Chapter 18 Chapter Seventeen

Manco sat in the atrium of the square courtyard, staring blankly at the brazier brought up by some young Indians. He didn't want to go to bed yet.Anna Maya was by her side, and beside her was a long-haired Indian man whose name she now knew: Kadari.She could see that Manco was restless, he seemed unable to accept the noise made by those foreigners, including high-pitched voices, crazy laughter and shouts... In the humid night, Anna Maya wrapped her too thin cloak tightly.She felt her confidence slipping away bit by bit.She thought of the situation where Manco and Jia Boye were facing each other. They were both far and close. Although they came from two different worlds, they unexpectedly met in her heart.Why did she blame herself briefly for not telling Jia Boye about it?But what to tell him?She had always seen things clearly in the past, but now she could no longer see clearly—and had to close her eyes and move on.Trust the cougar.Although these words are long past tense, their meaning is once again unfathomable.Tomorrow, there will be war, and it is you who provoked it.She didn't need to face the face of Xia Leguzima with her own eyes, she already felt that he seemed to be calling to her from the hell world.Everything he said was still in her heart, and she gained strength through her.

She looked at Kadari. Manco introduced her briefly, saying that he was a descendant of a great warrior of the Kola tribe, raised by his uncle, and had received orthodox traditional religious training before engaging in stone carving.As far as he could remember, Manco said Kadari had been by his side protecting him, reminding him of the gods. Kadari's face was flat, with protruding cheekbones, and his eyes were drawn from two fine lines into two sunken slits, drawing two clear lines on his dark face.In addition, the long hair naturally falls to the shoulders. "The time has come," Kadari said, not looking at Manco.

The young Inca jumped up and gestured to Anna Maya, startling her. At this moment, everything was quiet, except for a few Spanish soldiers who had been assigned to supervise Charleguzima, who were still on duty.The three young men left the quad and walked quietly through the narrow lanes that snaked through the small town hanging over the ridge. Soon, there will be only the three of them left in the dark night, facing the sky full of stars alone under the bright moonlight. Kadari walked at the forefront, with steady steps.Before long, leaving even the last few houses behind, they arrived at a natural square made of four black rocks.

Manco took Anna Maya's arm and deliberately left Kadari aside, leaving him a few steps behind. The Korra took off his cloak, sat under his buttocks, and held his breath for a moment, tilting his head slightly to the right, disappearing into the night and the silence around him. After that, he took out a piece of cloth and spread it out in front of him. While moving his hands back and forth on the cloth, he carefully pinched out the outlines of the surrounding rocks on the four corners of the cloth. Suddenly Ana Maya seemed to see a flash of lightning across the night sky, and the outlines of the mountains took shape: behind them, the top of Mount Sarkantai appeared in the forbidden city, covered with snow, illuminated by the moonlight, Shows silvery gray light.On the mountain pass directly in front of them, in the distance of the American Lion City, is the majestic Vilcano Tower.

Silently, two high mountains stood in the night: two Apus guarded Cuzco hidden in the valley, somewhere in the straight line not far from their eyes. Everyone didn't say a word, Kadari simply picked up the cloth and pointed at it, but the three Indians deeply felt the coming of the gods. Now he took out his bag of coca leaves and poured half of the contents in the center of the cloth.He picked up the three most complete leaves, fanned them on his fingers, placed them in front of his mouth, and turned and blew on all the Apus; Place on one corner of the cloth. He repeats this procedure for each corner of the cloth.

After he finished, Manco stepped forward, and he picked three leaves and blew on them. Every time he blew, he turned to face the direction of Apu God, and then put the leaves in his mouth to chew. Kadari followed suit. Both men squinted their eyes.There is no need to speak, no need to check, the actions and expressions of the two are consistent.Anna Maya stopped and watched, under the radiance of her mother, the moon god Mama Kira, her heart was peaceful.She just begged her not to disappear. Then Manco took a handful of leaves in both hands, grasped them in the palm of one hand, landed on the cloth, and dropped them like rain.Kadari leaned over to look at Leaf, and secretly gestured to Anna Maya.

She stared at the cloth: the largest leaf floated toward her. Manco picked up all the leaves and did it all over again.A total of three times he took the leaves in his hands, three times he held them aloft on the cloth, and three times he rained them down. Three times in a row, the largest leaf fell earlier than the others, and the tip pointed at Anna Maya. The night was empty and rainy, and I could only hear the sound of fingertips sliding over coca leaves and pieces of cloth—occasionally, there was the sound of big birds beating their wings in the night sky. Anna Maya felt light and unrestrained all over her body.Tonight, she was no longer the one who had to see through the prophecy and interpret the oracle, she simply became the one appointed by the coca leaf, the one who was responsible for protection and guidance.The one who opened the way.

Manco took out a black basalt stone from his coca leaf bag, smooth and hard, like a stone on a catapult.He put it into Kadari's large hands, which closed their palms in a motion of rubbing hot stones. After he opened his palm, Ana Maya asked herself if her eyes were dazzled—the stone was brighter than before, as if it had absorbed all the brilliance of the moon god shining on the zenith. Kadari gently raised his hands, holding the sacrificial stone in his palm.When his arms were raised to face height, the stone rose spontaneously and straight up, then stopped in the air. Time stands still.

At this moment, a lion's roar pierced the night sky. Enraged, Brother Wei Shengde Vallevide rushed to the center of the square.After he paused in front of the cloth, he stamped it with his foot, rolled it up with his hands, and threw it into the distance. "Cult!" He scolded, baring his teeth, "Idolatry..." The two young men stood still.They turned to look at Ana Maya, Manco opened his round eyes in surprise, and Kadari almost closed his cat-like squinting eyes. Before she could answer, she saw Jia Boye and Bartolomeo with two fingers joined together. "Brother Wei Shengde." Bartholomew said calmly.

"Divination, offerings..." "I didn't hear the scream of the child being strangled," Bartolomeo said sarcastically, "Brother Wei Shengde, I beg you to calm down." Anna Maya could feel the majesty in the young man's gentle tone, but she was still in shock. First, she broke into the Dominican, and then Jia Boye appeared. "The warning horn has just sounded," Jia Boye said flatly, "but you were not seen, so the governor ordered to search for you." "We just..." Anna Maya stopped talking.There was one more story she could not yet tell him--not yet.Apu, the coca leaf, the stone stopped time, they were silent to each other, and the young man's haste made her uneasy.In the near future, one day...

Bartolomeo approached Kadari.The contrast between the gray-eyed monk and the long-haired wise young man is stunning.However, despite the sharp contrast between their appearances, he also has a calm demeanor, shining equally brightly. "We will learn to understand your customs," said Bartolomeo tenderly, "and we will introduce you to the Almighty God—through love and not with the sword..." Kadari listened to him, completely confused, but still smiled.Bartholomew turned to face Brother Wei Shengde. "Brother Wei Shengde, I understand that you serve the Lord devoutly, please believe me, I will work tirelessly for the true faith just like you, but..." "...But you care too much about their things that you label as customs!" "To understand thoroughly is to counsel effectively, brother." Brother Wei Shengde remained silent, perhaps because he was embarrassed by the sudden violence.Despite the screams in the night, despite the approaching soldiers, all was calm. Jia Boye walked towards Manco, fighting in his heart. "For your safety, it is never wise to leave without authorization like this." Although he spoke in Quechua dialect, Manco did not answer directly.He turned to face Ana Maya. "It's enough to tell him that Apu is there to keep me safe. I don't need foreign soldiers at all." "But I believe," Jia Boye answered without asking, "you need our help to expel Ji Zhizi and Gu Yapa. Didn't you tell our governor that?" "Tell him we have freedom of movement at night." Anna Maya noticed that the two men were facing each other fiercely and ruthlessly out of instinct.Like two aggressive cats, both young and strong, full of righteous indignation, sure of victory. "Go back, Jia Boye. I beg you, tell the governor we don't want a riot. I hope everyone is safe at night." Jia Boye looked at her—a silent look full of pleading, which made his heart ache.After that, he walked back into the city with heavy steps, leaving Brother Wei Shengde, Bartholomew and other soldiers behind. Now it was just her, Manco, and Kadari, and there was another silence.But she was restless—until she looked at the flat mountain, until Kadari put down the stone in his hand, the most beautiful peace came to her heart. Manco broke the silence: "Who is he?" he asked.She didn't know how to answer.