20: Chapter 20 Igor, the Father of the Serpents

Gray Fur supported the Speaker, limping out from behind the tree shadows. The Speaker's weight pressed onto Gray Fur's shoulder, each step accompanied by a ragged wheeze that sounded like a broken bellows. Gray Fur gritted his teeth, his claws digging into the Speaker's arm until his knuckles turned white; he was covered in blood himself, his Gray Fur matted into clumps.

"Stop for a moment." The Speaker suddenly struggled, leaning against a crooked tree trunk nearby, bending over to cough violently, spitting flecks of blood onto the tree roots.

He looked up at Wu Xi, his eye sockets sunken, yet his gaze was terrifyingly bright: "If not for you today, we would all be finished here." He took another breath, a wheezing hiss like a bellows emitting from his throat, "Even if we summoned the phantom of the Bastet cat god, we couldn't have held off those snake people."

"What do the snake people want?" Wu Xi asked directly.

The Speaker wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve: "They want to lead the Toad God away. We just happened to run into them."

Wu Xi frowned: "Lead it where?"

"To the Nas Canyon in the north." The Speaker raised his hand, pointing a finger at the ground, his finger trembling violently, "The underground of Mimei Forest connects to a vast network of caves, and further down is the abyss. The Toad God's original Domain is at the very bottom."

After speaking, the Speaker bent over again, hands braced on his knees, panting for a long time before straightening up: "The snake people piled up offerings along the road, laying them out all the way. As long as they give it a push at the start, the sleeping Toad God will smell that scent and be able to crawl back in its sleep."

At this moment, the book of eibon in Wu Xi's arms suddenly jumped.

It was as if a heart were beating inside. Wu Xi looked down; the leather on the book cover was writhing, those original patterns like veins coming to life, bulging, contracting, and bulging again.

The Speaker saw it too, his old eyes narrowing: "The Toad God's arrival here back then had everything to do with this book. Actually, leading it back is fine; Mimei Forest can be a bit more peaceful, and we can get a good night's sleep."

Wu Xi stared at the writhing book in his arms and suddenly looked up: "I'll lead it."

"What?" Gray Fur loosened his grip, and the Speaker nearly collapsed to the ground. Gray Fur grabbed Wu Xi's arm, his claws digging into the flesh, "Are you crazy? One spit from the Toad God could dissolve you! You were lucky last time; are you throwing yourself at it this time?"

The Speaker also stumbled over, pressing down on Wu Xi's shoulder: "You haven't been a priest, so you don't know the stakes. There's no need to throw your life away; this is our territory, we'll think of a way slowly."

Wu Xi pulled his arm out of Gray Fur's claws, his eyes fixed on the entrance to the cave, "I feel it has no malice toward me. And I want to test something."

"Test?" Gray Fur stomped his feet in anxiety, his claws gouging two furrows into the ground, "Test with your life? Do you think this is a joke?"

Wu Xi didn't explain. He looked back at Gray Fur's pale face, then at the Speaker's cracked lips, and turned to walk toward the cave entrance. The cave was still open, pitch black, like a gaping mouth. The wind carried a rotting, fishy sweetness that made one dizzy if smelled for too long.

He leaped down.

The wind whistled in his ears, his clothes plastered against his back. After walking about thirty steps, the space suddenly opened up.

The Toad God was there, so large it filled half the cavern. Its skin was wrinkled like thousand-year-old tree bark, covered in slime that dripped onto the ground one by one, making a rhythmic "plop, plop" sound, like a pendulum. It was sleeping. Its body rose and fell with its breathing, each rise and fall stirring up a hot wind that blew Wu Xi's hair back. The wind was full of sulfur and the sweet stench of decay, stinging his eyes.

Wu Xi pulled out the gold mask. The mask glowed dimly in the firelight, its patterns bulging like veins. Wu Xi held it with both hands, raised it above his head, and recited the syllables he had seen on the pages. The voice was dry, like sandpaper rubbing together.

[Ritual Arts]: Use offerings as a token to draw the gaze of the Indescribable God.

The Toad God's breathing remained slow and heavy. The slime continued to drip, plop, plop.

Wu Xi pressed his left hand onto the book pages and his right hand onto the mask; the moment his skin made contact, a sharp pain shot up.

A tearing pain erupted on the outside of his left elbow. The skin and flesh felt as if they were being sliced by a red-hot knife, but instead of blood flowing out, granulation tissue was pushing out. He looked down; the skin at his elbow joint had torn open, and gray-white strips of flesh were drilling out, twisting and lengthening, with suckers emerging on the surface. His right elbow was also in pain, in the symmetrical position, the same process occurring. Two newly born Tentacles hung down, limp and soft, dripping transparent slime that fell to the ground with a soft "tap" sound.

Wu Xi stood up and waved his arms. There were six Tentacles now: two behind his shoulders, two on his chest, and now one on each elbow. He tried to move the one newly born on his left elbow; as soon as the thought arose, the Tentacle snapped out with a "snap," coiled around a rock three meters away, tightened, and crushed it. The gravel fell to the ground, rustling.

"Getting more like a monster," he muttered.

The pages were still turning, the spiral light shining on the Toad God. The massive body suddenly moved—not waking up, but rolling over. A gust of wind whipped through the cavern, blowing Wu Xi back until he stumbled, his fire starter nearly extinguished.

Wu Xi grabbed the book and followed the traces left by the snake people on the ground. Those were drag marks, mixed with scales and blood, pointing north. Every dozen steps, there was an offering on the ground—a rotting deer or some kind of stone statue carved with runes.

The Toad God's breathing changed; it had smelled it.

Wu Xi raised the book, the spiral on the pages emitting a faint light that illuminated his pale face. He stepped back, one step, two steps. The Toad God's body moved, its massive frame sliding forward, slime smearing on the ground and making a "squelch, squelch" sound, like countless tongues licking; it was following the scent of the book.

Wu Xi retreated faster, turning to dive into the northern tunnel. Behind him, the Toad God's massive body scraped against the cave walls, rocks collapsing and crashing to the ground with a rumble. But the creature didn't care; it just followed that scent, followed the trail of offerings, slowly crawling toward where it was meant to go. The tunnel was filled with the sounds of its movement—wet, sticky, heavy, along with a satisfied, low rumbling.

The tunnel became narrower and hotter. The air temperature had risen at least ten degrees; Wu Xi was soaked, sweat dripping down his chin. The Tentacles on his elbows brushed against the walls, leaving trails of slime, and steam even rose from some of the wall cracks.

Until the scraping sound behind him gradually faded away, until that satisfied rumbling became a distant dream-babble.

Wu Xi stopped, leaning against the wall to catch his breath. He looked back; from the depths of the pitch-black tunnel, the Toad God's final sigh was faintly heard, as if it were some form of acknowledgment, and then it returned to silence.

Wu Xi closed the book, and the cover stopped writhing. He climbed up, using both hands and feet, his Tentacles assisting in gripping the protrusions on the rock wall. When he climbed out to the surface, the sunlight stung his eyes, and he instinctively raised his hand to shield them.

Gray Fur lunged at him, nearly knocking him over. Gray Fur's claws gripped Wu Xi's back tightly, his voice trembling: "You motherfucker... you're still alive..."

"It's done. It went to the abyss."

Gray Fur stood frozen in place, his claws still in a gripping posture. He opened his mouth but made no sound, though his eyes turned red.

Wu Xi paid him no mind and turned to walk toward the tribe. When he returned to the Mimei Rat tribe, the sky was already turning dark.

The Grand Elder was brought over, supported by two warriors, his old waist bent like a shrimp. He stared at Wu Xi for a long time, his gaze moving from his face to his shoulders, and then to those six Tentacles, before his knees suddenly went weak, and he fell to his knees with a "thud."

"Benefactor." The voice was as hoarse as sandpaper grinding on wood.

"Don't." Wu Xi grabbed the Grand Elder's arm and hauled him up by force. "I'm starving. Is there anything to eat?"

The Grand Elder was lifted off his feet; he wobbled twice when he landed before nodding: "Yes. There is wine and meat."

A great fire was lit in the center of the Mimei Rat tribe. It wasn't a small campfire, but a massive blaze made by pushing over a whole dead tree; it crackled and popped, sparks flying two stories high. Whole prey were skewered on the rack, half-skinned, grease bubbling out from the cracks in the meat and dripping into the fire, sending up puffs of smoke with a charred aroma.

Wu Xi sat cross-legged, the animal skin cushion beneath him still warm. He reached out and tore off a large chunk of hind leg meat; the spot where his fingers pinched sizzled with grease. He blew on it twice and stuffed it into his mouth. The meat wasn't fully cooked through—crispy on the outside, with blood still inside—and it was incredibly juicy when chewed.

The Grand Elder sat at the head, holding a wooden bowl filled with amber liquid. His hand was shaking, and the wine splashed out onto the back of his hand. He tilted his head and downed a mouthful, his throat bobbing; when he put the bowl down, his expression had changed.

"A toast to you." The Grand Elder raised his bowl, the rim facing Wu Xi.

"A toast!" the Mimei Rat warriors roared in unison. A dozen wooden bowls clinked together with a crisp "clang," spilling wine that splashed near the fire and instantly evaporated.

Wu Xi took the bowl Gray Fur handed him; the rim was chipped. He tilted his head and downed a mouthful; the wine was fiery, burning from the root of his tongue all the way to his stomach. He frowned, took another gulp, then wiped his mouth, grabbed a second piece of meat, and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing until his cheeks bulged.

The Speaker sat down beside him, crossed his legs, and also downed a large mouthful of wine. He drank hurriedly, a "gulp" sound echoing, and wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"The snake people," the Speaker began, his voice raspy from the wine, "I need to tell you about them."

The firelight shone on his gullied face, shadows dancing in the wrinkles.

"The snake people once had a glorious Empire, but later they declined and hid underground." The Speaker tore off a piece of meat, holding it in his hand without rushing to eat, "They were originally the spawn of the Father of Serpents Yig, but the Father of Serpents had a violent temper; the slightest disobedience would bring down a curse, turning their bodies into rotting flesh and a puddle of pus."

He paused, staring at the meat in his hand, his gaze unfocused: "Some snake people struggled to survive until they discovered another being sleeping in the abyss—Tsathoggua, the Toad God."

The Speaker finally took a bite of the meat, chewing slowly: "Compared to Yig, this one is easier to serve. You offer to it, it protects you; it doesn't demand lack of emotion. Even if it's a defector Yig wants to kill, hiding in the Toad God's Domain can slow down Yig's curse."

"Until over a hundred years ago, when the Toad God suddenly began to move, traveling all the way to Mimei Forest. Some snake people tribes migrated here with it and occupied our territory in the north. We've been fighting for so many years over prey and water sources."

"It is said that the seasonal climate that year was completely contrary to normal conditions."

"Regardless, you'll have it easier from now on," Wu Xi said.

"It is easier," the Speaker turned to look at him, "thanks to you. With that thing gone back, the snake people will also withdraw. We can catch our breath and properly recuperate."

Wu Xi waved his hand, just about to grab more meat, when he suddenly stopped. He recalled the giant cat phantom that had surged from the head of the Speaker's staff earlier, the scene where a single swipe of its claw sent three snake people flying.

"By the way," he turned to the Speaker, still chewing meat, "that cat god phantom you summoned... Bastet. Are you her followers?"

The Speaker was stunned for a moment and exchanged a glance with the Grand Elder opposite him.

"In a way," the Speaker said slowly, placing his wine bowl on his knee, "but not entirely."