In order to quickly establish a good relationship with the Lady of Beer of the Babylonian Divine Era and inquire about Ishtar from her, Luo En catered to her interests by presenting her with hops cultivated in the Divine Realm and inadvertently sharing his brewing thod.
And Siduri did not disappoint him. Through repeated attempts, she quickly transford the original Babylonian malt wine into modern European beer.
The relationship between them grew closer with each interaction, and they have reached the level of friendship.
However, before he could formally speak to Siduri, the Sun God Utu, as Ishtar’s brother, revealed her whereabouts and even considered matchmaking for him with Ishtar.
Draining her glass of malt wine with ice, Siduri hesitated for a mont before slowly speaking to Luo En across the table:
"You shouldn’t agree to this matter."
"What?"
"Agreeing to go to Abi Mountain and marry Inanna. As far as I know, she’s not an easy person to get along with."
"But didn’t Shamash (Sun God Utu) say that his sister has a good temperant?"
"When I encounter so bad-selling wine, I also say such things."
"..."
Seeing that Luo En was still sowhat skeptical, Siduri had to clarify:
"I know you’re not an ordinary person; you’re either a demigod or a deity."
As a Goddess with authority over Wisdom and a tavern owner who has entertained various guests, her skills in recognizing people are better than Utu’s.
Being able to leisurely graze near Mo Zhou Mountain and having unique insights and knowledge in domains such as jurisprudence, administration, brewing, and botany—how could he be just an ordinary shepherd?
When his identity was uncovered, Luo En did not deny it, showing a shy yet reserved smile:
"As you see, I am a Shepherd God wandering here, not of great consequence."
Shepherd God Dumuzi—that’s the second identity he fabricated for himself.
In the Two River Basin, where civilization centered on agriculture, deities related to livestock were not very popular and often remained obscure.
Coupled with the environnt of humans and deities living together and the convergence of the Divine Eras, the truth is hard to verify.
Of course, in so sense, he was indeed a Shepherd God.
However, the flock he shepherded was called—humans.
This fact is also recorded in the latest edition of the Bible compiled in Ro.
Siduri thought no more of it, sincerely advising:
"Even if you are a deity, that woman is not soone you can provoke. Heed my advice; it’s best to stay away from her."
"Why? Didn’t Lord Shamash say that you have a good relationship with those siblings?" Luo En asked knowingly.
"He calls himself Utu; he is the Sun God of Babylon, and his sister is Ishtar, the goddess governing Venus and the sky."
Siduri revealed their identities and added,
"Although I have a good relationship with Ishtar, I must admit she is a genuine troublemaker. Even with Utu’s recomndation and guarantee allowing you to marry Ishtar, you probably won’t have a good life after marriage. The wisest choice is not to go to Abi Mountain."
Hearing Siduri’s persistent advice, Luo En sighed inwardly.
On one hand, she revealed her friend Ishtar’s secrets to prevent him from jumping into the fire pit, proving that the Lady of Beer valued him and considered him a sincere friend;
On the other hand, Siduri, despite being a Goddess of Wisdom, had a conservative and stable personality, not liking to gossip about others behind their backs. Yet Ishtar could make Siduri break her usual stance, proving how absurdly the Heavenly Goddess acted.
Luo En couldn’t help but be curious and asked:
"What has Ishtar done to warrant such an assessnt from you?"
"Not much, just released the Heavenly Bull causing seven years of drought in Uruk; intoxicated the Earth God Enki and stole the Heavenly Ship Maanna; sneaked into the Temple in Eridu sealing Apsu and stole a large amount of Divinity from the Divine Ancestor’s remains; afterwards, to evade the Magic Beasts sent by Enki, she blew up the riverbank, almost causing flooding throughout the Two River region..."
Siduri detailed Ishtar’s illustrious deeds one by one.
Finally, she raised her head to look at Luo En, her gaze filled with pity:
"Do you know why Utu wants to lead you to Abi Mountain instead of letting Ishtar co to et you?"
Luo En shook his head.
"Because Ishtar is being punished there and cannot leave..."
"Why?"
"Just when she got hold of the Heavenly Ship Maanna, she tested its power using Abi Mountain as a target, and accidentally slaughtered the Mountain Spirit there..."
As Siduri spoke, even she couldn’t maintain her composure.
In the Babylonian Divine Era, Abi Mountain had a series of rolling peaks and majestic contours, serving as the highest spiritual peak in the entire Two River region with the special significance of connecting heaven and earth.
Its existence was even older than so deities.
Thus, even one of the Trinity, Heavenly God Anu, maintained a certain amount of respect towards it.
Fertility, grace, beauty, and majesty were its synonyms.
However, now the divine aura shrouding Abi Mountain has long vanished, and nearly half of the mountain range has suffered varying degrees of breakdown and collapse.
Barrenness and desolation have beco the current undertone of Abi Mountain.
The reason, naturally, was because a certain lawless Goddess was dissatisfied with the Heavenly Father Anu’s admiration for a lifeless entity, so she brought all her weapons to test on Abi Mountain.
In the end, this pampered Goddess who broke into the spiritual peak won the final victory.
She stood at the mountain peak, pulling the Divine Bow ford by the Heavenly Ship Maanna to full draw, shooting arrows ford of Divine Power into the heart of the mountain, eradicating this ancient existence.
Losing the support of the Mountain Spirit, Abi Mountain’s environnt deteriorated, the earth’s aura changed, and nurous Magic Beasts grew.
As the pillar between heaven and earth, the collapse of Abi Mountain also caused the gates of the Netherworld to open, letting death’s aura leak out, with many Evil Spirits escaping into the present world through the cracks in Abi Mountain.
Seeing she accidentally caused another disaster, Ishtar resorted to her usual trick, pleading and crying to Heavenly God Anu, Earth God Enki, and Moon God Sin among other deities.
However, because of her previous willful actions, Ishtar had already troubled the Babylonian Pantheon of Gods greatly.
The Pantheon dare not continue indulging this mischief-maker, so they unanimously decided to move Ishtar’s Temple to the summit of Abi Mountain, suppressing the out-of-control earth’s pulse.
Moreover, she was confined within Abi Mountain, responsible for clearing the Magic Beasts and Evil Spirits spawned in the mountain.
Only when the disaster cald down would the restriction of the Temple be lifted, allowing her to leave Abi Mountain.
This was precisely why Luo En had been loitering around the Gods Tavern for so long without eting Ishtar.
After hearing the whole story, Luo En was taken aback.
Indeed, the prototype of Lucifer is truly worthy of praise for being able to cause such trouble.
But having been plagued once, why haven’t those Babylonian deities peeled Ishtar alive?
In response to Luo En’s question, Siduri’s answer was sowhat evasive:
"Ishtar’s identity is special, her father Moon God Sin and her brother Utu are very prestigious, and the Pantheon refrains from being too harsh out of face."
That doesn’t seem right.
In terms of identity, Heavenly God Anu and Earth God Enki, aren’t they more noble than Moon God Sin and Sun God Utu?
Having been hard thoroughly by Ishtar, and yet remaining silent, the issue certainly isn’t as simple as it appeared.
It’s not refraining out of face but due to so reason that kept them from acting rashly against Ishtar.
Luo En pondered and vaguely guessed.
Is it because if Ishtar dies, her Spirit and Divinity would flow into the Netherworld, causing the fusion of two Seeds, leading to the resurrection of Apsu or Tiamat?
Most likely so.
It seems these are indeed the people he was looking for.
"Thus, I am telling you all this because I don’t want you to jump into this pit. After all, the Pantheon spared Ishtar due to her special status, but they have no connection with you. If you two marry, you are likely to be implicated by her actions."
Siduri spoke seriously, advising once more.
But finding Ishtar is Luo En’s purpose for this trip; Abi Mountain is a place he is determined to visit, so he could only politely refuse Siduri’s kindness:
"But, I promised that esteed one, I must see it through..."
"Alright then, I’ll accompany you tomorrow to look for so salvage options."
Siduri made the final arrangent and smoothly invited Luo En to stay over.
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