Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

What you're looking for is the snake before it sheds its skin. What does that have to do with me, Lin Xian?

Why am I being blamed for everything?

What's worse, you can't refuse it.

"Hahaha! That arrogant jerk finally got his comeuppance! Well done!"

Upon hearing this, Ereshkigal beamed and reached out to stroke the ancient snake's cool head with a contented smile.

The relationship between this goddess of the underworld and the king of the earth was far from harmonious.

Gilgamesh, in his pursuit of immortality, also visited the underworld and bothered her several times.

Even worse, that guy kept his best friend Enkidu's body in the underworld.

Honestly! What do they take this place for? A garden? Or a graveyard?

The goddess muttered to herself, naturally pleased with Gilgamesh's humiliation, and even her gaze towards her pet snake softened with satisfaction.

"By the way, I've been calling you 'little guy' all the time. It's too casual. Let me give you a proper name."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xian immediately perked up, deftly scooped up a pebble from the basket with its tail, and wrote a line of cuneiform characters on a relatively flat and smooth stone slab nearby.

Then, the ancient serpent picked up a corner of its owner's cloak and showed it to Ereshkigal.

“My name is Samael, which means ‘the poison of radiance’.”

Samael is the serpent of original sin in Jewish legend who tempted Adam and Eve to pluck the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He also has the appearance of a fallen angel, with twelve serpentine wings.

We're all of the same kind. Since this name will allow you to thrive in Mesopotamia, what's yours is mine.

As the ancient snake muttered to itself, it glanced at the additional text on the stone and a strange smile appeared on its lips.

Chapter Seven: Cunning and Arrogant

"Kind, lovely, and beautiful Lady Ereshkigal, thank you for taking me in."

The goddess of the underworld subconsciously read the following cuneiform text aloud, paused for a moment, blushed, and began to stammer.

"Coco... is she cute and beautiful?"

"Me... I'm not that good."

With a rustling sound behind her, the ancient snake flicked its tail, dropped a stone, and gently nuzzled its owner's hand with its head, pointing out a new section of cuneiform script to her.

"Although the standards of beauty are varied, they are still absolute."

"Black can overcome white, and earth can overcome heaven."

"In my eyes, you are a more dazzling presence in the underworld than any star in the sky!"

Can black overcome white? Can earth overcome heaven?

Ereshkigal's body trembled, and she murmured as if sensing something, her eyes shining even brighter.

The soft hand, which had been tangled and tangled at the corner of her clothes with nowhere to go, gradually clenched into a fist, and finally, with excitement and a little bit of venting, it was vigorously waved into the air.

That's right! How could I possibly lose to that spoiled and indulged wicked woman!

However, in a daze, when Ereshkigal's gaze wandered to both sides, it fell upon the dark and gloomy death fog around him, and the territory shrouded in desolation and corruption.

The goddess shifted uncomfortably, biting her lower lip tightly, her expression becoming somewhat insecure.

"But I am the unfortunate one who governs corruption and death..."

"In the underworld, not even a single flower will bloom, not even a single grapevine will grow..."

Faced with the self-pitying goddess, the ancient serpent flicked its tongue, swung its tail, and continued to write its response on the stone.

"Light is born of darkness, and death is rebirth..."

"Because we will die, humanity will cherish the preciousness of life even more..."

"Perhaps fools can only see the filth and darkness of decaying plants, but these are the very foundations that give birth to beauty."

"Therefore, compared to a life that squanders time and basks in the sunshine, a life buried deep in the soil, silently decaying and dying, is more worthy of praise and deserves more praise!"

This somewhat subversive yet powerful philosophy gradually stirred up waves in the heart of the goddess of the underworld.

"Even in the dark and gloomy underworld, not even a small grapevine can grow."

"But Lady Ereshkigal, you have provided shelter for countless souls and even took me in."

"In this desolate land, you are the most beautiful flower of the underworld!"

The ancient snake forcefully scratched marks on the stone slab. As it finished writing, the stone pen, wrapped in its tail, rhythmically dotted the blank space. Its vertical pupils, gleaming with an eerie light, seemed to be in thought.

After a moment, Lin Xian's gaze softened with reverence, and he solemnly added a sentence at the end.

"And there's only one of these!"

Hearing these resounding words of affirmation, the long-standing gloom of self-abandonment that had shrouded the goddess of the underworld was torn open by a narrow rift.

She had heard countless pleas, curses, and insults from the mouths of those dead souls.

Although everything has a beginning and an end, new life, which represents the "beginning," is often praised, while death, which stands at the "end," is always blamed.

This was the first time in millions of years that Ereshkigal had heard such recognition.

Moreover, she never imagined that these words would come from the mouth of a snake.

Could it be that the Immortal Herb also has the effect of awakening intelligence?

At the same time, the feeling of being at a loss made the goddess of the underworld unable to maintain her dignity, and her pretty face turned red.

This subtle attitude of praising while feigning reluctance adds a touch of humanity and a charmingly down-to-earth quality.

"Well, even though I saved you, there's no need to keep saying nice things."

Well, this pet owner is a bit too sensitive. Just a little more praise would seem forced.

The ancient snake struck a pose, displaying a hesitant expression, before lowering its head with a hint of reluctance.

The goddess of the underworld held her pet in her arms, gently stroking its smooth, cool head with her fingertips, then waved her hand across the stone covered with cuneiform script, erasing the marks.

"By the way, you just called me Ai Lei?"

"Hmm, although it's a bit different from the true name of God, the pronunciation is similar, so it sounds pretty good."

"Well, as a reward for what you just said, you can continue to call me that from now on. It's decided."

To alleviate her pet's sadness, Ellie offered simple encouragement.

The ancient snake raised its head, hissed excitedly, and its two-meter-long body slid and climbed around its owner's chest and neck, showing a sense of intimacy.

"Ouch! It itches so much..."

The tingling sensation from the snake scales rubbing against her neck and chest made Ai Lei tremble and giggle uncontrollably.

After a while of commotion, the goddess grabbed the snake by its tail, pulled the clingy little creature off her, and then, mimicking a shepherd training a dog, gave commands to the snake.

"Sit still! Stop fooling around!"

The ancient snake obediently slid off Ereshkigal's body, coiled itself in the center of a dark blue-green boulder, and used its tail to pick up several pieces of ore, handing them to its owner.

"Oh no! I'm doomed! I still have more than half of my work to do!"

The moment the goddess received the ore, she looked up at the gradually fading light of the temple and immediately began to work frantically to finish the task.

"It's all your fault! All you do is cause trouble! If you don't finish this time, you're not going anywhere!"

Ereshkigal, increasingly flustered by her busy schedule, kept mobilizing her magic to extract metal materials from the ore to weave the gun cage, all the while complaining incessantly.

Well, she's just a little girl who lacks love and recognition.

Lin Xian obediently cooperated with its owner and began its work. The earnest and hardworking figure in front of it made it gently curl the corners of its lips.

It's been several months since Gilgamesh threw it into the underworld.

Because of his immortality, he was in his element here, and his size and magic power were constantly increasing.

Moreover, in his spare time, Lin Xian also learned basic cuneiform script from those spirits of the underworld.

Incidentally, through the sorting of information, it also gained a general understanding of the distribution of city-state power in Mesopotamia, as well as related legends of gods and spirits, laying the foundation for its future entry into the cities on the surface.

In short, this exile turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

What is certain is that the hero-king was true to his promise and generously let it go.

However, when Lin Xian recalled the details of his previous debate with King Gilgamesh, he vaguely remembered something that made him suspicious.

The King of Heroes seemed unsurprised when he mentioned the prophecy that "he will reunite with Enkidu."

Could it be that Gilgamesh foresaw this outcome long ago through his clairvoyant vision?

So why did its gamble of risking its life with this information still succeed?

While pondering, Lin Xian did not forget his work. He curled his tail up a metal gun blank engraved with wedge-shaped divine patterns and inserted it into the soil, forming a barrier to protect the soul.

Suddenly, the ancient snake seemed to remember something, turned around and wrote a line of questions, then poked its head out to ask its owner, Ellie, for advice.

"Lady Ereshkigal, did you know every time I sneaked out?"

"Of course!"

"However, the temple is too stuffy. Staying inside all the time will make you feel suffocated, so I'll just pretend I didn't see it."

"Hehe, but the way you sneakily crawl out from under the covers every time is really funny."

The goddess paused slightly, savoring the afterglow of the previous entertainment, a gentle smile playing on her lips.

Weren't you asleep?

Lin Xuan, who thought her stealth missions were always perfect, asked in frustration.

"Little one, this world is dangerous. If you want to survive, you must remain vigilant even when you are asleep."

"Besides, you are too weak. You can't even hide your presence properly. I can see your every move without using my divine power."

"Besides, without my divine aura, any wandering Garura spirit could track the scent of the living and tear you to shreds. Don't be so reckless in the future."

The hostess, Ai Lei, flicked Lin Xian's forehead with her finger, speaking with a hint of earnestness.

The ancient serpent stiffened, as if realizing something. It was startled and hesitated for a moment before writing a broken sentence on the stone slab.

"And what about King Gilgamesh?"

"If I were to encounter him asleep again, could I..."

The goddess of the underworld's smile froze, her brows furrowed, and a strange look gradually appeared in her eyes as she solemnly murmured.

"Run! As far as you can!"

Chapter Eight: The Manifestation of Human Evil (Third Update)

Sure enough! There's a big problem here!

Lin Xian's snake eyes gleamed with an eerie light, and even his movements in cooperating with his owner to make a gun cage were not as smooth as before.

During the Age of Gods in ancient Babylon, this infamous hero-king was capable of tearing apart even the gods with his bare hands.

It can be said that he has killed more monsters and gods than Lin Xian has ever seen, and even the gods are helpless against him.

This kind of monster, standing at the top of the food chain, would definitely remain vigilant even if it were sleeping in the wilderness; otherwise, it would have died seven or eight hundred times over on its journey to find the immortal herb!

But as it turned out, a snake that could be crushed with a flick of a finger was able to easily get close to Gilgamesh and steal the immortal herb that could grant him eternal life.

Something's wrong, something's wrong!

Previously, when life and death were at stake, Lin Xian had no time to think about anything else. Now, after calming down and thinking carefully, he suddenly felt that the whole thing was shrouded in a strong sense of eeriness.

In addition, there are two other points of doubt.

Firstly, this spiritual herb can grant life immortality, and its main function is to reshape the physical body.

Why did the soul of this ancient snake completely collapse during the molting process?

Secondly, how dare a snake, which isn't even a monster, snatch food from the jaws of that freak Gilgamesh?

Moreover, according to the account in the Book of Gilgamesh, the hero-king did not take any revenge afterward, and the snake disappeared without a trace.

Given the Babylonian tradition of "retaliation in kind," Gilgamesh's reaction seemed rather bland.

The victim remained calm and silent.