Chapter 10 chapter Ten

Looking down from the huge stone steps at the highest point on the sacred platform, the scenery unfolding in front of Jia Boye is breathtaking.The square courtyard at the bottom of the river valley looks old, like a building from a long time ago.But for now Manco decided to make Oyantaytambo its main defensive stronghold: the huge building site occupied all the narrow mesas, standing out against the picturesque landscape.Jia Boye has never been involved in such a huge construction project in his life, and every day, because Manco granted him the right to move freely under surveillance, he comes here every time, deeply fascinated by these construction projects.

In the distance, at the other end of the quarry on the hillside of Kesikada in the suburbs, hundreds of tiny figures were working non-stop around various rocks that fell from the Black Mountains.There was a rhythmic hammering sound in the river valley, and the sound of workers grinding stones with stone chisels or copper chisels without interruption. It was a huge scene, and the people involved stretched from the hillside to the river.There are thousands of manpower, starting from dawn, working non-stop, and each person performs his own duties.Some are responsible for rolling stones down the valley to polish them.They also had to shape the rock into a prototype, knock off excess corners, and transport it to the other side of the steep river bank on rafts.

Others made the ropes and cut the logs to haul the rocks from the opposite slope to the summit of the Ollantaytambo range.Hundreds of others pushed and pulled, moving the stones for hours.Each small platform is made by hundreds of people using huge thick wooden boards as levers. Although this method can make the rocks move a little, there is a lot of conviction and regularity in the movements. The inclined plane made of levers allows the stones to be transported from the river to the densely packed construction site.But after arriving at the construction site, the work is more detailed.Some people bury their heads in a white dust with copper and stone scrapers. They grind and polish the rocks so that the rocks can be completely bonded to each other.Jia Boye observed with great interest that a group of workers surrounded a huge boulder three times taller than a person. This boulder had been placed on a row of logs and was stabilized with netted ropes.

Kadari is the commander-in-chief of this vast construction site.Jia Boye observed that he supervised the construction of the temple, the construction of the walls, and even the shape of a rock with great attention in an efficient manner. Jia Boye never doubted that Kadari must have followed very detailed architectural rules to build the temple.However, the regulations for these buildings are not the same as the architectural styles that he heard and knew about.Kadari didn't have a blueprint in his hand, and for the most difficult part of the construction, he still seemed to be thinking about it.In order to build a city, there should be a square between the two rivers in the valley as the center of the city, and there must be a pool there; however, it cannot be denied that "building a city" is not Kadari's primary concern.He believes that all buildings are for the purpose of living.

In Jia Boye's eyes, any new building is mysterious and wonderful. For example, the wall of the temple is temporarily erected on an open terraced platform on the hillside to make room for a large number of prepared rocks.Among them, a wall has been erected, and there are only four huge rocks on the whole side.The stone is rose-colored, and it emits a stunning iridescent light all the time in the sun.And between the rocks, if you don't look carefully, you will mistakenly think that there is a reed-like slender rock in the middle as a separation. As with any of the most beautiful Inca buildings, no mortar was ever used to hold the stones together.The rocks are all erected one by one and combined in a seamless way, which seems to be both novel and solid.Looking closer, you can see that the three outermost rocks are decorated with some kind of raised shape.Jia Boye tried to guess the purpose, but couldn't think of a clue.

"Do you think it's beautiful?" Kadari was sweating, but there was a smile on his face with almond eyes and prominent cheekbones.He is naked from the upper body, just like the workers beside him.Jia Boye admired the firm muscles on his body and the big hand covered with rock dust; that hand seemed to be able to crush a person's chest at any time without any effort.Around his neck was a golden necklace with a stone pendant on it. Jia Boye did not hide his admiration in his heart. "Kadari, this is really ingenious. I've never seen anything like this before... I think that the top buildings over there may not be as majestic as yours!"

"We're not trying to achieve grandeur." "Then what do you want?" "You know far more than you believe." Jia Boye felt embarrassed for a moment. "What do you want to say?" Kadari laughed even wider. "The shapes of these rocks do not recall your memory at all?" Jia Boye squinted his eyes, facing the boulder without moving.An image slowly emerged in my mind, very vague and ancient, related to those forgotten pains... "Tepikarac!" he called out the answer. "These rocks are exactly like the ones here before!" Kadari nodded.

"There are others, you look closer." Jia Boye stepped into the narrow shadow of the noon sun, and approaching the rock, he observed the strangely shaped and undulating surface.He thought it was two staircases carved out of geometric shapes.The upper one goes up the normal way, but the lower one goes down the upside down, with the mountains reflected in the lake!A little further away, Jia Boye touched the surface of the rock that was prepared and placed on the base, and found a notch of a T-shaped symbol. "I've seen this!" he yelled, turning to Kadari. "The two appeared in the same place," the King of Stones said calmly, "Are you surprised?"

"I don't know," Jia Boye said frankly, "I don't know what this refers to?" "I can tell you that the stone nest is made of a copper key similar to the one on my neck. The purpose is to identify the position of the stone, and the convex place is for the convenience of tying it with a rope. Transported here, but..." He stopped suddenly and looked far to the north. "But what?" "...It may be true, but it may not be sufficient to explain it. There are other reasons." Jia Boye wanted to know the truth from the bottom of his heart.Not only curiosity, but also the expectation to enter another world that has been unknown for a long time but is not far from him.

"Look at the city below," Kadari said, "the quadrangles and squares are surrounded by residential settlements - the streets are like a chessboard, criss-crossing. Foreigners, I have never seen your city, but our city It doesn't surprise you...and here we are..." Kadari's arms circled Jia Boye in an arc, and he turned to look at him. "Here, with every building, every rock, every monolith, we pay homage to the gods around us: our Father Sun and, of course, Irapa, the god of the moon and thunder. And all the mountain gods... look at these terraces..." Around their location, the temple seemed to be inlaid in small, ascending terraces, where the corn grown in the terraces had grown very tall.

"These terraces were not cultivated randomly, as you should be able to tell. The terraces surround the temple like a beautiful piece of jewelry... As far as the temple itself is concerned, our astrologers have spent a long time observing the sky, stars and other things. The movement of the stars determines the location of the temple and the orientation of each wall. In our country, shadows and sunlight express respect for the gods..." In an instant, the ancient monastery and church in Jia Boye's mind flashed through his mind.He unconsciously associated Catholicism with Inca builders.But in order to continue listening to Kadari's explanation, he had to let go of the association in his mind. "What I just told you is really nothing," Kadari said lightly. "This is something that all the Incas know...but there is something that the Incas don't know, that is, when we are close to the rock, looking at It, by touching it, we can discover more secrets that go back to the beginning of the world, before the Incas existed." "Haven't the Incas always been the rulers of this land?" Jia Boye asked in surprise. Kadari chuckled. "The Incas are just a few generations in human history. Although they are brave and good at fighting, they are not invincible, just like what you and I know now..." Kadari glanced at Jia Boye before continuing: "The Incas appeared after the beginning of civilization, and they appeared when the metaphysical power was the strongest. Even for us, the metaphysical power is still very mysterious, and it is just a needle in a haystack to search for a lifetime." "The people who have passed Lake Titicaca are already on their way home." Jia Boye said silently. "Look! You know far more than you believe! Yes, it is necessary to walk the way of Tepicarac, the way of the pristine lakes. The secret is in the water, in the rocks, in the reflection Among the mountains on the lake. I grew up by the lake, my father embraced a military career, and I was inspired by my uncle, Apo Bam Suga, into the halls of stone art. I The splendid Temple of the Sun on the shore of Lake Titicaca that my uncle once persuaded the Inca King Tupa Yupanchi to re-create... Let’s not talk about this, I will show you other things. Come here.” Kadari took Jia Boye's hand and placed it on the two boulders on the right. "Look carefully at the engraving on it." Jia Boye actually noticed it a long time ago.Each rock has three types of engravings, spaced equidistantly from each other.Judging by the naked eye, these engravings are long and very similar. "You have to look carefully, not just with your eyes, but with your whole body. Or should I say you have to go into the engraving..." Kadari said the last few words in a low voice, and Jia Boye trembled in shock.Although he didn't quite understand what he meant, he still tried to do what the King of Stone said.Suddenly the engravings seemed to move and come to life. He hesitated and whispered, "Animals!" "That, my dear friend, is a familiar animal to you." "cougar!" Kadari smiled, watching him quietly. "You already speak our language, and you are deeply in love with one of our people." Kadari said affectionately, "But, I think this is the first time you know that these stones also record your destiny .” Jia Boye blinked.In front of him was just the rock that was about to build the temple, but he seemed to feel that the world had changed at that moment.Now a single cloud hid the sun, and the rose-coloured rocks turned almost gray. "Do you want to go further afield?" Jia Boye stared at Kadari dumbfounded.How can we "go further"?Kadari looked at the bewildered Jia Boye with a smile. "Don't worry, dear foreigner, everything you have seen will come to your dreams tonight, and will dispel your fear of the unknown. Come on, it's time to go back to the village." Jaber followed him up the steep stairs that led to the road along the canyon of the Wilcamayor River.When they climbed halfway, the whole valley suddenly burst into low-pitched singing.Jia Boye did not hear any signal, but hundreds of workers stopped working immediately.Workers in quarries and fortifications, workers in pools and temples, millstoners, carpenters, porters and carvers, all turning at the same time to the sun, singing farewell to the sun Song, at this time, the sun is slowly sinking behind the mountains. Jia Boye seemed to be reluctant, but still raised his arms, palms facing the sky, and joined the song of the universe in a silent manner with his mouth closed.