Chapter 567: Tehuacan Valley, the Divine Stone City and the Temple in the Clouds

The wind went southeast, and the rain fell in the valley, soaking the earth with red, and corpses fell everywhere. In the lush farmland, vultures fell, pecking at food with their heads down, not afraid of passers-by; flies in midsummer came to smell the fishy smell, gathered in groups, and feasted.

The Mixtec village was billowing with black smoke, and a raging fire was burning and rising, and then extinguished in the rain. When the sunny day came, the flames of destruction were ignited again, and they did not go out for several days.

This is the rich Tehuacan Valley, located more than 500 miles southeast of the lake capital, 300 miles southeast of the water valley city, and 120 miles southeast of the flower village. It is the most important northern gathering place for the Mixtec tribe.

The Salado River in the south originates from the mountains on the east side of the valley, winding all the way south, irrigating the fertile soil of the valley for 300 miles, flowing through the hinterland of the Mixtec Alliance, and to the dangerous Yunshan God City (Yanhuitlán).

Later, the Salado River, along with other streams, flowed into the Río Verde River further south. The Río Verde River continued southward, meandering for 600 miles in the Sierra Madre Occidental, and flowed into the vast North Pacific Ocean near Huitzoctli. Of course, the Salado River and the Verde River were both names from the colonial era. In this era, they were uniformly called by the Mixtecs, "the mother river of life given by the rain god."

Mountains gather clouds and rain, and valleys breed fertile soil. Rivers nourish the fields, and people gather. From the northernmost Huacong Village to the southernmost Zhongcheng, it is 900 miles north and south, and 200 to 300 miles east and west. The mountain valleys suitable for farming are the gathering places of more than 800,000 Mixtec tribes. Among the many Mixtec valleys, the northern Tehuacán Valley is the richest one!

More than 150,000 Mixtec tribes settled in this fertile valley and established the ancient God Stone Hill City (i.e. Tehuacán).

The numerous villages are scattered around the God Stone City, like beans around corn, feeding the priests and nobles in the clouds who have been respected for generations. Ten miles east of the God Stone City is the more ancient Temple in the Clouds, one of the two sacred places of the Mixtec people, the Tehuacan Pyramid standing in the mountains!

The "Temple in the Clouds", the Tehuacan Pyramid, is not in the God Stone City. It is similar to the Sun and Moon Pyramids, both of which are classical wonders built in the Teotihuacan era, located in the mountains that are convenient for quarrying. The God Stone City is located on the riverside hills, occupying a vast riverside fertile land.

In the hearts of the Mixtec tribes who worship the gods, the Tehuacan Pyramid in the north is where the ancient gods live, and the holy cloud altar in the south is the sanctuary of the rain god Zawi.

The clouds floated from the south, covering the valley full of fighting. On the east side of the towering God Stone City, fierce battles were taking place.

The Mixtec tribes produced the dye "Maya blue" and also admired the blue of the sky. Three thousand Mixtec warriors, wearing blue cotton armor and pointed cloth hats, were scattered across the field, fighting with two thousand Tlaxcala surrendered soldiers in white cotton armor. Thousands of warriors wielded obsidian war clubs and fought on the wet red soil. Every minute, dozens of people fell to the ground and died.

At this moment, the noble lives of the warriors withered like weeds in the field, not worth mentioning.

"Rain God Zawi, protect us!"

"Kill, kill them and go to rescue the temple in the mountain!"

"The enemy can't hold on!"

The brutal fight lasted only two moments, and the Tlaxcala warriors could not hold on. They were a little fewer in number, and most of them were recently recruited surrendered soldiers, and their morale was very low. At this time, they could barely hold on, all thanks to the dense formation and the brave leader.

Military leader Koo, wearing cloud-patterned leather armor, a tiger-head wooden helmet, and a gold pendant around his neck, stood behind the Mixtec army. In Mixtec language, "Guku" means blue snake, possessing the divinity in the clouds. From this name, we can see his respected status.

Guku has a blue feather wooden shield tied to his left hand, a delicate silver-inlaid war stick in his right hand, and a bunch of bright feathers on his back. The feathers are two meters high, full of gorgeous green, blue and white bird feathers, like summer reeds, swaying high in the warriors' army, looking very eye-catching.

The feathers are a typical symbol of the Mixtec leader, just like the flag of the commander of the alliance. Like the Mexica and Tlaxcala people in the north, the Mixtec leader who commanded the army would wear more gorgeous battle clothes, wear more feathers, and carry more obvious symbols.

In the army of Central America, as a commander, all warriors must be able to see it at a glance!

"Kill! Fight for the supreme and powerful God of Death! As long as you make military achievements, you can be promoted to a warrior and get land in the kingdom!"

The fighting in the front line is still going on, and the Tlaxcalans are shaky, but they have never collapsed. The difficult-to-understand Nahua shouts floated from afar, carrying the names of gods, as if giving them extra fighting spirit.

Military leader Guku squinted his eyes, stood on a high place, and carefully observed the battle in front. Soon, a middle-aged warrior wielding a bronze spear and fighting hard came into his sight. This middle-aged warrior wore leather armor and a bronze feather helmet and stood at the forefront of the army. Whenever the army was shaky, he would shout loudly to boost the morale of the Tlaxcalan warriors.

"Rain God Warrior Riki! Go, take a hundred rain god hunters, and kill that feather warrior! Under the siege of the Mexicans, the lofty mountain temple can't hold out for too long, we must support it as soon as possible!"

"Yes, leader!"

The Rain God Warrior Rich fell to his knees and kowtowed like a woodpecker. In fact, the meaning of his name is "woodpecker" in the Mixtec language. The Mixtec people call themselves "people in the clouds" and like things close to the sky, so they naturally admire birds. The god they revere the most is the main god in charge of the sky and rainfall, the Rain God Zawi.

"Follow me and kill that leader!"

"Woodpecker" Rich shouted, holding a war club and coming to the front line of the battle. Hundreds of elite Rain God hunters, all tied with shields and holding war clubs, rushed to the front. Behind the hunters, they carried two obsidian javelins. They stood still, making waves of threatening bird calls, and then pulled out sharp javelins and aimed at the enemy leader!

Seeing this scene, the surrendered battalion commander Tetica (tetica) frowned, and without hesitation, he turned around and fled. In the Nahua language, the name "Tetica" does not have any divine meaning, but is just an ordinary "stone", just like the "bolt, stone" in the name of the Celestial Empire.

With such an ordinary name, "bolt" Tetica naturally would not have a high origin. In the Tlaxcala Alliance, which respected noble races, he had no chance to gain the power to command thousands of people. Under the new order brought by the Mexica, he was promoted to the commander of the surrendered soldiers and survived several difficult battles. He relied on not fearing life and death, daring to fight, and being able to seize the opportunity and flexibly respond.

"Swoosh!"

A large number of fierce spears shot from the air, with powerful force, knocking down the warriors' shields and shooting into the gaps in the army. Dozens of Tlaxcala warriors in the front line were directly shot through the cotton armor by spears, fell on the soft soil, and let out a shrill scream that was not like a human voice. Then, in just a few breaths, the second round of deadly spears came again!

"Swoosh!"

"Ah!"

The army leader turned and fled, and the warriors in the front suffered heavy casualties. The Tlaxcala surrendered soldiers could no longer hold on, howling in panic, and collapsed instantly. The remaining more than a thousand surrendered soldiers abandoned their shields and war sticks, and fled to the mountains and forests in the east in a panic.

"Haha! The famous Mexica Army seems to be just like this! Quick, quickly go east and chase me!"

In just a moment, the thousands of warriors who had just resisted stubbornly turned into embarrassed turkeys running around and being slaughtered. Military leader Guku laughed and was very proud.

In today's battle, defeating thousands of warriors is a rare great achievement in the Mixtec Alliance. If he successfully rescues the Temple in the Clouds, then he will win the tribal election of the Lord of the God Stone City next year!

Yes, compared with the relatively centralized northern tribes, the southern Mixtec Alliance is more loose in politics and still maintains a backward tribal election system. Every once in a while, the chiefs of each tribe would be elected to decide the supreme leader of each valley. Of course, only warriors of noble blood were eligible to participate in such a leader election.

Hundreds of Tlaxcala warriors fled eastward without resistance. Three thousand Mixtec legions shouted birds and chased and killed excitedly. And the bright and eye-catching leader feather bundles, surrounded by hundreds of rain god hunters, continued to move eastward.

The Mixtec warriors were immersed in the joy of victory and killing, stepping on the corpses of the Tlaxcalans and chasing into the undulating mountains and forests. This sacred forest is the home of the Mixtec souls, so how can they allow the evil Mexica legion to occupy it for a long time?

With this idea in mind, the Mixtec warriors who were chasing were merciless and desperate. Soon, the towering cloud temple appeared a few miles away, adding an exciting piety to the joy in the eyes of the warriors. The blue-armored Mixtec warriors chased and were excited, until an exceptionally sharp eagle whistle suddenly sounded in the deep mountains!

I will sort out the Mixtec map and will release it in the next two chapters.