4 You Blow Me Away
"So the Limbo are for those who are not members of the Church. What about the children who died before being baptized? Are they here too?" Daniele's question was answered as a group of young ones and toddlers run past him in the grassy field.
"Yes, whether their family were Christian or not." 'Leandro' nodded.
Daniele frowned. "That feels unfortunate. Children are innocent and have done nothing wrong. These pagans may have helped the poor or done many good deeds in their lives. I know that this place is not that detestable compared to the others, but it is still in hell nonetheless. I pity these people."
"You should be worrying about yourself more, we do not belong here because we are members of the Church. We will suffer worse than this." 'Leandro' reminded him.
Daniele thought for a bit as they walk through the calm but dreary lands of Limbo, and approached one of its dwellers. "Hello, may I ask you something?"
The pagan lady with a colorful, runic shawl nodded. "Of course. Are you new to Limbo?"
"We were only passing through here, madam. My companion and I do not belong here." Daniele smiled sadly. He looked down at the lady's basket of pale yet still decent-looking flowers. "These flowers.... do they grow naturally?"
"Yes. We culture them to survive, but they are few in numbers because we only have little of God's light. Things could not grow without it." The pagan lady frowned.
"Oh, nevermind then." Daniele became sheepish. "I suppose you would treasure these flowers more than you do in the living world."
"Yes, we do. Everything here is only barely enough to suffice all of us non-believers, and we are many." The pagan lady did not seem to be sorrowful about this, but rather used to it.
Zhe Chouhen remembered this scene from the novel. He took off one of his dark charms from his pocket and handed it to the lady. "Then in exchange for a single rose, why don't you take this amulet that generate light? It will help the plants that it reaches to grow faster."
"Where did you get such a thing, brother?" Daniele asked.
"It was blessed by the priest friend of mine, the one who explained the circles of hell to me." 'Leandro' lied as easily as he breathes.
The pagan lady's eyes brightened, and she looked at her running children who are frail and thin. "You will give it to us? May God bless you for your kindness and consider forgiving your sins!"
(Madam, I have far too many to be forgiven. I don't have good intentions in giving this either, my character is just a simp.)
'Leandro' just smiled dryly and took the rose from her, giving it to Daniele. "To brighten your spirits on the paths ahead. You love roses, don't you?"
Daniele smiled and nodded, but then hesitated. "But brother, you could have asked something for yourself like food and water."
"Material things do not matter much outside of Limbo, they will disintegrate as soon as we leave. Though the rose would only last within this circle, at least you will have momentary happiness. Your happiness is more valuable to me than anything else." 'Leandro' gave a charming, suavely grin flashing his shiny white teeth.
[Love Meter raised to 30℅! Damn you, smooth-talking piece of shit!]
(Heh, that also made your heart skip a beat, didn't it?)
[Only because you are using the handsome face of my ML!]
(Excuses, excuses.) Zhe Chouhen rolled his eyes internally and the two trudge forward on the long road leading away from Limbo.
----------------
They now entered the second circle, and was immediately greeted by the howling winds and screams of people that are being thrown into the air like they were riding an endless rollercoaster.
Unlike the Limbo, there was no light in this place. One could only see because they are now a denizen of hell and has vision in the dark like snakes.
Speaking of snakes, a gigantic man sat on the throne in the middle of the chaos, with a serpentine tail wrapping around himself.
"W-Who is that? What sin is being punished over there?" Daniele clutched his rose fearfully, but the petals had been blown away into dust as well, as the leaves, and eventually the stem.
Gone, just like that, seeming to symbolize something.
"That is the Circle of Lust. The people are punished to suffer under severe winds and storms with their lovers because of their restlessness and aimless self-indulgence. That man is Minos, he judges which circle of hell you must suffer by wrapping his tail around himself several times."
'Leandro' blocked the wind and dust from Daniele's side. They were not in the Circle of Lust yet, but at the entrance. Still, the winds were so strong that some of it could still reach them.
"Come, we must face him and seek judgement." 'Leandro' said.
They stood before Minos, who regarded them with no interest. He took one glance at 'Leandro', stomped his leg to the ground with a thunderous boom!
Then, his thick snake tail coiled around it several times.
One, two, three.... He wrapped it nine times.
"The ninth circle, the Circle of Treachery. The lowest of the low, sentenced to the Central Well where Satan resides." Minos gave his verdict in an apathetic voice. "Next."
"The lowest!? And with Satan!?" Daniele's eyes widened. "Who did you betray, brother!?"
(Uh... You.)
"I have no idea either." 'Leandro' frowned like he really could not believe it himself.
Minos observed Daniele next, and waited for his tail to coil around his leg.
Yet the serpentine tail refused to do so, staying limp at the side.
[Uh-oh! Time to use your evil powers~]
Zhe Chouhen gnashed his teeth. (Do I really have to?)
[The story won't progress if you don't, and that counts as acting OOC.]
He groaned mentally and used his black and red tendril aura to grab the snake tail.
Minos' eyes widened but 'Leandro' mentally commanded him to keep his mouth shut, and he continued to force the tail to coil around the leg. It continued resisting yet 'Leandro' managed to make it coil nine times as well.
"Me too? I have betrayed someone!?" Daniele covered his mouth from shock. "Oh, how come I was not aware of it! I pray my betrayal was not that destructive to the person and may they continue to live a good life! I apologize to them and the heavens above!"
Minos scoffed, and clicked his fingers. "The judgement has passed. Travel now to the circle where you belong."
With his big, meaty palms, he pushed the two forward, glaring at 'Leandro' with his green snake eyes.
[Scum Meter raised to 35%]
[Satisfaction Meter raised to 40%]
(Why is it way more higher this time!?)
[Because you also condemned Daniele to have the same fate as you and deeply upset him by making him feel guilty.]
(Not like I have a choice! And how come readers enjoy these things!?)
[The angst, bro. The angst.]
Zhe Chouhen mentally rolled his eyes again, and held Daniele's hand as they go to the Circle of Lust. "Hold on tight to me. The wind will—"
He was immediately sent flying by a gust of wind, slamming into the boulders of rocks!
"Brother!" Daniele reached out from the ground, but 'Leandro' kept drifting away and being flung all over.
The mysterious thing was that Daniele was not affected by the winds whatsoever. The breeze seem to avoid and diverge past him.
"That young lad with golden hair is a virgin and never had a single lustful thought in his life!" A sinner pointed and shout to Daniele.
(Fuck. That means I've been a perverted horndog, haven't I!?)
Zhe Chouhen noticed that he was being tossed and blown away worse than the majority of the people. Some them can even walk and were just fighting off the wind like you would in a sandstorm, but he felt like he was riding a thrill ride in the carnival again, only more painful.
[Yepppppp! And you're not even being judged according to Leandro's sins. The winds assessed your real soul, not your current identity, unlike Minos and Charon.]
(But I'm a virgin as well!)
[Your eyes are not.]
(Can you blame me? I'm a sexually frustrated man for 22 years!) Zhe Chouhen covered his head as he got bumped into the wall again. (Can I use my powers to stop this wind?)
[Yes..... But that will increase your Scum Meter because you're fooling Daniele that you are not lustful. Hehehe~]
(Fuck your mother!) Zhe Chouhen yelled to the Daoist Panda in his head.
He only used his powers to control his own flying, and make things easier. "Daniele, keep going without me. I will join you at the end of this circle!"
"I will not leave you, brother!" Daniele chased after him as fast as he can.
A sinner flew past Daniele and whistled to himself. "Boy, I've been to a hundred brothels in my life, but I never had that much wind as that man. That man's carnal desires must be like that of a wild beast!"
"You are wrong! My brother is pure! He must have been caught in the wind by accident!" Daniele argued, his small body huffing as he was not used to running continuously.
"Lad, there are no accidents in hell! Your brother is a degenerate like the rest of us, accept it! Look at yourself, you were not affected because you are not sinful like us. If your brother was the same, shouldn't he be safe from the wind like you?"
Doubt grew on Daniele's heart from hearing this, the man was right.
Since the beginning of their journey in this underworld, Leandro had been acting strangely calm and even seemingly satisfied. How could he easily accept this fate..... Unless he already knew how sinful he really was?
The gullible MC now have an inkling of suspicion.
[Love Meter lowered back down to 25%]
[Scum Meter raised to 45%]
[Satisfaction Meter raised to 50%]
"Huh!? What did I do!?" Zhe Chouhen complained to Daoist Panda who appeared behind him.
[The story is getting interesting! Daniele now doubts you!]
"Damn it! If I reached 100% on the Satisfaction Meter without keeping the Scum Meter at 0, what will happen to me?"
[You'll be transported to another book of mine at the end of the story, hehe~]
"I shouldn't aim for the Satisfaction Meter then, it keeps rising with the Scum Meter. I should only increase my Love Meter from now on." Zhe Chouhen figured.
[Hey, just a reminder. Whenever you act OOC, the meters will lessen by 5-75℅, depending on your actions. The Satisfaction Meter will be deeply affected if you don't raise the Scum Meter.]
"But there is a way to raise the Love Meter without raising the Scum Meter, right? And I only have to get 100% on either Love OR Satisfaction."
Zhe Chouhen had come to a decision. "I choose Love. I'm willing to sacrifice the Satisfaction altogether, the readers' tastes are shit!"
[You're ruining my story!!!!! I will lose fans!]
"I'm fixing it and making it less problematic! This will be about Leandro's redemption as he realizes is atrocities and let go of his brother in the name of love!"
------------------------------------------
Read The Mafia Boys' Contract Marriage which is joining WPC right now XD
I know it's shameless of me to advertise like this but I'm desperate :)))) Plus it'll be a pretty fun book, I guarantee you.
If you're a fan of mafia, criminal investigations and detective stories, please check it out and support it.
PS: It will also be a whole lot more spicier than any of my books so far cough cough How much spice? You'll see.
