Chapter 2009: Chapter 1469: Nava Jurchen, Bald Yi in Ceremonial Robes!

The half-collapsed Yongning Temple, like a crouching tiger, opened its black and red mouth, devouring those who entered, leaving only silence.

For four whole days, Maha Agudah did not see Zuwaro, nor did he see the tribe’s Priest Kui Huo. By the fifth day, he could no longer bear it and personally carried a hammer, stepping into that mysterious and strange land of the Shaman to see what the "Shaman of the Forest" was up to.

"Ancestor! What are you doing? You neither manage your fleet’s Samurai nor clear off our tribe’s Priest... There are so many more mouths to feed in the tribe now. How will food be distributed, and what are the arrangements? Do you expect me, the chieftain who fights wars, to handle this?..."

Maha Agudah, imposing and furious, raised his voice as soon as he stepped into the temple. Ever since Priest Kui Huo arrived, he had felt tremendously at ease. With a "logistics officer" who could manage food and calculate consumption, he no longer needed to mull over those confounding numbers. Even deciding how much wood to chop, how much fire to burn, and how to get through winter by conserving fuel—Priest Kui Huo would plan it all, and the tribespeople just needed to execute the plans.

One could say that as the population of the tribes increased and calculations became more complex, Maha Agudah couldn’t do without the priest of the Chief Divine. It wasn’t due to faith but the convenience the priest brought. He even hoped for another priest to arrive to take on tasks like constructing camps and expanding millet fields, while he focused solely on hunting and fighting!...

"Um! Ancestor? What are you doing?..."

"Hush!..."

Priest Kui Huo made a gesture for silence and pointed to a seat nearby, instantly causing Maha Agudah to lower his voice. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"What is that?..."

At the back of the temple, under the emblem of the Chief Divine, a pot of Sacred Fire burned, the smoke scented with pine and a hint of mushrooms. On the altar beside it, a bloody heart was offered, possibly animal, possibly not.

In the center of the emblem, flames, and altar, Zuwaro, clad in a feathered ceremonial dress, sat cross-legged, swaying and chanting scripture. The eerie, snake-like tone was chilling. Beside Zuwaro, the elderly Chief of Harman, Ali, had donned a robe of a priest apprentice, bald-headed and with his right hand pressed firmly over his heart, reciting devoutly.

"The Chief Divine opens blood eyes and gazes upon the soul’s offerer... It needs blood, it needs vitality! Taking the red life to the red Divine Kingdom... Offering it... Divine Kingdom... Defiers... Abyss... the pain of the soul with icy blades... endless cold darkness!"

Maha Agudah widened his eyes, watching the two devoutly recite the scripture. Gradually, a look of disbelief appeared on his face, not due to the devout Zuwaro, but because...

"Kui! He?... Is he?..."

"Hush! The Chief Divine bears witness. Ali has converted to the Chief Divine, becoming an apprentice of the Temple. He’s studying the Book of Ama Colley now."

"Just a few days? He converted already?!..."

"Yes. Ali is an incredibly devout apprentice. He has offered his soul to the Chief Divine..."

"!..."

Maha Agudah took a breath of cold air, scrutinizing Chieftain Ali’s chanting face, circling around, hoping to discern any guise of a fox. However, like a tiger examining a porcupine, he found no flaw, only wholehearted devotion—far more devout than he, the converted chieftain!

"Hiss!..."

At this moment, the robust body of Maha Agudah shrank, his scalp tingling, goosebumps emerging on his neck. Four days ago, this captured Shushu Jurchen chieftain struggled intensely, extolling "ancestors above" and "Holy Emperor above." Now, in just four days, he seemed to have transformed into this "devout priest apprentice"? It’s fantastical! What sort of evil method did Zuwaro use?...

"Alright. Ali, pray once more, and the morning lesson is done. Then continue to draw the map with me."

"Yes! May the Chief Divine with blood eyes protect us!..."

The chieftain apprentice, Ali, opened his eyes and nodded gently. He glanced mildly at Maha Agudah, resting his gaze on the hummingbird emblem on the latter’s forehead for one breath, and nodded again. He then closed his eyes again, continuing to chant, with his right hand ever pressed on his heart, not letting go for a moment.

"Agudah, you are here?"

Zuwaro’s expression was profound, his gaze deep. He looked at Maha Agudah and spoke with a smile.

"You came at the right time! Ali and I have drawn a map of the northern land, mainly marking the situations along the Great River. Although we haven’t completed it, the situation around Nurgan is already clear. We can look at it together; it will be very helpful for future actions!"

"A map of the Great River, marking various situations? Such a good thing exists?!... Wait! Hold on!..."

Hearing this, Maha Agudah was first delighted, then suddenly realized something and interrupted.

"Ancestor! This newly captured southern chieftain... is now an apprentice of the Chief Divine?"

"Yes. Ali is a devout apprentice, very reliable. This map depicts the geography, rivers, and tribes he described, which I drew, and then we marked it together..."

"Wait! Don’t talk about the map for now!... Just a few days, and this chieftain converted to the Chief Divine? Can we trust the information he provides?!..."

"Yes. Ali has converted to the Chief Divine, and he is very trustworthy."

"How did he convert?..."

"Ali, he..."

Zuwaro pursed his lips and glanced at Ali, who was sitting cross-legged and reciting scripture intently beside him. He pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Ancestor, Ali is different from you. He is old."

"...?"

"He is afraid."

"Afraid?..."

"Exactly! The fear of death. Death is like an invisible long snake, coiled around us. Aguda, you cannot see this snake, but Ali can. Not only can he see it, but he can also hear the snake’s hissing and breathing. Only the powerful Chief Divine can soothe him, bringing him inner peace..."

"?..."

Zuwaro smiled faintly, looking at the somewhat confused Maha Agudah without further explanation. A young chieftain like Maha Agudah, who was extraordinarily brave and fearless, found it hard to develop true piety. Because he trusted himself too much and would not place his hopes on the Divine Spirits. He could not understand the fear of death, the awe of the mysterious, and the reliance on the soul after death experienced by an aging chief.

Through the Shaman’s "spirit communication" ritual and the "illusion" of the Divine Smoke, one can unlock the few defenses in the other’s heart and attain a truly devout believer! The value of this believer, who is knowledgeable about southern intelligence, is worth the great effort to "enlighten" his mind!...

"Ancestor, Ali does not believe in the Good God of the South. In this cold forest sea, the Good God is weak and powerless. Deep down, he has never believed in the ’civilization and morality’ of the Southern Great Ming, nor in the so-called ’human ethics’. But he fears the power of the Southern Great Ming, fears the marauding Ming Army, he deeply fears the ’Great Chief Emperor’. His inner confusion and fear, his insecurity and despair about death, all urgently need a powerful Evil God to guide and lead his soul!..."

At this moment, Zuwaro’s eyes turned white, his voice low, like a truly wise and spiritually attuned Shaman of the Forest. In enlightening Ali, he keenly observed that these southern Jurchen tribes needed a spiritual reliance far more than the wild men migrating south from the north!

"Chief Divine bears witness! The Great Emperor of the South, with the ’will of the Good God’ and the ’slaughter of armies,’ ruled these tribes for six generations, teaching them awe and fear, teaching them to think... However, this cannot change the ever-worsening situation of the tribes; it only makes them more resentful. The Great Emperor’s armies have left, abandoned them, no longer offering any protection. Countless wild men have moved south, bringing endless slaughter..."

"The climate is growing ever colder, all tribes endure hunger, devouring each other. The ’Good God faith’ imposed by the Great Emperor offers no solutions. Even the lands planted under ’guidance’ have started failing. The extortion and taxation by the Great Emperor’s armies bear no relation to the so-called ’Good God’..."

"Thus, the power of the Good God has vanished from this forest sea. All the chieftains are in panic, Ali as well. He desperately needs a powerful Evil God to guide his soul and lead his tribe... and that Chief Divine is the powerful Evil God! The Chief Divine has long foreseen everything, understanding how to deal with the Era Apocalypse!"

"Ah? The end of the Era? How to deal with it?..."

"Indeed! I used to think that the end of the Era only existed in the slaughter of the highland and the divine disaster of the Northern Continent... But now it appears that this cold Northern Land of the East Sea Continent is also in an Era of Apocalypse, beginning even earlier than the former two!..."

Zuwaro’s expression was somber, revealing no clear emotion. However, he was certain that the Chief Divine, who revered combat and blood sacrifice, had an unusually strong alignment with the tribes of this cold Northern Land!

This alignment, from life and environment to spirit, far surpassed any he had seen among the "Korean Tribespeople" or "Japan Tribespeople." One might say the Chief Divine’s doctrine, especially the unreformed blood-soaked traditions, offered this land of low productivity and harsh wilderness a chance to rebuild order! Even if the backdrop of this order was blood and death, a human-induced reduction of population, achieving a new consensus and solace in human hearts!...

"Chief Divine bears witness! To confront the icy divine disaster apocalypse, only slaughter and sacrifice can restore the former order! All the blood and vitality of the dead, through the divine power of the Chief Divine, can bring back warmth and harvest for the tribes! And the souls of warriors who died in the Divine War can go to the red Divine Kingdom, achieving eternal beauty!..."

"Slaughter and sacrifice?! Warmth and harvest?!..."

Hearing such promises, Maha Agudah paused, showing a clear change in expression. He stood silently for a moment, feeling the stir in his heart. After a while, he fixed his gaze on Apprentice Ali, speaking in a low voice.

"Ancestor... Shaman... he has converted to the Chief Divine, why does he have no emblem of the Chief Divine on his forehead?"

At this, Zuwaro chuckled and was about to speak when Chieftain Ali finished reciting the scriptures and suddenly opened his eyes.

"The blood-eyed Chief Divine is the most powerful Evil God! Ancestor Shaman performed a ’spirit communication’ ritual for me, allowing me to see the ’Blood God’ amidst the ethereal Divine Smoke, indeed, full of unprecedented blood and power!..."

Chieftain Ali looked devoutly, taking a deep breath and looking at the burning brazier. It was there that his symbolic soul’s braid was cut and thrown into the fire, turning into the blue smoke ascending to the Divine Kingdom.

"Chief Divine bears witness! I sacrificed my blood and braid! And the Chief Divine opened his blood eyes, taking my soul from its perch on top of my head... From now on, I no longer belong to myself; I belong to Him..."

"Praise the blood! Ancestor Shaman also left me with the deepest emblem, ready to guide me to death at any time! This eternal emblem is on my body, at the edge of my death, in my most unforgettable place! Whenever I pray, just pressing my heart and feeling that pain, I can sense Him!..."

As he spoke, Chieftain Ali finally released his right hand, tearing open his long robe to reveal his left chest, where a peculiar, bloodline-red hummingbird emblem, showcasing highly skilled engraving techniques, was prominently etched on his heart. At that moment, it beat in rhythm with his heart, as if flapping its wings!