The night is dark and the jungle is deep. The exploration team members treated the wounded and began to board the ship. The Mayapan people were still groping around the battlefield, collecting trophies from the corpses. The leaders of both sides gathered in front of a bonfire, looking at each other and waiting quietly.
"The price of compensation..."
Mayan businessman Tikalo lowered his eyes and remained silent. He did prepare some trump cards to calm the kingdom's anger. However, there are very few such trump cards among the remnants of Mayapan who are in a difficult situation. Once handed over, the value of the remnants of Mayapan to the kingdom...
"That's all! I actually didn't have a choice."
Tikalo's eyes glanced at the red-stained dagger in the hand of Priest Tomat. This obsidian dagger has picked up lobsters, been engraved with divine patterns, and has naturally been used to offer sacrifices. Faced with such a threat, he sighed softly and looked at the young god-born Tiakin.
"Tiakin, did the person I ordered earlier...bring?"
"ah?"
The young god shook his head vigorously, and then he woke up from the priest's ritual. After thinking for a moment, he realized who his uncle was talking about.
"Oh. Brought it."
"Then bring it here!"
"good!"
Tiakin turned around and gave some instructions to the noble warrior behind him. Soon, a tall, middle-aged warrior with dark skin and facial tattoos came to the crowd holding an old picture board.
"Blessed by the Serpent God! Praise you, Sun of Mayapan, High Chief of Cocom!"
The tall middle-aged warrior put down his drawing board, knelt on the ground, and bowed to Tiakin. He raised his hands high and then lowered them flat on the ground, showing his inner respect.
"God bless you! Kuba, a loyal warrior of Mayapan. Your father and ancestors have been loyal to the royal family for generations, and you have been loyal to me for many years."
Tiakin's expression was calm, showing the majesty of a god. He looked at Kuba who was lying on the ground, paused, and then continued.
"And now, you want to worship the more respected main god and be loyal to the Nahua priests who came from the western plateau. You want to follow him and go east together, return to the place where your father and ancestors came from, and pass on the majesty and light of the god to The tribesmen are still ignorant!”
"...Yes! Obey you, Sun of Mayapan!"
After hearing "The Sun"'s words, Bowser was a little confused, but he still bowed to the ground respectfully. Then, obeying the will of the sun, he turned again and kowtowed to the priest Thomas.
"Praise you! High Priest of the Plateau!"
"Um?"
Priest Tomat looked at Kuba who was prostrating himself on the ground and kowtowed, and then at the Mayan businessman Tikalo who looked calm. He raised his brows, stretched out his hand and asked in a deep voice.
"Ti Carlo, is this the price of your compensation?"
"Exactly! Priest Thomas, he is one of the prices for compensation, and also the most important one... he will definitely satisfy the kingdom and His Highness!"
The Mayan merchant nodded affirmatively. Then, the corners of his mouth turned up, revealing a mysterious smile.
"Do you know where he was born?"
"Um?..."
Hearing this, Priest Tuomat's eyes moved. He looked at the old militiaman Chihuaco, who also looked at him at the same time. The same guess emerged in their minds, and their eyes looked to the east.
"Could it be?"
"That's right! His name is Cubao, and he comes from Cubao! 'Cuba' means a vast and fertile land. And that land is the Snake Island in the East China Sea that His Highness has longed for!"
Ticaro spoke confidently and carefully. But these plain words sounded like thunder in the ears of Priest Thomas.
"What! Is he the Taino that His Highness spoke of?"
"You could say that. But a more accurate statement is..."
Tikalo paused, but forgot the complicated name. So, he looked at the respectful Bowser and asked.
"Kuba, where are your ancestors from? What ethnic group are they?"
"Praise you! Dear descendants of God. My father-in-law comes from the far west of Cuba. They are the Guanahatabey people. And to the east of the tribe, on the flat wilderness, are the Taíno people. ). But in fact, their self-proclaimed name is Guanahaní. Guanahatabe and Guanahaní both live in the vast Cuba, and they are both Cubans who belong to the fertile land."
"Guanajatabe? Guanajani? Cuban?"
Priest Tomat's eyes widened and he was instantly excited. The Eastern Snake Island that His Highness had longed for appeared in front of him like this! He thought of His Highness's Chun Chun instructions before leaving, and it seemed as if there was blood boiling in his chest. After a while, he calmed down and asked in a deep voice.
"Kuba, are you from Snake Island, Cuba?"
"No. Gao Gao Plateau Chief, I grew up in the lowland Maya. But I have followed merchant ships, returned to Cuba several times, and visited the Xishan tribe where my father's ancestors came from."
"Huh? The Xishan tribe of Cuba?"
Hearing this, Priest Thomas touched his chin and asked.
"Where is Xishan?"
"Uh... Xishan is Xishan, the mountain to the west."
Bowser raised his head and gave Priest Tomat a strange look. Then, he thought for a while, and answered after Ti Carlo's prompting.
"Cuba is a long, flat, fertile land. It really looks like a snake, with its head facing east and its tail facing west. There are big mountains at both ends and a flat middle. The head is the east mountain and the tail is the west mountain."
"I see!"
Priest Thomas nodded, thought for a while, and asked again.
"Kuba, do you speak Taíno?"
"High Plateau Chief, I speak Mayan, Guanajata, and Taíno."
"Huh? Guanajata?"
"Oh, it's the language of my father's tribe. The tribes in the west of Cuba all speak Guanajata. In the middle and east, they speak Guanahani, which is Taíno. The two languages are different. "
"I see!"
Priest Tomat nodded repeatedly, with a smile on his face again. He looked at Bowser lying on the ground, his eyes shining, as if he were looking at a peerless beauty. The devout priest pondered for a while, touched the scripture in his hand again, and couldn't help but ask.
"Kuba, are you willing to convert to the Lord God?"
"Huh? Convert to the Lord God?..."
Bowser raised his head, looking confused. Then, when he saw Priest Tomat's gleaming eyes, he felt a chill all over and shivered.
"I..."
"Ahem! Dear Priest Thomas..."
Tikalo smiled and interrupted at the right time. He picked up the old drawing board on the ground, took a nostalgic look at it, and handed it to Priest Thomas respectfully.
"Look at this. Another price to satisfy you."
"This is?!"
"This is a sea map to Cuba. It shows the sea route to Cuba, as well as the names and locations of the thirty tribes in Cuba!"
Having said this, Ti Carlo pursed his lips, his eyes were a little shaken, and his tone was distant.
"When the Mayapan Kingdom was at its peak, it had frequent trade exchanges with the tribes on the island of Cuba, especially the tribes in the west. The fleets of the Maya Kingdom traveled east and west, and many of the tribes on the island recognized the royal emblem, and they also Traded goods with the kingdom. There were even chiefs who surrendered to the royal family and sent their nephews and sons. This is how Kuba’s father and ancestor came from..."
"Although Cuba's trade has to go through the sea and there is the risk of storms and waves, the profits are extremely high! The kingdom can exchange tobacco, cotton, pineapples, cassava, fish and feathers that are abundant on the island at very low prices... This map of Mayapan is the treasure that all Mayan merchants dream of!"
"The nautical map of Cuba...the most coveted treasure!..."
Hearing this, Priest Tomat murmured and repeated, his face beaming with joy. He eagerly lowered his head and looked at the board in his hand.
I saw a departure port, Ekab, drawn on the far left end of the board. Then, several crooked curves went from north to south to east, until they reached a long and narrow piece of land. These curves are also marked with Mayan numbers, which according to Tikalo's translation range from six hundred to eight hundred miles.
"Going eastward from Ekabu, six hundred to eight hundred miles, you will reach Cuba!"
Seeing this, Priest Thomas was shocked. He couldn't wait and continued to look down. I saw that "Cuba" is extremely long and narrow, extending to the southeast for more than two thousand miles. Along the coast, there are large and small Mayan characters marked, which should be the marks of different tribes.
"Tikalo, where is the Xishan tribe that Kuba comes from?"
"Here! Arriving at the westernmost tip of Cuba, heading east along the southern coast, the first large tribe at the foot of the mountain is the Xishan Tribe!"
Priest Tuomat stretched out his hand, pressed it on the Xishan tribe's position, and stayed there for a while. Then, he looked all the way east to the end of Cuba, where he saw a highlighted location on the east mountain.
"Huh? What is this mark?"
"Oh! Decades ago, the Mayapan Kingdom's fleet collected some black shining gems here, which can attract and repel each other."
Tikalo looked gloomy, recalling long-ago stories. The world is like smoke, and people's fate is really unpredictable... There was an inexplicable smile on his face, and a few sighs.
"I once selected two black stones as gifts for His Highness. His Highness was very excited when he saw them. He once asked me where I got them. I didn't tell him the specific location. I just said they came from the east. Snake Island..."
"And now, the kingdom calls the place where such gems are produced iron ore! I have heard that the kingdom's iron ore only has a very small piece, and His Highness regards it as an incredible treasure. And here, marked with black iron The ore...is directly under the open air, forming the mountain!”
tomato
"Ah? After Quetzalcoatl died, the fangs turned into hard black iron? A mountain formed from iron ore?!"
Hearing this, Priest Thomas suddenly clenched his scriptures and shouted in shock. There was fanaticism on his face, and his eyes suddenly brightened, which even made Ti Carlo lower his head slightly.
"Yes! This is it! His Highness has a divine prophecy and will build a city here! The fleet must arrive here, and the kingdom's warriors will also arrive here... smelt iron ore, build fortresses, guard against white-skinned evil spirits, and suppress Quetzalcoatl Corpse!"
