Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  “And no one will appreciate you! Do you know why? Because in their eyes, letting an unknown wandering beggar stay here is the greatest gift of all in this noble land!”

  “Enough, Victor,” the other youth’s voice came from the array. The light was too harsh for people to see his face.

  “No it’s not enough! Do you remember what Thomas said?” Victor yelled. Victor’s eyes were sharp as daggers. “He said that the opportunity was what he deserved! It will never fall on an eastern b*stard’s head because they have stolen enough from us! In the five years you were here, he took you as a thorn in his side. You spared him again and again, but how did he treat you in return? Are you really going to let it go?”

  There was more silence in the array.

  After a long time, the array opened and the long floor mirror was pushed open.

  A teenager walked out of the light.

  -

  As the array closed, the gleaming light dissipated, showing the young teen’s figure.

  His wore thick sunglasses—a necessary tool when working in the array, or else the heated light would blind his eyes. However, the most eye-catching feature was not his sunglasses, but his hair.

  It was a pure white, like flowing mercury. The long white hair shone in the light, blending into it.

  White hair was unique to the Eastern people. It was his most noticeable feature, but also his greatest sin—it was proof that he was a mix. Everyone would know what his white hair meant. He was a half-breed who would always be seen as an anomaly in both the East and the West.

  This identity was more irritating than beggars on the street.

  Ever since he had come here, the criticism and attack on him had never stopped.

  After the priest adopted him and appointed him to become a scribe of the church library, Thomas, who had originally learned to copy in the church, watched him even more viciously.

  In order to get rid of him, Thomas even hid the Holy Bible in his room, and falsely accused him of stealing books.

  If Ye Qingxuan had not been able to recite the Holy Bible on the spot, proving that he had no need to steal it, he would have been cast out of town long ago, never to find shelter again.

  “Victor, don’t try to push me towards revenge. You know that doesn’t work on me.” Ye Qingxuan was not enraged, and he did not argue. He just picked up the wrench and returned to the array. Then, sounds were the only things that came from the inside.

  Ye continued, “Anyone can say bad words, but winning with words is of no use to me. So what if I won the argument? Thomas paid for that opportunity, and it will never be mine. I’d rather save my effort.”

  Victor snorted. “Saving effort for you is coming over to fix the lighthouse at midnight and continuing to work for the town?”

  “At least I can make some money. If I don’t come, the Father will have to come himself. I don’t want to add more work for him. He already did a lot to fight for the spot for me.”

  “He doesn’t want you to go!” Victor said coldly. “He wants to train you into a priest and carry on his work, make you live with those cold things for your entire life! You’ll die in this tiny *ss town and all you’ll have is that metal trash.”

  “Actually, I don’t think there’s anything bad about working with machines,” Ye Qingxuan said from the array. “At least they won’t lie or look down on you. Sometimes, I like them more than people. They won’t betray you if you understand them.”

  Victor looked away. He tore at the chicken quietly and stuffed the pieces into his mouth, grinding them with his canines. He ate like a beast.

  “It’s not over like this,” he muttered to himself rather than Ye Qingxuan.

  -

  -

  The repair seemed extremely slow this time.

  The only sound in the silence came from the array. It changed into a new structure under the tools.

  Under the youth’s practiced movements, the large machine started moving easily. Hundreds of mirrors changed their positions according to the tracks, adjusting into new angles like a lotus flower blooming and closing. Complex beams of light jumped and flew into the sky.

  Finally, the maintenance process came to an end. Ye Qingxuan walked out of the array and nodded after a last checkup.

  “Victor, give me the screwdriver. The mirror is one centimeter off.”

  “So what? What’s the point of being so detailed in this?” Victor tossed him the screwdriver that anchored some papers. “They’ll still look down on you and make fun of you for being so serious. And then they’ll enjoy their life while taking advantage of your results.”

  Ye Qingxuan heard without listening. He carefully adjusted the angle of the mirror structure, gripping the screwdriver as if it was a jewel. “Sometimes, the smallest difference will change the entire result.”

  He paused and said something in the Eastern language that Victor did not understand. “A millimeter of error is a difference of a thousand kilometers.”

  -

  As if responding to the teen’s words, a gust of wind blew from the distance. It poured into the windows and passed through the lighthouse.

  Without the screwdriver anchoring them, the pile of paper at the bottom of the toolbox flew up, dancing in the air as if they had wings. One piece covered Victor’s face. He quickly grabbed it to tear it apart. But when he saw the diagram on it, he froze.

  Ye Qingxuan had drawn a diagram of the mirror array on the white paper. The picture was different from the original structure. New tracks were marked and compared to the original…there was nothing alike.

  The original structure had been destroyed and the pre-designed tracks by the priests had been ruined. This complex system was no longer after this adjustment!

  -

  Victor stared at his friend as if Ye Qingxuan was a beast.

  “Yezi, do you know what you’re doing.”

  “Yeah.” Ye Qingxuan’s voice was as indifferent as before.

  “You know sh*t!” Victor jumped up. “Do you know how long the church used to design this array?! Do you know how much it costs to maintain it?”

  He yanked Ye Qingxuan’s collar. “Yezi, this is a reef zone! So many ships use the lighthouse for direction. If anything happens, you’ll be thrown into jail! Hurry and change it back before anyone notices…”

  “Nothing will happen. Nothing will change,” Ye Qingxuan said quietly. “I just made a small adjustment.”

  He waved and the ugly dog, Old Phil, climbed up, running over with an open mouth.

  “You’re crazy,” Victor muttered in the distance. His arms hung beside him listlessly.

  -

  “Victor, when did you start to think that I’m a weak person?”

  The white-haired teen picked up the bottle on the ground, and walked to the window overlooking the the quiet town.

  Facing the refreshing sea breeze, he drank all that remained. Then, he threw the empty bottle far away. “What’s good in saying more words? At least let your payback be seen by everyone’ eyes.”

  Ye Qingxuan turned around and pulled the hub next to him.

  Immediately, the lighthouse moved along with the complex structure, as if it were waking up from sleep, moving along the established trajectory. Gears riveted, winches rolled, mirrors offset, and the angles changed.

  The collision of the steel parts caused sparks to fly and a deep groan—the mechanical collision’s broken sound was like heavy breathing echoing.

  The originally still frame was now in crazy rotation. In the harsh light, it was like a wildly burning lotus.

  Victor looked blankly at the changing flashing lights. The sudden flash was like an explosion—gone in the blink of an eye. The lotus shaped array was sealed.

  The light jumped in the air, like a tame beast, going in all directions—the same as the original.

  But there was just one beam of light that projected into the dark town, falling on the mirror Old Phil had nailed. Along with the will of the young teen, th
e light traveled through the dark town, jumping from mirror to mirror.

  In the end, the hot and harsh light cast itself on the largest house in the town.

  It was like a light that came down from heaven.

  -

  In the middle of the town, the bell trembled, as if rung in anger. Underneath it, a snarling dog bit the rope, struggling to shake the bell.

  The sharp, loud noise awakened the quiet town.

  People awakened from their sleep and got out of their beds. In a panic, they ran to the window, looking at the street.

  There was no beast that broke into the town, nor any bandits that broke into any house. Nothing seemed to have happened. Only the sound of the alarm echoed, and a holy light fell from the sky onto the Thomas’s house.

  In the town, the awoken residents suddenly became noisy.

  “What’s the matter?” somebody shouted loudly.

  “What happened? Who rang the bell?”

  “Mom, I’m scared!”

  “Hey! Look at the Thomas’s place!”

  “Thomas’s home…”

  Thus, the town that was just now extremely noisy turned incredibly silent.

  Under everyone’s eyes, a ray of light from the sky shone down, forming a line of writing. The writing was so clear that it was like a blessing that the gods sent from heaven.

  But it was only a few simple words, with beautiful handwriting like flowing water. It wrote out the teen’s kindest greetings.

  - Son of a b*tch!

  3 Birthday

  It was early in the morning.

  The sounds of waves came from afar.

  The morning sun shone at an angle from the end of the sea, and shed light onto the towering spire of the church. Above the spire, the sage’s statue held a trombone, playing silently to the sky.

  However, the angry roar that had started at the beginning of the night was still raging on in the church.

  “Damn you, Eastern b*stard! I’m gonna kill you!!”

  “Open up, Ye Qingxuan! If you have the guts to curse us, you’d better have the guts to open this door this instant!”

  “You’re dead, Ye Qingxuan! You know what? No one in the town of Lute can keep you safe!”

  The three Thomas brothers banged angrily on the door of the church, holding hammers and shovels, cursing loudly. The beam of light from last night was like a slap on their faces, as well as their family’s, in front of the entire town.

  The worst part was that the little piece of garbage continued the light show with all sorts of curse methods, along with various other word choices. He had taken turns with all the languages that he had learned in the church to curse the Thomas family with the beam of light, and had cast it onto their front wall. It provided a vivid and refreshing language class for all the hooligans in the town.

  Now the Thomas family didn’t dare go out. No matter where they went, there would always be people murmuring behind their backs, “See that one? That’s the son of a bitch Thomas.”

  “That damn Ye Qingxuan. Damn Eastern half-breed!”

  But no matter how hard they cursed and roared, the church was still unresponsive. After a long time, they finally grew tired, threw some more threatening shouts, and then left in anger.

  Outside the church, silence was restored, but within the chapel, the tall and slim priest’s expressions was still cold.

  -

  The priest seemed to be old, but still burly—only his beard was silver. His face, as always, was indifferent. Whenever he bowed over others, his eyes were serious and harsh, and his voice was smoky, giving people great pressure.

  In front of him stood two trembling teenagers and a large dog that looked like it was smiling.

  “Victor you can go to the back for now.” Father Bann waved, “I have something to say to Ye.”

  Thus, the blond teen felt that he was relieved of the pressure. He quickly picked up the dog and escaped, leaving the embarrassed Ye Qingxuan.

  “Ye, you got in trouble again?” the priest asked coldly.

  “Haha, not a chance, that Thomas misunderstood me.” Ye Qingxuan looked away as he drew the holy emblem on his chest. “Under the teachings of the Church, I shall not do anything unrighteous.”

  Last night, his look had been indifferent, with his eyes assured, so he did everything calmly. But in front of the priest, he had a hard time keeping his calm face.

  Only at times like this did he actually look like a teenager.

  Since the beginning, everyone thought he was a quiet and smart child. He was calm and never caused mischief like the other kids his age. You only had to give him a book to read and he would quietly sit there all afternoon reading it. Since he had wandered here and was adopted by the church five years ago, he had always been the model ‘kid-next-door’ that was better than all the other kids. He had perfect grades and excellent manners. He was also gentle, kind and hardworking. Because he knew how to read, write, and organize, he was already the library administrator despite his young age, responsible for copying the scriptures. Plus, he also taught himself mechanical engineering in order to take on the lighthouse maintenance every month.

  These are the very reasons that made him a bit of a headache.

  Since he came to this town, sixty percent of teen fights had something to do with this seemingly harmless young man.

  Though, he was the innocent victim every time.

  “I heard that last night, there was a light from heaven shining down with horrible words written onto the Thomas family’s wall all night long.” The priest’s tone was cold, “Ye, your mechanical structure was good, I’m pleased.”

  “Haha! That’s because I learned from the best mentor…” Ye Qingxuan did not finish, as he could not continue through the priest’s cold gaze.

  “I have not taught you anything; these things you have learned on your own. You are a smart child, so I have always been very pleased, but you made a mistake this time.” The priest said with a low voice, “The birth of mechanical technology was to help other people have a better life, not to give you a way to carry out revenge!”

  The teen stood in silence, as he was not able to justify his own actions.

  Like a silent resistance, his silence made the priest even more disappointed. The priest slowly shook his head.

  “Ye, you can go now. I will explain this to the mayor; however, as discipline, you will not have lunch this week.” The priest waved, dismissing him. “I hope you recognize your own mistakes. You have always been a qualified apprentice, but your actions last night made me very disappointed.”

  “Thank you for your forgiveness.” Ye Qingxuan bowed to leave, but the priest stopped him.

  He turned his head and saw the priest’s iron grey eyes staring at him.

  “Ye, never mess with the lighthouse again.” The voice of the priest was still cold, with no concern nor compassion, the same as always. “If someone insults your parents, you can come find me.”

  Ye Qingxuan was stunned for a moment, and scratched his head, then let out an embarrassing laugh.

  “No thanks.” He then whispered to himself, “Why bother adults with childish things?”

  -

  In the backyard of the church, next to the fountain, Victor saw his friend coming back in low spirits. He cracked up, laughing with joy.

  “Hey, Yezi, finished getting a lesson in discipline? How was it?”

  He and Ye Qingxuan were both orphans raised by the church. Victor had it better though, because he was at least half local. His father was said to have been a Lord who tried to commit suicide because of poor investments and bankruptcy. The huge debt had left Victor wandering the streets, where only the church would take him in.

  But two years later, Victor moved out due to conflicts with the priest.

  Now, he used his own fists to gain the position of a pier manager, who pumped water for people to make his living. His days were happy and simple; free from the troubles of learning transvribing skills or theology.
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  Occasionally, Ye Qingxuan came to him, and Victor would leave his job to help him cause trouble or fight together. Sometimes he gloated about not getting in trouble with the priest.

  For example, he imitated the expression and tone of the priest now, pointing at Ye Qingxuan and saying, “I’m gonna hang you up, sinful child, and hit you!”

  “Then you’d have been killed many times.”

  “No way, I run really fast. He’d never get to me!” Victor proudly arched an eyebrow. “Honestly, the priest’s rules have long been outdated. You’re the only one that listens to that huckster talk. In this world, if you want to do big things and succeed, counting on the teachings of God won’t be of any help. Old Phil, Old Phil, do you think I’m right?”

  The big dog was awakened by Victor’s strokes, and used his tail to hit him since he was annoyed. Victor, who had suddenly noticed his mistake, massaged the dog to flatter him. “Don’t be angry. Don’t be angry, I know you own all the credit.”

  Old Phil was disturbed so badly that it could not go back to sleep. It rolled its eyes at the two teens, got up, jumped into the fountain, and rolled around. It quickly climbed out, splashing water droplets onto the faces of the two next to it.

  Finally satisfied, it wagged its tail in an elegant manner, like an emperor coming out from his hot bath.

  The whole process was amazingly natural and as easy as drifting clouds or flowing water.

  “Old Phil is looking better by the day. Where’d he learn all these expressions?” Ye Qingxuan asked.

  “How should I know? He looked like that when I was ten and saw him for the first time.”

  Indeed, Ye Qingxuan had been really wondering for quite some time, where did it get that temperament?

  It was not good looking, its fur was everywhere, and its eyes and expressions had an air of arrogance that you could only see in some Anglo ministers. It walked like a king in his palace, with its chest out and its head high, inexplicably majestic and dignified. One could hardly ignore it— at least Ye Qingxuan and Victor couldn’t. The two who were bitten once dared not to do it again.

  “Alright, I’ll have to go first. I won’t disturb you anymore.” Victor got up from the ground and tapped Ye Qingxuan on his shoulder. “Some newcomers came. It seemed that they wouldn’t like to listen. I will have to reason things out to them.”