He and It Chapter 72: Dark Sky Sanctuary (7)

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Chapter 72: Dark Sky Sanctuary (7)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

Gao’er was sweating profusely. His repaired front hooves were as light as a feather compared to other painfully heavy body parts, and they seemed to be ready to tug him up into the sky.

He couldn’t remember the days of his freedom, only that, when he was born, he was an ignorant and confused horse who wanted to run wildly to the end of the world, with his mane flying and his breath boiling like a star…But it didn’t last long, as good things rarely do, and he was soon caught by the Prince of the Realm. Every spell that was forced into his body was a mixture of pain and despairing resentment.

I’m going to be free, he thought, I’m going to be free!

Yu Mengzhou patted him on the stomach, as a signal for him to stand up straight, “Good boy, hold on just a little longer.”

He took the other hoof, and repaired it the same way he had done the first one. He clamped off the copper tubing, pulled out the blood-sucking spikes, and hammered the spell nails loose…All the steps progressed methodically, his movements flowing smoothly and naturally, with no bluffing, without the least bit of cumbersome embellishment, and it so happened like a breeze, like a river heading off into the distance.

The magical horses watching were so mesmerized that they never got tired of watching the process.

The human had no time to wipe off his sweat, and he looked attentive. Sometimes he smiled in relaxation, sometimes he frowned in concern. In that humble cave, the Farrier clanked and wielded his shiny tools and glowed with dedication.

By contrast, the master craftsmen who prowled the sumptuous palaces and claimed to have mastered the supremacy of pain, were each posturing as artists who dominated torment. Clad in cumbersome garments of gold and flanked by hordes of fawningly servile dogs and horses, they were no better than a drop of sweat dripping from this human’s temples. At least the sweat was purer, more moving, and fell from the corners of the human’s eyes.

All the brass that restrained the horse was clamped off, and the spell spikes fell clumsily to the ground. Four ragged, yet completely free and loose hooves presented themselves before Yu Mengzhou’s eyes.

He let out a long breath. Even though the medicine was running low, what should not be saved could not be saved. Yu Mengzhou still squeezed a sufficient amount of ointment, sent it inside the holes with a small knife to smear it well, and then wrapped it tightly with a bandage.

“There!” He instructed in passing, “Don’t get water on the wound, don’t exercise strenuously, lest it cracks again. I’ll unwrap it again in a couple days to take a look…”

Gao’er gasped in extreme exuberance. Ecstasy completely took over his mind and caused him to abandon his unnecessary haughtiness and reserve. The demon horse arched headlong into Yu Mengzhou’s arms and closed his eyes blissfully.

“…Oh!” The force of this blow was really extraordinary. Before he could finish his sentence, Yu Mengzhou fell on his butt on the ground, and the horses all tensed up in fear that the human would be angry because of this.

Yu Mengzhou hugged the big horse’s head and laughed.

“Ouch,” he laughed even as he avoided the thorn barbs that littered the horse’s bridle and reins, and skillfully stroked the demonic horse’s snout. His arm circled behind him in an effort to scratch the horse’s ears, as well as the mane on his forehead.

“There, there. It’s fine. It’ll all be fine from now on…”

As he said that, he also pinched the copper ring locked at the nostril’s cartilage, and asked softly, “When I’m free again, I’ll help you guys remove this as well, eh?”

“You…You don’t have to do that at all,” Gao’er whispered, doing his best not to let the longing in his words underline how miserable he was. “You’ve already removed the spell-spike, we can-“

“I want to do it,” Yu Mengzhou told him firmly as he touched his bright red sweat. “Nothing more. I want to.”

Gao’er lay prone on the ground, trembling helplessly in his arms. There was no scent of fear, of loathing and cursing. There was only so much it could smell that was so happy, so soft and fluffy. He could even say that the human smelled good, with a scent that made even his hungry soul satiate itself.

He rubbed against the human’s bare skin as if he were a desert traveler drinking from a fountain of fresh water, and arched into Yu Mengzhou’s embrace to his heart’s content.

The horses stared blankly at them, and Falchion waited silently for a long moment, as he let out a puff of hot, sparking breath.

Bloody Butcher stole a glance at the chief before he turned brightly, walked over to Gao’er and nibbled on his back as low as he could go in a surprise attack.

“I want to see your hooves too!” he yelled justifiably. “I should…That word is review. I should review!”

Gao’er shuddered as the peaceful moment was suddenly shattered, and he raised his head in utter annoyance. He spat out his long, blood-red tongue and hissed threateningly at his companion.

“Ah,” Yu Mengzhou laughed. “right! I collapsed the other day and forgot to see how close you were…”

He patted Gao’er on the head and gingerly asked, “Get up? It’s time for me to give you another look. I’ll remove the bandages when it’s time.”

Gao’er’s horse’s ears fell back and he bared his teeth in displeasure, but since Yu Mengzhou had said so, he had no choice but to lift his head unhappily from the human’s arms and stand aside, as he sulked against the rock wall.

Yu Mengzhou cut off the bandages that had long been worn black and tattered, and lifted up one of the horse’s hooves to take a closer look.

As expected of a demon horse, their recovery ability was truly amazing. The wounds that an ordinary horse might need to nurse for months or even longer were already so healed that he could barely see the wounds after only two days.

The hoof wall and sole that had been caved in like a beehive had already been patched up, and the cuticle was also fine and tight, so if he tapped on it with his hoof knife, he basically couldn’t hear any pus or blood residue…

Yu Mengzhou decided to have a look. He guided Bloody Butcher to elevate the leg, outlined the fork of the hoof with a loop knife, cut the bottom of the hoof with a hoof trimming knife, and then used pliers to cut off the edge of the hoof.

As the blackened hoof pieces fell off, Yu Mengzhou marveled, “Is it really healed?”

Not to mention Bloody Butcher’s condition that day, even the brown horse’s rotting hooves that Yu Mengzhou repaired that day, needed the attention of a farrier every other week to check the situation for at least a month. Maggot-infested hooves were the worst.

This was surely not a creature of Earth, he sighed inwardly.

“I didn’t…” Bloody Butcher was about to say, “I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it,” when on second thought, he urgently changed his tone, “I don’t know what’s good and what’s bad, and as you know, we’ve been confined for too long…”

Hearing his downcast tone, Yu Mengzhou rushed forward and stroked the demon horse’s neck soothingly. “In my experience, you’re really all right.”

He hesitated, “It’s just that…You might need to settle for a horseshoe as well, so that it is easier for you to run.”

He didn’t dare say “nails” for fear of stirring up any bad memories.

At some point, Falchion had crept closer. He dropped his horse’s head, his lips resting, if at all, next to Yu Mengzhou’s shoulder. He had faded from his burning, vicious fire, and his mane soft and warm, as it gently brushed against the human’s cheek.

“What is a horseshoe?” he asked.

Yu Mengzhou scratched his face and explained, “Oh, it’s a bar-shaped, curved and flattened piece of iron, maybe two or three centimeters thick, affixed to the bottom of the horse’s hooves to reduce the wear and tear on the hooves, just like the shoes a human wears.”

“Then how will it be fixed?”

Yu Mengzhou tried to be as harmless and euphemistic as possible, “It’s very simple, basically using five iron nails to fix it along the hoof edge. It doesn’t hurt! This one is only along your hoof horn, right here.”

He gestured at Bloody Butcher’s hoof. “It’s the equivalent of where a human’s fingernail would be, and planted in a circle. Otherwise the hoof might get hurt when running without the horseshoe’s protection.”

“Of course,” he went on to add. “It’s customary for my place, but if you’re not comfortable with it, that’s fine.”

“Well…” Falchion asked in deep thought and understanding. “So that means the horseshoe is the mark that symbolizes you?”

“Huh?” Yu Mengzhou was dumbfounded.

The horses’ ears all pricked up as their eyes lit up.

Striker huffed and puffed and waved his tail. “Exclusive seal? Good!”

“Ah! No, ah! It’s not an ‘exclusive seal’, no!” Yu Mengzhou panicked in his defense, but there were no horses left in the area to listen to his clarification. They were all chattering and discussing furiously. 

Falchion slowly said, “I think we can put horseshoe acquisition on the agenda now.”

Yu Mengzhou sighed tiredly and removed the rest of Bloody Butcher’s bandages, shoveled the remaining three hooves, and put on a coat of hoof oil before he patted the demon horse’s belly and let him happily participate in the discussion group about the “Exclusive Mark.”

He packed up his toolbox and returned to his bunk. The horses had misunderstood the purpose of the horseshoe, so let them misunderstand it. It was a trivial matter compared to his current troubles.

Falchion followed the human’s footsteps quietly. He was able to move through the shadows more silently than a drop of blood dissolved in the earth if he so desired.

He lay down a short distance from the human, and saw him sink into the little nest he had built for him.

Splendid silks, from the masterpieces of the Spiderwalkers, and crimson wine, from the Hellish Sorcerer’s treasured collection…It seemed that the ransacking of the palace had been entirely worth it, and the brightly colored silks against the human’s skin made him look all the more lovely.

Only, what was he concerned about?

“You’re worried,” Falchion said. “Why?”

Yu Mengzhou was taken aback by his divine appearance.

“It’s nothing really, it’s just…” He held up his toolbox. “I’m running out of medicine and bandages, and I don’t know where I’m going to find them.”

Falchion was surprised. “Why didn’t you tell us about this little thing?”

“You don’t know where you’re going to get the medicine I use,” Yu Mengzhou said. “It’s all products developed on my side.”

“Speaking of which, your tools…” Falchion wanted to speak.

In the demon’s eyes, those repairing implements looked dull when they were detached from Yu Mengzhou, but when held in his hands, they could radiate a light whiter than flames and brighter than magma, “they are quite unusual.”

Yu Mengzhou laughed as he proudly patted the toolbox, “Of course they’re unusual! They’re the ones I got in–”

“No,” Falchion immediately interrupted. “Don’t tell me, or any living spirit in the Demon Realm, any information about this toolkit of yours.”

Yu Mengzhou asked in surprise, “Why?”

After a moment of silence, Falchion replied, “Because demons can be killed by concepts they do not understand.”

“You have to know that demons are ancient creations. We know everything and chase after any forbidden knowledge. No matter what or who, just one look and it will be permanently stored in our memories. Every archdemon has a natural stash in its head. We know so much that nothing can threaten a demon’s life anymore.”

He intesified his tone, “So ‘not understanding’ is an Achilles’ heel for demons. After seeing you remove Gao’er’s spell spike, I can finally conclude that the reason why Angola’s curse doesn’t work on you is because you, or something in you, has something he can’t understand.”

Yu Mengzhou said in amazement, “Wow, then wouldn’t I be able to easily take him…?”

“No way!” Falchion said sternly. “You mustn’t harbor such thoughts. Quite the contrary. Until all the demon horses are liberated, this secret must be firmly guarded. Once the news spreads, I’m afraid I won’t have enough power to protect you.”

Aiya, you’re such a fierce horse…

Yu Mengzhou opened his mouth as he tried to banter but suddenly remembered something, “By the way, when I first fell…”

He told Falchion about the encounter with the imps. “At that time, I didn’t know what was going on. Why could I take the pliers and wipe them out in one go? After what you told me today, it finally makes sense to me…maybe this tool set is something they can’t understand as well?”

“Imps?” Falchion raised his eyes. “That wasn’t an Imp, that’s a Frightened Lesser Demon, one of the weakest demons. You said they saw you?”

Yu Mengzhou nodded, “But the ones that were there were destroyed by me, so…It shouldn’t be a problem.”

Right?

Falchion’s gaze softened as he said to him, “Rest well. I’ll bring you something to eat later. We’ll figure out the medicine.”

He straightened up and walked towards the outer cavern.

Those demons didn’t deserve to live.

“–Frightened Lesser Demon?” Gao’er faced his leader, while the other demonic horses gathered around curiously. “What’s the matter? Why is it necessary to bring up those little vermin specifically?”

“Go stealthily and silently,” Falchion commanded quietly. “There will be no more Frightened Lesser Demons on this plain, understood?”

Gao’er bared his fangs, the tentacles of the Shadow undulating slowly behind him as droplets of the demon horse’s saliva dripped onto the ground, his eyes burned with an unquenchable black and red fire.

“Yes, I understand.”

 

Author’s Note: 

Yu Mengzhou: trims hooves, cuddles, sweet-talks, and administers the best soothing treatment in the world Who’s my good little horse?

Demon Warhorse: melts in complete contentment Without a doubt, it’s me!

Other Demon Warhorse: tries to kill it with a sharp look, but fails

Falchion: feels the weight of the human sitting on top of him, and lies very comfortably, indulging in his own herd’s infighting Hmph, let’s see who’s the winner in the end…