"Xiulote, my student. May the Chief Divine bless us as we drink this cup of wine together!"
"Yes, teacher! May the Chief Divine bless you, shining like the Sun, while I, your student, guard you like the Black Wolf!..."
"Haha! The Sun has the divinity of the Chief Divine, and the Black Wolf has the divinity of the God of Death. In our xica's traditional mythology, although there is a difference in their divinity, they are not subordinate to each other but are equal!"
"Ah! Teacher... no matter what, I am always your student, following you like wings follow an eagle... I will always remain loyal to you, for wings and eagles are one!"
"Indeed! Wings and eagles are one! You and I are one..."
The sun set, and the fire pit in the great tent was lit, shadows creeping in from all around. The two people sat by the warm fire pit, their faces illuminated in an orange glow. Aweit's actions were intimate, his smile gentle, as he drank cup after cup of plum wine. Xiulote's movents were respectful, maintaining the rituals of a student, pouring wine for the teacher and being pulled into drinking a few cups.
"Co! Drink more!"
"Yes!"
"Haha! Xiulote, you are my only student, my only son-in-law, and my only friend! Co, loosen up and have a few more cups!"
"Yes... yes, yes!"
"I rember, more than ten years ago, we drank like this! We ate nothing, just drank while watching the sunset, until the sky was full of stars... And you told you wanted to change the entire world! To uphold the bottom line, to embrace order with leniency, and to allow more people to stand equally... Over ten years have passed. In the end, we are the only ones who can stand together on equal footing!"
"Ah... Teacher, you still rember what I said back then... No, you should stand high up, while I wish to assist you, like the eagle and the Cactus!"
"Oh! I rember that too! Wasn't that when we made the pledge by the Lerma River, facing the deceased Su'angua's army? I would soar like an eagle, conquering all the peoples, and you would be like the Cactus, with roots binding all tribes... We are still that 'equal'!"
"Ah... teacher, your mory is excellent! Truly the sun-blessed Divine King!"
"Haha! I don't rember much of what others say. But what you say, I rember a lot... because I know you are truly blessed by the Divine Revelation, favored by All Gods! Your words are filled with ancient divinity, offering deep insight, worthy of pondering... Whether this divine is the xica's Chief Divine, the oldest God of Death, or a divine from the West... no matter what, Xiulote, you truly possess divinity!"
"This... Teacher, your cup is empty, let pour you another!… You are the only Supre Divine King!"
Thus, the two of them kept drinking plum wine, without a single dish to accompany it. In a short ti, Aweit's face turned red from drinking. His smile grew even brighter, his tone more intimate, as he embraced Xiulote's shoulders, completely shedding the airs of a Divine King. At this mont, he seed truly to revert back to the tiless friendship of a decade ago, like that starry night of drinking.
But beside Aweit, Xiulote maintained the respect of a student while his mind raced. His face didn't redden, but he was covered in a fine layer of sweat as if he'd been fished out of water. He couldn't understand why Aweit, who normally didn't like drinking, insisted on getting himself drunk today. Then intentionally shed the deanor of the Divine King, adopting the deanor of a friend, discussing this "equality"... What does this an?
"Xiulote! You once said, in the distant West, there was a Great Chief with impressive stature, who loved plums and conquered thousands of miles of tribes! He once, with the little Chief he valued most, of Divine Bloodline, discussed over a pot of plum wine the truly divine heroes of the world..."
"Yes..."
Xiulote pursed his lips, forcing a smile. He couldn't rember when he had told Aweit this story. More importantly, he couldn't rember if he had spoken of the story's follow-up, whether he ntioned the thunder, or if he had said that after the little Chief fled, he beca the Great Chief's lifelong adversary...
"The Great Chief said, the world has only the two of us that count as truly divine heroes! Then, the little Chief, deeply afraid, dropped the wooden spoon as thunder struck from the sky. The Great Chief laughed heartily, unafraid of thunderbolts while the little Chief feared them, clearly inferior! So, he let the little Chief go, releasing the divine hero he valued... And what happened? The little Chief beca his greatest opponent, striking him with a thunderbolt that defeated the almost world-conquering Great Chief. In the end, the little Chief laughed and said: 'I do not fear fire, but you fear thunderbolts, so you too are not as good as ! But you were right, the world truly has only the two of us divine heroes!'"
Aweit laughed as he drank, recounting the story he rembered, reminiscing the distant and indistinct mories. While Xiulote, dumbfounded for a mont, was truly surprised. Did he really tell Aweit this way, or was it Aweit's own embellishnt...
"What a pity! Two truly divine heroes, so deeply cherishing each other... yet unable to conquer the world hand in hand, or share enduring power within their families! What a pity!"
Aweit finished his drink and looked at the clay pot, which was already empty. Shaking his head, he banged on the pot with abandon, singing as if venting so emotion from his heart. The song sounded familiar, yet unfamiliar, with a unique flavor.
"To sing with wine, when one can joyously relish, how many tis in a lifeti? We are all dewdrops from the sky, blessed by the divine Sun, burning away in its divinity... Standing atop the tallest pyramid, looking down on the world with fervor, yet also weighed with worry beneath a thick divine mask! What can liberate us from these worries, from the personas of both divine and king? Only this intoxicating jug of wine, perhaps?!"
"Co! Only truly equal friends can sit together, drink until oblivion! Because long ago, I knew, the world truly has only the two of us divine heroes!"
Reaching this part of the song, Aweit turned around, staring with bright and sober drunken eyes at the reverent and humble Xiulote, smiling and shaking his head.
"Xiulote, my student! Why can't you let loose a little? You weren't like this before!"
"Honorable teacher! In the past, I was your assisting student and son-in-law. But when you ascended to the Supre Divine King, you beca my revered King!"
"Haha! Indeed you've grown, but there are neither thunderbolts nor heavenly fire here today!"
Aweit laughed and shook his head at these impeccable words, cracking a not-so-funny joke. He sighed softly, drunk-eyed and still speaking with closeness.
"Chief Divine as witness! Xiulote, I once thought myself the embodint of the world's divinity, the sole Divine King! Yet now, I finally understand the story you told. I am rely the wine-brewing Great Chief, making the sa arrogant mistakes. This world's divinity does not belong to one single person!"
"Xiulote, my student. Tell , how can the wine-brewing Great Chief and the divine little Chief stand together forever, to conquer, share, and govern the whole world?"
"Uh... this..."
Upon hearing this, Xiulote paused, montarily at a loss for words. How could the two of them stand together forever? However, the two Chiefs in Aweit's mind were completely different from him. This was already a xica version of the story...
"Chief Divine and Ancestors bear witness! Esteed teacher, I do not know the answer. Please guide ..."
"Haha! Even a divine like you doesn't know? Let be your teacher once more, and I'll explain it to you carefully!"
Aweit suddenly grew cheerful, smiling while patting Xiulote's shoulder, then softly spoke.
"Chief Divine as witness! Loyalty in this world is truly unpredictable, hard to grasp, and hard to rely on! We can only be sure if a person is trustworthy at that mont, by your side, in front of you... Hence, those you can truly trust, who are truly reliable, are only of three types..."
"Those with aligned political goals, who gaze upon the Sun together, having the sa Divine Tree aspiration, they are 'sa tree'! Those with tightly bonded family interests, having solid ties of bloodline and marriage, who grow towards one direction, they are 'shared branch'! Those deeply buried beneath the earth, constrained by thick soil, unable to betray the roots of the tree, all sizes being connected, they are 'linked root'!"
"Sa tree, shared branch, linked root... Ordinary people only need any one to beco part of oneself! For a truly divine hero, all three should be used together! That wine-brewing Great Chief, encountering the only two heroes beneath the heavens, recognizing the other's extraordinary nature, how could he not use all three thods to unite with the other, instead letting him flee in fear?"
Upon this note, Aweit laughed drunkenly, contentedly holding onto Xiulote's arm as he proudly remarked.
"Ahahaha! So, that incredibly formidable hero who conquered thousands of miles was not as good as I!"
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