Chapter 31 Chapter Thirty-One

They have been silent since leaving Lima. Each of them is immersed in their own lives, reflecting on the chaos, fear, and surprises of life they have experienced in the past.Jia Boye once looked at the rocks on the Inca Royal Road, looked at the ribbon floating above, and imagined himself floating on the sea, constantly being lifted higher and higher by waves; The top of the mountain, and having to open your arms from time to time to remind yourself that you're just a person, just a person.All the pride they had had left them now: Kamakenkeya and the white knight of the god St. Jacob were really nothing more than a man and a woman walking with some burdens on their backs.They are in love without words: just a few movements or a vague look are enough to express.

They still wear Spanish clothes.In the twilight of the morning, Jia Boye stared at the wound on his hand. The scab healed slowly, and the newly grown tender flesh formed a horn shape with the rough flesh around it.It made him think of Sebastian.His heart seemed to be pulled by something, and it never healed, just like the wound on the hand: but, strangely, when he died, he still seemed to feel alive.Having faced so many deaths, he actually made him understand such a simple truth... Now that they were approaching the Abulimak Valley, Jia Boye looked back at the triangular-shaped hill from time to time, hidden in the depths of the valley.The valley is sandwiched between steep mountain walls on both sides, and the terrain in the middle of the valley continues to rise.

Tomorrow they will arrive at Shimak Toho. Along the way, Jia Boye kept recalling past wars, rapids in the river, and piles of collapsed rocks.But the future is unknown. But he didn't have to ask where he was going. he knows. He knew that at the station, the burden would be gone, and they would be alone. He knew then that they would take off their Spanish clothes and never put them on again, longing for tunics and tunics of fine white wool. He knew she would point north and tell him of the coming comet; and then they would take the thick forest that Vila Omar had led them on. At that point, her first words will be: "Here it is."

As night approached, a thick fog rose around them, making them almost invisible to each other.Surrounded by moisture, Jia Boye couldn't help but move his fingers, imagining that the moisture would suddenly dissipate and pass through the fog.He was spinning around like a drunk and stopped when Ana Maya grabbed his arm.He didn't move, his heart was beating violently.She took his hand and kissed his wounded lips with tender lips. Kadari let the thousands of water droplets brought by the sea wind wet his body. Everything evaporates instantly. The sky, the sea, and the land are all milky white, blending with each other and blurring into one.He had to touch his own body to be aware of the surface of the skin and the thickness of the muscles.All senses are almost gone, as if the three worlds and all the elements are one.

But he kept heading north, guided by the light in his heart. He walked all day without stopping, leaving Vilcabamba and the vacant-eyed Manco.King Manco didn't even watch him go, didn't even notice that he was preparing for his twin brother's journey.Manco was terribly lonely, lifeless except when he gave orders occasionally, and when he was having sex with his women in the middle of the night.Everyone saluted him as a rite, not so much as respect, but rather as fear.Often he woke up in the morning screaming, calling for a fortune-teller to interpret the nightmares that had tormented his face the night before.When Kadari was about to leave, he left his excited and trembling lips: the Inca king wanted to say something to him again, but he was too exhausted to say it, because forgetfulness had already eroded his heart.

The people Kadari entrusted to take care of the twin brothers were all Kola tribesmen like him, so they completely obeyed Kadari's orders regardless of the reason.Moreover, these people have a deep-rooted habit of quietness since childhood. When they escorted the sedan chair of the god statue through the forest, they were quieter than the sound of a boa constrictor.According to the instructions of King Vanya Kapac, they took the sedan chair to the place where they should go, found Anna Maya and the puma, and returned the statue to the eternal place. Kadari would rather leave alone. Even the presence of multiple people can interfere with his thoughts and perhaps cause him to lose his way.In the past month, in his life, he was only accompanied by the sounds of nature and animals. The surroundings were filled with the fragrance of orchids, and the dew was dripping on the petals. He only had to talk to the birds.

He slept very little, and often had the same dream: he knew where he was, even though it was deserted.He awoke, joyful in the conviction.Often he jumped up from his sleep and moved forward at a faster speed.His muscular legs led him to see many landscapes, and the places he walked were from hot to cold, and from cold to extremely hot. Walking out of the forest, he arrived at the rolling plateau of the Puna desert, where there are endless semicircular hills as far as the eye can see.His eyes noticed a few tufts of yellow edulis against a clear blue sky.When the wind blows like a cloud, what you see is not people, but a large group of alpacas, jumping and running, shaking the ground.

Going down from the ridge, crossing the gravel desert, sometimes encountering several small rivers, the banks are covered with lush vegetation, and a few nearly naked Indians are still, watching them pass by, not paying special attention to them . When we walked to the beach, a few clouds and mist pierced the sky, and the air was full of humidity, refreshing to the deepest part.At this time, clouds and mist were surrounding him, blocking his vision, but he couldn't see everything.Then the cloud and mist turned into a substance like cotton wool again. Being in it, all the voices sounded hazy, but even so he heard everything.The mist carried a strong smell of sea water, but he could smell the fragrance from farther away.

"You are here," he whispered to Jia Boye and Anna Maya, "although you are far away, you are close at hand. We are together." They left the Ablimak River and walked up the mountains, and the fog gradually lifted.They walked all night, she clung to him in the cool morning light.He stared wantonly at her blue eyes—eyes like the sky, like the night, like the ocean, like the lake, and he let himself sail in them just to find her. When they passed a stone pillar that lifted the sky, Anna Maya covered Jia Boye's eyes with her hand.When they continued to climb the stone steps, unable to reach the sky or the ground, he felt deeply afraid and worried.Immediately afterwards, Anna Maya pressed her hand, signaling him to open his eyes.

The scenery he saw was far more beautiful and powerful than he could have imagined, as if the relationship between people in this mysterious place and the sky, mountains, and rivers had been renewed, and they had become one with nature. The temple as big as the sky and the earth can praise the gods. "Bhikkhu," Anamaya said softly. His eyes sparkled, his chest heaved violently, but he felt strangely peaceful.He has come to the place where he should come, to the place where God led him along the way.His eyes slid across the terraced fields, houses, and temples, and with the sound of wind and water and the swirling gray smoke on the roof of Yichu, he guessed that there should be a vast platform in the distance... His eyes drifted to the distance again The condescending mountains are gentle and long.His heart was beating wildly, for he recognized the same mountain with the same four shrines on Oyangitatambo, and the same pattern of mountain lions sleeping but alert.

There were too many questions in his mind, but nothing: all the answers were there. Ana Maya was shocked and glowing beside him. "I promised," she whispered, "that I would never tell this secret, and that I would never walk through this door with a foreigner..." "But is that what you are doing now?" "You're not a foreigner. You're a cougar. The secret is yours too. You're in your place now." Jia Boye felt supremely happy and completely free.The little child in his heart let him roll down the terraces freely, jump up and down between the narrow roads, and swoop down from the green hillside. The golden river... yet this place exudes such a noble temperament that he no longer throbs, and peace completely fills his heart. Anna Maya came down from the stone steps and walked towards the giant gate.Years ago she had watched Vera Omar walk through this door and disappear without a trace.The heavy wooden fence remains, blocking the entrance to the bhikkhu center.She put her hand on the fence, and the gate wobbled and was pushed open, giving a glimpse of the village and the road below.They were greeted by three stolid-faced guards with spears in hand.Without a word they led them to a large house.The plaster of the outer walls was very carefully applied, and the roof was two-tiered and very steep.There are two trapezoidal windows on the wall, from which you can see the whole valley. An old man sat waiting for them on a white blanket of power, his long hair as white as Mount Sarkanta. "Willock Topak, all these years," said Annamaya slowly, "but you are still the caretaker of this place." The white-haired Indian elder has white eyes like a blind person.But when he rolled his eyes to look at them, they felt his eyes look into the depths of their souls.In the end, he simply said a few words: "I've been waiting for you." A gray halo shrouded the valley, and there were six piles of small hills in the center, almost forming a perfect circle.It is far away from the sea, and I have been walking for several days, but the faint smell of sea water makes people mistakenly think that the sea is still not far away.There is a meandering river below, and wild flowers and weeds bloom freely on the bank. Kadari's heart skipped a beat. To the untrained eye it is but a heap of pebbles and rocks covered with darker dust; but to the stone god he has traveled more places than his own years, He knew this was the end of his journey. This is where time begins. His footsteps became slow, letting the wind blow past his ears, like the sound of the sea wind blowing into shells; the sound of the horn passed through his body, it was an ancient voice from long ago, whispering to him the story of the past and the future . This is where it all started, long before Viracocha left Lake Titicaca, long before he made his way north, through Tumbes, now ravaged by foreigners, deep into the ocean. Here, for a long time, there has been a huge boulder standing upright, which is called the landmark of origin, marking the beginning of the ancestors' exploration of the Indian highlands. The rocks told him these stories; the ancient knotted knots that survived the sacking of Cuzco attest to it. He took the knotted rope out of his pack and slid his fingers through each knot in the rope, closing his eyes and singing a song, praying silently.An old man, the wise man of Ahmadha, had given him a key before.He smelled the smell of sea water mixed with the smell of river water.His long black hair slapped across his face as his head swung from side to side.Then without hesitation he walked towards the highest hill. The closer he got, the more he could feel the shape of the thing; in an apparently utterly relaxed state, he imagined the regular steps of the terraces: now he was standing in front of a pyramid. His fingers were always grasping the multicolored knotted rope, and Kadari searched for the entrance of the hill without stopping; he circled around the pyramid, allowing himself to enter the pyramid, and letting the world who performed the same ritual Generations have entered into it. When he walked to the slope of the falling rocks, he thought this should be the starting point, and the ground suddenly collapsed into a big circle. His face lit up. "Ugu Pasha," he murmured, "this is the gateway to another world. Come!" He sat in the center of the circle and put the colorful knotted rope in front of him.Then he lay down, arms and legs outstretched, and listened to the sound of the earth. After a day and a night they were all with Willock Topak.The old man cared nothing about the war or what happened in that world; from him, the contemptuous hostility that Annamaya remembered was long gone.In his hand, he held a piece of rock that had been eroded by rain for a long time, with distinct texture. At dawn, he quietly led them through the steep mountain road. At this time, the light happened to pass over the terraced fields until it stopped on a rocky platform.There is an entrance to a cave at the bottom of this rock.A stone vulture was shadowed high above the rock, its long beak reaching deep into the earth. Willock Topak put some coca leaves, and when he ignited the leaves, Jia Boye actually felt a kind of spiritual connection with the elderly.Then he spilled the chicha. "Soon," said Willock Topak.His eyes were rolling and his head was dangling from side to side like a falling meteor. They ignored Willock Topak and let themselves wander.They passed maidens, priests, goldsmiths, and weavers; in the distance, villagers gathered on the corn terraces.There is a dignified atmosphere around, like the tranquility before the storm. The conversation between them consists of simple words or gestures. At dusk they went to the house at the highest point of the place, where they watched the sun go down together. Suddenly, they heard a sound echoing in the mountains, and the whole valley resounded with the melody of a song, a sad and mysterious song with only one key, and far away, besides the singing of people, there were horns and drum. Anna Maya stood up, and Jia Boye also stood up. In front of the temple with five shrines at the bottom of the mountain, all the residents of the bhikkhu gathered in the square.Men and women were dressed in white Anako, and the lit torches were strung across the center of the square in a fiery snake, while the soul-stirring song continued, endlessly.Jia Boye and Anna Maya stepped forward to see what happened. The old man also arrived. As the sun went down, the twin brothers were waiting for them. All the monks lowered their heads, curled their backs, and some even prostrated themselves on the ground, expressing the deepest and highest respect. Only Anna Maya went to the twin brother's side.As soon as she touched the twin's head, the song stopped abruptly, leaving only the whistling of the wind and the rumbling of the Wilcamayor River in the valley. For a long time, I have been repeating these words of prayer.When the prayer stopped, Anna Maya spread the colorful knotted ropes in front of her eyes, and let her fingers explore the knotted knots. At this moment, Kadari's spirit entered her body.When Anna Maya stood up to speak, what Jia Boye saw was a prettier version of her, with a strange radiance she had never seen before. "Long ago," she said, "King Vanya Capac, the only king of the Incas, told some secrets to an ignorant little girl from the forest. Many people quarreled and fought for these secrets, and in a never-ending war Amidst and ruin, many scrambled to unravel these secrets. Yet it was all over. There was but one secret—that the twin brothers must now find a home, in the eternity of our national spirit, in the mountains of existence In the space and the soul of the universe, whether it is this life, the next life, or the world under the ground or in the sky..." As soon as Anna Maya finished speaking, the singing rose melodiously, like a dance-like melody, and the limbs of the monks in front of them swayed with the rhythm, which was slow, solemn and pious.The porter picked up the twins and put them on the sedan chair, and Anna Maya led them across the three terraced fields below the square, while the rest of the people in the square remained where they were.Where the banks of the Wilcamayor River meet the cliffs, three rocks form caves that appear to go deep into the earth. "Ugu Pasha," Anna Maya said while holding the key that Kadari gave her, "here." A few rays of sunlight before the sun went down hit Sunbolt and stayed there for a while, while the twins disappeared in the middle of the hole. The singing stopped abruptly again, the ground began to vibrate, and at the same time there was a consistent sound of footsteps, as if thousands of drums were beating under their feet at the same time. As the sun faded behind the mountain, Kadari threw the stone one last time, stopping time. The last ray of light hooked the spire of the pyramid, slid along the slope like lightning, and finally settled at his feet, the circular entrance into the underground temple. "Here," he said again, holding the brass key in his hand. Suddenly there was a muffled sound, like a muffled knock, and the ground shook suddenly.The shaking vibration spread from the soles of the feet to the calves, like thousands of troops rushing towards him from all directions.The gangue of the origin landmark at the top of the pyramid shattered suddenly, and the shattered fine stone dust was blown away with the sea breeze.When the tip of the rock appeared on the ground, the bean-sized raindrops instantly dripped on his granite-like skin. Kadari closed his eyes, letting the rain fall on his face. The sun had completely set behind the mountains, and Jia Boye went to the terraced fields by the river to look for Anna Maya. As the night gradually fell, the bhikkhu's people all left.Scattered quietly in a row, leaving the city forever and ever.Forming long fiery snakes in the dark night, when the stars were just shining, they scattered a torch in each hand to all parts of the Quartet Empire. They spent several years building this mysterious city of monks in order to create a place worthy of enshrining their twin brothers.The internal organs made of gold by the twin brothers recorded all the history, covering the rise of the Incas, the past and future of the Indian Highlands, and the process from prosperity to decline.And do these people who left today understand all this?Probably don't even know!Anna Maya thought so in her heart, but no matter what, they were still very proud of their great achievements in the past!When they left, they didn't speak or look back: what should be said has been said, so let's do it! Anna Maya and Jia Boye looked at Willock Topak who was caught in the crowd for a long time, his snow-white hair fluttering in the wind, and they watched him until he also disappeared at the end of the road. Now, there is only silence around. They felt a dampness against their cheeks in the heavy air, and at the same time, a few clouds darker than in the evening hid the sky.Raindrops start to fall.Silent lightning flashed across the darkness of the mountainside, and suddenly there was a faint flash.In a short while, lightning circled Machu Picchu, as if a group of hounds transformed into golden iron rakes, rounding up wild animals that had nowhere to escape.Immediately afterwards, they almost heard the hoarse thunderclap at the same time as the lightning flashed. Anna Maya instinctively approached Jia Boye whose heartbeat was already accelerating. She searched for his hand and put it tightly in front of her belly.But as if this simple action had attracted lightning, a thunderbolt struck the highest terraced field near them.The two of them trembled and closed their eyes tightly, waiting for the roar of thunder to sound.However, the firelight in the sky, following the sound of crackling branches, turned into a dazzling fireball, which tumbled and fell down the slope, flickering from time to time like the sparks of melting gold, and finally the fireball hit the rock, Knock off a small piece of rock, and at the same time break into several rivers of fire and disappear.A pungent, choking sulfur smell filled the moisture-laden air.At this time, there was a huge thunder that shook the chest, and the sound rolled over the slopes one after another, until the deepest part of the ravine.Thunder roared from the sky and landed on the ground. At the same time, it shook the whole world, and they were no longer afraid. When the storm subsided, a cool wind blew away the clouds and the sky reappeared. The wind picked up again, gently ruffling the leaf tips. It was so real tonight, so real that one had to believe that God created and rules the world. When the rain stopped, Kadari watched the stars move forward.He followed the trajectory of the sacred Mayo Milky Way in the sky, and he couldn't help smiling when he saw a dark cloud like an alpaca.The great gods of another world thanked him for the work done.The fog also dissipated slightly, and he could clearly see the alpaca's eyes, like two shimmering stars, flickering in a gentle and coordinated pattern, like two eternal stars, beating with the rhythm of the heart. "Here you are," he murmured. "I am with you. All are one. We are from the past, and we will be back to the future. All is well." Jia Boye and Anna Maya wandered through the starry sky all night. Anna Maya called the Pleiades the Colga Stars and said these stars were the mothers of the other stars.He pointed to the three stars on Orion's belt: "This is a mountain lion, a vulture, and a falcon." She whispered in Jia Boye's ear. He followed her around the stars and soared among them.There's Bird, Ursa Major, Serpent, and Cougar. In the twilight before sunrise, Ana Maya pointed out to him the Venus she called Chaska Triro. The world sank, and now it is born again. Time coiled into a coiled snake, and now it unfurls. They hug each other tightly. Then, they climbed up the steps along the terraced fields, and then followed the path in the deserted city to the exit stairs.Anamaya led him on the slippery and steep path through the forest to the highest point of Machu Picchu.As early as a few years ago, here, she once held the hand of a little girl.The girl was nearly sacrificed to the sky. As they climbed into the lush green fields, the sun was blinding their eyes.They passed through the stone gate, and then as if the sky was so close to them that they could reach out, they raised their faces and kissed the sky. The wind chased the clouds and mist, and they stood at the forefront of the rock without fear.They spread their arms, as if spreading wings for flight. The wind blew stronger, and the sky was blue to the horizon.They are always holding hands, facing the rising sun in the sky like birdmen, bathed in full love. At the bottom, it should be said that at the bottom, there are only rocks and ghosts! "Finally it's just the two of us!" Jia Boye yelled against the wind. And she responded very quietly: "Finally we are together!"

---

Notes: