Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 1163 The War Between the Good Lords

"Robbery? Kidnapping?"

Aiwass frowned slightly: "Was it man-made? Or was it intentional?"

"Yes."

Ibn nodded and looked at his guide Anar, who was uneasy and extremely uneasy.

Aiwass took a look and suddenly understood something.

This little girl, who was probably only fourteen or fifteen years old, would not even have been to college if she was in Avalon or Iris. But now, she could already speak half-baked Star Antimony language and was familiar with doing this kind of work that would punish her if she was caught. It would be impossible to say that she had no courage.

But since she heard the word "petrified", she seemed to have become more anxious. Obviously, she seemed to know part of the truth.

"I guess... someone spread similar rumors in Rock Cellar City, saying that this city is unclean, the people in it have committed some serious sins, and the sinners in this sinful city will be petrified..."

Aiwass spoke slowly: "Am I right?"

This kind of plot is really easy to understand.

For such uneducated people, things that are too complicated are incomprehensible to them. But they can understand the concept of "crime" - who is wrong and thus punished, and who is implicated because of the seriousness of the crime, is not an abstract but a very real situation for people in this slave society.

As the saying goes, people cannot teach others, but things can teach people once they are taught. In Anxi, this is a typical example of "things teaching people".

"Half of it... well, more than half."

Ibn nodded. "There is indeed a similar saying among the people, saying that it is a taboo for them to use rock slabs to block the desert. Because they did not offer sacrifices to the desert - that is, water and blood, which made the desert thirsty.

"People die of thirst, and thirst in the desert kills people. Eventually, the sandstorm will submerge the entire city, turning everyone into waterless stone statues. This is also the version that Anar knows."

Perhaps because of this, Anar was shocked when she heard that the whole city was petrified.

"But in fact, there is another story among the upper echelons - that someone is blackmailing the benefactor of Rock Cellar City and demanding a huge sum of money from him."

Ibn said slowly: "This is a secret known to the priests. If you are unwilling to pay, the other party will declare that the entire city - including the good master - will be petrified."

"…City-State War?"

Aiwass immediately realized the essence of the matter: "How much?"

Ibn looked at Dongya, and Dongya immediately replied: "Two thousand slaves, eighty kal of gold, and three hu of pearls - kal is our unit of weight here, and ten kal is about eight kilograms of star antimony."

Ten calories equals eight kilograms - that is, more than sixty kilograms of gold.

"…That doesn't sound like a lot."

Aiwass complained subconsciously.

Although it’s not nice to say this, this was Aiwass’s first reaction.

He was not quite sure what two thousand slaves meant, but at least in terms of the gold, he felt that it was not too much.

Even if we don't count the benefactors who almost monopolize wealth, there are still many nobles and even merchants who can afford to give Xingtan or Iris. Not to mention the benefactors who are willing to sacrifice everything for themselves.

Just for this little bit of money, are you going to sacrifice the lives of the entire city and yourself?
Or is it because the benevolent leader of Rock Cellar City didn't think the other party could do it, so he didn't take it seriously at all?

Guessing what Aiwas was thinking, Ibn explained directly: "The good lord of Rock Cellar City will not take this as a joke. Because the one who issued the threat is the good lord of another larger city. Even if he does not have the power to petrify Rock Cellar City, only thirty cavalrymen sent out are enough to take down Rock Cellar City.

"——The real problem is that Rock Cellar City simply cannot and will not offer this price."

Hearing this, Aiwass understood.

Just as Anar said before, Rock Cellar City is a very small city. If slaves are not counted, there are only about 800 residents. Calculated based on two to three slaves for each free citizen, plus the slave traders' inventory and the good master's own slaves... together, there are probably just enough slaves for 2,000.

——Obviously, this number is just right.

If the benevolent master of Rock Cellar City agreed, it would mean that Rock Cellar City would no longer be a peaceful city. All the slaves in the city would be bought... For the Parthians, it would mean that the free people of this city would become slaves of the benevolent master. Then people would naturally try their best to escape, and even take their slaves with them...

All I had to do was sell one or two slaves and I could buy myself a new freeman status in a new city. That was better than suffering here.

So it was obvious that these two thousand slaves could not be collected no matter what. In other words, this was a number that was beyond the tolerance of the benevolent master of Rock Cellar City. It was like a kidnapper asking for a number, and this number required selling all of his property, emptying all of his savings, and borrowing as much money as possible to barely make up this number - which was actually equivalent to being impossible to make up.

Because once they handed over everything they had, there was no way they could bet that the kidnappers would not kill them. They no longer had the power to stop them from doing so.

"The other party just set this price because they hope that Rock Cellar City cannot afford it."

Zhu Tang, who was standing by, sneered and concluded, "He is just looking for trouble. He is...looking for someone to test his sword on."

Zhu Tang knew this situation all too well—he had seen similar situations in the Taichu Empire.

When someone gets power, they want to prove their power. This is to satisfy themselves, but also to intimidate others, as a kind of "don't mess with me, I will really do this" proof of power.

"Yes."

Aiwass nodded and commented sharply, "Of course, Rock Cellar City couldn't offer a price, and the benevolent master of Rock Cellar City was hopeful and didn't give in. In fact, if he surrendered in person, he might have made the other party change their target to establish their authority. But obviously, he still had a fluke mentality... so he did nothing.

"Neither running away, nor giving in. Neither surrendering, nor resisting."

This actually illustrates the necessity of such a goal of "establishing authority".

When the other party took out the power that could destroy them, the good master of Rock Cellar City replied, "I don't believe it."

"——Then, disaster struck."

Ibn described the disaster that day: “Suddenly, a golden transparent lotus blossomed in the center of the city, and a beam of light shot upward from the center.

"The orange-yellow light spread rapidly. Most people were swallowed by the light before they realized what was happening, and turned into stone statues in an instant.

"Then the beam of light slowly spreads outward. Those who witness the 'petrification' will try their best to escape. At first, their escape speed will be faster than the spread of the beam of light, and soon the spread of the beam of light will become faster and faster.

"The screams that came one after another suddenly froze, and they were swallowed up by the glow one by one. Therefore, the closer to the center of the city, the calmer the expressions of the stone statues became. The further out you go, the more painful and struggling the stone statues look. Even those lifeless buildings are covered with a layer of stone shell..."

"A power that can destroy cities and change terrain at a very long range."

Even Aiwass couldn't help but take a breath: "Interesting... map cannon?"

This is a true map cannon.

However, as a ritualist, he also realized one thing -

"——However, there is no ritual that can locate it from such a distance. This is impossible. There must be some kind of ritual medium involved."

Aiwas thought seriously in his heart: "From the curse that Dongya endured, this petrification should be continuous. It is similar to a kind of radiation, constantly emitting a curse that strengthens and refreshes the stone statue... so that before this power dissipates, it can continue to seal this place and will not be dispelled by anyone.

"In fact, as long as we find the medium of the curse and purify or destroy it... maybe we can remove this petrification curse."

At this point, he asked with some caution and curiosity, "What's the name of the benefactor who sent the ransom letter? Which city is he from?"

For a moment, Aiwas wondered if that was Aymar Nur, the benevolent lord of Holy Spring City, the one who had invited him here.

But Ibn quickly gave a negative answer: "It is 'Generous Adil', the good lord of the city of heaven."

"Generous Adil..."

This name... seems to have some impression on me.

Aiwass fell into deep thought, but couldn't think of anything for a moment.

Let’s go to the scene and take a look, Aiwass thought with a frown.

But before that...

"——Let me try first to see how strong this curse is."

As Aiwas said this, he reached out and gently touched Dongya's waist.

(End of this chapter)