Aztec Eternals

The warriors spent a sleepless night on the ruins of the settlement.

It is still the second half of the dry season in Mexico, which is early February according to the Gregorian calendar, so there was no rain overnight. Early the next morning, Shulot got up from the campfire and went to fetch water with Tells.

The most important luggage in the rainforest is food and water. Semi-safari settlements couldn't have much food storage. The warriors simply searched for some bacon and cornmeal, and had no interest in those unknown wild vegetables, dried fruits and insects.

Olosh strung the captives into two parallel strings with a strong sisal rope, and then led Shulot and Ters, half of the team opened the way in front, and Marly and the remaining half of the team held the formation behind.

The road in the rainforest is always rough and difficult, tall trees cover the sky, and there are colorful poisonous snakes among the branches. Swamps and mud puddles are everywhere underfoot, and poisonous frogs and mosquitoes are in the aquatic plants.

This is a green desert, and every still pool of water hides parasites and poisons.

Fortunately, Olosh is not only a brave jaguar warrior, but also an expert in jungle survival. He applied a pungent ointment to everyone, and soon found a river, and the group meandered south along the relatively empty banks.

Walking on the muddy side of the river bank, Xiulot carefully kept a distance from the "dead wood" in the river to avoid encountering "surprises" like American alligators. He asked Olosh curiously: "Teacher, where does this river lead to?"

"This river is called Tempen. Going upstream along this river, we will pass through the city-states of the two alliances. We can return to the holy city of Teotihuacan in just over half a month, and then go south for three days. Capital of the Great Alliance, Tenochtitlan, the city of the lakes promised by the Sun God to us the homeland of the Mexica.

What a majestic and beautiful city it was! A thousand canoes laden with goods, a thousand chinampas full of corn, a thousand communities full of Mexica warriors, and a thousand great temples full of boulders! There is the greatest city-state in the League and the center of the world. That's where my family and I come from. "

Xiuluo nodded. Tenochtitlan is the capital of the Aztec City-State Alliance and the richest and most powerful city-state. This magnificent city in the lake was eventually destroyed by the Spanish colonists, which also represented the demise of the Aztec civilization.

On top of the ruins of Tenochtitlan is the city of Mexico surrendered to God.

After thinking about the prosperity and beauty of the capital for a while, Xiu Luote asked again: "Teacher, have you ever been to the lower reaches of the Tampen River?"

This time, it was Olosh's turn to sink into memories. After a long time, he replied: "Many years ago, I followed the great Montezuma I to conquer the city-states of Huastec. From here, we walked down the Tampen River for more than 20 days, passing through the mountains and reaching the plains. At the end of the plains and forests is the city-state of Kuxikapan of the Vastecs.

Behind the city-state is a boundless big lake. The big lake is the end of the world and leads to every corner of the world.

There are many distant islands in the lake, and the tribal people from the islands will come in small boats to trade feathers, pottery and cotton cloth. Legend has it that in the north of the Great Lakes, there is a land of endless forests, where there are only wild men, and there will be terrible disasters every year, killing all life with white ashes. "

Shulot was stunned for a moment before realizing that the great lake is the Caribbean Sea, the islands are the Caribbean Islands, and the forest and snowy continent is North America. There are no east-west mountains on the North American continent. Whenever winter comes, a terrible cold current will descend from the North Pole, destroying all settlements and destroying the budding civilization time and time again.

To the Aztecs of the Stone Age and Early Bronze Age, the warm Mesoamerican city-states were all in the world. In the rain forest without roads, vehicles and horses, walking for three to four months, up to five or six hundred kilometers, is the limit of knowing the world.

In this world, the Mayan cities in the southeastern Yucatan Peninsula are inaccessible foreign countries, the Caribbean islands in the East Lake are old stories, and the Indian tribes in North America and the Inca Empire in South America are unknown legends, let alone the distant ones. On the other side of the ocean, the Spanish conquerors who don't know when will come.

Thinking about the unknown world and future, Shulot didn't talk, but followed Olosh silently. The road in the rain forest also greatly consumed his physical strength.

During the march, the team took a break because the scouts spotted a wild deer drinking by the river.

Olosh ordered everyone to be silent. He stepped forward alone, took out a two-meter-long wooden spear, put the feathered end on the ruler-long spear-thrower, then held the spear-thrower with his right hand, and bowed his waist under the cover of the trees Sneak silently.

Jaguar fighters seem to be integrated with the mountains and forests. He sneaked until he was 20 meters away from the target, when the wild deer suddenly stopped drinking water and raised his head to look around, as if aware of it. At that moment, there was a shrill sound of piercing through the air, and then the wild deer fell heavily to the ground, struggled feebly for a while, and then lost its life.

All the warriors cheered together, shouting the name of "Jaguar". The prisoners in the distance couldn't help showing fear.

Xiulot stepped forward to check, and saw that the spear was being inserted into the heart of the wild deer, and the power was coming out through the body.

The teenager was shocked by the accuracy and power of this long-range weapon. Half admiring and half envious, he said: "Teacher, this spear throwing is so powerful, can I follow suit?"

Olosh also had color on his face, nodded and shook his head with a smile.

"I will teach you, but spear throwing is not something that can be practiced in a year or two. Soon you will enter the temple and start the priest's practice. The alliance never lacks a jaguar noble warrior, but every priest is sacred and important .”

After all, Olosh camped by the river and started a fire, and asked Tells to pack up the deer carcasses and skin the bacon. He also sent half of the warriors to hunt in the forest to supplement food. He himself took out an obsidian knife, retouched the sharp point of the throwing spear by the campfire, and then dried it over the fire to set it.

Wood and stone weapons may be comparable to early bronze weapons in terms of sharpness, but their durability is very different.

After trekking like this for two or three days, the altitude gradually increased, the trees became sparser, and the vision opened up.

In the distance, Shulot finally saw a wisp of smoke rising, and sparse corn growing on the vast field. With slash-and-burn cultivation, the farmland has only a faint outline, and a small village gradually appears at the end of the field of vision.

As the samurai team approached, the village suddenly sounded a sharp flute.

Shulot saw chaotic figures gathering in the village, while Olosh led the team to stop in the wilderness about 100 meters away from the village. Twenty warriors held shields and sticks, waiting quietly.

After a while, the team from the village swarmed out. More than two hundred strong men were holding various sticks and stone spears, and a dozen hunters were holding simple and fragile single bows and slings. and the old man of silver.

Looking at the "Jaguar" attire, the old man could not hide his uneasiness.

He hurried forward with several villagers, bowed and saluted: "This respected jaguar warrior, I am the elder of the village, what orders do you have for coming to our village?

We Vastecs have surrendered to the Great Alliance for more than a dozen rainy seasons, and the four tributes every year are carried out on time. The tribute at the beginning of this year was paid even earlier. It is not yet the harvest season, and there is no grain or fur in the warehouse. "

"The great Assaya cartel has returned to the kingdom of the gods, and his elder brother Tisok has been enthroned as the new Tratoani. A grand coronation ceremony will be held this year!" Speaking of the coronation ceremony, Olo Shi even glanced at the village elder.

A look of fear appeared on the face of the village elder, and he immediately knelt down: "We Vastyk have never wavered in our loyalty to the alliance, and we are willing to pay more tribute to congratulate the great king on his enthronement."

"Very good. As long as you stay loyal to the alliance, you won't become a sacrifice in the sacrificial ceremony. We just returned from catching sacrifices in the northern jungle." Olosh pointed to the captives in the distance. "Now we need food for 100 people for 10 days, mostly corn tortillas and the rest black beans."

"Of course we won't take it for nothing." He looked at the unusually ugly face of the village elder, and then at the more than two hundred armed men not far away. Olosh thought for a moment, took out a bulging cotton pouch, and handed it to the elder. "Here are two palm-sized cotton cloths and two handfuls of cocoa beans. We have just returned from capturing prisoners and are in a hurry to return to the city. We will not stop in your village."

These words seemed to be the last weight on the balance, and the village elder finally nodded bitterly.

The elder returned to the villagers and gave a few loud orders. There was a small commotion among the villagers, which quickly subsided under the scolding of the elders. Then two villagers went to the largest building in the village, carried out two large bundles of cornbread, and each came over with a large clay pot in their hands.

Shulot saw them lower their heads, handing the tortillas and clay pots to the warriors in fear. When he returned to the group of villagers, he turned into an angry expression again.

Olosh weighed the tortillas, opened the pot again, tasted the black bean paste inside, then nodded to the village elder in satisfaction, and then waved back. The warriors put away the obsidian batons and walked away with the food and the captives.

After walking for a while, Shulot looked back at the village in the distance. The villagers seemed to be gathering together with crude weapons, watching the warriors leave. Smoke was still slowly rising from the village, and there seemed to be a dark flame burning underneath.

Note: Jaguar here is ocelotl in Nahuatl. In the Nahuatl-English dictionary: a jaguar, or an ocelot; a warrior; a calendrical marker; also, a person's name, a tiger. In the Nahua language, jaguar, tiger and high warrior are the same word.