Chapter One Thousand Five Hundred and Nine Red and White, the Crossroads of Destiny!
"Legion Commander! The noble God King issued a decree and asked me to bring a reply!..."
"!What did His Majesty the God King say?..."
"The God King said that we can hold a funeral for the Zapotecs! To prepare for the alliance army's southward conquest and reduce some future resistance... But we must, must, absolutely protect the safety of His Highness Xiulote! By the way, there is one more thing
A team of twenty shadow guards also followed..."
"Okay! I have already contacted the Zapotec people... Then I will report back to His Highness the Prophet. Three days later, a sacred funeral will be held in front of the Zapotec Taniguchi Village!..."
When the sun rose three times, the sacrificial altar was built again. Two thousand alliance warriors wearing armor and holding spears guarded the high altar, watching the east with vigilance.
Two or three miles away to the east is the end of the long and narrow valley road, the valley entrance camp in the Oaxaca Valley. At this moment, hundreds of Zapotec warriors are standing on the simple wooden wall, clustered and looking to the west. And three
More than a dozen envoys from various Zapotec tribes, all wearing bird feathers and feathered clothes, stood under the altar with complicated eyes.
The early morning sun, with the orange color of the bonfire, gave the living and the dead a warm glow. The corpses of more than two hundred Zapotec nobles and warriors were wrapped in battle clothes.
Line up in an open area.
Zapotec envoys have checked the identities of these corpses. Some cried, some prayed, and some even took off the teeth and hair of the deceased and carefully packed them in cloth bags. Of course, more corpses could not be identified and were unclaimed.
They were like wandering souls without a destination. The war priests of the alliance recited the name of the gods and sprinkled the corpses with "twenty flowers" (Cempohualxochitl, or marigolds) symbolizing death, as a solace before burial.
At this moment, the Mexica Alliance and the Zapotec Alliance, who were originally in a state of war, rarely maintained peace. The most important thing in life is "death". In this tribal era that values life and death, the belief in gods is rare.
For all tribes in Central America, there has never been anything more important than a sacred funeral that guides the soul!
Even after the funeral, the two sides will still fight each other and fight to the death... But during the funeral, if any tribe uses weapons, it will be a violation of the gods and will be despised by all tribes!
To a certain extent, this is an ancient consensus that is still maintained by the Central American world, just like the Zhou rites of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Perhaps, this ancient consensus is also a cornerstone of the "unity of the world". And it is consistent with it.
For example, the disputes between countries in the Old World, especially between different civilizations, have long been in cruel fighting. In order to win, they have broken through this "ridiculous" bottom line and entered a jungle...
“The land of flowers blooms, and the songs surround the gods. The great shield should not destroy the holiness of the earth!…”
Under the attention of thousands of warriors and tribesmen, Xiulote recited Nahua poetry and walked step by step from the altar. This funeral was prepared for the Zapotec people, and he also based it on the Zapotec people.
The Turk priests carefully prepared a set of Zapotec-style god sacrificial robes. As soon as he appeared, the Zapotec envoys were all startled. Many people looked at it for a moment, and they all looked down in awe.
Headed.
"Ah! The two semicircles of the sun, messengers of the gods on the road of light!..."
"Hiss! Holy palm! Hold the sacred hand in six directions!..."
Shulot didn't look sideways, and walked steadily and slowly, stepping onto the altar step by step. He wore an extremely tall obsidian feather crown, and the bird feathers more than one meter long stretched to both sides, forming a bright curtain in the "upper semicircle"
, like holding on the head
"Colorful Palm Tree". He wears layers of sacrificial robes, with feathers of various colors hanging down from his back, dotted with small gold ornaments in strange styles, forming a "lower semicircle" that flashes with golden light, as if he is carrying a "golden fire"
chicken".
The most unique and weird thing is that the arms of his sacrificial robes have four additional inlaid "tiger claws" extending out, which bring about the "miracle" of six-handed spinning in his movements and movements! In fact, this is also Zapote's
Zapotec priests prefer to use real and more terrifying "human hands"...
"Praise the Lord God Huitzilopochitli! He is the most high and great, ruling the mountains and rivers, controlling the mountains and valleys, from the continuous Mexican plateau to the endless clouds...His one hand is burning heavenly fire, and the other is majestic
The thunder. When He opens his bloody eyes and looks towards the land in the clouds, the sun has arrived!…"
"God has arrived! He is watching you and me!!..."
Shulot chanted loudly, his arms slowly opening and closing, and the six "palms" danced alternately, like the rotation of gods. You must know that this shocking "god costume" weighs sixty or seventy kilograms. His eyes are sinking.
With the pressure on him, he could turn his arms, which was the biggest movement he could make. What's more, this ceremony would last for half a day, and a priest with an average body would not be able to do it at all.
…
"Ayi! Ayi!..."
As Shulot was singing, twenty war priests danced together and shook the southern-style wooden bells. Their attire was still in the style of the alliance priests. After all, except for the "divinely inspired prophets", there were no
How dare people be so "heretic"...
"O bright sun! He shines on the earth, the world, and all the descendants of the Jiao people! I would like to pray for the Zapotec warriors who died in the battle. They gave their lives and sacrifices for their tribe and ancestors.
The vitality of blood..."
"O merciful Lord God! I am willing to lead their heroic souls to the Kingdom of Lord God, away from the cold abyss! This is their destination and the peace they deserve, just like those brave Alliance warriors..."
The new sacrificial inscriptions echoed in the heaven and earth. The expressions of the war priests were stiff, and even the sacrificial dance slowed down. However, the expressions of the Zapotec people gradually changed. They could understand the attire of the "prophet" on the plateau and know each other.
With their divinity, they could barely understand each other's Nahua language. And more importantly, they could feel the goodwill of this "prophet" and listened to it for the first time on such a sacred occasion and in such a solemn form.
To the "Political Manifesto" from the mighty North!
"O merciful and bright Lord God! He has already revealed it to me! The tribes in the clouds in the south are also descendants of the Jiao people like us. You, the Zapotecs, are the lost brothers of our Mexica people.
Compatriots of the separated tribes of Nava!…”
"The Lord God has already sent down a prophecy! He has chosen the Mexica people to re-create the unified world of plastic people! From Tarasco in the lake to Tlaxcala in the valley, from Chichimec in the wilderness to the mountains
Otomi, from Huastec in the swamps to Totonac on the seaside, from Tekos in the mountains and rivers to Trapanic in the mountains and forests... and then from Mixtec in the clouds to finally you, the ancient Sasha
Potek!…”
"A new era has arrived, and all the Nava tribes will be united! And all the descendants of the Jiao people will also return and be recast as the Jiao people! This is the guidance of the Lord God that cannot be violated, and it is destined to be realized.
Destiny!!…”
Xiulote's shocking chant resounded before the valley entrance of Oaxaca, resounding in the ears of the living and the dead. At this moment, listening is the silence here, and singing is the only melody. No one can make a sound,
I don’t even know how to answer…
It wasn't until the long funeral came to an end and the final announcement floated down from the altar that everyone suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, returning from the unimaginable future of human beings to the present world of life and death.
"God bless you! The butterfly of your soul has flown away!"
"Bury it! The earth will accept everything, and life will turn into corn and emerge from the earth again~~"
"Finally, a new child will be born, in the name of Jiaoren!~~"
"Wow... Wow!..."
With the swing of the stone shovel, the "old body" was buried in the new grave, and "new seeds" were planted. That was the "flower of the dead" of marigold, the cycle of death and rebirth. And when eighty days and nights passed
, these "flowers of the dead" will bloom on the land full of life, like living tombstones.
"Ancestor Witness! Thank you for the holy burial, the Nahua prophet from the northern plateau!"
The Zapotec envoys lowered their heads, either nervously or fearfully, and performed a formal ritual of worshiping a priest towards the unmasked Xiulote. Then, they hurriedly said goodbye, as if fleeing, and left.
This land where the dead are buried has also escaped the sight of the "Plateau Prophet".
"..."
With a gloomy look on his face, Xiulote watched the Zapotecs' escaping figures until they reached the Taniguchi camp in the east, and finally disappeared behind the wooden wall full of warriors. He stood motionless like this, staring deeply for a long time. Until
The two war priests hurriedly climbed onto the altar, helped him slowly walk down, and then removed his "god's attire" from him... Only then did Shulot take a long breath, gradually recovered from the loss of strength, and became alive again.
"Theocracy, funerals and hearts...the last unconquered Zapotec..."
As the sun set, Xiulote set out on his way home. Today, he met the Zapotec for the first time on the edge of the Oaxaca Valley. And the day of reunion would not wait too long. Just see them again.
When the time comes, there will be no peace today, and we must use obsidian war clubs, thundering flames, blood and fire to decide the future of the Jiao people!
"And what's next? Yunshan City surrenders, and the main force of the Eastern Route Army goes west to have a decisive battle with the leader of Yunchen? Then, completely capture the last Shanhe City, destroy Mixtec, and entrust the fertile land in Yunzhong?..."
Xiulote thought silently until he reached the intersection in the mountains. Two messengers from the God King came through the night and whispered something... Then he suddenly frowned and said in a deep voice.
"The King of Gods wants to reward military achievements, punish rout, and then ask me to divine the outcome of prison?...Who is there?..."
The messenger thought for a moment, looked around, and whispered three names.
"The Lord God bless you! Dear prophet, I dare not hide it from you... Those who were awarded military honors were the commander of the legion, Quake Hu, and the officers of the royal legion. Those who were rewarded and promoted were the captain of the guard, Turquoise, and those who survived the ambush.
The Broken Hair Guards. As for the final divination and judgment, there are several great nobles... The highest-ranking one among them is Izel, the leader of the mountain clan..."