Book 6: Chapter 19: Li
“Master!”
The young man immediately kneeled.
“Ok.”
Bai Qiuran nodded and asked:
“Then, you are now my registered disciple. Anyway, do you have a name?”
“I don’t have a name. I should have had it, but my parents died, and the gods took my name away.”
The young man chuckled.
“What happened?”
Bai Qiuran asked:
“Tell me the details.”
The young man told him about it, and Bai Qiuran learned that the young man’s parents were dead in the hands of the gods.
As for the reason, it was also very simple. The gods protected the human race, but they also formulated detailed rules for the human race. Because of accidents, his parents failed to give the offering the gods wanted on time, so the gods took their lives. They also took away the young man’s name.
“But everyone in the settlement treats me very well.”
The young man laughed:
“Although there is no name, I am the only person in the village who has no name. When someone says [Hey], I can understand that it is calling me.”
Bai Qiuran was silent for a while. Although the young man was very optimistic, Bai Qiuran estimated that judging from the custom of worshipping the gods of this era, the human race in the settlement couldn’t treat the son of the people who violated the rules well.
It was just that in this era, one more labor was an extra guarantee for survival, so the young man was accepted by the people in the settlement instead of being driven out of the settlement directly and letting him fend for himself.
“Although you’re just my registered disciple, it can’t be without a name.”
After thinking about it, Bai Qiuran said:
“Why don’t I make one for you?”
“Oh.”
A hesitant look appeared on the young man’s face. Bai Qiuran could see that he still wanted a name in his heart, but he said:
“However, no matter what name you choose, you must report it to the gods through the wizards in the settlement, and the gods must agree.”
“It’s okay, I’ll make one for you first.”
Bai Qiuran waved his hand:
“This name is for the time being when I call you. After a while, when I say it will be fine, you can tell the wizard and let him pass this name for you.”
“Okay then.”
The young man also asked expectantly:
“Master, what kind of name are you going to give me?”
“Well, I think about it…”
According to what he heard, because of the sparse population, most people’s names in this era contained a single character, and there were no surnames to speak of.
Bai Qiuran’s eyes flickered around, thinking about the name he was about to give to the young man.
Mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas were not suitable. World? seemed to be too stupid...
While thinking about it, Bai Qiuran’s eyes dazzled the human settlements, and suddenly saw a group of humans being led by a wizard, offering a plump yak-like livestock as a sacrifice to the gods.
They knelt on the ground and kept worshipping, muttering something in their mouths.
Bai Qiuran raised his eyebrows and suddenly turned his head and said to the young man:
“Yes, you will call it [Li] from now on.”
“[Li]?”
The young man asked with some surprise:
“Master, what does [Li] mean?”
“[Li] means standing.”
Bai Qiuran stretched out his hand and wrote a standing character on the ground.
“As for why I gave you this name, I will tell you when the time comes.”
“Yes.”
The young man was overjoyed.
“I have a name.”
“I will call you [Li] from now on.”
Bai Qiuran smiled and said:
“Let’s go, I will send you back to the settlement first.”
Now, the young man who should be called “Li” nodded, picked up the fishing net full of white fish, and walked towards the settlement with Bai Qiuran.
The guards at the gate of the settlement obviously knew Li, so even if they saw Bai Qiuran who was following him with a face, they didn’t stop him.
The whole settlement was surrounded by a circle made of sharp logs to defend against wild beasts, and Li’s home lived on the edge of the settlement closest to the wooden wall, which was one of the most dangerous places in the whole settlement.
“I have to keep my spear at hand at night.”
Li smiled as he walked:
“Otherwise, beasts may come in when you fall asleep, but because of a blessing in disguise, I can occasionally get more hunting gains than others.”
“Then, you have a pretty good time.”
Bai Qiuran said casually.
As he was walking, he suddenly saw a group of people on the side of the clearing. There was a wizard in the middle of the crowd, holding a crooked bone staff made of animal bones and wood, and chanting.
“What is that?”
Bai Qiuran stopped and asked curiously.
“That?”
Li stopped and explained:
“That’s the wizard in the settlement that did the ritual to drive the Goddess of Plague away. People in the settlement are sick, which means the Goddess of Plague is at work. If the Goddess of Plague is driven out in this way, the sickness of the people in the settlement will be healed.”
“Isn’t the Goddess of Plague also a god?”
Bai Qiuran thought that when he had just met Jiang Lan, her unceremonious tone towards the celestial god, it was obvious that she was much stronger than that god.
“Dare you drive her away? Are you not afraid that she will come back to avenge you?”
“I don’t know this either.”
Li was a little ignorant.
“But the rules are all set by the gods. Maybe the Goddess of Plague can be driven away by us. Otherwise, there will be other gods to subdue her, right?”
Bai Qiuran recalled for a moment that he followed Jiang Lan to the sky and saw the other gods avoided her. He said to his heart that this was nonsense.
“Let’s go and take a look.”
Bai Qiuran proposed.
“Okay, you can wait a while.”
Li walked to his hut and opened a large urn that was more than one meter high next to the house. The urn was filled with water. He poured all the white fish in the fishing net into the urn and skillfully hung the fishing net to dry. Then he said:
“Let’s go, Master, I will take you over and have a look.”
He chose a highland in the settlement, where they could clearly see the situation in the center of the crowd. Bai Qiuran was brought here by him and looked towards the center of the crowd and saw a few sick people in the crowd. Lying on the ground covered with animal skins, and among them, a wizard was jumping around, chanting words that Bai Qiuran could not understand.
After watching the old for a long time, Bai Qiuran couldn’t help asking:
“Is his mouth never dry?”
“Master, the wizard relies on this to eat.”
Li smiled bitterly:
“He must have been used to it long ago.”
After watching for a while, Bai Qiuran suddenly saw the change.
At the edge of the settlement, a miasma suddenly gathered and turned into a cloud full of poisonous mist.
Before long, Jiang Lan walked out of the clouds with a cold face, and walked towards the sick people in the crowd.
Seeing her coming, the crowd stepped aside in horror, while the wizard danced weird dance steps to go to Jiang Lan, screaming, and waving the long stick made of bone in his hand behind her, like driving something away.
“Mentally retarded…”
Bai Qiuran couldn’t help saying.