The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
After two or three weeks of difficult travel, the Spaniards finally reached Pachacamac. Pachacamac, which means "Maker of the Earth" in Inca, is a seaside town located in the Rulin Valley of vegetable belts and desert scenery, adjacent to Lima, which was later built by the Spaniards.
Pacha means the universe and the world, and Carmack means giving soul. Pachacamac was regarded as the ancient creator god in the consciousness of the Incas. He appeared in the form of a fish-man from the sea and was called the "Maker of the Earth." He is also the god who predicts earthquakes. The mission of Pachacamac is to give life and vitality to all creatures born on the earth. In the minds of the Incas, Pachacamac will not appear or appear. It is an untouchable statue that everyone believes in its existence. God. The Indians hold this name in great reverence. Do not call them by their names. If you have to call them, you must be respectful from expression to movement. Tighten your shoulders, lower your head, look from the sky to the ground, straighten your fingers into palms, raise your arms straight over your shoulders, and look Empty kiss. Generally, no sacrificial rituals are performed on him, and the king is just called by his name. Although he is the creator god, his character is extremely weird. He starved the first male humans to death and killed the first child born to the man's wife. When he was about to kill the second child, he accidentally killed the child's mother. The second child drove Pachacamac back to the ocean for revenge. In the Inca Empire, the most popular worship was already Viracocha, the god of kingship, rather than Pachacamac.
The ancient city of Pachacamac was occupied by people of different ethnic groups as early as 200 BC. It became the ceremonial center of the people in the central Andes. It developed and expanded during the Isma period and became a holy place for people to worship. Later, the Incas conquered and occupied this place, forced people to change their idolatry, destroyed and rebuilt the buildings of this ceremonial center, and built the Temple of the Sun, Akyawas, Tauri Chubi Palace, Qibla Square, etc. Pachacamac no longer becomes a holy place that people rush to worship.
However, this approach of the Inca did not achieve the desired effect, because generations of Indians still worship Pachacamac as their god. The Incas had no choice but to regard the Sun God and Pachacamac as idols worshiped by people at the same time. However, after the Incas accepted Pachacamac as the god they worshiped, they also made up a reason for people to worship Pachacamac. It means that a long time ago, in this land of the Inca Kingdom, there were thorns and darkness everywhere. There is no light, no distinction between day and night. One day, Pachacamac, known in the Indian language as the creator who gave life to the world, passed by here and on a whim, he created the first humans and birds and beasts. Then he went to live in seclusion and rest in a unique lake in the Kolya area, which is today's Lake Titicaca.
Many years later, Pachacamac planned to return to a distant place in the universe, so he walked out of the lake. At this time, the earth was still dark. Although the people he created had already started a primitive life, they not only did not know how to be grateful to the Creator who gave them life and souls, but they also did not even have the most basic sense of reverence and fear of God. None. He cursed and cursed all day long, complained about this and that, and even threw rocks and spit at Pachacamac as he walked out of the lake. In a rage, Pachacamac turned them all into stone statues. Some were pointing towards the lake, while others were wading across the river. However, after he calmed down, Pachacamac considered that the reason why the barbarians complained was because of his negligence in failing to educate them humanely, and he couldn't help but feel annoyed and regretful about his mistake. So he decided to come here again to civilize these barbaric and ignorant people.
These myths and stories played a very important role in the faith and worship of the Incas. Therefore, the buildings here gradually became an important place for Inca worship. Especially during the Inca Empire of Tawatisuyu, people from all over the world regarded it as a holy place of worship and offered sacrifices to Pachacamac. It can be said that this is one of the most important sacrificial sites in the Inca Empire, and it is said to be as wealthy as Cusco. However, this is indeed a very large city with a large population and densely packed houses, and almost all the houses are made of stones and are very solid.
However, Hernando only thought about gold and was not interested in other things, so he led his soldiers straight to the guardian temple. The guardian temple is composed of a huge rock building surrounding a conical hill. Therefore, from the appearance, it looks more like a castle than a religious place, but the roof of the rock building is thatched. become.
Under the guidance of the Indian guide, Hernando led the soldiers on horseback to the gate of the guardian temple. He jumped off his horse and said to the priest guarding the door, "We come from a very far away place." After saying that, he took out the security pass issued by the Inca King and showed it to the priest guarding the door. However, the priest guarding the door came over. They were all Huascar people, and they refused to recognize the pass issued by Atahualpa and insisted not to let the Spaniards in.
Seeing that the priest refused to let in, Hernando pushed the priest aside, and then led the soldiers inside. They walked past the megalithic buildings and saw a pyramid-shaped hill surrounded by megalithic buildings. So, they spiraled up the stone corridor and walked towards the top of the mountain.
When you reach the top of the mountain, you can overlook the boundless Pacific Ocean to the west. A temple-like building stands on the top of the mountain. This is the sacred temple where people worship. The door is decorated with precious stones such as crystal, emerald and coral.
There are also priests guarding the temple standing in front of the door. When the priest guarding the temple saw a group of big white men suddenly arriving, he said to Hernando, "Only the Inca king is allowed to enter here, and he must fast and pray first. No one else is allowed in." Hernando He drew out his long sword and threatened the priest guarding the door with force.
However, at this moment, the ground beneath their feet began to shake violently, the ground shook, the ground cracked, and the walls of the temple in front of them were crumbling before their eyes. The Indian priests and Hernando's Indians were so frightened that they fled in panic. Because they thought the actions of the invaders had angered the gods, the gods wanted to bury the invaders alive in the rubble or kill them with thunder and lightning. What an incredible coincidence. Just when the Spanish were about to offend the sacred and inviolable temples of the Inca Empire, an earthquake occurred.
(Please pay attention to Zhang Baotong's signed work "Poetic Emotions", which includes short prose, life essays and short and medium-length novels. Today's release is the novella "Love Ladder" (6. Heart to Heart))
