[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

Early the next morning, when the tour group was leaving, Xiao Hei confronted the cormorant again.

The little black dog barks at the poultry that specializes in fishing, and the cormorant "quacks" while waving its huge wingspan.

Du Muzi hurriedly tried to restrain Xiao Heiwang.Unexpectedly, the local villagers said that the two may not be arguing: "It seems that they got along with each other all night and fell in love with each other."

Yinan: ...?

Sure enough, after everyone went back on the road, Xiao Heiwang was reluctant to part with him, looking back at every step.

Dumuzi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he rubbed Xiao Hei's head: "Don't be sad, when we return to Uruk, we will still walk here and bring you to meet this old friend."

This is indeed how the tour group negotiated with the villagers of this small fishing village.They left part of the goods they brought in this fishing village, and agreed that they would pass by here on their return journey, and take away the seafood and dried fish that the villagers had prepared for them.

The local villagers also showed the tour group the way to the Eridu Salt Fields.

Yi Nan asked casually, asking where he could meet "Lord God Enki".The locals just laughed and said nothing, and replied: "Be careful on the way to Yantian, as long as you really want to see it, you will definitely see it."

In this way, the tour group continued to the center of Eridu with full of doubts and Wang who looked back at every step.Since Eridu was just at the mouth of the Euphrates River into the Persian Gulf, they were getting closer and closer to the vast blue ocean.

Along the way, the tour group encountered more and more rivers, and they became wider and wider.They can always find a raft for crossing the river on every river, but after No. 11 crossing the river, Dumuzi suddenly discovered that the river here has become salty.

Finally, the tour group came to the seaside, facing the majestic blue sea of ​​the Persian Gulf, and the continuous seaside, one piece after another, reflecting the dazzling sunlight.

This is what the salt pans were like in ancient times - a way of manual work that has even continued into modern times.The locals built cofferdams in the shallows by the sea, brought in seawater when the tide was high, then blocked the cofferdams, and left the salt pans to be exposed to the sun until the seawater naturally precipitated salt crystals.

Yinan only glanced at the size of the salt field, and knew that the output of the salt field here was definitely enough to supply the cities and villages in the middle and lower reaches of the Euphrates River.

Because of this, Eli will become the city with the most strategic significance in the vicinity - thinking of this, Yinan wants to meet Enki, the "main god" of this city.

But along the way, every time they met passers-by and asked where they could meet the god Enki, no one answered directly.

"Young people from afar, if you are destined, you will naturally meet."

Everyone says so.

That night, the tour group stayed in a small village next to the salt field for one night.Yi Nan chatted happily with the local villagers, and when the other party was in high spirits, he asked, "If I want to visit the temple of the Lord God Enki, which direction should I go?"

When she asked such a question, the locals were stunned and looked at each other.

Dumuzi and Guda were a little anxious, secretly winking at Yinan.

You must know that the huge logs cut by the Eridu people from the upper reaches of the Euphrates River were all cut off by the Uruk people halfway to build the Temple of Inanna.Based on this inference, the people of Eridu probably do not have suitable materials at hand to build a temple for their main god Enki—Isn’t it Inan, which pot is not opened and which pot is to be lifted?

Unexpectedly, the people of Eridu looked at each other, nodded with an "oh" and smiled: "Beautiful girl, we are very happy that you are willing to pay respect to the Lord God Enki."

"Enki's temple is not far from here, you should rest well tonight, tomorrow we will show you the way to meet his old man."

Yi Nan was surprised again: "Can I also meet the Lord God Enki?"

"Of course..." The locals scratched their heads, "As long as the gods are willing to see you, you can see them."

"A beautiful and kind girl like you, the gods must be happy to see you." The villagers' reply was both a compliment and a comfort.Yi Nan had no choice but to suppress the doubts in his heart, wait until the next day, and then follow the instructions of the locals to go to Enki's "temple" to try his luck.

When we set off from Yantian, the goods on the oxcart pulled by the white ox were less, and now the rest are mainly dried meat and dry bread. Most of the barley, pottery, cheese and spices brought from Uruk have been It was replaced with salt, stored in jars and placed on the bullock cart.

They followed the road pointed out by the villagers of Yantian and walked in the direction of dense houses.Unexpectedly, the further you go, the more things are going wrong——

Dumuzi shouted: "Stop—"

"You can't go any further, look!" Dumuzi pointed at the bottom of the bullock cart.

Sure enough, the road here is not as good as when we came here, and the road surface is very soft.The bullock cart left two deep ruts on the way.

But after walking here, there was a puddle of muddy water in the two ruts, indicating that the road surface...

Yi Nan looked around, and he saw that the road was covered with water on both sides, and there seemed to be a ferry in front of the road.

"Don't, don't go any further!" behind, the villagers of Yantian chased after him panting.

The people with the ferry in front waved to them again: "Outlanders, what are you bringing? Don't go any further, in case the ferry collapses..."

Yi Nan also knew something was wrong: "The ox cart is too heavy, and the road will not be able to support it."

The road they are traveling on is surrounded by water on three sides, and the road may be soaked in water all year round.The weight of the bullock cart is concentrated on the two wheels, and the pressure on the contact section is huge.If we move forward, I am afraid that this formed road will be crushed directly.

"I'm sorry, sorry, I forgot to tell you yesterday, this road is not passable for your bullock carts." The villagers of Yantian were very sorry.

"Then is there another way to Enki's temple?"

As soon as Yi Nan mentioned Enki's "temple", the locals were taken aback, and it took a while to react, scratching their heads and saying, "There is no more."

That is to say, their people can pass through this ferry and go to the center of Eridu, but the bullock cart cannot pass.

"You guys find a way to deal with this 'ox cart', otherwise you have to go back." The people from the ferry also came over, and after seeing the "ox cart" this incomparably novel means of transportation, they came to a conclusion. "In our Eridu, rafts work better than this thing."

That's true - Yi Nan thought to himself, but the role of the bullock cart cannot be completely denied.If there is no bullock cart, the group of them would have been exhausted to death from Uruk.

The members of the tour group have already discussed in a hurry: "Why don't we try to wade through here?"

Dumuzi shook his head: "I'm afraid not, the things on the car are afraid of water." Whether it's bread or salt in the salt shaker, once soaked in water, everything will be gone.

Yinan only thought for a while, then turned to the villagers in Yantian and said, "Everyone, thank you for pointing us to Enki's temple. It is not convenient for us to take the ox cart and the goods on it. Can we store it with you? Wait until we return to pick it up from you?"

Before the villagers in Yantian answered, Hamti and Ake said in surprise: "All the things are stored in other people's place? That's all our belongings."

Yi Nan nodded: "Yes!"

The villagers in Yantian were obviously very surprised: "Outsiders...you, how can you trust us? The salt we exchanged for you is not a small amount."

Not to mention detaining this cart of supplies, as long as the villagers of Yantian tampered with these salt tanks, Yi Nan and the others would lose everything when they came to Eridu.

Inan gave them a sweet smile, and said: "I entered Eridu all the way, and saw many ferry crossings without people. At each ferry crossing, I could easily board the raft. The raft there is It was as if it had been specially prepared for me—apparently the people who used the raft before us were very thoughtful about those who came after us."

"So Eridu gave me the impression that this is a city with a default order. In Eridu, everyone will consider others and keep their promises. A good reputation is more important to you than the items in front of you... ..."

"I sincerely ask you to help us keep this ox cart and take care of this white cow. It just needs some grass and water."

Yi Nan stretched out his hand and touched the docile white bull.The white cow seemed to realize that it might be temporarily separated from the familiar person. With a sound of "moo", the cow's head nodded, and the sound of "dingling" and "dingling" came out from the cowbell.

"Do you want... Do you want us to leave someone behind and watch..." Little Hamti hesitated to express his thoughts: If someone can stay, at least these properties can be guaranteed to be inviolable.

Yi Nan smiled at him and shook his head: "Since I choose to believe, I will trust these friends in front of me wholeheartedly."

"Besides," Yi Nan looked at Hamti with a smile in his eyes, "Who do you think is suitable for us to keep?"

Indeed, a good group has been advancing and retreating together for so long, and it is not appropriate to leave anyone alone.

Hamti opened his mouth wide, rubbed the back of his head but couldn't speak.Comparing his heart to his heart, he himself didn't want to be left behind by the whole tour group, and neither did anyone else.

So the tour group unloaded the white bull from the car and led it to the other side.A few young people shouted chant and carefully turned the ox cart around, then harnessed the ox cart and handed it to the villagers of Yantian, and gave solemn thanks.

The villagers in Yantian still couldn't believe it: "You...do you really trust us?"

Yi Nan bowed to express his gratitude: "I am very grateful to you, everyone."

She waved goodbye to the Yantian villagers who had chased them so far, and then turned her head and whispered to Dumuzi: "I have a hunch that these things will be sent to us intact later."

Dumuzi raised his eyebrows: "You think so too?"

In the process of getting along with the Eridu people, both Yinan and Dumuzi vaguely noticed some clues.The villagers in the fishing village and Yantian also had a lot of temptations in their words, and Yinan even felt that someone was secretly observing him and his party.

Yi Nan smiled happily at Dumuzi: "It seems that everyone wants to go together."

The two of them here already had a tacit understanding, and Gu Da suddenly jumped up with his head in his arms: "Ah! My knife, a knife made by a famous stone knife craftsman——"

The weapons that should have been carried with him were left by Gu Da on the bullock cart, but now they have fallen into the hands of outsiders.Gu Da beat his chest and stamped his feet for a while. He wanted to chase the heavy stone knife back, but he was afraid that the trip would be delayed, and he couldn't carry it when he turned around.

Yinan asked Hamti and Ake to pull the middle priest back. "I think we have no use for your stone knives in Eridu."

Originally, he came here with a peaceful purpose, and the excessive use of force was not what Yi Nan wanted.

Besides, even if there is a threat, this stone knife may not be of much use in Gu Da's hands.

"Guda, and everyone, let's all remember from now on," Yi Nan reached out and tapped his temple lightly, "In many cases, the spirit of understanding and cooperation is better than force. This is especially true between cities."

When she said this, the Eridu people guarding the ferry in the distance kept listening, and when Inan finished speaking, he turned his head and looked at the water surface indifferently.

Soon, Yi Nan and his party of five, plus Claret Horse and Xiao Hei, divided into two groups and passed the ferry in front of them.

They no longer had loads, but also lost most of their supplies and equipment.Yinan and the tour group had a brief discussion, and everyone agreed that Enki's temple must be found as soon as possible.

Following the direction pointed by the ferryman, the tour group continued to move forward.Yi Nan noticed a pier appeared beside the road.

It was a "wharf" for unloading - cedars and firs drifting down the upper Euphrates.These logs were not as tall and neat as the giant pillars in front of the temple of Inanna. It was probably for this reason that the logs were able to slip through Uruk's "fingers".

Inan and Dumuzi had seen the houses in Eridu that were built almost close to the water.These houses were built by driving the foundations below the surface of the water through hard timber.

Now, the Eridu people working at the docks are using ropes to pick up thick logs from the water.

These logs can float on the water surface in the water, but they are extremely heavy when they come out of the water.The Eridians tied the logs with thick ropes, and shouting together they dragged the logs up from the water along a slope.

Their backs have long been tanned by the hot sun, even so, one can still see the marks left by the fiber ropes on their backs.

The timber that has been dragged ashore is stacked on the top of the slope in a pyramid shape, and is also tied with thick ropes.

Inan was particularly interested in the life and work of the Eridu people, and stopped to watch with great interest.

Suddenly she noticed something—

On the wood pile at the top of the slope, on the side facing away from the water, a crack suddenly appeared on the fiber rope, and one strand of the fiber rope woven with many strands of flax broke, and the excessive pressure was immediately transmitted to the other strands of the fiber rope, which collapsed. There are more and more broken ones, and there is only a thin one left, which is still barely connected, but it will soon be unable to hold on.

This huge pile of huge and heavy logs was about to scatter and roll down from the top of the slope.

The dozen or so Eridians working by the pier happened to be right down the slope, facing the pile of timber.

If these heavy logs were allowed to roll down the slope quickly, it would be a catastrophe for those Eridu people to break their bones and bones.

The person closest to the wood pile was Yi Nan.Yi Nan only felt that he only called out, and rushed straight up, stretching out his hand to grab the unbroken fiber rope.

Almost at the same time, the fiber rope made a crisp "snap" sound and broke completely.

Yi Nan felt a scorching friction in the palm of his hand, but it didn't hurt——

She was too weak to hold the rope.Although she didn't feel any pain because of her physical characteristics, she couldn't stop the fiber rope from slipping out of her hands, and couldn't stop the large stack of logs from spreading out and rolling down the slope one after another.

At the very moment, a hand stretched out and grabbed the end of the fiber rope before the rope completely slipped out of Yi Nan's hand.

It was Dumuzi——Dumuzi was only half a beat slower than Yinan in reacting, but he caught up just right.

The rough rope immediately rubbed blood on this hand, but the man who rushed to Yi Nan's side didn't care.He only heard him let out a breath, and with a "hey" sound, he quickly wrapped his right hand, and the rope had already been wrapped around his wrist.

The weight of this pile of logs was not light, and the rope tightly strangled Dumuzi's arm in an instant, leaving deep marks on his arm, causing the veins on his arm to bulge one by one.At this moment, Dumuzi yelled loudly, and with all his strength, he even stabilized the whole pile of logs.

As the saying goes, "A house leaks when it rains all night", which is also true in Eridu.

There was a tall pile of timber piled up at the top of the slope, and the two sections were tied with fiber ropes. Just when Yinan and Dumuzi saved the fiber rope at one end, the fiber rope at the other side more than ten steps away from them also broke. .

Yinan and Dumuzi felt that the logs around them were loosening and quickly scattered.

Yinan quickly let go of Dumuzi, stepped aside, and shouted at the people working on the slope, telling them to get out of the way quickly to avoid being hit by the falling logs.

The Eridu people at the bottom of the slope only noticed something was wrong with the logs at the top of the slope at this time, and they were about to scatter to get out of the way.But there were more than a dozen of them, and they stood close together. It was not so easy to dodge for a while.

At this moment, a loud shout was heard, and the entire log pile was suddenly stabilized.

I saw little Hamti rushing up from the other side.He didn't care about the broken rope, but directly rushed up from the side of the slope, using his hands, elbows, knees, and whole body, firmly resisting the giant log that was about to roll down.

At this moment, the fat boy finally showed his strong and powerful side. The boy's face was flushed red, and his whole body exerted all his strength to resist the falling wood.

Little Ake and Guda both hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Hamti was so desperate to protect the safety of those strangers with his own body.The two of them had no reason to give up their companions, and rushed up together in an instant, pushing their hands and feet, barely blocking the log from falling.

At this time, the Eriduians rushed up directly from the slope, and they stood in a row beside Hamti, stretching out their hands together, resisting the falling momentum of the wood pile.A few other people went around to the back, and together with Dumuzi who had already loosened the rope, let the wood "evacuate" to the other side.

The pressure on the Hamti gradually eased, and the crisis gradually disappeared.

Finally, all the logs were properly placed aside.Yi Nan and all the members of her tour group sat on the side of the road panting, no one bothered to talk.

The people from Eridu came and thanked Yinan and the others solemnly: "Outlanders, without you, we would all be in trouble today."

"Please accept our most sincere thanks—" All the Eridu working at the dock gathered in front of Yinan and the others at this moment, and bowed solemnly.

Yi Nan was about to say a few words of politeness, but he heard a "woo" from Hamti and cried.

Hamti was the most heroic just now, and the people of Eridu were ready to praise him as soon as he finished his opening remarks.Unexpectedly, this strong young man cried before he was praised.

The people of Eridu looked at each other in blank dismay, and when they got closer to take a look, they realized that this "heroic" big man was just a teenager.

"My feet and ankles hurt so much... Is my leg broken?" Hamti's heroism just now was gone, and now he became a crying bag with tears and snot all over his face.

Yi Nan was also taken aback, and ran over to take a look, only to see that Hamti's right ankle was really swollen, like a steamed bun.

She stretched out her hand decisively, regardless of Hamti's screams of pain, and touched all the bones on her ankle.

"Don't worry, the bone is fine, it's just a sprained ankle." Hamti rushed forward with too much force just now, and he might have sprained his own ankle at that moment.

But in this way, Hamti couldn't go on the road with Inan and the others to visit the temple of the main god Enki.

"Outlanders, please hand over your companion to us with confidence. He was injured because of us, and we will take care of him properly." A leading Eridu swore to Inan, "We have some people from the sea. The medicinal oil made from shellfish will recover quickly after applying it on him."

"When you turn around, it's not too late to pick him up and go on the road together."

"If you want to go to Enki's 'temple', we will give you proper directions." The Eridu people made a sincere promise.

But little Hamti looked at Yi Nan pitifully: You know, he just realized not long ago that he didn't want to be left behind by the team alone.

But looking at his red and swollen ankles, he really couldn't walk.You can't drag down the progress of the whole team and stop the tour group from moving forward because of him, right?

Just when Hamti was blushing and had something to say but didn't know how to say it, Yinan dragged Ake over and said to Hamti, "We discussed it, and Ake will stay with you."

Hamti: Huh?

Ake nodded solemnly: "We are friends, there is no reason to leave you here alone. You were so brave just now!"

Hamti breathed a sigh of relief.

Ake continued: "...Besides, Miss Nan also gave me some tasks." As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at Yi Nan beside him.

"Mission?" Hamm was curious, and it seemed that the pain in his ankle was not so obvious.

"Yes! I have a very important task, I hope you two can help to complete it." Inan smiled and winked at Hamti.

Hamti immediately felt better: It turns out that even if he has a crooked foot, he can still help others.

Leaving Hamti and Ake behind, only Yi Nan, Du Muzi, Gu Da, Claret Horse and Xiao Hei remained in the tour group.

The Eridians did keep their word, showing them the way to Enki's temple, and even sending a guide to see them off.

On the way, Dumuzi couldn't help whispering to Yi Nan: "What task did you give Ake?"

Yi Nan smiled and asked, "What is Ake best at?"

Dumuzi followed Yinan's words and recalled: Little Ake was an "ordinary" rich second generation in the village of Tibila, but everyone came all the way from the village to Uruk, and Ake showed his craftsman talent. You can slip away from a two-wheeler.

Dumuzi immediately understood: "So you want him to stay here for this reason!"

Yi Nan nodded: "Yes, after all, helping others with technology is also helping ourselves."