He and It Chapter 140: The Serpent of Pharisee (6)

Chapter 140: The Serpent of Pharisee (6)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

After that cruel deed, the giants brought a large, lightweight iron bucket, as high as a man, filled with good varnish, then laid down a heavy scrubbing cloth, like a carpet, and commanded them, “What are you waiting for? Dip the cloth in the oil and scrub the horns and bodies of those animals!” 

After they said that, the giants, with malice in their hearts, pressed the snake whips on their waists, just waiting for any of the humans to cower. They would take their snake whips to smash the flesh and blood of the other party, and play some happy tunes, so that the snake demon in the depths of the earth’s palace would be relieved, and not be angry with them.

The crowd was fearful and trembling, and beads of sweat like tears fell from their faces. Some of them clenched their teeth, and couldn’t stop looking at the rock walls on both sides, intending to crash into them. Even if they were thrown by the God of Death into the bottomless Styx, ¹  it was still better than suffering there. Some of them shook their fists at the sky and cursed the earth, angrily accusing the Goddesses of Fate and Zeus, they had once so devoutly worshiped, those cows and sheep, and wholeheartedly cared for their many deities. However, at this juncture, there was not a single god who had accepted the sweetness of that livestock and was willing to intercede, which was the only way to save them, a betrayal so great that it sent chills down one’s spine.

The sadness and mist covered the space at the edge of the pastureland, but Xie Ning wasn’t much affected, nor was he very desperate.

Pouring oil on the bulls’ fires would always make the fire burn more and more vigorously and the bodies of the bronze oxen were self-combustible. The giants may be all monsters who weren’t afraid of fire, but the scrubbing cloth wasn’t, was it? How much cloth would be wasted scrubbing a bull like that? 

There must be another solution..

As he studied the situation, Xie Ning’s eyes widened.

He turned around and crept over to the group of slaves in the corner, all still grieving over their master’s death, and who were sitting there as if they were dead.

“Food,” Xie Ning said, struggling to find words in his mind that he could use to communicate. “Go and demand food.” 

The servants ended their weeping and looked at him in consternation.

“I, scrub, oxen,” Xie Ning pointed to himself, then at the giant in the distance. “Demand food…water. Reward.” 

After some thought, he added stiltedly, “Thank you. I do not speak well. Please.” 

The light of the beasts’ fires brilliantly illuminated the empty underground palace, while not far away stood the huge remnants of ancient evils. In that context, the young boy’s childish pronunciation held a kind of oracle-like obscurity and solemnity.

The sons of Kostas mocked the boy as a false son of God, so did he really have the ability to get close to the beasts? 

The servants looked at each other. Their master was dead, and their lives were of no value, so, for the sake of this strange mystical feeling, they were willing to do the boy’s bidding.

At last, they elected a companion who had always been wise and clever and loved by his master, and, with secret jealousy and hope, sent him to be the messenger of the communication.

“Yours, request, directly,” said Xie Ning, struggling word by word, as he exhorted the messenger servant. “Boldly and clearly. Understand?” 

At his level of vocabulary, where others couldn’t get a fart out of three sticks, he could get a fart out of one stick. By running directly to the giant, the servant feared that his end wasn’t far from that of the first brother who was killed by the fall.

Xie Ning followed the servant, as they supported each other and walked fearfully towards the giants.

Was Xie Ning afraid? Of course he was, but even so, he had to plan for the future. Staying in that furnace-like heat for a long time, when the water and food were all gone, how could he build up his strength? He had to get out. He couldn’t be stuck here for the rest of his life.

“Great heir of Gaia!” The servant took courage and cried out respectfully, “Know ye that we are but men of flesh and bone, and have not the skin of rock and the arms of steel that ye have, and that if we take care of these beasts of fire, as the dove care for the eagle, and the goat for the tiger, which is as common to you as a common can be, but what a marvelous feat is it for us! Therefore, I ask you to be merciful. As kings reward their heroes, if we have scrubbed the bronze oxen and are still unharmed, will you give us a reward?” 

The giants were amazed to hear what he had come to say.

“There are still people with backbone here, they are not all cowards after all!” The giants said, pleased with the compliment. “Well, what reward do you want?” 

The servant spoke quickly, “Food and water. Nothing more.” 

Xie Ning hurriedly lowered his voice and prompted, “Rigor!” 

The servant thought for a moment, then continued to speak in a panic, “Let us take care of the cattle for you, Lords, so that you don’t have to strain your arms, and as a reward, you can give us some food! How much can we eat, being so small?” 

He cunningly changed the goalposts, turning a one-time reward into a long-term act of exchanging labor for sustenance.

The giants really did not spot the trap, and made up their minds that it was impossible for human beings to discover the secret of the bronze oxen. So they proudly granted the request, and swore an oath, then watched to see what the people would do next, expecting them to be burned to death.

“What have you done!” When he returned to the crowd, the people looked at Xie Ning in amazement. “What kind of promise did you make? Do you really believe that you can get close to those burning beasts, and pluck some good out of the giants’ fingers?” 

Xie Ning didn’t answer, since he couldn’t reply to such a complicated question. He unclasped his sketchbook and set it aside, turned around, and cautiously stepped inside the bronze fence of the pasture.

The heat rolled over him like a howling wind. It immediately cracked his lips and skin. It was difficult to open his eyes, and if it weren’t for the cloak wrapped around his head, his hair would have been scorched.

He looked around on the ground, picked up a piece of ore the size of his palm, and threw it towards one of the bronze oxen, and hit it with a “dang” sound. The bull turned its head and let out a threatening roar, but since it was a piece of grass, it lowered its head and slowly ate it.

After he had attracted its attention, Xie Ning picked up another piece of ‘grass’ and threw it in front of it, and the bull walked over to eat it again and so on, until, step by step, it slowly left the herd and approached Xie Ning’s position.

“How strange!” People were stunned. “Why did the animal’s flame gradually go out? Could it be that there are still gods protecting him?” 

The bronze ox walked and ate its way over, and when it stood in front of Xie Ning, the hard cowhide of the bronze ox was still the color of burning fire crystal, but it’s flames really were extinguished, and it was meekly chewing as it stood in place. Xie Ning turned his head and beckoned the others. Four or five people hurriedly carried the soaked scrubbing blanket over, and discreetly put it on the ox’s spine, then stood at the two sides, and scrubbed it.

The giants stared at Xie Ning with wide eyes.

How did such a small man understand the mysteries of the herd? They wondered silently, and suspected that the Gods had secretly assisted him. “How dare those gods, with their long reach, try to govern the Arima Palace?” 

“Fulfillment. Promises,” said Xie Ning, standing there for a while, his throat already dry and sore, his skin crusted with salt from dried sweat, his voice hoarse, “Food. Water.” 

The crowd woke up from their dreams. Having seen the miracles Xie Ning wrought, they too felt their spirits lift and dared to call the giants’ bluff. “Fulfill your promises! Since we dealt with the burning animals, you should keep your promise and bring us food and water!” 

For the sake of their oath, the giants were obliged to bring food and water. They put down boulder-like cowhide bags, threw in some cold roasted meat, dried bread – all dozens of times the size of ordinary food – and then rubbed the back of their heads, muttered and rushed away to report this strange turn of events to their companions.

With a stable source of food and drink, Xie Ning was able to relax for a while. He walked out of the fence alone, took out his waterskin, and drank several mouthfuls of scalding water to ease his dehydration.

“How did you do that?” 

“Are you really the son of a God, and how did such a miracle happen?” 

“Beseech your noble parents to get us out of here!” 

People gathered around him respectfully and expectantly, and the chatter was continuous and incessant.

Xie Ning had had enough of the son of a God misunderstanding, and he shook his head crisply, saying in a quiet voice, “No. Son of a God, no.” 

When asked again how he did it, Xie Ning picked up two pieces of ore from the ground and said succinctly, “Color.” 

That’s right, the bronze cattle ate ore, but in fact, there were two different types. One kind was similar to oil paint called ivory white with swirls of black, while the other kind was similar to the burnt sienna. ² If they ate the dark-colored ore, the flames on the bronze cattle doubled, if they ate the light-colored ore, the cattle’s flames became much dimmer.

Xie Ning had no talent for absolute color sense, but he had been painting for several years, so it wasn’t hard to identify basic colors. The others were too distracted by nervousness and fear to look closely, so he took advantage of the opportunity.

“Dark.” He held up one, showed it to the group, then held up the second. “Light.” 

One of the men marveled, “Apollo gave you a keen eye and Athena gave you a witty sense. You saved us all, and here we all thought you were a mute who couldn’t speak!” 

Xie Ning nodded carelessly. He was too tired, he had been so tense on the way there, followed by being grabbed by the arms and carried for so long, and then he’d been concentrated on observing and selecting the right ore, and then went to suffer in the heat for half an hour…He hadn’t collapsed yet since he’d been eating and working a lot the last few weeks to make up for his physical fitness.

“I’m, uh, going to bed,” he gestured, then got up from the crowd that surrounded him. “Sorry.” 

When they saw that he wanted to go to rest, the slaves who had lost their masters rushed to cluster around him, and watched over him. Out of gratitude, they made up their minds to follow this young man who had saved their lives.

Xie Ning picked up his travel bag, picked a corner, wrapped his cloak around him, and hastily lay down on the ground.

It’s been so hard to bear. Why do people have to suffer this kind of crime? He looked at the stone wall in a daze. I miss home. Mom, I really miss you. I miss my dad. I miss my grandparents…

He didn’t move at all. He didn’t bother to reach out and wipe his tears, since the water marks and sweat beads were all mixed together and it wouldn’t take long for them to evaporate and dry on his face.

Xie Ning quickly fell asleep and didn’t dream.

He didn’t know how long he slept, but he was shaken awake by the servants.

“Drink some water, young man!” a servant said. “Sleeping in such a hot place, no matter how strong a warrior is, he will inevitably get sick. I saw you weeping in your sleep, and calling for your mother like a baby. Alas, where did you come from?” 

Xie Ning sat up in a daze. His mouth was dry, so he took a few mouthfuls of hot water.

He shook his head, and didn’t answer the servant’s question.

I think no matter which time and space, or which country, the pronunciation of “mom” wouldn’t change.

While he was sleeping, the people had already picked up a lot of light-colored ores according to his method, and took turns scrubbing the bronze oxen, and had almost used up the bucket of oil. At that moment, everyone was sitting around the fence, sadly discussing what to do next.

Xie Ning went over to them and said, “On purpose.” 

At this time, everyone regarded him as a wise man who saved their lives. Seeing Xie Ning approaching, they hurriedly moved aside and asked, “My friend, what do you mean by this?” 

Xie Ning thought for a moment, then pointed to the oil barrel and said, “Oil. Not enough.” 

He then pointed in the direction where the giants had left, “Deliberate. Knew it could not be done. Oil used up. People burned.” 

While some were still perplexed, others already understood his meaning, and exclaimed, “So it is! Those giants knew we couldn’t get near those bronze oxen, and therefore only brought this one barrel of oil, and ordered us to try them one by one. Even if we found out the secret of the ore, when the oil was finished off, we will still all be burnt to death!” 

Xie Ning nodded, “Now wait. Rest. Don’t fret.” 

Perhaps it was because he had fallen into an extremely bad situation and cried a lot, but at that moment, Xie Ning had a kind of transcendent, out-of-the-way calmness.

Although the giants were ferocious and cruel, and had the benefit of immense power, their intelligence wasn’t high, and, judging by their words, it was the master of the underground palace who had ordered the sacrificial humans to graze and care for the cattle. There was no doubt that Echidna was in control of these giants.

Could they communicate with Echidna? 

Xie Ning pondered that silently. According to his initial impression, it was difficult to say whether Echidna possessed intelligence or not. Although it had a human body, it was also possible that it was a demon in human skin. The giants were dunces, but if a giant’s master was even more dunce than the giant, it would be a disaster.

As he thought about that, his fingers began to itch. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he picked the place furthest away from the bronze oxen, flipped open his sketchbook, recalled the initial appearance of Echidna, and painted one stroke.

Deep in the underground palace, the snake demon suddenly opened his eyes, and subconsciously twitched the tip of his tail.

Strange, Xie Ning thought in surprise. Is this because I’m so calm now? The pen is so smooth.

The tip of the pen was incredibly fluid as it traveled across the white paper, making a slight, rasping friction sound. Because he had collected a lot of ore before, his fingers were dirty, so Xie Ning didn’t dare touch the paper, but even so, his lines were still full of natural beauty, a state he couldn’t get even if he bathed and burned incense in the university.

The long, wavy, serpentine hair coalesced, and the shadows between them covered that gorgeous, glistening skin.

Echidna straightened up in surprise. The snake’s tail dragged through a mountain of treasures, and caused a thousand crashing sounds.

Why did he have the illusion of being touched? 

No, it wasn’t a touch, it was more like a direct contact with his soul…As if a dove’s feather had touched his soul with precision; a gentle stroke.

It was a touch that Echidna found hard to adjust to. It was like an exploration, a lingering caress that tickled his heart, and tingled and numbed wherever it went.

Confused, Echidna looked around. He loosened his snake’s tail from around the throne and patrolled the palace.

What was this? He hissed and slid out his black tongue. The forked tip of the tongue as if it were a living thing, twisted in both directions and probing the air for anything strange.

Xie Ning’s brushwork continued, as he sketched the arms and chest. He happily copied the tattoos from his mind’s eye, remembering the gold of the totems set against the draped jewels, as if they were streaks of starlight against the darkening sky.

Echidna hissed, and he couldn’t help but reach out. He raked his claws across the exposed parts of his chest, the claws sharp enough to split mountains, as jewels clinked. Those invisible feathers were literally caressing his bones, blood and flesh! It was so stimulating that his skin, always as cold as ice, began to feel an uncomfortable warmth.

“Who is it?” The snake monster was perplexed, as he spun around, his mind full of deep suspicion. “Who is it?” 

Xie Ning then turned to his brush. As the lines flowed, he sketched the snake’s tail and scales, but worried that simply tracing them was not strong enough, so he first lightly marked the position of the bones, and then filled in the appearance.

Echidna flicked his tail as if it had been electrocuted, and made deep indentations in the gilded copper floor, which was then corroded by a layer of poisonous foam.

There was no doubt that whoever dared to touch his tail in such a way was the boldest and most fearsome suitor. And if the Gods were responsible, he would infuse hot poison into their hearts, so that they too would weaken and weep. If it was demons doing it, he would seize them in his strong arms and crush them so that they could not never escape his bonds or step foot out of their beds again.

He commanded the shadows, but in them he saw no shadow of any living creature, nor any sign of the spell that they had cast. So, Echidna scurried about the empty palace, as he twitched his strong arms, shook his broad shoulders, looked around everywhere and never found any sign of the seducer.

“Is there such a thing in this world?!” The snake demon was angry and incredulous at the same time. He remembered the exclamations he had heard not long before, and was even more suspicious, for he had seen no one and yet the man was about to drive him mad.

So Echidna opened his golden eyes, and he peered downward into the endless underworld. The God of Death wondered about his visitation, and the souls in the Styx wailed at his gaze. Then he turned and looked upward at the sacred mountain of Olympus, where he swept over the Gods, and a chill of discomfort came over them all.

It never occurred to him to look at the human sacrifices that had been sent to him. Echidna knew perfectly well that they were ordinary humans, without magic and without favor from the Gods, so naturally they did not have the ability to do something like that.

“Ooh.” Xie Ning inhaled a breath. After drawing for nearly three hours, not only were his eyes dry and his shoulders were sore, his back was also very stiff. He couldn’t draw any more.

Just then, their giant supervisors returned in big strides, so he reluctantly stopped painting.

Seeing that the oil in the bucket had long since been used up, the giants were really satisfied. They didn’t have time to interrogate Xie Ning, they went inside the fence, picked up two bronze oxen coated with oil, didn’t even look at the tired human beings, and left another bucket of oil behind as they strutted towards the depths of the palace.

They didn’t dare to delay meal time, because the snake demon regarded his blood meal as extremely important. If there was the slightest delay, the one who would be buried in the snake’s belly would be them, not the bronze oxen.

There was no more.

Echidna clutched his chest, and raked his sharp claws over his smooth tail.

It stopped. It was gone.

From the palace doorway came a four-armed giant’s cautious, tentative words, “Master, today–” 

“…Go away,” Echidna hissed softly. “Go. Go away.”