Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen

The face in front of him must have screamed extremely hard before he died.His mouth was deformed with pain and terror, biting his lip.No one knows exactly what his eyes were like at that time, because his eyeballs have been gouged out: only a mass of bloody, purple-black blood and half-scabby dead flesh remained in the eye socket. Jia Boye felt nauseous, turned his head away to avoid nausea. The avenue from the Quadrangle to the banks of the Velca Mayor was as lively as a Spanish market.But where fabrics and spices should have been exchanged, and where barters should have prepared their weights, there were now dead bodies.

There are a dozen niches on the walls on both sides of the avenue, about the height of a person.And what was placed in the alcove were corpses for people to admire.The Indians, though usually shy, laughed out loud at these displays. The first few alcoves, those nearest the quadrangle, displayed the most monstrous trophies.The trophies were the bodies of a dozen Spaniards, whose bones had been removed and which had been turned into inflated balloons instead of human skin drums.They removed the subcutaneous tissue, sewed it up, and inflated it to recreate a human-like balloon that was even more gimmicky than the original.

Jia Boye lost his appetite, and couldn't help flashing a cruel and ironic association: These people were created by God, and now foreign gods reshape their images according to people's sins, like deformed, unclean, abnormal... However, it seems that the true nature of the Spaniards is revealed through the mannequins that cannot speak, as if the Indian soldiers cruelly extracted the animal nature hidden in their hearts. Each human body was fastened to a stake and hung in a niche. Although Jia Boye tried his best to identify whether there were compatriots he knew among the corpses, no matter how much he struggled and feared in his heart, he still refused to look at any of the faces.In fact, because of the relationship with Gonzalo, most of his compatriots hated him and kept him away from them. At the same time, because of Anna Maya's relationship, these compatriots could not understand his position.But, to his own surprise, he felt so close to them at this moment, as if he was the one who was tortured to death, compared with the drunken Inca soldiers who won the battle, shouting for victory, It was as if past defeats had humiliated them to the core.

He considered it very lucky that he did not catch a glimpse of any familiar faces: perhaps these were reinforcements sent later from Panama.They were all still young and frivolous, and they traveled across the ocean to seek gold, only to find death in the end. Immediately after the Spaniards came the bodies of black slaves, some from Panama, some Indian mercenaries...but not what the Spaniards got. They just had their heads cut off, wrapped in horse hide, and nailed to a wooden stake. It is still possible to tell whether the horse hide came from the horse's mane, horse's hoof, or the horse's tail.This scene reminded Jia Boye of the idols worshiped by pagans: like the half-human, half-ghost foreigners that the Indians saw in the early days of their conquest of the New World.

Pray for God's mercy... The white teeth of those slaves were pulled out, and the colorful feathers that were once inserted on the heads of their leaders were covered with dust and mud, and were broken. extremely smooth.Some Kanari chiefs kept the multicolored cloth strips tied around their foreheads, others slid down just enough to cover their empty eyes, and some slid down to their blood-stained necks wrinkled like chicken skin. There was a group of people pointing and commenting loudly.Although Jia Boye was in it, he suddenly felt hopelessly like an outsider. Suddenly, a hand was placed on his shoulder, and he cried out in fright:

"Kadari! It's you!" The God of Stone's face was solemn. "Don't stay here!" Jia Boye followed him.The two left the noisy crowd through the path in the square courtyard.They walked up the steep stone steps leading to the Great Temple.When they were finally far away from those creepy scenes, Jia Boye finally recovered his normal breathing. When they finally reached the square in front of the temple, Kadari sat down with him on a rock.The rock fell to the ground, still to be chiseled and stacked.Since he had known the place, there had been two great boulders erected there, and like others of its kind, separated by a long rock as thin as a reed.

"You're in danger now," Kadari said. "Ever since I came here, I have always felt that I am in a dangerous situation." Jia Boye said calmly, "However, no matter how dangerous it is, it is not as dangerous as what I have seen. It is really barbaric..." Kadari didn't speak, and after a while, he just said: "When a person dies, he dies." "Yeah, dead anyway, whether cut into pieces or stuffed in his mouth with his testicles cut off, or made into a flag, or a balloon..." What Jia Boye said consciously was full of sarcasm and sourness.He thought he had nothing to do with his compatriots, but he didn't expect to find that deep down in his heart, he still regarded them as his brothers.

"People who do these tricks once asked me to teach them how to use weapons, so that they could kill more people, and then let God know their heroic deeds... They don't understand me, and they don't understand why I don't want to take up arms again .” "Is it worth it even if you lose your life?" Kadari's voice trembled unexpectedly. "My life, my life..." Jia Boye murmured, "How do I know my life? I have been born and died a few times, and life is really as light as a feather." "You're a cougar," Kadari said gravely. "You've got to live for that."

When Jia Boye was in front of Anna Maya, he only thought of love, and all his thoughts evaporated without a trace in front of her.But now, facing Kadari, his thoughts are clear and thorough. "But don't tell me to take up arms..." "I know." Kadari said impatiently, "I won't ask you to do this. But, Anna Maya and I can no longer protect you now. Manco may no longer be able to compete with Vera Omar .For Vera Omar, this brutal and bloody scene was an unexpected opportunity." "so what?" "So you have to go." "when?" Before Kadari could answer, a loud noise pierced the sky.

When they rushed down the stone steps to the other side of the courtyard, Jia Boye could hardly hear his own heartbeat.But he didn't know whether it was because he heard the bad news, or because he had a vague feeling that he was going to leave Anna Maya again. Vera Omar wore a blood-red gown, showing his bony arms. "Do you want the same end?" he growled, pointing to the dead body displayed in the alcove. The two Spaniards tried to appear invincible, but they shook from head to toe.Jia Boye came at the right time, just in time for the scene where his compatriots offended Vera Omar.

"What happened?" he asked firmly. "Wow, here comes a cougar with depth and connotation!" Vera Omar said eccentrically. Jia Boye stood upright in front of Vera Omar.A group of people watched them.But he didn't see Ana Maya, and he didn't see Manco either.The two captives, who were shackled and handcuffed, were scared out of their wits, and the crowd became agitated by the smell of blood in the air and the fear of the two captives.Only Kadari supported Jia Boye. "Our soldiers tried your flaming weapons today," said Vera Omar, "but were scared to death and missed the target." He pointed to the hideous corpses in the alcove. These poor prisoners not only died of terror, but are now being used as shooting targets. "But these two guys," Vera Omar continued, forcing the two prisoners back with a disdainful gesture, "they pretended to help, but those weapons went off in front of our soldiers." "What happened?" Jia Boye turned to the two Spanish prisoners. "They tried to put more powder, and the musket exploded in the barrel," replied the younger prisoner, terrified, his tone changing. "It was purely an accident." Jia Boye said to Vera Omar. "What accident? It's all these foreign sons of bitches, they're all going to die!" A group of Indians came and grabbed the two captives who were fighting to the death and pushed them into a nearby alcove. Because they wanted to clear the two stakes, the Indians shook off the corpses on the original stakes and left them alone. Rolled to the ground, stained with dust, everyone laughed. Jia Boye immediately rushed to the side of these two people. "I want you to let these two people in front of you know that you really are wise." The people present stopped commotion immediately, and the wise man was too surprised to say a word. "When I was on an expedition to the south, I witnessed my compatriots oppressing your people in the most inhumane way. I wanted to inform this man at that time," he pointed to Vera Omar, "he has the ability to save those people , because his opinion with the Inca Paul could sway the Spaniards. But, he stood by and watched..." "Don't listen to his nonsense!" Vera Omar shouted loudly, "He lied to you!" Despite his objections, the crowd listened quietly to the foreigner. "He may tell you that he will avenge you with the war he is preparing to fight against the foreigners. But, I must say, this man whom you all honor as the wise man has become cruel and terrible to the last degree. One day, what he has done will bring him to death. Both him and those who followed him. The pain caused by the war has been done and cannot be undone. But now, if you kill these two, Andi will treat you In a fit of rage!" Vera Omar couldn't take it anymore, and finally yelled: "Listen, he talks about our God!" he said angrily. "Pull him up with those two, and let him know his fate is over." Soldiers approached him and grabbed him.Some soldiers came forward with gunpowder and stuffed them in the mouths of the two captives; others had prepared straw for the fire, and planned to burn them alive. Jia Boye struggled desperately, but in vain.At this time, he couldn't find Kadari anywhere. "Enough!" Manco roared like thunder. The Inca king suddenly appeared in the crowd, but Jia Boye didn't catch a glimpse of him for a while.All the soldiers and palace ministers immediately made way, only Vera Omar stood in front of him, with the juice of coca leaves still dripping from his lips and chin. "Do not bow your head before your only King!" he commanded Vera Omar. The wise man never saw the only king without saluting.Villa Omar's bloodshot eyes stared at Manco for a moment, then bent down on his chest unconsciously. Behind Manco, Jia Boye finally saw Anna Maya with half of her figure exposed. "Manco! Look at the construction around you," Vera Omar said, "The great cause of the new era is in full swing, and you have to submit to the great power...Foreigners, some call them gods, but Look at our masterpiece." Vera Omar pointed to the alcove, where the person lying upright was fastened to a wooden post with copper nails. "Is this the beginning of a very happy day, and the days of peace will come to us again..." "Vera Omar, the great cause of the new era has been unfolding for a long time. My father, Wanya Kapac, was the first person to sacrifice for this, but he still leads us in the underworld." Vera Omar didn't listen to him at all.He muttered to himself, and he had to be very attentive to hear him. "There is something ancient and unclean about you..." When Anna Maya saw that Jia Boye was in danger, she was stunned.Wanya Kapac's vague and metaphorical words were far away from her for a moment. She was deeply afraid that those mysterious words would not reveal anything, and she was deeply afraid that those prophecies would not represent anything at all. The narrow chessboard-like streets in the quad were crowded with Indians who put down their work to join in the fun.They put down their tools and work in the field, and a large number of people came from one end of the city to this end.Anamaya fought against the smell of death and blood in their blood that flowed like the Wilka Mayo River.Standing high in the crowd, she asks her ancestors for help. "Vera Omar, you can no longer see clearly. Your eyes are bloodshot, like Atahualpa, and there is only blood in your heart. You cursed, you sacrificed innocents in private, and your hands were stained with blood. However, you have forgotten that without the power of our ancestors and the gods who protect us, you are nothing..." "Something unclean!" Vera Omar kept repeating, as if he hadn't heard anything, "I still remember the day when the country was cursed, no matter what I said, the shadow of the disease Still devouring his sanity, the great King Vanya Kapac refused to hand over an unclean little girl, instead of sacrificing her to a cougar, instead kept her by his side and told her some secrets that no one knew... …I should have taken her and dealt with her, because now instead of being swallowed by a cougar, she brought a cougar out of the ground to swallow us all up..." "Vera Omar, I say the last time, you shut up! Anna Maya has never betrayed the Incas, you forgot that she was always the Kamakenkeya appointed by the father of Vanya Capac, and she is still You yourself lead her way...Anna Maya represents our heritage, as it has always been, and will continue to do so..." Vera Omar remained silent, his bony body was agitated from the inside out, and the long gown on his body fluttered like the waves of a river of blood.He didn't say another word, but the froth that had trickled down to the corners of his mouth mingled with the green coca leaves he chewed on and on.His copper-brown skin turned gray. Soon, after being emotionally agitated for a while, his limbs were stiff with anger, and he finally managed to speak: "I must go. Farewell, my one and only King." So he limped to the river alone. Although anger and resentment seemed to be the reasons why Vera Omar parted ways with them, what Anna Maya felt in the few words Vera Omar said before leaving was disrespect towards Manco.Looking at the far away figure of Vera Omar, she recalled the past of the brothers who were allies with Manco in the past, but now they are enemies.