After the resurrection spell was finished, the mummy gentleman seemed even calmer than Bastet.
'It' moved its jaw, clicking its dislocated mandible back into place, then pushed open the coffin and stepped out, staring at Bastet and Mori Tsukisa with hollow eye sockets—
Then, it slowly lowered its head and bent its waist.
Pressing one hand over its heart, it knelt on one knee and saluted.
Nagini nervously held her pistol, ready to transform immediately if she couldn't repel the opponent; as it turned out, this 'perfectly skeletal' fellow who had slept for three thousand years was quite discerning.
It was saluting Mori Tsukisa.
"Priest! Look at who I am?!" Bastet puffed up like a sea urchin, jumping onto a box aggressively to be at eye level with the kneeling mummy, fuming with rage: "Look at me! You're kneeling to the wrong person!"
The mummy kept its head bowed and reached out its palm.
A few wisps of yellow sand gathered and swirled in its withered palm, and then, a line of sand-formed words appeared in the air: Mori Tsukisa understood Ancient Egyptian, it was communicating with them.
"Greetings, Your Excellency the Mage."
The sand words floated, seemingly waiting for Mori Tsukisa to finish reading.
"Hello there, handsome." Mori Tsukisa took a few steps forward, and under Nagini's nervous gaze, reached out her small hand to pat the top of its head: "Oh, it's a bit... dry."
It was rough on the hands.
"My name is Imhotep, thank you for resurrecting me."
"Imhotep... Imhotep?" Mori Tsukisa waved her hand, acting as if it was 'nothing to worry about', took two steps back, and jumped onto a box to sit.
The mummy remained kneeling before her, its posture unchanged.
"You may have questions for me..."
The sand grains changed.
"But please allow me to complete the curse first, so I may communicate with you in a better form."
"Would you allow it? Your Excellency the Mage."
This line of text no longer shifted or dissipated, but remained suspended in the air as if waiting for Mori Tsukisa's reply, the sand constantly loosening and re-condensing.
"Complete the curse?"
"Sinners opened the chest that should not have been opened, and meddled with my treasures, my sacred canopic jars. They must offer their bodies, their eyes and tongues, their flesh and blood to me..."
"Oh... that's quite cool." The girl swung her feet, leaning her head on Nagini: "Then will you become handsome?"
"Of course, Your Excellency the Mage. You only need to wait a moment."
"No rush, no rush, you can also change your clothes or something. Forget those Americans' clothes, they're too ugly—outside there's a man named OConnell and a woman named Evelyn, and..." Mori Tsukisa thought for a moment: "What was the name again?"
Nagini whispered a reminder: "Jonathan."
"Ah, Jonathan, right."
"Don't kill them."
"As you wish."
Looking at the mummy and the human communicating so pleasantly, Bastet stood on the coffin unwillingly, trying to lead the mummy on: "Ahem... look at me, hey! Look at me, do I look like... a god?"
"I think you look like a piece of charcoal."
Mori Tsukisa grabbed Bastet's head, waved her hand, and told Imhotep to come back quickly after settling his business. The mummy nodded and, before their eyes, exploded into a cloud of yellow sand, swirling and rushing out of the tomb!
"Mori Tsukisa!" The black cat looked at the departing sand in disbelief: "He actually ignored me!"
"I don't think he likes you." The girl bit her nails with her small teeth, but was pulled away by Nagini again. "You should tell me about his past, what exactly happened."
Seeing her index finger being held tightly by Nagini, the girl had no choice but to open her mouth and gently bite Nagini's finger between her teeth.
This time, she wasn't stopped.
And it felt nice and cool.
"He..." The black cat found a clean spot (a small blanket laid out by Nagini) and spoke of Imhotep's past with a complicated expression... A woman from a lowly family, a gifted warrior.
A man from a noble family, a gifted communicator with the gods.
For the sake of her mother and brother, the lowly woman endured countless brutal training sessions and competitions, finally climbing to a position where people bowed to her—the Pharaoh's concubine and personal bodyguard: with this dual identity, no one dared to look down on or toy with her mother and brother again.
And the noble-born man also worked hard for many years to become the High Priest second only to the Pharaoh: tall, handsome, learned, and powerful in magic.
Fate intersected here.
They fell in love.
They found someone to keep each other warm in the cold palace.
Later, it became harder for the two who were having an affair behind the Pharaoh's back to restrain themselves. Finally, one day, the Pharaoh inadvertently discovered a clue.
The man and the woman killed the Pharaoh.
At this point, the black cat glanced at Mori Tsukisa and found that the girl didn't show the expression she wanted, so she had to keep a straight face and continue.
—The woman knew how serious this matter was.
Before the guards arrived, she persuaded the man to leave. Then, standing before the Pharaoh's corpse—she calmly stated her crimes to the guards, raised her dagger, and ended her life.
'My body already belongs to another!'
—The man was not far away, forcibly pulled from the palace by the monks under his command.
Later, he constantly hid, constantly left and reappeared, and repeatedly sneaked into Thebes, just to retrieve his lover's organs and body.
Hamunaptra was not called the City of the Dead a thousand years ago.
He held a ritual there, and with the magical empowerment of the book of the dead, he recited a powerful incantation, attempting to call back his lover's soul from the River Styx.
As it turned out... the Pharaoh's guards burst in at the critical moment, interrupted the ritual, and captured him.
Tongue cut, eyes gouged out, skinned, and eaten by insects.
For three thousand years, his soul has remained howling in the deepest part of the River Styx, constantly calling for the woman he loved most in his life.
"Anck-Su-Namun." Bastet whispered her name very softly.
"Anck-Su-Namun, or you can call her Ann." A rich baritone voice came from the passage.
Imhotep walked closer step by step, his upper body bare and muscular—shaved head, deep eyes, high nose. His sharp gaze and slightly dull skin gave the man a somewhat fierce aura. This High Priest from three thousand years ago had restored his former appearance in just a few short minutes.
Nagini had to admit that Mori Tsukisa's guess was very accurate.
He was actually quite handsome.
The priest stood with his head held high, his eyes leaking a hint of arrogance, but when he bowed to Mori Tsukisa, one could see an indescribable and refreshing sense of piety in his calm demeanor.
A contradictory and complex monster who had been soaked in death for three thousand years.
Imhotep stepped forward and, under the aim of Nagini's gun, knelt on one knee, pressed his hand to his chest, and saluted respectfully again.
"Greetings, Your Excellency the Mage."
"Thank you once again for resurrecting me."
"I was once the High Priest of Seti, the earthly walker who communicated with the gods; the saint in charge of the book of the dead and the sun golden scripture, and the first Holy Law Engraver of Ancient Egypt."
The man raised his head and looked indifferently at the black cat puffed up like a sea urchin:
"Now, I am but a dead man abandoned by the gods."
"An evil being resurrected and waiting for revenge."
Mori Tsukisa clapped her hands with a'smack' and raised them high happily!
"I knew you wouldn't like this little black bald thing!"
"Nagini! I won! Quick, give me a small gold coin!"
Bastet: When did you two make a bet!!
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