Chapter 1162: Salt Erosion Punishment
“…Petrified?”
Guide Anar understood this sentence, but wished she hadn't.
She was a little panicked - because she could really understand what was going on.
Many transcendents on the Dusk Path possessed the ability to petrify, and some ancient ruins also contained curses that could turn people to stone. This wasn't uncommon...and more importantly, she had heard similar stories before.
At this moment, Zhu Tang realized something and frowned slightly.
"Let me ask."
It was the old ritualist Ibn who spoke.
He sighed, stepped forward and began to communicate quickly with the snake-man priestess in fluent Parthian.
Although Aiwass could understand some Parthian language, the priestess Dongya had been communicating with them in the standard and slow Star Antimony language, which sounded like a foreign language... However, such an important matter could be ambiguous even after one translation.
For example, the word "Shanzhu" is the result of translation from Xingti language, and its original meaning is closer to "merciful, kind, noble and holy master/lord".
The word "Master" that Anar addressed Aiwass as "Lao Ye" is part of this term. It was also a more intimate, less serious term of "master" used by slaves to address their masters. Therefore, it was translated as "Lao Ye"—a term of endearment used by Xing Ti's servants to address their nobles, more intimate than terms like "Sir," "Your Excellency," or "Mr."
However, the translation of these two words, the former, loses its connotation of humility, obedience, and fear, while the latter also loses its implication of a "master-servant relationship." This is the information loss caused by translation.
Dongya was obviously relieved to see that Ibn, a Parthian, could help translate.
She was obviously worried that she might say something wrong and send the wrong message. Ibn was obviously dressed like a ritualist, so he could understand some professional terms.
Amidst the rapid, vague discussions that were clearly mixed with dialect, there were also a few uneasy and fearful whispers and questions from Anar.
Ibn soon understood the situation and returned to Aiwass to repeat it in a low voice.
——This happened not long ago.
Just two days ago, a powerful petrifying curse suddenly erupted from the center of Rock Cellar City - the result of an attack caused by some irresistible ritual spell.
The snake-man priestess Dongya wasn't nearby at the time, having already taken shelter. Later, when she attempted to travel to Rock Cellar City to remove the curse, she discovered that the rituals and divine arts she mastered were completely ineffective. The curse had spread to her like a virus.
On the day she failed to lift the curse, she only noticed that a scale on her waist had become a little rough. But when she woke up the next day, she felt a noticeable stinging pain.
It was a pricking sensation—something like bone hyperplasia. Dongya discovered that the rough scale had completely transformed into a brittle, grayish-white stone shell. She forcefully broke the petrified scale apart, only to discover that the muscle inside had also petrified.
So Dongya used a scimitar to completely carve out the petrified flesh after blessing it. Then, he used a healing ritual to restore his damaged body. The snake-men priests were not masters of the divine arts of the Eternal Church, so they did not know illumination or fire worship.
But Dongya was already a third-level transcendent. Whether it was Avalon, Star Antimony, or Iris, they were all legitimate bishop-level divine spellcasters. Spellcasters of this caliber still had this level of healing ability... even mages were capable of healing minor injuries.
But before even the night was over, Dongya felt an increasingly intense dry itch that was even more unbearable than pain.
It is said that it is a kind of pain that is "comparable to the punishment of salt corrosion" -
The punishment of salting was a unique form of torture unique to Parthia, reserved for individuals of a certain status. It was also the most common form of torture. It was typically used to punish those who, with a small amount of wealth or power, dared to disrespect the lord—for example, merchants, priests, ritualists, or physicians. However, these individuals would occasionally use a simplified form of the punishment on their slaves, imitating the lord's authority.
The most common situation is that a private ritualist or physician has an affair with a slave girl of the benefactor, or a merchant on a slave-hunting team fails to meet the benefactor's order, or loses, kills, or maims an important slave that the benefactor specifically requested.
This punishment involves stripping the person naked, locking them in a cage, and then immersing them in thick, warm brine, a highly concentrated saltwater solution that may also contain minerals such as sulfur and saltpeter.
Dongya received this kind of punishment because she refused the touch of the good master.
Although it sounds like just a hot spring bath, the high concentration of salt water can cause severe dehydration. According to Dongya's own description, in the first few seconds, it felt like thousands of ice needles piercing the gaps between the scales.
Then, a tingling sensation spreads along the nerves, a burning sensation like holding a flame, traveling upstream along the ice needles. The once smooth, bluish-gray scales fade, dry, and peel, revealing the tender pink flesh beneath. The exposed, fair skin also whitens and wrinkles at a visible rate, like a dead tree drained of moisture.
The servant of the good master scooped up the brine with a long-handled copper spoon and poured it specifically on her waist, which refused to be touched, as a kind of "cleansing".
Different victims received different punishments from the salt erosion punishment. The good master was not too dissatisfied with her, so it was enough to bring it up at this level.
It is said that if you continue to soak, your skin will tear and curl up. Then your whole body will be severely dehydrated, and you may even be marinated alive and turned into salted meat while screaming.
——This is also the privilege of the good master.
Because all water belongs to the Good Lord, including the water in everyone's body, the punishment for the untouchables was usually hanging to dry or hanging upside down and bleeding to death.
However, for those of higher status, this would be too lengthy, neither intuitive nor swift. Furthermore, their crimes need not necessarily carry the death penalty. Therefore, the salt erosion penalty, which "can be brought up at will," "has the potential to result in death," and "is somewhat reversible," is the best option.
And it can also serve as a constant reminder to everyone that the Good Lord controls all the water in the desert, and that people are able to survive only through the grace of the Good Lord. They can give people life, and they can also take it back.
This torture lasted until nightfall, and even Dongya herself couldn't help but tear off her own scales, and the itching finally ended - petrification spread from under the scales like a plague, and this time it obviously spread to the surroundings.
What was once a scale the size of a thumbnail had now spread to a palm-sized patch. The pain had alleviated the itching so much that I could barely fall asleep.
As a result, her bedtime prayer was unexpectedly answered - in fact, for most pastors and priests, it is normal for prayers to go unanswered.
The result was the miracle of the apostles' coming.
However, Jacob did not remove the curse from her because he said "it was not necessary".
Because as long as she can complete her task, the curse will naturally be lifted; if she cannot complete it, then she naturally has no right to discuss this matter.
——The mission is to bring Aiwass, who will arrive at the temple today.
"But why did this curse appear?"
Aiwass frowned, "Did the Dongya priest say anything?"
"Yes," Old Eben nodded. "It was an extortion, a robbery... a kidnapping."
(End of this chapter)
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