The end of May is filled with spring rain and the joy of the growth of all things. The embankment of the capital city in the lake is covered with lush metasequoia trees. Under the great pyramid in the temple area, magnificent and strange jacarandas bloom. In this glorious season of late spring, the eyes are full of luxuriant vitality, with no trace of decay to be found.
On the second day, the high priest looked as usual, wore sacrificial robes, and came to the towering priest hall again. More than a dozen priests and elders, dozens of high-level priests, and nearly two hundred low-level priests and apprentices, all bowed and obeyed!
The high priest first issued a decree and ordered the last eight thousand selected Dingkou to immediately set off from the capital and migrate to the Kingdom of the Lake. At this point, the 70,000 Mexica immigrants promised to Xiulote in July last year have been moved out, and there are still 5,000 more immigrants. Subsequently, he sent another 10,000 militiamen and transferred an additional batch of stored grain to the South Route Army.
Regarding these measures, the God of War Elder Yazhar was somewhat dissatisfied. During the spring plowing season, the high priest was a little biased in order to take care of his direct grandson.
The high priest was determined and never stopped. He once again issued a decree, selecting more than two hundred priest apprentices who were about to complete their studies from the Priest University in the capital and sending them to the Kingdom of the Lake. Along with them, there were dozens of middle and low-level priests from the high priest series.
All the priests and elders were a little surprised. The whereabouts of the priest apprentices is not that important, but these dozens of middle and low-level priests all hold real power in the priest groups at all levels in the alliance! The high priest is actually willing to give up these positions in order to assist the Kingdom of the Lake?
Akap smelled something unusual. He lowered his eyes, remained silent among the high priests, and immediately broke off all communication with the Holy City envoys.
"This kind of pass, this kind of situation...something big might happen!..."
Next, the high priest once again issued a decree and summoned the envoys of the holy city of Cholula, the priests and elders of Quao. After talking with Elder Kuio for half a day, he decisively announced that he would go east in person to discuss "peace talks and surrender" with the priests and elders of Cholula City!
Hearing this, the elders of the high priest group were shocked.
The holy city of Cholula is actually at war with the Mexican Alliance. If you head east rashly, many risks are simply unavoidable. And inside the capital, the immortal elder is also terminally ill, and he doesn't know how long he can last. At this juncture, the supreme leader of the alliance's theocracy actually wants to leave the crucial capital city in the lake and go east to the dangerous hinterland of the Tlaxcala people to serve as an envoy to the city of Cholula, which has an unpredictable attitude?
However, the high priest's will is as strong as jade and cannot be shaken. In less than two days, he temporarily handed over the highest religious affairs to the priest elder Ugel, took the envoys from Cholula City, and embarked on the road eastward!
The group walked in a hurry without stopping, and could cover sixty or seventy miles in one day.
Elder Kuio was still less than fifty years old, and he couldn't hold on. He had lived in Cholula for many years and had never traveled so fast. As the theocratic leader of the alliance, the high priest is over sixty years old this year, but he is still moving vigorously and constantly running. He walked faster and faster, like a burning candle, and there seemed to be light in his eyes!
In early June, the group finally traveled four hundred miles and arrived at the South Road Camp under Shuigu City. When Shulot received the letter, he was extremely surprised. He ran out of the camp in disbelief, barefoot, and saw his energetic grandfather face to face. Grandfather was straightening his back, holding his scepter, and smiling majestically at him.
"Dear High Priest, Commander-in-Chief of the South Road, Shulot sends his regards!"
"Well! No need to be polite. I came from the capital to Cholula to hold talks with the priests and elders."
The high priest smiled and nodded. He raised his scepter and calmly gave instructions to everyone.
"We have worked hard all the way and rest here for a day. Shulot, there is no need to hold a banquet, just entertain!"
"Obey you!..."
Night came in a blink of an eye, everyone had a simple dinner and then went to their tents to rest. It was quiet outside the coach's tent, with only a few teams of personal guards patrolling and guarding. At this time, naturally no one opened their eyes to disturb the rare reunion between grandfather and grandson.
Shulot was dressed in casual clothes, sitting at the bottom, looking at his grandfather at the top with concern.
After not seeing each other for half a year, my grandfather seemed much older. He took off his priestly attire, revealing a thin, dry figure and a head of silver-white hair. His back was a bit stooped, and there were many age spots on the skin on the back of his hands. Only his eyes were full of vitality, which was heart-breakingly bright.
"Grandfather... why did you come in such a hurry without even saying hello? You know, the four states of Tlaxcala are still at war, and there are many hostile tribes that have broken up and fled..."
Shulot looked at his old grandfather for a while, feeling a little resentful and even more worried. My grandfather is over sixty years old. Instead of taking a good rest in the capital, he even went to a dangerous place of war!
"To negotiate with the Holy City of Cholula, just send a young priest and elder. My army is surrounding here, and they can't get anything out of it!"
"It doesn't matter. When I came, I brought a large group of temple warriors with me. The Southern Route Army cleaned up all the places along the way very well, and I didn't encounter any hostile tribes."
High Priest Shuter looked relaxed and smiled. He looked at his heroic grandson with tenderness in his eyes.
"When I came, I saw new sprouts of corn sprouting in the nearby farmland. It seems that it has been plowed in spring?"
Guyu
"Exactly!"
Hearing this, Shulot's eyes flashed with pride. He took down a magic staff from the hanger in the tent, with an ancient skull inlaid on it, and handed it to his grandfather's hand.
"Look, this is the 'Death Skull' I obtained from the Temple of Death in the Holy Mountain! With this shocking artifact and the guidance and preaching of the priests, the prisoners of Tlaxcala on the southern road resisted. My heart is greatly reduced. They can already be used by the Prepecha warriors to cultivate and cultivate..."
"The legendary Death Skull?"
The high priest stretched out his hand and stroked the black jade-like skull, looking a little surprised.
The Temple of the God of Death and the Skull of the God of Death are hidden in the Yanfeng Mountain, leaving behind hundreds of years of continuous myths. They are miracles and artifacts revered by the Mexica people in the west and the Tlaxcala people in the east. The old priests in the Temple of Death have legends about seeing through life and death and knowing the future.
"Yeah. I took Bertard and Naxiu to the sacred mountain, found the temple of the Temple of Death, and got this skull. I don't know if this is the legendary artifact. Unfortunately, the old priest inside He was killed by the Tlaxcala warriors, leaving only a few obscure prophecies, the truth of which is unknown..."
Speaking of this, Shulot looked a little regretful. However, he has arranged for the priests who accompany the army to process these prophecies carefully, and then publicize them among the army and prisoners. The content of the processed prophecy is naturally "He will receive divine grace from the Temple of Death and be destined to rule over all the people of Tlaxcala..."
"Xulot, please tell me the prophecy and listen to it."
The high priest looked solemn and gave instructions in a deep voice. Then, he listened to Shulot's chanting and thought about the meaning behind it.
“…Death is at hand, the brightest morning star is about to fall.
The immortal gods will die one after another in their sacred habitat! ..."
The young man's chanting was deep and clear, like the cry of a nighthawk. The high priest listened to the obscure prophecy, stroked the "skull of death", and his eyes gradually changed.
“…the god of death closes his eyes, touches the invisible death, and gives birth to life in death!
Then He too will die, in the place of the moon and the mountains..."
Soon, Shulot finished reciting and looked at his grandfather with concern. Grandfather fell into deep thought for a long time. After a while, he regained his composure and nodded solemnly.
"Xulot, my child, you have been inspired by the gods...Don't mention these prophecies to others again. Remember them well and don't forget them!"
"...Yes, Grandpa!"
Shulot solemnly promised. Afterwards, the two talked about the history of the Temple of Death, and then turned to the current war.
"In the past month, I have suspended the legion's offensive and concentrated on stabilizing the rear, cleaning up the occupied southern states, and taking in the captured prisoners. Now, the Southern Route Army has captured 120,000 Tlaxcala people and is heading to the southern waterway. More than 30,000 people were transferred! Among them, the city of Cholula handed over 30,000 Tlaxcala people, along with a year's worth of food for these people. And according to the previous agreement, they had to hand over another 50,000 people!... "
"Oh? Cholula's old foxes, are you willing to hand over 80,000 people to you?"
Hearing this, the high priest's eyes flashed, thoughtfully.
"Ha! Grandfather, tens of thousands of troops from the southern route semi-encircled Cholula State in the center, looting from time to time. Cholula State is small in area and extremely prosperous. It only has a radius of more than 40 miles around the holy city of Cholula. But there are actually 200,000 people from various tribes living there! Coupled with the tens of thousands of Tlaxcala tribesmen who fled in, the population can be said to be extremely prosperous..."
"Now the city-state army has captured 20,000 prisoners, and the city of Cholula has surrendered 30,000 people, which is only a decrease of 50,000 people. Around the Holy City, there are still overcrowded people, with more than a dozen wealthy villages and towns. And in the Holy City The total number of warriors and militiamen is only more than 10,000, and there is not even an outer wall...but the identity of the Holy City is more difficult to attack rashly. Therefore, I besieged rather than attacked, because I wanted to take advantage of the Holy City Cholula. , harvest enough fruits!”
With that said, Shulot stood up with a confident and sharp expression.
"As long as the kingdom in the lake eats more than 200,000 southern Tlaxcalans and digests it for two years... the kingdom's strength will increase to a higher level, and I can form two more legions! After that, I will conquer Chapala Lake area, pacification of Tekos tribes, coastal exploration and colonization...the future of the kingdom will not be long before it shines in the west!"
"Um!..."
Looking at his ambitious grandson, the high priest's heart was filled with complicated emotions. He silently realized that he was four parts relieved, three parts worried, and two parts reluctant to give up... and there was also a heartfelt sadness.
"...My grandson really looks like an emperor!...It's a pity that I won't be able to see that day..."
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