A dozen canoes hurried to shore. A fat man wearing leopard skin clothing and colorful feathers waded through the sea and came to the shore with the help of his entourage. More than forty followers followed. After experiencing the drifting on the sea, the man's physical condition was obviously not very good. His lips were white, his cheeks were colorless, and there were many beads of sweat on his forehead. After only walking a few steps on the beach, he squatted on the ground, clutching his chest in pain, as if he would vomit at any moment.
"Damn it, I never go to sea again! I'm staggering and dizzy. I thought I was going to fall into the water several times." The man complained, "What did the Aztlan people do? They actually thought of doing this." A festival is held in a dangerous place!”
An attendant brought a cloth and wanted to wipe his sweat, but was pushed away by the man.
"Clear your priorities! Help me to the venue quickly. Today is the last day. If I'm late, our city-state will be doomed!"
The man's name is Masitra, and he is a newly promoted Tratoani from a city-state on the coast of the mainland. More than twenty years ago, during his father's reign, his city-state was conquered by the Aztlan Empire. Since then, he has become a vassal of the Aztlan Empire and paid tribute to the Aztlan Empire on time.
A few days ago, his city-state received an invitation written by Tesosomoc himself. At that time, his father had just passed away. According to tradition, the Presbyterian Church will select four candidates from hundreds of royal family members including his father's brothers, sisters, children, uncles, aunts, uncles, etc., and give them a test, and finally select the most talented one. The person becomes the new Tratoani. The entire process, from selecting candidates to giving tests to the final grand coronation ceremony, takes several months. This is the oldest, most serious, and most important event in the city-state, but in order to catch up with Tesosomoc's invitation, the Elders made an exception and completed the entire process within three days. After hastily putting the crown representing Tratoani on Masitra, they skipped the necessary admonishment, feast, and gift-giving ceremony, and dressed Masitra like a packaged commodity. Then he drove Massit onto the canoe that had been prepared.
"Work day and night, don't be late!" After boarding the ship, he received the only admonishment from the elders, "The new fire ceremony is approaching. Once the Aztlan Empire is angered, the tax increase will be light. We are very We may be kicked out of the empire, and in that case, our city-state will be doomed!"
Although being conquered by the Aztlan Empire was humiliating, it also meant that as long as tribute was paid on time, one could be protected militarily by the empire. But if it is kicked out of the Aztlan Empire, the city-state will become the target of the Aztlan Empire's Crown War. The New Fire Ceremony is approaching, and the Aztlan Empire needs to sacrifice a large number of prisoners of war. If they are kicked out of the empire at this time, it will almost equal the destruction of the city-state. Therefore, Masitra did not dare to slack off at all. Although his legs and feet were weak due to seasickness, he still rushed towards the venue non-stop with the help of his entourage.
On the way, he met the Tratoani of another city-state, Tinak, who was also in a hurry. He seemed to have overslept, running wildly on the road while getting dressed with the help of his entourage.
"Oh! Masitra, you are finally here!" Tinaik greeted him while adjusting his hat. "I heard that your father passed away a few days before the invitation. I thought that from now on Your city-state is going to disappear!”
"The Presbyterian Council made an exception and accelerated the selection." Masitra shouted, "If you don't talk about this, where is the venue?"
"Yes, for such an important matter, those ancient elders didn't dare to delay and take advantage of it." Tinaike nodded, and at the same time turned his head and took a bite of the tortilla handed to him by his entourage. He swallowed the tortilla hard while running, and then replied, "I'm going to the venue too, just come with me!"
The two Tratoanis were running wildly on the road. Their miserable and urgent appearance. If it weren't for a group of guards leading the way and a group of followers following them, others would have thought that they were slaves from another family who had escaped.
It wasn't until the venue approached that the two slowed down and started packing their bags.
"Speaking of which, Teaneck, why did Tesosomoc summon us this time? The entire empire is currently under the pressure of war, and I heard that war has already begun on the front lines. At this time, let us come to this remote island I came to visit the festival. I thought about it for a long time on the way but couldn't figure it out." Masitra asked, "You came a few days earlier than me. Did you find out clearly?"
"The letter said that Quetzalcoatl was back. But I found out that there was a rebellion on the island a few days ago, and all the male residents of Calpuri were captured by the Aztlan Empire." Tinek He lowered his voice and said, "The war is approaching. I'm afraid they want to take this opportunity to stabilize the rear."
Masitra shuddered. Stabilizing the rear, in other words, killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, and giving the Tratoani in the conquered areas some color. Come to think of it, the next ceremony will be extremely bloody.
"Why are you still here?"
A gentle voice came along with the fragrance of flowers, but it made Masitra and Tinaike shiver together. When they turned around, they caught sight of Nesa Hualcoyotel walking from behind. Today, he is dressed in black clothes from head to toe, which is reminiscent of the priests of Aztlan who killed prisoners of war and took their hearts. He wears a white mandala on his chest.
Masitra did not expect that Nezahualcoyotl would be here. There were only three Tratoani who ruled in the Aztlan Empire, but two of them would actually gather on this remote island. indivual. Seeing Nezahual Coyotel constantly approaching, Masitra was so frightened that she immediately knelt down and saluted.
"Don't be like this. Today's protagonist is Tesosomok, and I'm just a guest." Nesa Hualcoyotel looked at Masitra with a smile, "Did you succeed your father's position? It's really gratifying. Hey. Come in quickly, Tesosomok has just returned from the New World, and he doesn’t know the situation in your city-state. If he gets anxious, you will be in trouble."
Masitra nodded gratefully, turned around and was about to enter the venue, but heard Nesa Hualcoyotel say again from behind:
"Speaking of which, Masitra, the amount of cocoa beans and cotton cloth that your city-state paid tribute to me this year is not enough?"
Masitra trembled, turned around and knelt on the ground in a hurry: "Tratoani! The weather has been very weird this year, with hail and earthquakes. Our crops are really..."
"Needless to say, there is no need to blame yourself. The power of the Sun God of War has declined, and this situation is everywhere in Aztlan." Nezahualcyotel smiled and nodded, "But it's okay, Tesoso Mork has brought Quetzalcoatl back. Its power can keep the Aztlan Empire in good times, and next year, you can make up for the missing share."
(End of chapter)
