Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

Chapter 2097 1533: Coyote Accompanies the Prophet, the Dead Are Buried in the Earth!_2

Seeing the archery skills of this Guard Captain, Xiulote was quite amazed. Warriors of the Alliance have always excelled in javelin throwing and war clubs; those skilled in archery are indeed rare. Judging by the appearance of the other person, they do not seem to be Canine Descendants or Tekos of the mountains, but are completely identical to the Mexica people. Yet, the other person had a somewhat strange accent…"By the Chief Divine's blessing! Are you a warrior from the Tlaxcala Tribes?…"

"Ah! Yes… yes… I am a warrior from the mountain Tlaxcala tribes…"

Seeing Xiulote's scrutinizing gaze, Archer Telavito suddenly looked tense. He respectfully bowed his head, stuttering his response, even dropping to his knees hastily, clutching the Chief God's Amulet around his neck and swore.

"Witnessed by the Chief Divine! Your Highness, previously when the Divine King's Guards were recruiting captives… I passed the archery test… During the southern expedition against the Mixteco Tribes, I was always fighting at the front, charging with the Turquoise Camp Commander, and took more than ten heads… A few months ago, we even fought desperately, blocking the retreat of the Zapotecs' corps in the narrow mountain pass…"

"Haha, no need for formality! The Alliance holds warriors in the highest esteem! A warrior as outstanding and courageous as you, regardless of background, as long as you fight for the Alliance, will naturally have a promising future with titles and lands…"

Xiulote smiled and reached out, lifting Archer Telavito up. He had some guesses; such skills did not seem to come from any small Tlaxcala tribe, but likely from an elite warrior who fled into the mountains, or perhaps even a renowned "Cloud Snake Warrior." However, since the other person was willing to fight for the Alliance, waging battles everywhere, it represented the success of the Alliance's assimilation policy, offering a chance for the conquered Tlascalo Tribes to stand out through combat.

"Archer warrior, you are quite impressive! Is that the Chief God's hummingbird design carved on your face? Have we met before?…"

"Ah… His Highness the Prophet… we have… met before…"

Archer Telavito's heart tightened, momentarily lost for words. He had led five hundred elite soldiers from Tree Snake City in a night raid on the Mexica's Tzompantli corps and witnessed the mysterious death of the Tzompantli commander by an arrow. Later, when the Alliance army besieged Tree Snake City, he fought on the front lines until the city's last moment, finally fleeing with a Divine Descendant bride.

But later, in seeking a background, he enlisted in the Alliance army, thoroughly reinventing himself. He had carved numerous scarified totem patterns on his face and shaved his head, completely transforming his appearance to the point of being unrecognizable. How could this "living prophet" standing before him know his past? Could it be some terrible, irrational "Prophecy"?…

"Hmm?…"

"Oh! Your Highness… we have met! Previously in the Lake Capital City… you attended the Spring Festival and got drunk… At that time, it was I and the Turquoise who helped you to the Divine King's palace…"

"Oh!…"

Xiulote suddenly realized, recalling those past events, and awkwardly touched his nose. He glanced at the archery warrior who was bowing bashfully and nervously, and his suspicion instantly dissipated. He pondered for a while and smiled as he pulled out a Chief God's sandalwood amulet from his bosom. On the front was the Sun Hummingbird, and on the back was the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams, and handed it to the "archer" from the Tlaxcala origin.

"Blessed by the Chief Divine! I remember now, you all even reminded me back then to tidy myself up and be cautious… This is a hummingbird Eight Trigrams amulet personally carved by me, I'll give it to you!…"

"Ah? This? Your Highness…"

"Don't refuse. The Tonsured Guards are the Divine King's personal army, under His direct watch, naturally everything is just and prioritized. But you, as a Tlaxcala warrior, if you return to your old home in Tlaxcala and face any unfair treatment… you can take this amulet to the towering temple of Cloud Serpent City, and seek out the temple's High Priest and the kingdom's stationed army… With my amulet, the temple's High Priest will certainly step forward to uphold justice for the Tlaxcala tribes!"

Archer Telavito hesitated for a few moments, wavering whether to accept it. But hearing the latter words, he thought of his wife and son left at their homeland lacking protection, and had no further doubts, bowing his head gratefully.

"Yes! Thank you, Your Highness the Prophet, thank you!…"

"No need to thank, and no need to kneel, rise up! The Alliance holds warriors in the highest esteem!… The Tlaxcala Tribes are originally our Mexica Tribes' most intimate brother tribes. Yet our ancestors were mortal enemies, harbored grievances, and engaged in the Flower Battle for centuries, leaving behind many past grievances…"

"Now both sides reunify, to dispel the generational tribal hatred, to become singularly united Gummy People, only 'fairness' treated equally will do!… It's a pity many of those who were relocated to the Tlaxcala Land, the Alliance's old nobility, can never let go the ancestral grudges… They are overly harsh to the Tlaxcala Tribes in the new domains, I have heard of it too…"

Xiulote said solemnly, carefully explaining and elucidating the political vision of "tribes from the same source, returning to the Gummy People". But unfortunately, such a vision of "reconstructing the Gummy People" is acknowledged by the Prepetcha Tribes assimilated by the kingdom, the Canine Descendants, the Tecos Tribes, and even the servile Otomi Tribes, the Totonac Tribes… The greatest resistance, however, lies within the Mexica nobility of the Alliance itself!

The new nobles who emerged from military merits are better, acknowledging and safeguarding the road of equality and military merit-based promotion. But the conservative old nobles of the Alliance, even expelled by the centralized Divine King from the Texcoco Lake District and given new conquests of various states and tribes, still strongly demand to maintain the "privileges of the Mexica old nobility"!

They universally treat other tribes in the new territories as slaves and provide no opportunities for them to participate in advancement. The major area of tribal conflict lies in the Tlaxcala Land allotted to the Little Prince Chimalpahin, imposed upon the "traditional adversary" of the Tlaxcala Tribes. Such exacerbated "slave policies" indubitably stands against Xiulote's vision of "assimilated Gummy People"...

"Respected Divine Revelation Prophet! The battlefield where we fought fiercely last night is just ahead!…"

"Oh?!…"

Until the sun set, everyone halted their steps. Xiulote finally stopped his passionate speech, sparing the dazed archer Telavito with the "new amulet". Then, Xiulote stood on a small hill, gazing at the blood-stained battlefield in front, looking at heaps of leather armor and war clubs stacked high, seeing the thousands of Mixteco warriors' bodies piled in the freshly dug mass graves...

"Witnessed by the Chief Divine! This battle, how many Mixteco warriors' bodies were we able to clean up? How many militia? How many captives in the camp?"

"Respected Prophet, about three to four thousand… Those who managed to break through at night should have been Mixteco warriors. There were not many militia, and few captives were left behind…"

"Oh! Over three thousand warriors' bodies, and few captives?… Then the last elite of Mountain River City should have been here! The last of the Mixteco warriors…"

The evening breeze gently swept past, thick with the scent of blood saturating the air. Eyes wide open were glued over with congealed blood, tattoos hacked off symbolizing shattered warrior honor. At this moment, as the sunset dyed the sky red, everything submerged into the realm of the deceased, like the blood-red end of an era.

"By command of the Priest! Quickly bury the bodies, prevent plagues from arising!"

Xiulote watched in a pensive manner as the Mixteco civilians captured were ordered by the War Priests, displaying a numbness and despair as they threw handful upon handful of blood-dyed red soil into the pits. Gradually, the red soil covered the faces of the deceased, as the last Mixteco warriors were thus completely laid to eternal rest beneath the earth!

"By the Chief Divine's blessing! So many Mixteco warriors going to the Divine Kingdom deserve a funeral… Alas, let me personally host it tomorrow! The funeral of the Mixteco warriors, the funeral of the Mixteco Alliance…"

Red skies cloaked over the red earth. In the distance, Mountain River City still lingered though barely alive. Yet, everyone understood that the once-Mixteco Alliance, at this place and moment, in the mass pits of warriors and nobility being buried, had been utterly annihilated~~