The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 1167

Chapter 1164
A Curse So Weak
As Eivass’s fingers touched Dong Ya’s waist, he clearly felt her tension.
She dared not pull away from Eivass’s touch, but her body instinctively resisted. Her subconsciously tightened abdomen, her tensed muscles… were the remnants of the fear left by the salt-etching punishment.
However, when Eivass actually touched the petrified flesh, she couldn’t help but cry out.
A rapidly increasing heat instantly spread from the point of contact throughout her entire body. It was like touching skin with a hot towel. But while that heat accumulated on the skin’s surface, this heat was like a needle, slowly and steadily piercing the petrified scales, reaching the deep bone and flesh.
And Eivass clearly felt something come alive.
It felt like touching a box full of insects. The gnawing sting, the unfamiliar sensation… along with a bone-chilling contact, spread inward along Eivass’s fingers that were in contact with Dong Ya.
Eivass, with his special vision, clearly saw wisps of orange-yellow smoke seeping from the petrified scales. Following Eivass’s fingers, they crawled slowly upwards along his arm. It was like holding a lit cigarette, the smoke making Eivass’s skin feel noticeably dry and itchy.
“Interesting…”
Eivass felt a flicker of interest.
A curse that could affect him. This was no longer a pure curse; it must have been mixed with some divine essence.
—This means that this power should originate from the Fifth Tier.
It’s not as simple as a Sixth Tier Ritualist. The opponent also has a matching piece of equipment, or a special Path Trait, allowing them to gain an additional level of priority.
If not for Eivass’s “Dissolving Soul” and its powerful curse resistance, he might have truly succeeded.
However, even then, Eivass wasn’t particularly afraid. As long as the petrification wasn’t instantaneous, he could transform into a Sin Eater Beast and resist it with the additional curse resistance of the Sin Eater Beast—if that wasn’t enough, he could switch his carried Quixote to Viness.
The Sin Eater Beast could easily be immune to curses of this magnitude, and could also use the power of “Miracle” to forcibly remove curses.
But Dong Ya’s current curse didn’t need such hassle.
The moment the power of the curse seeped inward from Eivass’s skin, Eivass’s golden liquid soul suddenly brightened—
As Eivass exerted force, his fingertips turned slightly white, and his liquid soul pulsed with fine golden light beneath his skin.
Instantly, a fine, damp golden mist permeated from under his skin, like a tiger fully engulfing the orange-yellow smoke. It swallowed every trace of the curse on his skin, and then burrowed into Dong Ya’s petrified skin.
Like ink dropped into clear water, instantly spreading a stain. The original gray-white scales and flesh also gained color.
The gray-white world, thus gained color.
Dong Ya looked at Eivass in shock, feeling the sharp pain and itching in her waist rapidly lessen and then dissipate in the warm current.
No incantation, no prayer, no potion, no ritual.
Just a touch, and the petrification was removed!
“…How on earth did you do that?”
This was beyond Dong Ya’s belief—it completely surpassed her understanding of being a Priest up to that point.
“Heh, easily.”
Eivass’s lips curved slightly upwards.
Dong Ya was a believer of the Ring Heavenly Envoy, and at the same time a Devotee and a Transcendent; her current astonishment pleased Eivass: “Such a weak curse.”
Weak… was it?
Dong Ya was speechless for a moment.
Although Rock Cell City was a very small city-state, there were no less than a few Fourth Tier Extraordinary individuals around the Lord. They could fight against any city-state that didn’t have Fifth Tier Extraordinary individuals. And they didn’t even have a chance to fight back.
“Fifth Tier… is there really such a big gap between Fourth Tier and Fifth Tier?”
Dong Ya murmured.
She could guess that Eivass was definitely Fifth Tier. This was simply like a god and a mortal.
However, she hadn’t forgotten to thank Eivass—
“I respectfully request the Ring Heavenly Envoy, the Ouroboros Heavenly Envoy, the Infinite Heavenly Envoy… May the Ouroboros Ring bless you.”
Dong Ya immediately placed her tail in front of her, knelt respectfully, and kowtowed to the tip of her tail: “May I become your cast stone in the next life.”
Eivass knew this was the highest etiquette of the Snake People, symbolizing placing oneself on the Wheel of Reincarnation.
—To put it simply, it meant “I’ll be your servant in the next life.”
How to say it…
…She was very polite, but when Eivass heard “May the Ouroboros Ring bless you,” he felt uncomfortable all over.
“Next life…”
Although Eivass knew that Dong Ya, as a Third Tier Priestess, barely knew anything, he still sighed. He swallowed the rest of his words, respecting her faith.
—There wouldn’t be a next life like that anymore.
At this moment, the two temple guards were so terrified that they didn’t dare to move.
They pretended to be corpses, hoping Eivass would forget their existence—this powerful being was not only the descendant of their own Apostle, but also an incomparably powerful Fifth Tier Extraordinary. Even the curse that petrified an entire city was like a joke in front of him…
But unfortunately, Eivass did not forget them.
Eivass glanced at them and asked, “If, according to your rules here, how should those who disrespect me be dealt with?”
Although they were obeying his orders, Dong Ya, who was prostrate on the ground, said without hesitation: “They should be given the honey punishment.”
“What is the honey punishment?”
Eivass frowned, finding the various messy punishments of Anxi novel and speechless.
The Ritualist Ibn explained from the side: “It’s to cover a person with honey and ants, and then hang them up to dry.”
“…Are you making jerky?”
Eivass couldn’t hold back his laughter.
But he found Ibn’s expression very serious: “Yes.”
“…Is it what I’m guessing?” Eivass was surprised.
“Yes.”
Ibn nodded: “Although Anxi is not as short of food as water… it is still difficult for commoners to obtain. This kind of ‘blood honey jerky’ can be sold at a considerable price.”
“Do the Anxi people… consider eating people normal?”
Eivass frowned, realizing he had still underestimated the barbarism of the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi.
Hearing this, Ibn couldn’t help but show a fleeting, pitying chuckle—it wasn’t a mockery of Eivass, but pity for his past and his homeland: “My lord, this desert is not like Avalon and Star Antinomy, where humans are the main species.
“Here, there are humans, Lizardmen, Snake People, Harpies, Dwarves, Elves, Trolls, Goblins, and even Dragons… everything exists. Eating people might be a taboo, but what if it’s another race? Whether it’s Lizardmen, Harpies, Snake People, or Trolls, none of them would refuse to eat people… and Harpies have always been on the human menu. Among all these races, Trolls are the most indiscriminate—Trolls love this ‘blood honey jerky’ the most, they usually pair it with the best cactus wine.
“In this desert full of sin, Elves are called ‘vegetarians.’ This is not a derogatory term, but a respectful and distancing one—because only Elves do not eat other races. And here… fresh vegetables are extremely expensive. Far more expensive than people.
“Vegetarian? But…”
Eivass was halfway through speaking when he suddenly realized.
—No wonder Ibn said this desert wasn’t short of food.
Eivass looked at the two Snake People on the ground.
They were curled up together, not daring to move. Even as they discussed how to execute them and the words about eating Snake People, they still didn’t dare to resist.
Seeing this, Eivass, who was the one offended, felt a surge of anger within himself.
Pity for their misfortune… and anger at their lack of fight.
His purpose in coming to Anxi was partly because the Lord of Holy Spring City had invited him by name, making Eivass curious and wary, wanting to know what he was up to; partly to prevent the descent of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy from causing millions of deaths and the chain reactions generated by such a scale of death.
But now, Eivass suddenly understood why that Cardinal had stayed in Anxi for so many years.
—Because no Devotee could turn a blind eye to this.
“Since that’s the case…”
Eivass glanced at the two Snake People and said sternly in the not-so-fluent Ancient Anxi Language, “I forgive them.”
“Yes.”
Dong Ya did not ask why Eivass did this, nor did she show any doubt or gratitude. Instead, she accepted Eivass’s words as a matter of course.
Because no matter what, the strong were always right.
They could choose mercy, they could choose ferocity. They could kill, they could save. They could let people die, or let them live. The lives, freedom, and everything else of others were merely swayed by their thoughts.
Here, power outweighed authority. Beasts surpassed love. Days surpassed beasts. Taboos surpassed twilight. Hunting surpassed adaptation.
—This was the core rule of this desert.