Chapter 20

Shao Xuan spent every day in the stone room, learning the last few patterns on the right stone wall and studying the paintings on the wall, thinking they might be useful in the future. Since he had nothing else to do, he might as well use his time wisely.

The days of winter passed, much more peacefully than expected. This year, the children in the cave had stored fish, along with the food and firewood distributed by the tribe, and the herbs that Ge had prepared for Shao Xuan for the winter. There were no unexpected incidents.

A few days ago, one of the younger children caught a cold and had a fever. Shao Xuan boiled the herbs given by Ge and made the child drink them. In a couple of days, the child's condition stabilized. As long as they could get through this period, they would be fine. If their constitution was too weak, even the herbs would be useless, and they would end up like the original body of Shao Xuan, fading away. Fortunately, before winter, the children in the cave had been active and had better food, so their physical condition was somewhat stronger, and the incidence of illness was not as high as in previous winters.

Inside the stone room, Shao Xuan had placed a fur mat on the ground. Sometimes, when he studied the murals too late, he would sleep right there. He drew patterns on the ground with his fingers. After finishing one, he sighed. Winter had already passed two-thirds of its duration, and there were about twenty to thirty days left. Getting through this period would make life much easier. Staying in the cave every day made him feel like he was going to mold and rust, feeling listless and spiritless.

Just as he was thinking, Caesar, who was lying beside him, perked up his ears and looked outside the stone room.

Then Shao Xuan heard Ge's voice.

Today wasn't the day they had agreed to deliver food, so had he been thinking too much and gotten confused?

With doubts, Shao Xuan walked out of the stone room to see what was happening.

"Uncle Ge, what are you doing here?" Shao Xuan looked at the triangular marks he had drawn on the stone wall to keep track of time. Since Ge came every three days, Shao Xuan used triangles instead of the character "正" (zhèng) to mark the days. The last triangle was still missing one stroke, meaning Ge should come tomorrow.

Ge shook the snow off his clothes by the fire and took out a piece of animal skin. "I'm here to gather people. Those over eleven years old, as listed here, are to be called over."

Shao Xuan took the animal skin and looked at it. There were seven names, including Stutter and Butcher. The two seemed to have an idea and their eyes lit up, looking at Shao Xuan expectantly.

The names on the animal skin matched what Shao Xuan knew. He called the people over, even waking up the two who were still sleeping. When the ones who were woken up saw Ge and the children already standing beside him, they stopped rubbing their eyes and quickly packed their things, grinning and hopping over to Ge.

Ge paused to look at the fish-tooth necklaces hanging around the seven children's necks, then scanned the name tags they wore, verifying each one. He was responsible for delivering food and had an impression of the children in the cave, but he couldn't be careless this time and had to double-check.

"Yes, these seven."

Putting away the animal skin, Ge threw a leather cloak to each of the seven children and said, "Put them on, and follow me later... Moer, you too."

Moer would turn eleven after winter, so he was ten now.

Hearing Ge's words, Moer put on his clothes and slung his knife over his shoulder. Unlike the other children, who were either excited or envious, Moer walked over calmly, as if he had expected this.

"Alright, Shao Xuan, you can go back to sleep. I'll take these people and return with the food tomorrow." Ge lifted the grass curtain and left with the children.

Shao Xuan opened a small gap in the thick grass curtain. The cold wind stung his eyes, blurring his vision, but he could still see the thick layer of snow outside and the path Ge had cleared. The snow on both sides of the path was higher than the children walking on it, and they were shivering from the cold but still followed Ge closely, their steps determined and eager.

After putting down the grass curtain, Shao Xuan returned to the cave. The remaining children in the cave were no longer sleepy and stared at the fire, lost in thought.

Shao Xuan knew why.

After winter, there would be the Snow Festival and the sacrificial ceremony. The most important part of the ceremony was the annual totem awakening. Those who could awaken their totem power would become totem warriors, while those who couldn't would have to wait another year.

In the tribe, children around ten years old were usually sent to the mountain for pre-selection before the end of winter. The shaman would keep those with a higher chance of awakening, while the others would be sent back. However, the children in the cave were generally weaker, so they were delayed by a year. In other places, children were sent to the mountain at ten, but in the cave, it was at eleven. Moer was an exception, as he wasn't a pure cave dweller and, due to frequent training, his constitution was much better than the others.

The children who followed Ge must have been restless, hoping to be kept by the shaman. If the shaman kept them, there was a ninety percent chance they would awaken their totem power this time. Even if the remaining ten percent didn't awaken this time, they would definitely succeed next year.

Shao Xuan was only nine and would turn ten after winter, so it was still early for him. After Ge left, he instructed the children in the cave to come to him if anything happened and then returned to the stone room to continue studying the murals.

Four days later, when Ge delivered the food, he brought back four children with very low spirits, including Butcher and Stutter. The two oldest, who were thirteen, were not there. It made sense, as they would turn fourteen after winter, and not awakening by then would be unusual.

The former "Cave Master" Ku was also thirteen and knew people living on the mountain. He had probably spent the winter training and preparing. Many warriors believed that the stronger one's body was before awakening, the stronger their totem power would be after. Staying on the mountain for the winter allowed Ku to eat better and learn from totem warriors, which was much better than staying in the cave. This was why Ku didn't stay in the cave for the winter and went up the mountain early.

"Don't be discouraged. It's just a matter of time. You might become a totem warrior next year." Ge comforted the four dejected children and left after dropping off the food.

"I really envy those who were kept by the shaman and can receive his guidance." One of the children Ge brought back said.

"Yeah, what did the shaman say to you?" The other children gathered around, asking.

"The shaman..."

The four children, who had been hanging their heads, suddenly looked up at a forty-five-degree angle, their eyes filled with admiration and reverence.

Shao Xuan smirked.

Guidance? More like brainwashing.

That old fraud.

Shao Xuan only cursed in his heart and didn't say it out loud. The four children had been thoroughly brainwashed by the old fraud in just a few days.

After this little incident, the cave returned to its usual calm. Although Butcher and Stutter were still depressed, life had to go on.

One night, Shao Xuan was half-asleep when he dreamed of two crescent moons, melting snow and ice, and fire... until he heard some shouting, which grew louder and louder, waking him up.

The voices weren't from the cave but from outside.

The older children woke up and listened carefully. They immediately looked delighted. "Winter must be over!"

Shao Xuan yawned and wrapped himself in a fur blanket. It was still night, and the fire in the cave had long gone out, so he couldn't see anything, only hearing the children's chatter.

Shao Xuan, with Caesar, made his way to the cave entrance.

Lifting the thick layers of grass curtains, the shouting outside became clearer, filled with excitement and joy.

Braving the cold wind, Shao Xuan looked up at the night sky.

The snow had stopped, and the two moons, which had been absent for a long time, reappeared. Although they were just thin, blurry crescents, they added a bit of life to the dark night sky.

With the end of winter, the Snow Festival and the sacrificial ceremony were on the agenda.

How many people would become totem warriors this year? This was what many in the tribe were thinking as they excitedly shouted.

People stood outside their houses, braving the cold, looking up at the night sky. As they stopped shouting and discussed the upcoming Snow Festival, they suddenly heard a child's shout from the cave.

"The moon is out, and we're so happy... hurray, hurray!"