Aztec Eternals

“May the Chief God protect us! After sailing for so long, enduring several storms, we've finally reached Great Whale Harbor! Here, there's plenty of whale meat and enough housing. Everyone can rest properly…”

“Praise the Chief God! Speed up the sailing! We must reach the shore before dark, land at the harbor, and get a good night's rest!”

“Oh! Lofty mountains, the sea stretches into the distance, islands encircle us, a hazy spring twilight… and whale songs rise! This truly is, truly is a great island like the sacred mountains of the Eastern Sea!…”

Crimson clouds burned like fresh blood. Great Whale Island emerged from the Sea of Whales, its majestic white snow-capped peaks stretching for hundreds of miles, resembling the mythical Mount Penglai of the Eastern Sea. And the two kingdom's ocean-going ships sailed along the southeastern edge of this 'White Mountain Whale Island,' heading towards Great Whale Harbor, which was now visible.

On the vast six or seven thousand-mile coastline of Alaska, this nine-thousand-square-kilometer Arctic island was but a tiny speck. In fact, the 'tail' of Northwestern North America's Alaska alone covers an area of 1.72 million square kilometers, almost five times the size of the Japanese archipelago! This Great Whale Island, neither too large nor too small, was indeed just a 'tuft of fur' at the end of the 'tail.' However, if it were placed on the long and narrow Honshu Island, it would be more than twice the size of Omi Province, enough to elicit uncontrollable amazement from the dozen or so artisans from Omi on board the ship.

“Oh! Heavenly gods! Beyond the sea, towering mountains, swirling clouds, where gods reside… that place is the divine realm!…”

“Chief God! Finally… have we finally arrived? The vast mermaid lands of the Eastern Sea, the desolate plains thick with reeds, the bountiful land protected by the Chief God… Wow! Agh! Uh…”

“Heavens! Master Tetta Muneyoshi has fainted from seasickness again!”

“Great deity of the Eastern Sea! Quick, fetch the physician!… The waves at sea have been too great on this journey! It's like the wind of the gods, the breath of Shinato! These two months of sailing have been unimaginably, unimaginably difficult!…”

“たのまん！ I beg you… Physician Ayase, please treat my master again!…”

“！ Ah, the old artisan's body… I'll come, I'll check his pulse, and then apply acupuncture!… Hmm, this is 'Qi imbalance, the clear Yang fails to ascend, the spirit is lost'…”

This was because, since the founding of the Joseon Dynasty and the establishment of the Royal Medical Bureau, the official medical texts had all come from 'Han medicine.' And in order to ensure the accuracy of 'Han medicine', the court and government physicians and female doctors all used 'Han language' to teach, especially when discussing 'diagnosis' and 'acupuncture,' where a large number of specialized terms could not be translated and had to be used in Han language.

“Hmm… let me think… what else should I do after acupuncture?… Oh! Right, 'For seasickness, drip ginger juice under the tongue, or administer Agastache rugosa soup, for quick effect.'… Agastache rugosa? There's no Agastache rugosa in my herbal pouch, that's a precious Ming Dynasty medicinal material… Ah, ginger, yes, I brought several pieces of ginger… Who can help me press some ginger juice to drip two drops under the old artisan's tongue?…”

High Priest Lozanda looked serious, took the 'witch doctor' Ayase's 'witchcraft medicine' ginger, carefully looked at it, smelled it, raised his eyebrows, and handed it to a strong warrior to press the juice. Then, he looked at the two finger-length silver needles stuck in the old blacksmith's philtrum and wrist Neiguan points, his eyelids twitched, and he looked at the 'female witch doctor' Ayase with curiosity and apprehension.

He observed the fainting old blacksmith for a while, pondered for a moment, took out a priest's pouch from his arms, and took out a handful of American herbs and chewed them to pieces. Then, he spat out the herbs, applied them wetly to the old blacksmith's forehead, temples, and under the lips, and rubbed them hard for a while.

“Ah! What… what are you doing?! Don't move him!… Uh… is it?… Is it High Priest?…”

“…? Shh! Keep your voice down, don't disturb Master Muneyoshi's soul… This is 'spicy herb' (American Mint) and 'flower of the dead' (Marigold), which take effect in the head to call back his departed soul. He has a fainting symptom of 'temporary soul departure,' like near-death. And the specific reason for this 'soul departure' is 'life force depletion' (Tlāhuelli tonalli), that is, the life force 'Tonali' in the head, suddenly departs…”

“Therefore, I follow the priest's tradition, using 'spicy herb' to enhance Tonali and calling to the 'soul.' Using 'flower of the dead' to mobilize Tonali's circulation and balance, fixing the 'soul' in place… These divine herbs are all to help him 'return to his body' and restore the 'Tonali' life force in his head… Now that the medicine is used up, we can only wait, wait for the Chief God's blessing and protection!…”

Lozanda gestured, trying to communicate with the 'female witch doctor' from the Western Sea continent about the 'herbal medicine' of saving lives, which was also a 'soul secret art' highly valued by the priests.

“The Chief God is my witness! I saw you insert silver needle artifacts into his head, and also fed him the juice of another spicy herb under his tongue, which should also be to call back his 'soul,' right? But you also stuck silver needle artifacts in his wrists? What secret technique is that?…”

“…? ? Sir? What soul? I… I don't understand… This is just treating illness!… Acupuncture treats illness, treats fainting… ”

“…? ”

High Priest Lozanda blinked, looking at the 'female witch doctor' Ayase, who looked dull and like a cottontail rabbit, and didn't see any divine mystery of a 'priest shaman' at all, only feeling that she was a bit silly. Well, and a bit pretty? Don't misunderstand, to the kingdom's priests, this kind of slim, petite, and neat beauty is like admiring deer and butterflies, without any evil thoughts…

“Strange! This 'female witch doctor' from the Western Sea continent is really… not at all like a witch doctor, divine and mysterious, but rather like a pretty and harmless Chagul bird… This is really, really strange!…”

Lozanda watched the physician Ayase for a while, until the other party lowered her head in fear, and a faint pink blush appeared on her neck. Only then did he turn his head again and look at the old blacksmith Tetta Muneyoshi with concern. After this 'Sino-American witch doctor cooperation' treatment, the old blacksmith's twitching and foaming expression finally eased. And after a moment of easing, the old blacksmith's eyelids twitched, and he actually slowly opened his eyes and really woke up!

“Chief… Chief God!… I… I came back… from the Sanzu River?… Ah… High Priest?!… It's you, it was you who saved me?…”

“Praise the Chief God! Master Tetta, Ayase and I together helped your soul return to your body… May the Chief God protect you! We are already approaching the shore, and soon you will be able to disembark and go to a solid wooden house in Great Whale Harbor to rest for a few days!…”

Seeing the awakened old blacksmith, Lozanda breathed a sigh of relief, and his expression also relaxed a lot. He smiled and prayed, drew a hummingbird, comforted the precious blacksmith master, and then looked at the port that was approaching the shore.

“Phew!… The conch shells of the port are sounding, and the warriors have also come out to greet us. I wonder if Teacher Chimalli is still in Great Whale Harbor? I have to go and see him quickly, and explain in detail the situation on the Western Sea continent, and the precious artisans and livestock I brought back from this voyage, as well as the horses offered to His Majesty, these clearly countable great merits…”

“Ah! Those four ocean-going ships in the port? Each one is actually bigger than my flagship! There must be kingdom support fleets coming over!… I wonder which third-level High Priest is leading the fleet, and what is their background? To be able to lead such a large fleet, their background seems very deep! If this High Priest makes great contributions and has a deeper background than me, that would be troublesome…”

“Oh! Found him, that high-ranking priest on horseback! Dark robe, exquisite patterns, obsidian shimmer, it must be Teacher Chimalli!… Hmm? Not right? How can there be two high-ranking priests on horseback? Two fourth-level Grand High Priests?!…”

“!!… It's Grand High Priest Miki, the highest-ranking of the navigation priests! He and Grand High Priest Chimalli are standing together, both waiting for me at the port!… Chief God! This grand welcoming scene?!”

The ocean-going ship slowly approached the shore, and the figures of the two fourth-level Grand High Priests on horseback, and their two smiling and majestic faces, became clearly visible. Seeing this grand welcoming ceremony, Lozanda didn't dare wait for the ship to stop, and hurriedly jumped off the ship. He ran barefoot, stepping on the waves on the shore, and after running a few steps, he 'plop' knelt respectfully before the two fourth-level Grand High Priests' horses.

“Praise the Chief God! Praise His Majesty! Two respected Grand High Priest Masters… Lozanda has not failed his mission, followed His Majesty's divine revelation, and traveled across ten thousand miles of waves, enduring several storms… I have finally brought back from the Western Sea continent the crucial great artisans, four-legged riding beasts, four-legged plowing beasts, and two-winged poultry!!…”