Page, welcome book friends support and collect Tian Shuo

  The Lost Lamb

  There were over a thousand people living in the town of Sumer, which was already a fairly large rural settlement. However, Amun had never been anywhere else and thought that this town was much smaller than Duk Town. But here the sky was blue, people wore mostly light linen or cotton clothes, and looking at the fields and sheep, as well as the livestock and free-range chickens and geese, it was clearly much more prosperous than Duk Town.

  But the houses here don't look pretty and sturdy, and seem even more impoverished than Du Ke Town. As they walked through the temple in the town, Amun was slightly surprised - the temple here is actually covered with wood, and only has two low floors! Compared to the magnificent temple built with Qingjin stone and white marble in Du Ke Town, it's far inferior.

  "He muttered under his breath: 'Why do people here use wood to build temples? Houses are mostly made of wood too, aren't they afraid of fires?'"

  Yoon Na-na explained in a low voice, "The stone materials are transported from the mountain and then processed, which is very expensive. Here, using wood to build houses is both cheap and convenient... but the temple was built with snow pine, which is different from ordinary wood."

  Amun: "Which kingdom is this within, and which deity is being worshipped in this temple?"

  Yoon Nana: "This is within the territory of the Kingdom of Balen, and it's the Temple of Enlil."

  Amun looked puzzled and asked, "I heard that the main god worshipped by the kingdom of Babylon is Marduk, while Hatti and Assyria worship Enlil as their main god. Why was an Enlil temple built here?"

  Yin Nanna shrugged and said, "Maybe the realm of God and the borders of human countries are not exactly the same. Within the territory of Balen, the cities east of the Yuti River built temples for Marduk, while those west of the Yuti River built temples for Enlil. However, the temples also enshrined Marduk and other gods... After all, they belong to the same pantheon, right? According to human legend, isn't Enlil Marduk's uncle?"

  "Ah, I see," Ammon nodded and said.

  Amun stopped asking questions, but Yoon Nana asked back: "Amun, aren't you curious?"

  Amun glanced at her and said, "What's so strange about that? Isn't Enlil the uncle of Marduk? As far as I know, the imperial god worshipped by the entire Egypt is Horus, but the most important temple in Lower Egypt is the Temple of Isis, where Horus and other gods are also enshrined."

  Yin Nanna blinked: "I'm referring to the situation where temples are divided along both banks of the Youdu River. How did it form in the first place? Do gods have agreements with each other too? Don't you feel curious?"

  Curiosity? Curiosity about the gods led to the deaths of Old Man and Bell, and many others were buried with them. And Amun was also forced to embark on an unknown and treacherous path. He didn't want to entangle this issue in front of Yinnana, so he smiled bitterly and said: "What's the use of curiosity? I'm just a small mortal, and I don't know Malduk or Enlil, there's nowhere to ask... Yinnana, you're familiar with this place, where can we buy clothes? Let's go buy some first."

  Yin Nannan pulled Amun into a horizontal alley in the town, entered a store, and a 16- or 17-year-old young man came to greet them: "Do you want to buy clothes? Take a look around, our store has the best goods in the surrounding area, with fabrics and ready-made clothes."

  Ammon bought clothes very easily, pointing at himself and saying: "I want ready-made clothes, as long as I can wear them."

  The fellow looked him up and down, clearly Amun was no noble, so he picked out a suit of the finest lightweight cotton with bright red stripes that were quite eye-catching but had no other colors or embroidery, calling out: "This set of clothes will be thirty copper coins, it's cool and breathable to wear on hot days, a great bargain, you won't find it anywhere else."

  Ah Mon thought the fabric was not durable and not wear-resistant, pointed to a set of very light and densely woven coarse hemp clothes next to him: "I want this one, plus two sets of pants made of the same material."

  The fellow replied with a hint of disappointment: "Even the pants are ten copper coins a set, two sets for twenty. Won't you take a look at something else?"

  Ammon shook his head and said, "I don't need it... Yoon Nana, what kind of clothes do you want to buy? Choose for yourself."

  Yin Nanna pointed to a long dress hanging on the wall: "This one looks good, I like it, will it be expensive?"

  When the shopkeeper turned his head to take a clear look at Yinnana's appearance, he immediately felt a sense of enlightenment in his eyes. He stared at her face and body, almost unable to move his gaze away. It wasn't until he heard the question that he came back to himself and replied: "This young lady, you truly have an eye for things. Among the clothes our store sells, this is the best color that ordinary people can wear. It's just a bit expensive, requiring sixty copper coins."

  The fellow spoke while glancing at Amun with his eyes. Amun didn't care how the fellow looked at him, and without thinking, he stretched out his hand and took out a silver coin to hand over: "That's all I have, I'll buy it. Is there a place here to change clothes? Let her change first."

  The fellow was taken aback, and after a moment's hesitation, he nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes! Go through the small door next to the counter in the back, and you can change clothes inside." Then he took over the silver coin and gave Amun twenty copper coins.

  When Yinnana came out in her new clothes, Ahmon couldn't help but be dazzled. The outfit she chose was extremely flattering, made of fine white cotton with indigo stripes that perfectly accentuated her slender figure, almost every inch of which was enticing. The young shop assistant's eyes were fixed on her, and Yinnana twirled around in place, asking Ahmon coquettishly, "Does it look good?"

  Ammon nodded: "Good-looking, you were originally good-looking, and wearing this set of clothes is even more beautiful."

  The fellow beside him also praised: "Miss, you are really beautiful, may I ask what your name is?"

  Yin Nanna turned around and smiled: "My name is Yin Nanna. Since I bought such expensive clothes from you, can you also give me a pair of shoes?"

  Isn't this clothing expensive? Is it really that expensive? Armon didn't have any concept of this, clothes would naturally be expensive since they cost money to buy, but it wasn't a big deal either. In total, he spent only eighty copper coins and bought two sets of clothes and one skirt, which wasn't even enough for a bottle of the cheapest wine in Duketown.

  And that fellow was laughed by Yinnana until his bones were almost crispy, took out a pair of cloth shoes with thick soft hemp soles from behind the counter, looking very comfortable, and said with a smile: "Of course, come often when you have time, we have all kinds of beautiful clothes here."

  Yoon Na-na smiled at him again, but didn't say thank you. Instead, she pointed to Ah-mon and said: "I'm not the one wearing the shoes, he paid for them. You should give a pair that fits him, this pair is too small."

  The fellow let out a disappointed "ah", but Yinnana still smiled at him. He took another pair of shoes that Amun could wear, along with the original pair, and handed them to Yinnana, saying: "Alright, I'll throw in an extra pair, consider the other pair a gift for you, miss."

  Yin Nanna covered her mouth and smiled: "You little rascal sent me two pairs of shoes at once, aren't you afraid that the boss will scold you when he comes back?"

  The young man suddenly came to his senses, puffed out his chest and said: "What's there to be afraid of? The boss is my father, this store is my family's! ... Miss, you must come often, I'll give you a discount." Listening to the tone of his words and looking at his expression, it's unclear whether he wants to give a discount or take advantage.

  After putting on the new clothes they had bought, the two of them walked into town again, and this time they attracted even more attention. Almost every passerby fixed their gaze on Yoon Na-na - her face, her breasts, her body. Anyone else would have felt very self-conscious, but Yoon Na-na just smiled as usual.

  Out of the store, Ah Mon asked again: "Where is there a sheep for sale? We'll go buy some sheep."

  Yoon Na-na: "Of course it's impossible on the streets, there's a market at the other end of town."

  Every country on the continent of Tianzhuan has similar regulations, slaves are not allowed to wear colored fabrics, and civilians are not allowed to have embroidered clothes. Yin Nanna claims to be a shepherdess slave, but she wears a skirt with indigo stripes. However, Armon is still inexperienced in this regard, because there are almost no slaves in Du Ke Town.

  The residents of Duoke Town were almost all miners, and only the town mayor and Xiao Hu's family had slaves serving their daily lives. In the mines outside the town, there were mining slaves who did similar work to the miners, and their clothes were not much different either. Armon just thought that Yin Nana looked particularly good in this skirt, and even he couldn't help but turn his head to take a few more glances.

  Two people arrived in the town, and the dazzling Yinnana caused a considerable stir. Armon, on the other hand, was not afraid of being looked at. He thought that he had dared to look directly into Aiko-Maria's eyes, and in the Hole Dweller tribe, he was even revered as a divine spirit. In Duke Town, he had become the center of attention more than once, so what did it matter if these townspeople looked at him? He just vaguely felt that something was off, but couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

  Almost every stall owner would come over to greet them warmly, then glance inadvertently at Amun's hemp clothes and grass shoes, with a slightly strange expression, as if they thought it was a pity that Eunanna stood beside him.

  But after searching the entire market, they still couldn't find the white sheep with black spots that Yinnana had mentioned. Her expression looked very disappointed and she seemed like she was about to cry again. Amun comforted her: "How about we exchange it for another sheep? After all, you lost just one sheep, I can give you a bigger and better one."

  Yin Nanna pouted and shook her head, "No, I'm looking for a sheep just like that one. On the other side of town, there's a pasture where they raise sheep, we can go find a shepherd to buy one from."

  "Alright then, let's continue searching."

  They had already made a stir in Summerville, and nearly everyone was talking about the young man wearing sandals and coarse linen who had brought with him a ravishingly beautiful girl. The girl wore tattered clothes, but the young man took her to old Joseph's tailor shop and bought her a beautiful and expensive new dress. It is said that the young man only bought two sets of coarse linen for himself and was very stingy, letting the girl ask little Joseph for two pairs of shoes.

  Life in a small town is already dull and boring, this kind of thing is the easiest to become a topic of conversation. People are talking about it, definitely that young man cheated someone's family.

  The girl eloped and passed by here, the two should come from a very far place, because that young man still speaks with a Hainan accent.

  Ammon followed Yoon Na-na to the outskirts of town and indeed saw a flock of sheep grazing leisurely. Yoon Na-na suddenly pointed excitedly, "Look, that's the sheep I'm looking for!"

  Amon's head twisted and he was taken aback: "Yin Nana, why are you pointing at me?"

  Yoon Na-na patted him: "Look over there."

  Amun turned his head to look in another direction, and indeed there were a few lambs with black spots in the flock. At this time, Yin Nana had already run over with small steps, squatted down and hugged a lamb excitedly shouting: "It's it, Amun, it's my lost sheep!"

  "Miss, don't talk nonsense, that's my sheep!" A burly old shepherd with a long-handled leather whip walked over from afar, shouting in an unhappy tone.

  Ammon quickly walked over and reminded Yinnana: "How could this be your sheep? It can't fly, and it's impossible for it to run here from such a far place. Are you mistaken?"

  The old man glanced at Amun, then turned to Yinnana and said: "This is my master's sheep. Every morning I drive them up the mountain to graze, every evening I drive them back to the sheepfold, and every day I carefully count them. This sheep is absolutely not yours."

  Yin Nanna still hugged the sheep and wouldn't let go, rushing to Amun again and crying: "But this is my lost sheep, I recognize it, Amun, help me!"

  The shepherd got angry: "Beautiful girl, you can't be so unreasonable! They are the sheep I raised."

  Just as the two were about to quarrel, if Yinnana wasn't a girl, the old shepherd would have swung his whip. Amun hastily stood in between and mediated: "Maybe it's just that the sheep look similar, she's been searching for a whole day, no wonder she's getting anxious. How about this, I'll buy the sheep from you, how much is it worth?"

  The shepherd hadn't spoken yet, but Yoon Na-na stood up and grabbed Ah-mon, saying: "This is clearly my sheep, why do you still want to pay for it? He stole my sheep!"

  The shepherd finally got angry, pointing at Amun's nose with his whip and said: "Foreigner, did you bring this girl to be a bandit? Be careful of my leather whip!"

  Yin Nanna hid behind Amun and said: "We are not robbers, you are the thief, you stole my sheep!"

  Amun didn't care about the shepherd's whip, opening his arms and saying: "Uncle, don't be angry, she lost a sheep that looked exactly the same as this one and thought it was hers... I promised to help her find it back, we can buy your sheep with money."

  The shepherd snorted and swung his whip, saying: "Not for sale! This is my master's sheep."

  Amun: "I'll give you more money, your master won't blame you and will be even happier."

  The shepherd looked at him with disdain, stretching out two fingers and saying, "Well, two silver coins, take it or leave it!" He was very disgusted with these two outsiders, the girl said he was a thief, and the young man standing in front of the girl made him even more hateful, so he quoted an outrageous price to get rid of them.

  No sooner had he finished speaking than Amun quickly pulled out two silver coins and handed them over. The shepherd's eyes widened in astonishment, and he even forgot to reach out to take them. Amun took his hand and placed the coins in his palm, saying: "This is money, keep it well. Can you give me a rope so I can lead the sheep away?"

  Things outside the mountain are really cheap, Amun has already said that he is willing to pay more money, and unexpectedly only two silver coins are needed. The shepherd stared at Amun as if looking at some kind of monster, the sheep was not big, two silver coins could buy five, today made a small fortune.

  He stared at Amun for half a day, then suddenly came back to his senses, and very concisely pulled off his own whip and handed it to Amun: "Take this to tie up the sheep, there's no other rope here." Then he lowered his voice and leaned in close, whispering: "Young man, you're a generous good fellow! Why don't you buy yourself some nice clothes if you have money?... That girl may be beautiful, but I'm afraid you can't afford to squander it."

  Amun said thank you, tied the sheep with a whip and took it away from the pasture. After walking far away, Yin Nana hugged Amun's arm, leaned against his ear and whispered: "Amun, do you think I'm not reasonable? But this sheep is really mine, I dare to swear that it is exactly the same as the one I lost."

  Amun smiled wryly, "Maybe it's yours, maybe not, but without evidence, it's among someone else's flock. Unless someone proves that this sheep ran away from your flock, you can't just take it away... The place where you lost the sheep is far from here, it's unlikely to have run over on its own. There are also quite a few with black spots in that flock, maybe they're really similar."

  Yin Nanna: "Every sheep's spot is different, the shepherd can certainly recognize it, in any case I want to thank you for buying this sheep... but why did you spend so much money? You're very strong, there's no need to be afraid of that shepherd's extortion, he's not your opponent."

  Amun shook his head and said, "I went to buy a sheep, not to rob one. If you can prove that the sheep is yours, I'd be happy to help you get it back, but unfortunately, I couldn't prove it, not because I don't believe you."

  Yin Nanna lowered her head and said: "But this way, I owe you too much, how can I repay you?"

  Amun smiled: "You've already repaid me, bringing me into town and giving me such delicious cakes."

  Yoon Na-na: "But your sheep was too expensive, if I didn't say that, you wouldn't have spent so much money."

  Ammon shrugged: "Not expensive, not expensive, I think it's very cheap."

  Yin Nanna took the whip from Amun's hand and led the sheep, and the two of them walked through the market and back into town. Amun wanted to find a place with people just for the experience of seeing various people and things, without any specific purpose. But when he returned to town again, he found that people were staring at them with strange eyes, and whispering and pointing behind their backs. However, when he turned his head to look over, everyone avoided eye contact.

  Although Ah Mon had no experience of going out, he wasn't really stupid either. He quietly scanned the crowd with his detective skills and roughly knew what people were talking about, and couldn't help but feel a little amused. At this time, he also realized that Yin Nan Na was not an ordinary shepherdess slave girl. She had seen many people outside the mountain, including many women, none of whom were as tender and beautiful as Yin Nan Na.

  As they walked past the tavern in town, Yoon Na-na suddenly stopped and said: "Amon, are you tired? If you're tired, we can go in for a drink."

  Armon suddenly remembered something, the town mayor of Dast had said that the cheapest wine in the small tavern outside would only cost one copper coin. He was skeptical and really wanted to go see for himself. So he rushed to Yin Nana and said: "I don't know if I'll be late if I go in for a drink, or should I send you back first? It's not far from the town, but it will soon be dark."

  Yoon Na-na retorted, "Are you going to send me back again?"

  Ammon: "You still have a long way to go after dark, of course I'll send you back, anyway we're not in a hurry, the town is just here."

  Yin Nanna smiled: "Thank you! Whether or not we drink, the sky will still darken, and after dark there's still a long way to go, let's go in and rest for a while first."

  Wine is a luxury, but it doesn't just belong to the nobility. Many commoners who have money and leisure time drink a few cups in taverns, which is their most luxurious enjoyment on ordinary days. In the turbulent years of the Tianxu Continent's history, some countries once prohibited commoners from drinking wine because brewing consumes a large amount of grain, which needs to be controlled during difficult times when supplies are tight.

  When people drink too much, they often think wildly and speak out of turn, saying things they wouldn't normally say and doing things they wouldn't normally do. As a result, taverns are often one of the most chaotic places in town. Ammon led Yoon Na into the tavern and immediately heard a loud commotion. However, when people saw them enter, many began to speak softly, clearly indicating that the topic of conversation in the tavern earlier was the two outsiders who had arrived in town today.

  Ammon found an empty table and sat down. There was a boss and two partners here, the boss came over personally and asked: "Young man from afar, what would you like to drink? We have the best wine in the area."

  Ammon spoke directly, his first sentence being what he was most concerned about: "Is the cheapest wine here one copper coin per cup?"

  The boss stared blankly for a moment, then smiled and said: "Yes, one copper coin per cup. Would you like to have one?" Although he was smiling, there were a few hints of disdain in his eyes. He had already heard about the outsider's affairs in town, that this young man was very generous with the girl but stingy himself, and now it seemed to be true.

  One cup of wine is not enough? Ah Meng waved his hand and said: "Let's have a pot instead."

  The boss called over a servant with a jug of wine and two cups. Yinnana naturally reached out to take the jug, poured a cup for Armon, but didn't sit down herself, instead standing beside Armon holding the jug.

  It's rare for a woman to come to the tavern to drink, and occasionally those who do are mostly prostitutes from the brothel, which is another chaotic place in the town. When such a beauty came to the town and was brought into the tavern by Armon, everyone's eyes were focused on Yinnana, waiting to see the beauty drink, this is more enjoyable than eating small dishes with wine, but unexpectedly she didn't drink.

  Just as Ah Mon was about to invite Yinnana to sit down, the tavern owner asked: "Miss, why don't you sit down? Is someone not letting you sit down?"

  Yin Nanna smiled and explained: "No, I'm a female slave, I can't sit here and drink... Ah Meng, you drink slowly, I'll stand up and pour wine for you."

  So that's it! The whispers in the tavern suddenly grew louder, like a swarm of flies buzzing around. This girl was brought by an outsider young man as his female slave, he himself wore cheap clothes, but dressed up the female slave to show off in front of everyone, and even broke the rules to buy her a colored skirt.

  If Ah Mon were a noble gentleman, no one would bother if his beautiful female slave was dressed improperly. But Ah Mon wore straw sandals and coarse hemp clothes, drinking the cheapest inferior wine in a tavern, and still dared to show off with his beautiful female slave, it's simply a sin.