Chapter 1015: Tradition
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du returned to the camp. Remonin was also back.
Most of the deceased soldiers were from the Gold Grass tribe. As the leader of the tribe, he was responsible for handling the process of the entire funeral.
According to their tradition, before burial, the Golden Grass tribe would send representatives to look for a fortune teller that they did not know from afar, which was an African shaman, to have them search for the souls of the deceased and bring them back to where they belonged.
They believed that the soul would wander on the grassland after a person passed away. The shaman searched for the soul so it could be buried with its body. The reason they did not approach shamans for divination was that they had to go through the shaman to find the cause of death.
Li Du was confused when he heard this. As he listened to Remonin’s explanation, he blankly said, “Cause of death? Weren’t they shot dead? Weren’t they warriors who died in the war?”
Remonin said, “We don’t want to know that, but whether they died because they offended a god. And which god they offended.”
Li Du rashly said, “But you know they died in the war.”
Remonin looked at him and said, “You can say this to me, but when the people come, when the funeral begins, you must not say it.”
Li Du understood now. Lu Guan and the rest also understood. They laughed softly, “Ha, what a tradition.”
Remonin became annoyed. “This may be our tradition, but it is based in science.” He began to talk about a popular scientific inquiry. “You see, every war involves a lot of people, but why doesn’t everyone die? Why do some survive? Why?”
“Because the others were lucky and the deceased soldiers were not.”
Remonin nodded. “You’re right. But why were they unlucky?”
Li Du and his group looked at each other in dismay. They could not give an answer. It was a good point—why were these deceased unlucky?
Remonin was very pleased by their reactions. “No answer, right? It’s because they offended a god and it caused them bad luck.”
What could Li Du and the rest say? This was their tradition, and they should respect the traditions of these people.
Hence, they all nodded and asked, “These poor friends, which god did they offended?”
“Terra,” Remonin said.
Li Du said, “I’d like to hear the details.”
Remonin patiently said, “Terra is our sun god. The soldiers who died were followers of the sun god, but they fought at night, which angered him. Hence, he took their lives.”
Godzilla whispered, “These gods are horrible. Fortunately, I don’t believe in god.”
Li Du gave him a look which meant, Cut the nonsense. We’ll attend the funeral sincerely and then leave.
Three days passed. When the morning sun rose, the funeral officially began.
Since the soldiers who passed away offended the sun god, Remonin led the tribe to worship him. They offered wine and sacrifices in order to appease the god.
In the meantime, the oldest man from the tribe kneeled on the grassland and whispered to the east in a tribal language. This was a display of remorse, to plead to the god not to bring harm on any others.
On the other hand, Remonin had arranged for the elite young people from the tribe to perform. They wore traditional robes and danced with bows, spears, and swords as they roared in the direction of the sun.
Li Du was puzzled and asked what was it for. Remonin told him, “Our warriors are questioning the sun god as to why the warriors were punished when they served so devoutly.”
So Li Du was stunned. “You are grieving and questioning the god at the same time?”
Remonin solemnly nodded. “Yes, we grieve to show our devotion to the sun god. We question the god to tell him we are not to be bullied!”
What could Li Du say? He could only say that the tradition of the Golden Grass tribe was stunning.
A few women were crying at the entrance of the military camp. They cried and a few crumbled to the ground in despair.
From this sight, Li Du believed that they were the wives of the deceased soldiers. It was also tradition for the wife to express her feelings surrounding her husband’s death. The more grief she showed, the deeper her affection was.
The rest of the people were not allowed to cry but had to make sure the preparations for the funeral went well.
The deceased soldiers were wearing their military uniforms when they were put into the coffin. The coffins were placed into the hearse and then sent to the cemetery of the tribe. The hearses were trucks that slowly drove forward as the people followed beside them.
According to the tradition of the Golden Grass tribe, as the hearses were moving, except for the car of the president, other vehicles were not allowed to block or overtake the hearses out of respect.
The tribe was quite a distance from the military camp. Everyone walked over a dozen kilometers before arriving at the cemetery.
Some pits had been excavated there. The soldiers had their guns loaded and solemnly guarded the area. The families of the deceased waited here as well. They were not allowed to cry and had to suppress their grief.
Remonin personally took the responsibility of being the gravedigger. He jumped into a pit. A strong man above passed a coffin to him to ensure it entered the grave smoothly.
At this moment, the elders of the tribes threw some burning dry herbs in that emitted a soft smoke, and then the people worked together to bury the coffin.
As the people threw dirt on the grave, the sounds of drums began to play.
This was like a signal; the relatives of the deceased who had been suppressing their grief began to cry.
The fact that so many young people had turned into corpses in the blink of an eye made Li Du extremely sad. If it wasn’t for him, these people would still be alive. However, if it wasn’t for him, all of these people would have eventually died when Good launched his attack!
It could only be said that the Africans were right: to live long, stay away from diamonds.
Diamonds were the true reason for their deaths!
Initially, he was saddened by the cries of the people. However, soon enough, he no longer felt grief. The sound of the drums had a rhythm like a song, and the cries of the people also had a rhythm. They had to cry along with the rhythm and the volume of the drums. High at times, low at times, the pitch went high and low. This tradition was very interesting.
Lu Guan, Brother Wolf, and Godzilla were also stunned. Brother Wolf pondered and said, “Let’s pay our respect to the tradition of the Golden Grass tribe.”
Their tradition was not that simple. The drums boomed until sunset, and the cries also continued until sunset. Fortunately, only the family of the deceased had to cry. When the coffins were buried, the other people could leave.
At night, there was one more funeral activity, which was a party. There were bonfires, songs, dancing, food, and drinks.
Li Du had heard that the Africans loved singing and dancing. Once the music and drums started playing, the people, who seemed tired, jumped up and danced enthusiastically. The bonfire danced enthusiastically along with them.
When you entered a village, you had to follow the local customs. He could not leave yet and had to attend this party.
