"Religion comforts more people. With faith, belief and reverence in their hearts, people know what to do and what not to do, what can be done and what must be done." Wu Lai smiled and said to Pompey, "People without faith will not think too much and will go by their feelings, which leads to so many confusing thoughts and behaviors. Therefore, I personally think that the social utility of religion is almost equal to that of law, provided that the law must be objective and fair and recognized by the vast majority of people."

Pompey nodded. He agreed with what Woolley said. As a person who devoted himself to serving the gods, he naturally knew that religious beliefs could suppress and soothe the negative factors of many people, and played a very important role in the stability and development of Assyria. This was one of the reasons why the status of the temple was so lofty.

"So, the stability of Salt Marsh Town will depend on you from now on. You should know that I don't have a tribune now." Wu Lai laughed and patted Pompey on the shoulder.

"I'll listen to you, Wu Lai. Just tell me what you need me to do." Pompey said with a smile.

Wu Lai smiled and nodded, and said nothing more.

Five days later, the temple was inaugurated in Saltmarsh Town, but the ceremony was presided over by neither Woolley nor Pompey, but by the high priest Torre who was invited from Lovington.

The ceremony was attended not only by the people of Salt Marsh Town, but also by citizens from all over the country who were invited or came upon hearing the news, merchants, and many devout civilians. According to statistics from the guards at the city gate, the number of people exceeded 2,400.

The arrival of 2,400 people undoubtedly put a test on the reception capacity of Salt Marsh Town, but this did not exceed the load capacity prepared by Wu Lai. Since Salt Marsh Town aimed to build the temple first, he naturally considered what the scene would be like at the inauguration ceremony. Therefore, while building the temple, he also gave priority to building a guesthouse, a hotel, and a tavern. Now that it has only been half built, it has the capacity to accommodate nearly 3,500 people, both in terms of accommodation and food.

Although all members of the Lovington Citizens' Assembly were on Woolley's invitation list, less than 10% of them came. However, almost half of the members wrote back immediately and apologized sincerely, explaining the reasons, and promised to visit Saltmarsh Town as soon as they had free time.

This situation can well illustrate Wu Lai's current situation - everyone wants to be friends with him, but they are also cautious.

But Wu Lai didn't care about these. Inviting members of the Citizens' Assembly was just a courtesy. The core was to invite merchants who had trade relations with Salt Marsh Town. Salt Marsh Town lacked everything except salt. Without trade relations, it would be impossible to support prosperity.

Among the people who came, there was one person that no one expected, because she was not invited, and she did not tell anyone after she arrived. She waited until she entered the opening ceremony site, and then she gently lifted the veil on her face...

"Wu, Wu Lai..." Pompey, who was standing side by side with Wu Lai, suddenly pointed his finger at the uninvited guest, and his voice trembled, "She actually came, she..."

"Pompeii, be careful not to lose your composure." Wu Lai had just frowned and reminded when his eyes were instantly attracted. The person Pompeii was pointing at was a woman. She had waist-length black hair like Helen, and neatly bangs. She had spiritual eyes that were full of life and graceful glances. She had facial features that were so delicate that they didn't need to be added or subtracted in the slightest, and she also had a graceful figure with curves in all the right places.

At first glance, Wu Lai almost thought it was Helen, but he immediately saw the difference between the two. Although the woman in front of him looked to be in her early twenties at most, her figure and charm seemed more mature than Helen's. Although her eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar, Helen was not like her, with a stiff face and a cold look that made people afraid to approach her.

"Who is she?" Wu Lai asked softly.

"Maria, Maria Callas, Daughter of Moonlight." Pompey's voice was filled with uncontrollable excitement.

"Is it her?" Wu Lai frowned again. For some reason, he felt that there was something wrong with the appearance of this Moonlight Girl.

But perhaps Wu Lai was the only one who thought so, because soon there were soft exclamations one after another at the scene, and Torre, the host of the ceremony, actually left the ceremony stage with a smile and went to greet them.

"Even the clergy like this?" Wu Lai criticized Torre in his heart, smiled slightly, and quickly followed Torre. Torre was the host of the ceremony and he was the host of Salt Marsh Town. Torre came forward to greet him, so he should at least show some expression. What's more, although it was strange, he had to admit that this Moonlight Girl was quite pleasing to the eyes. You know, in this world nowadays, even advanced makeup techniques are lacking. Noble women dress themselves up by putting rouge on their lips and applying blush or something like that. At first glance, she is a beauty. She really is a beauty.

"Oh, magical girl of moonlight, welcome." Torre said with a smile.

"Welcome." Wu Lai smiled and nodded.

“Excuse me, but it was my admiration for the Round Shield Warrior that led me here. I didn’t want to disturb anyone, but I didn’t dare to be disrespectful in the light of the god Amon, so I unveiled my veil.” Maria explained, still looking aloof.

"It should be so." Torre nodded. He meant that Maria unveiled her veil - wearing a mask in temples, shrines or sacrificial ceremonies would be considered blasphemy, which is why playboys like Wright and Khufu liked to go to temples to see women.

"This is the governor of Saltmarsh Town, Wulai, Wulai Grindo." Torre introduced to Maria.

"You are indeed young and promising." Maria glanced at Wu Lai. "Although I cannot see the full picture of Salt Marsh Town at the moment, the grandeur and magnificence of this temple alone gives me high expectations for the new look of Salt Marsh Town."

"Thank you very much for your compliment. I sincerely hope that after the ceremony, I will have the opportunity to serve as a gracious host." Wu Lai said with a smile.

"Okay." Maria nodded slightly.

"Magical Moonlight Girl, since you are here, may I ask you to make today's ceremony even better?" Torre asked with a smile.

Maria hesitated for a moment, her eyes gently passed over Wu Lai's face, and then she nodded slightly.

…

The Salt Marsh Town Temple received admiration from everyone who attended the ceremony, and there was no exaggeration in the admiration.

As the landmark of Salt Marsh Town in Wu Lai's mind, the construction of the temple received Wu Lai's greatest support in terms of human, material and financial resources from the very beginning.

Just as Woolley envisioned, the temple, which occupies one-ninth of the current Salt Marsh Town, has specifications that are no less than those of city-state temples, with tower gates, open-air courtyards, colonnaded halls and temples, a meeting hall for preaching divine scriptures, and a large number of sculptures, trees, grass and flowers.

In order to make the temple lush and green, with sculptures, grass and flowers, Woolley not only bought a lot of statues from Lovington, but also hired a large number of stone carving artists to chisel and carve in the town day and night. In addition, a team of fifty slave oxen transported a large amount of soil from a quarry more than thirty miles away every day, and a team of one hundred and five people worked for two whole months to dig suitable ancient trees from the mountains more than a hundred miles away and plant them in the courtyard of the temple. Thus, a large area of ​​rare green and fragrance appeared.

What amazes people the most is the main hall of the temple, where the "Round Shield Warrior" is enshrined. Everyone who has seen it says that this main hall is a masterpiece of Assyrian architectural art.

The main hall is also known as the Hall of Warriors. Its base diameter is two hundred cubits, which is twice its height. The lower half is a hollow cylinder. Starting from half the height, the upper half is a hemispherical dome. The thickness of the dome wall gradually decreases. The wall thickness below is twenty-four cubits, which is the same thickness as the wall of the lower half of the main hall. It decreases to six cubits at the top. In order to make the decreasing thickness of the dome wall more conducive to the stability of the overall building of the main hall, the inner wall of the dome is neatly divided into four rows of twenty grids, each of which is carved and sunken from top to bottom, which not only makes the decrease in wall thickness more reasonable, but also increases the beauty of the interior.

The entrance to the main hall is made of two bronze doors, which echo the gilded copper tiles covering the dome and the porch ceiling. When you walk into the hall, you will find that it is wide and empty, without a single pillar. There is a round hole with a diameter of 40 cubits on the top of the dome, which is the only source of light in the entire main hall. The midday sun will shine vertically in, shining the "Ball Shield Warrior" statue facing the round hole above.

However, even though the main hall is so majestic and magnificent, it still cannot overshadow the momentum of "The Round Shield Warrior". This shows the master craftsmanship of Master Longilo at his peak moment, which is truly unmatched.

"Your Excellency Governor Wu Lei, your contribution to the temple is obvious to all, especially here." Torre exclaimed after reading it.

"What I have done is still far from what God has given me," said Woolley.

As the two were talking, Pompey hurried over and said, "Archpriest Torre, Lord Wulai, the Moonlight Girl is ready to sing."

"Oh? Well, let's go and listen." Torre smiled and said, "Her voice is heavenly."

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

The most spacious area in the temple is naturally the open-air courtyard. The green grass here and the clusters of flowers here and there are definitely rare beautiful sights in Salt Marsh Town. Maria is now standing on a large flat rock in the grass.

At this moment, she just stood there quietly, without saying a word or moving, but she gave people a magical feeling, as if she was a goddess, admired by everyone, but no one dared to approach or blaspheme.

The people who were full of expectations consciously formed a circle around Maria, but the closest person was still fifteen steps away from her because they were stopped by Maria's four maids. They told people to keep enough distance from the Daughter of Moonlight.

When Wu Lai, Torre and others walked into the crowd, Maria gently raised her chin to the most beautiful angle. At that moment, a hint of coldness and arrogance flashed across her eyes...

Then, she took out a silk scarf, as was her habit, holding it in her hand and raising her voice to the sky.

"I am honored because I have personally witnessed the appearance of the Round Shield Warrior in Salt Marsh Town. In my mind, the Round Shield Warrior is the best portrayal of the god Amon," Maria said. "So, I am willing to sing a song here."

Warm applause broke out immediately...

Wu Lai knew that it was not easy to sing well in such an era. Without accompaniment, sound effects, or harmony, he could still sing a song that left everyone wanting more. That could only mean one thing - the singer was gifted, or to put it bluntly, he was born to do this job.

When Maria finished singing the first sentence, Wu Lai's heart began to float. Before this moment, he always thought that Pompey's words of praise for Maria were somewhat exaggerated. Now, after listening to the live performance, he realized that what Pompey said was all true.

"Green mountains and flowing springs..." Maria sang slowly, the ends of her waist-length hair fluttering gently in the breeze...

Everyone who heard the singing was intoxicated, because Maria's singing not only reached their ears, but also flowed into their hearts like a living spring.

"The towering green peaks, the sunset glow..." Maria's eyes moved to the sky, "Who is looking so bored in the vast sea of ​​smoke..."

As Wu Lai listened, he suddenly felt his heart calm, so calm that he didn't want to think, and just wanted to immerse himself in the song. Even his breathing slowed down involuntarily...

"The candlestick is dimly lit, and thoughts are wandering..." Maria slowly withdrew her gaze and fell on Wu Lai. Then, she gently shook her right wrist, and the silk scarf as gorgeous as the sunset suddenly opened. In the breeze, a faint fragrance was faint and instantly diffused...

"It smells so good..." someone exclaimed softly.

"She is so beautiful..." Others were more willing to praise Maria.

"The call of the dandelion came from the lake, and the warrior's sword left the battlefield..." After singing the word "field", Maria's eyes suddenly flashed with a strange color. At the same time, the four young men standing close to Wu Lai shook their sleeves at the same time, holding a copper dagger in their hands. The four men moved together, and the four sharp copper daggers suddenly stabbed at Wu Lai who was close at hand...

When a sense of alarm suddenly arose in his heart, Wu Lai lunged forward without even thinking - he had always trusted his intuition, whether in the previous memory or now, his intuition had pulled him out of desperate situations many times, making him believe in it more and more deeply.

The tip of the dagger and a lunge in front of him allowed Wu Lai to avoid the fatal attack of four people, but this did not mean that he was completely out of danger. The four attackers reacted very quickly. As soon as Wu Lai lunged forward, one of them shook his hand and threw a dagger at his back. Two of the other three took steps to the left and right to chase him, while the other one moved his body and lunged forward like Wu Lai, stretching out his hands to reach out to Wu Lai's feet.

After the dagger hit Wu Lai, the sharp blade cut a blood groove on his back. When the blood gushed out and the stinging pain came, Wu Lai curled up his body and retracted his legs to avoid the attack. Then he rolled forward twice in succession, stood up, twisted his waist and did a powerful roundhouse kick. With a loud "bang", his heel hit the neck of the man on the right. Just as he was about to kick back, he caught a glimpse of the man on the left who had stepped forward with the dagger. He pushed hard with his feet and leaped back two steps.

At this moment, the people around finally saw what had happened, and screams of surprise rang out, causing chaos at the scene...