He and It Chapter 31: A God’s Marriage (2)

Chapter 31: A God’s Marriage (2)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

The insects were distant and noisy, while the chirping of the birds was muffled in the humid air, too indistinct to be heard. The high heat made it feel like being in a steamer, but in all the darkness and silence, no one spoke.

The glow of the flashlight illuminated the stone wall in front of them. The golden color gurgled and wound. That near-sun-like hue, was shining brightly as if there was an infinite mystery; a strange energy.

“Oh my God…” A man lowered his voice, too nervous to wipe his sweat. “Look what we found…”

Yun Chi reached out like a demon. He couldn’t touch the golden part, but he carefully rubbed his fingertips against the dry surface of the rock at the edge, trying to verify the authenticity of it all.

He whispered, “It’s incredible. What is this painting? It looks like some kind of ritual scene…”

He looked back and said urgently, “Quick, dim the flashlight light first! Otherwise…”

Yun Chi’s admonition just broke between his lips, when he saw the expressions of the team members hidden behind the lights, horrified and frightened.

What’s wrong, what’s wrong?

He followed their gaze, and looked back uncontrollably. The golden light that flowed like a living thing was the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness.

Where am I now?

That question suddenly popped up in Yun Chi’s confused brain.

Where have I gone?

He frowned and looked around in his subconscious, hoping to find an answer, but all he found was pain and suffering.

He moved his fingers in front of him and heard the faint sound of fur rubbing against his ears and the low, muffled sound of a voice that was so small it was almost a murmur.

“… Awake…Not awake…”

Thoughts gradually returned. He sluggishly turned his eyes, rolling under his sticky heavy eyelids. He slowly smelled a scent, like a mixture of herbs and burning incense, interspersed with the heavy smell of blood. The smell cascaded over him, making him feel like he was lying in the hybrid of a pharmacy and an emergency room.

What was this smell? Hiss, I’m in pain…

Yun Chi’s eyelids fluttered heavily as the pain stimulated his memory of the storm. The thunderclouds, the overturning waves, the narrow hull…He remembered. He remembered all of it! Which son of a bitch had locked him in that boat and pushed him out to sea to die?

Yun Chi’s eyes were open, his fists were already clenched, and he was about to fight to come to his senses when he suddenly heard a panicked “uh-oh” sound, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor, and not far from that spot, the door slammed open, only to close again after a while.

Yun Chi, “?”

What went out?

He frowned and slowly pulled his eyelids open. Fortunately, the light in the room was dim, and it didn’t take long to adjust.

Yun Chi blinked as he struggled to turn his head and look down, only to see thick tapestries with antique patterns hanging on all four walls, with intricate laces and patterns of the sea, glaciers, clouds and north wind woven in the middle, all in harmonious and chic colors, with gold glittering in the waves and wind patterns, that was obviously woven with gold thread. Yun Chi could almost see with the naked eye how time had silently flowed over them, taking away the original luster.

Looked to the left and right…Wow, what kind of house was this? Although the wooden windows were neat and the floor was neatly covered with blankets, why was the door round?

And, the furniture in the house…Wasn’t it a bit too odd?

There were no tables, chairs or benches, and no fireplace cabinets. Only a few flat, round black stones lay across the oversized space, while the wooden bed beneath him was so big and wide that it could sleep eight people. Yun Chi was curious and fascinated. However, as he watched, his eyes kept drifting to the beams, as if there was something there that needed his attention.

…Wait a minute.

Wait, wait, wait.

Yun Chi suddenly froze, then he strained his neck. He ignored the creaking and wailing bones and joints in his body, and strove to explore the room all over.

–How come there were no load-bearing beams or walls in this house?

He opened his mouth wide and looked upward in horror. What the hell? This big house was made of wood, not welded alloy, right? Why when he looked at the empty space, except for the four walls, there was not even a single support material?

He remembered the voice he heard before being knocked unconscious by the waves. What “Lord Wind God,” what “Storm God Palace.” How abnormal was this hellhole? How come the people here don’t even understand basic physics, that they built such a dangerous house to live in. Were they not afraid that the sea wind would collapse it on them, ah?

Yun Chi gasped. He’d already imagined himself not buried in the belly of a fish, but in the crushed by the roof scenario…No, I can’t stay here, I have to find a way back!

He had just turned his head, intending to find clothes for himself first, when his gaze shifted, and he suddenly froze.

Outside the window, a huge, rounded shadow stood just outside, blocking half of the window ribs and the light. As it was against the light, Yun Chi couldn’t see what kind of thing it was, but he could feel a prying eye, as it looked stealthily towards him.

Yun Chi, “…”

My God, what has my life become?

“…You’re,” he had to speak, but his voice was so dry it sounded like his vocal cords had been ripped out and put into the Sahara desert for ten days of exposure. “What…are you?”

He would not forget the fact that he had been rescued; after all, the room would not burn with the smell of herbs for no reason, nor would the soaked, bloody clothes he had been wearing disappear for no reason. Perhaps the creature was the pet of his rescuer? Or did his rescuer have a habit of wearing a hood and not showing his face when he did a good deed? Whatever it was, the likelihood that he was safe and sound at the moment was likely.

Was it a bear? But bears didn’t have those big round skulls either…Given that this spot didn’t look far from the sea, was it a sea lion or walrus? No, according to the previous screening requirements, they also failed to qualify…

The creature didn’t move, still looking at him worriedly.

Yun Chi had no choice. He struggled to lift his body a little although the movement hurt him. He grimaced and hissed. He had broken at least seven or eight bones in the sea.

He said aloud, “Excuse me–“

The creature in the window suddenly disappeared. The round door, “bang,” opened and a dark wet nose came in first, followed by a large, fluffy round head, round black eyes, large and thick paws, with silvery fur covering the palm of the flesh ball, looking soft. At the moment, it was picking at the door frame and trying to anxiously squeeze its body in.

–It was an oversized, giant, pure white sea otter. ¹

Yun Chi watched it quietly, and locked eyes with the sea otter for a long time.

“Haha,” he said blandly. “That’s funny.”

Yun Chi’s head tilted and he instantly collapsed.

Ah, fainted!

Sa’gya rushed over in a panic, and couldn’t help but sigh when he saw the wounds on the pup had broken apart and were bleeding again.

As soon as he saw me, he collapsed in fear. Am I really that scary, or rather, really that repulsive?

The sea otter hung his head listlessly, picked up the medicine bowl and pestle by the bed that were too pocket-sized for himself, placed it on his belly, and carefully pounded the herbs.

After another half hour, Yun Chi woke up.

The thumping around him stopped for a moment, and he stared straight up at the ceiling under the big sea otter’s gaze, as he fell into a trance-like contemplation.

To think that he was just disgusted that this was a dangerous house, but now it seemed that this place was not even Earth anymore.

He turned his head to look at the big sea otter who covered the medicine jar in his furry paws and moved his cheeks restrainedly, as his whiskers twirled and spun.

1. The sea otter is bigger than a horse and can pound medicine…

“Where am I?” Yun Chi asked numbly.

The sea otter didn’t move, but after a while, Yun Chi heard its answer.

“Here…It’s my island.”

Putting aside the weird fact that, “Wow, the sea otter can talk!” It was hard to describe what kind of sound it was.

It…His voice was a mix of tiredness, tenderness, innocence while also an ancient one sharpened by time, the mountains echoing and the sea rippling with the light of the past – one dynasty falling, another rising, old people and things gathering dust, only to watch themselves walk towards the forgotten corner, never to return.

Yun Chi had long been numb, and then something else, he didn’t know it would make his heart beat a little faster. He pulled the corners of his mouth breathlessly, and looked at the brother next to him. Hell, this sea otter is damn cute. “No, what I mean is…What era is this? What year, what country am I in, what planet? Wait, do you have any idea what a country is? Do you know what a planet is?”

The big sea otter didn’t move. He looked fixedly at Yun Chi; looked carefully. Those round eyes were actually not pitch black, they were sprinkled with the fragments of stars. The sea otter blinked, and it was like stirring up the sea as it reflected the moonlight, fantastical as hell.

“So, you are a soul from the future…” The big sea otter nodded in a fierce manner. Yun Chi suddenly looked at the palm of his hand. It was itchy. He really wanted to hold that furry otter head, and bury it in his arms to rub a few times.

“But this body is still your property,” The big sea otter mused. “That’s strange. You’re a very special pup. I’ve never seen anything like it. A soul travels the distance of time and space to come here and find its body…”

Yun Chi said indignantly, “Hey! I’m twenty-three years old. I’m not a ‘pup’!”

The sea otter narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth turned up, and his furry face rounded to show a sweet and naive smile. “You are only seventeen years old in this body while I…I can count thousands and thousands of years old.”

Yun Chi took a deep breath. He had too many questions clogged in his throat. They must come one by one. He rubbed his even more itchy palms together and asked cautiously, “So, you’re a demon?”

The sea otter released the small jar of medicine he had been covering and continued to gently pound it, “I? I’m a god.”

God…

Yun Chi was stunned, was there a god in the world? In other words, is there a god in this world?

“To answer your question, pup.” The great sea otter sniffed the herbs. “This is the land of Kaleva. Two divine genealogical changes have passed since the creation of the Mother Goddess Irma, and now the new gods of the third generation of the divine genealogy are establishing their divine power. The concept of ‘kingdom’ has only just emerged in this world. The world is still a fragmented piece of land, and it has not yet reached the time when the concept of ‘planet’ has developed.”

Yun Chi opened his mouth. It took a long time to find his voice.

“…Then what kind of god are you?”

In fact, what he wanted to ask was, “If you are a god, why do you need to work so hard to pound your own medicine? If you have divine power, divine energy or whatever, why don’t you just point your finger and the medicine will be ready?

However, this statement inevitably seemed mean. Yun Chi looked at the big hairy sea otter, saw the other’s soft palm and soft round face…And that somewhat pointed question could no longer be asked.

“I am the old god of the second generation of the divine genealogy. No matter what kind of priesthood there is, now it becomes no longer important.” The sea otter laughed. “I am Sa’gya.”

Yun Chi hesitated, then replied, “My name is Yun Chi, so you should stop calling me a pup!”

Sa’gya opened his round eyes, looking innocent and sweet. “Okay, pup.”