Don’t raise unruly people in extreme cold weather

Chapter 859: Ice and Snow Temple
The cold wind whimpered across the wasteland, blowing up tiny ice crystals mixed with sand and dust that swirled in the air, echoing across the wasteland like a cloud of smoke.

The outline of an ancient building gradually emerged from the sandstorm, and the broken tower gate was like a giant's broken rib, inserted diagonally between the yellow sand and ice and snow.

On the originally gilded door lintel, icicles condensed into an inverted thorn bush, emitting a cold blue light in the twilight.

Twelve giant pillars stand alone. The dome they originally supported has long since disappeared. Only a few broken carved boulders remain on the ground, buried in yellow sand and frozen by ice and snow.

The carefully carved reed leaf patterns were eroded by wind and sand until they became blurred, leaving only incomplete outlines.

Fragments of blue-green glazed bricks were scattered on the ground, and the scarab pattern painted in gold had been frozen by ice and snow.

"My Lord Regent, this is the remains of a temple from the mythological era. Judging from the architectural style and the remaining reliefs, it can be traced back to the Third Dynasty at least three thousand years ago." The scholar from the Desert Kingdom who was recruited carefully held the yellowed parchment scroll, and his frostbitten fingers trembled slightly as he pointed at the mottled inscriptions at the entrance of the temple.

"It is impossible to know the specific deity that was worshipped, but judging from these snowflake-shaped patterns and ice crystal patterns..." The scholar pushed his frosted monocle, his voice trembling slightly due to the cold, "Previous archaeologists speculated that this might be a goddess whose power covered the field of ice and snow. Look at this broken pillar, there are still traces of carvings that look like the skirt of a statue."

Perfect noticed that the scholar's thin linen robe had been worn to a shine, but he still maintained the rigorous posture typical of a scholar.

This reminded her of the glory days of these desert scholars. Before the doomsday winter, they had lived quite well.

Studying the ancient past of the desert kingdom was a prominent subject in the past. Clay tablets engraved with cuneiform, gold amulets inlaid with gems, and pottery painted with mysterious totems could easily be sold at staggering prices in the aristocratic collection circle.

With the arrival of the doomsday winter, the nobles themselves are on the verge of death, so who cares about these ancient objects that can neither be eaten nor worn? The once bustling archaeological association is now covered with ice and snow, and the carefully preserved cultural relics are covered with dust in the warehouse.

As a result, the lives of these scholars became difficult, and many of them had to find other ways to make a living, while some even died of hunger and cold.

The scholar in front of Perfecto was one of the quickest to seize opportunities.

When the doomsday winter began to show signs, while other colleagues were still worrying about the cuts in academic funding, he had already keenly sensed the change in wind direction and decisively joined a chieftain who had a special preference for the ancient gods.

This king has always been fascinated by the mysteries of the mythological era and is keen on collecting all kinds of relics and books related to the old gods.

With his solid knowledge and extraordinary memory, the scholar quickly gained a foothold in the king's court and even became one of the king's most trusted advisers.

What is even more surprising is that, at the request of the king, he actually pieced together the worship rituals of the old gods of the desert kingdom in the mythological era from scattered documents and broken murals.

After months of attempts, they succeeded in awakening some of the long-dormant divine grace.

Although weak, it is enough to prove that his research is not empty talk.

It can be said that this is a scholar with real talent and knowledge, rather than a charlatan who can only talk big.

It's a pity that his luck is really bad.

The king who awakened the grace of God became ambitious and took advantage of the arrival of the doomsday winter to raise an army to rebel against the rule of the empire. As a result, the king was still dreaming of his own grand dream when he was beheaded by Queen Anne, who was inspecting the empire's colonies, with a sword of the grace knight made by Perfectcot.

As the king's confidant, the scholar was naturally implicated and thrown into the gloomy dungeon of the colonial fortress.

If the interrogator had not discovered that he indeed possessed a lot of valuable ancient knowledge, he would probably have been hanged on the gallows outside the fortress along with the other rebels.

Now, Perfect needed to find the remains of the Ice and Snow Goddess, so the scholar was dragged out of prison by the governor, washed off the dirt on his body, changed into an old robe that was barely presentable, and given to Perfect as an advisor and guide.

Under his guidance, Perfect found the temple of the goddess of ice and snow that he was looking for without spending too much effort.

Although it might not be the one she had originally thought of looking for, and although the entire temple had long since been reduced to ruins by the erosion of wind, sand and time, at least they had found it.

As you enter the temple, you will see a collapsed half-statue of a goddess on the right side of the place where the temple should have been. The statue is wearing a red crown that symbolizes rule, but the statue's face has long been worn away by wind and sand and can no longer be seen.

The crown of the statue was covered with frost, making the statue look a little weird and absurd.

On the base of the statue, a few surviving hieroglyphs were vaguely visible in the dim light, but they were already difficult to recognize, and other parts were eroded by wind and sand, leaving only mottled marks.

The wind was howling, and broken ice crystals like flying snow were sweeping around the temple with yellow sand. The sound made by the wind passing through the pillars and ruins was like the most miserable cry.

Half of the obelisk in the backyard of the temple was buried in the snow. It was supposed to be engraved with epic chapters praising the gods, but now even the gold foil decorating the top of the tower has long disappeared.

Only the holes on the obelisk where gems should have been inlaid were left, like eyes with the eyeballs dug out, staring blankly at anyone who looked into its eyes.

"Make rubbings of all the murals and texts here." Perfecto instructed the people he brought with him, and also reminded them: "Search carefully around to see if there are any secret rooms or mechanisms."

The people brought by Perfectcot quickly dispersed and started their own work.

Despite the cold weather and harsh environment, many people were unable to stretch out their hands due to the cold, but they still worked very seriously, carefully copying the murals and texts on the wall onto paper bit by bit with charcoal pencils.

Although the job was not easy, the compensation offered by Perfectcot was enough to ensure that they could work efficiently.

And Perfecto himself was walking in the temple, tapping around with his cane from time to time, as if he was looking for something.

Outside the temple, a small camp was being built, and it looked like it would stay here for a while.

In order to support the archaeological work on the temple, Perfect even specially designed a small mobile energy tower, which is now being slowly erected.

(End of this chapter)