Silent Crown Chapter 100

Late at night, a lamp lit up in Bai Xi’s room. After washing off the stinky oil and stains, the refreshed girl changed into her pajamas. Her long white hair fell down to her shoulders, like silver reflecting light.

She sat cross-legged on the bed holding a bunch of stuff. Her eyes seemed to sparkle under the light. “Thirty-thousand, twenty-thousand, sixty-thousand, one-hundred and ten-thousand! This one’s cheaper, only twelve thousand, but better than nothing. Wow, this is good, the purity of the gem is really high. I’ll price it at two-hundred thousand!” She smiled with satisfaction, and counted her war trophies over and over. She was so happy that she could melt into fluff.

The most exciting thing after committing a robbery was sharing the booty! Just counting everything was enough to make her want to scream in excitement. Bai Xi rolled on the bed with a pillow in her arms. “Oh my God! So much money! I feel like dying. How can I calm down, Cousin?”

“Die after we split everything.” Ye Qingxuan reached over to knock her back to reality. “We agreed that you can take half of everything. Have you decided what to take?”

“This is yours, this is mine, yours, mine, yours, mine….” In the shadow of the lamp, Bai Xi quickly divided the stuff into two parts, then pulled the bigger pile into her arms. “The gold, silver, and gems belong to me. Everything valuable is mine! You take those useless rune stones!”

Ye Qingxuan was speechless. This girl chose money without hesitation and gave away all the invaluable rune stones. “You don’t want the rune stones and materials?”

Bai Xi glanced at him. “Cousin, I’m a genius, okay? It would only take me one day to master all the instantaneous notes. Do you think I need those? Plus, I’m a girl. I can’t be fighting all day, right? It’s not easy for me to earn a lot of money, but now I’ll be a rich girl and live a rich life.”

Ye Qingxuan was speechless at his lack of talent. But also, what did Bai Xi mean by “girl?” Since when did Bai Xi see herself as a girl?

He sighed, having no say in the matter. He was about to argue, but when he looked at Bai Xi’s innocent smile, he could not say anything. He ran his fingers through her hair. “You’re the boss. I’ll take it all then.”

He gathered the small mountain of rune stones, and counted again. He could not believe it. In all, there were more than two hundred runes. They were all the basic notes that Ye Qingxuan needed. The Indians had probably swept through all of the surrounding black markets to collect these. But soon, something occurred to him. He looked blank and amazed immediately.

Bai Xi looked at him. “What’s the matter? The sky’s falling down?”

“Well…” Ye looked up at her and asked quietly. “Do you know how to use rune stones?”

–

As the dawn began to light up the room, the youth, with crossed hands before his chest, seemed to fallen asleep. He sat as if he were meditating like an ascetic Indian monk. His body faced upwards, and he created a seal with his intertwined fingers. In his entwined fingers was a crystal prism. A faint note shimmered within the prism.

The light from the aether tripled with his breaths, and transformed into waves. The youth chanted the syllables in a low voice again and again, resonating with the stone in his hands. In his mind, a vague note appeared, and gradually became more visible. Finally, it became solid.

The note suddenly changed on its own. It transformed into a dancing flame and began to burn. The burning rune flashed, radiating with a mysterious light as if it had become a star. With the will of the youth, the meditative notes in his mind rose slowly into the illusionary sky and shone together with the stars.

More than thirty stars glittered in the night sky. The notes that had turned into stars flowed like a river, some dim and some ever-changing. As the rune Fire intensified, the position of the stars suddenly changed, rising gradually to leave space for the new notes.

The starry sky changed slowly. The stars wandered aimlessly before finally stabilizing. There was a gravitational pull among them, formed from an uncertain force. The stars were moving under the momentum of that force.

Crack! With a snap, the rune stones in Ye Qingxuan’s palms shattered and turned to dust. The youth slowly opened his eyes and took a deep breath, lifting his fingertips. Flames had burned on his fingertips with just a short chant.

He smiled. All eleven stones of the rune Fire had been used up and internalized. He had reached the instantaneous level of yet another rune. It would be activated with just a thought!

With so many rune stones, his mastery of notes as a beginner had reached the level of most third level musicians. After all, not everyone had the opportunity to spend so much on precious runes to cultivate these notes.

Bending over, he swept the ashes to one side. Beside him, the runes’ ashes had formed a small hill! He had consumed sixty runes overnight. This would take most students one or two years.

“Seventeen more notes.” Ye Qingxuan gazed at the stack of stones before him. After mastering the remaining seventeen notes, he would have forty-eight in his mind. The forty-eight basic notes recorded in Equal Temperament would be fully mastered by him. At that time, the starry sky in his mind would revolve as if it were real. At that time, he would reach the Rhythm level.

Next was the rune Extraction. He clenched a rune stone again and closed his eyes. But quickly, he was forced out of the serenity, and his vision spun.

“Too much for today?” He rubbed his forehead and laughed bitterly. He had pushed twelve notes to the instantaneous level overnight. So many people longed to get even one rune stone to resonate in the same way starving people longed for roast turkey, but he had not expected that he had ‘eaten’ too much! This dizziness made him so happy that he could cry.

Ye Qingxuan sighed and put away his rune stones. He still had time to sleep for a few hours before his afternoon class. But when he got into bed, he could not help but think of the Professor’s warning before leaving: “Blood Path.”

Ye Qingxuan sighed. For many years, Avalon’s Shadow had been home to a bizarre legend. Some said it was Arthur’s kingdom on Earth; some said that it was the secret home of the Maiden of the Lake; some even said that it was a storage area full of treasures and precious music sheets. The Blood Path was the only way to enter it.

For all these years, people had been trying to find this path. How had Ye Qingxuan randomly run into the mysterious path? Truthfully, he was not even interested in the so-called “Avalon’s Shadow.” He only wanted to be a musician, to find out what happened to his father, and to get revenge for his mother so she could regain her dignity and rest in peace. He had no interest in anything else, but now it seemed that his father was somehow connected to Avalon’s Shadow.

Every time Ye Qingxuan thought of this, he would get confused. What exactly did his father do to make everyone hate him so much that he had to run for his life? Until now, the only things he knew about his father were from his own childhood memories and Wolf Flute’s notebook…

Ye Qingxuan’s eyes suddenly opened. The notebook! There might be something on it that he had not noticed before. What else did his father keep in the seal?

He jumped out of bed and began to rummage through his things. The notebook! Where could it be? It was not on the table, not in the cupboard, not under the bed…He searched the whole room but could not find it. In panic, he pushed the door open and ran to the living room to keep looking.

Beside the table, Charles, who had gotten up early, yawned while stirring oatmeal. Seeing Ye Qingxuan rush downstairs, he could not help but spit and cough wildly. “Wow, junior, you’re just like me from a couple of years ago!” Charles gave him thumbs up. “Running around in just a pair of shorts is such a youthful thing to do!”

“Senior, stop your nonsense, okay?” Ye began frantically rummaging through the living room. Still, he found nothing.

“What are you looking for?” Charles came over with a cup of milk to watch.

“Senior, have you seen my notebook?” Ye Qingxuan asked. “That one you stole the first time we met, but then you returned it to me. I remember putting it on the table, but now I can’t find it.”

“Oh, that one.” Charles thought for a moment, as if he knew something, and nodded. “Yes, I saw it.”

Ye Qingxuan was overjoyed. “Where is it?”

“Isn’t that it?” Charles pointed to the corner of the living room.

The youth suddenly froze. That direction…For some reason, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

–

In downtown at dawn, the noisy market had begun to sell vegetables. Women with baskets, butchers with lamb legs in their hands, and beggars all gathered amidst the hawking. The day had begun with the rising sun.

The recent fighting and bloodshed every night was like another world. In fact, gangs existed in another world for most people, and did not feel real. Only when they opened the door in the morning to find blood in the alley would they understand what had happened the night before. Then they would wash the stains away with a bucket of water, and go on with their day.

Beside the market, in the midst of all the bustling, the tavern was supposed to be closed during the daytime, but now its windows were open, allowing the morning light to enter into the dim room. All was silent in the room. The bustling outside was muffled.

In the quiet tavern, the bartender behind the counter had already been driven out of the house. He obediently squatted on the steps to smoke, and smiled awkwardly at the burly guards.

People sat around the only round table in the dim room. After downtown’s infamous Vengeful Spirit and the Professor worked together, causing chaos that night, Silo was present as well.

Silo sat in the chair, slowly smoking his hookah. Seeing his bloodshot eyes and knowing what had happened to him last night, the others laughed secretly at his misery.

To his left was the Sicilian leader, the head of the Luca family—Alberto. He was known as the ‘grandfather’ amongst the Sicilians. Lorenzo was his son.

The man on his right was a short man with a scruffy beard. He was the leader of the Asgardians—the Basset, Werner. The three most powerful leaders of downtown were gathered together. The Professor should have taken a seat as well, but he most likely would not come. So now, there was only one person left…

“Where’s the Shaman?” Werner slammed his fist on the table, frustrated with the endless waiting. “He said he wants to talk, but he’s not here. What’s he doing? Toying with us?”

Behind the round table was an empty chair. Behind the empty chair was an older man. Hearing Werner’s voice, the man known as Ghosthand just glanced at him, uncaring. “You can leave if you don’t want to wait,” he said. “No one’s forcing you to be here, but know that the moment you walk out the door, you’ll be the Shaman’s enemy.”

“He still thinks he’s the Dark King?” Werner scoffed, his expression scornful. “Don’t think we don’t know that Shaman has already been back for so long, but he still doesn’t have anyone under him! If I were him, I’d really thank you. If you weren’t such a loyal dog, he’d be a one-man band!” Beside him, Alberto and Silo had similar mocking smiles on their faces.

The Shaman’s era was over. Not many in the city could still remember him. The Shaman seemed to know this too, and stayed hidden in his lair over the past few days. Not only had he not gained any power, but he had even lost some of Ghosthand’s territory!

Those in arrival had been a bit worried at first, but now it seemed like a joke. The Shaman was no longer the king from before, and yet he still wanted to pretend as if he were. It was laughable.

Hearing their laughter, Ghosthand’s eyes hardened.

In the silence, a knock suddenly sounded. A figure walked in, his back to the sun. He took off his hat and hung it on the coatrack, revealing his salt-and-pepper hair under the sun. His coat was old and looked as if it had not been washed in a long time. It was threadbare and worn.

He seemed powerful at a glance, but if one looked closely, he seemed a bit pathetic and awkward. “My apologies for being late.” The man walked over and nodded at the others. “Sorry for the wait.” Ghosthand pulled out the seat for him to sit in.

Silo snickered. “Mr. Shaman, you are very brave to come talk to us.”

Old Alberto looked over too. “Long time no see, Mr. Shaman. What did you call us over to talk about?”

“Not much, actually.” The Shaman shrugged. “As a senior, I thought it was necessary to check up on the rookies. After all, it’s always good to meet each other before the war.”

“War?” Werner burst into laughter. “Are you declaring war on us? Just you two?”

“Are we not enough?” The Shaman shrugged and gazed around. “Everyone, you should consider coming to the right side and joining me. I will go easy on the ones who surrender now.”

Werner stopped laughing. Silo stopped laughing as well. The sleepy Alberto looked up too. His rheumy eyes were serious as he studied the former king, trying to see if he was joking.

But the Shaman was not joking. He was serious, as if he were stating a fact. Even the wrinkles on his old face had a shade of wild graveness.

Alberto could not help but sigh. The former Dark King, the one left behind by time…had he gone crazy? He was still caught in his golden age, and it was logical for him to reprimand the people who were supposed to respect him. He looked awe-inspiring, waiting for them to obey him. It was laughable.

Alberto sighed. “Shaman, have you gone insane?”

“This isn’t the place to joke, Shaman,” Silo said. He put down his hookah and squinted like a snake. “Don’t speak nonsense.”

Instead of speaking, Werner chose to spit onto the ground.

These men did not lose their temper yet because of the Shaman’s past glory. They were willing to be patient and see what the crazy old man was planning. There was vague pity in their eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Sensing their gazes, the Shaman froze. “Have you not come up with a decision yet? Treasure this opportunity.”

Snick! A dagger sank into the table. It was Werner’s dagger. “That’s my reply,” Werner said coldly.

Alberto shook his head slowly. “Maybe you were the Dark King before, but don’t forget that your time has passed. Downtown isn’t yours anymore.”

“Get things straight, sir.” Silo continued to smoke his hookah, his eyes cold. “If you need money, I can give you some so you can go to the Arkham Asylum. I’m sure you can find people to talk to over there.”

The Shaman suddenly realized, “So you want to declare war?”

“Since when did you think that we would just listen to you obediently?” Alberto glanced at him with his watery eyes. “Mr. Shaman, why don’t you look out the window?”

The market outside was bustling and filled with life, but there seemed to be people stationed in the crowd, surrounding the place. These burly men had swords hidden. They only needed a signal to rush in and chop the former Dark King to bits.

Ghosthand furrowed his brow and stepped forward, but the Shaman raised his hand to stop him. “So it seems that you are keeping us here?” The smile on the Shaman’s face faded. “Do you know what you’re doing? I suggest thinking about the consequences of angering me.”

“Get it straight, Shaman. There’s no way out for you.” Alberto nodded. “Don’t worry, we’ve hired three musicians out of respect. It doesn’t matter that you’re the Shaman, Ghosthand, or another legend. You won’t be able to leave today. So can you finally wake up from your fantasy, former Dark King.

“Seeing as you took care of me before, I can let you go. But you must promise to never come back.” The old man’s eyes were cruel and fierce. “Of course, we’ll have someone give you a small curse so you can’t go back on your word.”

“You have to give up your resources too,” Silo added. “And the most important thing…I’m sure you understand what I’m talking about. The Trader has already told us that he gave you something…”

“Oh?” The Shaman shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

The Basset was the most impatient. Slamming a fist on the table, he spat, “What we mean is, give us the map of Avalon’s Shadow and then scram! Understand?”

The Shaman chuckled and shrugged. “Even if you had the map, you can’t go in if you can’t find the Blood Path. And anyway, the Trader gave it to me as a gift for my return. If I just gave it away, I’d be a bad friend.”

“Seems that we have to go harder on you,” Werner said coldly. He knocked on his dagger and pounding footsteps sounded above, along with the scraping sound of swords being pulled out of their sheaths. The thugs hidden in the market had already surrounded the tavern. This was the trap prepared for the Shaman.

“Mr. Shaman, look at the situation clearly. This isn’t your world anymore. Why don’t you hand over the map and exchange it for your safety?” Alberto advised quietly. “Even if you’re not going to think for yourself, at least think on behalf of Ghosthand.”

Ghosthand remained silent.

The Shaman sighed as if disappointed.

“Look at yourselves, gentlemen, what have you done?” The Shaman stared at the men in disappointment. “I invited you all to come here out of respect for you all, to prevent more bloodshed, but you’ve disappointed me.

“Ever since my return to Avalon, I’ve smelled the stink you’ve left behind. You turned this city into a mess where there are no rules or dignity. All you can see is money and power. In order to obtain these, you even betrayed the Professor, who has guided you for all this time. You let him be hunted down by others. In order to earn a tiny profit, you made every effort to flatter your new boss.

“I had hoped that my enemies would be stronger and purer. What a shame…” The Shaman shook his head. “I’m disappointed in both you and the master behind the scenes.”

For a moment, everyone was silent. Alberto, Silo, and Werner did not reply. The silence was not one of speechless embarrassment, but one of extreme of rage with no need for words!

“I’m sorry, sir.” Alberto sighed. “I’m really sorry.” He raised his cane and knocked on his wheelchair. The cane and the hollow wheelchair collided with a crisp sound. It was sharp yet distant, spreading in all directions.

In the next moment, dozens of crossbows aimed at the Shaman would shoot, burying two of Avalon’s legends in the tavern forever. But the expected moment did not come. Nothing had happened. All was still, but the stillness was unsettling.

Stunned, Alberto knocked again, but there was no response. It was as if the people he had brought with him had all vanished. The signal faded without an echo. Alberto’s expression changed.

“Gentlemen, you’ve gotten one thing wrong since the beginning.” In the dead silence, the Shaman lowered his head. He lit the cigar between his lips and exhaled the pungent smoke, laughing lightly. “My era has never passed.”

Surrounded by swords and crossbows, The Shaman raised his eyes, gazing around at those who wanted to kill him. The men fell down immediately.

One by one, they fell down on the ground for no reason. The heavy thuds kept repeating. The three men twitched with each thud. Then, there was silence.

“Today, I just wanted to emphasize one thing.” The Shaman’s voice was hoarse, like scraping iron, sharp enough to rattle one’s core. “Even if I’ve been gone for nine years, even if you have made this city into a mess…Do not forget that I am the master here. And do not forget that there have been rules here!”

In the silence, Werner took the dagger out of the table and flew toward the Shaman. The Shaman reached out, grabbed his head, and slammed it down.

Boom! Warner’s face was crushed on the table by the seemingly frail old man. Now one could see how he had done it so easily.

The Shaman held him down as if scolding a disobedient child. His eyes were hard and cold as he said, “The rule is that when I say I’m back, you should kneel down and greet your king!”

Silo and Alberto’s expression changed quickly in the silence. Both of them wanted to retreat now, but Ghosthand looked at them with a smile. They could not leave.

“Shaman, what do you want from us?” Alberto’s voice shook.

“Alberto, you told me to look out the window just now. Why don’t you go and look yourself?” The Shaman pointed to the window. “Go! Go and have a look, and tell me what you see.”

Alberto hesitated, then stiffly rotated his wheelchair, and rolled slowly to the window.

It was silent outside the window. The once raucous market had lost all its voice. All sound was gone.

The market was still crowded, filled with merchants, farmers, butchers, beggars in the sewers, civilians, and workers squatting in the corner. They were still in their original spots with no differences. Everything seemed to have stayed the same. But they were not speaking, only standing there silently. The people who had been among them had disappeared without a sound.

Replacing them were the crowds, gradually gathering from all directions. They came from the alleys, the big roads, the rubbish heap, and the magnificent carriages. The crowd gathered in silence.

Some of them were old, and some were young. There were also beggars and children. In the past, they laid in the ditch like garbage, looked down upon by everyone. But now, their eyes were terrifying.

The day had begun in the morning, but now it seemed that all of downtown had finally been awakened from a nine year sleep. It was as if an old beggar, who had gone through a long winter, finally opened his turbid and cloudy eyes, and gazed coldly at those who were stupidly attempting to take power. Their eyes were ruthless and downright vicious!

–

Everyone that had gathered seemed to be waiting feverishly, staring in the direction of the tavern. When they saw Alberto before the window, their eyes became scornful. They’re lips were cracked open with a mocking smile.

Under their stare, Alberto’s lips trembled. The blood in his face drained bit by bit until he became ghastly pale.

“How is it? Are you satisfied?” The Shaman stood behind him, holding down his shoulders. He leaned over and smiled, and murmured in Alberto’s ear, “See? They are my dogs. I don’t need to recruit anyone, and I don’t need to bargain with you. If I want to fight with you, then I will.

“If I say I gave you an opportunity, then I did.” He patted Alberto on the face and shook his head. “Unfortunately, you missed the chance.”

The Shaman passed Alberto and stood before the window. His eyes were full of pride as he inspected his troops. He opened his arms as if to embrace them. The wildly enthusiastic people began to cheer. The sound was like a rushing tide, making even the ground tremble, startling countless birds. The tide-like cheer resounded in the still area. It was as if a king had reappeared, shaking the entire city with the will of a single person!

Amid the deafening cheers, the Shaman raised his right hand and asked the cheering crowd, “My sons, my knights, tell them who is your master! Who is the true master of this place?”

“Shaman!” the people roared. They raised their right hand and responded, shouting out the name, “Shaman! Shaman! Shaman!” It was a will that did not need to be described in words, an enthusiasm that could be felt without outright expression, an invisible crown and scepter of supremacy. The former Dark King, the Shaman, had returned!

In the incomparable frenzy, the Shaman turned. Seeing the three pale faces, he smiled, genial and tolerant. “Don’t be afraid. Today, I just brought my children with to say hello to you all. I will not do anything to you, but there is just one thing I want you to remember. Go back and tell your new master, Mr. ‘Robin.’”

The Shaman held his head up as high as he overlooked the parliament in the shadows. Eyes haughty and icy, he warned,”Avalon’s Shadow is not something you can touch. Don’t play with fire.”

—

Soon, everything was over. The people who should have left did so, and the crowd that had gathered disappeared per the Shaman’s command. Stillness returned to the tavern.

Behind the bar, Ghosthand carefully wiped a glass and brought a shot of tequila to his master. “Sir, you have just returned. Is it okay to declare a war on parliament?” Ghosthand commented on his master’s declaration of war without restraint, “After all, they’re all important figures in Anglo. If they drive you away again, I’m afraid we’ll have to wait many more years. The next time you come back, you might find my tombstone.”

“Don’t worry! Even if that’s the case, I’ll take your tombstone to battle.” The Shaman shrugged. “Remember to make your tombstone a little lighter than usual. Otherwise, I won’t be able to carry it.”

“I’ll tell the craftsman to make the tombstone look like a turtle shell, so it can double as a shield.”

“Your loyalty is really comforting,” the Shaman sighed. “I can’t wait to carry your turtle shell to battle.”

Ghosthand downed his glass. Rolling his eyes, he asked, “The more you do this, the more they’ll try to speed up the search for the Blood Path. What if they do find the way, and open Avalon’s Shadow?”

“That’s impossible. Avalon’s Shadow is the power left behind by King Arthur in this world. Only King Arthur’s will can activate the Blood Path.”

“But King Arthur is dead.”

Shaman smiled. “Do you really think that there is nothing else left in this world that can represent King Arthur’s will?”

Ghosthand fell silent. After a while, he whispered, “Do you mean the sword in the stone?”

“Yes.” The Shaman nodded. “Crazy King Arthur created it by imagining the sea demon, Leviathan, the king of all natural catastrophes, as his enemy. The souls of sinners and the dragon were sealed in the sword. They wail every night, never allowed to rest in peace.”

“Isn’t it a royal seal?”

“Not entirely. The most important part is now lost.” The Shaman seemed to be drunk, speaking casually, oblivious to the fact that he had just uttered a deep and dark secret. “You know, King Arthur was a psycho. In the beginning, he was known as the Virtuous King, but later, he became Crazy King Arthur.

“At that time, his had begun to crumble, and he was unable to harness his immense power. The sword in the stone went out of control. The power that could fight off natural catastrophes went crazy. Nine-tenths of that power was controlled by Arthur’s remaining strength, but the scabbard was lost.

“That’s the most important part of the sword. It’s not the most powerful, but it represents the scepter and will of King Arthur. Since then, the royal family lost the key to the Blood Path and could no longer inherit the holy name of Arthur.”

Shaman downed a cup full of liquor and burped heartily. “Over the years, the royal family has been entrusting the church to secretly search for it. They finally found it somewhere, secretly took it back to the human world, and sealed it.

“But because of the advent of Avalon’s Shadow, the scabbard was secretly sent out of Avalon again. Unfortunately, there was an accident on the road, and the scabbard disappeared.”

Ghosthand stared at Shaman, completely unable to digest the complex information from the past.

Seeing his confusion, the Shaman laughed joyfully. “It’s a really sad story, isn’t it?” He poured himself a cup and drank it in one shot. He murmured in regret, “What a pity. Even if an ordinary person gets it, he can instantly inherit the name of Arthur and the power of the sword in the stone. It won’t be impossible to become the king of Anglo in one day, right?”

When Charles said, “Isn’t the notebook there?” a bad feeling arose in Ye Qingxuan instinctively. When he looked in that direction, his heart sank and he fell into silence.

Charles had pointed to the corner of the living room. There was a painting on the wall; a cupboard; two chairs; and a finely-decorated, well-made, high-grade, amazingly warm and comfortable…dog bed!

The long-missed Old Phil was sprawled out on its bed, side-eyeing its first and third servants. Its eyes were arrogant as if he were the emperor in his palace. As it enjoyed the stupidity of mankind, it chewed on its breakfast—a leather-bound, beautifully made, and familiar…notebook?

“Senior, am I seeing things?” Ye Qingxuan asked after a long time. “Why am I seeing Old Phil eating my notebook?”

“Ah, that’s right!” Seeing that Ye Qingxuan was close to breaking down, Charles decided to give him a push. “He’s been eating it for half a month! He doesn’t even eat dog food these days. He just eats two pages per day. He’s finally finishing it today! Old Phil loves studying. Junior, you can’t lose to him!”

“…I feel like I’ve lost at the starting point.” Speechless, Ye Qingxuan bent down to pick up the shreds with shaking hands. In the end, fate’s cruel arrangement pushed him to his limit.

“Old Phil!!” Putting the dog in a choke hold, Ye shook it violently. “How can you just eat it? This is a relic that my dad left behind for me! A relic! A relic! How can you just eat it? At least tell me! Do you know how hard life is for me? Y-you…spit it out!” His features twisted as he tried to open Old Phil’s mouth and save the last shred of paper.

Old Phil’s mouth opened and then closed.He closed his mouth tightly around Ye Qingxuan’s leg, causing him to fall down with a strangled cry. Old Phil was Old Phil after all. He never displayed any mercy when he was biting. His mouth could definitely go down in history. It had never failed, from biting the crown prince to its servant!

And this b*stard had chose the meatiest parts to bite, ensuring that one bite was enough for a scarred mind, and two bites were enough for mental trauma…no one could hide from it!

With that fatal bite, Ye Qingxuan practically passed out, and just rolled to the other side of the living room.

Taking advantage of this, Old Phil walked over to stand on Ye Qingxuan. It slapped the youth without any hesitation, making sure that Ye Qingxuan would never talk back to his ‘boss.’ His action was so furious and straightforward, sending chills down one’s spine, but it was understandable! Ye Qingxuan had broken the rules and offended his ‘boss!’

—

When Ye Qingxuan woke, it was already noon.

“Hey, Junior. You awake?” Charles squatted beside him, eating a durian. Smiling, he asked, “Want one? It’s fresh! I just got it from the backyard of the Royal School…”

“What just happened?” Ye Qingxuan asked in a daze. “Why am I here?” He looked around and realized that he was lying on the living room floor. There was a mess around him, and his body hurt as if he had been beat up.

“Oh, you forgot?” Charles gave him a sympathetic look. “This morning, you tried to steal Old Phil’s dog food and got punished. Even though you were beat up pathetically, I respect your courage! Come, good man, have a fruit!”

“…” Ye Qingxuan refused with a polite shake of the head.

“Oh right, Professor said to go to the library after you wake up.” Charles pointed at the closed library door. “There’s something important to discuss.”

—

Ye Qingxuan walked to the library nervously. He was ready to be scolded by the Professor for not going to class for the past few days.

However, Abraham seemed to be busy, seated behind his messy table with a giant stack of revised drafts. He did not look up until Ye Qingxuan coughed. “Oh Yezi, you’re here? Sorry, I was working…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Feeling guilty, Ye Qingxuan had the urge to rush over and give his teacher a massage. “Professor, I shouldn’t disturb you, but what are you writing? You look so focused.”

“Oh, this…” Abraham chuckled shyly, though a glimmer of pride appeared in his wooden expression. “I got new inspiration for the translation method. I realized that if I use this method to decipher Voynich’s Manuscript, I might be able to translate the fragment at the end. If I’m successful, I can apply for a bigger budget! And then our budget won’t be so tight…”

“Voynich’s Manuscript?” Ye Qingxuan was stunned. “Professor, you’re going to be big!” The Voynich Manuscript had always been an important piece of literature for researching the history of the Dark Ages. Deciphering it had been a challenge for many scholars and Revelations musicians. Unfortunately, other than the scholar, Champollion, from centuries ago, and Miss Lola from recent years, nobody else had made progress on it. Others would go astray or be seen as fakes…

If someone were able to use another method to decipher the remaining passages, it could be significant enough to shake up the entire academic world. Abraham’s translation method would receive the sacred city’s recognition and become its own discipline. The idiots at the School of Revelations would not be able to belittle them anymore.

Maybe Abraham would receive commendation from the sacred city, and the academy’s funds! If the Church thought this method was an innovative breakthrough, he would definitely become a master musician!

As his student, Ye Qingxuan felt honored as well! He might have been doubtful if someone else had said those words, but he believed Abraham completely. With the Professor’s wooden personality, he would never lie. He would never say anything he had no confidence in either. Since Abraham had said so, it would work!

Thinking that Abraham would not be abject, and would receive recognition by everyone, riding the School of History of its awkward status, Ye Qingxuan could not help but feel overjoyed. His happiness at his successful robbery from the night before was nothing compared to this good news.

“Professor, you’ve hit gold!” Ye Qingxuan cheered. Then fluttering his lashes, he said, “Let’s eat a good dinner tonight! Senior keeps asking for meat. I can go out and buy a kilogram or two and make something good!”

“Uh, there’s no need. It’s not very certain yet,” Abraham said, a little embarrassed. “Wait until I publish it. What if I miscalculated? It’ll be bad to celebrate for no reason.”

“Professor, don’t be so modest. I believe in you!” Ye Qingxuan danced, already planning a celebration.

“Let’s talk about the important matters first.” Abraham organized his notes and coughed. His expression turned serious. He studied the youth. After a long silence, he finally said, “Yezi, Charles said that you’ve already grasped the performance of complex notes. Have you thought about what school to follow in the future?”

“Huh?”

“Look, you are considered to a Rhythm level musician now. You have to plan for the future.” Abraham scratched his head. “I don’t have that much experience, seeing as Charles has been stuck on the Rhythm level all these years. I feel like…he’ll be stuck for a few more years, so I haven’t prepared anything in that aspect. But if you have any schools you’d like to research, we can discuss it.”

“Uh, to be honest, I haven’t thought about it…” Ye Qingxuan felt cold sweat forming. “There isn’t a school that I really want to learn. Other than Black Friday, which I somehow learned, I haven’t looked at the music scores from other schools. So I want to wait until I have a sturdier foundation.”

“Reinforcing your foundation is one thing, but the earlier you choose your school, the better. Don’t be like me and waste half your life before finally becoming a musician,” Abraham said, a bit ashamed. “I was the best at the School of Abstinence, but I signed a confidential agreement with the military for this material, so I can’t teach it. I started researching the School of Revelations halfway. You can see that I haven’t accomplished much now. Don’t be like me!”

“Professor, I think you’re really awesome already. If anything, just let me learn Revelations with you. Our major is with the School of Revelations anyway!” Ye Qingxuan shrugged carelessly. “I can read and decipher ancient texts easily, so I can be a scholar in the future.”

“…” Abraham knocked the side of Ye Qingxuan’s head. “This is about your future, not some meaningless thing. Yezi, be more serious about it.”

“Or you can just teach?” Ye Qingxuan suggested. “I’ll learn whatever you teach. I’m just at the Rhythm level now, and there’s still a long time before I get to the third level. Maybe I’ll find something that suits me as I learn.”

“That is very irresponsible, but I guess there isn’t a better solution.” Sighing, Abraham warned, “But you must keep in mind that different schools have opposing principles. You can’t venture too deep when you’re still experimenting.

“Take the School of Mind and Summoning for example. The first focuses on will and humanity, while the latter focuses on instinct and the beastly nature. If you learn the two at the same time, they will contradict each other, and you’ll make no progress. The same applies to the School of Modifications and Illusions. One researches substances, and the other, emptiness.

“Compared to those, the differences between the School of Choir and Revelations aren’t too obvious, but the former focuses on the nature of life, while the other focuses on the outside world. It’s difficult to put them together as well.”

Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan became curious. “What about Abstinence? Is there nothing that contradicts the School of Abstinence?”

“It opposes every other school,” Abraham sighed. “That’s why I don’t want you to be like me.” With that, he pulled out the blackboard and began to write with his prosthetic arm.

“The focus of the School of Abstinence is on the nature of aether, so it contrasts with other schools. I am best at countering and deciphering, which is why I can find something similar in the School of Revelations. Other than these two fields, there isn’t much I can teach you.

“Here is a score that I’ve deciphered myself. It consists solely of common basic runes, which is rare. Musicians from any school can learn it. It can help you form your foundation.” As he spoke, he wrote the name of the score on the blackboard—Bolero.

In the basement, a gentle melody sounded from the youth’s fingertips. The instrument’s strings vibrated softly. The melody was like fine dust floating in the sunlight, peaceful and melodious…

As Ye Qingxuan’s played, strands of water vapor slowly condensed in the air, latching onto his body and fluttering out in all directions.

Across from him, Charles whistled while eating a fruit. The corner of his lips curled up into a smile. “Good job! You succeeded on the third try?”

Ye Qingxuan controlled the threads of water floating in the air and replied. “The melody is quite simple and only uses basic runes. The notes itself are difficult to understand, but you can use the interpretation method to figure it out. It’s not so difficult in the beginning.”

“I was just worried about your confidence. I guess I don’t need to say anything now,” Charles muttered. He picked up a screw from the ground and flicked it at the white wall behind Ye Qingxuan. The screw smashed onto the wall and bounced straight at Ye Qingxuan’s head!

In the air, a thread of water vapor had been grazed by the screw. Ye Qingxuan instantly reached behind as if he had eyes on the back of his head, and caught the screw easily.

“Oh?” Charles laughed. “Not bad.”

Ye Qingxuan shrugged and tossed the screw back into the box on the ground. The barely visible threads of vapor danced stiffly around his body. He was still trying to get used to this feeling. Now, the threads were like an extension of his body. He could detect even the slightest touch.

Gradually, the water vapor lines became more agile, which made Ye Qingxuan nod in satisfaction. “So far, the first measure of Bolero is not complicated. I’ll be able to master it this afternoon.”

“There is one thing you must be aware of, Yezi.” Charles shook his head, patting the youth on the shoulder. “The most difficult part of Bolero is not about playing it, but applying it!”

In the next moment, Ye Qingxuan’s vision swam, and he fell down.

“Sorry, I did a sneak attack.” Charles stretched his wrists out and showed Ye the slowly dissipating rune Air. He shook his head provocatively. “How about we practice together? The loser has to dress up like a girl and buy dinner!”

Ye Qingxuan stared at him blankly. After realizing that Charles was serious, there was a glimmer of vicious intent in his eyes. “That means I can do whatever I want to you?”

“Yes, come on, big man!” Charles beckoned with his pinky finger. “Let me see what the so called Vengeful Spirit from downtown can do.”

“I know you’re just provoking me, but you have to know that I’m still going to get angry, senior.” Ye Qingxuan stood up, cracked his knuckles, loosened his neck, then grinned. “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”

“Hehe.” Charles laughed shyly, but a ball of blinding light shot out from his hands without warning. Blinded, Ye Qingxuan sensed that someone was in his arms, with their palms on his chest.

“Bingo!” Charles grinned, his fingers tightened

Boom! Rune Air exploded. Severe wind pressure lifted the youth up. Ye crashed against the wall, and finally landed on a pile of dust covers, causing a cloud of dust to rise.

“Forgot to tell you the rules.” Charles had cheated skillfully. “You’re in as long as you’re standing. In other words, if you want to surrender, just lie down.”

“You’re so considerate.” Ye Qingxuan coughed violently and climbed out of the dust pile. “But I will not give you the opportunity to lie down.” In the next moment, he snapped his fingers, and the crisp sound was like frost cracking. Rays of frost shot out.

As if Charles had foreseen this, he stepped to the side and jumped back, escaping the youth’s attack. Before he got his footing back, Ye Qingxuan began to fight fire with fire, using the rune Air.

Boom! Ye Qingxuan flew through the air, his eyes wide open in shock.

“That’s why people need to be careful of their steps.” Charles shook his head and looked down at the runes dissipating on the ground. They were the notes he had left before leaping by using the technique of delayed release. It was easy to lure someone into the trap

“Seems like you have no experience with musician duels other than the concertmaster challenge.” Charles shook his head and waved at the youth with great enthusiasm. “Hurry up, let me help you make up this lesson.”

Ye Qingxuan spat the dust out of his mouth and charged again.

After three seconds, Charles withdrew his palm from Ye Qingxuan. The youth had lost his strength and knelt down on the ground, heaving violently. Sweat flowed freely from him, leaving wet stains on the ground. That was the note he excelled at—Flow!

“Are you done resting?” Charles leisurely paced around him. “It’s alright. Take a rest and drag it out until dinner time so you don’t have to fight anymore.”

Ye Qingxuan knew clearly that this b*stard was still provoking him. He simply sat on the ground, refusing to get up. His frustrated eyes gradually calmed.

No, there was something wrong. He was getting completely crushed! It was like challenging a formless monster. Every defeat was weird and mysterious. It was not about how excellent the other side’s strategy was, nor how powerful the enemy was. It was not because of his own weakness either. What was wrong? This guy acted as if he could predict his next step!

Predict…Ye Qingxuan’s eyes flashed. He raised his head, eyes narrowing.

Under the faint light, the dust disrupted by the two men scattered under the light. But when the youth looked closely, he realized that there was something different about Charles’ surroundings.

Around him were dozens of slender and hidden threads of water vapor. They floated from his body, stretched through the air, and finally…

Ye Qingxuan looked along the thin lines, and it finally dawned on him. The threads were wrapped around his own body! “This is the application of Bolero?”

“Great job. It only took you five minutes to realize. I wanted to play with you for half an hour before telling you. What a pity.” Charles shrugged. “Shall we continue?”

Ye Qingxuan pulled himself up. This time, he stood and stared at Charles. “How do you do it?”

“What? You mean prediction? It’s just an illusion.” Charles put up a finger. “Everything I know is from you. Think about it, and think about it more closely. How do I know?”

“Because of the ‘perception threads’ created by Bolero’s first measure?”

“You’re getting closer to the answer, but it’s not enough.” Charles wagged his finger. “If I only relied on the threads, at most, I could determine your location. If I wanted to beat you up completely, I would need some other things—things that you haven’t noticed yet. Think, Yezi, think! Don’t stop…keep thinking! Never stop thinking when you’re in a duel. If you stop, you lose. If you lose, you die!”

The next moment, Charles charged. Ye Qingxuan subconsciously stepped back and created a shield effect for himself. But then the image coming at him…dissipated?

Rune: Mirror! Charles’s hand sliced down on the back of Ye Qingxuan’s neck like a knife, pushing him down easily. Under the boy’s puzzled eyes, Charles whistled and wiggled his fingers. At his fingertips, a few threads connected to Ye Qingxuan glittered and flashed. “Passive defense is useless,” he said. “I know all of your thoughts.”

A flame ignited on Ye Qingxuan’s fingertip in reply. He was expressionless as he burned the connected perception thread and pulled himself up. “Again.”

“Alright.”

The next moment, the two pressed on their own instrument in unison, the same melody sounded at the same time. It was the first measure of Bolero! In that gentle and quiet melody, a number of perception threads rose out of Ye Qingxuan’s body, and wrapped around Charles.

Perception threads came from Charles’ hands as well. The threads ran into each other, becoming a tangled mess.

The moment the perception threads wrapped around Charles, Ye Qingxuan’s expression became shocked and surprised. He could…sense the aether controlled by Charles?

“What’s the matter? Is it really that surprising to be able to sense someone else’s aether?” Charles did not care that Ye Qingxuan could perceive the changes in his aether and said lightly, “Now can you understand? The threads aren’t a replacement of touch. They’re the extension of perception! That’s what they do. They’re a musician’s eyes.

“A pair of eyes that knows the enemy’s every intention, every movement, and fluctuations of each note. Nothing can hide from these eyes.” Then he said, “Congratulations, you are finally getting started.”

There was a crisp snap. Charles raised his hand and released a frost ray without warning. It was loved by students for being easy to cast, and requiring low exertion.

Ye Qingxuan could not process it in time! He could clearly feel the changes in the other’s aether, but in the midst of everything, Ye Qingxuan did not realize that he was playing a note. His face was covered by weakened white frost. He could not even breathe.

“What’s wrong? I’ve put everything out in the open for you.” Charles cocked his head. “You couldn’t even tell that I was going to cast a rune?”

“Instantaneous notes are so fast. You have to at least give me time to react.” Ye Qingxuan reached out and wiped the white frost off his face. “The changes are so confusing that I can’t find the patterns.”

“Come on, use your brain.” Charles sighed. “Translation and interpretation method. What have you been learning?”

“Interpretation?” Ye Qingxuan froze, as if he had suddenly found clue. He involuntarily followed Charles’s guide and continued thinking. “Interpretation method…”

“That’s right. This is the interpretation method,” Charles whistled. “Did you really think that the things Professor taught can only be used to explain music scores and ancient languages? It’s teaching you how to ‘read!’ If it can help you interpret music scores and runes, why can’t it explain the changes of aether?”

Ye Qingxuan did not reply. His expressions changed as he pondered, but his brows quickly furrowed again. “Senior, cast a note for me.”

Charles obeyed.

Once again, Ye Qingxuan was hit in the face with frost, but this time he did not move at all. As if fossilized, he let the rays of frost hit him with immense pain.

“I think I feel something,” Ye Qingxuan murmured, looking up. “Again.”

“Okay.” Frost again!

Whack! This time, Ye Qingxuan finally moved but he was too late. He had just started to raise his hand when the frost covered his face. It burned, but he started laughing.

It was as if he had been running in the dark and found an open door. The sunlight that fell on his face was weak, but the world was completely different now. He finally understood why the translation method skipped many steps in order to quickly achieve an unclear rune instead of a developed one. It was to reduce his time of interpreting to its limit. He must ignore practically ninety percent of all information to be one tenth of a second faster.

“Again!”

“Okay.”

As Charles raised his hand, Ye Qingxuan’s expression changed. He begged, “Don’t do it to my face. It hurts!”

“Too late.” Charles continued raising his hand, planning on covering his face with frost.

Shocked, Ye Qingxuan gave up on begging for mercy, and quickly began chanting. He subconsciously gathered aether before him like a shield. The surface was smooth and sturdy. Rune: Mirror.

Whack! The cool blue rays landed on the mirror, refracted, and disappeared along with the mirror. Coldness spread, and the flying dust turned to ice particles and fell on the ground.

Ye Qingxuan froze while Charles’s smile stiffened.

“Didn’t you say you were going for my face?” Ye Qingxuan asked faintly. “Why did you aim for my chest? That wasn’t what we agreed on.”

“Aha…I pitied you and changed to somewhere meatier,” Charles chuckled dryly. “Can’t believe you improved so quickly that you could even tell where I was aiming!”

The corners of Ye Qingxuan’s lips twitched. “If I didn’t interpret it, I’d have to get hit by your frost for no reason again, right?”

“What do you mean ‘no reason’? What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!” Charles praised himself shamelessly. “I’m doing this for your own good!”

“…” Ye Qingxuan was secretly amazed at his reaction in that second. He could not believe how fast his reaction speed became in a time of crisis.

When he had subconsciously sensed the rippling aether from Charles, his body reacted instinctively. His brain had not even processed the information when he went into defense mode.

“Junior, it seems like you’ve been enlightened!” Grinning cheekily, Charles asked, “Did you find the secret trick?”

“I guess. I just have to pretend you’re a music score and interpret that, right?”

“Basically, but…I won’t be like a music score and stand here without moving!” With that, Charles finished chanting. The boxes of screws around them began shaking. The aether’s magnetic field pulled the screws toward Charles’s hand. They spun at his fingertips, whistling and rumbling, ready to attack!

For the first time, Ye Qingxuan felt just how terrifying Charles’s talent was. He had never seen anyone else who could control hundreds of screws with just one note. Charles had done so without any preparation—everything had happened with a simple raise of the hand.

“Since you know the method now, I don’t have to go easy on you anymore,” Charles’ voice came from behind the layers of screws. “Next, I’ll be entering destruction mode. Watch out.”

“Wait, I’m not ready yet!” Seeing the dense wall of bullets, the hair on Ye Qingxuan’s neck rose.

“Okay, I’ll wait.”

Ye Qingxuan relaxed at those words, but then the screws whistled, shooting forward at his limbs and chest without any warning.

Even though he had given up on Charles’ morality, seeing him act so perversely gave Ye Qingxuan a chill. There was no more trust between people!

“Do you have to do that?” Clutching his head, Ye began darting around. “I’ve only learned the first measure of Bolero!”

“You think the Professor only taught you the first measure?” Charles was able to hold a conversation even as he shot out screws continuously. “He has taught you the entire thing.”

“How can it be that short?”

“Quite the contrary. There is no music score longer than Bolero.” Charles cackled. “Because the rest of the melody is a repeat of the first measure. With each repeat, you have to put twice as much effort in manipulation. The number and length of strands will also multiply. So you can overlap the melody as many times as you’d like. There’s no limit as long as you can control it.”

As Ye Qingxuan dodged painfully, he began to interpret the aether’s pattern at a furious speed, predicting where the screws would land. At the same time, he subconsciously calculated how much manipulation power was needed for each repeat.

“Are you kidding?” His eyes and mouth opened wide. “With that exponential increase, the eighth measure would need 128 times the amount needed for the first measure! Only the devil can do that!”

Charles used one sentence to shut him up. “Professor’s limit is the seventeenth measure.”

—

He could not keep getting hit like this. Ye Qingxuan could already feel the pain of being hit all over as he dodged pathetically. Charles was analyzing him just as he was analyzing Charles. He could see Charles’s every movement clearly. This meant that he could not hide his moves from him either.

This training was tailored for him. He could get rid of the threads and use Black Friday to catch Charles off guard. But how was that different from admitting defeat?

There were now two choices before him: surrender, put on girl’s clothing, and buy dinner for this *sshole, or actually fight him!

“You’re going down!” Ye Qingxuan jumped out toward the flying screws, eyes determined.

—

“Can’t take it anymore?” Behind the numerous hovering screws, Charles shook his head. He studied the youth, but his senses were faster than his eyes. He could feel everything, even the dust flying in the dim room. He did not need to see the threads to feel the change in aether.

The aether flowed like a river under his feet, under the stone floor, under the dirt, even deeper… and it swirled like a hurricane above his head, above the building, high up in the sky.

It changed freely in this vast world, joining together and scattering with sounds. Countless droplets of light hovered in this world, reflecting on everything and turning this world into something beautiful!

It was a beauty that the average person would not be able to see, even with the help of perception threads, but to Charles, it was average and standard. He could analyze Ye Qingxuan’s aether completely just with his instinctive feeling. That was why he felt sympathy.

“Why are you still like that?” Charles asked. He sighed, thinking, “A pity that you could use this on an idiot like Edmund, but it won’t work here.”

“Junior.” His fingers moved slightly. Pulled by the magnetic force, the screws grouped to the front like a shield. It vibrated and reflected the screws that Ye Qingxuan had shot forward using the same rune Magnet. Then he covered his eyes, ready to defend.

Ye Qingxuan had grasped this moment and was going to launch an attack of light, a technique that had always worked.

With the sound of icicles shooting through the ground, dozens of mirrors appeared out of thin air. A burst of light exploded from the youth’s hands, the blinding light swallowed Charles.

Charles could feel and see the piercing light even with his eyes closed. His heart skipped a beat. This light could seriously blind someone if looked at directly. How was Ye Qingxuan able to push the rune effect to this intensity after just becoming a student a month ago? Children could not be underestimated these days…

He sighed inwardly. Ye Qingxuan had the upper hand now. But unfortunately, the essence of this game did not lie in the upper hand, but in the counter-attack or even…lying!

This was a game more strategic than musician duels. It could not be won just by aggressive attacks. With both sides using Bolero, they were both in the same environment, receiving the same information, and knowing each other like the back of their own hands.

It was like chess. When both knew their opponent’s ‘next step,’ the difficulty level would skyrocket. This was a technique that combined strategies from the School of Revelations and Abstinence. It could not be won by the School of Modification’s chaotic bombing!

With the connection of perception threads, Charles knew everything about Ye Qingxuan’s tactics. “Sorry, junior.” He shook his head and sighed. “You’re definitely crossdressing today!”

First blinding him with Mirror and Light and then Magnet…wait, was this multiple casting? Quickly, Charles felt a strange ripple through his thread. It was the chaos created by two runes forced together.

“Oh, no way, right?” Charles was slightly stunned, thinking, “Where did you learn this? It’s unique to the School of Modifications, created by those lunatics crazy for destruction!”

Ye Qingxuan put his hands together. When he slowly pulled his hands apart, a blinding electric arc shot out. He smiled at Charles from behind the electric light. “Don’t be so impatient…who’s going to crossdress hasn’t been decided yet.”

“Bai Xi, I’ve witnessed many miracles and wonders in my life. I’ve seen saints turn into demons, and I’ve seen demons who received redemption. It’s simple because love and hate all come so suddenly.

“But is there anything that can stop him if neither love nor hate can change him? Is it the starry sky above him? Is it the morality in his heart? Or is it death, which no man can escape?

“I’ve only met one creature like this, and it was enough to me feel that all my efforts were in vain. He was the second person that made me doubt myself. Thankfully, I had prepared myself when I learned who he was.”

Hermes glanced at Bai Xi and sighed. “Haven’t you noticed his queerness? When he was being hunted by the entire city, his lenience was mocked, and his kindness trampled, but he still didn’t change his ideas or give up on his beliefs.

“Even when those pieces of trash wanted revenge, he stayed true to the standards in his heart. He only did to them what they did to him, and nothing more…He never even thought about a much simpler solution—killing them all!”

“That just means he’s a good person!” Bai Xi retorted.

Bai Xi’s response stunned Hermes into silence. He burst into laughter as if he had heard the joke of the century. “A good person? Don’t joke, Bai Xi. He was practically born to be a dark musician! If he’s a good person, why would he learn something like Black Friday? Its intensity is prominent in dark music scores.

“Music scores have souls, Bai Xi. It helps them choose the most suitable master. If it chose Ye Qingxuan, it proves that he has a dark nature that even he can’t perceive! Haven’t you seen it? When he conducts the terrifying music, his movements are like flowing water…it’s practically an art!

“For him, killing someone is easy.” He stared at Bai Xi and uttered, “The reason why he hasn’t killed anyone yet isn’t because of kindness or mercy. He simply…looks down on them. He thinks that they aren’t worthy enough to change himself. When he realized that this world conflicted with his ideals, he didn’t try to change himself. Instead, he wanted to change the world into what he wants…

“He’s that kind of monster!”

Bai Xi fell silent, unable to reply.

In the silence, Hermes picked up his teacup and drank elegantly.

“My apologies for revealing the ugly truth. Pretend that I never said anything and forget about it,” he advised gently. “Go back, study hard, and stop fooling around with him. Stay in your refuge and don’t worry.

“Downtown is an amusement park for these monsters. It’s not a place for you to throw temper tantrums. If you’re not willing to let go, sooner or later, you’ll die because of him. You’ll die in pain…”

“Hermes!” The girl’s voice cut him off. Bai Xi stared at him with pure black eyes. There was thunder and lightning in those eyes, furious and destructive. As if she were giving the last warning, she emphasized each word as she uttered, “You can shut up now.”

“Okay, okay.” Hermes smiled helplessly and raised his hands in surrender.

Bai Xi looked away and continued reading the music score in her hands, returning to normal. It was as if nothing had happened.

—

In the long afternoon, Bai Xi would sometimes look up and ask something, and Hermes would answer in detail. He seemed just like a responsible teacher, explaining the essence of the music scores in layman terms.

Finally, the sun set in the sky. In the fading light, Bai Xi stuffed the music score from Hermes into her bag. Her fingers touched something cold and she hesitated. Looking up, she asked, “You’re a really powerful alchemist, right?”

“Not just powerful.” Hermes pointed at himself. “You should say that no one in the past or future can be better than me.”

Bai Xi put something on the table. “Help me fix this up.”

On the table was an army crossbow with the serial code scraped off. Under the dying sunlight, the dangerous weapon looked calm. Stunned, Hermes looked at Bai Xi. He seemed to understand something in her eyes and he smiled. “Yes, my monster princess.” Picking up the bow, he walked to his workshop.

His eyes softened when Bai Xi could no longer see him. They were full of tolerance, as if watching a stubborn child who wanted to scoop up the moon’s reflection in water. But how long could she play the game with Ye Qingxuan if she did not want to dirty her hands?

—

Charles had ultimately escaped the cross-dressing punishment after crying, throwing a tantrum, and threatening suicide, but Ye Qingxuan now had so much blackmail material in his hands. It would be much easier to communicate with this annoying senior in the future.

Charles had agreed to practice with Ye Qingxuan whenever and wherever the youth wanted. He had also promised to get hit without fighting back so Ye Qingxuan could become more familiar with the music score. With a talented prodigy like Charles to coach him, Ye Qingxuan would be able to make up for his lack of experience quickly. By that time, he would have consumed the rest of the rune stones, and he would be able to enter the Rhythm level within one month, recreating Charles’ terrifying achievement.

Of course, it was nothing to Charles who had told the public it had taken him one month when it was only two days in actually. But it still sounded good! Maybe Ye Qingxuan could get some more money from the *sshole school board too!

Late at night, Charles squatted in the corner of the basement, crying after not being able to fight back. Ye Qingxuan, who had basically grasped Bolero, pushed the door open in high spirits. As he turned back to see Charles, he could not help but hold his belly and laugh. Charles could fall to such a state too!

Humming, Ye happily headed toward his bedroom. There was a pile of rune stones waiting for him there. But when he passed by the living room, he noticed the lonely girl on the sofa.

As if she had finally come back after playing, she had washed up and was now curled on the sofa. She stared at the night sky, deep in thought. In the night, moonlight fell on the steps. It was silver-white, just like the girl’s long hair. But she was not supposed to be so quiet.

Stunned, Ye Qingxuan asked softly, “Bai Xi?”

The girl jolted up. She stared at Ye Qingxuan for a long time and then looked down, seeming unhappy. “Cousin, you haven’t gone to sleep yet?”

“What’s wrong?” Ye Qingxuan reached for her forehead. “Do you have a fever?”

Bai Xi swatted his hand away and rolled her eyes. “No.”

“Then what’s wrong? You’re so serious and quiet, I thought I saw you wrong.”

“I’m thinking,” Bai Xi said grumpily. “Thinking.”

“…” Ye Qingxuan did not know what to say. He did not know what expression to put on his face. He just wanted to say, “Cousin, you just have to play without care. ‘Thinking’ doesn’t suit you.” But he would probably get beaten up if he said that, so he decided against it.

“Ha, what are you thinking about?” Ye Qingxuan tried really hard to act like a good older brother and forced a smile onto his face. “You can tell me and I’ll help you out.”

“…Cousin, your smile is disgusting.” Bai Xi moved back in disgust.

The corners of Ye Qingxuan’s lips quivered. He really did not know what to say.

Bai Xi sat beside him and went blank again, holding her chin silently.

All that could be heard in the stillness were the chirping of insects. The moon shone through the window, landing on the girl’s hair. One could not tell what was moonlight and what was her hair.

Ye Qingxuan gazed at her in silence for a long time before finally looking away.

“Cousin,” Bai Xi suddenly spoke up.

“Yeah?”

“Being hunted is something that you should get angry at, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So are you angry?”

Ye Qingxuan nodded. “Yes, very angry.”

“But…” Hesitant, Bai Xi murmured, “Why didn’t you kill those people at the cemetery and in Ganlu City?”

“…” Ye Qingxuan was taken aback, confused. “You’re still caught up on that?”

“Yeah, am I not allowed to be?” Bai Xi’s eyes flashed.

“Yes, yes, of course you can!” Ye Qingxuan put his hands together, begging for mercy. “I can’t control what you think about.”

“So why didn’t you kill them?” Bai Xi got up close to him, staring deep into his eyes as if looking for his disguises and lies.

The orbs that were her eyes were so close and so full of pure focus that Ye Qingxuan leaned back subconsciously. He was nervous for some reason.

Bai Xi studied him and murmured, “Do you have some unspeakable difficulties? Childhood trauma? Made some kind of vow? Or under someone else’s influence?”

“…” Unable to reply, Ye Qingxuan could only shake his head. “It’s not that complicated. You’re overthinking.” He reached out to stroke her hair, laughing at her grumpiness. “That’s all you wanted to ask me?”

“Yeah.” Bai Xi looked away. “Since you’re not going to tell me, just pretend I never asked.”

“It’s not unspeakable.” Lying on the sofa, Ye Qingxuan stared up at the moon. His expression softened. “It’s because I promised my mom that I’d be a good person.”

“Oh…” After a long time, Bai Xi nodded as if she understood. She did not quite understand but, for some reason, she suddenly became happy. There was nothing to worry about.

Maybe because it was too tiring to be curled up in a ball, she stretched and sprawled out on the sofa. Her feet rested on the armrest, and her toes curled and opening as if she were playing a game. Her hair fell on Ye Qingxuan’s body, covering him like moonlight.

“Your mom…what was she like?” Bai Xi suddenly asked. She peered at the youth’s silhouette.

After a pause, Ye Qingxuan said quietly, “Kind and gentle, but never had a choice.”

“Oh, just like my mom.” Bai Xi nodded in agreement. “What about your dad?”

“An *sshole.”

After hearing Ye Qingxuan’s straightforward reply, Bai Xi laughed. “Oh, just like my dad.”

“Yeah, we’re all the same. What’s so different about everyone?” Ye Qingxuan murmured as he got up. “Go to sleep. It’s getting late.”

He was walking up the stairs toward his bedroom when Bai Xi’s voice sounded behind him. “Cousin!”

“Yeah?” He looked back.

Bai Xi was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, staring in his direction. She asked seriously, “Take me with you when you go out, alright?”

Ye Qingxuan thought for a moment and smiled. “Okay, I will.”

Satisfied and happy, the girl sprang up from the sofa and ran to her room.

In the silence, Ye Qingxuan gazed at the moon outside the window. The moonlight was gentle.

While Charles was still stunned, the currents flew out under the guidance of magnet. Without any deliberate control, they thrashed onto the nearest metal items like long whips. The screws suspended around Charles!

With a crisp sound, the screws in Charles’ control immediately went wild and shot out. It was fortunate that Charles had escaped from the range beforehand and was unharmed, but cold sweat seeped from the back of his neck, rolling down.

An electric current thrashed the place where he had stood like a whip.

“Wait! When did you learn so many instantaneous notes?”

“This morning,” Ye Qingxuan said vaguely. “It doesn’t matter that you can read anyway. I’m faster!”

“There’s no skill in this at all.”

“I don’t need any skills. I just need to win!”

A flame then swept from Charles’s side and dissipated after crashing into the barrier formed by Air. The corners of Charles’s lips twitched, and his body became blurry. Rune Blur.

Next, a frost ray brushed past him. As he stumbled back, Ye Qingxuan approached step by step. In this perilous situation, Charles’s expression finally became slightly serious. Even if he had expected this, Charles still could not help but get cold sweat. Facing such an endless fighting style, he could give Ye Qingxuan the chance to turn the tide if he remained on the defense.

Charles deciphered the youth’s attack and dodged back. He left a string of Shackle runes at his feet to create a trap.

Ye Qingxuan stopped on the edge of the trap. Charles smacked his lips. Fighting with such a fast learner was really annoying, but he could still win with his years of experience!

But the next second, his expression changed. “The same thing again?”

“It works!” Behind the trap, the youth threw a ball of light. The mirror matrix followed and expanded, and a sharp light flashed, blinding Charles.

He subconsciously closed his eyes. Focused entirely on reading Ye Qingxuan’s aether, he grinned. “Sure enough,” he thought. “You can’t keep it up. You’re still just a rookie…”

Amid the fighting, Ye Qingxuan’s movement slowed for an instant, and his aether began to dissipate. Taking advantage of this, Charles charged rather than retreating. He could not see, but he pressed a note directly onto the youth’s chest.

In an instant, Air and Flow collided, setting off a terrifying wave! Boom!

Wait, it did not feel right. He opened his dazed eyes and saw Ye Qingxuan flying upside down. In mid-air, Ye Qingxuan’s body cracked onto mirror shards.

It was an illusion created by the rune Mirror. When the illusion was gone, Ye Qingxuan was revealed. He stared at Charles’s startled look and smiled. “Hey!”

He had fallen into the trap…The corners of Charles’s mouth twitched. His vision swam and the shadow of a fist zoomed…

Boom! Charles fell down, his vision went black.

—

When he woke up, it was evening. There was beef stewing in the pot, emanating the scent of meat. He heard the sound of his belly rumbling. He was hungry.

He climbed up from the couch with difficulty and rubbed his sore cheek. “Wow, I thought we were brothers. Why did you have to be so cruel? You lured me over there so you could punch me? Where’s your dignity as a musician?”

Ye Qingxuan rolled his eyes. “I knew that your sense and control were all better than mine, and clearly you knew my strategies… Why would I stupidly fight you with runes? Am I a retard?”

“Your ability can only be improved when you are exposed to the fight itself!”

“Well, I would rather not improve in this way.” Ye Qingxuan put a bowl of beef stew in front of him and said with concern, “Come on! Eat while it’s still hot.”

Charles was suddenly moved. “Rare to see that you also care about me.”

“No, I just don’t want to waste time.” Ye Qingxuan smiled and raised a pink dress. “After all, you still have a little skirt to wear when you finish this…”

–

Half a day before, it was just an average afternoon. Tick tocks sounded in the clock shop as always. It was peaceful and quiet of course—it was yet another day without much business.

But the boss was not impatient at all. He drank his afternoon tea at ease. Sometimes he would raise his head and say something to the little girl who was reading behind the counter. Most of the content was nothing important, like how the ice cream vendor did not sell today or that the old man deserved to not make any money and so on.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, an old man with one black glove came in and chatted with him for some time. The conversation seemed to be somewhere between pleasant and unpleasant. Soon he left.

Watching him leave, Hermes shook his head and smacked his lips. “Shaman that old man, seems like he’s really going to do it. I’ve underestimated him. Is he really not afraid that the Royals will be provoked and force him out again? Or is he really certain they’re too caught up on the curse to care about him?

“But his declaration of war has already made those dogs desperate. I’m afraid they’ve come to the point that they’ll get outside help. At this point they’ll probably accept any help, even the power of Satan.”

“You are so noisy!” The girl behind the counter looked up emotionlessly. “I’m reading.”

“…Haven’t seen you in a few days and you’ve become one of those musicians who love learning? I’m so happy to be your teacher!” Hermes pretended to be moved, and waved his hand. “You must cherish life, study hard. Don’t be like your monster cousin.”

“What?”

“Ha, just a slip of the tongue. Don’t mind me,” Hermes shrugged.

“Either finish your words,” Bai Xi frowned, “Or just don’t say anything at all.”

Hermes sighed and raised his hand in defeat. “Bai Xi, have you ever thought that you don’t truly understand your cousin?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what I said.” Hermes shrugged. “You have the same white hair, the same age, the same language, and even the same smile, but have you ever felt in any moment that you don’t actually know him?”

“No.”

“No as in you don’t feel that way, didn’t realize it, or have never thought about it?” Hermes raised his eyebrows. “You should know better than anyone else that this guy isn’t normal.”

Bai Xi was silent. The clock shop resumed its stillness.

–

In the faint tick tocks, Hermes gazed down at the cup in his hand. In the afternoon sun, dark red tea rippled in the exquisite porcelain tea cup, shining like blood. It was supposed to be such a delicate and beautiful afternoon tea, but it somehow made one think of gloomy things. Perhaps the gloominess came from its owner, the seemingly smiling youth.

The sunshine outside the window fell on his long hair, making it look like golden silk. It was indescribably beautiful. But his eyes were dark, as if the clouds of hell lingered in those emerald orbs.

He asked, “Bai Xi, is there a moment where you thought you really understood ‘death’?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you have to describe it, it’s probably an immersive experience—it’s like you know what fire is, what iron is, and there’ll be a moment where you finally know what ‘death’ means in the end. This experience may come from a funeral, a corpse, a sad story or the passing of a loved one, or…from your own personal experience. Answer me: Have you ever felt this way before?”

Bai Xi nodded in silence.

Hermes smiled. “Then you know how fragile humans are.”

He looked out of the window at the pedestrians. Looking at all the faces, he laughed with a hint of mockery. “Regardless of whether you’re good or bad, when one truly comprehends what ‘death’ is, there’ll be a moment of enlightenment. You will see your own fears and insignificance, your loneliness and powerlessness, and you will see who you truly are. Like a beast gazing at his reflection in the water.

“Only through a realistic experience will you realize that the ideals, standards and bottom lines you believe in are nothing but dust compared to it. There is no better teacher than death.

“It is greater than all the stars and morals combined, more indispensable than food and love, more inescapable than fate and hatred…If there really is an eternal truth in this world for mankind, then I believe it must be ‘death.’ That is why the Three Kings wrote it into the oath. You must have seen it already.”

“Everything goes from life to death, only the Originator is eternal,” Bai Xi muttered.

“That’s right. Nothing can escape from death. This is the destiny of mankind,” Hermes snapped his fingers with appreciation. “In order to avoid its arrival, mankind is willing to do anything, no matter how cruel.

“Since the beginning of time, the vast majority of crimes committed by mankind are due to this. For some people, committing sins is okay in order to survive. It is understandable to make a mistake in order to protect your life, even if the mistake is intolerable to the whole world, right?”

Bai Xi did not reply, but Hermes read the answer in her eyes. He whispered, “That is the scariest thing about Ye Qingxuan.”

Bai Xi was stunned. “What the h*ll are you talking about?”

“Do you not understand, or do you just not want to understand?” Hermes snickered. “Have you witnessed it?

“Your cousin has had countless encounters with death. He hasn’t been lacking in life-or-death situations even after coming to Avalon. It can even be said that he spends his life flirting with death. He is closer to death than anyone else and has been more deeply exposed to the nature of death.

“But what’s frightening is that he’s blind to those things. If he became a homicidal maniac or a cold-blooded butcher, it would make sense, but…fear and death haven’t changed him at all!

“Even if countless people threaten his life with a blade, or he’s chased by monsters, or steps into hell after running into the Blood Path…he still doesn’t change.

“None of the pain changed him; none of the happiness changed him. He did not rise, nor did he fall…What is he thinking?” Hermes’s eyes were black, as if they were an abyss.

Early morning in downtown, dawn had not yet come and everything was still in darkness.

“Last night, the police office received a message,” Lestrade stood at the crossroad and said to the man beside him. “The man who betrayed the professor was found. He contacted us on his own prerogative.

“After betraying the professor, he should have left Avalon secretly by boat last night. Unfortunately, the Professor somehow suddenly controlled all the smuggling routes. The guy was cautious and sent a man to take his place first. When the guy didn’t come back after five minutes, he ran.

“His buyer behind the scene had abandoned him, and he had no choice but to turn to the police for help. The guy said in the message that he knew a big secret about the Professor, an absolutely unbelievable secret. If we want to know the secret, we need to save him immediately.

“When we received the message, we quickly organized a brigade of police to help him. The director personally applied for the ‘Silent Authority, ‘ which is used to deal with musicians.

“Unfortunately, it was too late.” Lestrade sighed. “When the police arrived, all they found was a body. The upper part of the body was burned to ashes, as if it had been thrown into an incinerator, but the lower part was intact.

“According to the coroner’s report, he was still alive when his body was lit—he burned to death. Even most of his blood had been vaporized. He died in the flames of hell. The only clue was a line of words that the man had written in blood before he died.”

“Where are the words?” the man known as Holmes asked from the shadows.

Lestrade pointed back at the house. Almost half of it was charred. “It’s inside. The crime scene is well protected. I know you are concerned about the Professor, so I took it from the inspection—”

“Wait here.” Holmes interrupted him without emotion. Lestrade’s smile stiffened. He stood at the crossroad awkwardly, and waited obediently.

When they brushed shoulders, a small bag was thrown into his arms. A hoarse voice sounded by his ear. “You did a good job. This is your reward.”

Stunned, Lestrade opened the packet to see dense handwriting written on a stack of papers. He immediately became ecstatic and no longer dared to complain.

—

“What did you give to him?” Bai Xi whispered after he entered the room.

“Another part of the Pyramid King’s scheme. It includes some of his trade channels.” Ye Qingxuan shrugged. “Anyway, we still have enough for at least ten more times. This guy is kind of interesting. Let’s just have some fun with him.”

“…” Bai Xi pursed her lip, not knowing what to say. She looked around at the messy and cramped room and all the charred things. “What are we doing here?”

“To find a big secret. The Professor’s big secret.” Ye Qingxuan looked around, searching carefully.

“Why don’t you just fight him?”

“There’s already a big difference between our abilities. If you don’t even know your enemy well, and you try to fight him, there’s no way you’ll win. Our aim is to force the Professor to withdraw from the fight for the Blood Path. Or at least ask him to let go of me, the Eastern kid…”

Ye Qingxuan stopped searching suddenly. He looked at the center of the wall and exclaimed, “That’s it!”

–

In the dilapidated room, Ye Qingxuan looked up and gazed at the vague handwriting on the wall. It had been two days since the crime was committed. The blood at the scene had faded, but the original shape could still be seen.

The walls had been painted white. Now they were blackened by flames, but one could faintly see the dried blood. That was the mark the traitor had left before his death, but it seemed to have no patterns and no meaning at all.

Even as Ye Qingxuan thought of all the languages he knew, he still could not figure out one that matched with the strange handwriting. The music notes were the same, but the handwriting looked as if it had been written casually, like a child’s doodles.

If one was forced to explain it, it could be understood as a variant of calligraphy, but that type of writing required time and energy. How could a dying person who was on fire write something like that?

“How bizarre.” Ye Qingxuan gazed at the bloodstains on the wall and shook his head slowly.

By his side, Bai Xi was bored enough to roll her eyes. “What if he did it for fun?”

“How could a man getting burned to death and suffering to that extent have the energy to write something like that for fun?”

Ye Qingxuan understood that this was the guy’s revenge. Even if he was killed, he would reveal the Professor’s achilles’ heel and let others kill the Professor to avenge his own death…But why would the Professor appear? It was too reckless if it had been just for revenge. If he were the Professor, he would definitely take it for now and find another chance.

It could be concluded that the traitor must had been the Professor’s confidant who knew many things that he should not have known, including the Professor’s biggest secret! The professor was badly injured now and needed to recuperate. All of his allies had abandoned him, betraying him under the hunt by the parliament. It could be said that he was weak as never before. How important must the secret be for the Professor to personally go out and risk being killed by the police?

The policemen might not be very powerful, but one must not forget that they were from the police department. As long as they had the Silent Authority, they could send a signal at any time and call up the silent enchantment over Avalon. At that time, the aether would be suppressed until it was useless. A musician would essentially be powerless.

Moreover, the musicians stationed at the headquarters could arrive at any time. If the commotion became messy, it could attract the attention of the Garrison Corps. If he had bad luck, the leader of the garrison that day would be a knight of the round table, and then the best solution for the Professor would be to commit suicide.

The Knights of the Round Table were the defenders of the knight’s virtues and the supremacy of the armed forces in Anglo.

Before King Arthur had died, he had sealed his phantom beasts into twelve sacred sets of armor. He gave them to his knights who were asked to guard the empire he had established for eternity. The Knights vowed to guard Anglo with their lives, gaining the recognition of the twelve sacred armors, and came to possess extraordinary powers. The terrifying power that the armor contained was equal to that of the saints. Just one millionth of the power was enough to defeat any musician.

So…What secret was big enough for the Professor to risk being besieged to personally kill the traitor?

Ye Qingxuan fell into deep thought.

“Why are you so interested in the Professor?” Bai Xi asked. “Is it because you two are fated?”

“Stop kidding. That guy is still after my head.” Ye Qingxuan rolled his eyes. “I was thrown into all this for no reason, you know. I obviously need to find out who started the rumors. I’m also curious about whose attention I’ve caught.”

“You suspect the Professor?”

“It’s possible. When everyone was still skeptical, he was the first person to declare that he wanted the kid. He must have evidence to prove that I have something to do with Avalon’s Shadow. Or does he want me to join him because I’m so attractive?”

“…Cousin, you’re self-love is getting to be as shameless as Charles.”

“I’m flattered,” Ye Qingxuan accepted the praise unabashedly. The result was getting kicked on the shin by Bai Xi.

“Then you have figured something out?”

“Almost, almost.” Ye Qingxuan rubbed his painful shin. “Let me look again.”

Bai Xi pursed her lips. Looking around at the ruins, she shook her head. “Look at this mess. Only a saint could find anything.”

“Not necessarily,” Ye Qingxuan muttered. “Sometimes, a ruined site reveals more.” He looked around in the silence. Suddenly a glimmer of enlightenment flashed through his eyes. “It’s a murder!”

And then he was kicked by Bai Xi. “No sh*t! Everyone can tell it’s a murder. Would you believe me if I said I even know who the murderer is?”

Ye Qingxuan shook his head. “No, I mean the whole process was part of the Professor’s plan, including the traitor’s escape.”

“Are you saying that the Professor deliberately let the traitor go?” Bai Xi was stunned. “How do you know?”

“It’s easy. Look at the whole room.” Ye Qingxuan stood at the door. “If I have some dirty secrets, I’ll choose somewhere to hide and prepare everything. The least I’ll do is conceal and closure, right?”

“No sh*t.”

“Then here is the question.” Ye Qingxuan looked around and asked, “How did the Professor get in?”

Bai Xi thought for awhile and looked at the broken door. “It’s obvious. The door was smashed in. Didn’t he enter through the main entrance?”

The youth shook his head. “Kicking the door in is the most barbaric way. Our lovely professor likes using his brain. How could he kick the door in?”

“Then how did the door break?”

“It’s simple.” Ye Qingxuan fiddled with the fragments of the door on the floor and put them together. Looking at the cracks, he laughed. “As I assumed, the door was smashed in by a hammer. The police equipment…They probably saw this strange state and just rushed in,” he said. “This kind of hand-held hammer is made by machine springs and power. Even an iron gate can be smashed instantly.”

“How do you know it’s a hammer?” The girl rolled her eyes. “You haven’t seen it before.”

“I have,” Ye Qingxuan replied lightly. “I don’t think you’d ever forget it if your door was smashed in by a hammer once.”

“…” Taken aback, Bai Xi did not question further and changed the topic. “Why not from the window, then? The window is broken too.”

“That’s even easier to understand. If the window had been smashed from the outside, the glass shards should have fallen inside. But now the shards are all outside with scorch marks. That’s because when the Professor used a music score to ignite the man, the flames expanded, and then everything exploded.”

“So it’s not the window or door and there is no other entrance. There’s not even a skylight. So how the h*ll did the Professor get in here?”

“Well, there are two possibilities.”

“Well, there are two possibilities.” Ye Qingxuan held up two fingers. “The first is that the Professor followed the traitor like a ghost. The traitor didn’t notice him at all and revealed all his minions and channels while escaping, providing clues for the Professor. In the end, the Professor followed the traitor into this safe house and killed him.”

“Then what’s the second one?”

“The second one is scarier. The Professor knew early on that the traitor would hide here.” Ye Qingxuan sighed. “Maybe the guy begged for help at the police station, ran all the way back here to hide, and then he turned around…and realized that the Professor had been waiting here all this time.”

“So which one is it?”

“I don’t know.” Ye Qingxuan shrugged. “I’m not a bug living on the Professor. How would I know? But either one is scary enough.”

Bai Xi’s expression fell. “So you discovered all that, but it’s useless, so what’s the point?”

“No evidence is useless.” Squatting in the center of the room, Ye Qingxuan gazed around. “It’ll be easier to deduce once we know the pre-conditions. We know that, no matter how the Professor entered, the traitor was terrified…”

What would the Professor do to someone that betrayed and almost killed him? Cut him to pieces? No, that was too bloody and not the Professor’s style. Threaten him? No, that was too simple. The horror of being threatened was nothing compared to physical pain. Threaten his family? But someone as lowly as the traitor was most likely a poor bachelor with no family. Even if he had family, the Professor would probably bring them here and make him watch his family die before his eyes.

Then what did the Professor do in those short minutes that suited his viper-like personality? Did he simply just burn the man? But that was not aesthetic. The man was still on fire when the police had arrived…It seemed more likely that the Professor had killed the traitor to shut him up.

So here was the question…They had only been alone for a few short minutes. What could the Professor have done to take revenge for the betrayal?

Ye Qingxuan began to ponder. Quickly, he bent down and began searching through the ruins. Unfortunately, the site had already been searched through and not much was left behind; however, there were many small traces.

In the end, he managed to recreate the crime scene…even though it still looked like a mess.

He squatted, staring at the empty space littered with shards. He stepped onto it carefully and swung his arms before finally concluding that this is where the man stood when he was set ablaze. It was laughable.

He had betrayed the Professor and fled with the last shred of hope to this secret hiding spot. Then he closed the door, turned around…and saw the terrifying face. It was the Professor standing behind him.

“You betrayed me!” The Professor must have said that, right?

Ye Qingxuan closed his eyes, entirely immersed in his imagination as he thought over and over.

The man stood there and saw the Professor. Maybe he panicked and knelt down, begging for mercy, but it had been too late, so he fell into despair. In his last moments, he denounced this criminal who had hands dyed red with blood. Or perhaps he said something even uglier? Did the Professor become angry? Then the Professor…

Ye Qingxuan turned around and looked at the broken chair on the ground. Perhaps the Professor had sat there, listening quietly. His expression would have been calm and composed, his face gentle and elegant. He would not have even moved his eyebrow because he had been angered long ago. Not begging nor furious insults could change his decision to punish the man.

Then the punishment came…What could it have been?

Ye Qingxuan shut his eyes, focusing on his thoughts.

In the darkness, he seemed to have become the hopeless criminal, waiting to be slaughtered by the Professor. The figure walked toward him step by step and he…what did he do? Following it was endless pain. But the pain stopped suddenly. Something had surprised the Professor…Yes, it was the sound of the police.

The Professor’s only mistake was that he had miscalculated how long it would take for the police to arrive. He decided to end the torture and quickly kill the traitor.

But would it not have been better to use a sword? It would not have left any traces of aether. Why fire? Why did he burn the traitor to crisp…And why did the man leave behind those bloody words before he had died? What did the words mean? The blood words, blood words…

Sweat beaded on Ye Qingxuan’s forehead. He racked his mind, flipping through the records in his brain, but he could not find anything related to those symbols. No matter if one looked at its structure or logic, this writing system did not exist! But then why would the traitor leave it behind?

“Blood words, blood words…” Ye Qingxuan murmured to himself. “It doesn’t make any sense!”

“Of course it doesn’t make any sense.” Bai Xi glared at him. “I told you the guy just randomly drew it.”

“Randomly?” Ye Qingxuan froze.

An light flashed in his mind. It was like lightning at night, appearing and vanishing within a second, but revealing a hidden shape.

Ye Qingxuan quickly came up with a ridiculous theory. The possibility of it made him want to laugh, but there was no better explanation.

He opened his eyes slowly. “I think I got it.”

Bai Xi, who had been playing with marbles in a corner, looked up. “What did you get?”

“The so-called big secret and what the Professor did to the traitor…” Ye Qingxuan scooped up some ashes. He smiled as he studied it. “It’s just a guess, but the Professor is seriously out of the ordinary.” He rose and patted the dust from his shoulders. “Okay, let’s go.”

“You’re being mysterious again.” Bai Xi pouted. “So what do we do next?”

Ye Qingxuan cocked his head at Lestrade standing at the intersection and chuckled. “Next, we need our inspector friend to help take us somewhere.”

“Where?”

“The headquarters of the Avalon police department.”

—

At noon, dark and gloomy clouds covered the sky. Rain drizzled onto the streets. Lestrade stood before the entrance of the Avalon police department in a raincoat. His expression was dark as he glanced around every now and then.

As people passed by, uniformed policemen would sometimes greet this man who was rising through the ranks. Lestrade would force a smile onto his face and reply to each of them.

Finally, the anxious waiting came to an end. A black carriage stopped before him. The door opened slowly.

The youth inside the carriage had his feet up and sat comfortably in the soft chair. He was not wearing the strange robe, but a new set of clothing. He seemed polite and endearing.

Noticing Lestrade waiting for him, he looked down. Studying Lestrade, he smiled. “Seems like you’ve been doing well these days.”

“Thanks to you.” Lestrade forced out a smile. “I’ve arranged everything. Please come with me.” He turned to lead the way, but his expression quickly darkened. Had he gone crazy? This was definitely not normal. He was a policeman with a bright future. Why was he bringing a mysterious dark musician into the Avalon police department? If someone found out, he would be dead!

He shivered subconsciously, regretting the decision, but he had no choice and no means to protest. He had given all that up the moment he exchanged with this demon.

“Stop standing there and hurry up.” The voice in his ear was full of awe. “This place is usually so heavily guarded. You can’t get in without someone leading you. Do you have a cafeteria here? How’s the food? Would you mind if I got a free meal?” As Holmes spoke, he looked around with friendly and harmless smile on his face. He waved at the passing policemen like a tourist.

The guard wanted to stop him, Lestrade quickly threw his hand over his shoulder in a friendly manner. The guard hesitated and decided to turn a blind eye.

Just like that, they had passed through the various checkpoints and entered the heart of…the place with the most “justice” in Avalon.

In the square behind many doors, Ye Qingxuan looked up at the towering gray-white building and emblem.

A squad of policemen who had just finished assembling left for their mission with their weapons. When they brushed shoulders, Holmes raised his hand and waved at them.

“Are you crazy?” Lestrade looked down, his features twisting. “If anyone here finds out who you are, you’re dead!”

Holmes laughed. “Don’t be nervous. I trust you!” He patted Lestrade’s shoulder. “You won’t let that happen, right?”

Lestrade’s shoulder trembled and he did not reply.

A voice sounded from afar. “Oh, is it Lestrade?” A man with an umbrella saw them and walked over.

Lestrade froze. Ye Qingxuan could feel the panic radiating from him.

The man neared. He was clad in a vintage musician robe and looked like a priest. The red dragon emblem of the Royal musicians was on his chest. He looked as if he was around thirty-years-old, but his hair had already started graying. His most striking feature was his eyes. Those blue orbs were as deep as the starry sky. One felt naked when under the stare of those eyes.

They were the Starry Eyes, a superpower bestowed by the Originator after a musician from the School of Revelations broke through the Barrier of Knowledge and resonated with the world. All truth was revealed under those eyes.

No one knew why a Royal Musician was here today! Nobody else would have cared, but Lestrade was terrified by Claude’s eyes. Revelations musicians were experts at recognizing one’s aura. The dark musician would not be able to escape!

“Mi-mister Claude, long time no see. I didn’t expect to see you here,” Lestrade stammered.

Claude nodded at him. His expression changed when his gaze moved to the youth, as if he sensed the darkness.

“Sh*t.” Despair and regret flashed through Lestrade’s mind. He was going to be discovered!