Aztec Eternals

The wide and long Xihe River is like a jade belt, reflecting the magnificent red clouds of the setting sun. The lush green forest moves away along the river and spreads to the gray and yellow of the distant mountains and sky. The Northland is so majestic and vast, with six thousand miles of Sacascarat Wilderness creeping behind the mountains, like a huge bison tied with a jade belt. The Xihe Village at the mouth of the Yangtze River is like the small buckle of the "jade belt" of the six-hundred-mile long bull rope, gently held by the big hands of the kingdom from the ocean, planning for a vast and long-term future.

At this moment, as the sunset gradually sets, large groups of Feather Clan poured into the village, searching for all the edible food. The corpses and bloodstains on the village wall quietly looked at the sky, dyed red with the sunset. The flag of Hummingbird's main god was still flying at the highest point, and no feathered warrior paid attention to it. Just like the dozens of warrior boats wandering and watching from a distance outside Xihe Village, and the little crow Sitwewe who doesn't want to leave.

For the Feather Clan, they were just wandering passers-by. They did not have the thought or courage to settle at the river mouth for a long time, and naturally they did not care about the ownership of this land and village. What they really care about is...

"Ancestor! Chief, there is a barn here, such a big barn!...Ah? Damn it! This is not a barn! There is nothing to eat in here, are they all colorful and messy stones?..."

"Three Gods! This is the most central and largest warehouse in the village. It must be a good thing! Let the clan leader see it. It will show how knowledgeable he is!..."

"Stupid! The patriarch doesn't understand. He just pretends every time...cough! Go and bring those wounded soldiers over, they are all from Prepecha. Give them a good treatment and ask questions..."

"Get out of the way, you bunch of blind sparrows with no eyesight! Get out of the way, let me, Mr. Feather, take a look!... Huh? The gray-black shiny stone, this is... this seems to be... King Qin Congcan The tin ore that was collected before seems to be used to make bronze...Ah! Isn't this so much white and soft stone? Why is there so much silver? And the Baiyin clan who was killed by us likes this kind of flashy decoration... Eh? What is this gray stone? It turns into powder when you pinch it, and it tastes a bit salty..."

"Patriarch! The captured wounded soldier just said that this is a good thing that the priests of the Lake Kingdom asked for! This is a sacred bird stone that can fertilize the fields... Well, it is a struvite! It is made of bird droppings. Stone!…"

"What?! Struvite? Evil!..."

Hearing this, Feather Pengguali's eyes widened, and his old face couldn't help but tremble. However, he Feather has experienced a lot in his life, so what's the point of eating some bird droppings? Not worth mentioning at all. He secretly remembered the struvite that could fertilize the fields, continued to look at the other ores in the warehouse, and also asked the captive's fellow villagers.

"Huh? It's dark. What kind of stone is this? Black stone coal that is more powerful than wood and can be burned?...Isn't this the thing that Little Crow threatens me with? Where does this come from? The large tribe of Yome in the far north, It takes more than 20 days to row a boat?…”

"Hey! There are several sealed wooden boxes here! Open it...ah! It turns out to be bronze axes, spearheads and arrowheads! This is amazing!...Huh? These bronze weapons are a bit crude! They are not as good as those from the Kingdom in the Lake Where were these made? The Leijin Town in the north is a 20-day boat ride away. Isn’t it right next to the Meizi tribe?…”

"What! That's a big town in the Kingdom of the Lake, with thousands of warriors stationed there, and a Mexica singing bird chief priest? How is that possible?! How could the kingdom be thousands of miles away in the northern continent, at the end of the world, Putting up a legion? It’s impossible to put in half a legion! … Tell me clearly! Are you a hard-hitting kingdom warrior or a hard-to-fight tribe warrior? How many of them do you have? have no idea?…"

Hearing such news, Feather Pengguali asked again and again, and finally walked out of the warehouse with a gloomy expression. He never expected that he would have fled to the end of the world. As a result, there was a powerful kingdom force waiting for him an unknown distance to the north, which really made him jump and curse.

"Damn it! Damn it! I even ran to the northern continent, but there are still enemies ahead!...The haunting lake kingdom is as haunting as the water plants in the big lake! Damn it!..."

As the sun set in the evening, Feather Penggua was filled with infinite melancholy, and her good mood was ruined by this sudden bad news. However, the entire Feather clan was in an atmosphere of joy and celebration. After fleeing for more than half a month, they finally obtained a large amount of precious food, which could feed the five to six thousand tribesmen for two to three months! They finally had a decent village where they could rest assured for two days to repair it!

As for the hundreds of miscellaneous tribesmen who died in the battle to capture the stronghold, it was just a common price to pay. Just capture them after they were all destroyed. The thirty or forty feathered warriors who were killed or injured made the Feather clan feel a little sad. But in such a vast northern land, fighting and death have become more and more common. Only survival is everything for clans and tribes. And every rare joy is worthy of celebration and sharing by everyone!

Soon, bonfires were lit inside and outside Xihe Village. The curling smoke also rose from the river and dispersed into the red and black sky. The fragrance of grain wafting in the village is the most intoxicating smell. The feathered warriors ate corn tortillas and drank hot fish soup. The clan members ate pumpkin and bean puree and drank wild vegetable soup. After a rare meal, everyone had bright smiles on their red faces.

It was getting dark, and the bonfire made my face red. When the eldest Feather Tribe man sang a plaintive folk song beside the campfire, many clan members couldn't help but join in, raising their heads and watching the river sing a cappella.

"Cupatitzio! The river is singing!... He sang the song of the river, missing the big lake and river of his hometown! Children who have left home, do you miss their villages by the lake, and the big rivers? The mother of flowers? That mother’s clear smile is like the beautiful Great Lake, like the sacred red cicada flower!…The mother is the brilliant flower of the Great Lake!…”

"Cupatitzio! The river is singing!... He sings the song of the sky, missing the blue sky reflected in the lake! But we are traveling butterflies, we have flown too far, too far, and we have flown to the point where there are no red cicadas. The end of the river of flowers! We can never go back to our mother’s lake, and we can no longer see the flowery lakeside... We are just the withered butterflies at the end of the river..."

The brisk singing gradually became louder, and then went from louder to deeper, making the flowing water of the river clearly audible. Thousands of Feather Clan sang, with smiles on their faces but tears in their eyes. And such a brisk, sad and familiar folk song made Feather Peng Guali stand silently, and the old tears also flowed.

"Woo!... The Great Lake Patzcuaro, the Great Lake Chapala... the red cicada flowers on the lakeside, the ancestral Yacata Temple... I'm afraid I won't be able to go back to my feathers in this life! Woo!..."

Folk songs spread far and wide, flying into the vast ocean. The little crow fleet patrolling the seaport also fell silent and stopped. A moment later, a low-pitched song was also sung by the warriors in the fleet. It was the same familiar folk song of the Great Lakes, and it was the same echoing sad tune.

"Tsitsiki! The sacred flower blooms! ... She blooms with the song of the earth, missing the fields where the lake flows! Mothers in my hometown, do you miss their children who are far away, and the butterflies flying to the horizon? ? The young man’s running legs are like a free-flowing river, like the wings of a swimming butterfly! ...The child is like a butterfly in the long river!..."

"Tsitsiki! The sacred flower blooms! ... She blooms with the song of the flowers, missing the butterflies flying from the flowers! But we are the red cicada flowers by the lake, nurturing the young insects with nectar The children bloomed by the lake, grew old and withered. The children have flown away! They can never return to the stamens where they live, and they can no longer see the fallen petals... And we are the dead flowers. The dead mother, just stay in Fei Die’s dream!…”

The long river flows quietly, surrounded by folk songs, and the sound is heartbreaking. Tears fell from the eyes of the little crow. He thought of his grandfather who went to the Kingdom of God, and also of Lake Atoyak where he was born. He looked down at the sea, but couldn't see his blurred eyes clearly, let alone the other hunter who had quickly wiped away his tears and was staring at him secretly.

"People's hearts are sad, the clan is really tired! But the situation in the northern continent...Yomei tribe, Leijin Town, the kingdom's northern army...where is the big lake that can really let the clan rest? The north is so vast, What I know is still too little!”

The folk songs are mournful, and Feather Peng Guali stands on the wall of the village, squinting his small bird-like eyes and staring at the slight firelight on the boat on the beach. He pondered for a while, then turned his head, looked at his nephew Peng Bage who was crying beside him, and sighed softly.

"Ancestors! They are all fellows from Prepecha, and they are all descendants of an ancestor from the Bird Department... The little crow stayed on the boat, eating cold dry food and drinking cold river water... As an elder, I really feel sorry for him. Ah! ...Myna, take the boat over and invite the little crow to have some hot food in the village..."

"Ah? Patriarch, uncle! How could Little Crow come here? We just fought a battle with him and captured his village..."

"Three Gods witness! We robbed his food, so the clan had no way to survive. There is really no way. But now that we have food, we will not stay here for long. This village must be returned to him! The messy tin inside The clan cannot take away the mines, silver, struvite, and black stones, and will leave them to him as they are! Even the flag on the wall, I asked the clan not to touch, and all the injured fellow warriors were treated..."

Speaking of this, Feather Peng Guali looked sincere and had the expression of an honest elder, and gave serious instructions to his nephew.

"Dahe Taotao, I have sworn to Dahe that I will never harm him in the slightest! Inviting him here now is to turn an enemy into a friend and provide multiple ways to contact the kingdom. Who knows, I will ask him for help in the future. ...The second is to discuss how to return the village, goods and prisoners to him after the tribe leaves...Bago, please sincerely invite him in person! Little Crow, he will definitely come..."

"Ah! More ways for the clan?...I understand! Clan leader, I'll go right away!..."

Nephew Peng Bage nodded heavily, his face showing seriousness and sincerity. He wiped his tears and ran out of the village without any weapons. He just jumped into the boat and rowed towards the firelight on the seaside in response to the folk song of Prepecha.

Note: In the Prepecha language, Cupatitzio means "the river is singing". Tsitsiki, on the other hand, refers to a sacred and beautiful flower, often with a mother metaphor. This poem was written by the author himself with reference to two modern Mikan folk songs.