On the plateau of Central America, October is not a cold autumn. There are no falling maple leaves, only evergreen pines and firs. The autumn wind gently brushed my cheeks, and the air was filled with the fresh fragrance of pine and cypress, as well as the faint fragrance of flowers.
Shulot stood on the hill and looked at the military formation not far away where prisoners were being handed over. The news of the armistice was like warm sunshine, bringing relaxed smiles to the faces of the warriors on both sides. The Mexica warriors talked about plans to return home, while the militiamen breathed a sigh of relief. They would no longer be fighting for their lives against the guerrilla Otomi people in the mountains and forests.
Under the command of Bertard, 900 Otopan prisoners, 1,000 men and five months of food were sent to the opposite side in turn. Giowa did not appear, and a strange Otomi officer had an unswerving expression on his face, taking on such an errand that was destined to leave infamy. He did not look at the released prisoners, but carefully inspected the amount of food. Then he waved his hand, and a thousand unarmed civilian warriors were escorted over and handed over to the Mexica people.
Xilote carefully observed the civilian warriors of the city-state of Xilotepec. The faces of the common warriors were filled with confusion at first being disarmed, then disbelief at being traded, and finally angry despair at being betrayed. So the young man nodded with satisfaction. These people will be handed over to Bertard's jurisdiction, and then they will be surrendered and given preferential treatment, becoming the first batch of Otomi people to submit to the Alliance.
Next to Shulot, "Monkey" Kuruka looked at the warrior commander's back with envy. These Otomi people will obviously be reused by the alliance and become the basis for the rule of the future city-state of Xilotepec in Mexico. Now, Bertard can govern them and exert influence on these people, which means he has the qualifications to become the leader of a state.
The boy didn't look any further. He smelled the fragrance of flowers in the air and walked among the green pine forests, looking for the source of the fragrance. After a long time, he stopped in front of an unusually tall giant tree. The comfortable fragrance drifted in the wind, accompanied by the faint cry of eagles.
This is a majestic Mexican cypress tree, standing by the bank of the stream through vicissitudes of life. Its height is a full 50 meters, and its diameter at breast height is nearly 4 meters. The straight tree trunks extend endlessly upward, as if reaching above the clouds, while the cedar leaves hanging down like the sacred green feathers of Quetzalcoatl. Among the graceful swaying fallen feathers, there are light green and white flower bulbs, pregnant with mature seeds for the coming year, exuding a pleasant freshness.
Xiuluo nodded, this is the source of the fragrance. This giant tree stood quietly in the mountain forest, listening to the melody of the stream, and spent thousands of years growing into the fairy that walked in the myth, sleeping in the ancient forest.
"What a majestic yew!" The young man sighed at the beauty of the giant tree.
"Priest Commander, this is Avevit, the upright drum in the water, and the old man in the water. It is a symbol of authority! Since the death of the great Montezuma, we also call it Montezuma cypress, because this tree has an innate soul. "
I don't know when, "Monkey" Kuruka had already approached the boy and explained with a smile on his face.
"Avivit? Soul?" The young man was slightly startled, then nodded. Avitsotl refers to the "spirits in the water like pine trees", so Avvit is naturally the "pine and cypress in the water".
"Exactly! In the mythology of the Mixtec and Zapotec people in the south, they have the same noble ancestor, which is the tree spirit of Avivet.
They call themselves the People of the Clouds, who come from the clouds and fall with the rain. If you blend into the towering Avivet, you will become the most noble priest. If you blend into the mighty jaguar, you will become a noble warrior. If you blend into the ordinary soil, you will become an ordinary civilian. If you fall into a cave, you will become... .”
Kuruka suddenly paused and got stuck.
"Become the lowest slave?" the young man asked subconsciously.
"No, then they will turn into animal and human spirits, wear sharp-pointed hoods, and become Camazotz, the vampire bat that spreads death!" Kuruca thought hard before turning a The image of Batman is depicted.
Shulot was stunned, then smiled amusedly. "Death Bat" Camazotz is the origin of the image of the later superhero "Batman".
Shulot smiled slightly and patted Kuruka on the shoulder. "Monkey" is indeed smart and knows a lot. Kuruca smiled at the boy's happiness. Then, the boy's ears moved.
"Monkey, did you hear anything? Is it the cry of an eagle?" The young man raised his head and looked at the top of the tall trees. The leaves there were like fallen feathers, blocking all prying eyes.
Kuruka tilted his head and blinked. Immediately, he seemed to have discovered something. He threw the weapon behind his back and half held the huge Avivit tree with both hands. Like an agile ape, he quickly rushed up and disappeared among the graceful fallen feathers.
After a short moment, Kuruca poked his head out from the top of a tree forty to fifty meters high. He wrapped his legs around the tree trunk, held the branch with his left hand, and held something in his right hand. He raised his head and shouted in surprise to the young man below: "Sir, there is a golden eagle cub here!"
Then, "Monkey" turned slightly sideways, carefully protected his right hand, and adjusted his upper body posture. Then he let go of his left hand and legs alternately, and just like that, he slid down from the top of the fifty-meter-high tree with a "chi-liu, chi-liu" sound.
The young man opened his eyes wide and watched Kuruca's magic weapon descend from the sky. Then all his attention was attracted by the little creature he held in his hands.
This is indeed a golden eagle cub. It has pure and innocent eyes, pink and white short beaks, white and soft young feathers, and slightly brown wings. This sky lord, who can only live for thirty years, is in his most tender infancy.
"Sir, this golden eagle cub has not even grown into its first feathers. It is only three months old at most." Kuruca grinned and handed the golden eagle cub to the boy.
Shulot subconsciously reached out and gently took the small golden eagle, which was only the size of a palm. The little creature glanced at the young man with its pure black eyes, and then gently rubbed its little head against the young man's palm, which was as soft as a ball of cotton. Then, it let out a few faint eagle cries, and then lay helplessly on the young man's hand.
"It seems to be very hungry." The young man gently touched the belly of the little golden eagle. It was soft and flat, as if it was indeed hungry.
"It looks like it hasn't eaten for several days. Something might have happened to its parents, and they might have been caught and eaten by the Otomi people."
Kuruca responded casually, rummaging in his hands to salute, and finally found a dried venison strip. The boy dipped some water and carefully fed it to the little golden eagle. It pecked with its short beak, trying hard and anxiously to chew on the biltong, but it couldn't stop biting it.
The young man smiled softly, took the strip of meat out of its peck, and watched it flap its soft wings anxiously. Then he took the freshly cut pieces of meat from Kuruka and fed them to the little golden eagle bit by bit. Unknowingly, a happy smile that he hadn't seen in a long time appeared on his lips.
Seeing Shulot's smile, Kuruka also grinned, like a proud monkey.
After feeding the meat strips and water, the little golden eagle emitted a crisp chirp again, but it was obviously much louder. Then, it tilted its head, rubbed it against the boy's hand for a while, folded its wings over its belly, and fell asleep comfortably.
The young man looked happily at the sleeping little golden eagle, and then at the towering sacred tree in front of him, and the corners of his mouth curved in a happy arc:
"Since I found you on the Avivet tree, from now on, I will call you Avivet!"
The appearance of little Avivet brought great joy to Shulot. During this period of fighting and fighting, the bloody deaths he witnessed accumulated one by one in the young man's heart, continuing to depict the destruction of life. And little Avevit is like hope bred in the darkness, like a ray of pure light that dispels the depression in the young warrior's soul.
Later, Shulot carefully made a warm nest for little Avivet out of cotton cloth and feathers, and then put the eagle's nest into a wooden box and asked his guards to take it with him and take care of it carefully.
In this way, during the day, Shulot was the masked commander, solemn and majestic, commanding the army, intimidating the unruly generals, and appeasing the surrendered Otomi people. At night, Shulot was a thirteen-year-old boy, relaxed and cheerful, with a sincere smile, teasing the little white Avevit and stroking its soft feathers. Darkness and light are balanced in day and night.
Twelve thousand Mexican warriors set out one after another. The army moved eastward, leaving the hungry Otomi people, abandoning the mountain camps along the way, and headed towards the Herotepec camp. Ten days later, the army finally arrived at the fourth camp. The young man remembered the past battlefield for a moment, and then he looked serious and summoned the poet warrior Paramo.
"Paramo, how are you doing in the logistics camp these days?"
After not seeing him for two weeks, Páramo no longer looked as lean and handsome as when we first met him. He was unshaven, his hair was uncombed, and his face was obviously fatter. What remained unchanged was the elegant melancholy in his eyes.
"Master Priest, the accommodation in the logistics camp is very good, and the food is very good, but it is just too busy. Every day I have to count a lot of supplies, calculate the consumption of supplies, and record them one by one on the wooden board. The flowers in my heart have completely withered. Yes." Paramo sighed and answered respectfully and honestly.
When he led the army for the first time, Shulot did not overly modify the customary regulations in the army, but only increased the management of logistics and equipment. Logistics officers' tasks have suddenly become heavier. They must accurately record daily supplies, strictly formulate food consumption plans, and maximize the efficiency of transportation.
Under the heavy workload, Paramo was as busy as a spinning top, and he didn't even have time to take care of himself.
Looking at the respectful Balamo, Xiulote expressed satisfaction. It seemed that the polishing effect was good and he could add more burdens.
"Paramo, I will give you one thousand warriors and three thousand militiamen. I will leave the back of this camp to you! In the next five months, one month's worth of food will be delivered to 34,000 people every month. You It is necessary to trade with the army of the city-state of Otopan once a month, and exchange food for captured Mexica warriors and half the value of luxury goods.
You must be careful and defensive! Regularly contact the Legion at the Hirotepe Camp. Also, do your accounting clearly when making transactions! I will hand it over to Quartermaster Bergere for verification. If there is any excess, I will hand it over. If there is any shortage, I will make up for it myself! "
Because of the arrival of little Avevit, Shulot has been in a good mood recently, and he made a rare joke.
"Yes! I obey you, my priest commander!" The lighthearted joke turned into heavy pressure in Baramo's ears, and also brought inspiration to the romantic poet. Paramo turned around and left melancholy, chanting in a low voice.
"I hold up my heavy heart, solemnly and solemnly. The sorrow buried in my heart has piled up into a mountain, and there is darkness. I am waiting for a breeze to rekindle the ashes. Ah, that is my free love! "
Not far away, Shulot smiled softly. It seems that the added burden is not enough.
The legion stayed briefly and then continued on its journey. Three days later, when Xilotepec saw the city of Xilotepec again, the Otomi city-state, which surrendered first and then rebelled, had been completely besieged. The city-state was blocked by camps on all sides, and the supply of water, food, salt, and wood was completely cut off. Thousands of Mexica warriors were stationed and patrolling between the camps. Not even a hare could pass through the tight defense lines.
Hulot was a little surprised. It seemed that more than 40,000 Mexica warriors had gathered here. After more than twenty days of going back and forth, Avitt still hasn’t gone south?
The young man thought for a moment and then handed over the legion to Bertard for arrangement. Later, under the protection of the guards, the young man carried the wooden box from the Eagle's Nest and hurried to the camp by the river. He saw a huge fleet of ships gathering by the river, as well as grain-carrying ships that kept coming and going. It seemed that the food supply had been restored again. Already?
With a full stomach of confusion, Shulot went straight to the king's tent in the middle of the camp. The camp was solemn, but there was an indescribable strange atmosphere. The young man observed along the way. The warriors seemed to have good morale, but the eyes of the nobles he met occasionally flickered, as well as the city-state leaders who had the same wandering eyes.
This kind of atmosphere is not at all like the mass gathering at the banquet after Tisoke's death, but rather like a storm that is about to come.
Arriving at the king's tent, Shulot opened it, but there was no one inside. Even the bonfire was already cold, maybe it wasn't lit today. Then he continued to look for the wooden house where he lived and stayed, and finally found Avitt.
Avitt was not wearing the majestic king's clothes, but was wearing a loose white robe, looking particularly young. He leaned against the wooden wall behind him, holding in his hand the wooden board with words that Shulot had written down in his spare time, and looked at it carefully and leisurely.
Xiulote was anxious, so he snatched the board from his friend's hand and glanced at the Chinese characters on it. The first line began with "King Wu defeated Zhou", followed naturally by "The Duke of Zhou assists the government." The next line is the young man's random connection, "The Duke of Zhou spits out food, and the world returns to its heart" in the short song line.
Avitt raised his head and looked at the young man gently, with a sad smile on his face: "Xulot, are you back? How was the negotiation with the Otomi people this time?"
However, Shulot didn't say anything, and just asked eagerly: "Avit, why are you still here? Why don't you quickly go south to the capital to succeed the king?"
Avitt smiled bitterly, spread his hands, and shook his head helplessly: "What can I do? I received information two weeks ago that the old guy from Kechar actually invited the great Sivakvatel to protect the fourth generation of Mo The towering sacred tree of the Sica Eagle, the ancestor who has been ill and retired for many years, the immortal sun of the Mexica people, my eighty-five-year-old great-uncle, Tlacaelal!”
"What! The Immortal Sun Trakaeler is still alive?!" The young man was extremely shocked, and then he sighed in his heart.
Maybe in this world, there is really a sign of destiny, and everything is facing each other in a vague way. Then, Trakaeler is the sacred tree by the river, standing quietly in the past of the empire. Compared with him, Shulot and Avvit were just newborn eagles under the protection of the sacred tree, the little white Avvit.
The two were silent for a moment. In the wooden box behind the boy, little Avvit had just been awakened by a scream. It stuck its head out, looked at the two of them, and chirped. At this time, its wings were not yet full, and it was eager to fly.
