"It hurts so much?" Su Bai struggled to open his eyes. It felt as if his head had been hit by a hammer.
After resting for a while, he started to observe his surroundings. All he saw were brown fur pelts surrounding him. [This is a tent made of animal hide (Teepee)?].
Su Bai immediately sat up and lifted the tent flap to go outside. The moment he looked around, he froze in shock. Before him was an open area, surrounded by tall trees, with unknown plants covering the ground.
"No way⦠where am I?" Su Bai was a bit dazed as he frowned and tried to think carefully.
His eyes suddenly widened as he said in a trance, "I remember finishing a novel and deciding to go hiking to relax. Then, I accidentally fell off a cliffā¦"
"Hold on⦠am I at the bottom of the cliff?" Su Bai blinked, looked up and glanced around, but did not see any cliffs. Moreover, the nearest mountain was quite far away. He estimated it to be over ten kilometres away.
Looking down at his outfit, it was still the sportswear he had worn when leaving home. Only difference was it was now torn and tattered, like that of a beggar.
Carefully scanning his surroundings, Su Bai noticed signs of human activity and came to the conclusion, [This must be a camp. Itās just that thereās no one here at the momentā¦]
"Was I rescued by someone?" Su Bai relaxed a bit. [Well, as long as Iām not alone on some desolate mountain, itās fine.]
He walked around the camp, observing attentively. He saw a half-burnt bonfire. Judging from the layout, the tent he had been lying in was on the outskirts of the camp.
"No way. They just left an injured person on the edge of a camp like this?" Su Bai muttered, his expression growing more solemn.
Walking further deeper, after rounding a few trees, he discovered more traces of human activity. But this only made him feel uneasy.
"Whatās going on? There are bones everywhere and only Teepees?" Su Bai stood, blankly staring at the tents in front of him. He could see about thirty tents ahead.
He saw people, but their outfits were made of animal pelts or skirts woven from leaves.
"Are they Cannibals? Or just Primitives?" Su Bai exclaimed.
"Jiligualaā¦" "Lexingniā¦"
Hearing the sound Su Bai made, those people looked over and shouted something. But he couldnāt understand a thing. It was a tone he had never heard before, not Chinese or any other languages from countries like England, France or Germanyā¦
It also didnāt sound like any other Chinese dialect. The intonation was completely different.
"Just where am I?" Su Bai let out a powerless cry in his heart.
"Tap tap tapā¦"
A man came up to Su Bai, gesturing and talking.
"Zimimoshenjiaoqini, linaziblaiā¦"
"ā¦" Su Baiās pupils contracted. Only when the man approached did he realise how strange this man looked.
Black short hair, a square face, and dark yellowish skin. The man was around 1.8 metres tall. In terms of normality, these were relatively normal. The abnormal parts were the pair of fifteen centimetres long black horns on his forehead, the sharp fangs filling his open mouth, and his bright brown pupils.
[Wait⦠there shouldnāt be people like this on Earth, right?] Su Baiās expression changed slightly. He could tell the manās horns were not some kind of cosplay. [Hold on⦠could it be that Iām not on Earth anymore?] This thought frightened Su Bai. But if he considered it, then everything made sense! [The unintelligible language, the differences in speciesā¦]
"Wujianqunidaiwo." Seeing Su Bai in a daze, the horned man grabbed his arm and led him deep into the camp.
"ā¦" Su Bai didnāt resist. He calmed down and observed his surroundings. He noticed that the deeper they went, the taller the tents became, with more people and more bizarre Humanoids.
There were people with cat ears on their heads. Some had wings on their backs. Some had Snake tails connected to their bottomā¦
Of course, there were also Pure Humans like himself. It was just that they had different hair and eye colours: some green, some redā¦
[What kind of world have I been transported to!?] Su Bai inwardly cried out in distress, his mind spinning rapidly, trying to figure out a way to escape.
*Tap tap tapā¦* After walking for about two or three minutes, Su Bai was brought to a massive tent. The tent was surrounded by people of all ages ā old, middle-aged and young. Various sounds of clamoring came from inside.
"The Shaman canāt hold on for much longer. A few more days at most. We must find a new Shaman!"
"Everyone in the Tribe has already been tested! Not a single one has the talent to become a Shaman!"
"Then what should we do? If we lose our Shaman, our Tribe will be doomed! I donāt want to become a Wanderer."
"Isnāt there still one person left?"
"You mean that Wanderer we picked up three days ago?"
"Yes, him! Let him try! Heās the only one left who hasnāt been tested."
"Shaman, what do you think?"
"Bring him in."
"ā¦"
*Tap tap tapā¦*
Su Bai heard the tent quiet down. Then the tent flap was lifted and a man with a scar on his cheek, with nothing covering his bare upper body, walked out. He had a pair of thirty centimetres red bull horns on his head.
"Laigunai." The red-horned man waved at him and called out.
"You want me to go in?" Su Bai guessed based on the other partyās gestures. After a brief pause, he stepped forward into the massive tent.
The moment he entered, a sour stench assailed him. It was mixed with a strong smell of blood emanating from the few burly men inside. It nearly made him vomit.
There were six people total in the tent, including the red-horned man. Su Bai would make it seven. However, there was a particular person who attracted the most attention in this room. That was none other than the old man at the very back of the tent.
[This must be the one in charge.] Su Bai looked at the Elder, scrutinising his appearance.
The Elder had shoulder-length white hair, thick white eyebrows and a beard. Despite his age, the pair of black eyes he had was very spirited. They were not at all what eyes an ageing man should have.
"Jiguoshangqianā¦"
Su Bai was pushed and brought before the old man.
Su Bai felt nervous. He frowned as he looked at the Elder before him. At the slightest sign of trouble, he would take the old man hostage. He couldnāt possibly let these people use him as food.
"Hmmm?" The moment Su Baiās eyes met the old manās, his whole body became rigid. His mind was involuntarily drawn in by the old manās gaze.
The next second, he seemed to be in the midst of stars. He was in darkness, in absolute stillness. He saw a flame ignite in the void, a small speck of light slowly expanding until it filled his entire vision.
"Thereās something in the flames." Su Baiās eyes widened as he saw a figure in the fire. When he got a clear look, his heart suddenly skipped a few beats. It was a creature that resembled a Snake but wasnāt quite a Snake. It resembled a Dragon but wasnāt quite a Dragon.
"Humph!" A muffled snort.
Information suddenly transmitted directly into his mind. He soon abruptly woke up, as if it had all been a hallucination. Everything from a moment ago vanished without a trace.
He saw the old man before him again, only now the Elderās face was pale. His eyes were no longer bright with spirit. They seemed exhausted, as if much of his mental energy had been used up.
"Shaman, does he have the talent to become a Shaman?" The red-horned man immediately asked.
"Cough cough coughā¦" The old man coughed a few times, panting as he nodded.
"Wonderful, we will continue to have a Shaman!"
"The Totem and Ancestors have blessed us."
""
"Huh???" For some unknown reason, Su Bai suddenly understood what the people around him were saying.He also realised why they had called him over. [So, they want me to become the Tribeās Shaman?!]
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