Chapter 27: The Blessing of the Prayer Totem

“Not good, those wild boars aren’t all of them—there must be a hundred in the whole herd.”
Wu looked out at the distant, surging mass of wild boars charging toward them, a sense of pressure settling over him.
Ye Chen smiled. “So those six large boars and three piglets were just the vanguard.”
“It seems we misjudged the people of the tribe. Anyone would be terrified in the face of a hundred wild boars. They’re stronger than I thought.”
The wild boars rampaged forward fearlessly, smashing through everything in their path. Ye Chen could clearly see one of them baring its razor-sharp tusks, skewering an unfortunate tribesman right through the chest.
It looked as if he’d been threaded like a gourd, a truly wretched sight.
Ye Chen’s heart stirred. A wisp of incense-powered will descended upon the stricken man, temporarily easing the mortal wound inflicted by the boar’s tusk.
“He won’t die—for now.”
Ye Chen didn’t rush to use his authority over dreams. Perhaps this wild boar invasion would deepen his understanding of the tribe, letting him see who was useful. Though he’d already stolen some relevant memories through dreams, there was still a layer of separation.
“Big Tree!”
Bamboo Spear cried out in anguish, feeling a deep sense of loss. The tribesman called Big Tree was still faintly breathing, blood flowing steadily from the tusk-rent wound, his body dangling from the wild boar, looking as if he could die at any moment.
Ordinarily, at this point, Big Tree would indeed be beyond saving. But though he seemed on the verge of death, the situation wasn’t yet hopeless.
“Big Tree ran into trouble trying to lure the wild boars away,” Bamboo Spear said bitterly, his fear evident, but he didn’t turn and run.
With a roar, Ye Chen swung his bone knife and charged at the wild boar. Once Ye Chen set his sights on a target, its fate was sealed.
One slash split the boar’s head open. Ye Chen then reached out and plucked Big Tree from the beast’s tusks. To an onlooker, his actions might have looked more like hastening death than saving a life.
Big Tree coughed up blood, his face turning ashen. He looked as though he was about to perish; where earlier he might have endured, now he truly seemed unable to hold on. His eyes were wide, filled with unwillingness, as if he could not rest in peace.
Ye Chen was quick. Before the other wild boars could react, he carried Big Tree away, putting distance between themselves and the herd.
A gentle golden light welled forth, flowing through Big Tree like a warm current.
This time, Ye Chen focused his incense-powered will solely on Big Tree, and the expenditure was not too great.

Once he’d pulled Big Tree back from death’s edge, Ye Chen ceased spending any more of his power.
At this point, Big Tree was deathly pale but still alive.
His eyes remained tightly shut, his vitality depleted almost beyond recovery, but he struggled to speak to Ye Chen: “Chief, is everyone else all right?”
“I tried to draw off some of the boars, but I failed. I ran the other way, but it didn’t help much. These wild boars are clearly taking revenge on us.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Ye Chen saw the wild boars charging again. He remained unflustered, carrying Big Tree further away.
If these boars thought they could catch him, they were dreaming.
The wild boars grew frenzied, their stubborn tempers refusing to let go.
Meanwhile, Wu managed to slaughter a boar as well. Only Bamboo Spear seemed small and insignificant, afraid to make any conspicuous move and draw the boars’ attention.
Fortunately, with Ye Chen and Wu drawing all the aggression, Bamboo Spear went unnoticed and remained safe.
“Don’t worry about anything else for now—just focus on healing.”
At first, all the wild boars were fixated on Ye Chen and Wu, but when they failed to harm them after repeated attempts, the herd grew wise, turning their fury on others instead.
Why bash your head against a wall when there were softer targets to be found?
This was true revenge: wherever the boars passed, bamboo huts were flattened, leaving the settlement in shambles.
The tribe was never that large to begin with. No matter how they tried to hide, there was nowhere to go—the boars came too fast, leaving no time to prepare.
More importantly, such mortal danger was unprecedented.
Ordinarily, the tribe was sheltered by their totem; even the most mindless wild beasts dared not enter.
Clearly, this attack was no simple matter.
A sudden scream echoed in the air. Sharing vision with the deity’s true form, Ye Chen saw exactly what happened and sighed—someone had been struck by the wild boars.
“It seems I have no choice but to use divine power.”
No matter how they hid, someone would always be caught.

The wild boars rampaged through the tribe, splitting up so that even alone, they were more than a match for the tribe’s old and weak.
“Totem!”
Cries of desperation rang out, prayers for the totem’s protection, but then an angry shout rebuked them:
“Do not disturb the totem! The totem is already gravely wounded. We cannot risk its recovery for the sake of us useless old and weak!”
“If we die, so be it! We are already worthless, unable to help the tribe. At the very least, we must not drag it down.”
Ye Chen heard these words, his mind a mix of surprise and doubt. Sure enough, he saw the faces of some tribespeople turn ashen, yet none called upon the totem again. Even when facing wild boars, even in mortal danger, their resolve remained.
These were not empty boasts—such determination truly existed, and Ye Chen was amazed.
In the face of death, could they really be so calm?
Using his authority over dreams, Ye Chen didn’t immediately slay the boars. Instead, he bewildered their spirits, turning their senses upside down and plunging them into illusions.
Thus, the wild boars’ ferocity became mere bluster. Time and again they missed their mark, unable to strike even when a single blow would have been fatal for the tribespeople.
At first, the old and weak were paralyzed with terror, their limbs cold and weak. But soon they realized the boars seemed blind, and their hearts settled. Some even picked up bamboo knives and, emboldened, charged at the beasts.
Clearly, they were not lacking in courage.
But there were simply too many boars—no matter how they fought, they could not kill them all. Had these creatures gone mad? What grudge could drive them to such lengths? Wu was puzzled.
With a thunderous roar, dazzling golden light filled the world, pouring down like rain.
“The totem has acted!”
The whole tribe cheered, though a few faces remained grave, uneasy.
“The totem hasn’t recovered yet. For it to waste power on us—it proves how weak we truly are.”
The words were full of guilt and frustration, and they dampened the spirits of those around them.
“To think that a handful of wild boars could throw us into such chaos—what a disgrace.”