the wilderness spirit called Black Hoof was enjoying the offerings presented by the shaman apprentices. Kapak, while respectfully bowing, also curiously observed the wilderness spirit in front of him.

But he didn’t know that at that moment, among the spirits floating above the clearing, there was a very peculiar existence. This spirit occasionally revealed a semi-transparent human figure wearing a suit, clearly not belonging to the indigenous people. The spirit, wearing a gentleman’s hat, floated in the air, disguising itself as a local spirit and silently watching the scene below.

Not far from the clearing, on a small hill, gathered a group of men with white skin, dressed in “civilized” attire. Leading them was a man cloaked in dark robes, wearing a hood, gazing toward the direction of the altar. On his white gloves, there was a symbol, and on a coffin, another symbol of a closed eye.