Chapter 21 Chapter Twenty

It was a simple square courtyard, located on the inner side of the road going south to Kolasuyu, in a town called Puma Shubang, which means the tail of the American lion, and the morning bell and evening drum of the Sun Temple can be heard.When holding sacrificial ceremonies, the priest's chanting, horns, gongs, drums, and singing must be transmitted to this place. Anna Maya timidly passed through an undecorated wall door made of random piles of stones, and entered the closed atrium.The wing rooms around the square courtyard were silent, shrouded in darkness. However, it was right here, she was sure.

A lion's roar startled her, and she almost screamed. She came face to face with a puma tied to a post with what looked like an agave cord.She managed to calm down the frenzy in her heart, and looked into its eyes affectionately. The feline paced back and forth, not taking his eyes off her. "What's the matter, princess," a teasing voice came from behind, "You even forgot your old friend?" On the stones on the outer wall of the Temple of the Sun, there is a gilt hook line as wide as a palm and as thick as a finger.Fat Pedo-Martin de Menger proudly points out to a small audience as his possessor.

There were about six persons, accompanied by the governor, Mr. Dick Almagro.They all looked up at the gold with their noses up. "Why don't you hurry up and ask someone to send this thing back to Cajamar, Menger!" "The gold in this country seems to fall from the sky, my lord, even the ground will burst out of gold - we just knocked off the gold on these walls, and found a whole piece!" Menger and Martin Baiano "discovered" Cusco a few months ago, and they immediately organized several treasure convoys to transport the gold from the capital all the way to the ransom room in the Atahualpa Palace.Today, just as he was carrying a large number of treasures in a playful mood, and was honored to invite people to visit, an Inca priest in a fringed robe appeared beside the wall, holding a statue tied with a woolen scarf in his hand.His eyes were so sharp that Jia Boye was taken aback.Green coca leaf juice was stained on his tightly pursed thin lips. Behind him were two soldiers, one holding a javelin, and the other holding a sledgehammer and an ax respectively.Two little boys in yellow uniforms were walking at the front of the line with a fan-shaped object, busy driving all the dust off the floor tiles. In fact, the entire floor was spotlessly clean.

When they met the Spaniards, they were surprised at first, and then they entered the temple solemnly. "What is it?" asked the governor. "We interfered with their ceremony," Jia Boye said. There was a laugh from behind.Juan and Gonzalo eyed him gloatingly. "Look what he said," Gonzalo sneered. "Do you believe anyone interrupted Easter Mass in St. Jacob's Church?" "Meng Ge, do you know the internal structure of this temple?" the governor asked solemnly. "Yes, my lord." The governor smiled. "Then, gentlemen, let us see what those ceremonies were like."

"I'm going too," said a soft voice. Without the consent of the governor, Bartolomeo walked up to them quickly. They found the two Inca soldiers standing behind the trapezoidal gate, their javelins crossed, blocking the entrance.Their weapons were not dangerous at all, but the Spaniard hesitated at the door for a moment. Behind the two soldiers, Jia Boye vaguely saw a hall that looked like an inner courtyard.In the center of the room stood a stool-like stone covered with a golden shell.The priest placed the idol on the stool. Sensing their presence, he looked at them.So, slowly, uncomfortably slowly, he approached these people gradually.

"Every time I see the sun rise, I am amazed and delighted," said the little man, "how come I am not dead." Anna Maya couldn't stop laughing. "I miss you so much, friend." "What about you, princess, what about you? Do you remember that day when that wicked priest threw me into the mountains?" "You whimpered, 'Princess! Princess!' in a very plaintive voice." "I'm very likely to die from now on, and you don't give a damn." "Stop talking nonsense!" Annamaya said jokingly, "Since that day, I have thought of you thousands of times..."

She surveyed the room where they had once hidden themselves.Despite its humble exterior, the interior is actually quite cozy, with cushions, soft feathers and wool quilts.There are several shrines chiseled on the wall, and exquisite animal stone carvings such as American lions, vultures, and snakes are neatly arranged. "You're doing pretty well, for a poor--" "Watching of the cougar is a profession that no able-bodied Incas would want to do, so it should be rewarded!" The dwarf wore a red robe that reached to his ankles, with tassels that trailed on the ground.He couldn't hold back for a moment, and kept stepping on strange dance steps beside Anna Maya.

"How did you get this senior job?" "Has no one ever told you anything?" "Someone said you were alive." "Alive, that's a way of saying it. When we entered the city with the body of my lord Vanya Kapac, in order to drive away the fear in my heart, I walked at the head of the procession, screaming and jumping: 'I Here I am, Simbu, son of King Vanya Kapac! Make way! Make way!' But nothing worked: the local princes pressed close to me and huddled me.' Dwarf! Dwarf! ' They shouted, 'How could the sun god take away our king and father, who loves us so much and blesses us, and replaces him with someone as humble as you...' So they began to insult me ​​and spit on me Phlegm, despite my tears and begging, they still kept fighting. Fortunately, my teammates from the same team came to rescue me, but the prince insisted on locking me with other prisoners..."

The little man's face paled at the thought of these things. "Have you ever been to Shankar's prison?" "No." "It's a replica of the nightmare of hell, and it's also an underground labyrinth full of doors and dark corners, with sharp flints on the walls all around, especially..." "especially?" "There were no guards in that prison - but there were tigers, lions, bears and snakes of all kinds. They left us there for three days. Three days of screaming and fear, three days of crying - three days and death So close, it seemed like we were dead...but we made it through."

"And then they let you go." The little man nodded. "Among these horrific customs, this is the only time I feel lucky. I don't know how many times I have died in this life, but this time is more precious than any other..." Listening to the dwarf's description, Anna Maya remained motionless, fascinated, and shared his horror along the way.Then she murmured: "and then?" "I became a follower of Brothers Manco and Paul, I helped them a little bit, that's all." "help?" "Yes," boasted the dwarf narrowly, "help. Manco even hid here with my help before leaving the city. I also risked my own life to pass word to the prison for him. Paul."

"Paul was locked up?" "Not because he started the war, I assure you! It's because he touched a concubine of Huaskar, and when the northern army arrived, he pretended to the other party that because he supported them, he suffered Tortured and persecuted. So they rescued him dubiously, but he was very alert, and before the other party repented, he had already gone to the shore of Lake Titicaca in seclusion." Anna Maya was lost in thought.She recalled the two boys she had helped during a competition in Valach Valley.Today, one is a Shapa Inca, while the other lives in exile. "Manco spoke to me cheerfully about you. It was he who told me the way to your house." "So did he, he frightened me. Who knew he would be the only king now?" "Don't worry, friend. Did you forget that we said we were going to take care of each other?" "Once I forget, princess, there's a big man who keeps reminding me with his eyes." "Who?" The dwarf walked up to Anna Maya and raised his big round almond eyes to look at her. "Don't tell me you forgot, princess." Jia Boye watched as the man whose mouth was stained green walked up to the governor, so close that he seemed to be touching him. "My name is Vila Omar, and I am the High Priest of this Kolikancha Temple, the Temple of the Sun built by our ancestor Manco Capac. No foreigner is allowed to enter here..." Interpreted by Jia Boye.The Governor responded with a gentle gesture: "Tell him we're here to protect them—including him and his followers—from the traitors of the North." "By the way, tell him," Gonzalo added, "that we are here to help them find the true God, and tell them to stop these cults immediately!" "Let that, my friend, be left to the apostles of God," interposed Bartholomew. Jia Boye held back a chuckle while interpreting the governor's words. The priest was unmoved, his long, thin body with his arms outstretched.Like an Indian Jesus standing in the middle of the road. "Do you dare to enter without authorization? Anyone who wants to enter must first fast for one year, and then he is allowed to enter with a heavy load on his shoulders and take off his shoes." Gonzalo laughed wildly. "Tell this hair-gutter that we've been on a diet for well over a year, and we've got a load on our shoulders, very heavy! As for our boots..." When the whole Spaniards were staggering with laughter, Gonzalo took off one of his boots and dangled them in front of each other. "You see, Brother Bartholomew, we absolutely respect these..." A pebble fell out of his boot, and he picked it up as he joked, again eliciting roars of laughter from onlookers. "...the customs of the savages. Let us make it clear that God's business is for God's workers, and man's business is... man's business." With a flick of his arm, he pushed the Inca priest away and walked into the temple. A small group of Spaniards followed into the inner courtyard.They guessed that the golden lights should be reflected from the doors of the surrounding buildings.There is a gold-plated border on the top of the inner courtyard, like wearing a crown. On the walls were four shrines in the shape of a sanctuary, decorated with fine moldings and gilded inside.The corners of the shrine are inlaid with some precious stones, emeralds and turquoises.The Governor turned to Vera Omar: "It is rumored that your palace and temple are under threat. We have witnessed the destructive power of your enemies in other cities. Therefore, the purpose of our coming here is purely for peace." Priest Vala Omar closed his eyelids solemnly. He looked at them silently, and the words he said after that echoed heavily in the inner courtyard: "I do not believe." When Jia Boye interpreted the words of the priest, the governor did not blink. "Tell him that we will definitely win his trust. Before that, in order to protect the safety of him and the temple property, we must first understand the environment." All the treasures kept within these walls were reflected in Almagro's single eye. "Mr. Dick, I entrust the responsibility to you. I believe you will be as careful as I am, and keep one-fifth of the treasures in the temple for Charlemagne." Almagro agreed grimly.So as the little group of Spaniards was heading towards the gate of the building opposite, Priest Vila Omar stood behind them, raising his hands and shouting: "Oh! You, the Almighty Sun God, please show everyone your divine power in a specific way!" On the thrones around the sun-god sat a solemn mummy like the one they had just seen in the square.All of them wore fine wool gowns studded with gold flakes and precious stones, royal tassels and multicolored feathers on their foreheads, and large gold earrings dangling from their ears.One of them lacked a nose—this strange sight once again aroused the ridicule of the governor's two younger brothers. They wandered around the inner courtyard in this way, and walked through the wing rooms, and found that one of them was shining silver, dedicated to worshiping the moon god, and Mengge could not help but think of Venus; after that, there was another room, All four walls are covered with the usual gilt flakes, but with a rainbow pattern, whose colorful lights and shadows alternate between the gaps in the walls. They began to look at everything with a kind of tingling excitement, like a gang of young people going out to drink and have fun.Every house is quiet, even a little dull. When they finished visiting the six halls and returned to the inner courtyard, the high priest and his entourage had long since disappeared.Meng Ge was silent, Almagro's eyes were full of inexplicable fantasies, and the governor's two younger brothers did not express any opinions for the time being. The right side of the inner courtyard is completely sealed off.They found that the temple was much larger than expected.The terrace and the wing-rooms were connected together, and there lived masked servants. As soon as they saw them, they hurriedly stored up enough food to last for several weeks. After seeing so many treasures, and looking at the greedy eyes of his companions, Jia Boye felt as if there was a stone on his heart... "Before," said Menger suddenly, "when we first came here, there was a small incident..." "What's the matter?" the governor asked impatiently. But Meng Ge didn't answer, and the others didn't want to ask. Before they knew it, they came to the Golden Garden. The little man went on in a low, regular voice: "Manco transferred me from where I lived before when I heard that there were foreigners coming. His men brought me to him when I found out that there were only the two of us and that damned priest in the underground barn. At that time, I thought they had already communicated behind my back and were secretly planning a bloody plot..." "Manco and Vera Omar?" Anna Maya was taken aback. "Strange, isn't it? I was so worried about my own safety that I didn't realize that times had changed. Thankfully, they had something else on their minds." In the narration of the dwarf, the vaguely revealed plot is both terrifying and humorous.Anna Maya could only smile. "I wish I could hear you go on." "You are such a joker, princess!" he sighed. "They want me to take care of your noble husband-in-law, the twin gods." "you!" Anna Maya couldn't help but let out a cry. "I answered them in the same way, but they didn't listen. They told me that just looking at the greediness of those foreigners, they would definitely steal all the gold. But they didn't care about it. Anyway, the amount of gold is as large as the ocean. No matter how much people move, they can't finish. But they will never allow the other to desecrate the statue of the twin brothers in the temple of Coricancha with dirty hands." Anna Maya was so excited that her whole body was trembling, and her limbs felt hot and cold. "It's here?" The dwarf looked at her gravely. "Did you think I'd carelessly leave it in my house despite the protection of a ferocious cougar? We're going tonight. Twin gods are waiting for you." The whole garden is all in gold: whether green or flower, tree or animal, big or small, domestic or wild.Golden lizards and golden snakes are crawling on the ground, while golden butterflies and golden birds are hung on hidden silk threads in the air. There is also a field of imitation corn, and a field of wheat called Kinuya by the Indians.Among them are scattered golden llamas and golden pools with silver jets of water gushing out.Vegetables and fruit trees are also made of gold or silver, and even fagots are made of gold. The governor stared dumbfounded. "Touch nothing!" he said bluntly. "The thing is," said Menger at last, "there is a statue here, made entirely of gold, like the mummies we have just seen. Much more beautiful and larger than any of the gods we have ever seen, and Unlike most statues which are hollow, they are stuffed with fine gold." "How old?" Almagro asked. "It is said that it is about the size of a person." "What about the weight?" "Must be hundreds of pounds." No one dared to laugh at Meng Ge again.Everyone silently converted the price of this legendary fantasy statue with Spanish pesos in their hearts. There is no doubt that its volume will grow bigger and bigger as the rumors spread. "where is it?" Meng Ge gestured to show his ignorance. "It must be found," said Gonzalo. Juan's eyes lit up, agreeing. "Is there a name on that statue of yours?" Jia Boye asked. "This one, I still remember," said Menger proudly, "it's a strange name, they translate it as 'twin brother'." Gong Salo glanced at Jia Boye out of the corner of his eye. When they came out of the garden, their companions saw or thought a world full of gold, a world they never imagined and could only read about in the wildest fairy tales, recalls Jab Yee Remembering something that Anna Maya had said, he convinced himself that he must not let it slip. She told him that she was the wife of the twin gods. He was very conflicted, wondering what this meant for the Incas. But, from now on, he knows what it means to his people.