"Praise the Chief Divine! Continue the ritual! Drink the divine blood wine, and engrave the mark of flesh and blood!"
The extre cold sacrifice was brutal and fleeting, with the warmth of life freezing into ice, and then burning and lting in flas. Soon, cup after cup of cold blood wine was handed to the Rokube captives, who drank it all under the supervision of the Kingdom's Warriors. Then, the painful scarlet emblem was engraved on their foreheads with a stone knife, a permanent mark, as if imprinted on their souls.
"Praise the Chief Divine! Our god Huitzilopochtli, who controls all life and death!..."
The blood oath ritual of conversion was filled with an overwhelming scent of blood and the smoke of burning hair. Batch after batch of Rokube captives, either numb, terrified, or resentful, kneeled before the Sacred Fire and priests, accepting the mysterious and fearso Shaman Sorcery. And when the awe-inspiring witchcraft was completed, the "Witch God Chief Divine" in the sky seed to take away their souls, along with all will to resist.
"Praise the Chief Divine! Our god Huitzilopochtli?"...
Batch after batch of Rokube captives appeared dazed, struggling to stand, muttering the Chief Divine's na whose aning they did not know, their faces full of deep reverence and an inexplicable obedient fear.
Seeing these expressions, Zuwaro, presiding over the sacrifice, smiled slightly, nodding inwardly. The xica were skilled at sacrifices and adept at using mysterious and bloody rituals to shock and reshape faith!
The performance of these Rokube captives after the ritual was similar to the tribes who converted during the kingdom's conquests, being in the first stage of faith and spiritual disintegration, initially converting to the Chief Divine. Next, through high-intensity prayers to the Chief Divine, daily recitation of the divine na, food bestowed by priests in the na of the Chief Divine, and the ever-present emblem on their foreheads... they would be led to the second stage of becoming followers of the Chief Divine. Further, through years of persistent prayer, priests' constant guidance, and battles of the Divine War... turning belief in the Chief Divine into a part of their life and living, they would gradually develop into devout believers. If divine miracles were to manifest, whether it be prophesies from Divine Revelation, more mysterious rituals, or the most suitable missionary tool, the hot air balloon "Eye of the Chief Divine," it could greatly accelerate the spread and consolidation of faith!
"Praise the Chief Divine! He is Supre and Almighty! From today, you offer your soul, body, and blood to the exalted Chief Divine! And from this day forward, you are the returning brothers of the Jiao People!"
Zuwaro, with an approving smile, watched as over four hundred Rokube captives all accepted the blood oath of conversion. Then, he solemnly turned his attention to the back of the line, to those nineteen captured large-ship tribe mbers.
"The Chief Divine bears witness! Now it's your turn... Blood oath! Conversion! Life or Death!"
"Ah! Buddha!… Such a god-worshipping and blood-sacrificing Witch God Tribe, so primitive, cruel, yet mysterious!… Can they really manipulate the mysterious blue fire, control the thunderbolt in the sky?"...
The ship officer Murakami Kitamichi shuddered, trembling all over. His scalp tingled first as he glanced at the altar sacrificing deer, wolves, and humans. Then, with visible fear, he looked at the eerie blue flas and the strange smoking golden cylinders, before collapsing in front of the Sacred Fire.
"The Chief Divine bears witness! Your hair will burn in the fire, taking your divided soul to the distant Divine Kingdom, offered to the Supre Chief Divine!… Co, Chief Divine's protection! Drink the blood wine bestowed by the God!"
Mikcul's scalp felt a chill as the samurai's topknot was cut and thrown into the fire. Trembling, he then picked up the blood wine, drinking it all under the stern gaze of the Kingdom's Warriors! It wasn't until his throat and heart were overwheld with the indelible taste of blood that he, in a stupor, allowed the priests to engrave the emblem of the Chief Divine on his forehead, stroke by ticulous stroke. After the ceremony concluded, he gingerly touched the divine emblem on his forehead, looked at the cunning chieftain Zuwaro in his shamanic robes, and with a face filled with sorrow, began praying softly with the Chief God Priests.
"Chief Divine's protection! May the Chief God of the Jiao People, the incarnation of the Eastern Enlightened Buddha, bless ! I, Murakami Kitamichi, dedicate myself to You, the great Buddha of the Eastern Sea!... Please protect , that one day I may return ho and see my Family Head again... If I can bring back the furs and gold of the Jiao People, I will surely erect a statue for You and offer unending worship daily! ... Ah! Huitzilopochtli, Great Buddha!"
Upon hearing Murakami Kitamichi's prayer, Monk Soldier Watanabe Masumi pursed his lips, saying nothing. Born into the main branch of a Martial Family in Northern Kyushu, he grew up hearing stories of the Yuan invasion and had raided the coast of Korea, unlike the inexperienced samurai of Ezo land, who had seen nothing.
"Hiss! Hachiman Mahasattva! This blood-sacrificing Jiao People Tribe actually has two Yuan invasion and Ming Dynasty arquebuses? And they are pure bronze arquebuses? These are truly formidable weapons... Huh! What kind of powder is burning in that eerie blue fla? The sll resembles the smoke from Immortal Mountain (Mount Fuji)... Hiss! Immortal Mountain, Mysterious Bird... Could it be? Could it be! It's true! They also use Chinese characters, different from the characters of the Ming Dynasty and Korea!"
Monk Soldier Watanabe Masumi was deeply moved by the awe-inspiring sacrifice and conversion, his heart surging with many thoughts flashing through his mind. He recalled the most ancient "Records of Ancient Matters," and the long-standing legends recorded regarding the origins of each clan, including those passed down by the Ryuzoji Clan.
"Shaokang of Xia Dynasty, to avoid the rise of the great rchants, fled east to the land of the rising sun, thus beca Japan. The son of King Tai of Zhou, uncle of King Wen of Zhou, was Wu Taibo. Wu Taibo, to avoid the human sacrifice of the great rchants, ca east to establish Wa Country, thus becoming our ancestor!... Ah! The Heavenly Mandate Mysterious Bird, descended and beca rchants. Could it be that this Witch God worshipping, Mysterious Bird and Sun adoring, blood-sacrificing and Chinese character-using Jiao People Tribe are the legendary descendants of the great rchants?!... Ah! It must be so!"
In this era, the legends of Wa Country's origin had not yet been consolidated by the Yamato lineage of Shinto. Each island and clan of Wa Country had its version, usually linked to emperors in the history of the Celestial Empire, and proudly attributed to ancient ancestors of the Celestial Empire. For instance, the aristocratic Chosokabe Clan of Tosa Province always claid to be descendants of Prince Goyuetsu, of the Qin clan attributed to the First Emperor of Qin. The Shimazu clan of Kyushu also claid to be of Qin descent.
Prior to the Yuan invasion extinguishing the Song dynasty, the two most esteed versions among Wa Country's clans were: one stated that Wa Country originated from the descendants of the Xia Dynasty's Shaokang Clan, which was considered the most orthodox lineage of Huaxia. The other widely accepted version was the story of Wu Taibo. It claid that during the late Shang dynasty, Wu Taibo, the uncle of Ji Chang (King Wen of Zhou) founded the state in the Wu region and was equally considered an ancestor of the Japanese people!
Across hundreds of years, the envoys from Wa to Tang and Song dynasties persistently emphasized to Tang and Song officials that they were orthodox descendants of Xia and Zhou, and descendants of ancient sages. Whether Tang or Song officials believed it or not, the clans of Wa Country truly did, often fabricating genealogies tracing back to Xia and Zhou. As for the ancient stories of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, many clans of Wa Country, especially those in Kyushu and Shikoku, thoroughly believed in them as if studying their own ancestors.
Until the defeat at Yaishan led to the fall of the Southern Song, resulting in Wa Country's "vegetarian state", believing that "China has lost its way." The Yuan dynasty's conquest and rise of the Ming, "tainted by nomadic influences," were no longer "the correctness of Tang and Song." This notion essentially marked the beginning of Wa Country's independence from the Tang-Song-centered cultural identity shaped during the Heian Era. With the rise of the indigenous Shinto, the "Shaokang of Xia Dynasty" and "Wu Taibo at the End of Shang" narratives gradually faded from the mainstream culture of Wa Country, eventually disappearing entirely during the Edo period under Tokugawa's unification.
Such a developntal trajectory indeed depicted Wa Country, regularly assimilating nourishnt from Huaxia, culturally growing stronger until independently evolving from a branch of Chinese civilization.
However, during this era, Wa Country's culture had yet to fully sever ties from Chinese influence. The deceased court noble in charge of ceremonies, Ichijo Kanemasa, from over a decade ago, emphasized "Japan is the nation of the Ji clan, descendants of Taibo" in order to promote rituals and calm dostic turbulence...
"Ah! The Jiao People of the Eastern Sea are descendants of the great rchants?!... Then the Chief God of the Jiao People, is he not the ancient Sorcerer Emperor?... The ancient Sorcerer Emperor, Huitzilopochtli?!"
Monk Soldier Watanabe Masumi was thrilled, his thoughts turbulent. According to the Ryuzoji clan's legend, his ancestors were also originated from the end of the great rchant era, perhaps nearer to these Jiao People in terms of lineage... But soon, he had no mind to contemplate these old and distant myths. Because the Chief God Priest holding the conversion ceremony for him encountered a slightly tricky problem.
"The Chief Divine bears witness! Your hair will burn in the fire, offered to the Chief Divine... Huh! You have no hair?!"
Looking at the bald Monk Soldier Watanabe, the Chief Divine Priest in front blinked, recalling the regulations in the teachings of the Chief Divine. After a brief contemplation, he naturally lifted Monk Soldier Watanabe's wrist and kindly smiled, saying:
"Chief Divine's protection! Since there is no hair... then sacrifice a little finger instead! It will appear even more devout..."
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