"What's wrong?" Xie Ning panicked. She didn't know why he suddenly looked like this - like a puppy that got kicked on the side of the road, which made people feel very sad. "What happened?"
When Echidna didn't answer, he struggled to open his arms, awkwardly put them around the man's waist, and gently patted his back as a way of comforting him.
Maybe those Olympian gods are up to something again? Xie Ning speculated in her mind.
The silence lasted for a long time, and in the silence, only the angry and intermittent breathing of Echidna could be heard. After an unknown amount of time, Echidna resolutely moved, wandering around the underground palace, sending down a piece of concealing fog, letting it rise to the high and spacious dome, until everywhere he could see was covered with clouds and fog, like a gloomy sky.
"I will not let them watch you," Echidna swore indignantly, "because I value your life the most among all people. I will not let the gods watch you!"
What does this mean? Xie Ning couldn't figure it out, so he asked, "What happened just now?"
His Doros, the pure and lovely Doros, how he wanted to open his mouth and swallow this precious soul into his stomach. Unless Zeus himself used thunder to split his body, he could not force himself to separate from Doros! Unfortunately, this idea was completely unsuccessful.
Echidna covered the eyes of the gods with thick fog and replied unwillingly: "Poseidon, who only wanders in the salt water and keeps company with the fishy fish, has come to the shore and cast his eyes on my palace! It must be that Xuthothus called out to his father to attract Poseidon's attention. It's a pity that I relaxed the requirements for the sacrifice, but he didn't feel grateful. I must make him pay the price!"
Xie Ning didn’t quite understand this logic: “Ah, why is he being punished? He didn’t do anything.”
Looking at his ignorant and naive human, Echidna said with infinite sorrow: "Doros, you don't understand how far those frivolous and naughty new gods can go for a whim. Eris threw down a golden apple, threatening to give it to the most beautiful goddess. That really aroused a fierce competition on Mount Olympus, and even triggered the Trojan War that lasted for ten years. How much blood was shed and how much death was caused in the world. The Styx surged, and the gates of Hades' palace were worn out by the newly arrived souls. Many demons watched from afar and sighed. And the source of all this was nothing more than the three goddesses fighting for an apple."
He stuck out his black tongue, the forked tip of which explored the air for the breath of external divine power. "If they really have a sudden whim and want to see what strange abilities you, a human who has attracted Echidna's favor, have, and take you away from my arms, what should I do? By then, even if I cut Xuthoth, who caused all this, into pieces and make his father, the black-haired Poseidon, cry until his hair turns white, what is the use? I must first let him know how serious the consequences of offending me are!"
After he finished speaking, he split the earth again, drawing the burning water from the ground to form a deep underground river around the edge of Arima's underground palace. Echidna lowered his snake tail and dipped into the river, which immediately turned purple and rolled out poisonous bubbles.