Huo Xian felt that he was getting a little old, but surely he had not yet reached the point of senility.
He understood what Huo Shan meant.
The witchcraft talisman A-Can had drawn had killed the strange bird.
A-Can had drawn the talisman right before his eyes from beginning to end, and then... he just knew how!
A-Can had followed him for so long. To be honest, he did have some talent in witch doctoring.
Huo Xian rifled through the experiences and memories of several decades, and in the end, he felt that aside from the ancestors manifesting their blessings, there seemed to be no other explanation for what stood before him.
"It was all thanks to Master's excellent teaching."
Seeing the cave fall silent, Shen Can spoke.
"Ah... ah, yes, yes. A-Can has talent in the witchcraft path. He actually found traces of witchcraft within the Clan Record Beast Hide I gave him."
Huo Xian recovered from his shock.
It was not that he truly wanted to claim credit, but the Blazing Flame Tribe had been passed down for three hundred years, and even its witch doctor heritage was incomplete, let alone its Witchcraft Heritage.
Therefore, they had to create a Witchcraft Heritage.
They absolutely could not say that Shen Can had suddenly had a flash of inspiration and simply learned it. That would never do.
It was not to silence their own tribespeople, but to silence outsiders.
Hearing Huo Xian say this, Huo Tang finally relaxed.
"A-Can, I want Huo Shan to visit the other tribes. Do you have any more witchcraft talismans that can save his life?"
That strange bird controlling the plague worms today had truly frightened him.
In that situation, so many plague worms had rushed at him. If they had broken through the restrictions of the witch medicine's scent and bitten him a few times, even as a Celestial Meridian Realm warrior, he feared he would not have been able to endure it.
Now, he finally knew how the Fu Shan Tribe had perished.
Moreover, what had seemed like simple burning was actually only possible because the tribe's witch medicine had been improved, leaving the plague worms dizzy and disoriented so they would not bite the tribespeople.
That was also the key to exterminating so many plague worms.
Shen Can took four witchcraft talismans from his robes and handed them to Huo Shan.
"Be careful when you are out there. Do not expose these things before outsiders, and make sure the others keep their mouths shut as well."
Huo Tang warned Huo Shan once again.
"I understand."
Huo Shan hurried away.
Huo Tang and Huo Xian both turned their eyes toward Shen Can.
"Master, you know me. Maybe I really am a genius."
Shen Can thought about it and could not even be bothered to make up an excuse.
"The Shanghuang Tribe must be guarded against," Huo Tang said.
"When the Shanghuang Tribe makes trouble, Elder Clan Uncle..."
"Then give them a volume of witchcraft. These witchcraft talismans were developed through this old man's decades of research. What threat could an old man with one foot in the grave possibly pose?"
Shen Can also approved of the remedy Huo Tang and Huo Xian had discussed.
One should be prepared for danger in times of peace. There was nothing wrong with making preparations in advance.
Especially when it was for his sake. He could still tell good intentions from bad.
Of course, Shen Can felt that there would not be much of a problem in the short term.
The Possessing Plague Worms that had emerged from the Fu Shan Tribe had split into several groups.
The Fu Shan Tribe had about as many tribespeople as his own tribe. Only three hundred had come here, which meant that more than fifteen hundred Possessing Plague Worms were still wandering outside.
Previously, Shen Can had suspected that the possessed humans retained intelligence, allowing them to find the Blazing Flame Tribe.
Now, it seemed more likely that it had been because of that strange bird. Since the possessed humans had split into several groups, each group should have had such a strange bird among them.
Since they moved in search of human tribes, the Shanghuang Tribe was not immune to the plague. Why would the plague worms not come knocking at their door?
Shanghuang was much stronger than Blazing Flame, but surely they did not also have improved witch medicine formulas and witchcraft talismans?
At a time when everyone was suffering from plague worm infection, who had the time to pay attention to the Blazing Flame Tribe?
Huo Tang had thought of this as well.
The area around Blazing Flame was currently shrouded by the plague. The Shanghuang Tribe would have to weigh whether they still dared to come.
For now, he was merely getting their stories straight, lest something truly went wrong in the future and they revealed a flaw.
"Elder Clan Uncle, I plan to send people to the Fu Shan Tribe to move back anything useful."
"The things we bring back will be temporarily stored in a cave several li away. Once the plague has passed, we will decide whether to move them back according to the situation."
After speaking, Huo Tang looked at Shen Can again.
"A-Can, I'll leave the tribe to you."
This time, Huo Tang spoke with great solemnity.
In his eyes, Shen Can was no longer merely Huo Xian's disciple, but the true inheritor of the tribe's ancestral temple.
Right, and also its witch.
After making the arrangements, Huo Tang hurried away.
"A-Can, the burden of the ancestral temple's inheritance is truly being handed to you this time."
Huo Xian stood and rubbed his arm. "But you really have deceived your master and betrayed your ancestors.
If you had told me earlier that the talismans you drew in a flash of inspiration possessed such divine wonders, would I have rushed to the mountains beyond to inspect the plague worms?"
"Then again, I am old. I clearly saw that the witchcraft talismans you drew possessed divine wonders, yet I never thought of actual witchcraft. My old eyes are dim; it is time for me to step down."
Shen Can hurried over like a loyal lapdog to help Huo Xian rub his arm. "Master, the situation was urgent at the time. I didn't know whether the talismans I drew would work either. How about you hit me a few times?"
"I can't hit you anymore. You dared to tie up this old man even without being hit. If I did hit you, wouldn't you send me straight onto the divine altar?"
Huo Xian snorted as he walked out of the side cave. When he reached the entrance of the ancestral temple cave, the corners of his mouth, which he had been suppressing, suddenly curled into a smile.
"Ancestors, bless us. Master, you did not have the fortune of a disciple, but I have found a fine inheritor of my mantle."
Though the Possessing Plague Worms had been exterminated, the Blazing Flame Tribe did not settle down.
Just as Shen Can had expected, tribespeople began showing symptoms such as high fever the next day.
He directly selected several caves on the mountain and dug out pools several zhang wide inside them, pouring all the boiled medicinal decoction into the pools.
Within the caves, he carved out small side chambers, each only large enough for one tribesperson to sit cross-legged.
To keep the medicinal decoction in the pools from cooling, they gathered all the tribe's spare pots and cauldrons, continuously boiling the medicine in the pools while constantly pouring in freshly prepared decoction.
All infected tribespeople were arranged inside to receive a twofold treatment of witch medicine fumigation and medicinal decoction taken internally.
Huo Tang made great moves, sending people to the Fu Shan Tribe to move supplies and to other tribes to inspect the situation.
Clearly, he intended to pick up a huge bargain in the wake of the Possessing Plague Worms.
Three days later, when Shen Can emerged from the isolation and fumigation cave, he saw Huo Tang waiting for him.
"A-Can, the first group sent to the Fu Shan Tribe has returned. They brought back witch medicine, Beast Hide Scrolls, second-rank beast meat, and more. I'll leave the task of removing the Plague Aura from them to you."
"Alright."
Shen Can nodded in agreement.
"A-Can, remove it if you can. If you cannot, burn it all with one fire. The tribe will manage with these things, and it will manage just as well without them."
The things brought back from the Fu Shan Tribe were stored in a cave on a small mountain five li from the tribe.
When Shen Can arrived, A'Yu was following behind him.
Right, A'Yu had advanced to the Stone Splitter Realm.
A'Yu carried bamboo tubes of Beast Oil and medicinal decoction on his back, along with a quiver and wooden spear. He held a witch medicine torch in his hand and followed close behind Shen Can, step for step.
"A'Yu, you're standing too close to me."
"Brother Can, the chief said your body is weak and frail, so he told me to protect you."
Shen Can spread his hands helplessly. He had said many times that A'Yu did not need to stay so close.
But A'Yu was rather stubborn. It was the first task the chief had given him, and he treated it with utmost importance.
Originally, Huo Tang had intended to assign him a Mountain Opening Realm guard, but he had refused and chosen A'Yu instead.
"A... ances..."
"Uncle Mu, just address me as you did before."
Shen Can greeted Huo Mu, who was guarding the supplies.
"That won't do, that won't do."
Huo Mu waved his hands.
Previously, Huo Mu had viewed Shen Can as a junior of the tribe. Even though he followed Huo Xian in the ancestral temple, Huo Mu had still regarded himself as watching over a younger generation member.
But after the battle that exterminated the plague worms, once the witchcraft talismans appeared—
The mystery of a witch had instantly surpassed everything he knew.
This was also what many warriors in the tribe thought.
After entering the cave, Shen Can saw that it was crammed full of goods, especially witch medicine and beast meat.
Fu Shan and Blazing Flame were the same, like hamsters hoarding grain.
Unfortunately, their luck had been poor. The food remained, but the people were gone.
Moreover, many tribes like Fu Shan would likely appear next. Their food would remain uneaten, but their people would be gone.
"Uncle Mu, let's fumigate them with our witch medicine formula first. Be careful not to ignite anything."
As he spoke, Shen Can began selecting medicinal ingredients and lighting them in the cave.
For things contaminated by "plague miasma," all they needed to do was remove the "plague miasma" completely.
If they were still worried, then they could fumigate them several more times and leave them sitting for a while longer.
When he returned to the tribal grounds, a tribesperson stopped him.
"A-Can, the chief is looking for you."
Shen Can nodded.
Ever since the witchcraft talismans had appeared, his status within the tribe over the past few days had become comparable to that of an elder.
When Huo Tang sought him out, he no longer casually ordered him to do things, but discussed matters with him instead.
The tribespeople also regarded him with reverence and no longer treated him as a young junior.
When he arrived at the chief's cave, he found Huo Shan there as well.
"A-Can."
Huo Tang greeted him, then looked at Huo Shan. "Quick, tell A-Can about it."
"A-Can, it's like this. I went to the Ji Stone Tribe. Ji Stone has already been occupied by the Possessing Plague Worms.
However, the warriors of the Ji Stone Tribe should have held them off for a while, allowing some women, children, and elderly to escape."
At this point, Huo Shan winked and said, "A-Can, you're not getting any younger. There are also many tribesmen without wives. If we take in the women and children of the Ji Stone Tribe, it will just happen to solve this major problem."
"Uncle Shan has secretly picked them out for you already. There are several women with big hips, all of them have given birth before. Next year, they'll definitely let you hold a child of your own."
Before you continue