Chapter 576: Mixtec Prisoners

It is the middle of September, and the rainy season is coming to an end. In the fertile fields of the Tehuacan Valley, green and gold are intertwined, and the corn has shown signs of a good harvest. The valley is full of vitality everywhere, except for the busy people.

Groups of colored buntings fell from the sky and boldly perched on the corn. They shook their bright head feathers, broke through the green tender skin, and pecked at the newly mature corn kernels one by one. The shaggy-tailed raccoons also emerged from the mountains and forests, with a silly and sad face, carefully stretched out their long arms, and stole the corn in the fields.

The rude peccaries don't care so much. They ran out of the muddy swamp in groups, with a smell that can't be driven away. The Central American peccary is also called "collared peccary (tuan)" and "skunk pig". They look similar to the wild boars in the Old World, but they are slightly smaller in size, have sharp fangs, and are more aggressive.

This kind of skunk pig is more like a "skunk" than a "pig". Their meat is so smelly that even the tribesmen who are used to eating insects and ants find it difficult to swallow. Similarly, they are extremely numerous and have strong fighting power. Without the terrible two-legged beasts, they have almost no natural enemies in the mountains and forests of the south. At this moment, this group of skunk pigs rushed into the cornfield, used their powerful and thick hooves to dig up the mature plants, and then feasted on them.

"Woo!.Woo!"

The desolate horn sounded suddenly behind the valley in the south, startling a flock of flying birds. The raccoon shook its long tail, hugged the corn, and fled in a panic. The skunk pigs gathered together and hid in the cornfield. They narrowed their eyes vigilantly and looked at the dirt road trampled by pedestrians not far away. Soon, a large group of terrible two-legged beasts appeared in their eyes.

"Ha! Gulu Gulu!"

The skunk pigs raised their fangs and roared in a low voice, demonstrating to the approaching two-legged beasts. However, more and more two-legged beasts approached, and they also made terrible sharp howls from their mouths.

"Gulugu!"

"Woo woo, rain god who controls the storm! Please send down thunder, kill the brutal northern barbarians, and save your pious people!~Uh! Ho ho"

The shining copper spear stabbed out quickly, scaring the peccaries on the roadside. They knew the horror of the fangs of this bipedal beast, and could easily kill a large number of their own kind. The dozen or so peccaries that gathered turned and fled, leaving behind only a group of crying Mixtec tribesmen and a slowly falling corpse of a chief.

"Puff!"

The red-haired dog hunter Chabo stared and pulled out the sharp copper spear from the neck of the chief. Then, he wiped the bloody spear tip on the chief's hair, avoiding his clothes. Then, he stared at the chief's bloodstained coarse cotton robe for a while, which was a little regrettable.

"This kind of strong cloth robe is rare in the wilderness. Even if it is stained with blood, it can still be worn after washing."

The red-haired hunter Chabo thought for a moment and looked at the prisoners who would be escorted. He pointed casually and chose a naked, hunched tribesman.

"You, take off his clothes, put them on, and carry them."

"Ah? What? Clothes? Carry?"

Hearing the words of the barbarian warrior, the tribesman Didi stayed where he was, at a loss. He could not understand the northern Nahua language, and could only barely understand a few common words, that is, "clothes" and "carry".

"You!"

Hunter Chabo waved his spear and glared. He didn't understand the words of these southern tribes. He simply took off the chief's robe himself, threw it to the tribesman Didi, and made a wearing gesture.

"Ah, this! This is the nobleman's clothes. I, I, am a lowly ant. How can I wear it?"

Didi understood the barbarian warrior's actions, but his expression became more and more panic. In the Mixtec language, his name "didi" means ant on the ground. In the Mixtec tribe, he is also the most humble and low-level tribesman, and he doesn't even have his own clothes.

"You! Wear it, take it! Mine. If you don't wear it, you will die!"

The hunter Chabo showed impatience, and once again raised the sharp copper spear and pointed it at the tribesman Didi. Ant Didi trembled with fear and immediately put on the chief's robe, which was still stained with the nobleman's blood. Then, he bent his hunched waist and put the heavy backpack behind the chief on his back.

The surrounding tribesmen looked sideways, and they looked at the fierce red-haired barbarian with deep fear. Then, when they looked at Didi wearing the chief's clothes, they were angry and hateful.

Ant citizen Didi shivered again with a bamboo basket on his back. Hunter Chabo had lost interest in him. He narrowed his eyes and looked carefully at the boars that gathered again after running away for more than ten steps. His left hand had already touched the big bow behind him.

"This is a stinky pig from the south. It's the same as the one in the wilderness. It can't be eaten."

Another red-haired hunter Mi Kui shook his head and held Chabo's hand. If you ask him how he knows, of course he has tasted it once. That experience is really unbearable to look back on.

"Fruit Tree Chabo, the food seized in this robbery is enough, and there is no need to waste precious arrows!"

Mi Kui spoke softly to Chabo, but his eyes were on the bamboo basket carried by Didi.

"Stinky pig from the south? Pah!"

Hearing this, hunter Chabo frowned and spit in disgust. In the wilderness where food is scarce, every time you are forced to eat stinky pork, it is a nauseating torture. That taste is like eating mud that has been rotten for many years in a swamp.

Interestingly, Chapo's name comes from a fruit tree, tzapoyo, while Mikui's name comes from another tree, Mesquite. Both of them are named after trees. In fact, they are from the same wilderness tribe and are now in the same flag team.

"The corn in the south is good! The stinky pigs in the south are not good! The tribes in the south are rich, have many people, and cannot be fought. They are excellent. They are the good of the Mother Earth!. Oh, by the way, we must praise the Lord God!"

Hunter Chapo stretched out his rough and red hands, grasped the sun amulet around his neck, and prayed sincerely with hunter Mikui. More than a hundred dog warriors around also bowed their heads, praising the divine heaven and earth and singing praises to the supreme Lord God.

"Praise the Lord God, Huitzilopochtli! He is the highest and greatest, greater than the Mother Earth! Awooo!"

Looking at the barbarian warriors praying and shouting, thousands of captured young and strong tribesmen lowered their heads, looking depressed, and dared not make any sound. During the days of being captured, they had prayed to the rain god they believed in. But the blessing of the rain god, like a passing rainstorm, has not yet arrived. And day after day, they were escorted by the red-haired barbarians, leaving the prosperous south of the valley and heading for the unknown land of the barbarians.

The towering cloud temple appeared in the sky, getting closer and closer, and the towering God Stone City was not far to the west. Seeing that they were about to leave the land of Zavi and completely lose the blessing of the rain god from then on, some tribesmen lowered their heads and sobbed silently and suppressedly.

Ant Didi did not cry. He just blinked his eyes and looked at the barbarian warriors who shouted to the sun. He listened to the other party's words and tried to remember a repeated keyword, "Feed the carrots strangely!"

The short prayer ended quickly, and the way home was in sight. The dog warriors were in high spirits, shouting in the northern dialect, escorting dozens of times the Mixtec captives. The captives' right hands were tied together with solid sisal ropes, and there was no metal or stone on their bodies. The dog warriors escorting them were fully armed, carrying copper spears and copper axes, and carrying large bows on their backs.

The Mixtec captives could only lower their heads, carrying bamboo baskets full of food and property, dragging them towards the unpredictable northwest. The rumors of the Aztec alliance's human sacrifice echoed in their hearts, making the road to the north seem particularly hesitant and difficult.

But the rain god's salvation never came. The rain god's warriors, huddled in the solid stone city, watched the Mexica looting wantonly, and dared not harass them at all. Or perhaps, they had long avoided the attention of the rain god and secretly reached an agreement to betray the gods.