Aztec Eternals

July, Central America, 17 degrees North latitude. The Mixtec Highlands, the ruins of an ancient city. “Black City and Temple of Heaven,” Tilantongo.

“Ñuu Tnoo-Huahi Andehui! ‘Eight Deer Claw’ came from the realm of the gods, united the Mixtec tribes, and stepped on the five-colored rainbow to return to the sacred Black City of the gods, the Temple of Heaven dedicated to ‘Nine Wind God’ and ‘Rain God’!...”

Yun Tian Andiwei, the high priest of the Mixtec main god, wore the black sacrificial robe of the main god, his expression solemn. He held the hummingbird's main god's golden emblem in both hands, taking the lead among the high priests, with the elder priest Xiu Luote clearing the way behind him. Step by step, with extremely complex feelings, he stepped into the center of the entire Tilantongo Black City, a large square of ten thousand square meters, and then ascended the towering and heavy “Temple of Heaven,” which was 26 meters high, with a base of more than 50 meters, located on a plateau hill more than two thousand meters above sea level.

“The main god is witness! The Temple of Heaven pyramid is the most magnificent and sacred ancient Mixtec temple! It is eighteen men high, with a base thirty-six men long and wide, built entirely of meticulously carved stones. The outer walls are covered with colorful stucco murals, depicting the heroic deeds of gods, ancestors, and warriors… The wave-like carvings are the wind patterns of the ancient god ‘Nine Wind God’ and the cloud patterns of the old god ‘Rain God’…”

“One, two, three… thirteen!… The stone steps lead directly from the base to the altar at the top, with a total of 13 steps, symbolizing the 13 layers of heaven in the ancient Mixtec myths! At the top of the heavens is the sacred place of sacrifice, the place of communication with the realm of the gods. The connection here with the realm of the gods has continued from the Second Era thousands of years ago to this day… And today is the divine moment when the powerful main god enters the ancient Temple of Heaven, and its light shrouds the entire Land of Clouds!”

Yun Tian Andiwei chanted loudly, using the most ancient Mixtec Highland language to inform the Cloud Ancestors on the pyramid temple of the era cycle of “New God Entering” and “Cloud Fusion.” This was also his greatest role, as the representative of the Mixtec priests, to carry out the “Ritual of Divine Transition in the Clouds” and completely break up the hearts and beliefs of the Mixtec tribes.

And hearing his declaration, which he uttered with all his strength and resounded throughout the pyramid, in the Mixtec language… the Mixtec chiefs, headmen, bonfire storytellers, and surrendered warriors, who numbered in the thousands and had been brought from the entire Cloud region by the Alliance warriors to be forced to attend the ceremony, all showed heartfelt grief. The Cloud faith in their hearts was being defeated by the Mexica's sacrifices, conversions, and one “sacred ritual” after another!

“Wuwu… Ancestors of the Cloud!… The Rain God and the Wind God… will completely leave us…”

“...”

Yun Tian Andiwei looked at the thousands of Mixtec tribes kneeling and looking up at the Temple of Heaven pyramid, the atmosphere of despair enveloping the hearts of the Mixtec people.

And in the slightly farther periphery, the entire two legions, sixteen thousand Mexica elite warriors, including four thousand Jaguar and Eagle warriors, and four thousand Shorn Ones Guards, were arrayed in the Black City, looking at the top of the pyramid where the great sacrifice was about to be held. Fervor and desire filled the faces of the warriors. A full eight hundred Mixtec descendants and noble sacrificial offerings were also surrounded by the Alliance warriors, waiting for the moment when they would be sent to the altar on top of the pyramid!

“Eight hundred divine descendants… alas! This southern expedition of the Alliance has almost wiped out all the Mixtec divine descendants, nobles, and priests! This is indeed a divine war to destroy the inheritance of the divine descendants!…”

“Main god! The only thing worth celebrating is that I surrendered early, surrendering to the Lake Kingdom when the Alliance marched east against the Tlaxcalans. Later, I served ‘His Highness the Divinely Inspired Prophet,’ participating in the compilation of the rubber-man epic of the origins of the tribes as a Mixtec inheritor… If I had waited until this southern expedition to be captured, I'm afraid I would not have escaped this sacrificial knife!…”

Yun Tian Andiwei looked at the blue queue of eight hundred sacrificial offerings, which contained too many “divine noble” and “priest elder” acquaintances. Ten years ago, everyone was generally high above, ruling tens of thousands of “ant people” below the clouds as the generationally inherited Cloud “cacao trees.” Until the change seven years ago, he was captured by the Black Wolf General, who first raided south, in the Cloud Temple, knelt down and pledged allegiance to His Highness the Divinely Inspired, becoming the first surrendered “Cloud Priest Elder”…

Now, seven years have passed! The Mexica Alliance has marched south with all its strength, completely conquering the Cloud region! All the “cacao trees” that once sat high in the clouds have been felled by the Mexica's bronze axes! Only he not only preserved himself, but even became the fourth-level high priest of the main god, personally appointed by His Highness the Divinely Inspired, to participate in this great sacrifice announcing the destruction of the Mixtec Alliance!

“You will see flowers, you will hear songs, but they are ultimately only a fleeting reality, gone in an instant!”

“Ca tiquittaz in xochitl, ca tiquittaz in cuicatl, zan oc ye nelli, zan oc ye nelli!”

Thinking of the impermanence of fate, Yun Tian Andiwei sighed secretly, muttering a meaningful Nahua proverb, filled with heartfelt emotion.

A person's fate is always so unpredictable! You say, he, an old man in his forties, was originally doing well in the Cloud Temple… As a result, the Mexica launched a sneak attack, and he didn't even have time to dodge, and he became a prisoner of the Lake Kingdom, becoming the first captured Cloud Priest Elder, ridiculed by all the Cloud priestly orders!

And then? He helped the Mexica people to appease the conquered Mixtec tribes, constructing a theory of "cultural assimilation and unity," transforming himself into a high priest of the Mexica. But his "old friends" who had mocked him before, were all packed up just a few years later, becoming sacrifices in the ceremonies he participated in, soon to be offered to the main god with his own hands…

You say, this unpredictable life, can it really rely on self-struggle? I think, it probably all depends on the course of history! This choice is far greater than effort. Only following the right person is the most important~~

"What is life? Just dust, just gold, just broken stones, just torn wings."

"Tlein zan tlechtli, zan teocuitlatl, zan oc tezoatl, zan oc atlapalli."

Yun Tian Andiwei shook his head and recited two lines of Nahuatl poetry on the spot. This is the Mexica's complaint about fate, "Life is like gold and stone, there are not many times when it is bright and beautiful, and more times when it is broken into渣.". And now, those who are about to be truly broken into渣 are waiting below! He has to start the opening ceremony quickly and let the grand ceremony begin…

"Praise you! Respected God King! At the top of the highest Temple of Heaven, please raise the golden emblem of the main god, engrave it on the stone tablet of the ancient gods, and declare the death of the rain god!"

"The main god blesses! The emblem of the main god will be held high by the selected great god king and engraved on the stone tablet… From then on, the main god Huitzilopochtli is the only supreme god in the cloud! The tribes in the cloud will be integrated into the alliance and become the people of the alliance. They will return to the ancient origin and be smelted into a unified膠人!…"

This is the most divine and solemn ritual step. Xiuluote stepped forward, replacing Yun Tian Andiwei, and recited aloud the "political declaration of the unity of膠人" in the ancient Totonac Nahua language! Then, eleven Mexica high priests repeated in Nahuatl, followed by hundreds of main god priests repeating, and finally repeated in Mixtec, until it resounded throughout the entire Black City!

"The ancestors bless! The main god is watching us! At this moment, the land in the cloud becomes the divine territory of the main god! And the Mixtec rain god Zawi will be swallowed by Him!…"

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of warriors and captives, God King Avit took the offered golden emblem and raised it high. The shining golden light was deeply imprinted in people's eyes at the top of the Temple of Heaven pyramid, connecting with the divine realm in people's hearts. Then, God King Avit pressed hard, pressing the golden hummingbird emblem in the very center of the stone tablet! Pressing it on the head of the rain god Zawi, on the face that had been chiseled out and turned into the shape of a hummingbird!

"The main god blesses! He devoured the rain god Zawi! The Mixtec alliance is destroyed at this moment!"

"Come on, nail in the divine nails!…"

"Clang clang clang!…"

Four war priests raised bronze hammers and vigorously hammered the bronze long nails into the golden hummingbird emblem, and then deeply into the sacred stone tablet. And until twelve bronze long nails completely integrated the golden emblem with the sacred stone tablet, the rain god Zawi on the stone tablet disappeared, turning into the hummingbird main god!

"Woo! Woo! Ancestors! Rain god… the rain god is dead!…"

"Ah… the main god devoured the rain god!…"

At this moment, thousands of Mixtec tribes who looked up could no longer endure the despair and pain in their hearts, and prostrated and cried in a团. Some even pierced their eyes with their fingernails and scratched their cheeks, letting the blood flow. Under this shock that shattered their spiritual beliefs, the previous feigned conversion could no longer be maintained!

The ancient inherited gods were originally invisible and traceless, only existing in people's hearts. But if a grand ceremony is held, in a way that people believe, to kill it in people's hearts… then the gods will also truly perish with the faith that disappears in people's hearts!

"Ancestors! The Mexica's grand ceremony is about to begin…"

"Sacrifice… death… ah! The divine kingdom where the soul goes…"

At this moment, those Mixtec descendants who were about to be sacrificed were even more pale and limp. Because, from this moment on, their lives, in this most sacred place in the cloud, officially began the countdown on the high platform. And if the rain god really dies, where will the souls in their hearts return? Could it be that they will fall into the abyss of endless suffering? The belonging of the soul is more important than the death of life, because it involves the endless future after death!…

On the Temple of Heaven, Xiuluote, wearing a heavy obsidian divine costume, slowly put on the turquoise divine mask. And when the mask covered his solemn face, his voice became ethereal, as if floating down from the clouds.

"Praise the main god! Light all eighteen bronze braziers with blazing holy fire!"

"Carry up the bronze cauldron! Collect the heart blood of the sacrifice…"

"The main god is coming! The sacred victory ceremony begins here!"