The Bizarre Female Corpse and the God-Servant

The reeds along the Nile rustled in the morning breeze.

A stretch of riverbank lay before him, thick with reeds, the river sparkling in the morning light. Yet the tranquil scene had been disrupted by a commotion at the water's edge.

Quite a few curious onlookers had gathered by the river. A ring of temple guards had already been formed there, their spears in hand and expressions solemn as they kept all curious civilians outside. In the middle of the riverbank, several priests in dark ceremonial robes surrounded a corpse covered by a white cloth, chanting something under their breath.

"A strange female corpse."

Ian stood at the edge of the crowd, narrowing his eyes as he examined the disturbance ahead. At least twenty temple guards had formed a human wall, their bronze spears crossed to seal off the entire riverbank. Fine beads of sweat glistened on their bronze skin beneath the rising sun, yet the hands gripping their spears were steady as stone—clearly, they had undergone rigorous training.

"Step back! The sacred ritual must not be desecrated!" a guard barked, his spear tip dangerously aimed at the fishermen in the front row. Ian noticed that different runes had been carved into the guards' armor—not the usual Eye of Horus, but three overlapping rings adorned with a star-shaped pattern at their center.

Ian had originally intended to approach directly.

But the guards' tight blockade made it impossible to get close from the front. Ian quickly scanned his surroundings and spotted a dense patch of reeds upstream from the riverbank. It was relatively secluded, beyond the guards' line of sight. Once he reached that hidden spot, he silently recited the Disillusionment Charm again, and his body gradually blended into the air, vanishing like morning mist.

"The Disillusionment Charm really is a