Chapter 1356: Chapter 1356

"Burp! Brothers of the... tribes, this... this wilderness life is too... too tough!..."

As night deepened, everyone drank heavily and was somewhat woozy. Zusa, with his limp leg, gulped down his drink and was the first to lay down, snoring beside the fire pit. Woodpecker Aitz’s stuttering speech showed he was not far from being drunk either.

"Isn’t it just that! Thinking back now, I don’t know how I lived through those twenty years. The tribe was like a pack of wolves, running around the wilderness, chasing after food..."

Red-haired leader Mique downed another bowl of wine. He shook his head, savoring the sweet yet tart flavor of the fruit wine, with an indescribable feeling on his face.

"Brother! Do you know what my name, Mique, means?"

"What... what is it?" Newest update provıded by ⓝovelFire.net

"It’s Mesquite, Mesquite! You don’t know? It’s a type of tree in the wilderness that bears a bean pod. That thing is very bitter, eating too much of it hurts your stomach, but it’s edible, and one tree bears many! We used to gather these pods as summer rations. Haha! This stuff had to be fought over, many tribes would compete for it, even using long spears and stone axes..."

Speaking of this, red-haired leader Mique shook his head and laughed.

"Hey! Don’t laugh, before we went south to the Otomi people’s place, I hadn’t even eaten corn, didn’t know what corn was... I first went at Old Corn raw, and my teeth hurt... Burp!"

"Chief Divine! Eating raw Old Corn! You’re... you’re something! Brothers of the... tribe, I... drink a bowl to you!"

Woodpecker Aitz shouted in surprise, laughing and toasting two more bowls. His face was flushed, but he just wouldn’t fall. Red-haired leader Mique, on the other hand, was swaying, high on interest, and downed another bowl, shouting loudly.

"Praise the mighty Chief Divine! Praise the God of Death Great Chief! Praise the Black Wolf Great Chief! We follow the chieftains, defeating one enemy tribe after another, living days we never dared to imagine! Haha!"

"Yes! Praise the Chief Divine! Praise His Highness!... The Kingdom is invincible, prosperity belongs to us! Haha!..."

The two drunkards, fully into their cups, shouted with joy. Other red-haired hunters and the Kingdom’s Warriors also joined in, loudly praising the Chief Divine, His Highness, and victorious warfare!...

After a while, red-haired leader Mique finally stopped. He fumbled around in his pouch and pulled out a piece of green jade, generously handing it to Woodpecker Aitz.

"Brother, for you! We are kindred spirits, it’s... my gift to you!"

"Uh? What... what is this?"

"This is from the eastern coast, Totonac people’s, from the Maya’s fine jade! Before we brought back mountain goods, we slaughtered a few eastern something Snake Priests... I thought the serpent carvings were beautiful, so I pocketed them and kept them all this time!... This piece is for you!"

"Maya’s... fine jade? Wow! The feel of this jade seems... aged, it’s an antique... an ancient artifact!"

Woodpecker Aitz touched his head, picking up the green jade by the firelight, his drunken eyes wide open to admire it. Indeed, the clarity of this piece of jade was excellent, transparent and beautiful, with lifelike designs carved into it. Such a hard jade could only be carved bit by bit using jade sand and primitive tools, requiring tremendous effort and a skilled jade craftsman master!

"A coiling serpent around a pillar reaching up to the heavens, surrounded by worshipers... uh? What’s this mark? A city-state? An ancient Maya city-state?..."

Woodpecker Aitz held the ancient jade from Totonac land, scrutinizing it for a long time but couldn’t discern anything.

He didn’t know that this jade came from Quiriguá, an ancient city of the Maya. Nor did he know that this Honduran city-state was more than three thousand li from the Kingdom of the Lake, an important ancient city-state in the southern Maya highlands, as well as the trade limit of Hidden Serpent Holy City...

He simply played with the ancient jade for a while, casually tucking it into his pocket. At the moment, his thoughts were focused on the Feathered Serpent mask from Cholula Holy City!

"Brother... it’s about time... no more drinking!... Let’s... trade!"

"Yes! I can’t wait... I want that mask..."

"Then go get it yourself! I’m going to sleep for a bit... let’s trade in the morning..."

Soon, Woodpecker Aitz staggered out. By the time he hugged the Feathered Serpent mask tight and returned, the longhouse was filled with calls. He found a warm corner, leaned lazily against the wall, and kept examining the ancient Feathered Serpent mask, unable to get enough of it.

"Haha! A Supreme High Priest-level inherited divine artifact!... Now it’s mine! Mine! Ahaha!..."

Woodpecker Aitz laughed heartily, staring at the ancient divine object in his hands, a sudden surge of unspeakable inspiration!

He recalled the sights of his journey, the impoverished tribal flag teams just settled and those affluent ones settled for years... He thought of these wilderness tribes settling from hardships of the wilderness to the kingdom’s stable mountain forest; from the warriors marching yearly to the descendants turning to the fields...

"Thus, tribal flag teams participate in warfare, sell prisoners and spoils of war, exchanging for weapons armor and goods needed for village settlements... They plunder through warfare seeking better settled lives, gradually transforming into rural village communities... This is the kingdom’s prosperous tribal trade arising from the prosperity of warfare!..."

"And this tribal prosperity resembles what? Like... like fertilizer! They fight for the kingdom, expanding for the kingdom with their lives! They nourish everything and can grow into leaves, even beautiful flowers... But if the fertilizer isn’t well-managed, lacks room for plunder and trade, doesn’t advance into steady settlement, it may bring danger, even burn out the kingdom’s flowers and leaves... Only a wise and mighty Divine King can solidly rule them!"

"Then, this poem of prosperity should be..."

Woodpecker Aitz’s thoughts surged, an unexplainable sense of nostalgia flowing into his heart, transforming into verses he recited!

"A Warrior’s manor blooms like flowers upon the Capital Region’s Lake Patzcuaro, just like the finest Chinampa!... Praise the Chief Divine and the King!"

"The barns of the villagers span like green leaves across vast fields. They are filled with bountiful harvests, just like incense burners filled with pine resin!... Praise the Chief Divine and the King!"

"The tribal camps flow like fertilizer, from the mountain forests to the farmlands. They run with blood, expanding life, letting leaves and flowers flourish! They must be spread over new lands, continuously nurturing new vitality, only a true King can rule them!... Praise the Chief Divine and the King!"

Woodpecker Aitz recited this prosperous poem generously while resting in the tribe’s longhouse. He savored this creation meant for His Highness, the more he thought, the more he felt he wrote it superbly!

"Hmm... The kingdom poem still needs a name... what should it be called?"

Woodpecker Aitz looked up, through the longhouse’s opening, gazing at the high-hanging moon in the night sky. He slowly extended his hand, placing the ancient sacred mask on his face. At that moment, he seemed possessed by the dignified Supreme High Priest, even his voice became profound and solemn.

"This poem will be called... Realm of the Divine King!..."

"No, no, that’s not right! Divine King is how King Aweit calls himself! But I’m speaking of His Highness..."

"Hmm... The meaning of ’King’ is ’Summer’! His Highness has a sword called ’Divine Summer’, so it will be... Realm of Divine Summer!..."

"No, still not good! The King used the word ’Divine’, His Highness can’t use it, especially at this time... ’Divine’, it means supreme, immensely powerful... Got it! It will be ’Tai’! ’Tai Summer’!"

"Good! This term is good! I’ve decided! His Highness’s honorific will be ’Tai Summer’! Haha!"

Woodpecker Aitz, wearing the ancient sacred mask, thought like a true Supreme High Priest. He came up with this brilliant title, excitedly gazing at the river of stars, shouting loudly.

"Chief Divine bears witness! This poem of prosperity tells of the great Kingdom of the Lake, which is His Highness’s fief, also known as the ’Tai Summer’s Realm’!"

"Ahaha! Tai Summer’s Realm! His Highness will definitely like it!... I am truly a born poet and sage!"