I ascend to the throne of God with arcane magic.

Chapter 563 Gul Festival

Ihales City,
Li Si and Taiya stood outside the gate of this oasis town, looking at the small town in this environment.

After learning that this small town was shrouded in a legendary illusion, although Li Si wanted to complete the specific tasks in this area and get the ultimate reward, he still carefully collected intelligence about the city.

Li Si sent his mirror body clone into the city to explore, but he did not notice anything wrong.

From what his clone saw in this small town, Li Si felt that this small town seemed to be no different from the oasis town he encountered during his previous journey.

There is nothing special about it, as if it is just an ordinary, unremarkable small town.

What's wrong?
Li Si was a little confused, but still prepared to go into the city to take a look.

Anyway, this secret realm cannot stop Li Si from leaving. If he finds something wrong after entering the city, Li Si can take Taya away at any time.

When they arrived at the city gate, the guard standing at the city gate looked at Li Si and Taiya and said to Li Si:
"The city entrance tax is two gold coins."

"So expensive?"

Li Si frowned and said to the guard:

"We are bards from the city of Armando, and we don't have much savings."

"And why does it cost two gold coins just to enter the city? The most you can pay for other oases is about ten copper coins, right?"

"This is the rule. You are not allowed to enter the city of Ihales without paying the city entry tax."

"This is too expensive, can it be cheaper?"

"How about I play a song for you guys?"

Li Si had a painful look on his face, as if he was reluctant to pay the two gold coins as entrance tax, and he haggled with the city guards.

At this moment, there seemed to be a caravan on the other side that wanted to enter the small town in front of them for supplies, but they were also shocked by the expensive entry tax.

"There are so many people in our caravan. If the city entry tax is one gold coin per person, wouldn't that mean we would have to pay more than a hundred gold coins just for this?"

"Where else can you find this price?"

"We just want to go into the city to purchase some supplies. Is this the price?"

The manager of the caravan looked at the serious-looking city guard in front of him in disbelief, his words full of surprise that could not be concealed.

"If you want to pay, pay. If you don't want to, leave now."

"Am I begging you to come into the city?"

Another city guard stood in front of the caravan manager, unwilling to explain anything further, and spoke coldly.

"Really. I am crazy about money!"

"Doesn't the city lord here care about it?"

The manager of the caravan was a little angry and looked extremely ugly.

He felt that these city guards were deliberately making things difficult for him, trying to exploit his money without any investment, but there was nothing he could do.

The other party is the local boss here. Should we really fight against him?

Even the city lord would probably protect his subordinates at the first opportunity, right?
The manager wanted to take his men away right away, but he thought that there were not many supplies in the caravan. He was originally surprised to see this oasis that was not marked on the map, but now it seemed that it was not much different from bandits.

If it's just water, you can get it directly from the small lake outside the city, but that's not so good for food.

After thinking about it, the manager of the caravan had to let the other members of the caravan rest outside the city. He took a few people into the city to purchase after paying the city entry tax.

"Humph!"

The tall city guard in front of Li Si seemed a little impatient. He didn't say anything more to Li Si. He shook the steel spear in his hand and snorted coldly.

Li Si paused for a moment and had to take out two gold coins from his pocket and handed them hesitantly to the city guard in front of him.

The city guards looked at Li Si with some surprise, as if they had not expected that the person who was just haggling over every penny would actually be willing to pay such an expensive city entry tax.

However, since they came from the city of Armandu, the appearance and dress of these two people seemed quite decent, except that they might be a little stingy.

The city guards waved their hands and let Li Si and Taiya enter the city.

Li Si brought Taiya into the small town, and the pain on his face disappeared instantly.

Just now when he used the mirror clone to enter the city, he used stealth ability, so he really didn't know about the city entry tax.

Of course, Li Si was not heartbroken about the two gold coins, but was rather curious about the anomaly in the city entry tax.

If it was just an oasis encountered during the journey, Li Si would not care so much. After all, with his financial resources, it would not be a problem for him to pay the visit as many times as he wanted.

However, Li Si was certain that there were big problems with the small cooperative town in front of him.

Otherwise, this secret place would not be called "The Small Town Stuck in Time".

In this small town called Ihales, has time stopped, or is there some other anomaly?
Such an expensive entry tax is really hard to accept for normal desert travelers.

Even for a caravan that travels between desert oases, this price is unacceptable.

However, those few city guards just now were only of the silver-level professional strength, and the entire town did not have any special defense arrangements.

Otherwise, Li Si's mirror body clone would not have been able to sneak in so easily without noticing any defensive or warning measures.

So, is the "expensive" city entry tax intended to proactively dissuade irrelevant people from entering?
Li Si had some guesses in his mind, but he was not too worried. Instead, he was a little excited.

I am not afraid of abnormalities, I am afraid of not being able to find the problem.

Next, as long as we follow the clues, we will definitely find the problems of this city.

Li Si took Taiya for a stroll along the streets of the town, carefully looking at the small town called Ihales.

The name of the area-specific mission he received was [Ihalus's Persistence]. The introduction said that because of Ihalus's persistence, this small town was forever stagnant in time.

Although other reasons cannot be ruled out, this Ihales should be the name of a person, and is also the reason for the formation of this secret realm.

So the first thing to do is to find this person named Ihalus.

The name of the small town is Ihales, and it is very likely that the mayor of this small town is Ihales.

This is Li Si's guess, but there shouldn't be too many problems with it.

Despite this, Li Si did not rashly go directly to the City Lord's Mansion to look for the target.

If it were that easy, this area-specific quest wouldn't be legendary.

At least from the information observed by Li Si, the secret of this small town seems to be hidden deep inside, and it still looks quite normal on the surface.

Just observe more!
Li Si made a decision in his heart. After all, there must be legendary forces involved in this small town, so it is better to be cautious.

Then, Li Si and Taiya walked around the small town. The houses in this small town are generally built low and solid, as if they were humbly crawling on the ground, reducing the resistance and invasion of the wind.

The windows are designed to be small and delicate, like chess pieces inlaid on the thick wall. This design not only effectively blocks the invasion of wind and sand, but also makes the indoor light soft and warm. Whenever the sun sets or the dawn shines, beams of light shine through the narrow windows and sprinkle on the quaint ground, creating an atmosphere of tranquility.

As the mountain rises slowly, these low buildings spread upward layer by layer, one by one, until the mountainside, in harmony with the surrounding oasis and small lake. Looking from a distance, the whole town is like a carefully laid out oil painting, simple yet rhythmic, and every place is an indispensable stroke in the painting.

There were not many people walking in the small town, and Li Si felt that he could easily distinguish who were outsiders and who were the locals living here.

Li Si carefully looked at the people living in this small town. They generally wore white clothes. What was different from other oases was that this kind of clothes looked simpler, only covering most of the body, with the arms and calves exposed.

You should know that the reason why people in desert areas like to wear long robes to cover their bodies is because compared to the heat, the direct exposure to scorching sunlight is more unbearable, and ordinary people will even get sunburned if they are not careful.

In addition, people living in this city are generally thin, pale and seem to be malnourished.

But there was nothing unusual about their expressions; they even showed some joy and happiness.

Although there were not many pedestrians, the stalls on both sides of the market were filled with many commodities and goods, most of which were grains and fruits produced in the oasis, as well as some handicrafts.

Just like a normal oasis town.

After all, the products of most oasis towns are very similar, and smaller oases will not have any special goods. Instead, grains and fruits are the most popular things among passing travelers.

Li Si bought some grapes from a stall nearby and spent fifteen copper coins.

Picking up a grape and putting it into his mouth, feeling the sweet juice bursting in his mouth, Li Si nodded slightly.

Um.
There is nothing unusual about the food, so it is no problem for travelers passing by to replenish their supplies here.

Li Si fed the grapes to Taiya one by one, thought for a moment, and said to the vendor beside him:

"Excuse me, I just got here and I want to ask where is the best hotel here?"

"A hotel?"

"That must be the Golden Coconut Hotel in the east of the city. Just walk in that direction and it will be there in two blocks."

The stall owner said to Li Si with a smile.

As if he hadn't seen outsiders for a long time, the stall owner said to Li Si enthusiastically:

"It's a great honor for you to come to Ihales. The day after tomorrow is Gul'ah. Would you like to stay a few more days to experience it?"

“Gul’ah?”

"what is that?"

Hearing this, Li Si asked the stall owner with some curiosity.

"That is a festival unique to us in Ihales, and it is held at this time every year."

"The city lord will also appear at that time and lead everyone to hold a bonfire party in the square. He will also share various delicacies and fine wines with everyone and lead everyone to pray to the gods to celebrate the passing of the year."

“There used to be many guests coming from far away to attend the Gul Festival, but recently there are fewer.”

The stall owner seemed to say with some regret.

"Excuse me, which deity did everyone pray to at the party?"

Li Si narrowed his eyes and asked the stall owner in front of him.

"It's the god Gul! This great being has been protecting our city."

"Thanks to Him, we can live such a stable life and no longer be displaced."

Li Si glanced at the stall owner and asked a few more questions. After seeing that there was no valuable information, he nodded slightly and said:
"I understand. I will participate if there is an opportunity."

After saying that, Li Si took Taiya and walked in the direction pointed by the stall owner.

Gul’ah?
Could the secret of this city be related to this so-called celebration?
Li Si felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't get any valuable information from the stall owner.

Praying to the gods, could it be some evil god?
Li Si was somewhat skeptical. After all, the source of many tasks in the previous life's game pointed to a certain evil god.

But Li Si couldn’t remember any evil god named Gul?

Most importantly, from the stall owner's description of the Gul Festival, Li Si felt that there was nothing special about the so-called celebration and bonfire party.

Why would someone come from far away just to attend this festival?
Wandering around?

Could it be that the people living in this small town had wandered in the desert before settling down here?

But judging from the buildings in this small town, it doesn't seem to have existed for very long.

It doesn't look like it was built recently.

Although it seemed like I had learned a lot of things, it was more like unravelling the veil on a thick fog.

The city lord will show up at the bonfire party, and many things may become clear by then.

From the stall owner's description, Li Si felt a sense of confusion and disharmony, as well as some depression and discomfort.

On the way to the hotel, Li Si asked several people about the time of purchasing things, but the answers he got were all similar.

It felt as if the city was celebrating the festival, hence the excitement and joy felt from passers-by.

Soon, Li Si and Taiya arrived outside the Golden Coconut Hotel that the stall owner pointed to.

This hotel looks much bigger than the surrounding houses. It has three floors and seems to have been newly built not long ago. It looks much brighter.

Stepping in, Li Si took a look at the internal environment.

The interior design of the hotel abandons complicated decorations and uses simple lines and elegant colors to outline a sense of comfort.

Under the high ceiling, several rows of wooden tables and chairs are neatly arranged. Although they are not gorgeous, they are polished to a shine, exuding a timeless charm. All the decorations are carefully cleaned spotlessly. Even the most discerning travelers will be satisfied with this cleanliness.

The first floor space is cleverly divided into two areas, one half retains the hotel's reception and rest functions, while the other half has been transformed into a pub full of life.

Within the pub area, warm lighting casts a shadow over every table, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere, and the air is filled with the tantalizing aroma of food, from freshly baked bread to slow-cooked meats.

Intertwined with it is the irresistible aroma of beer, which quietly floats in the air, teasing the taste buds of every passerby. A number of people have gathered in the pub, sitting or standing, holding glasses, with satisfied and relaxed smiles on their faces.

The sounds of conversation and laughter intertwined to form a symphony of life, and the whole space suddenly felt alive.

As if noticing the entry of Li Si and Taiya, a lively and pleasant voice rang out.

"My two guests, is there anything I can help you with?"

Along with the voice came a bright and charming blonde girl.

(End of this chapter)