"Chief Minister, you sit in a palace like it’s the Divine Kingdom, your eyes looking up at the high heavens. Can you see us below you? Ha ha, I don’t believe in the three gods, they are all dead! I only believe in my brothers’ weapons! Ha ha, now, your neck, do you feel our coldness?"
The old Militia seemed crazed. He laughed with tears streaming down his face. He pulled out the bloodstained Dagger and held it across Jinjinni’s throat. The sharp Obsidian Short Dagger pierced the skin, and the Chief Minister closed his eyes, forever dimming his profound gaze.
Chiwaco, using all his strength, pressed down the Dagger. Then, standing up amidst the shocked stares of the Militia, he laughed wildly as he fumbled in his chest, eventually shaking out a bean and forcefully throwing it onto the Chief’s corpse.
"Ha ha, ha ha! This biggest bean... is your debt... and now you’ve repaid your debt!"
"Old Chi...you...you...have you gone mad?!...How could you sever the Chief Minister’s head!..."
Puap’s eyes widened, staring at this comrade so familiar yet so transformed, a vague fear arising in his heart. This Chiwaco of the night was a darkness and crimson he had never seen before.
"Ha ha, old Pu, how could I miss such a grand deed? We can’t carry the body... Let’s wrap the head, it’s easier to carry."
Their eyes met, but the old Militia’s were clear, and within that clarity was an unprecedented joyous sneer. He grabbed a piece of sacred fabric, quickly wrapped Jinjinni’s head, then picked up the huge Emerald Gemstone with praise.
"Tsk, tsk, so round, so bright! Just like the roundest moon... I, old Chi, have never seen something this beautiful in my life!..."
Weizti shuddered as he watched his uncle, who while speaking of beauty, kept his eyes fixed continually on the head. The uncle smiled as he buried the blood-dripping package and the beautiful gemstone together in the Feathers, then shouldered the lightweight bamboo basket of Feathers.
"You dumb logs, what are you staring at?! Hurry and carry these baskets of treasures on your backs. Master, quickly knock out the Prince beside you. We need to go now, the Black Wolf warriors of Mexica are coming up!"
The skirmish outside the window gradually quietened, but the killing shouts below the towers were becoming more imminent. Urged by time, the Militia obeyed and shouldered their bamboo baskets, the heavy gemstones and Gold and Silver bringing a delighted burden.
Puap turned his head and saw Prince Shatini raising a Dagger. Huitu Samurai quickly stepped forward, seized the Prince’s weapon, and struck him twice on the jaw, knocking the Prince unconscious. Then, he himself carried the Prince as if he was the greatest treasure.
"Tell me, where is the Chief Minister of Tarasco?! Where are the Princes of the Royal Family?!"
In the corridor below, Toltec’s roar was now distinctly audible. He seized a guard and bellowed, but the man kept his lips tightly sealed.
Hearing the familiar battle cries, old Militia Chiwaco waved his hand, and the group obediently ran towards the back of the palace. There was an emergency passage there, the same route they had taken when they were allowed entry.
As the night deepened and the palace elongated, the shouts and roars gradually faded. The old Militia strode ahead quickly toward the palace exit, Puap closely followed, with the other Militia trailing behind. The Huitu Samurai wore a complex expression, dazed all the way to the palace gate, before he quietly asked.
"Old Chi, where do we head now? To the lake by the north gate? Or south gate to find the Mexica commander?"
"Neither, we go to the east gate."