The midday sun is still warm, but the autumn wind carries a slight chill.
Under the sun, the scattered weapons glowed with cold light, leaving behind the last glimmer of the warrior. In the breeze, the yellowed leaves fell gently, taking away everyone's silent farewells.
It started with the expedition to Otopan's camp, progressed to waiting on the banks of the Leman River, and climaxed with the fierce battles in the mountain camps. Until now, everything has ended, and the king and warriors have returned to dust, just like the end of the rainy season.
After a long time, Shulot quietly stepped forward. He gently closed Totec's eyes and touched the warrior's cold face with his hands. He smelled the familiar smell of blood in his nose again and couldn't help but sigh slightly.
Orosh, who was behind him, came over and gently patted the young man on the shoulder.
"Xulot, no matter how majestic the jaguar is, it will die of old age in the mountains, and no matter how high the flying eagle is, it will fall into the dust. We will all have this day. Being able to die for one's beliefs is actually the luck of a warrior. I I’m also looking forward to such a day!”
Xiuluo nodded and calmed down from the turbulent emotions. The sadness disappeared from his eyes, replaced by determination from the bottom of his heart. This is a teaching by example, telling young people what the will of a warrior is, what faith and protection are!
Strength shaped his soul, and finally completely erased the fragility from later generations.
He walked over to Tisok's body again and looked at the face covered in dirt. The king who was the supreme king when we first met him is now lying on the ground in an ordinary way, and he can no longer see any nobility. The young man shook his head. He had no feelings about the king's death. Since he is your life-and-death enemy, he deserves to die.
Shulot picked up the magic staff on the ground. It has a slender wooden body with a vicissitudes of texture. The top of the staff is a gold base, and the base is inlaid with a circle of pearl-sized yellow gemstones, forming the outline of the sun. The young man thought of Avitt, so he stretched out his finger and flicked the staff.
A clear sound of gold and jade trembled, resounding throughout the wilderness and spanning time and space.
This is the scepter of the ancestors, which has been passed down for hundreds of years and is a symbol of divine power.
In the tribal period when the priesthood dominated everything, this staff was passed down from generation to generation among the priests. After the establishment of the capital city in the lake, this sacred staff has been kept in the hands of the chief priests of the great temple. When the king and the chief priests maintain a close relationship, the chief priest will give the king a staff in the name of the patron saint to declare the support of the chief priests.
This close relationship is like that between Tisok and Kechar. The price for gaining the support of the chief priest was the regression of royal power and the expansion of divine power.
In fact, before Montezuma created another divine staff, this only divine staff also represented the king's power from the divine authority. Half of the fifteen Aztec ancestors in history were priests or priests from the royal family.
Shulot remembered that the king once used this staff to perform divine communication with his grandfather in the holy city. At that time, tens of thousands of warriors were filled with awe, lowering their heads and not daring to look directly. It can be seen that divine power has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts.
The young man frowned. When he thought about the divine power and the chief priests, he felt very troubled.
This kind of priestly authority does not come from one or two people, but from an entire class. In this era, priests were the most cultured class. Their power comes from the possession of various knowledge, the performance of harvest funerals, marriage ceremonies to worship gods, and the interpretation of myths and celestial phenomena.
The power of the priests comes from the complete monopoly on culture!
With such power, priests could influence the succession of the royal family, divert city-state taxes, occupy large amounts of land and villages, have a large number of warriors who followed them, and continue to control the hearts of the common people.
As a well-known fifth-level coyote priest, the boy had five hundred warriors under his command. In order to support these warriors, he also had to acquire wealth and land.
"Go back and discuss it with Avit. Mexica society is still before the cultural enlightenment of a hundred schools of thought. The Chinese civil service system does not exist, and there is no basis for the imperial examination. Compared with the hereditary aristocracy with solidified classes, the priesthood At least some outstanding civilians have been absorbed.”
"The power of the priests in the future can only be limited and guided, but cannot be completely erased!"
The young man was thinking about his future plans when he heard a soft moan from Orosh.
"Hey! Shulot, come and see, what is this?"
The young man heard the sound and looked over, only to see Orosh, who had no inhibitions, groping and inspecting Tisoke's body.
He unexpectedly took out a large piece of folded fine cotton cloth from the king's arms, which was full of outlined pictures and symbols, with the special fragrance of carmine dye.
This large piece of fine cotton cloth is equivalent to three hundred cocoa beans, or one hundred corn tortillas. Only kings and nobles can use it as paper to record events. Carmine dye was even more expensive, comparable to gold in the Old World.
"When I return this time, I will develop papermaking technology and provide a carrier for cultural dissemination." The young man thought.
He then took the fine cotton cloth and unfolded it. This is a huge design drawing with a three-dimensional sacrificial stone disc on it.
Judging from the distance mark, the diameter of the disk is about three meters and the height is about one meter. The top of the disk is engraved with the calendar ritual diagram of the five suns. Further up from the top is a sculpture of a patron saint or a stone platform for sacrifices that is expected to be placed on it. On the side of the sacrificial plate are sixteen battle images of kings, engraved with tall and majestic kings and defeated small enemies.
Each king carries the mark of the gods, such as the gorgeous headdress of the God of War, the changing smoke of the primordial sun, the three-color feathers of Quetzalcoatl, and the long red tongue of Death. The first fifteen paintings are naturally the fifteen ancient kings in Aztec history, and the sixteenth one is Tisoc himself.
The king's feet were full of enemies who were kneeling or dying. The enemies all have different names, symbolizing the cities and lands conquered by the king. There were particularly many dead enemies at Montezuma's feet, and dense markings filled the scene.
At Tisok's feet, there are only two names for the time being: Herotepec and Otopan. But he leaves himself a lot of room and clearly has lofty ambitions.
"This must be one of the reasons why Tisok insisted on sieging the city!" Shulot looked at the Ottopan warriors and symbols that had been drawn on the image, and sighed slightly.
Even after abandoning the king's flag, abandoning the army, and fleeing southward in a hurry, Tisok did not give up the design. The dense design marks show the hard work he put into it and his reliance on theology. Unfortunately, this historically famous "Tisoke Stone" will never appear again.
"History has changed forever!" After thinking about it, the young man felt a little excited again. "This is our time!"
After the battle is over, the next step is to assemble the army.
Shulot asked Stanley to surrender the remaining royal guards. The loyalty and combat power of these warriors were top-notch. Perhaps, Avitt will use them as seeds to rebuild the Broken Hair Guard Camp again.
He also asked Orosh to sort out the three thousand warriors directly under the royal family, and would take them back to the north later.
Finally, he praised Bertard's magic shot and asked his warrior chief to dig a pit and bury Totec's body. He himself sat cross-legged on the ground, chipped out a wooden tombstone, and then used a knife to carve square Chinese characters.
Another hour passed. The army was ready, and Shulot was ready to return.
He finally stopped at Tepac's grave, looking at the unnamed tombstone.
"A true warrior is buried here. He had the most peerless martial arts, the purest soul, and the beauty of facing death. Now that he has died for his beliefs, please do not disturb his peace."
Who here can really understand the Chinese characters on this? Shulot smiled self-deprecatingly, this was just a memorial to himself.
Finally, the boy touched his chest with his hand. He silently asked himself:
"What do I believe in?"
"My belief is also to protect. Now, I want to protect my father, my friends, my lover, my followers... all the people I care about. In the future, when I ascend the throne, it will be the people of this land, this Country and civilization!”
He looked at the shallow grave, remembered the warrior's frozen smile, and asked himself questions again.
"When the choice comes, can I die for what I believe in?"
Shulot thought for a moment, imagining the hardships ahead, as well as future diseases and colonists. The young man nodded silently but firmly.
"I can." He turned and left, truly acting like a warrior and commander.
The four thousand troops immediately set off and headed for the northern camp three days away. The old days have ended and a new era is beginning!
