Chapter 35: The Lord’s Grace Association (I)
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Just as Ethan felt his blood burning as he shivered under the priest’s charming touches and was about to surrender to be plundered by this beautiful and dangerous man, the priest suddenly opened up a distance between them. It was not very big, but it was enough to pull Ethan back to reality from his half-intoxicated submission. He lowered his eyes strangely and shamefully, but the priest raised his chin and whispered softly:
“Although I’d really like to do something naughty to you right now, you haven’t eaten or drunk for two days. I don’t want you to faint.”
Hearing him speak such ambiguous words with a light and slow voice, Ethan couldn’t help but let out an unbearable sob. Tanisiel chuckled and went to the door of the room. He had already sensed that a service robot was approaching and was just about to open the door. The robot carried a large tray full of plates covered with silver caps and a can of hot milk. He activated the dinner set up in the room. A dining table and two chairs immediately unfolded from the wall, with the plates placed on it. The covers were removed, revealing strange foods that Ethan had never seen. For example, one dish had a dark blue texture, appearing akin to meat. In contrast, another had dark green liquid in it, and another had a bottle containing a pink drink that looked like strawberry milk.
Although the food looked strange, the aroma was incomparable. It was only now that Ethan realized how hungry he was, and even after seeing such weird food, his mouth was still wildly salivating.
Tanisiel sat down at the other end of the table and made an inviting gesture. “They probably prepared the food to my liking. These are all traditional Eve foods, which may be a little strange to you Earthlings, but I promise you, the taste won’t disappoint you.”
Ethan sat down on the opposite chair and hesitantly picked up the strange diamond-shaped tableware on the table. He first scooped up a spoonful of the dark green soup, sniffing it before he rapidly drank it, as if he was drinking □□.
To his surprise, it was delicious. It had a scallop-like flavor, with a silky texture but without a fishy smell. Ethan’s appetite seemed to have been prompted, and he began to eat without paying attention to his image. However, the priest merely looked at him, smiling as he sipped the amber liquid in his glass.
After the huge meal, Ethan was even allowed to take a comfortable bath in the bathroom. When he came out, he saw the priest kneeling facing the north, his hands folded on his chest while his mouth whispered chant-like prayers. The wall reflected a strange dynamic picture in front of him, a dark shadow continually changing in appearance. Ethan couldn’t see the shadow clearly, but as Tanisiel chanted, the shadow gradually lengthened its boiling body and gave birth to many twisted whiskers.
Then, at the last moment, he saw a huge green eye open on the thing’s head……
Ethan suddenly cried out in fear, and the image disappeared after Tanisiel’s eyes opened. He got up slowly and did not seem unhappy even though he was interrupted. He looked kindly at Ethan, asking, “Did I scare you?”
“That was……what was that?”
Ethan blushed but did not hesitate for long before walking over. Although he tried to hide it, there was a faint eagerness in his gait. He lay on his back a little rigidly beside the priest, his hands unconsciously grasping the sheets under him. Seeing his expectant and nervous appearance, the priest turned to look at him and laughed in a low voice. “Although you look delicious after your bath, you just experienced too much. You need a good rest tonight.”
Ethan heard the teasing in his words and felt even more embarrassed. He was too ashamed to show his face and secretly scolded himself for being so thirsty…… He turned his back to the priest and tugged the quilt so high that it almost covered his head. Tanisiel glanced at Ethan, who was hiding like an ostrich, and his laughter rang out lower-pitched and joyous. He felt that he was beginning to like this Beta even more now.
Ethan felt a long, powerful arm wrap around his waist and a solid warm chest against his back. The priest said behind him with a gentle voice, “Have a good dream.”
Ethan felt his nose sour and suddenly wanted to cry.
He did not shed tears in the parallel universe even when faced with his fears of isolation and his body being shattered by the space. But now, just after being held so gently from behind, everything within his heart began to seemingly collapse.
It was not as if Ethan hadn’t slept in the same bed as someone before, but the last time he slept together was with Samuel, and they had slept separately. However, the priest’s safe and tolerant embrace reminded him of his childhood memories of sleeping soundly in his father’s arms. It also reminded him of the nights he had spent in Roland’s arms.
How long had it been since he had felt this warmth?
After experiencing the most extreme fear and loneliness, the embrace was like a belated redemption for him. Now, the words that Tanisiel implanted into his mind echoed like a ghost. To devote himself to him and give everything he owned to this golden-haired devil. At this very moment, for this warmth, he might be willing to be his slave.
This was his greatest weakness.
When Ethan woke up the next day, the priest was gone. The bed’s temperature had cooled, but Ethan reached out to touch the pillow Tanisiel had lied upon and could still feel a little sunlight-like warmth remaining from his hair.
After receiving such warmth, but then losing it so quickly, a bitter sense of loss emerged within the depths of his heart.
A clean nonhuman uniform was laid out on the side, and as soon after he had finished cleaning up, the door opened. It was not Tanisiel who came in, but a soldier.
The soldier took him to a spaceship, where he saw the other nonhumans again.
Many of them deliberately avoided his line of sight, especially Adam. Ethan tightly pursed his lips, without a single trace of warmth in his green eyes. He sat down in a seat in a corner and fastened his seat belt. He did not talk to any of the nonhumans during the entire flight, and none of them spoke to him. Only Cavin glanced at him occasionally.
As soon as he returned to the Forbidden City, he received a notice that the punishment from Red Earth was dealt. After considering how the Eve priest had spoken up for them, all seven nonhumans who had participated in the mission and escaped had their moral values reduced by ten points.
Ethan laughed bitterly. He now had negative ten points, so including the Neptune mission, his score was currently negative five. However, he had barely passed these two missions. If it were not for Tanisiel, he would have long since passed away during the missions.
It seemed that it wasn’t an exaggeration for the so-called forbidden city to be called a black hole. Once someone entered it, they could no longer escape.
When Samuel saw him return, he did not treat him specially either. At that time, Samuel was preparing to go to the clinic for a physical examination and donate blood. Every time someone donated blood, they could get a moral value point. It seemed that Samuel wanted to make up for the lost points as soon as possible.
“Who caused the bruises on your face?” Samuel asked after he closed the door.
Ethan shrugged and replied, “I knocked into something.”
“Don’t bullshit me. I’ve been beating people all my life. Shouldn’t I be able to tell that this was due to someone beating you?”
Ethan looked up with a calm expression and repeated, “I said, I knocked into something.”
Samuel frowned slightly and thought that Ethan looked a little more gloomy than he did before. He did not continue to ask questions, intending to ask the others what happened.
For a while, Ethan’s life returned to his usual pattern from before he went on the mission to Neptune. He had to get up early every morning and quickly eat his breakfast before heading to the pipeline maintenance department. He would put on his helmet, take the shovel, strong solvent, and other cleaning tools. He then gathered with the other nonhumans as they headed into the narrow underground pipelines to search for blocked pipes. He saw Typhoeus once across the barbed wire of the Forbidden City’s main road. He saw that the once lofty Omega was now attached to an Alpha nonhuman leader in the West Area, with two rows of conspicuous teeth marks on his neck. It seemed that the leader had found a way to transfer Typhoeus to the West Area to help him escape from Gray Fur’s clutches for the time being.
Ethan had become more silent than he was before and rarely chatted with other people. He waded among the knee-deep black sewage in the muddy pipes, with the only light source coming from their helmet’s headlamps. He tossed away a dead mouse floating in front of him before continuing to shovel the black ‘mud mountain’ again and again. Due to their long history, the pipelines here were very fragile. The higher-ups couldn’t use explosives to deal with the blocked pipes, so they had to use the most primitive method.
The two other nonhumans were smoking and chatting with each other. They talked about how Chen Zeng’s sermon had been forcibly interrupted by the guards a few days ago, which had angered all of that fellow’s nonhuman underlings. The tall Asian man said that some guards had also listened to Chen Zeng’s sermon, likely to prove that he was doing something suspicious to the higher-ups.
It seemed that the new Great Evil God doomsday theory had become a trending topic in the Forbidden City. Ethan recalled that he could see some nonhumans kneeling in their rooms whenever he went out early in the morning and praying to their handmade crosses. Ethan had never seen so many devout believers around him. Some people had even begun to privately spread pamphlets about the prophecy of the Great Evil God.
Ethan felt that it wasn’t a good sign for a group of fugitives trapped in the Forbidden City who had never believed in good or evil to suddenly believe in the same prophecy.
He deeply understood what would happen if this doctrine spread panic among the crowds. He sighed before reaching out to touch the patch of dry skin on the back of his neck.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Just as Ethan felt his blood burning as he shivered under the priest’s charming touches and was about to surrender to be plundered by this beautiful and dangerous man, the priest suddenly opened up a distance between them. It was not very big, but it was enough to pull Ethan back to reality from his half-intoxicated submission. He lowered his eyes strangely and shamefully, but the priest raised his chin and whispered softly:
“Although I’d really like to do something naughty to you right now, you haven’t eaten or drunk for two days. I don’t want you to faint.”
Hearing him speak such ambiguous words with a light and slow voice, Ethan couldn’t help but let out an unbearable sob. Tanisiel chuckled and went to the door of the room. He had already sensed that a service robot was approaching and was just about to open the door. The robot carried a large tray full of plates covered with silver caps and a can of hot milk. He activated the dinner set up in the room. A dining table and two chairs immediately unfolded from the wall, with the plates placed on it. The covers were removed, revealing strange foods that Ethan had never seen. For example, one dish had a dark blue texture, appearing akin to meat. In contrast, another had dark green liquid in it, and another had a bottle containing a pink drink that looked like strawberry milk.
Although the food looked strange, the aroma was incomparable. It was only now that Ethan realized how hungry he was, and even after seeing such weird food, his mouth was still wildly salivating.
Tanisiel sat down at the other end of the table and made an inviting gesture. “They probably prepared the food to my liking. These are all traditional Eve foods, which may be a little strange to you Earthlings, but I promise you, the taste won’t disappoint you.”
Ethan sat down on the opposite chair and hesitantly picked up the strange diamond-shaped tableware on the table. He first scooped up a spoonful of the dark green soup, sniffing it before he rapidly drank it, as if he was drinking □□.
To his surprise, it was delicious. It had a scallop-like flavor, with a silky texture but without a fishy smell. Ethan’s appetite seemed to have been prompted, and he began to eat without paying attention to his image. However, the priest merely looked at him, smiling as he sipped the amber liquid in his glass.
After the huge meal, Ethan was even allowed to take a comfortable bath in the bathroom. When he came out, he saw the priest kneeling facing the north, his hands folded on his chest while his mouth whispered chant-like prayers. The wall reflected a strange dynamic picture in front of him, a dark shadow continually changing in appearance. Ethan couldn’t see the shadow clearly, but as Tanisiel chanted, the shadow gradually lengthened its boiling body and gave birth to many twisted whiskers.
Then, at the last moment, he saw a huge green eye open on the thing’s head……
Ethan suddenly cried out in fear, and the image disappeared after Tanisiel’s eyes opened. He got up slowly and did not seem unhappy even though he was interrupted. He looked kindly at Ethan, asking, “Did I scare you?”
“That was……what was that?”
Ethan blushed but did not hesitate for long before walking over. Although he tried to hide it, there was a faint eagerness in his gait. He lay on his back a little rigidly beside the priest, his hands unconsciously grasping the sheets under him. Seeing his expectant and nervous appearance, the priest turned to look at him and laughed in a low voice. “Although you look delicious after your bath, you just experienced too much. You need a good rest tonight.”
Ethan heard the teasing in his words and felt even more embarrassed. He was too ashamed to show his face and secretly scolded himself for being so thirsty…… He turned his back to the priest and tugged the quilt so high that it almost covered his head. Tanisiel glanced at Ethan, who was hiding like an ostrich, and his laughter rang out lower-pitched and joyous. He felt that he was beginning to like this Beta even more now.
Ethan felt a long, powerful arm wrap around his waist and a solid warm chest against his back. The priest said behind him with a gentle voice, “Have a good dream.”
Ethan felt his nose sour and suddenly wanted to cry.
He did not shed tears in the parallel universe even when faced with his fears of isolation and his body being shattered by the space. But now, just after being held so gently from behind, everything within his heart began to seemingly collapse.
It was not as if Ethan hadn’t slept in the same bed as someone before, but the last time he slept together was with Samuel, and they had slept separately. However, the priest’s safe and tolerant embrace reminded him of his childhood memories of sleeping soundly in his father’s arms. It also reminded him of the nights he had spent in Roland’s arms.
How long had it been since he had felt this warmth?
After experiencing the most extreme fear and loneliness, the embrace was like a belated redemption for him. Now, the words that Tanisiel implanted into his mind echoed like a ghost. To devote himself to him and give everything he owned to this golden-haired devil. At this very moment, for this warmth, he might be willing to be his slave.
This was his greatest weakness.
When Ethan woke up the next day, the priest was gone. The bed’s temperature had cooled, but Ethan reached out to touch the pillow Tanisiel had lied upon and could still feel a little sunlight-like warmth remaining from his hair.
After receiving such warmth, but then losing it so quickly, a bitter sense of loss emerged within the depths of his heart.
A clean nonhuman uniform was laid out on the side, and as soon after he had finished cleaning up, the door opened. It was not Tanisiel who came in, but a soldier.
The soldier took him to a spaceship, where he saw the other nonhumans again.
Many of them deliberately avoided his line of sight, especially Adam. Ethan tightly pursed his lips, without a single trace of warmth in his green eyes. He sat down in a seat in a corner and fastened his seat belt. He did not talk to any of the nonhumans during the entire flight, and none of them spoke to him. Only Cavin glanced at him occasionally.
As soon as he returned to the Forbidden City, he received a notice that the punishment from Red Earth was dealt. After considering how the Eve priest had spoken up for them, all seven nonhumans who had participated in the mission and escaped had their moral values reduced by ten points.
Ethan laughed bitterly. He now had negative ten points, so including the Neptune mission, his score was currently negative five. However, he had barely passed these two missions. If it were not for Tanisiel, he would have long since passed away during the missions.
It seemed that it wasn’t an exaggeration for the so-called forbidden city to be called a black hole. Once someone entered it, they could no longer escape.
When Samuel saw him return, he did not treat him specially either. At that time, Samuel was preparing to go to the clinic for a physical examination and donate blood. Every time someone donated blood, they could get a moral value point. It seemed that Samuel wanted to make up for the lost points as soon as possible.
“Who caused the bruises on your face?” Samuel asked after he closed the door.
Ethan shrugged and replied, “I knocked into something.”
“Don’t bullshit me. I’ve been beating people all my life. Shouldn’t I be able to tell that this was due to someone beating you?”
Ethan looked up with a calm expression and repeated, “I said, I knocked into something.”
Samuel frowned slightly and thought that Ethan looked a little more gloomy than he did before. He did not continue to ask questions, intending to ask the others what happened.
For a while, Ethan’s life returned to his usual pattern from before he went on the mission to Neptune. He had to get up early every morning and quickly eat his breakfast before heading to the pipeline maintenance department. He would put on his helmet, take the shovel, strong solvent, and other cleaning tools. He then gathered with the other nonhumans as they headed into the narrow underground pipelines to search for blocked pipes. He saw Typhoeus once across the barbed wire of the Forbidden City’s main road. He saw that the once lofty Omega was now attached to an Alpha nonhuman leader in the West Area, with two rows of conspicuous teeth marks on his neck. It seemed that the leader had found a way to transfer Typhoeus to the West Area to help him escape from Gray Fur’s clutches for the time being.
Ethan had become more silent than he was before and rarely chatted with other people. He waded among the knee-deep black sewage in the muddy pipes, with the only light source coming from their helmet’s headlamps. He tossed away a dead mouse floating in front of him before continuing to shovel the black ‘mud mountain’ again and again. Due to their long history, the pipelines here were very fragile. The higher-ups couldn’t use explosives to deal with the blocked pipes, so they had to use the most primitive method.
The two other nonhumans were smoking and chatting with each other. They talked about how Chen Zeng’s sermon had been forcibly interrupted by the guards a few days ago, which had angered all of that fellow’s nonhuman underlings. The tall Asian man said that some guards had also listened to Chen Zeng’s sermon, likely to prove that he was doing something suspicious to the higher-ups.
It seemed that the new Great Evil God doomsday theory had become a trending topic in the Forbidden City. Ethan recalled that he could see some nonhumans kneeling in their rooms whenever he went out early in the morning and praying to their handmade crosses. Ethan had never seen so many devout believers around him. Some people had even begun to privately spread pamphlets about the prophecy of the Great Evil God.
Ethan felt that it wasn’t a good sign for a group of fugitives trapped in the Forbidden City who had never believed in good or evil to suddenly believe in the same prophecy.
He deeply understood what would happen if this doctrine spread panic among the crowds. He sighed before reaching out to touch the patch of dry skin on the back of his neck.
Just as Ethan felt his blood burning as he shivered under the priest's charming touches and was about to surrender to be plundered by this beautiful and dangerous man, the priest suddenly opened up a distance between them. It was not very big, but it was enough to pull Ethan back to reality from his half-intoxicated submission. He lowered his eyes strangely and shamefully, but the priest raised his chin and whispered softly: Although I'd really like to do something naughty to you right now, you haven't eaten or drunk for two days. I don't want you to faint.Hearing him speak such ambiguous words with a light and slow voice, Ethan couldn't help but let out an unbearable sob. Tanisiel chuckled and went to the door of the room. He had already sensed that a service robot was approaching and was just about to open the door. The robot carried a large tray full of plates covered with silver caps and a can of hot milk. He activated the dinner set up in the room. A dining table and two chairs immediately unfolded from the wall, with the plates placed on it. The covers were removed, revealing strange foods that Ethan had never seen. For example, one dish had a dark blue texture, appearing akin to meat. In contrast, another had dark green liquid in it, and another had a bottle containing a pink drink that looked like strawberry milk. Although the food looked strange, the aroma was incomparable. It was only now that Ethan realized how hungry he was, and even after seeing such weird food, his mouth was still wildly salivating.Tanisiel sat down at the other end of the table and made an inviting gesture. They probably prepared the food to my liking. These are all traditional Eve foods, which may be a little strange to you Earthlings, but I promise you, the taste won't disappoint you. Ethan sat down on the opposite chair and hesitantly picked up the strange diamond-shaped tableware on the table. He first scooped up a spoonful of the dark green soup, sniffing it before he rapidly drank it, as if he was drinking . To his surprise, it was delicious. It had a scallop-like flavor, with a silky texture but without a fishy smell. Ethan's appetite seemed to have been prompted, and he began to eat without paying attention to his image. However, the priest merely looked at him, smiling as he sipped the amber liquid in his glass.After the huge meal, Ethan was even allowed to take a comfortable bath in the bathroom. When he came out, he saw the priest kneeling facing the north, his hands folded on his chest while his mouth whispered chant-like prayers. The wall reflected a strange dynamic picture in front of him, a dark shadow continually changing in appearance. Ethan couldn't see the shadow clearly, but as Tanisiel chanted, the shadow gradually lengthened its boiling body and gave birth to many twisted whiskers.Then, at the last moment, he saw a huge green eye open on the thing's head Ethan suddenly cried out in fear, and the image disappeared after Tanisiel's eyes opened. He got up slowly and did not seem unhappy even though he was interrupted. He looked kindly at Ethan, asking, Did I scare you?That waswhat was that?Ethan blushed but did not hesitate for long before walking over. Although he tried to hide it, there was a faint eagerness in his gait. He lay on his back a little rigidly beside the priest, his hands unconsciously grasping the sheets under him. Seeing his expectant and nervous appearance, the priest turned to look at him and laughed in a low voice. Although you look delicious after your bath, you just experienced too much. You need a good rest tonight. Ethan heard the teasing in his words and felt even more embarrassed. He was too ashamed to show his face and secretly scolded himself for being so thirsty He turned his back to the priest and tugged the quilt so high that it almost covered his head. Tanisiel glanced at Ethan, who was hiding like an ostrich, and his laughter rang out lower-pitched and joyous. He felt that he was beginning to like this Beta even more now.Ethan felt a long, powerful arm wrap around his waist and a solid warm chest against his back. The priest said behind him with a gentle voice, Have a good dream.Ethan felt his nose sour and suddenly wanted to cry.He did not shed tears in the parallel universe even when faced with his fears of isolation and his body being shattered by the space. But now, just after being held so gently from behind, everything within his heart began to seemingly collapse. It was not as if Ethan hadn't slept in the same bed as someone before, but the last time he slept together was with Samuel, and they had slept separately. However, the priest's safe and tolerant embrace reminded him of his childhood memories of sleeping soundly in his father's arms. It also reminded him of the nights he had spent in Roland's arms.How long had it been since he had felt this warmth?After experiencing the most extreme fear and loneliness, the embrace was like a belated redemption for him. Now, the words that Tanisiel implanted into his mind echoed like a ghost. To devote himself to him and give everything he owned to this golden-haired devil. At this very moment, for this warmth, he might be willing to be his slave.This was his greatest weakness. When Ethan woke up the next day, the priest was gone. The bed's temperature had cooled, but Ethan reached out to touch the pillow Tanisiel had lied upon and could still feel a little sunlight-like warmth remaining from his hair.After receiving such warmth, but then losing it so quickly, a bitter sense of loss emerged within the depths of his heart.A clean nonhuman uniform was laid out on the side, and as soon after he had finished cleaning up, the door opened. It was not Tanisiel who came in, but a soldier.The soldier took him to a spaceship, where he saw the other nonhumans again. Many of them deliberately avoided his line of sight, especially Adam. Ethan tightly pursed his lips, without a single trace of warmth in his green eyes. He sat down in a seat in a corner and fastened his seat belt. He did not talk to any of the nonhumans during the entire flight, and none of them spoke to him. Only Cavin glanced at him occasionally.As soon as he returned to the Forbidden City, he received a notice that the punishment from Red Earth was dealt. After considering how the Eve priest had spoken up for them, all seven nonhumans who had participated in the mission and escaped had their moral values reduced by ten points.Ethan laughed bitterly. He now had negative ten points, so including the Neptune mission, his score was currently negative five. However, he had barely passed these two missions. If it were not for Tanisiel, he would have long since passed away during the missions.It seemed that it wasn't an exaggeration for the so-called forbidden city to be called a black hole. Once someone entered it, they could no longer escape. When Samuel saw him return, he did not treat him specially either. At that time, Samuel was preparing to go to the clinic for a physical examination and donate blood. Every time someone donated blood, they could get a moral value point. It seemed that Samuel wanted to make up for the lost points as soon as possible.Who caused the bruises on your face? Samuel asked after he closed the door.Ethan shrugged and replied, I knocked into something.Don't bullshit me. I've been beating people all my life. Shouldn't I be able to tell that this was due to someone beating you? Ethan looked up with a calm expression and repeated, I said, I knocked into something.Samuel frowned slightly and thought that Ethan looked a little more gloomy than he did before. He did not continue to ask questions, intending to ask the others what happened.For a while, Ethan's life returned to his usual pattern from before he went on the mission to Neptune. He had to get up early every morning and quickly eat his breakfast before heading to the pipeline maintenance department. He would put on his helmet, take the shovel, strong solvent, and other cleaning tools. He then gathered with the other nonhumans as they headed into the narrow underground pipelines to search for blocked pipes. He saw Typhoeus once across the barbed wire of the Forbidden City's main road. He saw that the once lofty Omega was now attached to an Alpha nonhuman leader in the West Area, with two rows of conspicuous teeth marks on his neck. It seemed that the leader had found a way to transfer Typhoeus to the West Area to help him escape from Gray Fur's clutches for the time being.Ethan had become more silent than he was before and rarely chatted with other people. He waded among the knee-deep black sewage in the muddy pipes, with the only light source coming from their helmet's headlamps. He tossed away a dead mouse floating in front of him before continuing to shovel the black mud mountain' again and again. Due to their long history, the pipelines here were very fragile. The higher-ups couldn't use explosives to deal with the blocked pipes, so they had to use the most primitive method. The two other nonhumans were smoking and chatting with each other. They talked about how Chen Zeng's sermon had been forcibly interrupted by the guards a few days ago, which had angered all of that fellow's nonhuman underlings. The tall Asian man said that some guards had also listened to Chen Zeng's sermon, likely to prove that he was doing something suspicious to the higher-ups.It seemed that the new Great Evil God doomsday theory had become a trending topic in the Forbidden City. Ethan recalled that he could see some nonhumans kneeling in their rooms whenever he went out early in the morning and praying to their handmade crosses. Ethan had never seen so many devout believers around him. Some people had even begun to privately spread pamphlets about the prophecy of the Great Evil God.Ethan felt that it wasn't a good sign for a group of fugitives trapped in the Forbidden City who had never believed in good or evil to suddenly believe in the same prophecy.He deeply understood what would happen if this doctrine spread panic among the crowds. He sighed before reaching out to touch the patch of dry skin on the back of his neck.
