The sea and sky are vast, with boundless waves in the east, and land looms in the southeast. The kingdom's exploration fleet set out from the mouth of the Cat Eagle River and headed eastward along the extended land. After traveling one hundred and twenty miles, it arrived at the Zhanjiao River (
Bobos) enters the sea; and sixty miles further, you will reach the entrance of Pingsha River (pa).
The Cat Eagle River, the Pointed River, and the Pingsha River are three long rivers lined up like the roots of trees, extending inland and branching out into more than ten tributaries. These long river tributaries connect the four states of Tlaxcala, Gas
Turk coast, Totonac coast. They even extend all the way to the southeast, reaching the border of Totonac, Mixtec, and Zapotec, seven hundred miles away, and the vast grass lake (án)
.In other words...
"O God! This eastern seaside is really a wild place. There are trees everywhere, and they are connected by these rivers!"
Puap took off his eagle helmet and wiped the sweat from his forehead and neck. Then he took a piece of dried tomato, threw it into his mouth, and chewed it. It had a very sour and slightly sweet taste.
It spread in the mouth of the gray earth warrior, making him energetic again.
"After coming down from the plateau, in addition to the continuous rain forest, the coastal lowlands are filled with rivers one after another! ... If there were not these rivers, large and small, drilling everywhere in the hundreds of miles of forests, it would be really difficult.
Human lives!”
Hearing this, the Mayan businessman Tikalo shook his head and laughed. Where did he go? Next, when he arrived at the Mayan tribes in Yucatan, there were more than two thousand miles of rainforest from north to south and sixteen hundred miles from east to west. Everything was green.
The ocean and the inland are not connected by long rivers, which is really life-threatening!
Without local guides and local city-state support, any legion that goes deep into the rainforest will be doomed! Well, no matter how powerful the legion is!
Thinking of this, Ti Carlo lowered his eyes and was silent. Some long-standing family records flashed in his mind, which was hard to let go. After a while, he said with a smile.
"After crossing three big rivers, we left the territory of the Huastec tribe and came to the territory of the Totonak people. Further to the southeast, a hundred and twenty miles away, we reached the respected Yu of the Totonak tribes.
Snake City! In ancient legends, this is where Quetzalcoatl left the mainland and sailed on a snake raft to the East China Sea!..."
"Therefore, hundreds of years ago, the coastal tribes who believed in Quetzalcoatl established an ancient city-state here and built the revered ancient Quetzalcoatl temple! Then, the Totonak people who came south from the northern wilderness
, after settling on the seaside, he gradually converted to Quetzalcoatl..."
"It's mid-January now, which happens to be the first Quetzalcoatl Day after the New Year! All the tribes in Totonac along the coast will hold extremely grand festivals that last for several days. If the fleet speeds up, they should be able to make it in time.
superior!..."
The oarsmen took turns paddling, and the fleet kept moving forward. Two days later, the Kingdom's exploration fleet finally arrived at the Feathered Serpent City. At this time, a celebration ceremony to worship the gods was being held in the Feathered Serpent City. And tens of thousands of trustees
The Tonak tribe is dancing and celebrating inside and outside the city-state!
"...The benevolent Quetzalcoatl, she has the most beautiful feathers in the world! She rides the hurricane with her feathers and dances in the storm on the seaside! With her beard fluttering and a smile on her face, she sings with us! ..
.”
The songs of celebration reverberated throughout the city. The nobles and leaders were all dressed in bright costumes, with high bird feathers, and their bodies surrounded by gold, silver and gems, singing with their hands raised high. And the young girls were singing.
Wearing a scanty short shirt, with bare wrists and ankles, and strung with colorful shells, they danced a youthful and lively dance amidst the sound of "dingdong".
The entire city was immersed in a sea of festive joy. The arrival of the kingdom's fleet did not attract much attention. Although the kingdom's longships were large, they were similar to the large galleys that the Mayans often traveled between.
.In fact, at this time, there were several Mayan merchant ships docked on the seaside of the city-state. On such festive days, nobles and leaders never begrudge wealth, and it is the best time to do business!
Under the vigilant eyes of their Mayan counterparts, a group of people stepped off the long boat and entered the ancient city in front of them. Although this feathered serpent city of the Totonac people has the same name as the Tlaxcala Feathered Serpent City, its architectural style
But it is more primitive and very different.
The Feathered Serpent City of the Tlaxcala people is a small but sturdy castle with complete bluestone exterior walls and tall twin temples. The Feathered Serpent City of the Totonac people is an open complex.
The city-state has a vast area, with only simple wooden fences, and the houses are mostly low thatched houses and wooden shacks. In the city-state, the only stone building with more than two floors is a single pyramid more than ten meters high, and the largest one built on the top of the tower.
The revered Quetzalcoatl Temple!
"Huh? This is the statue of Quetzalcoatl? It looks really strange."
Chihuaco, an old militiaman, stood near the temple, raised his head, and looked curiously at the carvings of the pyramid temple. The Prepecha people believed in the three gods of sun, earth and moon, and the Mexica Alliance had given up their belief in the feathered serpent.
, completely destroying the Quetzalcoatl sculpture. Therefore, this was indeed the first time he saw the appearance of Quetzalcoatl.
The reliefs are vivid and lively, and have been carved for hundreds of years. Among a circling long feathered snake, stands the distinctive Quetzalcoatl. The eyes of Quetzalcoatl are two huge sapphires, and her forehead
Extremely broad, with a tall and erect nose, and a very deep appearance, it is completely different from the other Nahua gods. More importantly...
"It's really weird! Why does Quetzalcoatl have such a long beard?... I mean! It's so ugly, much uglier than His Majesty!..."
Seeing this, Chihuaco shook his head and sighed. In this era, no one in the world has the habit of growing beards. And genetically speaking, Native Americans also have the least body hair, and their skin hair follicles are the least sensitive to male hormones, and almost never appear.
With a lush beard, this idol fell in Chihuaco's eyes, just like the people of the ancient Celestial Dynasty felt when they saw "foreign barbarians" for the first time.
Two steps away, Puap's eyes widened. The carved beard of Quetzalcoatl was dyed with gray-red dye and inlaid with rubies. And the face of Quetzalcoatl was plated with some silver particles.
Sparkling in the sunlight.
"Broad forehead, high nose, blue eyes, white skin, and gray-red beard?...Huh? I seem to have heard someone say that this is..."
"This is a foreign evil! Damn it! These degenerate Totonac people not only believe in Quetzalcoatl, but also portray Quetzalcoatl as a white-skinned evil demon!..."
Seeing the carvings in the temple, the main priest Thomas's eyes widened with anger, and he was so angry that his hands were shaking. Although the Quetzalcoatl of the Alliance also had a beard, he was not carved into the appearance of an evil spirit inspired by the gods.
!
"Ah! O supreme god! May you send down thunder to punish these lost tribes! The alliance's legions must come here, destroy the statues, and burn the evil spirits to ashes!..."
"Tsk tsk!...The Quetzalcoatl of the Totonac people is indeed very strange. I don't know who they learned it from, but it actually looks nothing like our Mayan Quetzalcoatl!"
Not far away, Mayan businessman Tikalo touched his bright bald head and looked at the sculptures of the temple, with an expression of puzzlement and confusion.
However, at this moment, several old feathered serpent priests suddenly walked out from the high temple. They held corn and feathers in their hands and walked down the pyramid singing and dancing. And a dozen priest apprentices
Carrying a gorgeous bamboo raft, he followed carefully behind him.
The young man Dark Snake stood on tiptoe and looked out. On the raft, there was a wooden statue of a feathered serpent with gold and silver decorations, two people high. At the bottom of the wooden statue, there were a row of several long wooden snakes. This was exactly
Carving of Quetzalcoatl riding on a raft of snakes.
"...Merciful Quetzalcoatl, she suffers a secret heartache.
She was harmed by the dark gods and witnessed the end of the world!
She took out the obsidian stone mirror and looked at her pale face.
She stretched out her old hand and left her last fingerprints on the stone...
"
The feathered serpent priests sang and danced while carrying the raft and walked towards the sea several miles away. The people in the city-state also sang loudly and followed the footsteps of the priests. The nobles took out the thin mirrors of obsidian and reflected the
The sun's rays fell on the undulating sea, like shining stars.
Everyone in the fleet looked at each other and then followed the residents of the city-state to the seaside.
"Merciful Quetzalcoatl, she chose self-exile!
She leaves the people she loves and goes to the endless Eastern Lake.
There is her motherland and the beauty of countless birds and flowers.
The subjects who loved her wept and begged. They said:
Merciful and bright God, when will you return?...
"
At this point, the feathered serpent priests have arrived at the seaside. They put down their gorgeous rafts and put them into the vast sea. The nobles and leaders immediately stepped forward, scrambling to put their gold, silver and gems on the rafts dedicated to the gods.
.The young and pure city-state girls were holding tropical flowers and dotted them around the raft.
Soon, driven by the currents and tides, the tall Quetzalcoatl statue was loaded with gold, silver, gems and flowers, and slowly sailed into the depths of the sea. Tens of thousands of Totonac people stood there
On the beach, they stared blankly at the raft going away. Their faces gradually showed sadness, and even shed tears.
It wasn't until a big wave hit and the idols on the raft disappeared that the feathered serpent priests sang again in a sad tone.
"Merciful Quetzalcoatl, she leaves the weeping people!
She took the green snake's raft and headed to the far east.
She makes a divine promise to the people who love her and are loved by her!
The beautiful feathered serpent will return one spring,
With flourishing flowers, end the short-lived withering...
"
"She said: I will return from the lake in the east,
On the biggest ship ever!
Bring back peace and prosperity, bring back light and wisdom,
Save you again!...
"
The song of the Quetzalcoatl priest suddenly stopped in the wind. The priest apprentices blew the low conch shell, like a cry sinking at the bottom of the lake. The myth of Quetzalcoatl was spread in the song. Up to this point, only the remaining
Endless regrets and the last misty hope.
A sad atmosphere enveloped the crowd. Tens of thousands of Totonac people could no longer bear it. They knelt down in groups by the sea, with tears in their eyes. They stretched out their hands tremblingly and looked toward the boundless sea to the east.
.Led by the priests, they issued hysterical calls:
"...Come back! Merciful Quetzalcoatl!..."
"...Come back! Bright Kecharkoatl!..."
"...Please come back from the eastern sea in a big ship! Save your people with light and prosperity!"
"...Please, please come back!..."
The sound of tears and blood was heartbreaking. The calls and lamentations of tens of thousands of people rang out on the beach outside Quetzalcoatl City, spreading far into the distance. However, on the distant skyline in the east, there was only the empty sea and loneliness.
Flying seabird.
Chihuaco stood in the crowd and stared blankly towards the east. He had never participated in such a celebration, but he could truly feel people's desire for Quetzalcoatl, their desire for peace, light and prosperity!
However, in the past hundreds of years, during thousands of worship rituals, the benevolent and bright Quetzalcoatl has never returned. The world of Central America has maintained its population limit amid constant division and fighting.
Balance. The world is heading towards the Bronze Age with difficulty, waiting for the breakthrough that has accumulated for thousands of years.
In the original history, such Quetzalcoatl festivals would continue to be held. Such calls and waiting would continue!
It wasn't until exactly thirty years later that a tall three-masted sailing ship really returned from the eastern coast on the day of the festival and sailed to the enthusiastic crowd. Then, it was fully loaded with "the messenger and incarnation of Quetzalcoatl"
, with cruel greed and desire, bringing endless darkness and death!
This chapter has been completed!