Chapter 181 The Patriarch is here, and there will be fairness (5.7k, 8.3k a day to complete)

A few days later, a blond and blue-eyed young bard arrived outside the city of Thebes with a bag on his back.

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar "hometown" in front of him, Loen, who had changed his vest, felt mixed emotions.

Not long ago, he successfully provoked Aphrodite's anger by orchestrating the death of Adonis.

As a result, the God of War Ares, under the crazy pursuit of his old lover, slipped back to Olympus in disgrace and hid at home all day, not daring to come out.

The Sea of Oceanus naturally returned to its former tranquility, and Thetis's troubles were also solved.

But to be on the safe side, Loen did not turn around and flirt with the sea goddess. Instead, he decisively left the crime scene and prepared to hide in another city-state for a while to avoid the limelight and clear himself of suspicion.

After thinking about it, the word "hometown", which was almost fading in my memory, came into my mind.

So he came to Thebes and continued his journey as a bard.

After all, the goddess of memory in the temple of memory is still waiting for his update, and the nine muses sitting in their empty boudoirs are still waiting for him to redeem them with his manuscripts.

Of course, his current identity is still "Homer".

In fact, under his and the Nine Muses' operation, this pen name is no longer just one person, but a creative group that has a stack of aliases to facilitate their roaming around in various city-states and commit crimes.

Looking at his completely different face through the pond by the roadside, and seeing the passers-by around him ignoring him, Loen nodded with satisfaction.

The disguise formed by the triple superposition of illusion, dice of chance, and divinity of memory is so convenient to use.

After pausing for a while and making sure that there were no loopholes left, Loen walked through the overgrown path beside the avenue and came to a barren mountain on the outskirts of the city.

There is almost no grass here, and the barren and cracked surface is covered with jagged and charred rocks, showing signs of being struck by lightning or burned by fire.

When you reach the top of the barren mountain, the terrain is steep and dangerous. The cliff facing the sea is almost at a 90-degree angle with the sea surface, as if it was split directly by a sharp blade falling from the sky.

A few scorched and rotten wooden boards were buried in the dark brown soil. The only few green sprouts on the mountain sprouted out from them, bringing a trace of fragile life to this dead land.

This was once the bedroom of Semele, the Theban princess, and also the place where I was born when I first came to this world.

Lorne stood in front of the ruins, staring at his unrecognizable old home, trying hard to search for memories that were so long ago that they were somewhat vague, trying to find a sense of familiarity from the surroundings.

However, unfortunately, he failed.

After lying in the cradle for more than a month, I didn’t have a deep impression of the flowers and plants on this mountain.

Even his mother, after such a long time, he could hardly remember what she looked like.

The only impression I have is that she is relatively young, full of yearning for love, often likes to tease herself, and even gave him the nickname "Little Lion".

"Feel sorry……"

Loen shook his head, somewhat embarrassed, then bent down and placed a wreath in his hand on the charred soil.

——This was woven by him on the way up the mountain using grape vines from the field and some wild flowers nearby.

"There is good news and bad news." The figure in the wind muttered to the wreath on the open ground, "The good news is that I am still alive, and I plan to avenge you and myself..."

Then, Lorne paused, and continued with some helplessness.

"But the bad news is that he is also still alive and well. I heard that he recently hooked up with the wife of Tyndareus, the King of Sparta."

"——The transformed swan possessed Leda and gave birth to twin sons and the beautiful Helen. According to the prophecy, this should be the eighth..."

A gust of sea breeze blew by, and the wreath rustled, as if accusing some heartless and shameless scumbag.

Lorne glanced sideways, shook his head, and muttered to himself.

"No, I can't handle him now. The old guy is in good health. He just took care of Poseidon and Apollo."

The sea breeze grew stronger, and the wreath seemed to tremble even more violently.

Seeing this, Loen had no choice but to raise his hands helplessly.

"Okay, okay, I'll find a chance to collect some interest for you later. And I promise you that sooner or later I'll send him down to accompany you. Is that okay?"

After the solemn speech of a "filial son", Huahuan calmed down and seemed satisfied.

A ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds and sprinkled on the top of the mountain. The petals of the wreath became brighter and the branches and leaves became greener.

It’s sunny…

Loen looked up, smiled self-deprecatingly, then stood up from the ground, brushed off the dust and grass debris on his clothes, and strode down the mountain.

~~

In comforting his mother who passed away young, the filial son seemed to have unloaded a burden in his heart. Not only did his steps become lighter, he even had the leisure to do his old job as a bard. He sat under the shade of a tree by the road with his lyre, singing holy words to passers-by on the road to earn the fare to go into the city.

"I call upon the first born, the double-sexed god, the one who walks in the sky,

He emerged from the egg, his wings shining with golden feathers,

You roar like a bull, the origin of the Elysian gods and mortals,

Unforgettable sowing, endless carnival in the world, one of the original Phanes..."

However, when the pedestrians around heard the song, their faces changed and they hurriedly left.

Before he even finished playing a measure, there was a vacuum around him.

Why, is Thebes so xenophobic?

But after all, I am half a fellow villager, so I should give you some face, right?

"Boy, do you want to die? Shut up!"

Just as Lorne was grumbling to himself about the failure of the performance, an old farmer who was fiddling with grape vines in the field next to him rushed over and snatched his lyre.

Faced with this sudden change, Loen couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise on his face.

"Old man, what are you doing..."

"Stop talking nonsense, follow me if you don't want to die!"

The old farmer looked around vigilantly, and after confirming that there was no one there, he quickly grabbed the arm of the young man under the tree and dragged him into the shade of the grape field. He walked deeper into the field while scolding him earnestly.

"Look at you, you are so young, why do you have to learn the tunes of those foreigners and sing praises to that stupid god of wine? If I don't help you, you will lose your life when the city defense troops come!"

Hearing this, Lorne frowned slightly.

"What do you mean, old man? The Thebans don't like Bacchus?"

"More than that! You can't even mention it!"

As the old farmer spoke, he stopped and looked back at Loen in surprise, his eyes thoughtful.

"You are a foreigner, right? No wonder you dare to sit under the tree and sing the [holy words] related to Dionysus in such a swagger."

Loen nodded, took out two pieces of Zeus gold from his pocket and handed them to the kind old farmer. He pretended to be frightened and asked in a low voice.

"Old man, what is going on? Can you explain it in detail? I'm new here and I might accidentally break some local taboos."

"This taboo has nothing to do with us poor people. It's the king's order. For some reason, he hates the Dionysian religion outside and forbids any believers from preaching here. Even topics related to Dionysian religion cannot be mentioned. Otherwise, they will be arrested and imprisoned, awaiting trial and severe punishment."

The old farmer pointed to the city of Thebes in the distance and warned in a deep voice.

"Because of this, many Dionysian believers have been arrested in the city. Even the king's mother was thrown into prison for participating in the Dionysian gathering. Young man, if you don't want to get into trouble, be more careful..."

As he spoke, the old hand pushed back the two golden Zeus in his palm with an unhappy look on his face.

"I saved you because you are still young, not for these..."

Luo En quickly explained: "I just got into trouble, and I don't know what the situation outside is like yet. How about you lend me this piece of land to hide for a few days? And prepare some food for me. These will be my reward to you."

The old farmer nodded, his expression brightened up, he took the gold coins, and led the stranger to the makeshift shack he had built in the vineyard.

Along the way, Loen gained a general understanding of the current situation in the city through indirect inquiries.

The king of Thebes is now called Pentheus, the son of Ekion and Agae, both born of clay.

In fact, Agave is the daughter of the old king Cadmus and the younger sister of the Theban princess Semele.

In other words, the one in the palace is the dear cousin of this god of wine.

However, Pentheus himself was hot-tempered, had a strong desire for control, and had a high opinion of himself. He could not tolerate any words of belittlement or criticism. Only the main gods of Olympus could make him bow his head reluctantly during sacrifices to express superficial respect.

But in recent years, a foreign religious sect called Dionysus has become famous and widely spread in Thebes, and a large number of middle and lower class people have become followers of its teachings, willingly worshipping the little-known god of wine.

"After all, they were just preaching and didn't do anything harmful..."

On the way, the old farmer couldn't help but complain on behalf of the Dionysians who were arrested.

Since the main members of this missionary sect are basically from the bottom of society, they understand better the hardships of life and the difficulties faced by ordinary people.

Therefore, members of the Dionysian Church often distributed bread and wine for free, or gave the rice, flour, grain and oil collected within the church to lonely elderly people in need.

Sometimes, they will also gather people to do voluntary work and do what they can for those who have drawn the lucky lottery.

According to them, this is called "the teachings of the god of wine" and "spreading God's love to the world."

They have also visited the few acres of grape fields belonging to the old farmer.

The other party not only purchased the grapes of that season at a fair price, but also weeded and maintained the seedlings for him free of charge.

It was because of his fondness for those Dionysian believers that the old man took the risk of pulling Lorne, who was singing by the roadside, into the field.

In fact, the reputation of Dionysus has always been good in Thebes, and many people from the lower classes and even the middle and upper classes have similar good feelings towards Dionysus believers.

Moreover, as they expounded the doctrine of the gods, many men, women, and children in the city of Thebes, and even prominent nobles, came to follow and praise this new god who brought joy to the world, and even elevated him to the same level as the Olympian gods.

However, this angered King Pentheus.

In his opinion, a wild god who appeared out of nowhere was not worthy of such respect.

Especially since the status and reputation of that god of wine in Thebes actually exceeded that of him, the real king.

Therefore, Pentheus strictly prohibited people from worshiping the god of wine.

However, as the influence of Dionysus had spread, the secret sacrifices and gatherings among the people could not be stopped despite repeated bans.

So, in a rage, Pentheus labeled Dionysus a cult that mislead people, and he hunted down all the Dionysians and threw them all into prison.

Even his mother was imprisoned because she participated in a private "joyful banquet" of the Dionysian Church with a group of noble ladies.

Neither the warning from the blind fortune teller Tiresias nor the persuasion from the old king Cadmus could change Pentheus's determination to crack down on Dionysus.

Therefore, as an ordinary person, the old farmer also knows that he is even more powerless and can only complain temporarily and do some good deeds within his ability.

"Young man, hide here for a few days. Wait until you are sure everything is fine before leaving. I will go home and get you something to eat."

The old farmer gave his shack in the field to the reckless stranger in front of him, gave him a few simple instructions, and turned to walk towards his home in the village.

Looking at the old man's departing back and the gloomy outline of Thebes in the distance, Lorne, the founder of the religion, narrowed his eyes slightly.

~~

At night, in the magnificent palace of Thebes.

King Pentheus, who was of sturdy stature but had a youthful look on his face, sat on a golden throne, examining a group of newly captured followers of Dionysus.

Among them were old and young, and even some divine-blood nobles.

Seeing this, Pentheus could not help but be angry and scold.

"What has driven you mad to follow a lowly false god in droves? A bunch of cowardly fools and crazy women! Have you forgotten the heroic blood that runs in your veins?

Thebes is a land of the brave! Our fortress was built on the feats of slaying dragons and the corpses of our enemies!

The false god you want to believe in wears a wreath of grapevines on his head instead of a helmet, a long robe that gets in the way instead of armor, and a ridiculous wine glass in his hand instead of a sword. Do you expect to come to the battlefield and drink the enemy to death?"

Hearing the rapid-fire scolding, the people on the field reacted indifferently.

"Your Majesty, if I remember correctly, slaying the dragon and building the city were all the work of your grandfather Cadmus, and he once advised you not to be harsh to these innocent believers of the Dionysian Church."

A deep voice came from the crowd, causing the young king on the throne to blush with anger.

Pentheus looked in the direction of the voice and glared grimly at a blond, blue-eyed young man in the crowd.

"What's your name, damn it? Who are your parents? Where is your home? Why do you believe in the new rites?"

The young man shrugged fearlessly and answered calmly.

"My name is Polymonus, and my hometown is Crete. Both my parents are ordinary people, with neither livestock nor land. My father only taught me to go fishing, because this skill was his wealth. Later, I learned how to sail, became familiar with astronomical phenomena, observed wind direction, and knew where the best port was, and I became a sailor. Once, when the ship was sailing to the island of Delos in the Aegean Sea, it was tied up by a group of barbaric pirates.

I thought I was dead, but I didn’t expect there was a god on the ship.

The pirate captain probably thought he was a prince because of his handsome appearance and fair skin, so he captured him while he was waiting for the ship on the shore, intending to get a ransom.

But after the boy was brought onto the ship, the pirates guarded him with sharp knives and tied him up with the thickest ropes, but they could not tie him up no matter what they did because the ropes would fall off by themselves.

Even more amazing is that during the voyage, grapevines suddenly grew on the sails, spreading to both sides and bearing many grapes. There was also an ivy that grew up around the mast, and the edges of the ship were covered with ivy. The deck was full of wine, and the aroma was overflowing.

The young man also turned back into a god, wearing a headband made of grape leaves, holding a staff wrapped with grape vines, and surrounded by tigers, mountain cats and leopards. The sweet smell of wine spread throughout the ship..."

Listening to the narration in that magnetic voice, everyone was immediately fascinated by the bizarre scene, and their emotions fluctuated as the story progressed.

"Wait, we seem to have heard of this before?"

"Yes, it's the Dionysian Hymn!"

"Yeah, yes, I remember it too. The author is the blind poet Homer!"

Some believers in the field who had thoughtful expressions on their faces looked at the somewhat unfamiliar fellow believer in the crowd in shock and envy after a moment.

Obviously, this person is probably the eyewitness of that story, a living saint!

It is a great honor to have the presence of Lord Bacchus and to be on the same ship with him.

At this moment, Pentheus was furious when he heard the discussions among the crowd.

"What nonsense! How dare a fake creature who appeared out of nowhere call himself a god!"

The blond narrator smiled at the young king's rebuke.

"Your Majesty, what a coincidence! The pirates didn't believe it at first, and then guess what?"

Then he paused and continued to add.

“The pirates first rushed forward with swords, but Lord Dionysus transformed himself into a giant lion standing on the bow of the ship and tore the swords to pieces;

But the pirates were not giving up and drew their bows and arrows. The god of wine turned into a giant bear and used his fur to deflect the arrows and protect me at the same time.

Finally, the pirates were at their wits' end, so they sank the ship and jumped into the sea to escape. But as soon as they touched the water, the pirate captain who had captured Lord Dionysus on board found that his lips and nose were connected together, turning into a fish mouth.

Before the other pirates could even scream, they suffered the same fate: blue skin grew on their bodies, their backs bent, their arms shrank into fins, and their feet had long since turned into tails.

I know that fish, it's called dolphin...

Just like that, all the pirates who went into the water were stripped of their human form and became like this.

There were 20 people on the boat, and I was the only one who was safe and sound. Just when I was feeling scared, Lord Dionysus came to my side.

He said: Do not be afraid, my friend, you have done me no harm but are a righteous man.

If you wish, send me to Crete. When we get there, you can become my disciple and preach my teachings to the world:

The unrighteous, let him be unrighteous still; the filthy, let him be filthy still; the righteous, let him be righteous still; the holy, let him be holy still... because God will punish those who do evil and protect those who do good.

God is merciful. Even for the worst pirates, he will give those sinners three chances to repent. "

In the silence, the "disciple" looked up at Pentheus's young and energetic face, pondering deeply.

"So, what is your choice, Your Majesty?"

"That's enough. I'm tired of listening to your nonsense!"

"It is never too late to turn back from the wrong path..."

"You are such a lowly person, you dare to teach me a lesson? Shut up!"

Pentheus on the throne had a cold look in his eyes. He stood up from his seat angrily and waved his hand.

"Come, arrest him, subject him to a thousand tortures, and then throw him into the dungeon!"

When the soldiers in the hall heard the order, they immediately picked up ropes and torture instruments and stepped forward, ready to tie up the arrogant young man in the crowd.

However, a strong wind blew and the soldiers who poured into the crowd were dizzy.

When they came to their senses, they found that the criminal they needed to arrest had disappeared.

At the same time, faint groans were heard from the dark night sky.

"first……"

Pentheus looked at the palace gate blown open by the strong wind and the empty square outside the window. His face was gloomy and he roared angrily at a group of confused soldiers.

"Bring him back! Bring back that ghostly bastard!"

The soldiers were startled and, at the king's rebuke, rushed out in a hurry, searching everywhere for the fugitive criminal.

The believers who witnessed this scene were so excited that they couldn't control themselves.

Saint! It's really Saint!

It must be that Bacchus knew that we were treated unfairly and sent someone to rescue us!

At this moment, the believers who had originally felt a little shaken and fearful under the powerful force, their faith became extremely firm again. They put their hands together and prayed excitedly to the merciful and just god.

(End of this chapter)