Rolling mountains, vast plateaus. Rainforests, swamps and shrubs are like stained patches of color, arranged slightly haphazardly on the cloth of the earth. In this corner of the rugged world, there is a rare flat valley. There is an endorheic lake in the valley, the pearl of the land, Lake Texcoco.
A group of people were walking in the swamp beside the lake. Some of them are soldiers, most of whom wear cotton armor and carry weapons such as spears, swords, stone throwers, bows and arrows, and darts. Some soldiers wore an extra layer of military uniforms sewn from leopard skin over their cotton armor, and wore bright feathers on their heads. At first glance, they seemed to have a higher status than others.
Except for the soldiers, the rest of the people were stripped naked from head to toe, leaving only a strip of cloth wrapped around their waists. They were prisoners of war captured by the soldiers and were being taken to a city called Tenochtitlan. A long rope tied their hands connected them from front to back, making it difficult for them to escape.
Whether they were soldiers or prisoners of war, almost all of them were men. Therefore, the only woman among them stood out. She was in the queue of prisoners of war, dressed exactly like the other prisoners of war. But compared to the shame of exposing her body to the sky, her expression revealed more reluctance and anger.
When the soldiers were not paying attention, she quietly bumped into the man walking in front, and then deliberately stepped on the toes of the man behind her. The two men all walked with their heads down, dejected and silent.
"Don't look back, and don't make a sound. Avilistri, Quitspari, please prick up your ears and listen carefully." She whispered, "I learned escape techniques from Master Querachri. You can break free from this rope in an instant. There is a dagger hidden in my loincloth. Please pay attention to my actions. When we cross the bridge later, we will jump into the water and escape together."
Avilistri is one of the most fearless warriors in the tribe. Although his dark skin was covered with slave-like whip marks, it was still difficult to hide the masculine energy emanating from his strong muscles. However, regarding the woman's proposal, he sighed as if he had accepted his fate: "Sitralmina, don't you understand yet? We lost the Crown of Glory War and should be sacrificed to the gods. It is said that we were sacrificed to the gods. The samurai’s soul will meet directly with Huitzilopochtli, the sun god of war. This is also an honor.”
"Crown War? This time Aztlan brought out three times as many troops as ours to fight us. There is no glory at all! I will not obey them anyway. If you are willing to have your heart ripped out, then that is up to you. For To win the next Crown of Glory War, I must go back!" Citralmina said angrily, "Quitespari, we don't care about him. I will find a way to grab a sword when I escape, you'd better We can find a way to get a stone thrower. After all, this is the center of Aztlan. Even if we run out of here, we will encounter enemies at any time."
Quitspari was a scrawny man. He is a craftsman who makes feather ornaments. He is frail and sick. He should not have been dragged to the battlefield, but this time he was also among the prisoners of war. At this moment, he is even more depressed than Avilistri, like a bird that has been plucked of all its feathers:
"I heard that after ordinary people die, their souls have to go to Damictlan Hell. On the way, they have to cross a deep river, climb a mountain covered with obsidian blades, pass through a canyon with biting wind, and be lost to arrows. Shooting and walking through the heart-eating beasts is too painful. It is better to meet the sun war god directly after being sacrificed. Sitralmina, you should also cherish this opportunity. A woman like you , originally only by dying in childbirth could one avoid the pain of the road to hell.”….
While he was talking, a soldier noticed them and whipped off his head with a face. Quitspari was so beaten that he screamed and didn't dare to talk to Citralmina anymore.
After continuing to walk in the swamp for a while, many of the prisoners suddenly exclaimed. Citralmina turned her body away from Avelister's strong body and looked further ahead. The scene in front of her was so shocking that she forgot her humiliation and hatred for a moment, and exclaimed from the bottom of her heart - in the middle of Lake Texcoco, a city miraculously stood. Its size was ten times larger than the largest city she had ever seen before!
[It has been running stably for many years. It is comparable to the old version of the book chasing tool and is used by all old bookworms.
Walking a little further, Sitralmina saw that this city in the lake was divided into several blocks by the lake, and each block was the size of a small city-state. People traveled through different neighborhoods in boats, and those boats were not the canoes she was familiar with, but long, flat hulls that she had never seen or heard of.
There are three artificial avenues surrounding the lake, leading straight to the center of the city from three directions. It is a place where religious ceremonies are held. A flat-topped pyramid that is twenty stories high towers over it, overlooking the entire city.
They were pushed to the avenue ahead by the soldiers and walked straight towards the pyramid. Seeing the huge pyramid that seemed to reach the sky, Citralmina was so dumbfounded that she even forgot about her plan to escape by diving. On the way, Citralmina also saw an open-air market, which was full of exquisite cloth, pottery, stone and wood carvings, as well as colorful bird feathers, gems and animal skins. If she hadn't seen many civilians counting cocoa beans and trading with the traders, Citralmina would have thought she was entering some king's treasure house.
As they walked, Citralmina finally lowered her head like Avilistri and Quitspari.
They were taken all the way to the temple and locked in a dark room. As soon as the soldiers left, Citralmina's legs weakened and she fell to her knees. The unwillingness and anger have disappeared, and now she only feels humiliation, a humiliation hundreds of times stronger than the physical body!
"Avilistri, Quitspari, have you seen that, Tenochtitlan...even if we put all the wealth and manpower of our entire tribe together, it cannot compare to this one in Aztlan?" City! Damn, hate, hate! They could have destroyed our country, taken away our land and property, and turned all the people in our country into slaves! What kind of glory war that competes with courage and combat skills? They are just playing with us as toys!"
When she said "Damn it" for the first time, she hammered the ground hard with her hand. By the time she said "Damn it" for the third time, her hands were already dripping with blood from being scratched by the rough stones on the ground. Her shoulders trembled, and she cried in frustration:
"I heard from my grandma that when my father was still young, my grandfather was captured and sacrificed for losing the Crown of Glory War; I heard from my mother that when I was just born, my father suffered the same fate. I went away from home for ten years and became a disciple of Master Querakiri, just to win back a victory in this Crown of Glory War. But I ended up with the same fate. Even so, I think this is my return. Not mature enough, I believe that as long as we run back and continue to practice, we will be able to win the next war of honor and glory fifteen years later. But...but...how can we win against such a powerful empire? Is it possible that every generation in our country Are people destined to be sacrifices to the Aztlan Empire from birth?"
Corsica 14
