Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven

Ana Maya and Vera Omar walked towards the square in front of the temple.Standing on the hill of Dumen Bangba, all you can see is the walls of the square courtyard, which surrounds the palace, the inner courtyard and the bungalows of the people layer by layer, stretching into square areas of the same size. The wise man said nothing.Anna Maya also knew that she shouldn't talk too much at this time.From the other side of the valley, she saw the black hilltops of Vanakree.The brick road they stepped on descended vertically from the top of the mountain and the temple, forming a perfect straight line.

The temperature has not dropped.Anna Maya felt constant sweat on her forehead and neck, and the sweat flowed down her back under the thick sacrificial robe. The wise man walked swiftly, reached into the cigarette pouch that never left his body, and took out a pinch of coca leaves and a small bottle of white powder, which was lime powder as fine as talcum powder. "Here!" he said curtly as he handed her the coca leaf. Then the wise man poured a little lime powder into the palm of his hand.Anna Maya rolls these thick green leaves into a roll, and then puts them into the mouth to chew slowly, and the sweet and bitter taste spreads to the whole palate immediately.

Gradually, the whole city disappeared behind them, and the path that had been carefully paved with bricks was now a dirt road, and two rough but neat walls were added to the side of the road.Anna Maya walked unhurriedly, feeling a sense of peace in her heart. On the other side of the hill, a small slope slowly formed, joining another plateau.A large gray-white rock with a strange shape appeared on the plateau. The surface of the rock was pitted, as if after a crustal change, everything was half sunken and half protruding from the surface. Anna Maya knew that this was the ancient tomb without any explanation from the wise man.An ancient stone, one of thousands of sacred stones that defined the boundaries of the Quartet Empire, whose location was known only to the High Priest.

It is where the spirits of ancestors and gods lived, and where they listened to the prayers of the faithful men and women of the visible world. Vera Omar stopped in front of the wall door that marked the entrance.The stones on the door have been carefully carved, and some parts almost completely match the rocks on the wall, exposing the zigzag light of Irapa, the lightning god. From the fluffy pouch on his body, Vera Omar took out some coca leaves again.This time, he carefully placed the leaves in a wall shrine, at the feet of a small golden idol.Then he took a small bottle of chicha from his knapsack, offered a few drops to the shrine, and then sprinkled a few drops on the ground.

After praying silently for a while, he turned to Anna Maya, handed her the chicha in his hand, and beckoned her to drink it.She obediently took two big gulps, her throat was scalding extremely hot. "Now, we can only wait," said the wise man. Anamaya sat cross-legged on a flat, hot stone.The sun caresses her skin and speaks to her.Then her eyelids suddenly became heavy and her breathing became weak.She closed her eyes, and felt her whole body sinking down, her hands, feet, chest, head and other parts were independent.Then suddenly, she felt herself again, but there was a force that kept pulling her down to the ground, into a dizziness that she couldn't resist...

Maybe that's how she fell asleep. When she regained consciousness, the sun was almost down.She saw that several sunset glows had already shone on the hillsides around the plateau. "Vera Omar!" No response.The effects of the coca leaves and chicha had worn off long ago, and now she just felt exhausted, and fear surrounded her like a deepening night. "Vera Omar!" Her voice drifted away, and the foothills echoed back. Ana Maya stood up, her legs stiff and her knees sore.She stretched her fingertips forward to explore, then followed the wall of Irapa.At the end of the wall, a path full of thorns appeared, and inside the wall seemed to be the ancient tomb area.

She walked forward carefully, being careful not to slip because of the straw sandals on her feet.The double snake bracelet on the wrist glowed golden under the moonlight. Suddenly, she bumped into a small bush with long thorns, thicker than a door.She was terrified, panting, and hurriedly backed away.But because she retreated too fast, she staggered, but instead she hugged her arms forward and rushed towards the darkness... She thought she must have bumped into a big rock this time, because her two arms completely fell into a gap, and she didn't know what to do. Be careful, your head is thrown forward, your thighs are scraped by the corners of the rock.

When she regained her senses, she was scared out of breath by the dark silence all around, but she finally understood that this big rock was waiting to meet her here. The temperature here is cooler, and the darkness is darker than night. She trembled all over her body, couldn't help shaking her hands and shoulders, and even her heart couldn't stop beating.Although she didn't understand why she knew it, she knew that from now on, she could never turn back. She stood up again, put her shoulders against the stone wall, and walked forward step by step. The road slopes slightly.She went down step by step, farther and deeper, feeling inevitable.Her lips were dry, and the beating of her heart hurt her chest.She really wanted to scream, shout that she didn't want to leave this world yet.

Afterwards, the surrounding area suddenly became extremely empty, and even the pitch-black air became serene.She opened her arms and could no longer touch any stones.She walks alone in the dark, the road is unimpeded, both on the left and the right!So, though there was no sound, no light, she felt an affirmation pungent and stronger than chicha that flowed through her: she was not alone. "Vera Omar—" she called softly with tears in her eyes. Before her eyes, in the night, were yellow eyes that shone brightly. Cougar! This was Vera Omar's original intention: to feed the cougar with her heart, to offer her skin to the underworld, to wash away the filth of the world with her blue eyes and mysterious origin.

The yellow eyes turned to the left to get a good look at her. Suddenly the voice of Vanya Kapac appeared in her head, the voice she had been looking forward to for days, the voice worthy of both her surprise and her resentment.The voice was clear and powerful, and it was no longer the voice of the dying old man who had spoken to her in the night and told her he would always be with her.However, this voice is so familiar! "Anna Maya girl! A pure girl with eyes as blue as lakes, why do you think I'm not keeping my word? Come on, Anna Maya girl, come here, come to me! Don't be afraid..."

Ana Maya walked up to the yellow-eyed cougar.She wasn't afraid anymore, really, even though she knew she was going to be swallowed by this cougar.Still, she was glad to meet the one and only King again before leaving this world. "They want to take me," said the voice full of tenderness, "but I will stay with you until they send me to that eternal throne, to Cuzco, to my Father the Sun. .They wanted to take me away, but now I'm back, back to this place I never left..." "Anna Maya girl, don't doubt what I say. Breathe with me, trust the cougar..." The voice echoed in her head, on the stone. Ana Maya opened her arms and sent herself into the cougar's gaping mouth.But those yellow eyes suddenly disappeared, leaving only endless darkness around... No! No!Over her head, through the cracks in the rocks, shone a mighty moonbeam! Anamaya happily put her hands on her cheeks and rubbed her temples, smiling happily. she is alive! When she got out of the stone crevice panting, she saw Vera Omar's white back leaning against the wall of Irapa waiting for her in the dark night.She stopped in front of him with a smile on her lips. "He spoke to you, didn't he?" Anna Maya nodded, not knowing how bright her eyes were in the dark. "So you know where he is?" "Walk!" This time it was her turn to lead the way for the wise.Half walking and half running, they followed all the walls, walked back to the city, then got into every alley, and passed all the closed doors of the square yards. As they approached the temple, two young priests rushed towards them.Their hair was disheveled, as if they had been greatly frightened. "Vera Omar the wise! Vera Omar the wise!" The wise man motioned for them to shut up. "The wise man Vera Omar! The mummy of the king is back!" "I know." The wise man glanced at Anna Maya and said. In the hall of nine shrines, the mummy of the one and only King, Vanya Kapac, rested on a pedestal.Mama Kira, the moon god, shines on his golden mask and the delicate blanket of wool and bat hair that covers him.He was there, as if he had never been moved.His golden mask gleamed, and he turned to the idol of his twin brother.Vera Omar felt a smile on his face.Even a cunning old wise man like him couldn't help shivering when Anna Maya whispered in his ear: "He promised me he would never leave me..." After raising her hands high and praying devoutly, Vera Omar looked at Anna Maya with tired and gentle eyes. "We have to take good care of you, little girl. The one and only king, Wanya Kapac, has come to visit you himself. You have traveled with all the dead, you have traveled to the Underworld and returned to the world... and now you Your life is too precious to us!" From his proud tone, Anna Maya heard the trembling of fear mixed with it: "You're never going to send me into that cougar's belly again?" "No, never! Because now I know that cougar has always protected you." For a split second, Ana Maya remembered the yellow eyes of the cougar in the dark, and the sense of abandonment that came to her, a feeling scarier than fear, worse than death. Her mind kept ringing the words that her master, the only King, had said to her: "Breathe with me, trust the cougar..."