Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 177 The Ancient Serpent Is Everywhere
At Senette's command, several servants rode at full speed to Habisa's hometown.

It was a small village called Bubas, not too far from the holy city of Heliopolis, but not too close either. It took the servants two or three days just to find the village—not because the journey was difficult, but mainly because they had never been to such a rural place before.

Even if they were servants, they were still Sennet's servants, and they would never deign to come to such a remote village.

Indeed, they were still servants by Sennett's side, but in this remote countryside, they all became figures from the city—not to mention, their smart clothes alone were unmatched by the locals. Only local strongmen like the village chief could barely be compared to them.

Even the local powerful families, when faced with these servants who carried out the will of the great man, could only smile obsequiously and deal with them cautiously.

"So you gentlemen have come here to see Habisa?"

Upon hearing the purpose of the servants' visit, Elder Bubas, who had initially thought it was something important, was slightly taken aback.

"That lad... I remember he went to war with the army. When did he return?"

"……Um?"

The servants exchanged glances and frowned.

"But the news we received was that he had returned."

"This... I'll go and ask right away."

The elder of Bubas Village shrank back. At this moment, the old man even wanted to skin the boy named Habisa alive. He knew that the boy was troublesome and had caused trouble outside.

However, just as the elder was about to leave, his servants suddenly called him back.

"Don't make a sound. Be careful. If he gets away... you know the consequences."

This meant a secret arrest was imminent, and the elders of Bubas village understood this.

So he immediately declared that he would be careful and would never let Habisa find out.

As the village head and a local strongman, the elder of Boubas Village was remarkably efficient in this regard—he only needed to ask two relatives to find out that Habisa had returned.

However, although Habisa did return, he did not go home, but wandered outside the village, and it is unknown where he lived.

Even when they do appear occasionally, they're either helping someone with work or chatting with someone.

"What's going on with this kid?"

Although quite puzzled by this behavior, the old man immediately reported the news to his servants.

This caused the servants to frown.

"He's already a priest, why would he come back specifically to do something like this?"

"What? You're saying he's already a priest?"

It was at this moment that the old man heard this earth-shattering news from his servants—his son hadn't even passed the apprentice priest exam and had been driven out of the holy city.

And now, that farmer's son has actually become a priest?
How is this possible?

"But now it seems... that kid was probably kicked out too."

This might be the only explanation that could offer the elderly person some psychological comfort.

But then, the servants told him something that left him speechless. Habisa hadn't been driven out; he had abandoned his priesthood and left the holy city on his own.

This made the elderly man even more dizzy.

Although his son often said that he returned from the holy city of Heliopolis because he didn't want to be a priest, it was one thing for him to say it and another for others to say it—clearly, this boy named Habisa really did give up his priesthood and went back to his hometown to work for his fellow villagers.

"Has this kid gone mad?"

The old man was completely baffled; he had never encountered anything so strange in his life.

The servants felt the same way, especially when they heard that Habisa had come all the way back just to help other farmers—to abandon his noble priesthood and do something so degrading was completely incomprehensible to them.

You see, even these servants have long since stopped doing farm work. Only peasants do those arduous tasks. And while they are servants, they are servants of the esteemed Senette, people of status, and would never do such a thing.

But this Hapisa, who had already become a priest and a person of high status, actually...

"No wonder Madam Senette is so interested in this boy named Habisa."

At this moment, the servants also became curious, eager to know what was going on with this kid.

However, just as they were trying to find Habisa and ask him what he was thinking, they suddenly realized that Habisa seemed to be deliberately avoiding them. When they appeared in the fields with the local village chief, Habisa would not show up at all. Instead, when the peasants were working, Habisa would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"It seems our whereabouts have been discovered, and he doesn't want to see us."

The servants quickly made a judgment and even came up with a solution.

That is, they also went to work in the fields.

They took off their shiny clothes and put on the tattered cloth clothes of the peasants. Although their hands hadn't touched a hoe in a long time, they could still manage by imitating their manners.

They would stop at nothing to carry out Sennett's orders.

However, it was obvious that compared to the locals, their work was far too rough. They hadn't done much work all morning and had exhausted themselves. This made the servants frown even more. They really didn't know what that boy named Habisa was up to.

But just as these servants, disguised as farmers, were complaining bitterly, Habisa, weary from his journey, appeared before them.

Like old friends who hadn't seen each other for years, Habisa took the hoes from their hands with ease and worked hard for them, even striking up a conversation with them as if they were old friends.

"You were all saying that you were having a hard time, right?"

Habisa said this in front of several servants disguised as farmers.

"Have you ever gone to the Temple of the Sun to pray?"

The servants naturally nodded slightly; praying to the sun god was something everyone had to do, and they couldn't shake their heads at a time like this.

However, at this moment, Habisa spoke up again.

"Since you have already prayed to the sun god, why is your life still so miserable?"

"Does this mean the sun god did not respond to you?"

(End of this chapter)