Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  “Previously the Rain Artist was someone nameless. He was considered to be like most people without talent, and probably would be stuck at the Student level for life.

  “Suddenly, he escalated in an exploration, and successfully became a musician. Because of his talent, the Sacred City awarded him the title of the Rain Artist. He had a smooth path thereafter, and was considered having a solid foundation. Until six years ago, someone found out that he had massacred a whole village to sacrifice to ‘Hyakume.’

  “He had disappeared since then, becoming one of the most wanted black musicians.”

  “Sacrifice?”

  “Yes, the price for exploring the Originator , with the power of Satan is life and blood. However, since he could use other people’s lives, why sacrifice himself? In most recent years, it has not been uncommon for musicians to go to the dark side.” Wolf Flute’s eyes no longer carried a smile, but were chilly. “All the Discipline Musicians from the ‘Silent Authority’ will hunt him down to the ends of the earth, until his head is hanging on the wall of the blasphemy. Justice has to be done. Whether or not he had attacked me, now that I’ve found him, he must die before he causes greater chaos.”

  Ye Qingxuan silently listened to him talk, but a bad feeling gradually rose in his heart. Why was Wolf Flute saying all this? And why did he look at Victor when he spoke?

  “Bait?” Suddenly, Ye understood. He looked up at Wolf and said, “You need a bait!”

  In his gaze, Wolf Flute’s eyes also lit up. He hesitated and sighed. “Nobody likes a kid too smart, Ye.”

  “Your wound also came from him?” Ye asked.

  “Yes, a sneak attack,” Wolf Flute admitted. “He’s better than me at sudden attacks. I almost died.”

  “Then he chased you here.” Ye Qingxuan went on to say, “He knows you are recuperating, but does not know you are with us. Because no one expected Victor to steal the bag, no one knows that I will bring you this news. He still thinks we’re hiding in the town. Without his instrument, he will not be able to kill you, so he will hide himself in the dark. But as long as the instrument can be retrieved, he has nothing to fear.”

  Ye Qingxuan touched his string on the finger, and finally began to understand. His eyes gradually lit up, “So if you want to win, you will need an opportunity to have him walk into the trap willingly…”

  12 Putting Out the Fire

  “Can’t we destroy the instrument?”

  “The resonance between the instrument and the musician is even closer than that of husband and wife or blood relationship. If he senses any damage to the instrument, we will lose the initiative. Whether he plans a large-scale sacrifice or attacks forcefully, we will be powerless. “

  Ye Qingxuan responded, “We just…”

  “It is impossible.” Wolf Flute right away understood what Ye Qingxuan was thinking. “You have not seen the sacrifice, so you do not understand. As long as a dark musician plays and sings the evil praise, it will be enough to attract Satan’s eyes. The voice of praise will cover the whole town. When all the people can only see their own blood as it exudes from their skin, flowing into the river, all the lives will be taken by the palms of the abyss. This process can take up to three hours because the musician’s performance is only the base tone and the sacrifice is the main part of praise. This is the most annoying point of the evil cult—even if it is easy to kill him, it is difficult to stop his sacrifice from fighting back. However, Hyakume is not a generous God. Sacrifice is also a very strong torture for the musician himself, so unless the circumstances are extreme, he will not use it so easily. “

  Hearing Wolf Flute’s words, Ye Qingxuan turned silent. “So, do we have to do that?”

  “Yes, this is the best way.” Wolf Flute said, “Ye, I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything either.”

  “How about the town’s garrison? And…”

  “For musicians, the number of ordinary people does not matter. Adding them on will be just adding more casualties.” Wolf Flute’s eyes became cold. “I am sorry that I brought him here. I will not let him continue the damage. I have an even more important mission to accomplish. If I don’t complete it, there will be hundreds of times more dead people than those that died in the town.”

  In silence, he turned his head and stared at Victor.

  Victor’s face gradually became paler.

  “Sorry, although I do not know you, I have to give this task to you. This is not forced by the Musician Act, but I hope you can understand the truth.” He touched Victor’s shoulder. “This is my personal request, thanks…”

  His words stopped abruptly, because the palm of his hand did not fall, but was caught by another palm from the side, making him unable to move.

  He never thought that the Eastern youth’s arms had such a strong force, like vices.

  Victor was stunned. Wolf Flute turned and looked down at the youth in surprise.

  “Ye, not now…” Wolf Flute tried to figure out what to say, but saw the juvenile looking up, his white hair shining like silver medal in the candlelight, his dark pupils glaring at him.

  “I will go.” Ye Qingxuan whispered. “The Rain Artist saw me before. If I hold the instrument, he won’t doubt it.”

  –

  When Ye Qingxuan walked out of the room, he saw the Father silently standing at the end of the corridor. The priest stared at him quietly with complicated feelings.

  Ye Qingxuan bowed his head in silence. When he walked by the Father, he whispered, “Sorry for letting you down, Father. I’m probably not the material of a priest.”

  The Father was silent, letting him leave through the church door, carrying the black box. The old dog did not know what happened, and cheerfully followed him and left.

  Soon, Wolf Flute pushed the wheelchair out of the room.

  “This is the recruitment of a musician which I have no control over. But there is one thing I want you to understand,” Father Bann suddenly said softly, “I am telling you on behalf of the church representative that if something happens to him, but you are still alive, you will pay a big price for your mistake.”

  “He will come back alive,” whispered Wolf Flute. “Even if I’m dead.”

  Then, he looked at the night outside the church, and could not help but sigh. He continued to push the wheelchair to the scheduled location.

  In his mind, he still saw the youth’s expression while he said those words—solemn and peaceful, and even… a smile that he had not perceived. It was the smile of a moth flying towards the flame with no thought of returning.

  －

  Since his escape in the evening, Ye Qingxuan had been in coma for an hour. When he went back to the street, it was already late at night.

  In the silent dark night, there were no pedestrians.

  Ye Qingxuan walked alone in the street, hearing the yellow dog’s footsteps behind him. Beside him, Old Phil looked up. Its eyes were still disgusted, not understanding what Ye Qingxuan wanted.

  Seeing Old Phil’s fearless eyes, Ye Qingxuan suddenly became more relaxed.

  For so many years since he come to the city far away from Avalon, things and people had changed, but Old Phil still accompanied him, not caring about the “little brother” being a lazy waste, but often catching some dead mice to feed him for which Ye felt gratitude.

  “Old Phil, go back.” Ye Qingxuan squatted down, touched its collar and softly said, “Thank you for being with me for all these years.”

  Old Phil tilted its head and looked at him, seeming to not understand what he was talking about. After a long time, it reached out its claws and patted Ye Qingxuan’s shoulder twice. It was its sign of encouragement which nobody knew where it learned it from.

  Old Phil barked and yawned, then turned away. At the end of the street it looked back at Ye, then embarked on the road home.

  Under the moonlight, Ye Qingxuan watched as Old Phil walked further away. He lowered his head, untied the silver rope on the black box, and tore off the seal.

/>   Cold river water from the cracks in the box dripped on the ground, leaving a wet trail. Wolf Flute had hand-carved the seal to lock the resonance of the instrument. But now, with the rope unlocked, it once again began to tremble, and issued a call to its owner.

  Ye Qingxuan quietly waited and recalled the voice of Wolf Flute.

  “Rain Artist is not a hard-to-find singer, nor is he a talented scholar. I don’t know how much he knows of the Runes, but it is certain that most of his ability relies on the instrument. So, as long as you take it, Rain Artist will come to you, but he won’t use too powerful of a music score. This will be the opportunity to take advantage. But you have to be careful. Hyakume has often given his attendant some strange abilities and props.”

  Wolf Flute had stroked the flute on his knee, coldly. “Your task is only to lure him out. Once he appears, the instrument should be destroyed, and you should leave quickly. I will follow you in the dark and it will be my task to deal with him,” Ye Qingxuan silently recalled ensuring that there was not any misunderstanding.

  In the silence, he heard the sound of ocean waves from the distance, echoing the fear in his heart. It resounded in his chest.

  He heard the sound of his heart beat, chaos, panic and trembling uneasily.

  ‘If I die, will the Father be sad? He is a qualified parent. He adopted me and condoned my rebelliousness for so many years. Also, Old Phil and Victor. Will they be fine in the future?’ Ye Qingxuan’s thoughts suddenly paused and his imagination stopped.

  He finally heard the footsteps from afar, so low and so quiet.

  “He came,” he whispered to himself. Ye Qingxuan turned to stare at the place where the sound came from, and suddenly, he no longer felt afraid.

  Obviously he was filled with fear and uneasiness, but his heart suddenly became calm, the blood still flowing, like the ice water flowing in a glacier, so quiet and so peaceful.

  “It may just be me! Come on,” he whispered, “Either Musician, or monster, or fate, I will not be afraid.”

  －

  In the silence, the moonlight shone down.

  Under the dim light, someone walked heavily out from the darkness, as if he were carrying a very heavy weight, or as if he had a serious injury. His footsteps staggered, dragging his body, exhibiting great difficulty to move forward.

  He went under the moonlight. He stiffly looked up and saw Ye Qingxuan and smiled. The ax he dragged on the ground sparked happily.

  He came!

  “But it is not right,” a voice suddenly called in Ye Qingxuan’s heart, “This is not right…”

  The vaguely familiar shadow wore a gray leather coat. His face was shrouded under a dark hood, and the ax in his hand reflected the moonlight.

  The heavy ax was dragged across the ground with sparks flying. The man raised it high above his head as if trying to cut off the moon, and then he rushed over, screaming with madness.

  “No!” Ye Qingxuan suddenly realized.

  But it was too late.

  A desolate flute suddenly sounded, as falcons rushed into the sky, higher and higher!

  It rose with a swaying melody and then descended from the sky, sweeping the earth, and the earth began to tremble. The flute music swayed like a ghost, issuing a call.

  Then dust flew into the sky. Wrapped by the moonlight, it trembled and blurred, forming a concrete shape. It walked on the ground, silver hair flying in the wind, like the moonlight torrent.

  Sharp shouts burst from its mouth. It jumped up from the ground and into the air, revealing its large stature. It was a huge…wolf?

  With the call, a number of the same giant wolves jumped from the eaves and the walls. The speed was like a road of silver trajectory circling in the fog. Just for a short moment, they came before the man, stopping the sharp ax in his hand.

  Under the wolves’ attacks, the fine iron ax was like mud. It broke and splintered. At the same time, his legs broke too. The wolves rushed on, completely splitting the corpse, but stopped suddenly at the end.

  “Wolf Flute, stop!” Ye Qingxuan shouted, “He is not the Rain Artist.”

  The wolves instantly stopped. They stared at the man in the pool of blood. A dozen pairs of green eyes stared at him, making him shudder.

  He suppressed his overwhelming fear, and walked into the pool of blood. He forced himself to tear off the hood, and stood, shocked.

  This person could not be the Rain Artist.

  Under the moonlight, he recognized that ugly and swollen face!

  This man was Pippen, the lumber in town! He looked very ugly, because he went through a serious illness when he was young. Although he was always drunk, he was a very good person who had helped many street kids. Because his appearance was so frightening, he had to live in the wood hut in the far end of the town, only the stray cats accompanying him.

  ‘But why did he come here? Why did he raise his weapon towards me?’

  In shock, he saw Pippen’s pupils suddenly move. A black dot spread through the white eyes.

  Pippen started…laughing?!

  13 The Demon of Rain and Breath of Boiling Blood

  In a flash, Pippen jumped up from the ground.

  It was like power within burst out of his body, and his whole frame had extended a few sizes. Some of his joints were ruptured from the brutal action in that instant, but his speed was incredibly fast.

  As if a huge iron ball brushed past his body and flew away, Ye Qingxuan’s eyes saw a flash, then everything turned pitch black.

  Dazed, he felt himself knocked into the wall.

  In the moonlight, Pippen leaped into the air, held on tight to the black box, then turned and threw it into the darkness.

  Soon after, the furious wolf pack jumped up from the ground and tore him into pieces. With numerous bone fragments, chunks of flesh and blood flying around, the black box flipped and stumbled, and finally stopped at someone’s feet at the end of the street.

  A large silver wolf followed very closely, like a shadow of the box. The guy looked at the silver wolf’s grim face and smiled. He bent over, and pressed down on the black box.

  Crash!

  In a blink of an eye, the black box set off a deafening sound.

  With a violent sound, an invisible power like a hammer crushed the wolf’s head into the green stones of the ground. Blood flew onto the box like mercury, and whitened a corner of the stone.

  The black box started to slowly crack until it completely turned into powder. The exquisite clarinet fell into the hands of the man, no longer trembling after the burst as if it had finally been returned to where it belonged.

  “What a pity, Wolf Flute.” The guy took off his hat, and revealed his white pupils. “A nice trap, but it did not work on me, and killed an innocent man in the process. Are you regretting it now?”

  He seemed very old, his face wrinkled, nothing like the thirty-something-year-old man Wolf Flute had described. But those white eyes moved with a coldness, more chilly than the wolf pack. If beasts gave a man fear, then this ruthlessness and cruelty could freeze a man’s soul.

  “Sorry, no.” With the wolves growling and circling around came the voice of Wolf Flute, “He already died when you controlled him with the ‘worm’.”

  From Pippen’s broken skull, a leech-like black organism crawled out from his ear. It had originally lived as a parasite in Pippen’s brain. It crawled out and swam quickly through the pool of blood, leaving a trail of blood behind it. It came to the feet of the Rain Artist, and finally wrapped around his wrist, hardening into a strange bracelet.

  The Rain Artist looked down gently, admiring the worm bracelet on his wrist. He sighed softly, “You see, I paid a great price for this reward. It had helped me through many difficult times, including this one.”

  As he was talking, he looked around at the scenery with a surprised and admiring expression on his face. “It is hard to imagine. I have chased you a long way here, and ‘it’ is hidden in this ridiculously small town.”

 
“I won’t let you have it,” a dark voice spoke as if from all directions.

  “I dare not carry with me something as terrible as this. My order was only to destroy it.” The Rain Artist suddenly laughed. “Similarly, I can…” he paused, the clarinet in his hand suddenly rising up with a chilling bang, “…destroy you!”

  The explosion sounded like a dying whistle. When the whistling spread, numerous boiling sounds followed. The sea breeze suddenly started dancing furiously, the sound of the wave became blurry. A huge amount of aether awoke from the whistling sound. It came together from all directions, swallowing every drop of the vapor.

  The air suddenly became extremely dry. Every breath came with a burning sensation. Then a pale fog spread from beneath the Rain Artist into the air like a suffocating mist.

  The fog immersed the entire street, everything was blurry.

  Then, water drops appeared from out of thin air, colliding like a rainstorm in the fog, as fast as arrows. Along their way they took away any warmth in the air, leaving behind a layer of frost.

  Suddenly, where the fog had enveloped, heavy rain began to pour.

  Silver wolves roared into the mist, but they had lost his trail and could no longer find the man.

  Musicians of the School of Modifications were best at manipulating the nature of objects, swaying storms and frost, making flames and iron walls. Among all musicians, they were the best suited for the battlefield because of their great destructive power!

  With the clarinet singing, he quickly finishing playing a measure, summoning a suffocating fog storm heavy enough to freeze any ordinary man.

  “Huh, went back to hide in his shell,” Wolf Flute spat. His pupils turned vertical like an animal, staring at the fog and the rain.

  …Krommer Variation Opus 74, also known as “Demon of Rain”.

  But this was not the most dangerous, not even close.

  So he needed to be very alert.

  -

  In the fog, the clarinet suddenly sounded.

  The sound, like countless people sobbing in the rain, spread quickly. It was like iron bees beating their wings, like ghosts calling out, wandering in the fog.