Chapter 5

For every witch villager, the initiation ceremony is one of the most important events in life, because only by successfully completing the initiation can one truly gain power and be officially recognized by the ancestral spirits, becoming a full member of the witch villagers.

Only then can one be acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao and recognized as a true member of this world.

Fang Luoya never expected that the initiation ceremony would be such a grand event for the entire tribe.

According to the witches, the tribe's annual initiation ceremony is always held on the sixth day of the sixth month, for some members of the tribe who have reached the age of fourteen;

But it is already August, and this year's initiation ceremony has already passed some time;

And as an outsider who was not born and raised in the tribe, if Fang Luoya wants to be officially recognized by the tribe, he must be initiated as soon as possible, otherwise, he will not be able to integrate smoothly into the tribe.

These past two days, Mu Yong has been leaving early in the morning and returning late at night, and every time he comes back, he looks exhausted, his face even paler than before, and Fang Luoya can even hear Mu Yong's increasingly frequent coughing at midnight, knowing that Mu Yong must be preparing some kind of offering for his initiation, which is why he is so hardworking.

For Mu Yong, a man of few words but who cares for him deeply, Fang Luoya feels a warm sensation slowly rising in his heart.

In recent years, only the old man has been so good to him, and since the old man passed away, he has not felt such closeness and warmth.

And now, the presence of Mu Yong and Yun Ling has made him feel the warmth of a family again.

Fang Luoya is now a part of this family, so he tries his best to help Yun Ling with things every day; however, he is somewhat helplessly discovering that in many things, he cannot match Yun Ling.

Whether it is sewing animal skin clothes or processing game...

Yun Ling, though young and slender, is shorter than him by a head, but she is stronger than him;

A fat mountain pig's leg, Yun Ling, with her slender little arms, can easily chop it into pieces with a meat cleaver that weighs at least a dozen pounds.

But when Fang Luoya tried to chop a few times, he was filled with dejection, because a piece of meat that Yun Ling could chop with one stroke, he had to use two or three strokes.

And when he finished chopping two pieces of meat, his arms were already sore and weak; but Yun Ling chopped three or four pieces of meat in a row, looking quite relaxed.

Seeing Fang Luoya's dejected appearance, Yun Ling smiled and comforted him, "Big brother... after the witch initiates you, your strength will gradually become greater than Yun Ling's..."

Hearing Yun Ling's comfort, Fang Luoya became even more eager for the upcoming initiation.

But he also had a faint worry in his heart, as he was much older than Yun Ling, and even before her initiation, her strength was already greater than his;

He feared that even if he successfully completed the initiation, he might not be able to match the strength of the tribe's native-born peers... no wonder Uncle Gang shook his head when he mentioned this yesterday...

But seeing the comforting smile on Yun Ling's innocent and lovely face, Fang Luoya could only nod and smile, not daring to voice his concerns.

After a brief moment of thought, he still asked Yun Ling about the initiation ceremony.

Yun Ling was very patient in answering Fang Luoya's questions, detailing what she knew.

The initiation ceremony is a ritual that every witch villager must undergo around the age of fourteen.

By passing this initiation ceremony, one becomes a true witch villager, and after the initiation, the witch villager can truly obtain witch power, which, under its influence, many people gradually become stronger, even becoming a witch.

And the witches are the protectors of each tribe, possessing magical powers and knowledge, able to use various witchcraft for divination, blessings, and battles...

While listening to Yun Ling's explanation, she suddenly stopped speaking and stood up happily, saying, "Dad is back!"

Fang Luoya was taken aback, and indeed, he heard footsteps coming from the path in the distance.

Mu Yong returned earlier today, looking quite pleased;

After casually throwing a bloody animal leg at the wall, he looked at Yun Ling and Fang Luoya, covered his mouth and coughed a few times, then grinned, "Cough, cough... the offering is ready, I'll go talk to the witch and have him perform the initiation ceremony for Aya tonight... get ready!"

"Right... what were you talking about?" Seeing the excited looks on their faces, Mu Yong sat down in a very good mood.

"We were talking about the initiation ceremony!" Hearing that he could be initiated tonight, Fang Luoya looked excitedly at Mu Yong and said, "Uncle Yong... what happens after the initiation? Is there any special feeling?"

Seeing Fang Luoya's excited look, Mu Yong chuckled and said, "The initiation is actually the purification of your bloodline by the Heavenly Dao and the ancestral spirits, making you a formally recognized member of our witch clan, while strengthening your body and allowing you to凝聚一定的巫力，使我们巫族以后的修炼可以事半功倍！”

“至于感觉……其实没有什么特别的感觉，据巫说，只有突破十级巫士的时候，跨越凡命之门的时候，才能真正感知到巫力的存在！”

“哦……这样啊！”方洛涯似懂非懂地点了点头。

知道今晚巫会给大哥哥进行启巫，小萝莉云灵很开心，晚饭的时候特意多煮了一些汤，还多烤了一大块肉。

“大哥哥……你要多吃一点，长得壮壮的去启巫……”

“阿爸说你太瘦了，一定要多吃一些，才能长得壮……”

“唔唔……要多吃，要多吃！”一旁的木勇这时正手抓着一大块烤肉在口中啃得有油光四溢，听着云灵的话，连连点头。

“好……”看着云灵娇柔脸庞上露出的可爱笑容，方洛涯笑着点了点头，然后也伸手抓起一块肉大口地啃了起来。

见方洛涯开始大块地吃肉了，云灵高兴地笑了起来，然后从陶碗里拿出一块山薯凑到嘴边慢慢地吃了起来。

“嗯？云灵你不吃肉吗？”看着云灵的动作，方洛涯的手不由地微微一缓。

“啊……我不喜欢吃肉！”云灵微微一愣之后，便摇头笑了起来。

“不喜欢吃肉？”方洛涯微微皱了皱眉头，他这一两天已经大致了解了整个部落的情况；

所有的巫民都喜欢吃肉食，因为肉食可以提供足够的能量供给身体，来应付更多的高强度体力活动。

而山薯之类的，多数都只是用来作为肉食的补充；只有一些没有足够劳力换取肉食的家庭才会以山薯作为主食。

但很多时候都没有办法捕捉到足够的猎物，肉食不够的时候，许多家庭也会以山薯作为主食。

难道云灵是因为节省肉食给自己和木勇……

“阿涯……快吃吧，巫说过云灵的体质不能吃太多肉食……”

一旁正在大口啃肉的木勇，似乎注意到了方洛涯的疑惑，突然抬起头来，露出一口雪白的牙齿朝着方洛涯咧嘴笑了笑，然后便又继续低头啃肉。

“哦……”

吃过饭，天便渐渐地开始黑了……

云灵早已经烧好了水催着方洛涯去洗澡，虽然巫族并不太过注意细节问题，但对于人生只有一次的启巫，还是极为重视的。

已经两三天没有洗澡的方洛涯，看到那个盛满热水的木桶，早已经是迫不及待了。

他从来没搞过这样几天不洗澡的，虽说在这个新世界里，空气爽朗清新，就算是两三天没洗澡，似乎也不觉得有什么问题，但总还是觉得很不对劲。

有热水就能舒服地洗了个澡，虽然遗憾没有香皂，但云灵还是很周全地给准备了一根挂满了叶子的树枝。

看了看那搁在木桶上的这根树枝，方洛涯很快地便猜出了是个什么用途。

因为这个树枝看起来很像是以前他在乡下时见过的那种长在河边的皂叶树的树枝；

皂叶树的叶子里边含有丰富的泡沫，小时候在河边玩耍的时候，弄脏了手水洗不干净的时候，就经常捋两把这样的树叶子在手里搓一搓，然后就干净了。

当下方洛涯便伸手捋了一把树枝上的树叶，沾了沾水之后，便在手中用力地搓了起来。

这树叶被一阵搓揉之后便冒出了一层浓郁的泡沫，方洛涯把手凑到鼻端闻了闻，果然不其然的，跟记忆中的味道甚为相似……

看来这个世界虽然和自己以前的世界完全不同，但植物什么的似乎却是没有什么太大的差别。

用这皂叶和热水畅畅快快地洗了个澡，又用力地搓了搓自己胸口处的那块火焰状的纹身印记，发现除了让皮肤稍稍红了一些之外，那印记却是没有任何的变化。

轻叹了口气之后，方洛涯从木桶内站了起来，这才发现，旁边不远处的石凳之上整整齐齐地放着一套兽皮衣服和兽皮靴。

看了看这套明显是云灵新缝制的兽皮衣服，方洛涯叹了口气，然后仔细地穿着了起来。

虽然不习惯，但现在既然自己来到了这个世界，那么总还是要入乡随俗，不可能总穿着自己的T恤和牛仔裤的。

不得不说云灵虽然还小，但手艺却是真心的不错，穿上去相当的合身，甚至连靴子也是相当的合脚。

虽然袒露着大半个肩膀，露着两条大腿稍稍地有些不习惯，不过相对于自己的那个世界来说，却是也不算什么。

等他走出门外的时候，木勇和云灵都已经在等候了，看着走出来的方洛涯，两人的目光都是微微一亮。

“大哥哥真好看……”看着方洛涯，云灵脸上露出甜甜的笑容：“比那些古怪的衣服要好看多了……”

木勇上下打量了一下方洛涯，伸手拍着方洛涯的肩膀，满意地点着头，道：“嗯……不错！虽然瘦了一点，但现在才有我们大崖部落小子的感觉！”

“好了，时间不早了……咱们早点过去吧……不要让巫久等了……”