In the end, that day's meeting still broke up on a sour note. Parker didn't use the opportunity to push his own proposal, though. Instead, the next day, the three Maya factions jointly put forward an idea.
The place they were protecting now was actually a waterway that the Golden City had specifically opened for the giant serpent. The Golden City had a proper entrance, too, but it had been sealed off back when they imprisoned the demon.
So the factions that had guarded the Golden City back then naturally had the right to reopen the sealed entrance when the demon appeared and launch a frontal assault.
The proposal seemed reasonable enough, but they had another concern: what if opening the entrance let the demon escape?
The Serpent Path might be difficult to traverse, but the giant serpent only left once every seven years. The rest of the time, it could only be lured away for a short while. No matter how determined the demon was, it couldn't force its way out through the Serpent Path.
The proper entrance was different. It was a wide road, and they had heard that many people could walk abreast along it. If they really opened it and the demon escaped, who would take responsibility?
So Parker and the others immediately voiced their opposition.
That made the three Maya faction leaders furious.
"If this won't work, and that won't work, then what do you suggest?"
The three had agreed to stand together. As soon as one finished speaking, another would take over, leaving Parker and his people no chance to get a word in.
They couldn't even voice the arguments they'd prepared, let alone put forward a proposal that would benefit the Serpent Attack Tribe.
In the end, Parker grew angry, too. He slammed his hand down on the table, sending all the bowls and cups bouncing into the air.
"If you can come up with a reasonable proposal, the Serpent Attack Tribe will support it without question. But don't bring up anything unreasonable and cause bad blood between us."
One of the Maya faction leaders spoke up. "There is a reasonable proposal. Have you ever heard of the Jungle Path?"
Parker hadn't yet caught on when the old man from the Inca side brightened. "You mean the Jungle Path of the Maya Empire? Are any of them still usable?"
Although Parker was the Great Warrior of a tribe, the Serpent Attack Tribe didn't come from the orthodox Aztec tradition. Of the three tribes descended from the Aztec people, only the Eagle Tribe carried on the tradition of the Eagle Warrior, one of the three great Aztec warriors.
The other two tribes were of lower standing. The Deer Eater Tribe descended from the Jaguar Warrior's auxiliary troops, while the Serpent Attack Tribe came from the tradition of the bow warriors' auxiliary troops.
There was far too much in the jungles of South America that they didn't understand.
So they had never heard of things like the Jungle Path.
Fortunately, the old man from the Inca side was a sage and an apothecary who knew the jungles of South America very well. He began explaining it to Parker, who knew nothing about it.
"During the Maya Empire, its cities were scattered throughout the jungle. To connect all the city-states, the empire built a network of elevated tree-top roads known as the Jungle Path. These paths could carry hundreds of soldiers at once, with people traveling both ways without disrupting one another. A distance of two hundred kilometers could be covered in a single day. They were called the bloodline of the gods."
"So it's a tree road. What does that have to do with us?"
"Then show me how you'd build a road in the treetops." The old man gave Parker a look as if he were an idiot. In his eyes, Parker was full of ambition but had forgotten his own place and lost sight of his roots.
"Then what are you getting at?" Parker was deeply dissatisfied. He felt things shouldn't be going this way. If the discussion continued, all authority would fall back into the hands of those old fogeys who were always going on about tradition.
"The Jungle Path is a divine road, so it can naturally connect cities quickly. The Maya Empire helped build the Golden City, too, so it must have left an entrance to the Jungle Path there. As long as we can open it, we can..."
"No! We absolutely cannot open the Jungle Path! What if the demon escapes from behind us?" Parker loudly interrupted the old man.
The old man laughed. "That's where your ignorance shows. Everyone knows the Jungle Path is one-way. That's what lets people travel quickly, so you don't need to worry about anyone going the wrong way. They simply don't have the power to do it."
"You say they can't go the wrong way, so they can't? Who says so?" Parker turned into a stubborn contrarian and challenged the old man.
"The gods." The old man shot back, then fell silent.
Parker had no other argument to offer. Among the great tribes, their ancestors and the gods mattered most.
By saying that, the old man had invoked the gods as his witness. If Parker continued to object, this meeting would immediately turn into a war between the Serpent Attack Tribe and the Sunbird Tribe, which the old man represented.
"Fine, then let's get ready. How many people can we send in at once?"
"One hundred and fifty at most. But there's something we need to make clear in advance: the Jungle Path is one-way. If we win, we'll need to send people in to bring them back. Do you have any ideas?"
Hearing the Maya leader ask for his input, Parker's mood finally improved a little. At least they still needed him.
He lifted his chin with some satisfaction and looked down at the leaders, brimming with confidence. "Take the Serpent Path. Three days from now, I'll send people inside to pass you a message. After you seal the demon, build dugout canoes right there. Once my people get in, you can ride the canoes out."
"We'll leave as soon as we see your people?"
The leaders pressed him for details. They needed to get the timing right; otherwise, they could run into the giant serpent on their way out, and that wouldn't be good.
"No. The next day at noon. It'll take time for my people to get in, and the giant serpent can't be lured too far away for long. If you leave as soon as you see my people, you'll definitely run into it. We'll agree that my people will go in, then lure the giant serpent away again at noon the following day. But remember, we can't lure it away over and over. Each time, it'll stay away for a shorter period. We won't be able to wait around for anyone."
"Don't worry about that. We know how to keep an eye on the timing."
The old man stepped forward as well. "Then let's choose who'll go in. There are seven tribes in all, so each tribe should send twenty warriors."
Seeing that the old man had taken control of the discussion, Parker's expression darkened. He wondered if he should hold back when they lured the giant serpent away, and let it swallow all the warriors from the other tribes.
Just then, the leader of the Eagle Tribe stepped forward. "Our tribe can send thirty warriors."