Aztec Eternals

The morning sun lights up the whole world, and the gentle breeze wakes up the sleeping people. Just like the Feathered Serpent God bestows light and wisdom, promising the peace and prosperity of all things.

Xiulot knew that today was an auspicious day. According to the Aztec calendar, today is the twelfth day of the first month of the new year, which represents herbs and salvation. The symbol is the herbs in the pelvis, which belongs to the priesthood of Feathered Serpent God Quetzalcoatl .

Shulot got up early, dressed in formal priestly attire, with a crest covering his forehead again, this time with additional blue, red and green feathers.

Feathered snake god is one of the most important four gods, the god of wind, the god of peace and prosperity, the god of light and wisdom, and the lord of the west. On the first god day of the new year, a sacrifice needs to be held for him. In prosperous city-states, this sacrifice often developed into a New Year's celebration.

According to the duties of the priest, Shulot built an altar in the west, and then placed a one-foot-diameter gold disc in the center of the altar to symbolize light. Around the gold plate, there is a neat circle of turquoise, which is used to symbolize wisdom.

Then, he placed silver bowls at the four corners of the altar, and placed medicinal herbs in the bowls to symbolize healing and salvation. Finally, he inserted blue, red and green feathers under the gold plate to symbolize the incarnation of Feathered Serpent.

In this way, a simple Feathered Serpent Altar is completed.

If everything is kept simple in war, the sacrifices of the city-state will be much grander. Schlott once participated in Teotihuacan's New Year's celebrations. On that day, the Moon Square will be covered with gold, silver, precious stones and bright feathers. Thousands of people celebrate and dance together, men, women and children sing blessing songs, everything is so beautiful and unforgettable.

Afterwards, the warriors gathered under the stage, put down their weapons, took off their leather armor, and paid tribute to Feathered Serpent. Pray that the wounded are healed and the dying are saved.

Then Xiulot stepped onto the stage and sang the sacrificial divine song, the voice was intense and clear, flying into the distance, like the waves of the great eastern lake:

".At last the Feathered Serpent left the weeping people,

He rode on the raft of the green snake,

With pious priests,

into the endless lake,

To the far east.

He promised everyone with a sad face:

The flourishing flowers return each spring,

as I who bless you.

Farewell is a short withering,

I will return from the lake in the east,

bring back peace and prosperity,

Bring back light and wisdom,

Save you again!

"

It wasn't until the end that the warriors collectively turned to the east and fell to their knees. Facing the unknown great lake, they whispered the name of "Kethalcoatl", praying for the return of Feathered Serpent God. The ceremony then ended in silence.

Shulot wiped the tiny beads of sweat from his forehead and drank some water. The ceremony as a whole was very peaceful, with the feeling of a peaceful mass.

Feathered snake god is a rare benevolent god in Aztec mythology. He doesn't like people shedding blood for himself, and he clearly opposes human sacrifice. Therefore, the Mexica warriors did not drag out yesterday's Otomi captives and directly sacrificed them to the gods.

But in the eyes of the commander-in-chief Totek, the fate of these prisoners has already been doomed. The Mexica warriors only wandered in the peaceful spiritual world for one morning, and immediately returned to the blood and fire war world.

Totek first assembled a team of warriors, ready to fight at any time. Then let a thousand warriors escort more than 500 captured Otomi warriors to the place of an arrow outside Guamare, and execute the prisoners one by one in front of the defenders. There was howling and screaming in the distance, and soon there was silence again.

Shulot lowered his eyes, his principles have regressed a lot. He can accept the execution of opposing fighters without changing his face. Just like what my father said, since they are on the battlefield, the life and death of the samurai depend on their destiny.

Totek's face was cold and hard, and his brows were slightly wrinkled. Although the city was in a panic for a while, no enemy troops left the city after all. In this case, the plan to lure the enemy is over, and the next step is to destroy all the villages.

Immediately, the commander-in-chief let one thousand jaguars and two thousand warriors continue to garrison the camp. These 3,000 people will be led by him personally to guard the city of Guamare.

Shulot watched him sit down in the big tent again, and indifferently took out the wooden map with red circles, and divided the remaining 5,000 warriors and 2,000 militiamen into seven battalions. Pointing to seven locations on the map, the warriors nodded with cruel expressions.

It seemed like a long time passed, and Shulot saw the thick smoke rising in the distance again. No sound could be heard in the wind, and the world seemed to be still peaceful. After a long time, the warriors returned one after another in battalions, their faces sweating slightly, as if they had just gone for a run.

They looked as usual, replaced the worn obsidian sharps on the battle sticks, and blood flowed from the gaps in the weapons.

From the thick smoke rising to the return of the warrior, this time, Shulot did not see a single figure fleeing towards Guamare. Everything is like a silent pantomime, life disappears behind the fireworks without causing any waves. But in one day, seven large villages were slaughtered, and more than 10,000 Otomi people were killed.

Totek drew red crosses on the seven red circles, then had a few conversations with the warriors, and looked at the midday sun through the gap in the big tent. He divided the seven thousand men into fourteen teams of five hundred, and the warriors scattered out of the camp again, carrying the slaughter farther afield.

Seeing all this, the young priest finally couldn't sit still.

Shulot plucked up the courage to walk into the big tent, stood in front of the cold Totek, held the strong arm of the commander-in-chief, and stared at him with a pair of ruthless and cold eyes.

"What's the matter, Shulot?" There was a smile on Totek's cold face, "Today's sacrificial ceremony was done well."

"Commander, today is the Feathered Serpent God's first day. On this auspicious day to celebrate the New Year, we shouldn't make so much blood."

"Huh?" Totek frowned, "You mean to save the village until tomorrow to destroy it? But we have already done it, and more people will escape if we delay it until tomorrow."

"I mean, we can show mercy. Soldiers and men are potential threats, but we can spare women and children." Xiulot said seriously.

"The king's order is to kill all the Otomi people. Regardless of men, women, or children, whether it is fifty thousand or one hundred thousand." Totek shook his head and said, "Sholot, don't be so childish, you are the main god priest."

Then, without waiting for Shulot to continue speaking, Totek grabbed Shulot's arm and pointed to the distant Pingshan City: "Can your catapult take down Guamare City?"

Shulot looked at the city and shook his head, "The current catapult is not powerful enough. Although it can hit this city, its power is limited."

Totek nodded: "We don't have time to besiege the city either. Since we can't take down the city, we can only burn the villages and farmland and kill all the living!"

As he said that, he turned sideways again and looked at the boy seriously: "Sholot, the Otomi people are not worthy of sympathy! If you have time, hold more sacrificial activities for the soldiers, or study that trebuchet carefully."

Then he waved his hand and asked the guards to take Shulot out of the tent.

Shulot wandered a few steps outside the big tent, suddenly remembered someone, and left in a hurry.

After entering the side tent, Shulot saw Avit sitting cross-legged in front of the earthen platform, writing something on a wooden board. Occasionally, messengers and scouts come and go, reporting military information.

Xiulot went up to take a look and was surprised, but there were square traditional characters on the wooden board: "More than 100 villages were found along the way, and 21 of them are expected to be burned today. In total, at least 50,000 Otomi people will be killed. It can be cleaned within a day, and the task is completed and returned.”

Seeing Shulot, Avit smiled, pointed to the board and said, "How is it? My writing is good, right?"

Xiuluo nodded, but within a few months, Avette has been able to write Chinese characters to the letter, which is really good.

Afterwards, Shulot asked eagerly: "Avit, the commander-in-chief wants to kill all the Otomi people. Can we show mercy?"

Avit smiled back and asked: "Sholot, don't you know that the Otomi people are our enemies? If the Otomi militiamen are released into the forest, the Mexica warriors will suffer heavy losses."

Xiulot nodded and replied, "I understand. I'm not talking about the men of Ottomi, but the women and children."

"Oh! I see." Avet laughed out loud, his eyebrows curved into two flying arcs. "After the new year, Xiulot, you are already thirteen years old, and you are eager to be an adult."

"How about this, I'll go and tell Totek, let the warriors bring you a few Otomi girls, and turn you from a boy into a man, so you won't be so soft-hearted."

Shulot's mouth was dry for a while, and his face was reddened by Avit's teasing. This guy really did it.

"You see, although priests cannot marry wives, as long as you take these Otomi girls as concubines, they will be saved." Avit continued to persuade, "The great Montezuma I had hundreds of concubines, Hundreds of god-born warriors were born. You can also accept hundreds of Otomi girls."

Shulot was stunned for a moment, then stood there and thought about it in a daze. His IQ had already turned into a negative number during the day's torment. At this moment, he snapped his fingers and muttered something, thinking about how many girls he would save.

Seeing that Shulot was also serious and cranky, Avit became worried again.

He stretched out his hand, flicked Shulot's forehead vigorously, and said seriously: "Sholot, what are you thinking! Our Mexica warriors are different from other weak tribes. After the age of fifteen, good samurai will be later."

"My students, premature and excessive singing will seriously damage the body, lose the wisdom of the mind, and lose the vitality bestowed by the gods. Those famous jaguar fighters can often temper their bodies and suppress the desire to sing until they are twenty Years old! Shulot, I hope you won't be attracted by the songs of the opposite sex before you turn eighteen." Avit put away his smile and said seriously.

"Avet, I understand what you think. But I really want to save women and children. They did not fight us, they are innocent. Human heads are not leeks. If you cut them off, they will not grow back. Tens of thousands of lives, You shouldn't die meaninglessly like weeds."

Shulot stared at each other stubbornly. Although the Three Views from later generations are shaky, they still exert influence.

"Hey, what is a leek? Is it a fast-growing weed? Haha, ordinary civilians are weeds, let alone these foreign savages!"

Avit laughed, not paying attention at all.

"There are no innocent people in this world. Everyone dies for a reason. Women weave and farm and raise children. Children grow up and take up arms to kill."

Hearing the same point of view as his grandfather, Xiulot remained silent. He just opened his eyes and stared at each other stubbornly.

"Okay, okay! Give me a reason, don't use the life and tolerance you said before."

Avit said seriously.

"As long as you can persuade me, I will persuade Totek."

Xiulot began to think calmly. After a while, he opened his mouth to answer.

"We can capture them and bring them back to the alliance to add more mouths to the alliance."

"We don't have enough food, and we don't have the manpower to spend on them. The alliance's land is also limited."

"It will take more than ten years for these women and children to become a threat to us."

Xiulot thought for a while and said again.

"Indeed, what about ten years from now?"

"According to the development speed of the alliance, in more than ten years, we will be strong enough to completely conquer the Otomi people and turn these civilians into the citizens of the alliance!"

Xiulot was a little confident, and there was a look in his eyes.

Avette looked at the confident Shulot, nodded slightly, and said with a smile.

"Perhaps. That's the first reason. But now, I don't see the benefit of letting these people go. Are there any other reasons?"

"We can capture these people and bring them to the city of Guamare to exchange food with them. The army is short of food now."

Shulot said.

"What if the city-state doesn't exchange food for it?"

"Then let's let them go, and the city-state will lose its support."

"Heh, what do common people's hearts matter?"

Avette chuckled.

"But it would be nice to exchange some food. This is the second reason. But why should I help these civilians? Give me another reason, a reason about you!"

With a smile in his eyes, Avit looked into Shulot's eyes, as if waiting for something.

Xiulot thought over and over again, and after a long time, he sighed quietly.

"Avit, this is what I think in my heart. Cherishing life is not the natural law of this world, but it is my preference, which makes me feel satisfied. Please help me!"

"Oh? To satisfy your inner pursuit? But we executed the husbands and fathers of these people, and they will not appreciate you."

".I don't need the gratitude of these people, I just need my inner peace and contentment. The god tree shelters the weeds and never cares about the gratitude of the weeds. It's just that he is there and wants to do it, so he does it gone."

Xiulot replied in a low voice, but seemed to have exhausted his strength.

"Haha, good, good! My student, my little god tree, so, this is just your hobby, right? It's not the law of heaven that you should abide by. Hobbies are subordinate to great causes, and can be compromised when needed. "

Avit asked gently, as if with hypnotic charm.

"Yes, this is just my hobby. It has nothing to do with the laws of the world. It is subordinate to a great cause."

Xiulot repeated with difficulty.

"Okay, very good! Cherishing life is Xiulot's hobby! The lives of these tens of thousands of civilians are just ants, even if they cause obstacles, they are insignificant, and they are nothing compared to the growth of my students! This third reason is the real reason. Reasons to impress me!"

Arvit finally clapped his hands and laughed.

"Sholot, remember what you said today. No matter what the past memories are. Life and tolerance are just your hobbies, just like some people are lustful, some are warlike, and some are good at wine. This is just a more Good hobby."

"When conditions permit, you can act according to your hobbies. But hobbies must be subordinated to a great cause, it is not the bottom line!"

"The bottom line must not be violated, then it becomes weakness, and weakness brings death. Unlike ordinary people, a great ruler must not have weakness. So, Shulot, no matter what is in your memory, forget the weak part! You can act according to your preferences, but you must not be bound by them. You are destined to be as tall as a sacred tree, overlooking the people like weeds! This is the most important lesson I teach you!"

Avette pressed Shulott's shoulder hard, staring at him firmly, his eyes full of expectation.

"And as rulers, our only cause is this country, the future of the Mexica, and the supreme power in this world!" After leaving the last sentence in a low voice, Avet finally burst out laughing. Full of deep ambition and longing.

Laughter echoed in the camp, and it took a long time to stop. Then, Avet gave the student a strong hug, turned around and strode away, walking towards Totek's tent.

Xiulot still stood where he was. He has to take the first step towards becoming a great ruler, and it is also the hardest step. The road to the king is full of bones. From then on, he will be covered with blood, dye his feet red, turn life into a symbol, and regard death as nothing!