"Hmm, Little Ayuli is really fast! Wood, remember to talk to him before you go. These past few months, Luwei’s wife has been taking care of him too... With you and Luwei, I feel reassured..."
With the sun shining brightly, the two continued swinging their sickles, engaging in intermittent small talk as they worked.
It was not until the sun reached its zenith and the temperature rose to its peak that a loud, clear sound of a bone horn blew through the wind, signaling it was time for lunch. Labor during the harvest required physical strength and time was of the essence. Under Xiulote’s personal supervision, a special lunch was established for the militia during the busy harvesting days as a grace.
The two then stopped their work, carrying baskets filled with vegetables, and walked together towards the center of the camp. The other milites gradually gathered around, whispering quietly on the dusty path created by their tread.
"The new King is truly benevolent, allowing us to eat a hearty meal at noon as if we were in a battle."
"All Kings are of the Divine Eagle Bloodline, they must have broad vision and generous hearts!"
"Nonsense! Have you not fought in the north? The new King is His Highness from Mexica. He is a Black Wolf Divine Descendant, an envoy of the God of Death, controlling the lives of warriors! Whenever he wields his Divine Power, it erupts like a thunderbolt, smashing legions into dust!"
"Ah? How come I heard a sage in the Capital City say that the new King is a descendant of the Sun God, possesses the Kingdom’s Heritage gemstone, and also inherited the old King’s Divine Power?"
"...You’re both wrong!"
Hearing the chaotic discussions, finally a militia Camp Commander couldn’t restrain himself. He bellowed fervently.
"I asked the Priest marching with the troops, and he said, the Emperor was born under the Chief Divine’s Blessing, received Divine Revelations since childhood, and carries the future of the whole world! The Chief Divine is the highest and greatest, omnipotent. The Emperor, as the envoy of the highest Chief Divine, naturally possesses different Divinity."
"...He is the sun that creates life, the Black Wolf who commands death, and will also bring harvest, prosperity, and hope like the gliding Feathered Serpent! He devoured the former Divine Eagle Royal Family, expanded His Divine Power to the lake region, and made this place His Kingdom. He treats us all the same, He is both the Highness of the Mexica and the Divine King of Prepetcha!..."
The commander’s words gradually turned into a chant, and the milites around gradually fell silent. Soon, others also began to chant. The eyes of the soldiers held deep reverence, filled with new expectations.
In the midst of chanting, Chiwaco stopped walking. He listened to the people’s words, his eyes deepening.
"Uncle, have you seen His Highness from Mexica? What’s he like?"
Weizti scratched his head, curious.
Chiwaco’s expression on his face shifted complexly. After thinking for a while, he muttered to himself softly.
"He has a nose, two eyes...but now he’s a man, later a god."
Weizti did not catch the last sentence. As he was about to ask, his uncle had already walked far away, so he had to hurry to catch up.
Soon, the two reached the camp where the scent of food wafted in the wind from afar, making their mouths water. They unloaded the vegetables from their wooden baskets and greeted the Mexica Samurai guarding the food and tools. The mutual familiarities had already been established over the season.
"Blessings of the Chief Divine! Warrior Huoqia. The sun is fine today, and the fields are truly beautiful!"
"Blessings of the Chief Divine! Captain Chiwaco. Yes, today is the sixth day, a lucky day of the Sun God. Suitable for battles, skirmishes, and death."
Huoqia smiled and nodded in response, the same elder warrior as before. He took out a sparkling bronze sickle from a wooden box on the ground and continued with a smile.
"We’ve just received a batch of bronze sickles, not too many. You’ve made great contributions for the Alliance, you can take two to use first. These are much sharper and more durable than stone sickles!"
Chiwaco was surprised. He took the sickle handed over by the warrior, and with a simple swipe on the vegetables on the ground, the vegetables were neatly cut into two halves.
"Really effective! Using such expensive tools for farming, it’s really different!"
The old militiaman exclaimed.
"Well, collecting vegetables is one thing. When it comes to harvesting corn later, these convenient farm tools will make work much quicker and save a lot of effort!... Warrior Huoqia, could you allocate a few more for my team?"
"Ah, if it was someone else asking, surely there would be none. But Captain Chiwaco, you are different. I will give you half more! You are a person who His Highness himself has praised, ’Favoured by fate warrior’, bound to be heavily relied on in the future..."
At the mention of "being heavily relied on," Chiwaco felt a gulp in his heart. He managed a nod with a forced smile, then pulled Wood towards his own camp to arrange for people to collect today’s lunch.
People sat on the ground according to their camps, waiting. Accompanying the meal was the army-associated Priest. Initially, most priests were Mexica from the Alliance, now many lower-grade priests from Prepetcha had also joined. The priests prayed loudly in the dialect of Qinchongcan, and the people repeated along.
"Praise the Chief Divine Huitzilopochtli! He gives us sunshine, rain, and harvest..."
"Praise the Chief Divine!"
"Praise His Majesty Xiulote! He provides us food, stability, and homes..."
"Praise His Majesty!"
In the harvest-rich fields, within the stable camp, people followed the priests in their prayers, reciting words they knew by heart. Unconsciously, a sense of piety began to form in their hearts.
The overturning of the Kingdom, the reversal of ranks, the alteration of divine beings... In these past two years, too many heart-stirring events had happened, numbing the spirits of Prepetcha people. In this rapidly changing era, not only has the resistance to reform reduced to a minimum, but there are also voids in beliefs that could be filled. This is a hard-earned blank slate, being painted by the King. The new scroll spreads over the land of the Fief, and is also engraved in the hearts of the people!