Chapter 10 - My Blood, Sweat And Tears Are Only For You

They had finished transversing the steep cliff, and Daniele got down from 'Leandro's' back.

They soon reach a grassy field that is slightly brighter and more seemingly harmless than the others. Daniele even wondered if they came to another Limbo, or someplace where no one is really being 'punished'. He hoped so, he really dislikes seeing people suffer.

Suddenly, the galloping of horses could be heard and they came like thunder, making the ground shake and rattle a bit. Men with arrows came with the horses, but on a closer look....

One would realize that the men and the horses are one and the same, connected by the waist.

"Those are the centaurs." 'Leandro' explained. "The ones leading the group are Chiron and Pholus, they shoot down anyone who tries to go up from the river."

"Another river? What is it for?"

"It's the River Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood and fire. You would not want to see it." 'Leandro' took his hand and gestured him to lean down on the tall grasses to be hidden from plain sight.

"The 7th Circle is the Circle of Violence. That river is for those who are violent to both the guilty and the are innocent, like murderers and tyrants. That's is the key difference of Violence from Wrath."

He bent down, checking all sides of his surroundings. "We have to avoid rousing suspicion from the centaurs or they might mistake us as violent sinners."

"Alright, brother." Daniele responded in a hushed voice.

They crawled slowly on the grass, until suddenly an arrow came whizzing through on the ground next to 'Leandro'!

(Holy shit, that could have impaled my head!) Zhe Chouhen cursed internally.

A centaur with long, chestnut locks and kind features were frowning at them. He looks gentle enough but has a dangerous aura whenever he holds his bow.

Zhe Chouhen recognized this as Nessus.

"What are you two doing?" Nessus asked.

(Playing hide and seek with you, Mr. Ponyman.) Zhe Chouhen sassed Nessus in his head.

"Spare us, kind sir! We have not committed any violence on anyone in our lives!" Daniele fell on his knees and begged at the half-horse man.

Nessus regarded him for a while before his knitted eyebrows softened, and he lightly nodded.

"I can see that. Your soul is one of the purest that I have witnessed in these past centuries. It is similar to that of the brave heroes who sacrifice themselves for their people and does not harm anyone for selfish reasons. You may move forward safely."

Daniele's teary eyes brightened and he hastily stood up, brushing himself. "Thank you."

Nessus face then darkened when he turned to 'Leandro'. "Your companion, however, is not innocent. I will guide you to the end of Phlegethon, but your companion must swim to the boiling river himself to receive his reckoning."

(Wait, shit! What did I do!? Does he see this as the sin of Leandro? It's Leandro, right? He fucking killed Daniele with that poisoned apple!)

[That's correct.]

(So sentient creatures in Hell see my sins as Leandro, while the punishments themselves apply to my own soul?)

[From what we've seen so far, yes.]

Zhe Chouhen sighed in relief. (Then that means even if they threw me in the red hotpot river, I won't be turned into boiled tofu.)

"What has my brother committed to receive such punishment!? You must be mistaken, centaur!" Daniele defended.

"It's alright, Daniele." 'Leandro' stood up and patted his shoulder. "I will prove to him that I am not guilty."

He walked at the shore himself, looking calm and unbothered as ever, even looking back to smile at Daniele. The blond boy fidgeted as he watched his stepbrother walk into his own demise with no fear at all.

Even the centaur Nessus raised an eyebrow at this mortal's boldness. It's not every day that you see someone waltzing about straight to the river where the sinful writhe and cower in pain, trying to escape again and again even when they know they will be shot down by arrows.

Because the River Phlegethon is not about physical pain. It is about bathing in the blood of your own enemies and victims, wallowing in guilt as you feel the pain you have inflicted on them increased ten thousand times more.

Zhe Chouhen knew that he would be okay even if he jump at the red hotpot river, but he still felt his stomach clench.

(I'm really gonna be fine if I jump on this, right?)

[.....]

(Hey, did you fall asleep or something!? I'm gonna be fine, right!?)

[.....]

(Fucking Daoist Panda, I hope you only eat bamboo for the rest of your pathetic life!) Zhe Chouhen swore as he dived into the boiling river of blood.

Zhe Chouhen did not feel any external pain, only a slight sting at his insides. It's like all his inner organs are acting up, especially his chest, like a heartburn. It made him so nauseous and he felt like he was suffocating as he swam past the other miserable sinners.

Why does it hurt like this? Him not being boiled into crisp is proof enough that he is innocent, but why are his innards feeling like they are going to spontaneously combust!?

"I told you my brother is innocent!" He heard Daniele's muffled voice from the shore. "I'll follow you to the other side, brother! Just keep swimming!"

Nessus was amused, but centaurs are wise and have keen eyes. He can notice even the most minimal discomfort on someone's face.

He trotted slowly, clip-clopping at the pace of the short-limbed blond human, whose face was so bright and cheery that it did not fit this hellhole at all.

"You can do it, brother! Keep swimming!"

His cute blond fictional stepbro hollered and Zhe Chouhen felt pumped-up like he was an Olympic swimmer being cheered by a fan. Despite the agonizing crumpling of his insides, he persevered to freestyle stroke his way to the shallow side of Phlegethon.

The other sinners heard this and felt nostalgic for their brothers in arms during battle, or their loved ones praising their strength and endurance.

Daniele's tender voice was like cold water applied to their scalded burns, and they wade closer to the sound of it. Some couldn't help but swim to the surface, and even though Nessus has shot them on their eyeballs and their skulls, the sinners still tried to catch up to Daniele.

Some even pleaded with Daniele like they were praying to him. "Oh brothers in war, how I miss you and our homes! I want to be forgiven for all the excessive deaths that I have caused so I can be with you again!"

"I should not have been a cruel tyrant when I have risen to the throne! My fellow brothers, forgive me!"

"Bring us salvation so we may have another chance at a life without violence!"

"This child..... He has the halo of a saint." Nessus realized and mumbled to himself. "What is he doing in this inferno where he doesn't belong?"

Daniele did not hear this and was too busy peering when he would see 'Leandro's' head from the bloody waters. He shouted more support and encouragement to his stepbrother who struggled to not give up and let himself sink down from his burning insides.

'Leandro' finally reached the end, grabbing on the shore and staggering with smoking blood dripping on his hair.

He staggered to his feet and fell forward as he could not take it anymore. Zhe Chouhen had never been this lethargic since he got a fever and still had to go on a 100m sprint in school because his parents did not believe that he was sick.

Daniele caught him in his arms, the bloody water slipping away wherever he touches like they were scared of this boy. "Brother, what's wrong!? You were not injured, were you!?"

"Just.... exhausted....." 'Leandro' had spent a long time swimming yet his lips were chapped and pale.

Daniele pressed their foreheads together. "Brother, you are as hot as the sun!!!"

"Thank.... you...." Zhe Chouhen's brain was fried and he don't know what's happening anymore.

"Huh?" Daniele tilted his head in confusion. "Why did you thank me? I'm saying that your body temperature is abnormally high!"

"Your companion is not at his right mind. He will fall unconscious soon." Nessus spoke, tail swishing from his brown stallion rear.

"Why is he like this?" Daniele asked the centaur.

Nessus scanned 'Leandro', and frowned. "He thirsts. So deeply that it's eating away at his soul."

When he said this, Zhe Chouhen felt even more thirsty. Looking at Daniele's plump lips reminded him of a juicy fruit.

He wanted to take a bite so that the juices will flow to his tongue, and satiate his dry throat and hollow insides.....

"Brother, you should— Mmph!"

He kissed Daniele, so fiercely and ravenously like he was eating the poor boy instead. He inserted his tongue between the gaps and searched for Daniele's, licking and absorbing all the sweet juices that he had yearned for.

Daniele struggled in his grasp but he held the blond boy's head closer and deepened the kiss. Eventually, Daniele's body went weak from the aggressiveness that his brother was showing him and they both fell back into the grass, rolling in dirt as they made out passionately.

And they were doing this right in front of a centaur that was assigned to punish sinful mortals.

Nessus gave them a disapproving look. "You may not belong in this ring of violence, but you would do well in the third ring with the sodomites*."

Daniele's face reddened as he heard this and he tried his best to push 'Leandro' away. He was sweating from the heat and the embarrassment. "Brother, s-stop—"

'Leandro' bit his lower lip, drawing blood.

Daniele moaned in pain, but 'Leandro' just sucked on that blood. He then noticed the sweat pouring at the baby-faced Italian boy's cheeks and licked on that as well.

Then, he trailed his tongue over Daniele's tears, gazing into those blue eyes adoringly....

Before getting knocked out unconscious by a horse kick on the head.

"Revolting." Nessus said, then turned to Daniele. "If I were you, I would leave this molester be. The woods beyond is the second ring of violence where bird-women, the harpies, resides. Use his body as a shield from the harpies while he's still unconscious."

"I.... I could never do that to my brother—" Daniele gulped. "T-To Leandro."

Nessus sighed. "I thought as much. I do not judge, I just don't like being forced to watch someone being rendered helpless. But if you like that thing, I leave it to you, that's no longer my business."

Nessus turned and galloped away to join his fellow centaurs in patrolling over pesky ingredients of the 'red hotpot' as Zhe Chouhen calls it.

As he left, Daniele's mind was in the gutter. His feelings were conflicted but somehow, worry and compassion for the unconscious man beside him overpower all of it. He fixed Leandro's position on the grass and gently massaged the bump on his head made by the centaur's kick.

"I will wait for you to wake....." Daniele looked at 'Leandro's' handsome sleeping face with mixed feelings. "...So you could explain yourself to me."

------------

Meanwhile, Zhe Chouhen dreamt that he was happily eating loads and loads of watermelons by the grassy field.

He used a spoon to make big scoops on the watermelon sliced in half, and spat out the seeds. A panda in cultivation robes suddenly appeared from the bright blue sky.

[Love Meter raised to 75%]

[Scum Meter raised to 60%]

[Satisfaction Meter raised to 80%]

(What the heck did I do to get all these raises!?) Zhe Chouhen almost dropped his spoonful of watermelon.

Panda covered his mouth as he giggled maliciously. [Hehehe..... So you really were a tangyuan, huh? Admit it, you're secretly black-bellied*, aren't you?]

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