Chapter 380: Hero Incognito
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
Five minutes before the match started, Einherjar Wannabe was still nowhere to be seen. Cameron chucked down a couple of pills to calm his nerves. The show ratings were increasing by the second, yet the stage remained half empty.
By then, even Cameron’s subordinates could feel their boss’s nerves. Everyone held their breath and dared not to comment on the situation.
On the stage, Lan Qinyue was calm. She plugged the virtual harp and felt the difference compared to her real one. Although it lacked a soul like the one in real life, it should suffice for the fight tonight.
Standing beside Lan Qinyue quietly were her disciples. It was a sect rule that no one was allowed to speak when their master was tuning the Harp.
Two minutes until the start of the fight, and Einherjar Wannabe was still missing. The ads had been pouring into the PA system ever since this morning; every second of airtime would cost a big fortune. If Einherjar Wannabe bailed on the match, DREAM would walk right into a legal disaster.
In the last minute, Cameron heard a din from the system: Einherjar Wannabe had arrived. Finally, Cameron heaved a big sigh of relief.
The large screen on top of the virtual stage turned into a countdown, the anticipation keeping everyone on the edge of their seats. There were more than two million subscribers online watching this fight at the same time. Some of them were here to see Lan Qinyue, but more were here to watch Einherjar Wannabe.
Lan Qinyue stood up as her disciples walked off the stage. Although Einherjar Wannabe had defeated Zambrotta, he was not the only one who had done that, as Lan Qinyue had also defeated the Thunder Drum a long time ago. In other words, what drove Lan Qinyue to challenge Einherjar Wannabe was not his previous victory. Instead, it was the couple of drum beats that Einherjar Wannabe had made at the end of his last battle. As Lan Qinyue watched and listened to the drum beat, her intuition told her that she had to meet this mysterious fighter to seek the answer and truth.
Einherjar Wannabe walked onto the stage and studied the beautiful women. Although the countdown had already finished, neither of the fighters seemed to have the intention of making a move.
Lan Qinyue stared the old ghost back without saying a word, dragging out the silence.
“Little wrench, I am in a hurry here. So, I have only time for one of your songs.” The old ghost said impatiently. He never liked talking to women. Plus, there was something inside of this girl’s eyes that had unnerved Mr. Wannabe.
Although Einherjar Wannabe’s pompousness had caught Lan Qinyue by surprise, she didn’t mind it, since the mysterious fighter’s age had lent him credence to his superior wisdom.
“Moon Dust!”
Lan Qinyue’s soul energy started climbing as she plugged the strings with her immaculate fingernails. Every plugging of the string sent a sound wave that was completely different, but equally deadly as that of Zambrotta’s drum beats. The attack from the harp strings was much more pervasive, and therefore, harder to defend against. Already, the floor on the stage had started to disintegrate under the omnipresent energy from the harp.
Einherjar Wannabe’s face turned serious right away, as he had sensed that this girl was not only more powerful than Zambrotta, she was very close to reaching the level of Super Einherjar.
The main theme that Lan Qinyue had woven into this song was the “four immeasurables” taught in ancient canons. Such a highly spiritual theme had made the music devoid of any worldly pleasures.
Suddenly, Einherjar Wannabe clapped his hands loudly and broke the spell of the music, startling the harp goddess.
“I can’t stand it! You are alive and well, so why do you have to be so pessimistic about the world. This is what happens when you are over thirty and still single, you turn into a pretentious nihilist! In my time, we called your kind Hippies! Einherjars are human too. They get married and have babies too! Get a life already!”
Lan Qinyue was stupefied by Einherjar Wannabe’s outburst of scathing criticism. She had firmly believed that only by detaching herself from the world would she be able to advance to the next level of her cultivation.
Einherjar Wannabe gathered himself from his rage and said, “Fine, fine, keep on going. I still have some time.” Mr. Wannabe was disappointed by the values of present-day top fighters. He wondered what had happened to the world that had made everyone so pathetic and fragile. He remembered that when he was young, all the Einherjars upheld more traditional values, and reveled in “traditional activities” such as feasting and wh*ring wherever they went. Most important of all, no one complained about the world, since the world was simply a place to be conquered and enjoyed.
Thus it was, the main drive in human evolution being desire, and to be detached from the world full of desires was to take the fuel out of the engine of self-improvement.
Lan Qinyue seemed to have seen some sense in Einherjar Wannabe’s criticism, so she asked, “Thank you, but I have one more question. Can playing harp really help me find The Way?”
Although her peers and her disciples respected Lan Qinyue for her knowledge, when it came down to cultivation towards the level of Super Einherjar, she was just an amateur.
Einherjar Wannabe was shocked by the question. Something in between the lines was beckoning his memories to come back.
As fragments of memories rushed into Mr. Wannabe’s mind, he vaguely remembered someone he loved, but their love was painful. He saw in the reflection of one fragment that someone was chasing after a swarm of Zergs; his face was contorted with anger and despair.
Who was that?
A shadowy figure appeared in another piece of memory, and the figure spoke in a voice sweeter than honey.
Suddenly, Lan Qinyue felt a deadly power emanating from Einherjar Wannabe. She could feel that it was the power of an Einherjar, but it was much stronger than any Einherjar she had met.
The powerful energy not only made La Qinyue tremble uncontrollably, but it also brought her a sense of forlorn and dread.
Einherjar Wannabe was also visibly distressed by this power, and therefore, he gathered himself and managed to keep the spread of the energy in check. He then threw Lan Qinyue a glance and then said coldly, “Let’s start.”
The energy that was still floating about was much calmer, and gave Lan Qinyue an opportunity to study it carefully. She registered that it was filled with bitterness and sweetness of love. Suddenly, she had a moment of Epiphany.
The harp started singing again as music quickly filled the arena. This time, the rhythm had gained a very different flavor; it was like a combination of all human emotions.
Einherjar Wannabe listened to the music as strong feelings roiled inside him. Time seemed to have turned back to when he had been a deadly warrior, and he killed Zergs to numb the pain inside him.
Someone he kept as the apple of his eyes had left the world, but he remained, living inside a cold, empty husk.
The music gradually wove the fragments of memories together, and Mr. Wannabe could finally discern the face of that girl who had left him.
No longer was Mr. Wannabe able to remember what had happened, but he was content to be able to see her again.
Meanwhile, the music had bonded Lan Qinyue and Einherjar Wannabe’s souls, and therefore, she could able see into his memory as well as Einherjar Wannabe could, if not even clearer.
She saw a warrior storm through swarms of Zergs and leave piles of carcasses behind. In a matter of hours, he had finished all Zergs on the entire planet.
Standing on a pile of dead Zergs, high as a mountain, the warrior took out a picture of a girl from his pocket and stared at her with love and sorrow.
Although everything seemed to have happened in an instance to Lan Qinyue, she was deeply shocked by what she had seen in that flash of memory. She watched Einherjar Wannabe in front of her, and she no longer saw a PA avatar. Instead, she saw a lone-star traveling through eons, seeking the love that he had once lost.
As the music ended on the last note, tears poured out of Lan Qinyue’s eyes.
