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Chapter 80 Salt Tribe
The Yan, Youhu and Cave Lion tribes were the first people to settle here.

A long time ago, their ancestors migrated from the colder north and occupied the best three caves at the junction of the forest and the grassland.

Most of the stories have been forgotten in the long river of time, but there are still some things that have been passed down from generation to generation through word of mouth and in the form of murals, so that they will not forget where they came from.

It was still early in the day, and there was a raging fire in the cave. The children sat in a circle and listened intently to the priest Shanxi telling them the legendary stories of their ancestors.

When the ancestors migrated here, the climate here was warm and humid, with rich species. There were dense oak trees and fruit trees growing in the forest, and wild foxtail and bean plants were all over the grassland.

In warm weather, herds of cows and horses gallop freely on the grasslands, and in cold weather, herds of mammoths migrate from the cold north.

This is a paradise for hunters and hunters. It seems that there is food that can never be eaten. More importantly, this fertile land has never been occupied by the same kind, only some flat-headed aliens.

"What is a flat-headed alien?"

The children blinked their big curious eyes.

If Lin Yu answered this question, she could use no less than [-] words to discuss the differences between Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and Denisovans.

But Shanxi is like the children. He has never seen a foreigner and knows little about it. He can only repeat the words of the previous priest and explain vaguely: "A foreigner with a flat head is a person with a flat head. They Not like us."

"In short," he changed the subject very simply, not giving the children a chance to ask questions, "the ancestors drove away those aliens with their wisdom, and settled down here ever since."

The past priests would beautify the behavior of their ancestors when talking about this period. The real situation is that their ancestors killed the alien man and captured the alien woman. Since then, they have occupied their cave and become the only residents nearby.

In this way, this fertile land gradually attracted more people.

The land here is vast and abundant, allowing more tribes to develop together. The generous and benevolent ancestors accepted the latecomers and allowed them to go to relatively remote places and choose not-so-good caves to live in.

Shanxi said in a very serious tone: "You have to remember that although the people of other tribes are our kind, our ancestors are not the same. To be precise, our ancestors accepted their ancestors."

Seeing the children nodding vigorously, Shanxi showed a gentle smile, and continued, "Even the tiger tribe and the cave lion tribe, who come from the same place as us, are different from us. Do you know why?"

"I know!" the children rushed to answer, "We used to believe in different spirits!"

"That's right, this can be seen from the names of the tribes. The tiger tribe once believed in the spirit of the saber-toothed tiger, the cave lion tribe once believed in the spirit of the cave lion, and we... who remembers what our tribe once believed in?"

"The Spirit of the Cave Bear!"

"very good."

Shanxi cast approving glances at the children.

Before settling here, the Youyan tribe was not called the Youyan tribe, but the Cave Bear tribe. The ancestors believed in a giant beast called the Cave Bear, which was bigger than two brown bears!
The ancestors believed that as long as the cave lived in the cave, it would bring good luck to the tribe.

But that was a long time ago, and the ancestors have never seen cave bears since they migrated here.

Shanxi often thinks that maybe the giant beast named cave bear disappeared along with those flat-headed aliens. Over the long years, it was their disappearance that brought the ancestors a new life, just as After the snow disappears, it becomes salt like flowers and trees.

After the cave bear disappeared, the spirit of the cave bear no longer had supernatural powers. Later, a great ancestor discovered salt, so the tribe changed its name to the Salt Tribe, and believed in the snow spirit, the source of all things.

"My lord priest..."

A young man approached and called out respectfully to attract attention.

Shanxi clapped his hands lightly, and said to the children: "Okay, that's all for today's story, go back to your own fire."

The children played and chased each other away.

Beside the fire that belonged to the priest, only Shanxi and the young man remained.

"Black Bear, didn't you go hunting with the men?"

The man named Hei Xiong said: "The maple leaves have started to fall, and the speed of falling is very fast. Yun asked me to come back and tell you."

"So early……"

Shanxi frowned slightly. He remembered that the women had just given birth, and the maple leaves were still red at this time.

The black bear said, "It's been unnaturally cold recently. Many grass-eating beasts on the grassland have begun to migrate to the south. The women also said that the plants in the forest this year are not as abundant as before, and many grasses and trees don't even bear fruit!"

"Why didn't you tell me such an important matter earlier?" Shanxi said with reproach, "It's fine for others, but you are my apprentice, why are you keeping it from me?"

Shanxi is no longer young. He has already retired from the front line of hunting and gathering, focusing on sacrifices, salt making, and educating children.

The black bear is in the prime of life. In addition to participating in hunting, he also serves as an apprentice priest, learning from the mountain stream since he was a child.

The black bear said in a slightly casual tone: "It's not a big deal, there are still many wild animals on the grassland, and our food is still as abundant as before, but it's just another cold weather, and it's not like we haven't experienced it..."

"You think so?" Shan Xi was even more dissatisfied, "I taught you this before? As a priest of Xue Ling, isn't it the most important thing to care about the temperature?"

"But Yun said..."

"The cloud is the cloud, and you are you!" Shanxi interrupted, with a stern voice, "The cloud has Yun's responsibilities, and you have your responsibilities. Have you done your own thing well!"

The black bear fell silent, and lowered its head in shame like a child who has done something wrong.

Shan Xi sighed helplessly, thinking that the boy Hei Xiong is good everywhere, but he is too uninitiated, which is not what a priest should be.He was old and wanted to give up the position of priest to Hei Xiong, but every time he saw him like this, he couldn't abdicate with peace of mind.

"The maple leaves are falling, what should I do?"

"It's time to go to the valley camp to prepare."

The Salt, Tiger and Cave Lion tribes not only occupy the best caves, but also occupy the best location for hunting giant beasts - the River Valley Camp. Every winter, the tribal conference is held by the three tribes in turn. This year it is the turn of the Salt tribe. up.

"Since you know, why are you still standing there?"

"I'm going right now!"

"Come back! Bring more people. In addition, since this year is colder than before, other tribes must be short of food. You should bring back more prey these days. This is a good time to exchange supplies and population with them."

"understood."

The black bear responded, turned his head and walked away quickly.

(End of this chapter)