Novel Full Chapter 3538: Medusa (4)
Chapter 3538: Medusa (4)
Whether or not someone chose to help someone else was a personal choice. Intervening was a kindness, but staying out of it was the standard.
If the one raping Medusa were an ordinary mortal man, Athena would certainly punish him. However, when it actually happened, she blamed the entire ordeal on the victim. Because she couldn’t punish Poseidon, she doubled the punishment and inflicted it on the victim instead.
This made for a truly miserable situation.
Medusa was merely an insignificant existence. To serve as a vent for a goddess’s anger was perhaps the only sliver of value she possessed. No one would care about the harm Medusa suffered. This was partly due to the disparity in strength, and partly because this was a patriarchal divine society where women were considered inferior to men.
Ning Shu didn’t know if Athena really intended to hand her over to Poseidon. If she truly gave her to him, then the Gorgon Medusa would never be born.
Ning Shu felt conflicted. Should she stay or should she go?
“You don’t want to go with the sea god? Since he has taken a liking to you, you might even obtain some divine power. Though you wouldn’t be like a god, you could at least maintain your youth forever,” Athena said indifferently. Her presence radiated divine majesty.
Was this a test? If Ning Shu chose to go, would she drop dead before she even made it out the door? After all, Athena and Poseidon were rivals, and Poseidon loved to stir up trouble. Giving away one’s own priestess was, to some extent, a loss of face.
Ning Shu remained prostrate as she said, “I am unwilling to go.”
“You truly won’t go?” Athena spoke once more.
“I am unwilling.”
Athena waved her hand, signaling Ning Shu to leave. Ning Shu stood up and backed out of the temple with her head bowed.
Not long after, Athena left the temple, presumably to deal with the drought and the dying livestock.
Ning Shu wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. If she had truly shown any sign of being wavering, she might not have walked out of there. She would have been carried out—or worse, she might have vanished from the earth entirely, leaving not even a bone behind.
One should never assume these gods were benevolent beings. To them, killing a father, a brother, or a sibling was like a game. The schemes and infighting between the goddesses were enough to fill an entire history of palace intrigue.
Ning Shu returned to her room and began to cultivate. Aside from cultivation, there was no other way.
In the evening, a heavy rain fell over the city of Athens. It was likely a miracle granted by Athena. All the humans in the city ran out of their houses, singing and dancing as they knelt on the ground to worship toward the temple.
Ning Shu could feel wisps of faith power flying toward the temple, all of which were absorbed by the statue of Athena. Some gods were born from human belief, and faith power was a very good thing. A war goddess like Athena wouldn’t vanish even without faith power, but more was always better.
However, this faith power had absolutely nothing to do with Ning Shu. She couldn’t take even a single shred of it. Ning Shu comforted herself with the thought that she, too, was someone who possessed faith power.
After the miracle was displayed, Athena did not return to the temple. No one knew where she had gone.
With Athena away, Ning Shu cultivated recklessly, devouring the spiritual energy. The energy in this plane was very abundant. Every extra moment of cultivation meant a bit more strength, and perhaps that bit of strength would allow her to escape with her life.
A maid entered the room, and Ning Shu stopped her cultivation. The maid pulled back the thin curtains and said to Ning Shu, “Priestess, a god has come to visit. Since the goddess is not here, please go and receive him.”
“Who is it?” Ning Shu asked.
“The sea god.”
Ning Shu: …
Damn it. Poseidon had come just like that, barging in while Athena wasn’t in the temple.
Athena could return to the temple in the blink of an eye, yet in the original story, Medusa had cried out for help toward Athena’s statue. She used the special divine language known only to priestesses to beg for aid, but Athena remained indifferent to her pleas.
Hearing that Poseidon had arrived and that she was expected to receive him, Ning Shu said directly, “I’m not feeling well. I don’t want to go.”
The maid looked worried. “Priestess, it’s the sea god. If we are disrespectful, the goddess will blame us. Priestess, the sea god specifically requested you.”
Ning Shu: …
“Since the priestess isn’t feeling well, then I shall come to her.” Poseidon slowly appeared, entering the room and pulling aside the thin veil. He stared straight at Ning Shu.
Get lost!
“Leave us. I’ll call you if I need anything. I have something to discuss with the priestess.” Poseidon told the maid to scram. He reached out and tilted Ning Shu’s chin up. “Beautiful. Not even the most beautiful sirens in the sea can compare to you.”
Ning Shu looked at Poseidon expressionlessly.
The maid hesitated and gave Ning Shu a worried look, but she couldn’t disobey a god, so she could only withdraw. Her gaze toward Ning Shu was full of pity. One didn’t even need to think to know what would happen next.
“You are the sea god. The oceans are under your control…”
Are you really going to do something this shameless?
“That’s right, I am the sea god.” Poseidon leaned closer to Ning Shu. His fingers gripped her chin and forced it upward.
Poseidon emanated a heavy scent of hormones. Perhaps because he lived in the ocean, he carried the perennial scent of the sea.
To Ning Shu, it just smelled like salted fish. There was no helping it. When you had no feelings for someone, you wouldn’t be tolerant of their flaws.
With one hand squeezing Ning Shu’s chin, Poseidon used the other to caress her face. “Beautiful, truly beautiful. Even a god couldn’t bestow such a countenance.”
This lecherous display was truly nauseating. Ning Shu rolled her eyes. Poseidon placed his hand over her eyes and said, “These eyes are so beautiful they take one’s breath away.”
Ning Shu moved his hand away from her eyes. “I am the goddess’ priestess. Are you sure you want to behave improperly toward me in her temple?”
“You are just a priestess. Athena won’t turn against me for the sake of one priestess,” Poseidon said with a laugh, looking very masculine. His physique was sturdy, and the hand squeezing Ning Shu’s chin felt exceptionally large.
Poseidon leaned closer to Ning Shu and took a deep breath, looking intoxicated. “A wonderful scent. The fragrance of a virgin.”
Ning Shu said expressionlessly, “As a matter of fact, I haven’t bathed in a month.”
Poseidon laughed instead. He stuck out his tongue and abruptly licked Ning Shu’s earlobe. “I happen to like that scent.”
Ning Shu: …
This dead fish really had some extreme tastes.
Ning Shu used her hand to wipe the wet saliva from her earlobe, then wiped her hand off on Poseidon’s clothes.
Ning Shu’s actions caught Poseidon completely off guard. He had expected her to be afraid, to tremble, to be shy, or to be angry. Wiping her hand on him was something he hadn’t anticipated.
“Do you know who I am?” Poseidon’s expression soured. He squeezed Ning Shu’s chin tightly—with so much force that she suspected her jaw might shatter.
“How dare you be disrespectful to a god. Tell me, how should I punish you?” Poseidon’s other hand gripped Ning Shu’s neck and slowly began to move downward…
If it went any further, he would be touching her breasts.