Free Web NovelChapter 635: Chapter 605 Tribal Conflict_1
No one interrupted the old lady’s narration, and after saying all that, she seemed tired and closed her eyes again. It wasn’t long before she continued to speak.
"The nomadic lands of the Boyegu were actually what is now the eastern side of the Qilian Mountains in Ganzhou City, of course, they would never draw near the oasis of Guyuan Town. Guyuan Town was what is now Ganzhou. It is said that after a fierce battle, Guyuan Town took advantage of the situation to dispatch troops and intervene, which led to the extermination of the Boyegu Tribe.
As for the cave you mentioned, I roughly know where it is. Even though the Boyegu Tribe was annihilated, I think this was merely the consequences for those who participated in the war at the time—the children, women, and slaves of the four great Boyegu families, as well as their cattle and sheep, were all plundered by the Eight Great Families.
Those children were treated no different than slaves, subjected to arbitrary beatings and executions. All this actually happened, not because the Eight Great Families were so powerful, but because the stationed forces of Guyuan Town at the time wanted the Eight Great Families to win, as for the reasons..."
The old lady stopped there, likely choosing her words carefully. Mr. Zhao had already begun to search; after all, the name Guyuan Town sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite remember at the moment.
Not sure of which exact characters were involved, Fang Dongsheng slapped his thigh and hurriedly leaned in, writing the characters of Guyuan Town and said in a low voice,
"Over four hundred years ago, factoring in this name, it should be referring to events of the Ming Dynasty. Back then, this place was a key military stronghold; it wasn’t all-soldier, but it wasn’t far off. If two sections of this tribe waged war here, the local highest official would definitely act quickly to quash it.
After all, any small disturbance might spark greater conflict, or even foreign enemies could take advantage of the situation to stage a major invasion, which might lead to the loss of the entire northwest defensive line."
Indeed, locals understand their own history.
Mr. Zhao had by now found the details. However, there were few descriptions about Guyuan Town online and even historical records were cursory, suggesting nothing major had happened there.
Instead, there were detailed accounts of several major construction expansions, overseen by the regional military governor and Military Preparedness Commissioner, who further fortified the town and installed watchtowers. Later on, even bastions and cannon towers were added. freēwēbnovel.com
Clearly, this marked a transition from the age of cold weapons toward remote defense with hot weapons.
Zhou Ning narrowed his eyes. Under the watch of such a significant military stronghold, when two groups of tribespeople fought over pastures, intervention was necessary. At that time, whoever listened and could be influenced by the court naturally received support, while the others faced extermination.
It seems that the Boyegu Tribe was extinguished because they had their own ideas, unwilling to be controlled by Guyuan Town or dominated by the Eight Great Families, and therefore they resisted fiercely.
If they were suddenly wiped out, it was indeed possible that this happened, but what about this sacrifice?
Zhou Ning looked toward the old lady, then raised his eyes to her grandson, An Jianhua.
"Ask the elderly lady whether any remnants of the Boyegu ever rebelled afterward, or say, during these past four hundred plus years, has anyone tried to revive the Boyegu Tribe?"
Before An Jianhua could speak, the old lady opened her eyes and stared into Zhou Ning’s eyes.
"I told you, after that war, the children, slaves, and women were all taken away. But before that, women were the head of the household. There was no role for a father in their homes, only uncles, aunts, and siblings. In the eyes of the Yugu People, grandmother and mother are the head of the family.
It was during this time that these women became slaves and were even sold like livestock. They were distributed among the people of the Eight Great Families. Who can say, within the blood of us descendants of the Eight Great Families, that there is no trace of the Boyegu bloodline?
So, this so-called extermination was nothing more than the swallowing up of the great families of that time. The Boyegu has always been present; perhaps we are all Boyegu. But how many people know about this cave, or even understand the history of that time, I do not know."
Zhou Ning stood up, bowed slightly to the old lady, then walked to the large screen and said to her,
"I understand what you mean. What you’ve just mentioned is about history and relics. Next, I want my colleague to talk about some findings on the scene.
After all, we believe these traces occurred about twenty years ago. Could it be that someone believes they are a descendant of the Boyegu and wants to use some kind of ritual, something akin to a summoning spell, to curse someone or something?
We hope you can take a look and also tell us if the Yugu People have any similar rituals, or whether there is a tradition of a high priest who has inherited these."
An Jianhua hurriedly translated, noticeably stammering and gesticulating with the old lady to get through the explanation.
The old lady now opened her eyes and looked at the large screen, where Zhou Ning was turning through images of eight cocoons, a stone dish with red leaves on the ground, mummies, and tall porcelain bowls. With each image, Zhou Ning would explain what it was and how it came to be, and An Jianhua was sweating from his forehead, not out of nervousness, but disgust.
In the end, An Jianhua could not hold it in and rushed out, presumably to vomit. The old lady remained composed but was no longer sitting cross-legged on the chair; instead, she had walked up to the large screen.
She waved her hand to the left, and Zhou Ning understood that she wanted to go back to previous images. He hurriedly scrolled back, and as the old lady continued gesturing, he flipped through many images until returning to the image of the tall porcelain bowl, where she paused.
Zhou Ning leaned closer to the screen and after a careful look, she realized she wasn’t fixated on the contents of the bowl, but rather the blood imprint from the dagger on the ground.
This discovery filled Zhou Ning with some excitement because they initially believed the artifact was a ritual vessel, certainly not something ordinary.
"Elder, do you recognize this dagger?"
The old lady nodded her head and pointed at the shape, then started to speak very excitedly. Finally, she placed her hands together, holding her prayer beads and muttering words that Zhou Ning couldn’t understand. However, she knew the dagger was definitely not something simple.
Fang Dongsheng grew anxious and hurried outside to find people. In a moment, An Jianhua was brought back, literally dragged in.
The young man was pale, with traces of moisture on his face.
Presumably having vomited and then washed his face, the discomfort had not yet passed. Mr. Zhao quickly stepped forward, pushing Fang Dongsheng’s hand away, and handed An Jianhua a tissue to wipe his face. Then he took out a mint from his pocket and slipped it into An Jianhua’s mouth.
"Buddy, don’t get ahead of yourself. Considering your lack of experience, you probably have never seen a scene like this before. We’re by the sea; we’ve seen all sorts of flotsam and bodies in various stages of decomposition. You’ll get used to it after seeing it a few times. I used to be even worse than you, but a mint really helps," Mr. Zhao said.
An Jianhua gratefully looked at Mr. Zhao. His comforting words truly struck a chord in his heart; the sickness was one thing, but feeling useless and doubting his career choice weighed heavily on him.
"Thank you."
"No need to mention it, catch your breath. Your grandmother just said quite a lot; once you’ve recovered, continue translating. Since there are few opportunities here to encounter such cases, it might actually be good to have a collaboration with Qindao, where we could send people in rotations to work on cases. On-the-job training is far more effective than any course. After you’ve seen a case or two, you’ll understand it all!"
Hearing this, An Jianhua’s spirit returned, as if his earlier discomfort had dissipated like smoke. After all, the spiciness of the mint in his mouth had numbed his senses somewhat.
"I think I feel a lot better now. I’ll do my best, and I hope Mr. Fang will give me a chance afterward. I’d like to do an internship at Qindao. It will improve my skills. Don’t worry about whether I’ll return or not, this is my home, and my people are here."
Fang Dongsheng’s face showed embarrassment; Zhao Xinli had spoken as if such an arrangement was already a done deal, when in fact nothing had been finalized. If such an opportunity did arise, he himself would want to be the first to go.
However, since the subject was broached, he couldn’t just dismiss Zhao Xinli. He responded:
"Do well and strive for the opportunity. When the time comes for the selection process, I’ll be the first to sign you up. However, whether you get chosen or not, that’s beyond my control."
An Jianhua smiled, his eyes clear and shining with the vibrancy of youth.
"Alright, I better get back to the task at hand and help my grandmother with the translation," he said.
With that, he approached the old lady, who began whispering to him at length, about three to four times longer than what she had gestured to Zhou Ning. It seemed like she was explaining something to An Jianhua. After a few questions from him and further elaboration by the old lady, he nodded and walked over to Mr. Zhao with a sheet of paper, then returned to the old lady’s side.
Together, they discussed and drew, and soon enough, the shape of the dagger appeared on the paper. Although the drawing was rough, Zhou Ning understood what was attempted to be conveyed: it was a dagger inlaid with numerous jewels. freewēbnoveℓ.com
On the guard of the dagger, there was a cross shape, quite different from the current guard. After the drawing was completed, An Jianhua said:
"When my grandmother saw this mark, it reminded her of about sixty years ago when she was young. She and my grandfather had attended a ceremony at the chieftain’s house. The high priest brought out a dagger, said to be an ancestral relic, representing the sacred blade of the Huihe bloodline.
The handle of the sacred blade was encrusted with gems of seven different colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. At the junction of the hilt and the blade were a golden cross. During that ritual, cattle and sheep were sacrificed, using this sacred blade. A bowl was used to catch the blood of each sacrificial animal, which all went into a basin.
In the end, the sacred blade was placed inside; then the high priest began to chant, and we all followed in kneeling worship. After a long time, the high priest approached the basin and lifted the sacred blade out, which was completely drenched in blood, absorbed fully.
Then, representatives from the other families stepped forward to cut their palms with the bloodstained sacred blade. They then placed the blade on their robes, leaving a mark, which they took back to worship as a sacred object – after all, this was a blessing from Yao Hu’er."
Zhou Ning roughly understood; the dagger was a treasure preserved by the chieftain’s family, likely the only object from the time the Huihe split away, treasured by the entire tribe. But who or what was this Yao Hu’er?
Was it the deity known as Green Tara in their language of faith?
"What does Yao Hu’er mean?"
