Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The leader of the Pusuote Tribe was also the tribe’s governor. Originally, this position was appointed by Yep Ima Batko, the early king of Batko, but in the later period, the tribal leaders naturally became the governors.
The original rotation system was thus abandoned, giving way to a lifelong inheritance system. However, it was not the offspring, but the young brothers who became the next leaders and governors.
The governor’s house was like a palace. Within the palace, a large number of colorful murals covered the walls, each depicting gods and sacrifices. At this moment, the leader of the Pusuote Tribe was in a meeting.
Someone asked about the messenger. “I don’t know if you’ve heard of the recent emergence of the messenger of the desert god?”
Several other tribal leaders and some of the noblemen in Pusuote were not interested in this topic of discussion. One of them said, The palace of the desert god should take care of it. Beliefs and sacrifice are their business, while the territory and the population are our concerns. This is the agreement we signed long ago!”
After all, this was not The Church of Light. Basically, since no one had witnessed any miracles here, there was no single, unified belief here.
This meant that religions and beliefs were not simple here. Instead, they were quite intricate. Moreover, apart from the common people, most of the others did not care so much about beliefs at all!
Someone else in the room piped up, “But, that was a miracle! He clearly had the power of god!”
After a long debate, the governor said, “Let the high priest deal with it. As for whether he really is the messenger of the gods, they will find that out!”
The palace of the desert god was luxurious, and it occupied several times the amount of space that the governor’s house did. The palace was situated in the south, and its tall stone pillars were engraved with monsters, beast heads, and human bodies. There were also rows of kneeling statues that lined the aisles inside the palace.
The grand gate was inlaid with dazzling jade and gemstones. There was also statue inside.
The statue depicted a monster, which had a human body and hair like countless snakes intertwined. This was the legendary god of the desert statue!
If Lu Zhiyu came to see it, he would feel that it was someone with whom he was already familiar. This was because the statue monster looked exactly the same as the monster that he had created earlier, Medusa!
Although Batko was originally rich in gold, after hundreds of years of mining, not much gold remained. However, this tall statue was made of gold, which only made it more priceless. From the luxurious style of the palace, one could tell how much manpower, material resources, and money had been spent to build and furnish it.
Sadly, most of the resources that were used for the palace came from a large number of greedy priests, who would take a large amount of money from the lower class people every year. Those poor, faithful, and underfed people gave everything they had to them, which was how this palace had become so ornate and posh.
Now, in the side lounge of the palace, Hatton, the high priest, was in a rage. Rumors were circulating in the city that were very threatening to him.
Supposedly, a messenger of god had come along. As such, Hatton’s authority to host sacrifices and explain the will of god would be severely threatened. If the lower class people and nobles in Pusuote believed this so-called messenger, it would greatly limit his power as the high priest!
What made High Priest Hatton even angrier was that, not only were the common people believing in the power of this liar, but a large number of nobles were also buying into the hoax! Even inside the palace, some priests secretly went to the messenger’s residence to pray.
As these various legends continued to spread throughout the city, more and more people began to believe them. If the whole city believed that it was true, Hatton would be in an awful fix!
“Da*n that liar! I am the only spokesman of the gods, the one who was chosen by the god of the desert! Only I can represent the authority of God! That fellow is just a blasphemer. It’s the evil god who sent him here to try to divide us!” Hatton was really having a fit now.
Hatton was a fat man, which was rarely seen in Batko, and he kind of looked like a person from the northern Crete Empire. At the moment, the fat on his face was jiggling as his cheeks shook with rage.
He then shouted, “I can no longer tolerate this demon that was sent by evil gods. I need him to know that the honor of the god of the desert is at stake!”
A bald priest next to him asked, “What should we do?” The Pusuote people agreed not to interfere with our affairs. Shall we go straight to catch the liar ourselves?”
On the other side, another priest said faithfully, “Yes, such a liar who defiles the god of the desert must be buried alive in the sand and suffer eternal punishment from the god of the desert.”
Hatton wished that he could go right away! After all, he knew more than ordinary people and nobles in Batko. There were a lot of extraordinary people in the far western region of the Church of Light that he could recruit for his cause!
He defined extraordinary as one who transcended a bloodline’s limitations. This was the power of gods and devils. It was something that mortals couldn’t understand. Ordinary people, no matter how strong they were, couldn’t hurt them at all!
Many within the Church of Light were considered to be extraordinary saints and priests. One of the most powerful of these was Saintess Kelly.
As some of these Church of Light members had gained their powers from the devil, they also claimed to be masters of witchcraft. But, Hatton was more convinced that they had simply traded wickedly with the devil in exchange for their powers.
In light of this fact, Hatton guessed that the liar was probably a wizard from the West. So, he dared not confront him.
Although Hatton claimed to be the spokesman of the gods, he knew that he was just bluffing and lying in the name of the desert god. In the face of evil magic, Hatton felt scared, and he dared not face it head-on!
Hatton thought for a moment, then pulled over several of his most trusted priests in order to make plans secretly. “You…And you, when the right time comes, announce this news to the whole city of Pusuote… Then, I will come out, and the swindler will have no place to hide, not within the entire city of Pusuote!”