Anxiety is spreading in the tribe. When the crowd gathers together and chats, this anxiety becomes more serious.

They need to get a good answer from the priest. Of course, the scheming Veria has already understood this.

Due to changes in circumstances, Rurik estimates that today's training will either be shelved or postponed. Because those children must be led by their left-behind family members just like themselves, and most of the left-behind people of the tribe will gather at the priest.

One gloomy morning, the most prestigious priest of the tribe, Veria, wears a helmet with antlers on her head, and puts a piece of deerskin on her thick cotton coat.

Today, she does not need anyone's support, she is holding a wooden crutch with a string of amber, and she appears in front of the crowd.

More than a thousand people gathered in the empty field in front of the big wooden house on the steeple of the priest, and it was really overcrowded for a while. There are still a large number of people gathering here. Some people don't know what's going on. It seems that people are walking towards the priest. Maybe there is a grand sacrifice today?

Villa put on a serious face, she held the cane in both hands and held it high, which also signaled everyone to be quiet.

The chirping crowd gradually calmed down, and the women standing in the front looked at the eldest old man in the tribe with a responsible expression.

Villa put down the crutches a little, and said in a slightly hoarse voice: "I know what you are here for. It's about the fleet!"

"Exactly!" a woman in animal skins asked very boldly: "The great priest, my husband and my son, have followed the leader on a long journey. Now thirty-five days have passed! According to the previous management, They should come back long ago! This time, will they..."

Another woman expressed the same feeling: "Will they be attacked by those Gotland islanders when they return to the voyage? We are really very worried."

As more and more people were inquiring, the crowd began to noisy again.

At this time, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted: "Niya is here! Let her go ahead!"

Niya is the wife of the leader Otto, so she enjoys a high status in the tribe.

Holding his son's hand, Niya and Lulik walked forward, and everyone around them gave way.

Niya finally stood in the front row. She turned around, stretched out her hands to ask everyone to be quiet, and then asked Veria again on behalf of everyone.

"Great priest, we all want to know when the men will come back. I think we need a divination."

Villa nodded: "Let's go ahead!" After that, she made Niya come over and whispered a few words in her ear.

Niya has a certain charisma. She made the wives and children of the men who sailed to stay, and the rest of them all leave. All those who remain, participate in the divination and sacrifice.

After some simple preparations, nearly a thousand people gathered at the altar of the tribethe sanctuary made up of stones in the shape of a ship.

Even if the sky is bright and the oil lamp is lit again, the salted fish as a sacrifice is also placed.

In order to make the people believe in the accuracy of divination, Veria eagerly ordered the women onlookers to come up with tokens related to their husbands.

So, the women took off their amber necklaces one after another. In the end, Veria only got five pairs.

The most important one is Niya's pair, which is a priceless necklace made up of amber, sapphire and pearl.

According to the tradition of the Ross tribe, parents will make necklaces for their children. As the children grow older, there will be more decorations on the necklaces.

Not only the Ross tribe, but also the Mindish tribes living in the Svealand Plain in the south, have such a tradition.

When boys and girls grow up to the age of marriage, young couples exchange necklaces, so for them, necklaces are precious things.

Five sets of necklaces are placed in a wooden plate and placed on the altar.

Villa motioned all the lower priests and all the onlookers to kneel down. She herself was also driving the aging body, kneeling on the side of the altar.

She closed her eyes and muttered words in her mouth. On her right hand, is the clay pot that can reflect Otto's opinion, and the gems for divination have been placed.

So, can Otto and his men return safely?

In fact, for Veria, why didn't she worry that Otto and his party would be in trouble, especially when they encountered a sneak attack by a hostile tribe. After all, it happened before, and it may happen again now.

There is another thing that worries her, that is, on this voyage, Otto took away many young people from the tribe, so-called taking them to meet the world.

After all, they are young people, and their bodies are not strong enough. Will it make the Svig people of Novgorod feel that the Ross tribe is no longer strong?

Anyway, Otto must have encountered something, whether it is a good or a bad thing, if time continues to drag on, it will definitely become a bad thing.

Why?

Look at this terrible weather! Veria lived a long time, and she estimated that it was going to snow soon. As long as it snows, the days in the future will become colder and colder.

The sea will be frozen, and if they have not returned, the result will be catastrophic.

Villa, who was kneeling on the ground, thought of many things, and she had to say more prayers to make her mind think for a while.

On feelings, Veria is really optimistic about "Odin's Blessing" Rurik, and this child is also here today. But Rurik was only seven years old, and he showed many extraordinary talents. After all, he was too young.

If Otto and his party are out, the tribe has to re-elect a leader.

So who can be as good as Otto? Veria felt that his tribe was a pure lack of clever people. Among the two thousand warriors of all ages who could participate in the fight, only six or seven hundred were truly elite. Now Otto has taken away 300 elite and more than 200 inexperienced young people to participate in the sailing.

If Otto and his party are lost in the cold of winter, the remaining 1,500 warriors can only choose from the last three hundred elites.

Through the traditional contest, it is indeed possible to choose a leader who convinces everyone.

However, this leader is only good at fighting. Villia remembers especially that when he was young, the tribal leader at that time was quite wise, otherwise he would not be able to take this Roseburg from the hands of the Urals.

The following more than ten leaders were very good at fighting. As a result, they always died in various fights.

Compared to those people, Otto is significantly smarter. By now, Otto is no longer young and strong, but the Ross tribe under his rule has been living steadily for more than ten years. Although the relationship with the "Danish" people in Gotland is bad, the tribe and the southern minds have been called brothers. Up.

Thinking about the future of the tribe with the worst thoughts, once Otto encounters an accident, the stable tribe will become restless again. The young and strong among the clansmen will fight desperately for the position of leader, and those who lose are also rebellious, and they are very likely to take their families far away. In that case, the stability of the Ross tribe would be lost.

I am afraid there is only one way.

Villa is very fortunate that Otto's only son, Rurik, came to the altar, and compared to Otto, Rurik was more wise.

If I can live for another ten years, I can witness Rurik grow from a child to a young warrior of the tribe. At that time, the seventeen-year-old Rurik was full of wisdom, and the fighting talent he showed earlier could also be better used.

After a long prayer, Vella felt his knees hurt, but as for the others, they had already knelt on their bodies to make themselves feel better.

Finally, in the anxious waiting, people saw Veria picking up the clay pot, and the exciting moment finally arrived.

Finally, a red gem was taken out.

In fact, everything has long been a foregone conclusion. For the stability of the tribe, Veria must let everyone settle down.

She naturally took out the ruby in the clay pot. Today, this gem represents "the fleet will return safely as always."

Vilia motioned to the two low-level priests, and they quickly helped Vilia, who had weakened legs.

"Now the result is very clear!"

Veria was held by someone, her legs were weak, she still held the ruby high, "This is Odin's revelation, Odin told us that the fleet will return safely. We must believe that this is the correct revelation, so we only need to Do one thing, go and wait quietly! They must be sailing on the way back! I believe that it is likely that those Sweigs will tribute to us more treasures, causing the fleet to delay a lot of time. Don't worry, everyone. , We will spend a happy winter."