"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!..."
Eighteen bronze braziers flared to life together at the summit of the Temple of Heaven pyramid. This was an important auspicious number in ritual, symbolizing the eighteen months of the traditional Solar Calendar. In the Solar Calendar, each month had twenty days, with five or six unlucky days added at the end, making a year.
And the divine symbols of the eighteen months, from the beginning of the year to its end, were: the first month, "Stillness of Water"; the second month, "Flaying Sacrifice"; the third month, "Little Vigil"; the fourth month, "Great Vigil"; the fifth month, "Drought of the Sun"; the sixth month, "Eating Corn Gruel"; the seventh month, "Little Lord's Sacrifice"; the eighth month, "Great Lord's Sacrifice"; the ninth month, "Flower Rite"; the tenth month, "Falling of Fruit"; the eleventh month, "Sweeping of Dust"; the twelfth month, "Descent of the God"; the thirteenth month, "mountain sacrifice"; the fourteenth month, "Flamingo"; the fifteenth month, "Rising of Banners"; the sixteenth month, "Descent of Water"; the seventeenth month, "Ending"; and the eighteenth month, "Revival."
Every one of these months had its corresponding divine sacrifices and activities. Only, after the monotheistic reform had continued for more than ten years, the object of the Alliance's official rituals had gradually changed from a multitude of varied gods into the sole supreme Main God. And at present, the time was the seventh month of 1495, corresponding in the Solar Calendar to the ninth month, the "Flower Rite." Thus, the priests decorated the altar with fresh flowers, sending off the sacrificed souls toward the Divine Kingdom where flowers bloomed.
"Descendant of the Rubber People, bloodline of the Tiger Claw King, honored noble of Mountain River City, Yun Zhao, go to the kingdom of the Sun Main God! His soul belongs to the Main