Bab 82: Resealing Ceremony (Part 1)
[Hmm. . . What is the background of these people? Not only their fighting style is new for me, each of these people is strong enough to fight the living dead. They are clearly stronger than the guard of the Xia family.]
The tribesmen retreated in discipline as they didn't let down their guard toward the living dead.
One by one, the tribesmen left the crack until no one was left behind. They are all took some distance from the crack, with the exception of the tribe's leader, Liao An.
[Hm? They didn't close the crack?] Mingyue wanted to ask, but the only person she knew was standing alone in front of the crack.
She felt something would begin after some time.
As Mingyue was in leisure mood above Xiao Wu, the tribesmen gathered around the crack. But they kept their distance as if they were circling Liao An and the crack at the same time.
Four elderly tribesmen came toward Liao An while holding a bowl and a few things Mingyue didn't understand.
[Blood??] Mingyue was a little baffled, but she kept her silence as she was waiting for the continuation.
[At least it is a normal animal's blood.]
"Tribe's leader, please." Said one of the elderly, while the other one brought the bowl closer.
The elderly tribesmen smeared the blood into Liao An's face. He was marked with some kind of unknown pattern to Mingyue. The elderly stopped when the marks had covered the whole body of Liao An.
"Zhuan Lei!"
". . . We have prepared, leader." Zhuan Lei answered as some tribesmen brought a few more things and everything was spread in front of Liao An. After that, all of them left Liao An alone as they joined the circle.
"We will begin the Resealing Ceremony now." Liao An lifted his right hand as all the tribesmen lifted their hand upward at the same time.
He lit a joss stick and stabbed it on the ground in front of him. His position was not far from the crack.
"Uumbaaaaaalaa. . ." Liao An grabbed a few things from the plate around him as he burnt them together. All the tribesmen followed the hymn that was sung by Liao An.
[Is this some kind of ritual?] Mingyue was a little puzzled by the scene in front of her.
All shook their hand while they swayed to the left slowly, then to the right, the cycle repeated many times.
The tribesmen made three or four rows, and everyone was doing the same thing.
As Mingyue was looking at the tribesmen, the earth shook a little as if something rose from under the earth.
The tribesmen kneeled down while touching the earth with their hands. They lowered their hands, and then they lifted upward.
But not long after that, the crack slowly became narrower and smaller as the time flies.
"Hye, Yueyue. What are they doing?" Xiao Wu suddenly asked as no one was paying any attention toward Mingyue or Xiao Wu.
"Closing the crack, but I don't know the detail of what they are doing. Maybe some kind of a ritual or prayer?"
After a long time sitting, Liao An suddenly kneeled and picked a short sword. The length was no longer than a standard knife, and the blade itself was very thin and rusty.
He burnt the short sword with the Elemental until it became a bright red. He thrust the short sword into the ground.
The silent forest suddenly trembled as a few roots were shooting out from the ground and all of them surrounded the crack.
[One, two, three,. . . . nine. Nine roots and each of them are circling the crack in the air.]
Mingyue was clearly surprised by the scene before her. Slowly but sure, the roots were spiralling around the crack as each of the roots was hugging each other.
As the roots were fused into one, a leaf was grown from one root. One into two, two into four, until the tips of the root was covered by a bunch of leaves.
Mingyue was amazed as the nine roots, in the end, became a tall tree. Even Xiao Jing and Xiao Wu were amazed by the view.
It was akin to an old tree, an ancient tree!
With the tall and strong body shielding the heaven and its roots pierced the earth, it was a majestic view!
". . . Eh, Miss Yue." Some voice jerked her as she returned to her sense.
She turned around to see Liao An was scratching the behind of his head while looking at her.
"The Resealing Ceremony has been finished. The crack in the air is no more, at least until the next years."
Liao An's body was freed of the smeared blood, there was no any trace of blood, even the smell had disappeared completely. Even though Mingyue was interested in the secret, she refrained herself.
Even though many tribesmen were curious of Mingyue's identity, they couldn't possibly leave their fellow injured tribesmen unattended.
"Resealing Ceremony?" Mingyue glanced a little toward Liao An.
"Ah, it is the tradition of our tribe, the Wind Chasing Tribe."
"Our tribe was originally a travelling tribe, hence our ancestor was known as Son of the Wind. But thanks to one event, an important event for the ancestor, they decided to stay in one place." Liao An explained his tribe's little history.
"And this is the reason?" Mingyue glanced at the majestic tree in front of her.
Nodding his head, Liao An continued, "Yes. Our ancestor met someone that was capable to seal the crack. No one knew about the man, but our ancestor explained that all of this Resealing Ceremony was left behind by that man."
Mingyue tried to interject the story. "So, this Resealing Ceremony was given by this mysterious man? Free?"
"The story is simple. The mysterious man was surprised when our ancestor wished to stay in this land to watch over this crack. Thus, our ancestor was given this Resealing Ceremony, the power of nature to balance the world."
"That was the only time our ancestor met that mysterious man. Using the mysterious man's explanation, we always protected this land and keep our watch on the crack."
"When there is a disbalance, it is the time for another Resealing Ceremony." Liao An explained.
It was the first time he explained his tribe's history to some foreign person. But knowing the little girl in front of him knew something about the crack, he wished to have some information exchange. For the sake of his tribe, for the future of the younger generation.
"Hmm? How many times this Resealing Ceremony is done?" Mingyue rubbed her chin as she thought of something.
"In the cycle of six years. Sometime it is sooner, but never more than six years. Thus, six years is the margin."
"And every time, did you always do that kind of stunt? Mingyue directed her gaze toward Liao An's eyes.
Liao An had a wry smile as he scratched the back of his head.
"No, it is the first time. The number of the being from the other side grew too fast. Fearing that they will be the danger for the next cycle, I was planning to kill some around the crack."
Mingyue rolled her eyes as she heard the answer.
[No wonder. If their job is only resealing the crack, that egg will not grow even after a few hundred years.]
[But thanks to this man's stunt, the egg's growth was accelerated.]
[Fortunately, I was there at the right time.] Mingyue scoffed at the troublemaker in front of her.
But unlike the annoyed Mingyue, Liao An looked as if he was hesitant.
He played with his finger, but his big and rough finger made it became a weird scene. He opened his mouth a few times, but no sound came out as he closed his mouth. And this had repeated a few times already.
"Hey, Yueyue, I think we should leave as soon as possible." A low voice resounded on Mingyue's mind. Who else other than Xiao Wu.
"Hm? Why?"
"I think this guy has a weird disorder!"
[He must be those disgusting man that love the little girl! Yueyue must not be tricked!] Xiao Wu's eyes were narrowed as she glared at Liao An.
Mingyue could feel the hostility from Xiao Wu. She herself didn't find any smell of danger, but she made the decision to trust Xiao Wu's instinct.
And at that time, Liao An made up his decision.
"Litt- Eh, Miss Yue, may I ask you to wait for some time? I need to take care of the wounded first. After that, we will return to our settlement."
"How about following us? Also, there are a few things I need to ask related to that world." Liao An's gaze was shot toward the ancient tree.
But Liao An didn't realize that as he finished his former sentences, there was a murderous glare from Xiao Wu.
Mingyue realized it since they were connected. She just patted her neck as the sign to remind Xiao Wu to hide her murderous glare.
"Let's leave the serious talk for later. Now you have to take care the people that were corroded before it is too- " Mingyue couldn't help but stop her sentences in midway as she saw something bizarre.
"WHY THE HECK DID YOU CHOP YOUR OWN HAND !!!" Mingyue screamed out all of her lung's content as the tribesmen around her was astonished.
...
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
FrostDream193
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