"What's going on!"
"Boss, what are you doing?"
"Damn it, Raghav! Are you going to kill the donkey after it's done its work? There are endless gold coins here. Why?"
As the rope hit the ground, three startled shouts came through the phone's monitor.
Wu Heng stood outside the Well of God and felt around inside his shirt. The ten exorcism talismans he had tucked against his chest had turned to ash.
He'd expected the things to be useless, but hadn't thought they'd be this useless. They were obviously practice pieces made by some novice.
Still, this confirmed that the god in the legends of western India wasn't a proper god at all.
After all, Hinduism was still the mainstream religion in India. Brahma was the god of creation, while Lakshmi governed wealth, wisdom, and fertility.
The Goddess of Prosperity worshipped in the west clearly had a divine portfolio that clashed with Hinduism.
This "Hastur," the God of Greed, didn't look like a god at all. He seemed more like a frenzied beast.
"Quiet down. Do as I say next."
Wu Heng spoke to the monitor, then took out a Shadow D28 Drone and two pairs of pliers.
The drone was about the size of two palms. It had multiple rotors, could take off and hover vertically, and could carry ten kilograms. It was military-grade equipment.
He opened the well cover and dropped the two pairs of pliers through the opening.
"Now, both of you pick up the pliers. A monster carrying wealth will come out soon. It's afraid of flour."
"I'll lure it with food. You two use the pliers to grab the money pouch behind its waist and pull it off. Then you'll have enough wealth to last a lifetime."
Wu Heng took out a flatbread, tied it beneath the drone with a rubber band, and piloted the drone into the well. He quickly replaced the cover.
Inside Hastur's lair, the two men picked up the pliers from the ground, bewildered. They didn't understand what Wu Heng meant. What monster? What money pouch?
"Raghav, I was wrong. You're ten thousand times greedier than I imagined. Let me go, and I'll help you."
Vinayak knew he had no chance of resisting anymore.
"Untie him."
Only after hearing Wu Heng's order did the two men untie Vinayak.
By then, the drone had started flying down the passage. It hovered in the middle of the lair.
The crimson walls of the lair began to writhe, and the floor grew slick. A bulge appeared on the wall, and a humanoid creature covered in crimson crawled out of it.
It crouched on the ground, stretched out its hands in supplication, and howled at the flatbread dangling beneath the drone.
"God of Greed, and you're kneeling for a flatbread?"
"Hastur, where's your dignity as a god?"
Outside the well cover, Wu Heng watched through the monitor and piloted the drone higher, evading Hastur's leap.
Hastur ignored the voice coming from the monitor. It howled at the flatbread again, then climbed up the inner wall, trying to pounce on it.
"Quit staring. Give me the pliers."
Vinayak snapped at the two underlings, who were still standing there in a daze.
At the same time, he snatched the pliers from Yellow Braid. Yellow Braid's right hand was injured, and he could barely even hold the pliers in his left. Wu Heng had only used him as a tool to test the Well of God.
Wu Heng maneuvered the drone from side to side, up and down, dodging Hastur as it scrambled up the inner wall and leaped at it.
Hastur let out increasingly frantic howls. It even dropped to its knees in worship, but when the flatbread still wasn't given to it, it suddenly leaped upward again, reaching almost to the passage entrance.
Wu Heng piloted the drone with the skill of a professional operator, lowering it by a meter and narrowly evading Hastur.
Standing inside the ring of flour, Vinayak seized an opportunity and quickly snapped the pliers shut. But he only managed to open the pouch at Hastur's waist, spilling a pile of gold coins onto the ground.
The clinking coins caught the attention of the dark-skinned middle-aged man. His vacant expression instantly turned to greed, and he, too, extended his pliers, waiting for a chance.
Hastur was enraged by the two men inside the flour circle, who kept jabbing at it with their pliers. It pounced in front of them and howled, reaching out with its blood-red hand.
The moment its hand touched the flour circle, sparks burst across its palm. With a sizzling sound like meat roasting, Hastur howled in pain and snatched back its bloody claw.
The hungrier Hastur became as it regained consciousness, the more frenzied it grew. It began chasing the drone around the flour circle, completely ignoring the two pairs of pliers reaching out beside it.
After dozens of attempts, Vinayak figured out what to do. He waited for the right moment and precisely wedged the pliers between the pouch and Hastur's waist. Then, using Hastur's momentum as it ran, he pulled in the opposite direction.
Pop!
The palm-sized pouch, completely red, finally came loose and dropped to the ground.
Hastur sensed that something was wrong and abruptly stopped mid-leap.
Its greed for the gold coins briefly overcame its frenzied hunger, and it turned around to retrieve the pouch.
Vinayak and Hakob, the dark-skinned middle-aged man, reacted quickly. They both clamped their pliers onto the pouch and pulled it back inside the flour circle.
Hastur lunged and missed. Howling, it crashed into the flour circle, and its body turned to ash before disappearing.
Another bulge appeared on the inner wall. A whole Hastur tore through the membrane and crawled out, continuing to howl as it stared first at the pouch, then at the flatbread. It was furious.
Greedily, the dark-skinned middle-aged man picked up the pouch and gently tipped it over. A pile of gold coins spilled onto the ground, provoking Hastur into crashing against the flour circle again.
Hakob, the dark-skinned middle-aged man, and Yellow Braid exchanged a glance, then turned to look at Vinayak, their eyes filled with malice.
"Idiots. What are you two planning? Look down and see what's happening to you."
Vinayak took half a step back, then hurriedly stepped forward again, afraid to leave the flour circle. He pointed at the ground as he spoke.
The two men looked down. The thick layer of flour that had formed the circle was already half gone.
"It's the slime on the ground. Ever since Hastur woke up, the slime it's been secreting has been consuming the flour. Damn it!" Yellow Braid cried.
"Raghav, my good friend, how do I get the pouch to you?"
Vinayak asked the camera.
Wu Heng watched the monitor in silence. He'd been looking forward to seeing which of the three would be left standing in the end, and would be willing to hand him the pouch. He hadn't expected Vinayak to still have a shred of sense.
The drone dodged an attack from Hastur, which had regenerated from the inner wall behind them, and landed at the three men's feet inside the flour circle. Hastur ran frantically around the circle, howling.
"Tie the pouch to the drone, then take off the flatbread and feed it to Hastur to distract it. I'll lower some flour."
"No, boss. What if you don't lower the rope? You'll leave us down here with the pouch!"
Yellow Braid was furious. He was afraid Wu Heng would take the pouch and abandon them.
"Shahu, I don't mind waiting until you're dead and trying again with a few other people."
Wu Heng replied calmly.
"Boss, I was wrong. I lost my senses. Forgive me. I'm your loyal underling."
A trace of reason returned to Yellow Braid's eyes, and he hurriedly apologized.
"It's all right. I'm not angry."
Vinayak took the pouch from the dark-skinned middle-aged man, removed the flatbread from the drone, and hung the pouch in its place. Then he couldn't help adding,
"Raghav, this isn't fair."
"Fairness only exists when it's needed. Do we need it now, my friend?"
Wu Heng asked calmly.
"...No, we don't."
Vinayak fell silent, looked around, and sighed.
"Then please throw the flatbread farther away. Thank you."
Wu Heng spun the drone's rotors and held it a meter above the ground, ready to take off at any moment.
Would you trade your collection and recommendation tickets for two ear picks?
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