Chapter 645: Doesn’t it count as prostitution if you don’t pay?
The next morning.
Ishtar sat up from the bed in the morning light. Her skin, moisturized by lovemaking, turned a delicate rosy red under the quilt. An unprecedented sense of comfort permeated her body and surged in her flesh and blood, causing her to stretch her limbs involuntarily and murmur with joy.
It turns out that doing this kind of thing is so comfortable.
No wonder the men in the city like to go to the temple and hang out with those prostitutes all day long.
Oh, by the way, be professional.
The necessary procedures must not be forgotten.
Ishtar slapped her forehead, opened the magic circle diagram, fumbled with it for a while, and then threw the thing in her hand over.
Luo En looked at the six copper coins that fell on the bed, somewhat confused:
"What?"
"Here's your reward for a good performance last night."
Ishtar clapped her hands, her words revealing the satisfaction of both body and mind.
Luo En was slightly stunned, and then a strange sense of déjà vu arose in his heart.
Paying money after sleeping with someone, this behavior seems to be called "prostitution", right?
So, I was raped?
Luo En reacted immediately, his face darkened, and he said angrily:
"What do you take me for?"
The sentence structure is very familiar.
Ishtar understood what he meant, and reached out to explore the magic circle again, saying jokingly:
"You think it's too little, don't you? You little greedy cat, there's really nothing I can do about you."
Soon, Loen received three silver coins.
However, looking at the money he received from selling kidneys all night, he became even angrier.
"According to the market conditions, there can't be any more."
As Ishtar spoke righteously, she carefully picked up the six copper coins on the bed and put them back into her own little treasury that would make even mice cry.
As a great goddess with rich functions, she is in charge of war and agriculture, love and beauty, life and reproduction and other divine powers. Farmers, warriors, merchants, kings and other professionals in Uruk need to offer sacrifices to her.
This naturally includes a certain special profession - prostitution.
Like most primitive myths, the ancient Babylonian Age of Gods also had a strong fertility worship, and neither gods nor humans were ashamed of sexual intercourse between the sexes.
This open atmosphere even spread to the temples, giving rise to a more special type of practitioners - [God prostitutes]:
They are often young and beautiful women who, while serving as temple priestesses, are also proficient in sex skills, serving believers who come to worship in the name of God to earn funds for the temple. Or they go to the front line in person, serving the bravest warriors with their beautiful bodies and boosting their morale.
Although due to her special status and not a harmonious relationship with the gods, few gods dared to marry Ishtar.
But even if you haven't eaten pork, it's not like you haven't seen pigs run.
She is very familiar with the market conditions and what price each person should pay!
Logically speaking, for a newbie to get three silver coins at a time, it’s already considered the top level in the industry.
Any more and it would be suspected of price gouging.
As he listened to Ishtar's confident explanation of the market conditions of Uruk's sex industry, Lorne's face grew darker and darker, and he felt a strong sense of humiliation in his heart.
Do you really think I'm a kidney seller?
Besides, even if I sell it, I’m not that cheap, right?
At the Ares Mountain, the goddesses transported gems, gold coins, minerals, and magic books in carts and boxes so that they could be alone with me.
Even later, when Judas betrayed Christ, he was still able to get 30 silver coins from the Roman governor.
But when it comes to you, you only give me 3?
——That’s too much!
Luo En was furious, and threw the three silver coins in his hand back with a sneer:
"You don't have to give me that. In addition, I'll give you another thirty gold coins."
Not only do you not have to pay for your purchase, you can even get extra tips? This is actually a good thing!
Ishtar looked at the three silver coins that were recovered and the large bag of jingling unexpected gains, and her mind was instantly filled with incomparable excitement.
At this moment, Loen's true intentions were exposed, and a sinister smile appeared on his face:
"The going rate is three silver coins per time, right? The money has been paid, and you have accepted it. Now it's my turn!"
As soon as the words were spoken, the identities of hunter and prey, buyer and seller, guest and server were reversed.
The great goddess of Uruk clutched the heavy purse in her hand and officially started her business amidst her wailing.
~~
The fierce battle lasted for three days.
Looking at Ishtar lying on the bed as soft as mud, Lorne ended the battle with satisfaction.
I have to say that in terms of cost-effectiveness, this great goddess of Uruk is absolutely second to none. You only need thirty gold coins to get the full experience and enjoy all the services you deserve.
But the future shepherd and the future Lucifer slept in the same bed and even argued about who was whoring whom. It always felt weird.
Soon, Loen shook his head, dispelling the slight sense of guilt that was rising in his heart.
The Whore of Babylon in the Bible symbolizes blasphemy and desire. In addition to referring to Rome and Nero, Babylon and Ishtar are also one of the original texts.
As an earthly shepherd, it is his duty to devote himself a little and purify this evil.
Well, that makes sense!
Having completed the logical consistency of the spiritual core, Loen got up with satisfaction, dressed, and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Ishtar.
Soon, a delicious and hearty breakfast was served on the table.
The aroma of food drifted into the bedroom. Ishtar on the bed opened her eyes suddenly like a shark that smelled blood. She rushed to the dining table at lightning speed and reached out to grab the tender and juicy lamb chops on the plate.
“Bang!”
A wooden spoon came out horizontally and hit the pink claw mercilessly:
"Wash your hands before you eat!"
“There are so many rules.”
Ishtar grumbled angrily, but she didn't dare to offend her new breadwinner, so she could only finish washing up as required, then sat down at the dining table and began to enjoy the feast.
After a whirlwind of food and drink, the goddess, who had eaten and drunk her fill, stood up and walked out the door as usual, ready to go to Mount Ebifu to clean up the rampant monsters and the Garula spirits that had sneaked out from the underworld.
Before leaving, she seemed to have thought of something and stopped to look back.
Looking at Lorne who was cleaning the table, Ishtar hesitated for a moment and said casually:
"Well, the spiritual veins of Mount Aibifu seem to be recovering soon, and I have almost cleared out the demon beasts and Garula spirits in the mountain. It will take at most another day or two to sort out the problems here, and then the restrictions will be lifted, and I can leave Mount Aibifu."
"Yeah." Lorne replied casually and continued to clean up.
Ishtar gritted her teeth, a little mad: "Don't just hum! Don't you have anything else to say?"
"say what?"
"I've done what I need to do. Are you mine from now on? Shouldn't I have a share of what you have?"
Luo En rolled his eyes, put down the plate in his hand, and asked:
"You want to know how to grow Mana, right? When I'm done here, I'll go to Nineveh with you. The soil there is good, we can try to grow Mana."
"Okay, it's settled!"
After getting the answer she wanted, Ishtar couldn't help but smile.
Looking at the great goddess excitedly boarding the sky boat Mayanna and rushing to her work place with great enthusiasm, Loen couldn't help but shake his head secretly.
After all this time, it turns out that you are in a hurry to sleep with me because of this.
He had to beat around the bush when he could have explained it in a few words. He ended up getting himself into trouble and still acted like he had made a fortune.
I really don't understand Tsundere's train of thought...
Never mind, she can make money however she wants, I won’t lose anything anyway.
As long as we get to Nineveh, we can stabilize this first seed in the name of cultivating "Mana", and then we can take the next step and look for the second seed.
While thinking, Lorne continued to be busy as usual.
When he finished the chores at hand, he suddenly discovered that Ishtar, who had just left, had returned and was standing outside the temple looking around, as if looking for something.
"What's wrong? Did something fall again?" Lorne asked as he walked out the door.
Hearing the questioning voice and seeing the figure walking out of the temple on his own initiative, Ishtar breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"There's something wrong in the mountains. I'm afraid you need to come with me."
"Is it because of the spiritual vein?" Loen frowned.
"You'll know when you get there."
Ishtar grabbed Lorne's arm without saying anything and pulled him down the mountain.
After passing through layers of dense forests and walking along several rugged and winding paths, the two finally arrived at a mountain wall.
Ishtar pulled aside the dead vines wrapped around the surface, revealing a cave extending downwards.
"Follow me."
The goddess gave a simple reminder, then bent down and walked in front.
It was very dark and deep inside, and seemed to lead to the depths of the earth.
The two walked for half an hour but still couldn't reach the end.
"Hasn't it arrived yet?" Lorne was a little confused.
“Soon,” Ishtar replied casually.
As the two were talking, a chill wind blew from the front, and rustling sounds were heard all around, as if some strange reptile was approaching from the darkness.
Ishtar frowned slightly, raised her hand and took out a gun cage-shaped lantern from the magic circle.
The faint blue flame flickered in the lantern, illuminating the darkness ahead.
The rustling sounds of crawling things around suddenly disappeared, and the air blowing in the face was no longer as cold as before.
"Follow me closely, don't fall behind."
The goddess reminded again, and continued forward with the lantern in hand.
However, Loen stopped and stood still.
This is not Ishtar!
That woman's way of dispelling the undead has always been to use Maanna to clean the ground, or at least runes and gems flying everywhere, her method is not so gentle.
And, speaking of Mayanna.
When the other party appeared, it seemed that he was coming on foot.
As a goddess with divine power over the sky, Ishtar's usual mode of travel should be riding on the sky boat Maanna.
In addition, this mysterious man has said very few words since he set out on the journey, which is completely different from Ishtar's noisy personality.
Combining the above doubts, Loen can basically conclude that his judgment is correct.
"It was discovered so soon? I thought we could keep it a secret longer."
At this moment, the mysterious man in front also noticed the abnormality behind him and officially removed his disguise.
Under the swaying of the blue light, her long hair turned from black to gold, and she wore a Sumerian-style golden-red cloak, which was embedded with black and gold hollow armor, a metal waist ornament spread out like wings, and a skirt armor decorated with dark red gems. Black stockings wrapped around her ivory-like legs, and gilded combat boots on her feet. A red halo like a crown floated above her head, her golden pupils glowed with divine brilliance, and a teardrop-shaped pattern was embellished on the left corner of her eye.
Although her facial features were exactly the same as Ishtar's, her face was delicate yet pale from not seeing the sun for many years, and her temperament was very different from that of the sky goddess.
Calm, quiet, gloomy, and cold, like an underground river flowing quietly deep in the earth.
"Who are you?" Lorne asked.
“Ereshkigal.”
The goddess held a dark blue lantern in one hand and a spear and sickle transformed from red thunder in the other, and answered proudly.
"Mistress of the earth and the underworld?"
Loen looked surprised and suspicious, as if he was frightened by the name that symbolized terror and death, and instinctively stepped back.
"Don't be nervous, I mean no harm." The goddess explained in a deep voice, "Siduri asked me to help you."
"help me?"
"Yes, I will help you get rid of the entanglement of that crazy woman and take you out of her clutches."
Ereshkigal answered seriously, her words revealing her disdain and contempt for her younger sister.
"If you don't believe me, I still have the evidence left by Siduri."
As she spoke, Ereshkigal threw out a ceramic tablet with a wedge-shaped divine crest engraved on it, which held Siduri’s divine aura.
So that's what is happening.
Luo En figured out the whole story and couldn't help but feel emotional.
The Babylonian god of wine really had a wide range of friends. Not only did he get along well with difficult crazy women like Ishtar, he could even ask Ereshkigal, the goddess of the underworld, to do things for him.
If I had known that she was so powerful, I would have found a reason to ask her to help organize a drinking party and invite these two sisters over.
But then again, Siduri was really nice to him.
Luo En withdrew his thoughts and looked at the goddess of the underworld in front of him:
"Lord Ereshkigal..."
"Don't be so polite, just call me Ailei. You are Siduri's friend, and you are also my friend."
Ai Lei waved her hand slightly, showing a kind of approachable and easy-going attitude.
Lorne nodded and asked:
"Then, Master Ailei, may I ask, is there any price for Siduri to pay for your help?"
This is actually the problem?
Ai Lei glanced at the man in front of her in surprise, and immediately felt a little fond of him:
"No wonder Siduri cares so much about you that she went to the underworld to find me. You have to know that she never asks for help."
As Loen listened, he was immediately moved by his drinking buddy, and a hint of genuine worry appeared on his face.
Everything has a price; this is the universal rule in the dealings of the gods.
Ai Lei smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm just the goddess who rules the underworld, not some evil ghost who likes to dig out livers and hearts. Siduri asked me for help, and she only needs to buy me a glass of beer later."
Hearing this, Luo En breathed a sigh of relief.
It can be seen that the two goddesses have a good relationship.
It is no wonder that in Babylonian mythology, Siduri and her tavern appear frequently together with the underworld, with some versions even classifying her as a member of the underworld gods.
"Thank you for your help, but I still have a question. Where is Siduri? Why didn't I see her come with us?"
"Of course I will stay in this world and hold that crazy woman back for you."
Ai Lei answered casually, revealing a rare gloating look between her eyebrows.
"You're missing, and she's the prime suspect. If she's been with Ishtar all this time, then the woman has no reason to bother her."
An alibi, right?
It turns out that you two are a gang and are working together to set up a trap for Ishtar.
Luo En didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and couldn't help but say something fair:
"Actually, there might be some misunderstanding between you and Ishtar. She's a nice person."
"You actually spoke for a crazy woman like that? I think you've been tortured to the point of being stupid!"
The goddess of the underworld, who had originally had a friendly attitude, suddenly looked sullen.
Is the relationship between these two sisters so bad? Can't they reconcile?
Lorne muttered to himself, then carefully suggested:
"How about you let me go first? If we can talk it out, maybe there won't be so many misunderstandings."
"I see. You are obsessed with sex and have been bewitched by her!"
Ai Lei sneered and slashed the sickle in her hand towards the ground in front of her.
The ground under Loen's feet suddenly broke apart, carrying him rapidly into a dark valley.
"You've entered my territory and you still want to leave? No way! Until Siduri comes to pick you up, stay in the underworld!"
The goddess of the underworld snorted coldly and activated her power, and the entrance to the valley leading to the living world closed with a roar.
(End of this chapter)
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