He and It Chapter 155: The Serpent of Pharisee (21)

Chapter 155: The Serpent of Pharisee (21)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

The underground world remained quiet for a long time. Xie Ning leaned against Echidna and said softly, “Thank you.”

Echidna didn’t want to tell him the truth, that he deeply regretted it in his heart. Hoarsely, he said, “It’s all right. I love you.”

With the words spoken, a heavy burden was lifted off Xie Ning’s heart, and he felt a sense of relief. Suddenly, he remembered the messenger and couldn’t help but ask, “What about Xanthippe? How is she?”

Echidna replied unhappily, “She escaped! Like a gazelle chased by tigers and leopards, she fled from the door in a panic while I was urgently looking for you. But she can’t leave Arima. I am determined to spill her blood in the dark underground.”

“Let her go,” Xie Ning pleaded. He explained to Echidna the reasons behind Xanthippe’s visit to him. “It was me who sent her to find you, and I promised her that after this, she could leave here and go wherever she pleases.”

Echidna was furious! If given the chance, he would have cut off Hermes’ legs, broken his caduceus ¹ in two, and slammed it into the mud.

“Fine. As you wish,” the snake demon said grumpily. “Anyway, she is just an insignificant pawn, not my main enemy.”

As soon as the demon finished speaking, the stone door of the palace opened. Xanthippe, draped in a cloak, knew that Dorus had fulfilled his promise, so she quickly ran out of the palace, eager to step onto the sunlit earth.

The sunlight shone on her dazzlingly white skin, which caught the attention of Apollo. The distant sun god furrowed his brows, and called upon his brother in the Heavens.

“Hermes, take a look down there,” Apollo said. “Xanthippe has escaped from Arima’s Palace. Has she neglected her duties and abandoned her responsibilities? Please go and see what’s going on.”

Hermes was also puzzled. He descended to the mortal realm, and transformed into an elegant and noble woman before appearing before Xanthippe and reprimanding her without mercy.

“Look at this hurried woman!” the beautiful woman said. “Did you run away from your husband’s spinning wheel? Did you walk away from your child’s cradle? Why are you standing here alone, behaving like a homeless wanderer?”

Xanthippe secretly lamented. At a glance, she recognized that this was an incarnation of a deity. She quickly cried out, “You are a wise lady, so please understand my plight. I just escaped from the demon serpent’s cave. I revealed a terrible secret to him, so he threatened to kill me, and I made great efforts to escape from the clutches of death! If you could show me mercy and give me a way out, let me be your humble servant, rather than being buried in the jaws of snakes and miserably devoured.”

Hermes was satisfied. He saw that Xanthippe wasn’t lying. She’d followed his orders. However, he was troubled about how to deal with the beautiful creature.

He resumed his original form and solemnly said, “Indeed, Xanthippe! Your words are not without merit. However, my decision alone cannot determine your fate. After all, you have not completed your mission.”

Xanthippe quickly knelt at the feet of the deity and clutched his knees, as she pleaded, “Oh, Hermes! I have no temple to pray in. Your knees are my altar. Please remember your noble promise. If I fulfill your requirements, you will intercede for me with Athena.”

Seeing Xanthippe’s charming and appealing posture, bestowed by Aphrodite’s grace, Hermes could not help but be influenced. The deity lifted the woman up and comforted her kindly, “You are right. I should not forget my vow! Let me take you to Mount Olympus, where I will speak for you.”

On Mount Olympus, all the gods were gathered in the temple. They faced Hermes, and saw that he was accompanied by the humble Xanthippe.

“Why is this woman here?” Athena reproached. “Have you forgotten your duties? Olympus entrusted you with the task of destroying the bonds between that couple, yet you, wearing a veil of shame, bring the love-struck Hermes into the halls of the Gods. Are you not afraid?”

Faced with the goddess’s anger, Hermes spoke calmly, “Athena, please listen to me. This poor woman should not be blamed! Unlike Pandora, who entered the ordinary and kind home of Epimetheus, she entered the nest of the demon Echidna. The demon did not favor her but threatened to kill her. She has done her utmost, and as you know, beauty cannot sway a wild beast.”

“So the Gods bestowed upon her gifts stronger than those given to Pandora,” Apollo said mercilessly. “Did not Athena give her versatile wisdom, Dionysus give her fearless courage, and I give her great artistic talent? With such gifts, along with the enchanting charm bestowed by the Goddess of Beauty and the God of the Forge, she still could not fulfill her task. I believe the honor of the Gods has been greatly insulted!”

Hermes was tongue-tied. Although he agreed with Xanthippe and was willing to intercede with Athena on her behalf, now his brother Apollo had also joined the ranks of those seeking vengeance which made him hesitate.

However, amidst the diverse opinions of the Gods, Aphrodite was in a cheerful mood, and had a smug smile on her lips.

“Ah, girl. Tell me,” she cooed cheerfully, as she stood there radiantly and played with Xanthippe’s enchanted love token. “What does your so-called failure mean? Can you not even separate them?”

Xanthippe honestly confessed, “I told Echidna all of Dorus’s secrets and said ‘he must return to his homeland.’ Echidna became furious and swore to severely harm me. I escaped, and he went to question Dorus. As he moved, Arima’s palace experienced violent tremors. After a long time of waiting in fear of death, the palace gates suddenly opened, and the poisonous river was cut off. The Fates showed me mercy. I dared not peek into the demon’s lair again, and quickly fled to the surface.”

“If what you said is true.” the goddess smiled faintly. “Then I can forgive you with compassion and allow you to be a servant to me!”

Xanthippe was elated, as if wanting to show everyone on Mount Olympus the irresistible power of love. Apollo, displeased, said, “This is not the time to celebrate, compassionate Love Goddess. Do you not see that Echidna is still a thorn in the hearts of the Gods?”

“In that case, you should think of something else!” Aphrodite gave him a mocking smile. “For the love of a mortal, why do you make such a fuss? The boy’s life is as fragile as a fallen leaf. Are you all afraid of such a small leaf?”

“That is exactly what worries us,” Athena said. “Because of the fragility of mortal life, we fear that Echidna will attack Mount Olympus for him, seize the cup of Hebe, the Goddess of Youth, and grant him eternal life without the permission of the Gods.” ²

Zeus, the Father of the Gods, sat on his throne, silent for a long time. Seeing this, Hera, the Mother of the Gods, furrowed her brows because Hebe was her beloved daughter.

“Say what you will! Now I’m going to take this woman away,” the goddess said. “You all have given invisible blessings to her, but my love token may not be borrowed for naught. Besides, my nominal husband created her, so I am her rightful mistress. You cannot interfere with how I deal with her.” ³

With that, she covered Xanthippe’s body with a light veil and led her out of the assembly of the Gods. Later on, she did not make Xanthippe her servant but sent her down to the mortal kingdoms, and made her queen of the island of Lemnos. In gratitude, Xanthippe built a beautiful temple for Aphrodite there, carving the statue of the goddess with her own hands, and grand festivals were held there on every occasion.

The Goddess of Love and Beauty departed, which left the rest of the Gods to discuss their thoughts with much dispute. Some believed that they should no longer meddle in the affairs of the ancient demon and let him wreak havoc; others proposed that the boy’s soul should be elevated to the sky after death, to become a permanent constellation, as a means of pacifying the demon.

However, in those disputes, the opinions led by Hera and Apollo prevailed. Apollo stubbornly blamed Dorus, the boy who had disrupted his festive gathering, insulted him among his brothers and sisters, and defeated Xanthippe. Among all the deities, he suffered the most embarrassment. Hera also opposed her daughter’s relationship with that strange union – one between humans and demons was indeed difficult to maintain.

Athena remained silent, contrary to her usual demeanor. When she looked at her father, in that brief moment, she suddenly recalled the tragedy of Oedipus. ⁴ In the sea of fate, all humans and gods were blind wanderers. The truth was accompanied by error, and the most unfortunate outcomes often came after people’s futile struggles to avoid them.

The fate of the boy made her uneasy because his future was uncertain, and did not appear in the thread of the Fates. She believed that her father also had the same premonition.

“Father, you are the omnipotent Father of the Gods. Tell me, how will you decide?”

When he heard his daughter’s words, Zeus opened his eyes. Before him, the debate among the Gods had a clear direction – under the advocacy of Hera and Apollo, they demanded a solution to the strange companions. The unbreakable bond the two shared also ignited the Gods’ fierce competitiveness.

“I say,” Zeus had pondered before speaking. “Let us watch from the sidelines. Not interfere, nor obstruct, and see how things develop.”

.

Regardless, Xanthippe left Arima unharmed. Xie Ning couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. With that, his life with Echidna could return to normal.

With the truth out in the open and feelings made clear, Xie Ning and Echidna’s relationship officially escalated to the level of “lovers.” Things that were once forbidden were now allowed…or so it seemed! What used to be forbidden remained forbidden.

For instance, after their successful confession of feelings, Echidna was filled with excitement and couldn’t resist hugging him for a long time. His forked tongue almost reached down his throat during the embrace. They were lost in the passion of the moment, but afterward, the consequences became apparent – Xie Ning’s lips were hot and numb, swelling like the actor Tony Leung in “Condor vs Eagle,” ⁶

Of course, even Gorgon blood couldn’t serve as an antidote to Echidna’s venom, but having such a thing was better than nothing.

Putting aside the task of finding Gaia for the time being, Echidna focused entirely on his wicked scheme. Against the winged Gorgons, he was like an eager hunting hound, ready to silently approach them from behind.

After he concealed his actions from Dorus, the demon secretly summoned his minions, who, terrified, came to Arima upon their progenitor’s summons. Amidst the lava and poison rivers, the monsters and their grotesque offspring anxiously awaited Echidna, without daring to speak.

The plight of Chimera and Hydra had been widely circulated among the monsters, and many of the lake nymphs and fairies they had previously mistreated now gleefully spread the news: those two famous monsters had offended the human loved by Echidna, they could not recuperate from their punishments for a decade or two.

“I want you to fetch me the blood from the right side of a Gorgon’s body,” Echidna ordered. “And place it in a clean golden vessel for me.”

The monsters couldn’t help but murmur in confusion. Gorgon blood was of no use to monsters. It only served as a reward for heroes and gods. For instance, Athena once gave blood to the God of Healing, although the gift brought him fatal consequences – Zeus, enraged by his ability to resurrect mortals, immediately struck him down with lightning. ⁷

However, why did Echidna want that blood? Though perplexed, they dared not question the demon directly. Having received Echidna’s command, the monsters departed, then gathered outside the bronze Gorgons’ domain, and harassed the Sea God’s offspring as much as they could, until the infuriated Gorgons were like two irritable crows that couldn’t land.

Between humans and monsters, the relationship was one of mutual hunting. However, they had more means to resist Gorgon’s petrifying power. Blindfolded, they tracked the Gorgons’ movements with keen senses and swiftly took the blood from the right side of their bodies. Before the brutal Gorgons could retaliate, the monsters scattered, fleeing in all directions.

“We have the blood!” “Blood!” “It’s here!” In the underground palace of Arima, the monsters chattered excitedly, surrounded Echidna and presented the filled golden vessel with scale and fur-covered claws.

Echidna held the prize. His black tongue darted out, and tested it. Indeed, it was a divine substance capable of resurrecting the dead. Delighted, the snake demon, as a gesture of gratitude, exchanged his blood in a vessel of equal weight.

“Excellent,” he hissed. “You have followed my orders, and I have rewarded you. Now leave! Don’t linger here and annoy me. It makes me irritable.”

The noisy offspring departed, and left silence behind. Echidna carefully studied the bloodline passed down from the Sea God, as he prepared a potion to alleviate his snake venom.

Even on the other side of the palace, Xie Ning heard the strange noises, as if a hundred zoos were holding meetings there. Curious, he approached but only saw Echidna. The snake demon was coiled up furtively and obviously up to something.

He wanted to get closer but hesitated. He touched his lips. Over the past dozen days, Echidna had been overly excited, and seized every opportunity to hug and kiss him. If anything else swelled again, Xie Ning couldn’t bear it.

As he was about to cautiously approach, Echidna finished his work and turned around happily.

Xie Ning, “Oh!” 

Echidna, “Hiss!”

One person and one snake were startled by the sudden movement of the other.

When he saw him, Echidna leapt up joyfully, and temporarily set aside the things that displeased him, as he focused solely on holding Dorus in his arms.

“Look!” he said. “This is a medicine concocted with the miraculous blood of Gorgons. Even though it cannot completely cure my snake venom, it can make you feel much better, which will allow us to be closer!”

Finished, Echidna eagerly stared at the other, his adorable, precious Dorus.

Xie Ning silently stared at the bottle, as he mentally translated his words.

“Gorgon’s blood…Gorgons aren’t your offspring, right?” Xie Ning asked.

Echidna cheerfully replied, “No, not at all.”

“Then how did you manage to get Gorgon’s blood?” Xie Ning asked.

Echidna replied with enthusiasm, “I stole it!”

Xie Ning, “…”

“So,” he said slowly. “You, in order to be intimate with me, uh…to put it bluntly, to go to bed, specifically went to steal someone else’s blood and concocted a potion?”

Echidna’s tail tip wagged more vigorously, and the snake demon happily admitted it. “Yes, just as you said!”

Xie Ning’s mouth twitched. He looked at the bottle with complicated eyes, took a deep breath, and sweat even began to form on his forehead.

“You…you’re really dedicated, haha.”

You’ve also put me under a lot of pressure, haha.

 

Gaea’s Note: I hope I’m not bombarding you with footnotes. It might seem like our author is throwing out every Greek mythical figure you can think of, but, well…the Greeks thought of a lot more than that. They had a LOT of gods, demi-gods, spirits and heroes to write about. Plus the stories read like soap operas.