He and It Chapter 77: Dark Sky Sanctuary (12)

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Chapter 77: Dark Sky Sanctuary (12)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

When he saw Catastrophe turn his head trustingly, Yu Mengzhou made a decision in his mind.

He couldn’t follow the regular hoof trimming method. It would be best to just give it a dry break.

After he decided, Yu Mengzhou changed to horseshoe special pliers. Hoof clippers could deal with horse hooves, horseshoe clippers could deal with a horseshoe.

He held the clippers, carefully pondered the construction of this hoof crusher, and found that while the thing was certainly able to expand and contract its size, there was no trace of welding, as if the hooves grew of it; curled up, incorrectly knotted, completely and naturally twisted into a unit.

With a crunch, Yu Mengzhou tried to cut one of the chains.

“Does it hurt?” he asked Catastrophe.

Catastrophe immediately stammered, “No, it doesn’t hurt!”

Yu Mengzhou was relieved. He was afraid that there was some kind of chain mechanism there which would cause the tension of the broken hooves to spread to the inside of the hooves. With Catastrophe’s permission, he acted like a bad-tempered gardener, and pruned the discordant steel weeds to his heart’s content, then crushed the beautifully decorated but viciously intended torture device into a mess.

Only when every connection was severed did Yu Mengzhou begin to apply the hoof knife, first cleaning up the punctured sole, plucking out the cuticle that had gone dead around the metal, and then pulling out the broken parts one by one. Soon, bits and pieces of debris fell all over the place, among which there were many parts that had already melded together with flesh and blood. Yu Mengzhou ruthlessly pulled until there was a bloody hole.

Fortunately, the demon horse had long been accustomed to this kind of pain. It was only when he pulled out the spell nails that Catastrophe started to neigh and struggle uncontrollably.

“Okay, okay, it’s okay, it’s okay…” Two demon horses immediately rushed to frame their companion to make sure he wouldn’t move around. Yu Mengzhou softly coaxed the horse, as he kicked the spell nails that rolled on the ground to one side with his feet, and then with the ease of practice, started his regular process, hooking off the foreign matter that had accumulated inside the hoof fork, shoveling the bottom of the hoof, repairing those pits neatly and making sure that the hooves wouldn’t grow crooked after they had healed.

After the first hoof was finished, Yu Mengzhou used the last bit of bandage, and poured out all the iodine tincture he had left. Catastrophe sensed something, and turned his head to ask, “Is there no more medicine?”

Yu Mengzhou patted its big head and said with ease, “The medicine is to be used. It’s nothing.”

Blasphe beside him helped to bring over some extra silk and said, “They will be back later, and then will be no shortage of supplies.”

Yu Mengzhou happily reached out and stroked her big head as well. Blasphe affectionately licked Yu Mengzhou’s wrist and wagged her tail proudly.

With the experience of handling the first hoof, the next three were much better to handle. The more he repaired, the more he felt that only Bloody Butcher’s spell nail was the worst to remove. The first demon horse that regained his freedom was like a gap broken in a solid dam. Since then, whenever there was a new companion that broke free from the shackles, it was like increasing the area of cracking on that gap, so Yu Mengzhou could move his knife with more and more ease.

The delicate and ingenious torture tools on the horse’s hooves, which were designed with great care, were all destroyed by Yu Mengzhou into four piles of metal trash. He scraped off the dirty parts, shoveled clean the thousand tiny holes in the bottom of the hoof, then tore the soft silk into thin strips to act as bandages, tied them to the repaired hooves, and wiped off his sweat.

“That’ll do!” He rubbed the bridge of Catastrophe’s nose. “Don’t get overly excited for the next two days, and don’t run and jump around at will to break the bandage free, okay?”

Catastrophe trembled continuously with excitement, and almost turned it into vibration mode. He couldn’t speak, just whimpered and buried his head in Yu Mengzhou’s embrace, as he desperately rubbed against him.

Yu Mengzhou sighed even as he laughed, “Ugh. I’m covered in sweat, don’t rub against me…”

The other demon horses looked at this scene with red eyes. Ether nonchalantly came over and falsely pushed Catastrophe to the side. “That’s right. The human is also very tired, just let him rest. Don’t pester him.”

Although they were both companions who had been suffering together for so long, shared the same demonic horse descent from the center of the earth, so it could even be said that they were brothers from the same mother, but demons were demons after all, and eating the weak was a nature that was codified in their genes. Ever since he lost to Bloody Butcher in the tussle, his companions had looked at him with gloating eyes, then Catastrophe stole his lead, and became the fourth demon horse to be freed from its confinement. Without the human’s appeasement, the fires of jealousy would burn him dry.

Without a chief to keep order, Sevenfold Eyes bit Catastrophe’s mane and yanked him back. Catastrophe’s head smoldered as he turned his head to spit out flames and lash them with his tail. “Get off, get off!”

Why were they fighting again?

Yu Mengzhou was anxious in his heart. He was just about to go up and talk them down, when his sleeve was suddenly gently tugged.

He turned around and saw that it was Crusade.

Crusade wordlessly shook his head, to signal him to ignore the herd’s daily disputes, while he stood in front of him, and used his body as a shield to block the blazing fire.

“Let them make a scene,” Iron Scepter shook his head. “As long as you don’t get caught in the crossfire, the chief will deal with them when he returns.”

Speak of the devil…the cave was on the verge of shaking when Falchion appeared at the entrance, and blocked out most of the light.

“What’s going on?” he asked grimly. “Nowhere to vent your energy, is there?”

The tumultuous movement came to a screeching halt, and the rowdy demonic horses snapped to a stop with their fighting and looked to the herd’s leader.

“Pack up and get ready to move,” Falchion ordered. “If you want to make a scene, do it in the palace.”

Blasphe asked in surprise, ” Is Striker so collected this time that he can still leave a palace behind?”

Falchion nodded slightly and turned his gaze to Yu Mengzhou.

“Come,” he said softly. “Don’t you want to take a bath?”

Yu Mengzhou’s eyes lit up at once.

“Water!” he said heartily. “Is there water in the palace? Ah, too good!”

He hurriedly packed up his toolkit and ran towards Falchion, then reached out to climb upwards. Falchion had never seen him so eager, wanting to sit on his back, and he was a bit flattered. He froze for a moment before lowering his body’s height, which allowed Yu Mengzhou to get on.

The herd also froze. Yu Mengzhou patted Falchion’s saddle and urged, “Hurry=! I can’t wear these clothes for another second. Quickly take me to the place where I can take a bath!”

After he said that, he turned back to Ether and waved his hand. “I’ll get your hooves when I’m done with the bath. Just wait a little longer!”

Falchion wordlessly inclined his head in a gesture for the herd to follow. With that, Yu Mengzhou’s surroundings ignited in a blaze of flames as it had done a few nights ago, and covered him in full, as they set off in the direction of the palace.

Unbridled Pleasure Sect’s palace had always been the most extravagant place in the Demon Realm, where any indulgent enjoyment in the world could be thought of, and what could not be thought of was still there. It was essentially the word “paradise” incarnate. How many hidden corruptions bred in the shadows of gold and silver, how much lustful intrigues in the secret language of the bed appeared…but at that moment, the palace was strewn with mutilated corpses, as if by a rain of blood! It needed to be washed all over again.

“How many times have I told you to be restrained, to keep it in check…” Gao’er hatefully spat out a mouthful of fiery flames, and turned the bones into charred and quenched ashes. “How come you just can’t change this stinking problem of going crazy at the sight of blood?”

Striker flicked his tail defiantly, blew the ashes into the magnificent garden, and shouted back arrogantly, “I’ve got it! The place hasn’t collapsed, right?”

How dare you talk back!

Gao’er’s anger sputtered as it rubbed its fangs wistfully and lowered its voice surreptitiously, “You should know very well that a human’s heart is softer than the petals in a garden…he’s from the mortal world…and the chief has done his best to avoid showing him too much of hell’s normality because then he’ll grow disgusted if not afraid…Are you going to make him loathe you, Striker? Seeing this bloody mess all over the place, what do you think the human will think of the demon warhorses, and of you?”

Striker’s fidgety tail froze in place, like he was carved out of stone.

Gao’er blinked maliciously and pleasantly, satisfied to hear Striker’s cries as he broke down at first.

“–I’ll never dare again!” Striker snorted his nose to the heavens, then transformed into a gust of wind that desperately swept through the bodies and bloodstains inside and out.

Gao’er calmed his heart and stood by as an overseer. He waited until the rest of his companions had arrived before he was kind enough to issue a pardon to the snuffling Striker.

“Alright, it’s all pretty much done,” he said lazily. “Stop. The human is already here.”

When Yu Mengzhou arrived, before he had a chance to lament that the palace could be too ornate and lavish, he was puzzled to find that Striker had disappeared.

“Where’s Striker?” he asked the lone Gao’er. “Didn’t he come with you?”

Gao’er replied with an innocent look, “Well, maybe he’s hiding? I guess he’s afraid that you’ll hate him.”

Yu Mengzhou cried and laughed, “What’s going on here? How could I hate him?”

Falchion didn’t say anything, but he glanced at Gao’er with a furtive gaze that instantly caused him to lower his head unnaturally.

“Take a bath first,” Falchion said. “Aren’t you in a hurry? Just let Gao’er find Striker.”

“‘Kay!” Yu Mengzhou sniffed his body and really thought he couldn’t stand it any longer as Falchion trotted and stepped into the empty palace, went through the gilded corridors, and after turning left and right like a maze, he placed Yu Mengzhou at the entrance to one of the marble door bars and nudged him in the back.

“Go on. We’ll guard you from the outside.”

“Thanks!” Grateful, Yu Mengzhou rushed inside, stripping off his clothes as he ran.

Inside was a giant bathtub even bigger than a swimming pool, with a fairyland-like white mist lingering and coalesced. It reflected on the immaculate white ground which was warm and moist, while the silver faucets spouted gurgling water, all of which were adorned with gold circling goat’s horns.

Yu Mengzhou swallowed and reached out to touch the water temperature, only to feel the water quality was smooth, the temperature was just right; intoxicatingly hot. Not far away, a jasper tray in the shape of a water lily drifted slowly on the water’s surface, and was surprisingly piled high with ice cubes that chilled crystal clear pastries, as well as bottles of wine, bright red as blood.

The refined luxury of this place was even greater than anything Yu Mengzhou had seen on TV or the Internet, and he couldn’t help but feel constrained. After he quickly took off his dirty clothes, shoes and socks, he folded them and put them aside. Then Yu Mengzhou carefully picked a corner and sank his body in the water.

Great….Having water was a true blessing. This wasn’t a bath, it was like washing away the dust from the inside out…

He scrubbed his body thoroughly, then rummaged in the small silver basket on the shore to find what appeared to be soap, and lathered his body with a thick layer of fragrant, clean bubbles. The pool clattered and tumbled, and Yu Mengzhou washed himself until he was dizzy, before he climbed onto the edge, squeezed his dripping hair and reddened.

He hoped to live this kind of day where he could bathe every day for the rest of his life. He prayed devoutly, grabbed a towel that was so snow-white that it dazzled, wrapped it around his body, and was about to leave the bathroom refreshed to ask the Demon Horses for some clean clothes to wear when he heard the water behind him clatter strangely.

“–Mortal who does not belong to this world, why do you trespass and tarnish the destiny of this world?”

An eerie voice filled the air along with the mist.Yu Mengzhou turned his head in horror and shouted, “Maaaa!”

In the pool, there was actually a pair…No, it was many pairs of dull green eyes that were staring at him with deadly intensity!

“Pervert, there are perverts!” Yu Mengzhou wrapped the bath towel tightly, and yelled at the top of his lungs, “There are perverts peeping at people taking a bath! Holy shit, there’s no justice in this, help!”