The world-devouring dragon

"NUE_MOURNFULLY_MOANS_AND_WAILS, JUST_LIKE_EVERY_OTHER_DAY. (The tiger thrush cries as sadly as before)"

Next to her ears, a song in a special language came from the depths of the sea. The song sounded like thousands or ten thousand people singing for her. Although she could not understand it, the girl could instinctively understand the meaning of the song.

It was a lament for her premature loss of life.

In front of the girl, the huge squid leisurely dived deeper into the sea, as if it was deliberately guiding him. The squid was not very fast, and sometimes stopped to wait for the girl.

In this way, the girl swam deeper into the sea.

"ALL_FLOWERS_AND_BUDS_SHALL_PASS. (Suddenly looking back at the broken flowers)"

In the plaintive voice, the girl finally saw some light in the deepest part of the dark seabed...

There is a fantastic underwater city.

Exquisite houses are scattered all over the city. A series of magnificent undersea flying bridges are interspersed in the city. Fountains and statues can be seen everywhere, making it look like a garden. Countless flowers fall from the sky above the city, and then It turns into an endless rain of flowers falling down, and walking in this city is like walking in a sea of ​​flowers.

There are strange snake-men with scales on their bodies and tall bodies, mermaids whose upper body is a beauty and whose lower body is a fish, fish-men with ferocious faces and weapons in their hands... and all kinds of weird creatures that look like humans but not humans, are all in this dreamlike world. Traveling through the city.

Some people ride graceful dolphins, while others ride huge whales, freely rising and falling in this underwater city shrouded in rain of flowers.

And in this underwater city, there is actually water flowing.

No, that is not water, but moonlight. The moonlight bound by magic flows quietly in this city like a river.

Endless prosperity, like a boundless prosperous age.

The girl looked at everything in front of her in surprise. There was only one thought in her mind...

"Nano..."

Only among the snake people in the swamp world and the underwater city in ancient legends can there be such a flourishing scene of flowers.

"LIKE_AS_COMFORT_IN_MIND_WHICH_RUNS_AWAY_IN_A_MOMENT. (Like the comfort disappears without a trace)"

As the girl got closer to this legendary city, something else began to appear next to him...

A snake man riding a huge whale and wearing ancient armor looked at her in surprise, but then he seemed to remember something, woke up, and respectfully beat his chest in salute to her.

The girl didn't understand why, and there was some confusion in her eyes.

However, in front of her, the huge squid was dissatisfied. It made a quick and short sound, urging the girl to follow it.

"ALL_THE_GODS_ARE_TO_COME_IN_A_NEW_ERA. (Gods Gathering in the New Age)"

In her ears, the singing became clearer and clearer, so much so that the girl could vaguely determine the location of the singing.

A huge palace that towered far above all other buildings. The song calling her in her ears came from that palace.

The song that made her feel a little sad was calling her, although she didn't know what she was sad about.

There was a vague female figure in her mind, which seemed very familiar, but she couldn't remember who it was, and it was getting blurry...

Before the girl knew it, the memories belonging to living people were gradually disappearing in her mind.

"IN_THE_BREAKING_LIGHT_OF_DAWN, NUE_WILL_SING_ALL_OVER_AGAIN. (Tiger thrush crows at night)"

The bare toes gently touched the solid stone slab.

In front of the girl, it was different from the feeling of overlooking the city from above. After entering the city, she could truly feel the hugeness and grandeur of the city.

There were tall buildings everywhere, making her look extremely small.

In the rain of flowers, a falling petal fell gently on her body.

She didn't know where she should go, but she just thought it would be good to go in the direction of the singing.

"BUDS_BLOOM, WORSHIP_THE_GODS. (The flowers bloom and pray to God)"

Many female voices came to her ears.

A young girl, less than eleven or twelve years old, was wearing a gorgeous robe that was a little too big. Her face was as pure and innocent as the clear sky, and her clear eyes were somewhat blank.

Beside her, the snake people and various creatures she saw on the way all bowed respectfully to her figure, murmuring the reputation of the Father of Snakes and the Daughter of Snakes.

For some reason, her heart was not touched at all, as if this was a matter of course.

She ignored the figures kneeling towards her and just walked in the direction of the tallest palace.

"IN_THIS_LIFE, MEN_EXIST_WITH_HOLLOW_BODIES. (I feel sorry for myself)"

Along the way, there were people everywhere trying to kneel down to her. In the eyes of these people, she was the incarnation of the Snake Girl. Their reverence for the Snake Girl made it difficult for them to suppress their admiration.

Whether it is prayer or praise, the reasons for worship are different, but only the enthusiasm is completely the same.

However, no matter how fervently they worshiped, no one dared to block her progress, and they all spontaneously made way for a wide road so that she could lead directly to the palace.

"WHEN_DREAMS_ARE_GONE. (Dreams Gone)"

In the rain of flowers, the girl looked at the palace in front of her. Behind the gate, she could only vaguely see the hundreds of steps inside and the temple located on the mountain inside the palace.

In front of you, the door of the towering palace has long been opened to visitors, but no one dares to approach it, and no one dares to walk in.

In her ears, the melodious singing was still there, but the girl had vaguely realized that she might be the only one who could hear the singing.

For some reason, when she listened to the singing, she felt a faint pain in her heart, as if she would lose something extremely precious if she walked into this palace...

A vague figure kept reappearing in her mind, but she couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman, whether it was beautiful or ugly.

Probably... you'll understand everything after entering.

With this thought in her mind, she moved forward.

"ALL_DISAPPEAR_WITH_ETERNAL_REGRET. (Hate drifting)"

After walking hundreds of steps step by step, the girl did not feel tired. In other words, how could a dead body feel tired?

In front of you is the door of the temple. The door is only ajar, not closed, waiting for someone to push it open.

The singing gradually stopped.

The girl reaches out her hand.

In my mind, the figure has completely disappeared, it is empty and there is no memory.

She pushed away calmly...

"Roll..."

Inside the temple, there is a seemingly new world, with blue sky, white clouds, clear water, streams...and the beautiful figure who is sitting or standing, with a bright and beautiful appearance, looking at her with curious eyes. .

Those women are either tall, delicate, gentle, heroic... all of them, as if the beauties of the whole world are included in this world.

The only characteristic between them is that they all have a pair of erect snake eyes, and this not only does not destroy their beauty, but also adds a bit of strange beauty.

"A little sister is here..."

They looked at the young girl curiously while whispering to each other quietly.

Among the many figures, there is one figure that attracts special attention. With her long, smooth red hair, calm and generous demeanor, and the majesty in every move, she can be said to be the brightest pearl among these many beauties.

At this moment, the Snake Girl walked into the girl's side, held her hand with a catkin-like white arm, and whispered to her.

"In the past ten thousand years, every hundred years, I will select a maid to present singing, dancing and music to my father. You are the hundredth."

"From now on, you will be our sister and serve my father with us, okay?"

The girl didn't ask anything, just nodded gently. From the moment she stepped here, she already understood what she should do.

The Snake Girl held her hand and walked to a place in the stream under the gaze of many eyes. The girl sat down silently and murmured prayers along with many Snake Girl's maids.

He clenched his hands and murmured softly.

That ethereal heart was untainted by dust. It had long forgotten everything in its life, and didn't care about the outside world. It just prayed to the big snake with all its heart.

…

And in the deepest part of the seabed, the big snake that had been sleeping for a long time slowly opened its eyes, listening to the prayers in his ears, feeling indifferent in his heart.

"Ten thousand years..."

(The songs and music in this article are all about the translation of "The Ballad of the Puppet" in "Ghost in the Shell". The previous chapter was in Roman pronunciation, while this chapter is reproduced from someone else's English translation. "The Ballad of the Puppet" is based on It comes from Taoist sacrificial music, which is very good and interesting music.)