He and It Chapter 161: The Serpent of Pharisee (27)

Chapter 161: The Serpent of Pharisee (27)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

Xie Ning said with careful calm, “Listen to my explanation.” 

“I won’t listen!” Echidna’s vinegar was as wide as the sea. His snake tail rolled and his teeth and claws were out, as if he was about to rush out of the palace, where the other would be grabbed in one hand and end up drop dead. “Do you even cover for him in front of me? O that the dove, flying among the rock clefts, should think that it could escape the eagle’s pursuit, when in truth it is altogether in vain! In the end, the eagle will still seize it with its sharp claws. The only difference between me and the eagle is that I am not satisfied with a pigeon for my midday meal, but will destroy it as I would blow away a speck of dust!” 

Even as he said that, Echidna couldn’t avoid recalling Dorus’ appearance when he arrived. Wherever he went, the young man had that cloak firmly wrapped around his body. Even when better clothing became available, he still kept it clean and folded up in the wardrobe room. Just the thought of it, that object given by a “speck of dust” caused the scales on his tail to quiver and rustle in discontent.

Xie Ning felt helpless and bemused. He rushed over to Echidna, and held his tail to keep him from storming off. “What are you thinking? I was just looking for an excuse. I didn’t mean to hide it from you…It happened when we had just met, so I kept things brief. I couldn’t explain everything to you in detail.” 

Echidna’s teeth itched with anger, his golden eyes burned like two risen clusters of ghostly flames; poisonous and fierce. He turned around. Xie Ning, as he hung on his tail, also followed the turn. He reached out to squeeze Xie Ning’s waist, but it was like Xie Ning’s arms were firmly glued in place, and wouldn’t let go of his snake tail.

He could have pulled him off his body by force, but how could Echidna do that? His muscles were as hard as bronze, while his soft Dorus lay on top of them. The slightest mistake would hurt people, so Echidna, with a belly full of fire, and hating his hanging hands, poked the ground and didn’t move.

Having temporarily brought the situation under control, Xie Ning’s heart sighed in relief. He clambered along the snake demon’s body to make his way up, then with his arm around his neck, and with a warm breath, hotly kissed the ear closest to him.

“Why are you angry? I don’t like him.” Xie Ning shook him gently and said with a smile, “We have nothing to do with each other. We are not even friends, and it could be that he even despises me a little bit. It was out of a sense of moral justice that he gave me his cloak to wear. If he hadn’t I would have ended up with more scars.” 

Echidna’s face cycled through various emotions for a while and he didn’t say anything. Xie Ning didn’t rush him, and sure enough, after the air was silent for a while, he asked gruffly, “…Why does he look down on you?” 

Xie Ning said to himself, You’re really good at getting to the point. Still, having thought that, he couldn’t hide anything else, but he was afraid that he would add fuel to the fire, so he reminded him, “I said don’t get angry…” 

Echidna didn’t reply as his arms quietly supported his lover’s legs. Xie Ning was right so he agreed. 

“You know, I just crossed over, is down to the forest, I really can not find the way out, in the forest to pick up a lot of wild fruits, worried about poisonous, want to put in the arms, and so on not out of the forest and then ate, die also do a full dead ghost… ” 

The snake demon’s arm tightened some, Xie Ning then said, “Well I soon found a road, I along that road, ran not a while, jumped out of the forest, fell to an altar on the side, and Iolcus’s old king collided with a. At that time, I had no money on me, I had no money on me, I had no money on me, I had no money on me, I had no money on me, I had no money on me, I had no money on me, I had no money on me, I had no money on me. I was penniless, illiterate, and could not speak the official language of the land, so I pretended to be deaf and dumb, but he was pleased to see me with the wild fruits, and hurriedly took me back to the city-state, where I was placed in the temple, and ate and lived with the priests. Later, I realized that I was lucky, the forest belonged to the god Pan, and the fruits I picked were planted by him, and they worked wonders, curing the whole city of an epidemic in no time.” 

Echidna was attracted by his story, but the jealousy was hard to subside, she was still unhappy, her hand was tightly wrapped around her, not willing to let go.

Xie Ning sighed, “Because of this, they all thought I was the son of a god, they were very nice to me, and liked my paintings…” 

For Echidna, these two things were simply natural, but if that was the case, how could Dorus have been sent here? 

He didn’t say anything, just listened.

“And then…” Xie Ning hesitated for a moment and said, “My identity was about to be exposed, not to mention the God’s son, I had no relationship with the God. After stealing Pan Shen’s things, and eating and drinking for free for so long, I feel quite sorry in my heart, so I came here… Well, Palaemon was the one who watched over me on the way, he may not have thought much of my behavior, but he still gave me a cloak to protect myself, so I think he’s a good enough guy.” 

Echidna looked queer, and, forgetting at once that he was still angry, said pointedly, “Is it possible that the people of this country are all ungrateful locusts, and that even the beggars who walk before the gates of the king’s palace, and sit on coals with their heads in the dirt, are inappropriate in all parts of the world, because the master of the house does not allow his guests to be seated on the roof of his house, and to give them hot food and drink, when you have saved their lives, Dorus! If they were afraid of the gods’ condemnation, they might not have eaten the fruit in the first place, and died of the plague or of divine punishment, they chose the latter, that is all!” 

Xie Ning had already left out the bad parts about being “involuntarily drugged” and “carried away on a ship overnight”, but Echidna was still furious, even more angry than before.

“Is Prometheus also shameful?” The demon god asked sternly, “How dare he steal the flame in high treason, so that mankind can get the plague in the magic box! –In that case, if human beings were to make a choice voluntarily, even if they knew that Zeus would offset the benefits of the Flame with the punishment of suffering, they would still choose the Flame without hesitation, because without the Flame, they would not be able to survive from the mouths of the beasts and monsters, let alone build a city and develop a civilization!” 

Xie Ning didn’t expect him to say that, in order to soothe the anger, he hastened to reason, “It was me who intervened, without me stealing the fruits, the Pan God would have most likely given it to them himself, and the Iolcus people wouldn’t have had to feel that they were complicit in the theft as well…” 

“That makes them even more hateful!” Echidna growled, “There are no ‘ifs’ in this world, and no pills of regret! Without you, they would have had to pray, as a farmer prays for sunshine and rain, for the mercy of a god whose moods are unpredictable and fickle, and would that have been more secure than your goodness? Having been spared the pain of dying of the plague, and still dreaming of the best of both worlds, what do they want next, the throne of Zeus?” 

Xie Ning was dumbfounded, and seeing that Echidna was trembling with anger, he hastened up to the other, and gave him a long kiss on the cheek.

“You don’t think like me,” Xie Ning said bluntly, “and the important thing is, we’re together now. If I hadn’t been sent out, you might not have seen me, and I wouldn’t have liked you, so I can’t say it didn’t work out, right?” 

He struck while the iron was hot, eager to divert Echidna’s attention, asking, “What did Palaemon say in his letter?” 

The Demon God was still angry, full of plans to retaliate, naturally refused to tell the content of the letter.

Xie Ning took him by the hand and dragged the letter paper over to have a look, but it was full of hieroglyphics like ghostly drawings, not to mention reading it, he could not tell whether to read it horizontally or vertically.

He continued to shake Echidna’s neck and begged softly, “Tell me what he told me in the letter, I’m really curious.” 

Seeing that Echidna still did not speak up, Xie Ning grunted and rubbed him and complained, “You don’t listen to me anymore, do you? You don’t listen to me, you don’t listen to me…” 

To describe Xie Ning’s position in Echidna as the pearl in his palm, the meat of his heart, is not an exaggeration, but also a bit modest. Being hooked by his ten fingers, shaking around on his body, the snake demon’s heart tip seemed to follow the back and forth, he reluctantly replied, “He asked about your situation.” 

“My situation?” Xie Ning froze, “What’s the point of asking about me?” 

“… Because he wants to invite you to a banquet, to eat with you.” 

It’s like toothpaste, asking a question and squeezing it out.

Xie Ning stifled a laugh, thinking it was really funny, but still put on a confused face, “Then why did he invite me to eat?” 

Damn vermin, he must be trying to steal you from me! Echidna shouted angrily in his heart, but he could not lie to Dorus, even though he really wanted to make up some bad words that would seriously ruin the other party’s reputation.

He said, “He wants to apologize to you.” 

“That’s strange.” Xie Ning raised an eyebrow, “And did he say, in what way he felt sorry for me?” 

Smoke was about to come out of Echidna’s head.

“… He’s about to realize how shameful he was for being an accomplice, for what you said.” He finished his speech in one quick breath, and hastily warned, “Dorus, do not pursue this any further, and let me recall that hero’s handwriting and words, I can hardly stand it any longer.” 

Xie Ning could not hold back a laugh that burst from his throat, and hastily disguised it as a cough-alas, it was too late, and Echidna, suspicious, sensing that something was amiss, turned his head, and saw Xie Ning’s ill-intentioned affectation.

He immediately reacted that his lover was teasing him.

“Hurray!” Echidna huffed, “Bad and cunning Dorus, now I have to punish you!” 

Xie Ning got what was coming to him, and was held down for over two hours, almost crawling.

He was lying on Echidna’s chest, covered in sweat, and coveted the feeling of closeness, unwilling to move, so he played with his partner’s long and slippery hair with his fingertips. After a while, he whispered, “Do you think, I should write him back?” 

The snake demon was in total bliss, his long tail cool and soft, wrapped in circles around the human’s sweating flesh, and warm and full as he wandered around in tight and loose wraps, so his words to the hero at this point were not so mean.

“That is a man born of a god, a half-godly hero,” whispered Echidna, “and it is for the best that we have no dealings with him, for he cannot understand us, and will not understand us. But if in your reply you give the slightest hint of Arima, the slightest word of me, ah, his letters of counsel and pity will come like snow, for he has decided that you are living a miserable life here, in my inhumane custody. Next, he might even be thinking of saving you, and discussing with you how to escape from here to live a peaceful life in the world.” 

Xie Ning was amused by his brainstorming, he thought for a moment, and said, “Then I won’t return.” 

“That’s for the best!” Hearing his words, Echidna was satisfied, hugging him tightly, “This is for the best.” 

–

When Palaemon was a child, his father, Achelous, the God of the River, had called upon the most renowned seeress of the world, Manto, to foretell the boy’s fate.

Manto was a priest of Apollo, favored by the sun-god, and lived as long as a demi-god; and she, looking carefully at the child’s face, asserted that his life was full of perplexing diversions, and that, in short, he might die a hero’s death, and, at a heavy price, rise to be one of the constellations of the heavens; or he might pass his life in obscurity, and yet die without disease or calamity, and be born without any disease or calamity. There is no difference between these two paths. There is no difference between these two paths, it just depends on his choice.

When Manto was gone, the river god looked at his youngest son, stroked his wet beard, and said, “I am your father, and naturally I expect my son to live and die in peace, which is not a common, but by no means unheard of end among the children of the gods. And you, my son, what do you think?” 

The young Palaemon had already taken in the priestess’s words, and had been fueled with ambition. It seemed to him the same as the story he had heard since his childhood: Hercules, at a fork in the road, met the woman of “Virtue” and “Pleasure”, both of which were very favorable, and persuaded him to go in his own direction. Hercules chose “virtue” and accomplished eleven feats that shook the world and gave him eternal fame among the gods.

“Such are my own virtues and pleasures!” Palaemon said, “O that I, like Hercules, might leave behind me an inexhaustible fame and glory. I am the son of a god, and it is natural that I should die like a hero!” 

His father, when he heard what he said, only sighed long and long, and, with a sad concern, went back to his underwater palace.

Now Palaemon sat in the bow of the ship, which was tossed by the great waves, and the boundless and turbulent sea was like his feelings at this moment.

After he had sent the boy who had pretended to be the son of God to Arima and returned, the old king woke up from a coma, and Princess Antheia told him about it, but the old king was still in the pain of the loss of his son, and just kept silent. Three months later, the two princes, who should have been buried at the bottom of the sea, unexpectedly appeared outside the palace gates, dressed in rags, like beggars, but they were still alive.

The kingdom rejoices, and the king is energized, ecstatic to have his sons back. But after the joy, there was always an obscure cloud, which now and then swept over the old king’s forehead, and made him intermittently sullen.

“O Palaemon, I may not be equal to your divine father, but I look upon you as another son of mine.” In private, the old king confided to him, “Since Dorus went away, I have often thought how we have wronged him. He was a benefactor to this country, and yet we banished him, and gave him an unfortunate end as the murderer of my son. Is this what a noble nation should do? I cannot blame my daughter, I know that she acted for the good of the country, for the safety of her relatives, but she sacrificed an innocent, deaf and dumb man, and that cannot be refuted!” 

Palaemon, with hidden guilt, consoled the old king, “Old man, even if he were a deaf and dumb man, who could not speak or hear, it would be very blasphemous for him to be treated as the son of a god, and moreover, did he not die at the hands of the dreadful Echidna? I have heard tidings from the ships of the north and south, who say, that for the sake of a human boy, the demon god has ceased to sacrifice, and has deprived the mighty Cilicia, of a reason for war in all directions.” 

The old king’s frown opened, and, as if he had unraveled a knot, he asked in a low voice, “Is it true? I would it were true, that I did not give him the name of Dorus, in order that he might die of the bite of a serpent!” 

Three months passed, and news spread along the coasts of the nations that in the land of Cilicia lived an artist whose skill was equal to that of the gods, and whose paintings the world was proud to receive. Two merchants, passing through Iolcus, visited the owner of this rich court, where they displayed many rare commodities, among which was a painting with very different strokes, in which, in a few brushstrokes, the snowy mountains glittered with the sunrise, as if they were undulating foamy ripples on the surface of the sea.

The gods were on the summit of Olympus, watching every movement on earth. They instantly aroused in the heart of the old king a soaring, exonerating feeling of gratitude, so much so that he sprang up from his throne, his eyes glowing.

That night the king came to Palaemon’s residence and made his request to him.

“Go and see Dorus for me!” He pleaded strongly, “If you can, get him out of there, as a fulfillment of my wish as a dying man. All my life I have treated men with kindness, and I hate to know that an innocent boy has been the victim of dishonor and immorality in my kingdom. Then, when I descend to the land of the most blessed, what will my ancestors think of me, and how will the gods of the underworld judge me?” 

Out of mutual regret, Palaemon agreed to the expedition. Now, with his ship breaking the waves, he was about to set foot for the first time on the land of Cilicia, this time with a great mission: the oracle of the Goddess of Fortune had decided that Echidna could only be slain by the heroes of the demigods.

With a firm faith, he thought secretly that this was his eleventh trial, the glory he needed to take in the fire and poison, and the mistake he needed to make good – to kill Echidna and to save the boy he had misunderstood in the past.

The ship docked, and Palaemon stepped onto the beach, armed with a shining bronze shield and the sword that had once slain the poisonous dragon. Just then he heard a distant cry for help from the depths of the forest, and swarmed into the forest with his soldiers, armed to the teeth, to find an old woman hiding on a rock, locked in a stalemate with a salivating boa constrictor.

“Save me, the hero in armor!” cried the old woman eagerly, “the beast seeks to eat me, and by the parents who bore me, and by the foster-parents who raised me, I swear that if you save my life, I will give you a great reward, and let all men praise your valor.” 

Palaemon stepped forward, and the python turned its head and struck at him. It sprang up in its great body, and its fangs penetrated the five layers of hide on the shield, but not the sixth; Palaemon raised his sword, and cut with a single stroke, which caused the poisonous blood to splash out, and the python twitched its tail fiercely, and tried to strangle him, but at once he gave the first and the third stroke, and severed the head with a violent blow, so that it was completely dead, and its fangs hung tenaciously on the shield, which was still tottering.

“Come down, that old man,” cried Palaemon, “the beast shall never live again, and you are safe!” 

The old woman fell to the ground, and walked towards him, and Palaemon then realized that, in spite of her aged countenance, her bearing was as noble as if she had been a god. And the old woman stood before him, with a smile on her lips, and said to him, “I know thee, thou fierce son of Achelous, and thou art braver than thy father! Tell me, son of Achelous, what trouble hast thou, that thou needest me to aid thee?” 

Now Palaemon had no doubt that the old woman he was helping was a god in disguise, and that this was the god’s test for him. He said happily, “Zeus is merciful! Indeed, I have come to conquer Echidna the Terrible, and from his claws I will save a young man, whom I sent to this sea of misery that day, and whom it is now my turn to bring forth.” 

“Ah, son of Achelous, how can you be sure that he will leave with you of his own free will?” The old woman asked, “He is a man in love with a demon. There are two kinds of love in this world, one is love with the just and good, which can make you also benefit from justice and goodness, and become a better man; the other is crazy, savage, uncontrolled love, which can make a man lose his dignity, and able-bodied men and women had better pray that they will not be harmed by this kind of love. No doubt it was the latter love that he experienced.” 

Palaemon was hesitating, but the old woman had taken a golden vase out of her bosom, put it in his hand, and said, with a smile, “If thou wilt listen to the words of an old man, invite him quietly, and beseech him with a feast, wherein thou wilt make thy request with all gentleness and kindness. See if he will go with thee, and be far from the poison of the devil. And if he will not, you shall feed him with the liquid of this vial.” 

Palaemon couldn’t help but ask, “What is it?” 

“Something that will clear his mind and rid him of his demons.” The old woman smiled a little, “When the time comes, the boy is sure to leave with you. Once he is gone, Echidna will panic, and show all her weaknesses to your sword.” 

Palaemon held the bottle, but the old woman suddenly disappeared, and in a trance he saw a tall, beautiful goddess with a crown, rising from the clouds into the boundless firmament.