In early spring in March, the warm wind blows. This is the time when the weather is at its best along the Gulf Coast. There are neither the southward winds of the northern continent in winter nor the violent typhoons of the Caribbean in summer. The kingdom's fleet traveled eastward along the coast for four hundred miles in peace, then entered a mostly enclosed sandbank bay and arrived at an unusually vast coastal lagoon.
"Lord God! Such a big lake?!"
Puap stood on the bow of the boat and looked around, but he couldn't see the end of the lake. It was high tide at this time, and the raging tide poured in through the two gaps in the bay, and the tidal flats along the coast quickly swelled into lakes. Thousands of seabirds all took off from the food-filled tidal flats and circled around reluctantly. The gray warrior looked up and saw only wings spread all over the sky, soaring under the rising sun.
"You, you, you!"
The dark snake opened its eyes blankly, looking at the flying sky and listening to the chirping of the birds. Didi held her fingers in her mouth and stared at the shimmering waves in the lake with her eyes wide open.
"Fish, so many fish! Fat and big sea fish, they must be delicious!"
"Haha! This is the largest and most fertile lake along the entire Yucatan Peninsula, and even on the entire peninsula!"
With a smile on his face, Tikalo stretched out his hands and drew a big circle.
"A hundred and twenty miles from east to west, a hundred miles from north to south, it's all a 'big lake'!"
"Oh! So big!"
Chihuaco, the old militiaman, looked at it for a moment, amazed.
"What's the name of this big lake?"
"Just call it 'Big Lake'!"
"What's the name of this lake?"
"Just call it 'Big Lake'!"
Tikalo groaned with a smile and repeated it again.
"For the Mayan tribes along the lake, there has never been a lake bigger than this lake. The big lake in their mouth is the only one! And their main belief is Chak, the rain god who is in charge of rainfall, lakes and fertility."
Chihuaco was stunned, a little speechless. Then, the Mayan businessman pointed to a Mayan fishing village on the sandbank and said with a smile.
"This sandbar isolates the sea from the lake, leaving only two gaps in the east and west. During high tide and low tide, the water flow will be very rapid and turbulent. Whenever the tide recedes, there will be fish, shrimps and shellfish left in the lake that cannot escape in time. At that time, not only the birds in the sky will come down to eat, but also the fishermen in the villages will come over and pick up the fish and shrimps that can be seen everywhere on the smooth road."
The so-called "Great Lake" is Laguna Lake (Laguérminos) in Campeche, Mexico today. There are large mangroves and birds around the lake. The scenery is beautiful and it is rich in delicious seafood.
"correct!"
Mayan businessman Ti Carlo thought for a moment and suddenly patted his head. He swallowed, took the old militiaman's arm, and said to everyone with a smile.
"Captain Qi, Captain Pu, Priest Tomat... The fishing village here will produce a kind of giant prawns, which are extremely delicious! If the local fishermen catch them, they will specially keep this kind of prawns for more than ten days and raise them. In the sea water, leave it to the passing fleets along the way... let's go! The fleet is about to go ashore to replenish the water, and the few of us are just in time to have a big meal!"
"What? What kind of prawns can we eat when we go ashore?"
Chihuaco, the old militiaman, pursed his lips and hesitated for a moment. The experience of the previous few days was still vivid in his mind, and he already had some shadows about going ashore.
"No, no!"
"Captain Qi, don't be afraid. In this fishing village, merchant ships often dock. There are only a few hundred villagers in total, and only about 20 of them can be considered soldiers. There will never be any risk to the kingdom's fleet. !...Besides, the prawns in that village are really delicious!"
"What kind of prawns are they really so delicious?"
Hearing this, Puap was a little moved. He patted the old militiaman on the shoulder and said with a smile.
"Old man Qi, if you don't want to go, just stay and watch the ship. I'll take a few people up to take a look..."
"Hmm... OK! You go ahead! Bring dozens of warriors ashore for supplies. I'll stay and watch the ship..."
Chihuaco, an old militiaman, thought for a while and realized that the fleet really wanted to replenish water here, so he nodded in agreement. Then, he lowered his voice, leaned into Puap's ear, and whispered.
fo
"Look at that bald fox!"
"Huh?...Okay!"
Puap nodded blankly. The old militiaman looked at Priest Tomat again and asked with a smile.
"Priest Thomas, do you want to go ashore too?"
Priest Thomas nodded solemnly. He had two more "Ali Sutras" with pictures and text in his hands, and explained them carefully.
"I came ashore not to eat prawns. But to spread the glory of the Lord God! Praise the Lord God!..."
"...Praise the Lord God!"
The old militiaman smiled and prayed. Then, he thought for a moment, his eyes softened slightly, and he said to Puap.
"Lao Pu, please bring Dark Snake and Didi with you! Try those prawns!"
"Huh?...Okay!"
As the morning sun rose into the sky, the warriors replenished the water and gathered in the fishing village on the sandbank. Dozens of Mayan fishermen carefully brought large pots of fish soup, grilled shrimps and fish, and handed them to the armed warriors. The old village chief laughed with him and led a few deft villagers to carry six roasted lobsters in clay pots and respectfully handed them to the leader.
"Huh? Are there really such big shrimps?"
Huitu Puap stretched out his hand and grabbed the largest prawn from the clay pot. The giant shrimp was more than forty centimeters long, almost as thick as his forearm, and weighed several kilograms when he carried it. Puap smelled the fragrant smell of lobster, poked the hard shell, and didn't know how to eat it.
"Such a hard shell? How do you eat it?"
"Haha! This is easy! Just twist off the shrimp head, sprinkle some salt into the shrimp body, and then suck the meat out directly!"
"Huh? What about these two big pliers? How to break them open?"
Puap stretched out his hand and gestured at the pliers, which were bigger than his palm, and marveled in his heart.
"Hiss! What a ferocious beast in the sea! It can be easily caught by fishermen..."
"Oh, those pliers, don't bother to break them open, just throw them away. Anyway, there are plenty of lobsters, so everyone can eat! Come, come, try this delicious food! No need to add anything, just sprinkle some salt if you don't like it. , keep it so delicious it will make you cry!”
Tikalo couldn't wait, so he twisted off a palm-sized lobster head, took a bite of white and tender fresh shrimp meat, put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly, with an expression of enjoyment on his face.
"Ah! What a nostalgic smell...the smell of Maya's hometown!..."
"Phew! It's really, really delicious!"
Puap stretched out his hand, grabbed the forearm-long piece of shrimp meat, held it in his hand and took a few bites, and suddenly his face showed surprise. When you enter your mouth, the prawn meat is tender and fresh, with natural sweetness and bland saltiness, and the texture is very chewy. The Gray Earth Warrior immediately worked hard and ate two kilograms of lobster meat in one go. It was more comfortable than smoking the divine smoke!
"It's delicious, it's delicious! Not enough, not enough! Tikalo, let them have two more cans of prawns!"
"Delicious! So delicious! Even better than honey!"
"Yes! Dark Snake is right!"
The dark snake held the prawns and dug hard into the shrimp meat, its eyes turned into crescents. Didi next to her stuck out her tongue, humming indistinctly while sucking the juice from the shrimp shell.
"Wow! Father Qi is so kind! Going sailing on the sea is such a blessing!"
As for the main priest Tomat, he was concentrating on picking out the shrimp meat with his head lowered and the obsidian dagger he had sacrificed in his hand. The proficiency of this technique and the precision of the movements are simply amazing! Beside him, there was already a pile of empty lobster shells.
"Okay! I'm going to tell the village chief to grill all the prawns!"
With a smile on his lips, Tikalo glanced at the people who were concentrating on eating shrimps, and walked towards the village chief in a leisurely manner. In this remote and isolated Mayan fishing village, no one speaks Nahua language. The only ones in the fleet who were familiar with the Mayan language were Tikallo and the guide he brought.
"...Do you know everything?"
"...I know, noble man who is bigger than the sky, I will do it later!"
After listening to Ti Carlo's instructions, the hunchbacked old village chief lowered his head repeatedly, even lowering his head to his knees. Then, he immediately called over several villagers and continued to prepare delicious food for the gentlemen.
Ti Carlo raised the corners of his mouth and smiled slightly. When he turned around again, his face was calm.
"Ha, it's so delicious! ...The taste of Maya's hometown is right in front of you!"
