Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!
Chapter 990 - 591: The End of the Voyage, The Last Pea

Chapter 990: Chapter 591: The End of the Voyage, The Last Pea

The long night stretched on, layers of clouds piling up, with no lamps nor any sight of stars or moon. The Mistecs’ harassment began from the north of the riverbank, and then emerged at the western side of the camp. Wave after wave of skirmishes took place in the darkness. Initially, there was the sound of arrows flying, followed by footsteps running, then cries of struggle, groans of the injured, death rattles, and the splashing sounds of bodies falling into the water.

Chiwaco and Puap boarded the longship, looking into the indistinct distance, listening to the sounds carried by the wind. The two gripped their weapons tightly, rallying the members of the expedition, patiently waiting on the ship. On such a night of slaughter, numbers could be a disadvantage.

"Hmm, it seems that the enemy doesn’t have many men."

Chiwaco raised his palm, placing it by his ear, frowning as he listened for a long time.

"As long as the camp on the shore remains orderly, such a night raid won’t cause too many casualties..."

"Kill! With the protection of the Rain Divine!"

"Ah! O mighty Cloud Serpent!..."

Just as the words fell, a sudden burst of shouting and killing erupted at the edge of the Telascallan prisoners’ camp. Then, in less than a quarter, sporadic urgent cries turned into waves of panic shouts.

The able-bodied Telascallans wildly waved stone spears, running chaotically between darkness and campfires, even colliding with each other. Then, the dreadful cries of the injured rose and fell continuously, like the call of a wounded and despairing deer, echoing across the river.

"...The camp of the able-bodied men is in chaos. Some enemies got in."

Puap’s eyelids twitched. He wished he could reach out and tightly cover the old militia’s mouth.

"I say, Old Qier! Can you shut that doomsday salamander-kissed mouth of yours?!"

In traditional mythology, the incarnation of the God of Death, Xiulotel, is a black dog with a red tongue. However, He also transformed into a salamander to avoid the Sun’s sacrifice. That salamander foretold the death of All Gods and was also called the doom.

"Huh? Doomsday salamander? Puap, you’re also speaking ill of His Majesty... Besides, His Majesty kissed the princess..."

The night raid, the fighting, and the chaos lasted the entire night. The shouting and wailing, like the croaking of frogs in the rainforest, constantly disturbed people’s minds. Fortunately, the Prepecha Warriors’ formation never fell into disarray.

Camp Commander Pimeng, leading a large group of warriors, both tangled with the elite night-raiding Mistecs and suppressed the fleeing Telascallan able-bodied men. Until the dawn lightened the horizon, the enemy raiders retreated, and long-lost silence finally descended on the riverbank.

As the sky gradually brightened, Camp Commander Pimeng pursed his lips and ascended the small hill by the shore. He surveyed the devastated camp, looked at the corpses of able-bodied men sprawled along the riverbank, then glanced at the scattered Telascallan prisoners, an anger burning in his chest.

"Damn it! They’re like eight hundred stupid turkeys! Go, the Prepecha’s eagles, round up these runaway turkeys for me!"

Two hours later, the "turkeys" returned to the camp by the shore once more. However, only a little over six hundred were left. The rest were either dead or had escaped. Camp Commander Pimeng stood grim-faced for a long while under the fearful gaze of the able-bodied men. Several times he tightened his grip on the copper spear, words of coldness on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back.

"The turkeys’ courage has already been broken. If a few more are killed, I fear they would collapse at a touch... Damn it! Marching to war with teammates like turkeys is no better than going without them!..."

However, the "turkeys" did have their uses. When the morning sun rose high, hundreds of able-bodied men, their morale low, dragged the longship along the riverbank, heading into the northwest tributary. To speed things up, two hundred sailors from the expedition also joined the towing team. As for the remaining hundreds of warriors, they donned armor and took up arms, fully equipped, vigilantly watching the opposite bank of the Long River.

On the opposite bank of the Long River, Yunshi Kawa’s face bore a self-satisfied smile. He was still carrying his feather bundle, leading several hundred tribal warriors, gazing across the river.

"Haha! It turns out there are two hundred eagles, two hundred tigers, and eight hundred are grass mice!..."

"Exactly, the Leader is right."

Eared Qiaoao came closer. He still bore blood on him, but his face shone with excitement.

"I led the hunters to pester them all night. The armored warriors are hard to deal with, and the archers are also tough. Only those spearmen militiamen collapsed after just a couple of charges!"

At this point, Qiaoao paused, grinning as he spoke.

"Leader, should the hunters go again tonight?"

"Of course, they should go!"

Yunshi Kawa rubbed his chin, the corners of his mouth lifting.

"Facing the Northern Tiger Men, many of the tribal elders in the city are terribly frightened!... If we can defeat this group and capture the sacred large ship, my prestige among the lowland tribes... Ahahaha!"

The exuberant laughter echoed along the rushing Long River, reminiscent of a smug Mountain Cat. As the night fell once more, and a dark night arrived, the night-riding team encountered trouble.

"Hmm? Where did those able-bodied men with stone spears go?"

Eared Qiaoao looked perplexed. He looked at the warrior camp on the riverbank, heavily guarded, but could no longer find any sign of the "grass mice."

"Seems? They’re in the ship?"

Another seasoned hunter, Soyi, squinted his eyes, using the faint moonlight to peer toward the ship two hundred paces away, at the dense throng of figures.

"There are many people on the large ship, many, many people. There are spearmen militiamen and also archers with bows."

"...Damn it!"

Eared Qiaoao frowned deeply, cursing in anger.

"Sooner or later, the Rain Divine will pour down heavy rain, unleash mountain torrents, and drown them all to the riverbed!"

"Otherwise, shall we try attacking the samurai on the shore again and then ambush the ship?"

"..."

Qiaoao hesitated for a long time before nodding.

"Then let’s try once more!"

As it turned out, without the burden of the "grass rat", it’s hard to deal with the mighty eagle of the Prepetcha. When the morning sun rose, the "lynxes" who carried out the night raid left over thirty bodies, while the samurai on the other side suffered a dozen casualties. In the whole tribe, there were few hunters who were well-nourished and strong enough to see and fight at night, making it unsustainable to endure such losses.

"...What exactly is this sturdy thick skin made of?"

On the riverbank, Yunshi Kawa looked serious. In his hands, he held a damaged bronze-faced medium armor, which he turned over and over, examining for a long time. The front of this fabric-faced medium armor had more than a dozen stabbing marks, but these stabs only pierced the fabric surface and did not penetrate the inner hard plates. The entire medium armor had only one lethal breach at the weaker back side.

"...We surrounded a squad under the cover of night. As a result, six elite hunters died before we managed to kill the armored squad leader, just as the enemy’s reinforcements arrived."

Qiaoao, pursing his lips with a face full of grief and anger.

"Soi hit the opponent three times in a row! Yet, the enemy, without a care, swung back with an axe and killed him! ...Leader, let me take more warriors to avenge Soi!"

"...Oh highest Rain Divine!"

Yunshi Kawa looked across the river, silently counting. There were still over forty armored eagle warriors on the other side. And from the current position, it was just a day’s journey to the front outpost Lin Shui Village occupied by the Tiger Men. He pressed his lips together and after a long silence, sighed deeply.

"We retreat!... Return to Ye Guo City!"

A day later, the exploration fleet sailed along the Long River and reached Lin Shui Village. This was a Tlaxcalan village, now abandoned and occupied by the Southern Army as an outpost for the Mountain Pass Fortress group.

The small village was built on the riverbank highland, surrounded by a new fence. A battalion of two hundred Mexica Warriors was stationed here, along with twice as many stationed militia.

The exploration team rested for a day at Lin Shui Village, replenished some food and water, and then set off again. Here, the tributary of the Great Water River turned into the Small Water River. The Small Water River was only three meters deep but enough for navigation. Following the river course upstream, first heading north for fifty Li, then turning northeast for thirty Li, they reached the major town for food transit of the Southern Army, a group of mountain fortresses housing thousands of troops.

Upon reaching this place, the terrain flattened, and the water flow slowed. The fleet no longer needed to tow and could row upstream. Camp Commander Pimeng bid farewell to Chiwaco here.

"May the Chief Divine protect you! From here, two captains, travel along the Great River for about eighty to ninety Li to the northeast, and you will reach the encampment at Water Valley City where His Majesty is stationed!... I must return quickly to Eight Hundred Town, so we part ways here. May the eagle of Prepetcha soar high in the Western sky!"

"Haha! The eagle spreads its wings, flying not just to the West, but also to the East and South!"

Puap laughed heartily, pounding his chest with a fist.

"When we meet His Majesty, I will definitely speak well of your loyalty and bravery before the King!"

"Great, I am so grateful! May the Chief Divine bless us!"

"May the Chief Divine bless us, bless our Kingdom!"

The three prayed together, and then parted ways. The longship continued its journey, traveling twenty Li each day. Four to five days later, they finally reached an expansive and fertile valley.

The broad river flowed slowly through the valley, crisscrossing. Vast endless farmlands suddenly unfolded before their eyes, painting a picture of a bountiful harvest. Tens of thousands of able-bodied men of the tribes were bent over, carrying bamboo baskets and grass sacks, wielding stone sickles, working hard in the fields. After waiting for five months, the hundreds of thousands of acres of cornfields were finally reaped!

"How beautiful!"

The old militia stood at the bow in a daze, gazing at this scene of harvest, like seeing the most beautiful dream. This was his deepest yearning, firmly anchored in his heart, entwined in his dreams no matter how perilous the waves or how far from home.

"How beautiful!"

The old militia murmured again, repeating. Then he lowered his head, silent for a long time. Years of memories surfaced in his mind, gradually changing his thoughts. Like a pea, rooted and sprouting deep inside him.

"This blind Majesty, at last, can do something good... Ah~~"

The old militia exhaled a long breath. Then he reached out with his aged hand, fumbled in his pocket for a while, and indeed pulled out a shriveled pea...

Long wind blew, fragrance wafting miles away. The old militia looked at the pea in his palm with clear old eyes, smiled in relief. Then, he reached out, facing the golden fields under the evening sun, and gently tossed the long-kept pea into the soil by the riverbank.

Young Dark Snake, pursing his mouth, wrapped his clothes tighter around himself. He looked at the familiar land where he had grown up, now seeming somewhat foreign, his eyes gradually moistening. Then he turned and looked at the equally teary-eyed old captain, carefully speaking.

"Old Chiwaco... what... are you doing?"

"...I am, farming!"

Chiwaco smiled cheerfully, like the most common old farmer in the countryside. Despite all the waves and storms, he never changed.

"Dark Snake, let me tell you... my farming skills are really great! ~"

In early October, the kingdom’s exploration fleet finally reached the riverbank Water Valley City. From the Pacific Ocean’s Tarsus estuary to the Small Water River outside Water Valley City, the fleet sailed for months, covering nearly two thousand Li, encountering countless tribes and witnessing innumerable mountains and waves!

"All the way here, if such a long river can be fully navigated, what changes would it bring to the entire world?"

No one could answer this question yet, not even His Highness of the Divine Revelation. For now, he was already armed and armored, carrying a greatbow, standing beneath the towering and perilous Cloud Serpent City.