Chapter 7

As Fang Luoya was standing by the door of the classroom, he took a deep breath and firmly held the letter containing the secret that his mother had given him.

Beside him, Mu Yong seemed to notice that Fang Luoya was struggling to hold on and whispered, "Bite your teeth and keep going, you can't stop..."

"In previous years, the witchcraft ceremony would have several or a dozen people drumming together, so it wasn't as exhausting. But they were only fourteen years old, and you... are much older. If you can't even endure this, you'll become a laughingstock of the entire tribe!"

Hearing Mu Yong's words that confirmed his thoughts, Fang Luoya took another deep breath, exerted all his strength, and endured the weakness and soreness in his arms, gritting his teeth as he continued to drum.

Although he didn't know how long he would have to drum, it seemed he could only keep going...

Gradually, the sweat on Fang Luoya's forehead became more and more profuse, streaming down his face and back like rivulets.

As time went on, Fang Luoya felt his arms were almost lifeless, completely numb, and only the mechanical movements continued to strike the drum.

A hint of despair began to show in Fang Luoya's heart. If this continued, he might only be able to hold on for another one or two minutes before he completely gave up.

Time passed minute by minute, and Fang Luoya's vision began to darken, as if he was about to collapse;

At this moment, Fang Luoya suddenly felt a sudden warmth in his left chest, where his heart was beating intensely. It seemed something had suddenly awakened, and then a faint heat began to seep out, slowly extending to his arms.

This faint heat quickly alleviated the numbness in his arms, even making them feel full of strength again. When he swung the drumsticks, it felt like the beginning, with no more soreness or numbness.

"What's happening?" Fang Luoya looked down at his chest but didn't notice anything unusual. He only felt that after the heat seeped out, the thing seemed to quietly settle down again, and his heart, which had been pounding wildly, gradually returned to a normal rhythm.

If he hadn't been wearing clothes, he would have seen that the flame-shaped mark on his chest had suddenly turned bright red, and the color was now slowly fading...

As time passed, the boys around him began to show signs of surprise...

The long-faced boy exclaimed in shock, "How is this possible? It's almost been a quarter of an hour..."

"Right... What's going on? How can this good-for-nothing hold on for so long? Is he cheating?" A boy with slightly yellow hair also asked in surprise.

"How can he cheat? Idiot..."

"Phew..." Just as Fang Luoya felt his hands starting to ache again, Mu Yong finally said, "Alright, stop. The witch is here!"

The witch had already walked out of the small house. As the drumming stopped, the crowd around them gradually stopped clapping.

The witch, with her hair disheveled and two deer antlers on her head, was bare-chested and held a small wooden bowl in her hand, which she had been fiddling with earlier.

"Bring the offerings prepared by Mu Yong forward..."

Walking to the fire pit, the witch looked around at the tightly packed crowd, then looked up at the full moon above, and called out in a deep voice.

Following the witch's call, heavy footsteps soon echoed from outside the clearing.

Eight tall and strong men carried four large pillars and walked into the clearing.

Fang Luoya glanced over and was startled. On these four pillars, four large beasts were hanging upside down, bound by their limbs.

They were a white tiger about ten feet long, a massive black bear weighing about a thousand pounds, a black leopard with fierce eyes, and a fox with fiery red fur...

Seeing these clearly extraordinary beasts, Fang Luoya couldn't help but look at Mu Yong in shock.

Seemingly sensing Fang Luoya's gaze, Mu Yong grinned and patted his shoulder, saying, "Aya... don't look at me. I couldn't gather these four in two days; but most of the tribe owed Yunling's mother some favors... everyone worked together and set up dozens of traps to gather these four..."

Seeing Mu Yong's nonchalant expression, Fang Luoya took a light breath. Although Mu Yong seemed to speak lightly, he knew very well that to mobilize the entire tribe just to find a few such beasts was a significant favor!

Fang Luoya didn't say much, just nodded lightly.

The eight strong men carried the four beasts to the witch. The witch nodded lightly, then slowly drew a grayish-white dagger from her waist, raised it to the sky, and began to walk around the four beasts in a slow circle.

At the same time, she began to chant a mysterious and distant strange song...

Fang Luoya couldn't understand the song, but as he listened to the distant tone, his thoughts were clearly influenced by the song, and he began to sway gently with the rhythm of the song without realizing it.

The many people around the fire pit also began to sway their bodies gently to the witch's song.

As the witch circled the four beasts, her steps became faster, and the tone of her song became more urgent and higher...

The people around the fire pit, as if influenced, also began to sway their bodies faster, and even began to chant along with the witch's tone.

The beasts hanging from the pillars, as if roused by the chanting, began to roar and struggle.

In an instant, the roars of the tigers and bears, along with the chanting and the song, echoed throughout the village...

After a while, the witch's steps began to slow down, and the song also gradually slowed down. After finishing the song, she stood in front of the four beasts.

Fang Luoya gradually regained his clarity, but recalling what had just happened, he was startled. What kind of song did the witch sing to make him and so many others fall into her song without realizing it?

After finishing the song, the witch seemed to move on to the next part of the ceremony. She waved the grayish-white dagger in one hand and held the wooden bowl in the other, and began to dance a strange and rhythmic dance in front of the four beasts.

As the witch danced, the beasts that had been roaring and struggling began to calm down as if hypnotized.

The witch's dance didn't last long. She suddenly stopped, and the grayish-white dagger lightly cut her left thumb.

As the white dagger cut her thumb, a drop of blood instantly appeared on the blade.

The witch raised the dagger and pointed it at the sky, muttering a few words. Fang Luoya faintly felt that the grayish-white dagger, under the moonlight, began to glow with a faint light.

As if completing a ritual, the witch walked to the four beasts and suddenly stabbed the dagger into the chest of the tiger, then pulled it out skillfully.

She extended the wooden bowl to the tiger's chest and collected some of the blood that spurted out, then moved to the next bear.

She repeated this process, collecting blood from the chests of the four beasts, then turned to look at the full moon, and gently stirred the blood in the wooden bowl with the dagger, occasionally sprinkling some blood onto the fire pit while chanting.

"Today, I offer the blood of the tiger, bear, leopard, and fox, to honor the spirits of our ancestors. May the spirits of our ancestors forever protect our tribe and continue the lineage of our witchcraft..."

As the witch spoke these words and sprinkled the blood, a strange howling wind began to rise around the clearing, and small whirlwinds sprang up, causing the flames of the fire pit to sway.

Fang Luoya, with a look of surprise, watched the four clearly dead beasts, puzzled. Although the witch always seemed to stab the hearts of the beasts, why did they show no reaction?

There were no cries of pain, no struggles...

However, there was no time for him to be puzzled. Mu Yong, standing beside him, suddenly gave him a light push.

Fang Luoya came to his senses and saw the witch by the fire pit nodding at him, as if calling him over.

He didn't dare to hesitate, took a deep breath, and suppressed his nervousness, then walked up to the witch and stood in front of her as she indicated.

The witch took a light breath, and the grayish-white dagger in her hand had disappeared. She extended her right index and middle fingers, dipped them in the blood in the wooden bowl, and then touched Fang Luoya's forehead, drawing a special symbol between his eyebrows.

She then continued to draw symbols on Fang Luoya's cheeks with the blood from the wooden bowl.

After finishing, she casually threw the wooden bowl away, held her right wrist with her left hand, and pointed her right index and middle fingers, still in a sword gesture, at Fang Luoya's forehead, and called out in a deep voice, "Heavenly Dao, vast and boundless, the dark laws are set. I respectfully invite the spirits of our ancestors to awaken the witchcraft power in your blood! So be it!"

After speaking, she suddenly raised her right foot and stomped the ground.

With the witch's stomp, Fang Luoya felt a sudden gust of wind, and the small whirlwinds that had been gently swirling in the clearing suddenly converged around him, forming a strange vortex that enveloped him, swirling rapidly around his body.

At the same time, the moon above seemed to brighten, and a particularly bright light seemed to fall on Fang Luoya's head.