Red spreads under the city walls like the deepest dye. Heads hang over the city gates, becoming the most vivid symbols of death.
"In the eyes of xica, the divine descendants with noble blood are just sacrifices to the War God... So, is there anything different about the priests of the Holy City?"
The Elder Priest Wezil tightly shut his mouth, and with a dark expression, he stood up. Without saying a word, the journey ahead was filled with silence.
Everyone walked past the heads of the divine descendants of Tlaxcala and ca to the outskirts of the city. The view suddenly expanded, mountains undulated in the distance, and the fields were full of green grass. Near the city walls, the battlefield was being cleared. Traces of the grueso battle were everywhere, yet the vitality of spring was budding amidst the busy work.
Under the supervision of four or five hundred xica warriors, thousands of Tlaxcala militia kept their heads down and busied themselves outside the city. They dug several large pits and threw the stripped bodies of warriors into them. It was already warm late spring, and the bodies would quickly decay, so they had to be buried quickly.
Wezil stopped beside a large pit, silently watching for a while. The dense death before his eyes deeply etched into his mind, sending a chill down his spine.
In just this one pit, there were probably at least three to four thousand bodies! More shocking was that among these bodies were not only the despised moth people but also strong warriors and those with serpent tattoos, the divine descendants!
"Despised moth people, ordinary warriors, and the revered divine descendants... All stripped naked, thrown into a deep pit, buried together..."
Wezil’s heart trembled, his face turned pale, and he stood motionless for a long ti.
"Ha! This cowardly tribal priest is frightened by the heaps of corpses!..."
"Oh? How could such a timid person serve as a priest for the supposedly great tribe of Cholula?"
"Looks like a weak tribe! But I heard they are extrely wealthy, with countless spices, gold, silver, jade... and thousands of fertile won!"
"Ah! Is this tribe here to surrender? If not, we should loot them!..."
The murmurs of the Canine Descendants continually reached his ears, their gazes toward Wezil were filled with obvious contempt.
Wezil pressed his lips together, offering no response. Although he had never been on the battlefield, he had sacrificed hundreds of offerings. What he truly feared was not the thousands of bodies, but how these bodies were treated - it showed the xica’s attitude towards the divine nobles!
"Revered and despised, noble and humble... In this barbaric war, there is no distinction, all buried together... Oh, Nava Gods!..."
Wezil closed his eyes, praying silently. He could vaguely perceive the change brought by the war, becoming more brutal, more disrespectful, and even more destructive. The age-old traditions and orders of Cholula Holy City, maintained for hundreds of years, were being completely dismantled and buried.
"The era of upheaval is accelerating its arrival, like stars falling from the sky... Is this the Fifth Epoch the xica speak of? The rewriting of nobility and humbleness, the lding of all people..."
The elder priest of the Holy City had no answers. He just felt that Petl, the chief, should see this with his own eyes. The xica had changed drastically, from their beliefs and ideas to their warfare, completely different from a decade ago...
"Elder Priest Wezil, we should go!"
The xica captain waited for a while before speaking up.
"Yes. Okay."
Wezil nodded, taking one last look at the mountainous piles of cotton armor, leather helts, and obsidian weapons beside the huge pit.
These tattered and broken equipnt were stripped from the fallen Tlaxcala warriors. In this era, it was impossible to abandon these resources and bury them with the corpses. And the busy Tlaxcala militian, what changes would they undergo after witnessing the deaths of their noble warriors?
"Let’s go!"
Wezil did not want to think further. He turned and followed the xica captain’s footsteps towards the southern military camp. For him, the most important thing now was to maintain the status of Cholula Holy City and persuade the xica’s "God of Death" His Highness!
The breeze blew along the mountains, coming to the expansive camp. It swept through the outer fences, passed over open grassy beds, brushed over extinguished campfires, and finally reached the stern large tent. Outside the tent, dozens of armored guards were on constant alert.
A young aide hurried over, examined the jade talisman at the tent entrance, and was allowed inside. He lifted the tent door carefully, stepped in, glanced at the legion commanders, and reported in a deep voice to the high-ranking figure.
"Your Highness, a ssenger from the Holy City of Cholula has arrived. It is Elder Priest Wezil!"
"Oh? An elder from the Holy City?"
Xiulote’s expression was serious as he frowned slightly.
"I am holding a military eting. I will not see him today. Let him wait in the camp and rest patiently for two days!"
"As you command, Your Highness!"
The young aide nodded respectfully and was about to leave.
"Wait, also send two warriors to show him around the camp and see the Imperial Guard Legion!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Xiulote smiled, his eyes subtly shifting. He indeed had been busy the past few days and did not want to see the Holy City envoy for now. He had certain plans for the Holy City that required gradual pressure... Soon, the king put aside the matter of the envoy and looked back at the people in the large tent.
"In the past few days, the remnants of the enemy in Water Valley City have been completely cleared, and the surrounding tribes have been mostly eliminated. Your legion’s battle losses should have been tallied, right? Black Wolf, you first!"
"As you command, Your Highness!"
Black Wolf Torc raised his head, glanced confidently at the various city-state legion leaders, then loudly responded.
"Since the eastern expedition in December, the Guajili Legion has led the way in every battle, breaking the enemy several tis! The scouts have been dispatched everywhere, mastering the intelligence of the Tlaxcala people! Even the fortified Water Valley City was breached from the South City under my command!"
Hearing Black Wolf’s words, the three southern city-state legion commanders, "Yu Yan" Mixcoatl, "Huashu" Huochiku’a, and "Coiled Python" Moyahualo, all showed awkward expressions, not knowing how to respond.
The xica Alliance’s traditional territory consists of Eleven States. Based on their distance from Lake Texcoco, they are divided into the Northern Four States, the Lake Region Four States, and the Southern Three States. The Lake Region Four States are now directly controlled by the royal family.
As for the other Seven States, although affected by centralization reforms, gradually losing the autonomy of priest appointnts, tribute collection, and nobility succession, they still maintain independent city-state armies. These city-state armies are made up of the private soldiers of various great nobility, and their commanders usually co from the most powerful Glory families within the states.
"Yu Yan" Mixcoatl cos from the largest southwestern Raziko State among the Southern Three States. "Huashu" Huochiku’a hails from the wealthy southern Sarco State. As for "Coiled Python" Moyahualo, he is from the alliance’s southeastern border with the Tlaxcala people, the poor and desolate Vats teppek State.
During the war, they responded to the king’s call but still retained the command of their respective city-state armies.
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