[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

In the dead of night, a figure appeared in front of the temple.

It was a graceful young woman in the unbleached linen robes of the novice priests.

The moonlight was bright, reflecting the giant pillars built of tall logs in front of the temple, casting rhythmic shadows one after another.The woman hid her figure in the shadow of the giant pillar, vigilantly observing the situation outside the temple.

He could only hear the footsteps on the steps, and someone was approaching.The woman poked her head out cautiously, observing secretly.

The person who came was a young man with sharp features and a very handsome appearance.The woman was startled, and immediately retracted behind the pillar, as if she felt that the person who appeared was different from what she expected.

The person who came was also full of confusion.The moonlight was clearly on his face. The closer he got to the temple, the more confused he became. It seemed that this trip was completely entrusted by someone, with no goal at all, and he didn't know what he was looking for.

The young woman behind the giant pillar suddenly opened her mouth, and quickly reached out to hold it, forcing herself to keep silent.

She looked up from behind the giant pillar again, and the more shocked she was, the more tears filled her eyes... Gradually, she no longer concealed her figure and leaned out from behind the pillar.

The eyes of the two finally met.

The man was still confused, apparently he didn't expect that what he came here to meet was a woman he had no impression of.Following his habit, the young man put his hands behind his head in embarrassment and scratched his head.

Unexpectedly, this action touched the memory that the woman had buried for many years. At this moment, the woman couldn't hold back anymore, she rushed out from behind the huge pillar, came to the young man, and stretched out her hand directly between his neck——

The young man was obviously frightened by this move, and wanted to stop him, but the woman across from him pulled out a thin linen rope hanging around his neck.

A hardwood amulet shaped like a swallow's wing appeared in the young woman's hand.

Big and big tears gushed out of her eyes, the young woman stretched out her trembling hands, and also took out the string from her neck, and an amulet of the same shape appeared in her palm.

The two match up, and they are exactly the same.

The young man stood like a statue, and after a while, he held the woman's shoulders and turned her to face the moonlight.

When he saw the woman's face clearly, the young man couldn't bear the emotion gushing out of his chest. He knelt down on one knee, lowered his head, covered his mouth and sobbed softly...

The woman also knelt down along with him, tightly wrapped her arms around the young man's shoulders, and gave him a gentle hug.

Gashti and Dumuzi, a pair of siblings who have been separated for many years.

Perhaps neither of them thought that they would meet in front of Inanna's temple in their lifetime.

I don't know how long it took, and the sound of "hiss" and "hiss" sounded in the distance.Dumuzi raised his head vigilantly, and found that Yi Nan poked his head between the houses below the steps of the temple, and was gesticulating to him desperately.

The natural alertness of the shepherd came into play here.Dumuzi quickly pulled Gashti up, and the two quickly went down the steps, found a corner where they could hide, and hid in.

As soon as the two of them hid, a group of low-level priests patrolling appeared in front of the temple—in the past, the work of patrolling was done by trainee priests.After the New Year's ceremony, the shaman made a statement that the apprentice priests would no longer be responsible for the defense and patrolling, and this job would be handed over to the low-ranking priests.

When the inspection team passed by, Gashti patted his chest: "It's dangerous——"

However, Yi Nan approached beside him and said, "You two have a good chat, I'll let you know—"

Gashti's eyes widened immediately: It turned out that the saintess was guarding their siblings? !

Dumuzi explained to his sister with a smile: "She is such an enthusiastic person."

If they were not enthusiastic, they would not have spent so much time arranging for their siblings to meet.

A pair of relatives who hadn't seen each other for a long time gathered under the eaves of a low hut near the temple and chatted for a long time until the east became white.

"Wu will finish stargazing soon, I have to go back now. Be careful." Gash told Dumuzi.The siblings bid farewell to each other solemnly. Gash pulled up his robe, leaned over to look at it, turned his head and waved goodbye to Dumuzi, and walked briskly up the steps leading to the temple.

Dumuzi hurriedly turned back to look for Yi Nan, just in time to see Yi Nan squatting in a corner not far from him, at this moment his eyes were blurred, he covered his mouth with his hands, and yawned big.

But as soon as Yi Nan saw Du Muzi, he regained his spirits and asked in a low voice, "What's important to find out?"

She reserved the meeting time of the night for the siblings, but at the same time, she also asked Dumuzi to inquire about Wu.

Dumuzi nodded: "Go, let's talk while walking."

Yi Nan asked a lot about the witches - what she wants to know most now is actually where the witches' ruling power over Uruk comes from.

According to Gashti: Wu is indeed a very powerful woman. Although managing Uruk is extremely unreliable, Wu also has her own strengths——

The entire current calendar used in Uruk was calculated by her.Every night when the weather is fine, Wu will watch the stars all night. Gashti believes that Wu knows hundreds of times more about every star in the sky than every resident of Uruk.

Apart from the witches, only a small number of high-ranking priests in Uruk understand the calculation of the calendar.Therefore, no one can take the place of Wu.

Fortunately, Gashti has been serving Wu and has a good understanding of calendar calculations.If there is no witch in Uruk, the astronomical observation and calendar will not be completely erased, but it may be set back a few years, and it needs to be slowly developed again to return to the original level.

In addition, the residents of Uruk's worship of witches also comes from a "sacred object" preserved by witches.It is said that it was handed down by the wizard Dan, and passed down from generation to generation by witches, and has been passed down to this day.

Legend has it that this "relic" is the source of Uruk's power, and the well-being of the city is closely related to the relic.If the fetish does not exist, the city of Uruk will no longer flourish.

It is precisely because of this that for thousands of years, people in Uruk and the surrounding area have always been in awe of witches, and they have always believed in what witches said.

"What kind of thing is this?" Yinan asked Dumuzi.

Dumuzi shook his head and said, "My sister doesn't know either. She said that the witch has a box inlaid with obsidian and alabaster, and the things are packed in the box. But the witch never opened it, but often worshiped the box and prayed to the goddess. blessing."

"What Wizard Dan left behind..."

Yi Nan also felt very curious.

"My sister also said that Wu considered passing the position of Wu to my sister in the future, but my sister didn't agree." Dumuzi continued, "I asked her why, but she didn't say anything."

Yi Nan smiled slightly: "Your sister's decision is correct."

Gashti must be very clear about what witches need to do in the annual "Holy Wedding Ceremony".She is not willing to change her.

——It's just that it's inconvenient to tell Dumuzi this inside story.

Yinan originally wanted to ask Gashti how the shaman sensed the gods in such a "wonderful" way, and whether there were any special postures.But there was no way to tell Dumuzi about this fact, so he had to put it aside for the time being.

Anyway - after the Uruk people celebrate the New Year, grand balls and celebrations will replace the "Holy Wedding Ceremony".Wu didn't need to force herself anymore.

"Nan, thank you!"

After relaying everything, Dumuzi thanked Yinan.

"I really didn't expect...to be able to reunite with my sister today." Dumuzi was a little incoherent when excited, "In this world, I only have her as a relative. I really didn't expect..."

Tears flashed in the eyes of the young shepherd, but his face was full of smiles. He turned to look at Yi Nan, "What you said to me in the inn that day, if you want to have hope... I will always remember it in my life -"

Yi Nan thought to himself: You don't just remember that sentence?

In fact, Dumuzi, I don't know if he has a good memory or something, but it seems that he can recall every sentence and every word Yi Nan said, if he thinks about it afterwards.

So Yi Nan chose to open his arms and gently hugged the young man.At that moment, she realized that Dumuzi had no smell of sheep pens for a long time, and it was not the kind of balsamic smell like kitchen condiments that was popular in Uruk in this era, but a faint smell of citrus ——

It was very refreshing, and it lifted the spirit of Yi Nan who was quite sleepy.

"I have something to tell you." Inan thought for a while, and told Dumuzi about his decision.

"I'm leaving Uruk in two days." She was like this, she had made up her mind, and she couldn't pull back even ten horses.

"Where are you going?" Dumuzi asked calmly, "What do I need to do?"

"I'm going to Eridu."

After Yinan mentioned the place name, Dumuzi didn't show any surprise. He wondered if it was because of the unexpected joy of finding his relatives, which made the shepherd calm when he heard everything.

"I hope you can...stay in Uruk and help me with some important matters."

To put it bluntly, Uruk needs someone who, as a force other than witches and priests, can properly guide the residents of Uruk so that they can unite and develop a splendid civilization belonging to the Sumerians.

Just like what she said that day: Uruk needs a leader in the world - of course, in terms that the locals can understand, what they need is not a collar and sleeves, but a king in the world.

Yinan has been observing Dumuzi for a while: he is smart, brave, meticulous... his comprehension is quite high, the only thing that is slightly lacking is that his self-confidence has not yet been fully established.

But Yinan wanted to see if the results of his independent actions were consistent with his own impression of him.

So this time she decided to go to Eridu alone, leaving Dumuzi and Little Hamti in Uruk.

After Yinan made this request, Dumuzi unexpectedly did not express any objection.

"Okay, tell me what I need to do."

Yinan: ...?Promise so readily?

She still remembered that the last time she discussed the plan with Dumuzi, Dumuzi objected honestly and bluntly.

But Inan said something like "If you have a better idea than this, just say it" and Dumuzi didn't, so he just shut up.

And this time—this guy just shut up without even asking?

Two days later, Yi Nan met the "guide" assigned to her by the witch.

"why you?"

Yi Nan looked at Gu Da who was wearing a medium priest's robe.The latter smiled innocently and said, "Are you going to Eridu, right? I've been to Eridu twice, and I'm pretty familiar with it!"

Yi Nan really didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

She asked for a guide in Eridu, not just "been there" or "familiar with the path", what she needed was someone who was familiar with the customs of Eridu, knew how the locals deal with them, and admired the locals. It would be better to know more about the main god "Enki" in the world.

Unexpectedly, the witch gave Gu Da to her.

But that's good too, she already knows Guda very well, and thinks he is loyal, reliable and trustworthy.Although his ability is occasionally lacking, at least there is no need to guard against him making small moves around him.

- Just him!

Once Yinan identified his travel companion, he never gave up. He asked Guda about the direction to Eridu, and agreed to meet at the temple at noon and set off together.

At noon, in front of the temple, Gu Da came to meet Yi Nan with a huge burden on his back, and showed her the items he carried with him.

"This is a stone knife made by the best stone knife maker in Uruk. It is very sharp and can definitely guarantee your safety—"

Gu Da raised his knife and swiped it twice in the air.Yi Nan was very worried that he would hurt himself.

"This is a small piece of lapis lazuli, malachite, alabaster, and other similar gemstones that can be found in the warehouse." Guda took out a handful of colorful gemstones. "These can be used as travel expenses on the road. As a welcome gift to the Eriduians."

Yi Nan held back, not ashamed to ask him what he planned to eat and drink along the way.It seems that this mid-level priest has always traveled with the group of priests in the past, and his priests have always been received by villagers along the road, eating and drinking, so this mid-level priest is completely unfamiliar with the logistics of traveling.

After going on the road, who will protect whom, who will take care of whom?

After Gu Dada finished talking, Yi Nan asked, "Can a priest of your level borrow a temple car to go out?"

Gu Da suddenly realized, patted his head and said, "Oh, why didn't I think of that!"

Yinan: ...

But in the end, Guda still failed to borrow a two-wheeled cart.It is said that the craftsmen of the temple have begun to rush to produce this very exquisite tool on a large scale, but Guda put down all kinds of requests, but he has never been able to get one.

Yi Nan smiled: "Traveling lightly has its advantages."

She knew it wasn't Guda's problem.Gu Da is actually a pawn who was implicated by her.

But the matter has come to this point, Yi Nan has no intention of going to Wu to make a fuss, she has her own plan - besides, there are advantages to not pushing the cart, after all, Gu Da does not seem to be able to push the cart by herself, all the way from Uruk pushed to Eridu's.

Starting from the temple, the two also found a way to the banks of the Euphrates River, and then walked downstream along the Euphrates River.

Eridu is said to be at the mouth of the Euphrates River, where it empties into the Persian Gulf.

Yinan and Guda stayed in a small village outside Uruk after walking for less than half a day.The advantage of Guda is that he knows a lot of people locally, and with his status as a middle-level priest, the villagers will naturally entertain him with delicious food and drink.

Gu Da is also very attentive.

But Yinan always felt that something was wrong.

Maybe she was just too used to traveling with the boys of Bad Tibera.Although Gu Da was devout, it made Yinan unable to chat with him and made fun of him.

Besides, walking on the road, without a few sheep around, Yi Nan really felt as if he was going out without any money, and he didn't know what to do.

In the early morning of the next day, Yi Nan and Gu Da continued to set off.That "best stone knife" has now become a heavy burden for middle-level priests, Gu Da gritted his teeth, carried the knife on his back, and continued to move forward.Yi Nan followed silently.

At this time, there was a cheerful neighing sound behind him, followed by the sound of four hooves hitting the ground.

Yi Nan turned his head, and immediately saw the bay red horse galloping along the road with Dumuzi on its back.

"South--"

"Nan, you can make it easy for me to find it all the way." The bay red horse came in front of Yinan, and Du Muzi jumped off the horse's back.The bay red horse approached Yi Nan affectionately, rubbed against Yi Nan's hand, looked at Yi Nan with a pair of big watery eyes, and seemed to be able to speak.

Yi Nan patted the back of his head: Yes, I didn't bring maltose with me.

Unexpectedly, Dumuzi handed a piece of maltose to her hand very considerately, just as Yi Nan raised his hand, the gluttonous horse had already sucked the malt sugar away from her hand.

"Why are you here?" Yi Nan asked in surprise and joy.

Dumuzi smiled and said, "It's not just me! Look, who else is behind?"

"Miss Nan, Uncle Gu Da!"

As soon as he heard the shout, he knew it was the fat boy of the Hamza family.

In addition to this greeting, the "jingle dingling" of the cowbell also rang in the distance, interspersed with a dog barking from time to time.This voice was too pleasant for Yi Nan.She looked at the way Dumuzi came from, and she saw little Hamza and little Ake, together, leading the white cow, leading the bullock cart, and leading the little black dog towards Yinan. Come here.

"You actually drove out the bullock carts that the temple used to offer sacrifices to the goddess?" Gu Da stared at the young people in front of him, as if he felt that this group of bastards really knew nothing.

But as the bullock cart came forward, Gu Da immediately changed his attitude and praised all kinds of daily necessities and travel essentials on the cart: "Good guys, you really have it!"

Now he can finally put down the heavy stone knife on his back.

Yi Nan was delighted to see Dumuzi, but he was also curious: "Why are you here?"

Dumuzi stared at Yinan, with a smile on his lips: "Because of what you told me to do, I have invited many, many people to complete it with us—"

Yinan asked Dumuzi to stay in Uruk because he wanted to use him to win over the local residents of Uruk, the low-level trainee priests and low-level priests in the temple, gather a certain amount of power, and start reforming Uruk's current predicament .

"There are many capable people in Uruk, and Kuxin can almost stand alone among the apprentice priests. At the temple warehouse, our companions from Tibila Village are helping them."

"The villages around Uruk have already started to receive news from us that they will send young people from the village to Uruk to study after the busy farming season is over..."

At this moment, Gu Da interrupted in surprise: "Study? What study?"

Yinan and Dumuzi looked at each other, they both smiled and said nothing.

But it's really inconvenient to say more in front of Gu Da about the next words.But Dumuzi said quite proudly: "Nan, please rest assured that in Uruk, there is a very reliable and capable person who is now in charge of the overall situation."

Yi Nan guessed right away: ——Gashti!

Gashti is the closest person to the witch. This girl has been influenced by the witch for a long time, but her "three views" are still very upright. She is upright and cautious in her actions.It is indeed a very safe candidate to entrust the current affairs of Uruk to her to take charge of it secretly.

Yinan nodded, his eyes swept over Dumuzi, little Hamti and little Ake in turn.

"And what about you? Your plan is—"

Dumuzi smiled and said, "Did you forget that we are together. We set off from Tibera together. Now that you want to visit Eridu, you should take us with you."

He spoke lightly, as if the tour group had a novel destination and was about to set off again.

But at this time, Dumuzi, Hamti, and Ake, the young people all had serious expressions, as if they were facing Yinan, and made an oath of never leaving - the group will always be together, facing possible difficulties and dangers.

Gu Da interjected again at this time: "Saint...Miss Nan, I still don't understand why you must go to Eridu yourself?"

Guda's face seemed to be filled with the words "it's not worth the risk" and added: "Now it's obvious that the people of Eridu don't like us?"

Yi Nan smiled: "I don't think so."

Now even Dumuzi and the others were surprised: "Not necessarily?"

The Eridu people don't even recognize the shell coins they have always used to exchange. Isn't this trying to turn against the Uruk people and cut off ties?

Yi Nan said, "This is a place I've never been able to figure out."

"As a currency in circulation, shell coins must have been circulated in Eridu first, and then spread to Uruk. The sudden declaration of invalidation will only have a greater impact on themselves."

"If the people of Eridu unilaterally declare the currency invalid just because they don't like Uruk, this kind of method of killing eight hundred enemies and self-defeating one thousand, I would never do it if it were me."

Both Hamti and Ake lowered their heads, desperately using their newly learned arithmetic to calculate how much eight hundred and one thousand are.

Dumuzi already understood: "So you think there should be a misunderstanding here?"

Yi Nan nodded: "If you can't go to Eridu in person, this misunderstanding will only get deeper and deeper, and you can't solve it."

"Besides, a lot of Eridu's products are necessities. Cutting off ties with them is definitely not worth the loss."

In this era, the population of a city is around 5000 people. Together with the surrounding villages, Uruk has a total population of more than 1 people.There are no rock salt deposits near Uruk that can meet the needs of residents. If they want to eat salt, they must rely on sea salt from Eridu.

In addition, Eridu's seafood, various salted fish and dried fish, seaweed and sea vegetables can provide the trace elements needed by the human body and prevent the residents of Uruk from getting sick due to iodine deficiency.

"For the well-being of the people of Uruk, no matter how big the risk is, I must go there."

Yi Nan said this in a very calm tone, as if he was saying "today's weather is really nice", "look at the two clouds floating over that day" and so on.

But the people around her, including Guda and Dumuzi, all stretched out their hands and folded them on their chests in awe.