After a century of worship, I became the ancestor of the tribe.

Chapter 29 Ah-Can, why don't you become the clan leader? (Please continue reading)
The Blazing Flame Tribe was bustling with activity. The meat, food, medicinal herbs, animal hides, and other resources brought back by the Volcano group attracted the attention of the tribespeople.

But in Shen Can's view, every time the volcano returned with something, it meant that the area outside the tribe was completely desolate, proving that Zhiyan had become the only thing in this nearby wilderness.

Oh, no, that's not right either. Perhaps there are still a few scattered survivors who managed to live through the plague.

While transporting supplies, the volcano also took the opportunity to scout out signs of the plague.

The possessing plague worms were gone, and the winged plague worms were gone too; it was as if they had vanished all at once.

Just like the clan records, the plague insects would disappear without a trace at some point, as if they had been taken away by someone.

Of course, Shen Can speculated that it was also possible that the plague insects had gone far away, and the people of the small tribe were unable to explore further distances, so they subconsciously felt that the plague insects had disappeared all of a sudden.

He stood outside the ancestral temple cave and looked down, but instead of joining the crowd, he turned and walked into the cave next to it.

Compared to the supplies brought back from the volcano, the animal hide scrolls collected from various tribes were what he really wanted.

This cave, which is next to the Ancestral Temple Cave, has been converted into a library cave.

The cave was filled with a strong scent of witchcraft. Although the plague had passed, these animal skin scrolls were still fumigated with burning witchcraft when they were moved to the tribe.

The same applies to supplies brought back from the volcano.

Inside the cave, Huo Xian looked at the animal hide scrolls displayed on the shelf, his eyes never fading with joy.

"Cough cough..."

"Master, you should rest for a while."

Hearing the cough, Shen Can urged Huo Xian to leave again, but Huo Xian didn't respond. He grabbed a roll of animal hide, tucked it under his arm, and went back.

The number of animal hide scrolls inside the cave exceeds three thousand, and the number is still increasing as more people leave the volcano.

The books collected by these tribes can be broadly divided into several categories: prescriptions and medical experience, maps, legends and stories, steps for making weapons and armor, planting and cultivation, and herbal catalogs.

While there seem to be many categories, the actual content is quite limited.

The descriptions are often unclear, confusing, and disjointed.

So-called "experienced advice" can be described differently for the same event, making it hard to believe.

However, it is still evident that although each tribe is primitive, they are all striving to survive and want to record things to pass on to future generations as experience.

"The Marquis offered sacrifices at the Yangtze River at Mangshan, throwing a jade tablet into the floodwaters, and thousands of slaves were sacrificed to him..."

Shen Can held a bare, hairless animal hide scroll in his hand. Although much of the writing on it was already blurred, it had been preserved thanks to the sturdiness of the animal hide.

Unfortunately, there is only such a small portion of animal hide.

I remember when I first entered the ancestral temple, my master said that the human race used to worship heaven and earth and calamity beasts, which was a long time ago.

After all, the worship of heaven and earth had changed to the worship of ancestors, and this process took quite a while.

The animal hide scroll is made of second-tier animal hide, which is most likely not from the era of sacrificial rites to heaven and earth. It should be a record made by later generations, but it should be quite old.

"Is 'Mang' a place name, and 'Hou' meaning 'marquis' or 'king'?"

Shen Can pondered for a moment, then placed the animal hide scroll on the wooden shelf and began to look at the remaining animal hide scrolls.

He was looking for something related to witchcraft.

These legendary things are only good for amusement now.

While examining these animal hides, Shen Can also organized the contents and categorized them.

After the plague subsided, he devoted most of his energy to this.

……

Within the tribe, the supplies brought back from the volcano are being stored in the warehouse.

High up in the southeast corner of the clan city, Huotang, who had been fast asleep for several days, opened his eyes but did not get up. He simply turned sideways and looked down at the scene inside the clan.

His eyes were still somewhat bloodshot, and his face did not show any joy despite the passing of the plague and the harvest his people had made.

The fact that he was able to lead his tribe to survive the plague is an achievement no less than that of his ancestors who founded the tribe.

That's enough to make one proud.

But Huotang showed no sign of smugness.

He stared blankly at the tribe until nightfall.

Huotang suddenly got up and walked into the ancestral temple.

Inside the ancestral temple.

Shen Can leaned close to the lamplight, with a dozen or so rolls of animal hides piled up in front of him, and was still searching for what he wanted among these scattered hides.

Until the enormous shadow of the fire tower blocked the light.

"Ah Can, why don't you become the clan leader?"

Huo Tang's words startled Shen Can so much that he almost slapped the animal skin scroll in his hand onto Huo Tang's face.

Huo Xian, who was standing to the side, was also startled. He didn't think anything of it and had no objection to letting A Can become the clan leader.

Shen Can looked at the fire cauldron, which was bright red and covered in blood vessels, and saw that it looked very serious. He was somewhat puzzled.

The plague has passed, and the tribe is recovering—this should be a cause for celebration. What kind of hysteria is this?

The plague has just passed, could this be another disaster?

Here we go again. Can't we just have a couple of days of peace?

It's impossible to be the clan leader. It's too tiring. Wouldn't it be better to stay in the background and be the ancestor?

Seeing Huo Tang staring at him, Shen Can thought for a moment and said, "Clan leader, I really have no intention of replacing you. Please don't test me."

As it turns out, Shen Can was overthinking things. His experience from his previous life was completely useless here. Huo Tang really wanted him to become the clan leader.

"Ah Chan, I really feel old."

Seeing Huotang plop down opposite him, Shen Can finally realized that the clan leader was getting stuck on a rut.

It's said that you only get stuck in a rut after experiencing setbacks, but this doesn't seem right with Huotang.

The tribe survived the floods and plagues unscathed and is now gathering resources from nearby tribes, showing clear signs of prosperity.

He should be full of confidence at this time, so why does Huotang look so depressed?

After some conversation, Shen Can understood why Huo Tang was acting this way.

Huotang felt that he was not capable of leading his people. If it weren't for the improved witch medicine and witch talismans, Zhiyan would probably have perished in this plague.

As the clan leader, he didn't actually play much of a role.

In addition, Huotang also felt that his vision was lacking. For example, when the plague-possessed insects went to other tribes, he immediately sent his tribesmen to pick up the scraps, which was a bit short-sighted.

If the volcano crew sent out at that time had been in any danger, most of the tribe's fighting force would have perished, causing a major blow to the tribe.

Huotang was terrified when he thought about it afterward.

"Chieftain, we're not like the Lingyu tribe, where we live for today and don't know tomorrow. Of course we should take advantage of any benefits that are right in front of us."

This isn't shortsightedness; it's pragmatism. Only after we've weathered the calamity can we speak of long-term vision.

Shen Can comforted Huotang.

Despite the fact that the Fire Temple is a celestial vein, this is the first time in the tribe's 300-year history that it has encountered such a severe plague.

Who could have imagined that more than a month after the floods, the plague, which seemed to have dispersed, would return with another major attack?

It was perfectly normal for Huotang to send people out to gather resources back then; if Shen Can were in his shoes, he would have done the same.

If you have an opportunity, why not seize it first? Are you going to wait until everyone else reacts and tries to grab it?
Who isn't a god who can foresee that the seemingly dispersed plague worms will turn back and launch a counterattack, causing the plague to spread throughout the mountains and fields, making people afraid to go out.

In the face of natural disasters, everyone is just a player being manipulated.

No matter how far-sighted you are, you still have to passively accept the situation.

"Chieftain, think about it, if you hadn't arranged for people to bring back the shamanic medicines from several tribes, how would we have stopped the plague insects from invading us for the next month or so, and how would we have treated our people?"

The arrangements during the plague were somewhat chaotic, but they were also a lucky accident.

They boiled and burned bundles of witchcraft medicine every day; if they hadn't relocated to other tribes, they wouldn't have been able to survive.

Looking back now, if it weren't for Huotang's arrangements, the tribe wouldn't have had more than 500 women now, at least not enough to settle down the old bachelors in the tribe.

Now, according to the volcano's reconnaissance mission, the area around the tribe is almost deserted.

Hearing Shen Can's words of comfort, Huo Tang's expression finally relaxed a lot.

Seeing that Huo Tang hadn't given up on the idea of ​​making him the clan leader, Shen Can felt he needed to find something for Huo Tang to do.

As more and more resources are brought back from the various extinct tribes, we can't just store them all; we need to use the meat we have.

He had previously said that he wanted everyone to eat meat to their heart's content, and he had even discussed it with Huotang.

At the time, he didn't expect the plague to spread so severely. He was still thinking of cultivating while waiting for his clan to evacuate other tribes that were afflicted by the plague-infested insects.

However, the entire tribe was subsequently afflicted by a plague, and naturally, they had little to eat.

Now that the plague has subsided, it is time to improve the overall martial arts level of the clan under the existing conditions.

He also wanted to pass on the superior Kui Niu Fist.

"Chief, look at how much meat we have in the tribe. I'm thinking, why don't we select some members to be freed from the tedious tasks of hunting and gathering, and focus on improving their martial arts for a period of time?"

The profits from the previous mid-grade Kui Niu Fist and neutralizing witch medicine have been exhausted, and he plans to continue using them.

Shen Can's solution was intensive training.

Of course, this term doesn't exist in the Great Wilderness; what he described to Huotang was concentrated martial arts training.

"As for who to choose, the chief knows the tribe best, and he needs to come up with a specific list."

　I've been working on the detailed outline these past few days, and I've been reading everyone's comments and such.

　　Some readers have asked why the author didn't deduce the use of insecticides. The main reason is that the author never considered insecticides from the beginning.

　　As he gets older, his brain capacity is limited, and sometimes he really can't remember plot designs. His perspective on things is also more one-sided, and even if he tries his best to think, sometimes he still can't come up with anything.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)