The Devil’s Cage

The smile froze on the old lady’s face.

“Scallions, coriander, scallions, coriander…” mumbled the old lady.

Gluttony didn’t care about all that, he only wanted to eat the best and most that he could. Of course, even if it wasn’t up to his standard, he’d eat it.

Do not waste food; Gluttony, who lived by this creed, raised the bowl to his mouth but before he could drink it, the bowl disappeared.

It wasn’t just the bowl of soup though. The pot, the bridge, and the old lady all disappeared.

Gluttony’s sight was filled with mist and when the mist dispersed, he realized he was standing on the bridge again.

The old lady appeared again and was boiling soup.

This time, the old lady put some green scallions and coriander into the pot.

“Scallions and coriander added, now drink it. It helps you forget things. Let the past be buried in the deepest soil.”

The old lady looked kind and merciful, as she did before, and passed the bowl of soup to Gluttony.

After the scallions and coriander were added, the taste of the soup became different. Gluttony showed a smile, the old lady smiling brighter.

But…

“Why isn’t it boiled with bones?” Gluttony asked.

The smile on the old lady’s face froze again.

Then, the misty scene repeated itself.

“Here, scallions and coriander with bone-boiled soup, drink it. It helps you forget things. Let the past be buried in the deepest soil.”

The old lady passed the soup to Gluttony again.

“But why isn’t it boiled with pork femur?” Gluttony asked again when he got the soup.

The smile froze again, and the scene repeated itself once again.

“Here, pork femur-boiled soup with scallions and coriander, drink it…”

“Can you add some meat?”

…

“Pork femur-boiled soup, added meat, scallions and coriander, drink it…”

“Can you add some winter melon?”

…

“Pork femur-boiled soup, added meat, winter melon, scallions and coriander, drink it…”

“Shouldn’t the winter melon be in slices? You shouldn’t put in the whole thing.”

…

“Pork femur-boiled soup, added meat, winter melon slices, scallions and coriander, drink it…”

“Do you have rice? I want a bowl.”

…

“Pork femur-boiled soup, added meat, winter melon slices, scallions and coriander, together with a bowl of rice, drink it…”

“What about noodles? I think I want some noodles.”

“Pork femur-boiled soup, added meat, winter melon slices, scallions and coriander, together with rice and noodles, drink it… Forget everything. Let the past be buried in the deepest soil.”

The scene repeated itself countless times.

The old lady’s figure got shallower and vague, to the point where she looked like a fading ghost, ad if a simple gust of wind could blow her away.

However, the old lady didn’t feel anything, persistent enough to fulfill the persistent Gluttony.

The heavy soup ladle in her hand was lifted up and put down countless times.

This time, when she saw Gluttony lift up the bowl, she smiled and raised the ladle up high, waiting for Gluttony to drink the soup and the time for her to reap her harvest.

But at the very next moment, her eyelid twitched, because Gluttony had lowered the bowl and looked at her.

“Can you…”

Fuuuu!

Before Gluttony finished, the shallow figure of the old lady scattered with the wind.

Gluttony was quick though, not caring about the old lady fading into the wind. Instead, he grabbed the pot of soup with a hand, preventing it from fading too.

Gluttony smiled.

He poured the bowl of soup into the pot, lifted the pot up, and finished the whole pot of soup with many gulps. He also chewed the bones at the bottom, ate the rice, and the noodles, plus the winter melon slices beside it.

After finishing the pot of soup and side dishes, Gluttony looked around in hopes of finding more things to eat.

He looked down the bridge. The river was muddy and it was flowing quickly like the tides.

Then, a long black shadow swam over quickly. Gluttony’s eyes shone and he jumped into the river without a second thought.

Splash!

The muddy water splashed everywhere and the scene changed drastically.

Gluttony didn’t catch the black shadow, nor could he tell whether or not the shadow was a big fish.

Instead, Gluttony felt like his body was wriggling and hissing. He looked down and saw the body of a snake.

He had become small, weak, and very hungry.

He tried his best to find food in his weird body but there was nothing around him.

He was in a wasteland.

Death arrived.

After a series of blurry images, he saw an old lady boiling soup.

The old lady’s face was blurry, but she was kind and merciful. She didn’t show disgust at his weird body, as she viewed all life as equal.

“Poor little fella.”

The old lady lifted the bowl of soup and fed him.

It tasted warm but lacked of any real taste. He wanted more, but the old lady touched his head and shook her head slowly.

“No more, three bowls is the most you can get.”

After the old lady denied him, she put her hand out, poked her index finger, and fed him a drop of her blood.

The old lady then picked him up and placed him through a shining round gate behind her.

“Go now. Don’t you cry of hunger the next time I see you,” the old lady waved her hand.

He went into the shining gate and when he swam through, he had forgotten everything.

He became extremely gifted and gained unrivaled power.

He ignored everything, he dared to challenge everything and dared to devour everything.

Soon, he was known as the Devourer.

The things that he ate in his new form become tasteless, so he wanted to eat something more tasty.

His body? His own soul?

He took a small bite of his own body and soul. It was tasty, it was inconceivably tasty, especially the soul.

At first he wanted a bite, but he didn’t hold back his hunger, so he… devoured himself.

All that was left was that gigantic body as his soul vanished.

…

“Hey, hey, how is it going in there?”

A familiar voice echoing in his ear, Gluttony shook his head and woke up from the dreamy scene. He realized the stuffed feeling was gone and everything had returned to normal.

He felt like something about himself was different but it felt the same.

It was a strange feeling for him yet extremely real, to the point that he wanted to bite himself.

However, the alarm that came into his mind stopped his foolish act.

He didn’t forget how tasty it was at first, neither did he forget how painful it was in the end.

He didn’t want to go through pain like that again.

“Are you alright?” Sloth’s voice sounded again.

“I’m fine, it’s just…”

“Just what?” Sloth pressed on with his question when the surprising answer came from Gluttony.

“It’s just that I am hungry.” Gluttony answered.

“…” Sloth.