When night fell, everything along the Nile returned to tranquility, and the reflection of Sirius gently rippled on the surface of the water, shimmering faintly.
The nights in the Akhet-season were cooler than the scorching days. The north wind, blowing ceaselessly from the Mediterranean year after year, swept over the yellow desert and Gobi. The breeze passed over the flooded Nile river, carrying its moisture into the Aswan quarries. With the copper chisels, stone hammers, and rocks no longer clashing, all things sank into stillness.
The wind occasionally rustled through the papyrus by the riverbank, and fish leapt from the water with soft “pah” sounds. To the Egyptians who lived on this land, the alternation of day and night was seen as the cycle of life and death, with the sun representing the world of the living and the day, while the moon connected to the world of the dead. At this moment, the Sun God was steering his night-barge through the underworld, his whispers drifting across the Nile, leaving the secrets of light within the water.
Even the slaves prayed that the Sun God Ra might defeat the great serpent Apep in the underworld, so that light could continue on.
When Nub returned to the simply built communal dwelling at the edge of the quarry, the other slaves in the same low hut all turned their eyes toward the young, brown-haired man, their gaze carrying trust in him.
One equally young slave came forward, his expression anxious. “Nub, where did you go? The patrol with the iron whips is coming soon, we were all worried about you!”
Privately, slaves who had suffered countless lashings used disrespectful nicknames like “iron whip” and “dog claw” to mock the brutal supervisors and guards. This faint, powerless defiance was the only way they could vent the dissatisfaction in their hearts.
Nub had a pair of golden eyes, just like the gold implied by his name. Under the light of the papyrus torch on the wall, a faint glow flickered in his gaze.
“By the river.”
His voice was calm as he passed the slave and returned to the corner that was his bedspace.
Although it was called a bedspace, it was actually as simple as a hut built with only thatch and wood that could not withstand a storm. It was nothing more than a mat made of gathered palm leaves, dry grass, and old cloth.
The torches on the wall, made of wood and papyrus coated with grease, gave off a light too weak to illuminate the place.
However, even in the dim light, the slave next to him still noticed the white robe Nub was holding.
The slave exclaimed, “My god! Which lord did you steal that from?!”
Although linen was the most common fabric in ancient Egypt, the white robe in Nub’s arms was not the same as the coarse linen worn by slaves. It was woven from extremely fine linen threads, light, breathable, and lustrous, like clouds in the sky.
Such linen was reserved only for the noble and priestly class of this land.
The slave’s voice was already tinged with fear. “Nub, if they find out, you’ll be tied to a stake and the flames of judgment will swallow your body…”
Nub had avoided two patrolling guards on his way back, secretly bringing the white cat and robe with him. His unusually sharp hearing caught the sound of footsteps on the quarry’s sandy ground. He immediately made a gesture for silence and pushed the robe under the palm leaves to hide it.
A patrolling guard came in carrying a food bucket, coldly calling out the slaves’ names. He tossed the bucket of bread and beer onto the ground, and his whip tapped against the rim with sharp sounds, making the slaves lower their heads one by one. Only Nub still sat where he was, meeting the guard’s gaze expressionlessly.
The guard met the sharp golden irises and felt challenged. The iron whip cracked against the ground, sending dust flying. “Come get your food. If anyone dares to take more than one piece, I’ll have him fill the crack in that big stone!”
The slaves bowed their heads, shrinking as they stepped forward to take their share. They were the lowest of Egypt’s slaves, their dinner only a large piece of hard bread made from wheat and beer brewed from malt, which was just enough to keep them from starving so they could rise at dawn and keep working.
Ever since being exiled to the quarry as a criminal, Nub had been assigned by the supervisor to the most physically exhausting job of carrying stone blocks. By the rules, he was allowed an extra piece of bread.
However, when he reached out to take the second piece, the dusty iron whip lashed through the air. If he had not pulled back in time, the skin on his hand would have split open tonight.
“You took more…” the guard sneered, “Do you want to kneel by the Nile and feed the crocodiles, mud worm?”
Nub lowered his head, his eyes like a well buried under wind and sand, revealing no trace of emotion.
“I don’t. Sir guard.”
His voice was hoarse.
The guard was satisfied with the respectful and tolerant attitude. With a cold snort, he left the hut. This area that housed the mud worms was vast; he still had other patrols to make and no time to waste on these people.
Only after the quarry guards had gone far did the slaves dare to breathe heavily again.
Nub turned back. His bed was in the outermost corner, near the wall, so he could hear the faint sounds of the night. Now, there was movement from under the palm leaves on his head, and a small white cat’s head poked out.
The white cat had delicate facial features, a small, slightly pink nose, and its ears tilted slightly forward. It keenly captured the footsteps of the outsider leaving before squeezing out from the robe wrapped around it. As a result, its fluffy fur was a little ruffled, forming a mane-like fringe reminiscent of a white lion’s, like an elegant halo of white.
Other slaves cried out in surprise. “By Bastet, Nub, you actually brought back a cat!”
Cats were regarded as sacred animals on this land. Egyptians believed they symbolized fertility, protection, and household happiness. The cat goddess Bastet was both the guardian of home and motherhood, and also the goddess of battle and vengeance.
Such a unique and cute creature that could guard the home from rodent harm was naturally regarded as the messenger of god walking upon the land.
Nub said in a low voice, “Mm.”
He walked toward the white cat.
The cat was pure white all over, without a trace of any other color. Its long fur was fluffy and soft, and under the moonlight spilling into the room, it glowed with a lustrous sheen.
Although Xin Hexue denied being the “Apedemak” that Nub spoke of, the god of war with a lion head and human body worshipped by the Nubians, after witnessing with his own eyes a living person turn into a white cat, and the cat speaking human words, Nub firmly believed Xin Hexue was either the incarnation or the messenger of a certain god.
Xin Hexue yawned, slowly licking his front paw with his pink tongue, then elegantly brushed the paw over his ear, smoothing out his ruffled long fur. His movements were as fluid as flowing water.
Nub sat down, easily broke the coarse bread in his hands into two halves and pushed one half in front of the white cat.
The white cat lowered his head, his slightly pink nose tip twitching sharply as he sniffed at the coarse wheat bread before him. He gave it one lick with his cat tongue, then drew it back again.
The main grain consumed in ancient Egypt was “emmer wheat,” an early form of wheat that was highly drought-resistant but harder to process than modern wheat. Combined with the rough stone milling techniques of ancient Egypt, the resulting flour often contained sand and bran. Bread supplied to slaves like this was especially coarse and, with long-term consumption, could even wear down teeth.
When Nub pushed the food toward him again, Xin Hexue bared his teeth.
Nub slowly realized that the white cat had no interest in such food. He withdrew his hand and ate the bread himself. The rough texture paired with the cloudy beige beer from a clay jar, and the sourness slid down his throat.
Nub missed the bread his mother and foster mother used to make by hand. It was sweet bread mixed with date syrup and honey, and he yearned for his homeland of Nubia.
Unlike the other Nubian slaves in the house, who were captured as prisoners of war and sent here, Nub’s case was more unusual. He had grown up in Egypt, but after offending a local noble, he was judged by a magistrate as a criminal, stripped from commoner to slave, and sent to the Aswan quarry as forced labor.
While eating bread to restore their strength, the slaves uneasily asked their leader, “Nubu, are you sure that if we follow your method, we can really escape the quarry and return to Nubia?”
Xin Hexue curled up on Nubu’s crude bed, his long, furry tail wrapped around his front legs, quietly closing his eyes and listening to the whispered voices in the night.
He had figured out Nubu’s plan.
The other party intended to use an explosion tomorrow night to draw away most of the guards on night patrol. This way, they could escape the quarry under the cover of darkness. By the time the guards finish dealing with the incident and remember to count the slaves, they would have already disappeared into the vast desert.
The Aswan quarry lay at the southern edge of Upper Egypt, not far from the Nubian border. The north wind from the Nile at night and Sirius would guide them on the road back to their homeland.
Of course, at this time, this land had no gunpowder technology. The “explosion” Nub spoke of was actually more like a burst.
By heating stone rapidly and then cooling it suddenly, the thermal expansion and contraction would cause it to crack. This technique was also used in ancient Egypt for quarrying stone.
From observing the guards’ patrol patterns over time, Nub had chosen a remote boulder to the north of the quarry. Under the cover of night, they would stack enough flammable materials beneath it, heating the stone until it glowed red. When the stone begins making cracking sounds, Nub would climb to a high spot and quickly pour cold water over the surface.
The loud noise, flames, and flying stone fragments would draw the night patrol toward that direction. The others would escape first, and with his agile skills, Nub planned to be the last to leave.
After laying out the plan for them again, the night dew was already deep.
A shadow fell over him, and Xin Hexue lifted his eyelids slightly.
Nub stood awkwardly by the bed. It was obvious that the white cat had seized this bed made of hay, old cloth, and palm leaves as his territory.
The white cat flicked his long, furry tail, brushing it against the old cloth with a faint sound, as if driving away the human.
Nub had no choice but to curl up at the foot of the bed.
His tall figure was now bent like a shrimp and curled around the cat to sleep, looking a bit awkward and comical.
If Xin Hexue remembered correctly, the giant stone in the prophecy was revealed because of an explosion, and the slaves who caused it all died by fire for attempting to escape.
The white cat stretched forward, his body lengthening into a long line.
Then he stepped onto the human’s body, stepping here and there. The majestic lion-cat finally trampled down this human territory with his flesh-pink iron cavalry.
The white cat settled down and closed his eyes.
The other slaves in the house had all fallen asleep, their breathing rising and falling.
In a voice only Nub could hear, Xin Hexue added a patch to his plan.
“If you can collect sulfur powder, stuff it into the cracks in the stone.”
Ignited sulfur powder would release intense heat and flames within the boulder, causing an even louder noise and greater destruction, perhaps delaying the guards’ cleanup and buying these people more time.
[Nub’s love value +2]
“Lord White Cat, I will take you away with me.”
Nub promised solemnly.
The little cat leader simply stepped on the talking human territory.
…
Golden-red light gave the dunes a lifelike undulation. The curves of different heights shifted with the movement of light and shadow, and every grain of sand shimmered like gold in the sunlight of dawn.
During the day, Nub had to carry large stones in the quarry. His workload was heavy. Some slaves were responsible for chiseling rocks off the cliff walls with wooden mallets and copper chisels, while strong slaves like Nub had to carry the stone to the transport point. From there, the stones would be moved via wooden slides or ox carts to the riverside, then shipped by boat to the construction site of the obelisk.
The air was thick with dry dust, and every breath felt like inhaling fire. The quarry walls reflected blinding sunlight, making it almost impossible to open one’s eyes.
“Faster! You filthy foreign lowlifes!” The guard’s voice hissed like a venomous snake, his whip occasionally lashing slaves who slowed their steps. “Do you want to be whipped?!”
Several slaves tied a large stone with ropes, shouting in hoarse unison, their hands gripping the ropes tightly, bending over with all their strength to drag it forward.
The rope cut deep into their palms, mixing with sweat and bringing a burning pain.
Nub did not shout, nor did he look at the others. His eyelids were lowered, and no one could read any emotion from those golden eyes as deep as an ancient well.
A guard stood high above, surveying coldly. The shadow of his whip flickered across the ground, leaving a deep red mark on Nub’s bare shoulder. “You dog on a chain! Are you trying to slack off? Nomarch has ordered me to keep a close eye on you!”
A Nomarch was an administrative district in this land. Nub had been sent to the quarry because he had previously offended the ruler of this district, the highest administrative official of the Seventh Nome of Upper Egypt.
Nub gritted his teeth.
The guard sneered and turned to leave triumphantly.
But as he turned, a white shadow streaked across the ground before his eyes. Startled, he failed to stop in time and fell awkwardly in front of all the slaves.
Sand and dust was raised up from his fall, drawing several hidden chuckles among the crowd.
Nub nervously picked up the white cat that had just leapt past the guard.
[Nub’s love value +2]
The guard climbed up, furious. “Who?! Who’s laughing? Nub, is this your cat?!”
Nub held the white cat tightly in his arms.
The cat curled its tail in the slave’s embrace and replied slowly, “Meow.”
This single sound was like provocation, and the guard’s features twisted with anger. He shouted, “Nub! You think you can keep some toy here? This is a quarry, not your home! Hand it over!”
Nub took two steps back with a wary look on his face. “No, I can’t give him to you. He is a messenger of the gods, and you will harm him.”
The guard angrily flicked his iron whip and stepped forward to seize the cat.
In the tug-of-war, the white cat nimbly leapt to the ground.
The scorching sun hung high, and the sound of slaves panting and iron tools hitting rock echoed around.
Suddenly, all sounds stopped, as if cut off by an invisible hand. The air froze, and even the wind over the dunes seemed to stop in fear.
The slaves in the distance stopped working and bowed low to the ground, not daring to meet the newcomer’s gaze. They held their breath, as though the sound of his footsteps alone carried the judgment of the underworld.
The guard who had been arguing with Nub stopped, large beads of sweat rolling down his temples as he knelt. “Lord Seto-Anubis…”
This Lord Seto-Anubis had a bare upper body with evenly proportioned, firm muscles, the lines sharply defined in the sunlight. His skin shone with a bronze luster, as if fused with the gold of the desert.
Both his arms wore wide gold armlets engraved with Anubis’s symbols and incantations of underworld protection. Each movement of his arms made the armlets reflect a dazzling light, and a short sword hung from his belt, its sheath inlaid with turquoise and onyx.
He was one of the many brothers of the Pharaoh of Upper Egypt. Because of the strange phenomenon that appeared in the sky when he was born, he was hailed as the incarnation of Anubis in the mortal realm. His name meant “Loyal to Anubis.”
Behind him followed two guards wearing linen kilts, holding long spears, the edges of their armor gleaming with bronze.
Seto-Anubis walked barefoot on the scorching sand, and his steps finally stopped before the white cat.
Everyone kept their heads low as they knelt on the ground. Sweat dripped onto the hot sand, rising in faint steam. They felt his gaze sweep over them, like a sharp blade along their spines and weighing down their souls.
A towering shadow completely covered the white cat.
Xin Hexue raised his head but could only see the man’s jaw.
The sudden lift from the ground made the cat tense, not to mention that he didn’t know the man picking him up.
Xin Hexue finally saw his face clearly.
A black jackal-head mask covered the upper half of Seto-Anubis’s face, revealing only sharp golden-brown eyes and thin lips.
He looked at Xin Hexue with the cold gaze only a god of death could have.
But the jackal’s head alone was enough to trigger a cat’s stress response.
With a sharp meow, claws shot out from his pink pads, slicing suddenly through the golden sunlight.
Several blood marks appeared on Anubis’s jaw.
The guard trembled and almost fainted. “It…it dares to offend you like this?! My lord Seto, please allow me to drive this cat out of the quarry!”
The air was so still that even the wind seemed to stop.
“…No.”
Anubis held the pose for a long time before speaking coldly. “It’s not an offense.”
Golden-brown eyes locked on the white cat in his hands through the slit of the jackal-head mask.
Seto-Anubis: “It’s a blessing.”
[Seto-Anubis love value+10]
