Deep in the market, the flow of people has decreased slightly, but the prosperity has increased. Maya's divine smoke rises in front of the smoke shop's wooden shed and floats in all directions. Several city-state nobles were dressed in fine clothes, smoking expensive cigarettes, chatting and laughing. Behind the nobles were several warriors, and a few steps away was the crowd gathered. Like a group of snakes, they stretched their heads greedily, sniffing the dispersing smoke, with yearning on their faces.
"Well...the cornman's divine smoke..."
A dozen steps away, Puap looked at the Mayan business shed, looking struggling and hesitant.
The kingdom strictly enforces religious laws, one of which prohibits warriors from smoking sacred smoke. According to the descriptions of the priests, this smoke that communicates with the gods will burn the vitality of mortals and is especially harmful to the lungs. And once you take too much, it will reduce the samurai's ability to run and fight!
Of course, a more effective measure for the kingdom would be to prohibit the private sale of divine smoke and increase taxes to make the price of such consumables exceed the affordability of ordinary warriors.
"The price of the divine smoke here seems to be much lower than that of the Kingdom and Alliance!..."
Puap saw it clearly. The nobleman just took out a gem from the lake and brought several bags of divine smoke. This price is probably only one-fifth of the kingdom’s price!
The goods of the Mayans were much cheaper in this nearby port than in the kingdom two thousand miles away. Due to the stable quality and the continuous inflow of huge quantities of gems in the lake, they have gradually become a relatively popular "currency" in the luxury trade. Now, Puap has a bag of hundreds of gems in his hands, and he can even buy all the sacred cigarettes in the cigarette shop!
"The divine object...the divine smoke..."
Puap, wearing an eagle helmet, was wandering around the tobacco shop with his mind wandering. Two clusters of short bifurcated feathers dangled on the helmet of the dust warrior, like a fat turkey walking around with its wings spread.
A few steps away, an old man in his fifties, wearing the feather robe of a tribal witch doctor, was sitting cross-legged on the ground. In front of him, a roll of white cloth was spread out. On the white cloth, there are more than ten monkey skulls, an obsidian talisman, four or five ancient jade pendants, and three or two jars of strange herbs. In the middle of the white cloth is a simple and mysterious black and purple pottery plate the size of a human head.
Occasionally someone would come up to the old witch doctor and lower his head to ask a few questions, but the old witch doctor did not answer and just waved his hand. He sat on the ground, squinted his eyes, and carefully looked at the "fat turkey" hanging around for a while, and suddenly sang leisurely in the popular Nahua language.
"O eagle in the sky, flying from the west! O thunder on the sea, falling from the east! The road ahead is long, and my hometown is far away. Stern gods, will you let me go? Let me return to my hometown safely! ..."
"Um?"
Hearing the hoarse singing, Puap stopped and listened to a few words, his face suddenly changed. He immediately turned around and looked at the old man dressed as a witch doctor, his eyes flashing.
"Ahem!...Old...witch doctor. What are you singing?"
The old witch doctor ignored him and didn't even raise his eyes to look at Puap. He just shook his head, picked up the pottery plate on the white cloth, hugged it to his chest, and sang hoarsely again.
"The divine pottery plate, tell me the future of mortals! The destinies of all mortals have already been written by the gods. In the west, there are high volcanoes; in the east, there are endless abyss; in the north, there are thunderous storms ; South, there is a sea of green trees!... The gods have stepped on the edge of the world, where can mortals easily go? Souls without guidance are destined to never return!..."
"...Huh? You'll never come back..."
Listening to the old witch doctor's singing, Puap's expression suddenly changed, and he felt a little in awe for no reason. He walked forward, his eyes moved up and down, and he soon noticed the pottery plate in the old witch doctor's arms.
The style of the pottery plate was extremely simple, and the edges were worn, as if it had been passed down for hundreds or thousands of years. On the front of the pottery plate, there is a sacred tree carved from top to bottom. The sacred tree was dyed green, branched out, and divided the pottery plate into three layers. The upper part of the pottery plate is engraved with various gods and dyed with the blue of the sky. In the middle of the pottery plate, an elliptical cross-section is drawn with twelve directions. In the center of the oval is the pyramid temple integrated with the tree trunk, dyed golden with gold powder. In the lower part of the pottery plate, there are red volcanoes, yellow abyss, and black dark sea.
"Well..."
Looking at such a mysterious and unclear pattern, Puap suddenly felt awe in his heart.
As if sensing Puap's gaze, the old witch doctor glanced at him and put the pottery plate into his feather robe. And for a fleeting moment, the warrior with good eyesight vaguely saw that the back of the pottery plate was engraved with dense symbols and divine patterns, as well as rings symbolizing the calendar.
"Huh? The calendar and astronomy are engraved on it... Could it be that this is the inheritance pottery tablet of the priests?"
Puap's heart moved, and his thoughts fluctuated. He asked the old witch doctor with a smile on his face.
"Dear old...priest, can you lend me this pottery plate for a look?"
"Ha! Gods have spirits and cannot be peeked at. The cruel fate has been doomed for a long time. Mortals can only accept it and cannot change it!"
The old witch doctor shook his head. With his old eyes, he looked at Puap for the first time and waved his hand lightly.
"Warrior from a foreign land, don't try to get hold of my sacred objects. Being able to hear me sing a song is considered your luck. Let's go! Your destiny is destined to be in the far east, in the abyss of the sea... "
"Hiss! My destiny is in the abyss of the sea?!"
Hearing this, Puap's heart suddenly tightened. He pinched his fingers, bit his lip, and forced a smile.
"Old priest, do you know where I am going? What is my fate?"
"No, I do not know."
The old witch doctor looked leisurely and shook his head again.
"The gods have spirits and know their destiny. He just uses my mouth to speak. Foreign warrior, let's go! Destiny cannot be forced."
"this..."
Puap's eyelids twitched and he looked at the cold-looking old witch doctor. He thought for a moment, then took out a shining lake gem from his arms and placed it on the white cloth.
"This old priest, I would like to offer you a gem! Can you let me see the object and give me some guidance?"
"The gods have spirits and their fate is destined. Take it, take it! Take the gem and don't bother me."
The old witch doctor closed his eyes and waved his hand again, without even looking at the gem.
"you!..."
Puap gritted his teeth, reached into his arms again, took out five gems, and begged.
"Six is the number of divinity, the gods of the four directions and the gods above and below. Dear old priest, I would like to offer six gems and implore the gods to speak and reveal my destiny!"
"Let's go, let's go!~"
No matter how much Puap begged, the old witch doctor just closed his eyes, hugged the pottery plate, and kept shaking his head.
After a while, the dust warrior Puap finally couldn't bear it anymore and shouted sharply.
"You old guy! You don't know what's good or bad!"
Hearing this, the old witch doctor finally opened his eyes, looked at the gray warrior lightly, and said calmly.
"Foreign warrior, you are destined to die, why force yourself?"
"Ah! Damn old thing!"
Puap's heart was shaken and his expression became serious. He strode forward, holding down the copper ax with one hand and grabbing the lapel of the old witch doctor's clothes with the other, glaring at him fiercely and threatening him.
"You know! Even in this busy city, if I want to kill you and steal this pottery plate, it will be easy!"
"Haha! Can the fate of a mortal be changed with the help of a copper ax in his hand?"
The old witch doctor looked calm and laughed.
"Even if you kill me, what will happen? Your fate will not change because of this. Gods have spirits. You will only offend the gods and die faster!"
"ah?!"
Puap's eyes were fierce and he stared at the old witch doctor fiercely. The old witch doctor looked calm, as if he didn't care about life and death. The two stared at each other for a moment, until they caught the attention of the city warriors, who were about to step forward to check.
"You, foreign warrior, what are you doing? No fighting in the city! No rudeness to the witch doctor!"
"..."
Seeing the city-state warriors around them taking out their war sticks and shouting as they were about to gather around, Puap suddenly softened and fell to his knees with a "pop". Then, under everyone's surprised gazes, he hugged the old witch doctor's waist, pressed his face against the pottery plate on the other's chest, and begged in pain.
"Ah! Respect the old priest, please give me guidance on my destiny! I am willing to offer my sincere tribute, twelve gems!..."
"Well!..."
The old witch doctor was hugged by the strong gray earth warrior, and the corner of his mouth twitched. He tried to struggle, but the other party held him tightly and couldn't break free at all. After a few breaths, he finally sighed helplessly and spoke.
"Hey! Okay then. Just let go of your hand, and I'll beg the god to show you your destiny!"
"Good! Good! Dear old priest, I praise you!"
Puap nodded repeatedly, stretched out his hand excitedly, took out six more gems from his arms, and placed them on the white cloth. Seeing such a wealthy foreign warrior, the warriors from the nearby city-states all had their eyelids twitching and their expressions moved.
The old witch doctor held the pottery plate and looked at the crowd around him. He nodded slightly and said with a smile.
"I would like to implore the gods to give this unknown foreign warrior a look at the cursed fate! The gods pay attention, and the fates of mortals will interfere with each other and may cause disasters. I also ask all warriors to spread out a little to avoid affected."
Hearing this, the expressions of everyone around changed. They quickly took two steps back, looked at the ominous gray earth warrior with disgust, and left in a hurry.
"What?...My fate is cursed?"
Hearing this, Puap's face turned blue, and he sat down carefully on the ground according to the old witch doctor's instructions. Then, he stretched out his hands and pressed them on the center of the pottery plate that he took out again. His heart thumped, thumped, and beat hard.
The old witch doctor held both sides of the pottery plate, closed his eyes silently, and sensed it for a while. After a moment, he suddenly realized it and let out a long sigh.
"I see!"
"Dear old priest...how...how is it?"
"You have the curse of the condor on your body! It was the noble descendant of the condor who used up all his divinity and life before death to mark your destiny with deep-seated hatred!"
"ah!"
Puap's hands trembled, his body shook violently, and he fell to the ground. The secret deep in his heart was revealed in this way, causing him to feel panic and confusion from the bottom of his heart. After a while, he suddenly fell to the ground and kowtowed twice.
"Old prophet, please save me!"
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