by Feng Yue
“Unfortunately, this is the city of Avalon. Our work is not always perfect.” Ghosthand shook his head, trying to control his anger.
Mr. Chang looked indifferent. “Mr. Ghosthand, before Yunlou is taken over by the rebels, we’ll be delivered whoever we wish to find. If we want his head, then his head will be delivered; if we want his hands, then his hands will be delivered. Anyone who delays the process will have their eyes taken out. If anyone dares to hide him from us, he and his family will pay the price for the mistake.”
“But this is Avalon, and things are not the same as before. Great efforts have been made just to hide your group of people!” Ghosthand frowned, “Mr. Shaman does not want to cause any trouble. Do you want this to be noticed by the royal family?”
“It’s been almost four days.” Mr. Chang said quietly, “Mr. Ghosthand, we cannot wait much longer.”
“Mr. Chang, I said I need more time.”
“I’ve given you time, haven’t I?” Mr. Chang got up and dispersed like a ghost into the white smoke.
In silence, Ghosthand leaned against the chair. He sucked on his pipe, little by little. The sepiolite pipe broke apart between his teeth. “Because of those two eastern kids, Avalon is turning into a mess.” He spat out the residue, and crushed the pipe in his palm. “And that damn dog.”
-
“Alright, let’s go back.” In the carriage outside the pub, Mr. Chang opened his eyes in silence. He had not moved at all from the beginning of his journey until the end.
The carriage moved silently. A servant who had just received a message presented a bamboo script to him. Mr. Chang moved his fingers across it, collecting dust on his fingers. “You mean, Shaman is looking for another Eastern child?” he asked.
“Yes, also with white hair, and with a dog. Some people saw that kid with the fugitive we are looking for. We do not know who wants him. Mr. Shaman had deemed him more important than our fugitive.”
Mr. Chang frowned, “What is Shaman looking for?”
“Seems to be some kind of box. Dead or alive, just the box. Couldn’t find out anything else.”
“In a country of barbarians, the rules are chaotic. This group of barbarians has their own agenda,” Chang humphed coldly. “The Shaman may have credibility, but after all, foreigners can’t be relied on.”
The servant asked, “Eunuch Chang, do you mean we have to find another way? There are plenty of people who can help us search in the city of Avalon.”
Chang contemplated for a moment then suddenly asked, “What happened to the group who is now in the control of Yunlou?”
“They have submitted the credentials and will go into the city soon.”
“Well, Yunlou Qingshu is a wolf with a savage heart. Not only did he seize control of the city of Yunlou, but he also wants to join forces with the barbarians, and claim independence with no respect to his king and father! A princess? Just a fake. No one will be deceived!” Chang snapped, “Give them my orders. Do not betray the trust of His Royal Highness. Bring back the princess! When His Highness takes back Yunlou, and gets rid of the rebel Yunlou Qingshu, he will reward everyone accordingly, and you will all get a cut! “
“Yes, Eunuch!” The servant hesitated, looking confused, “But one thing is unclear to me.”
“Yes?”
“Why bother coming here personally if only for a little girl with the Bloodline of Dragon?”
Old Chang fell silent. For a long time he lifted his palm and put it back down, then finally sighed, “You have served me for so many years. Today I will teach you a lesson of being by the side of the king.” He glanced at his servant who had just escaped death, his eyes like damp, gloomy rotten wood. “Follow the rules strictly. Do not cross any lines. That’s the trick to living a long life. The more you want to know, the faster you will die. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Understood.” The servant was soaked with sweat as if he had been caught in the rain.
“Then go.” Eunuch Chang closed his eyes and rested. “Remember, bring her back in one piece, without missing even a single hair.”
“Understood.”
-
From that day on, Bai Xi had not spoken to Ye Qingxuan. Although she seemed better behaved now, she just did not want to talk to others. Every day after she was done with work, she would quietly sit in the corner. She would stare at the dust on the floor in front of her, but her gaze pierced through the dust as if she was looking at something else.
Only Old Phil could have a few “words” with her, but Old Phil could not talk, and she would not say anything to a dog. But sometimes when Old Phil slept beside her, she would reach out to touch Old Phil’s hair, carefully and seriously. Old Phil was really a lovable dog. Although it was ugly, it was still much more popular than Ye Qingxuan.
Unfortunately, that was the way of this world—hating a person needed countless reasons, but loving a dog did not need any. And in most cases, the dog was much better than a person, for as long as you were good to it, it would not harm you.
But Ye Qingxuan thought that this could not continue, and that Old Phil was his dog!
“Why do you get to touch him? I can only do that when he is in a good mood!” he thought to himself.
Once he finished writing the last zero in the account book, he looked up and sighed helplessly. Next to him, Seton was still silent. This monster-like uncle had been sitting cross-legged behind the counter, struggling to read the fairy tale over and over again.
Hearing his sigh, Seton raised his head and suddenly said, “The boss sent a letter from another town yesterday, asking about you.”
“He knows about me?” Ye Qingxuan was surprised.
“He is a psychopath, but is usually very well informed.” Seton’s tone was not very respectful. “He wished you success at the entrance exam, and said he will bring you a gift”
“For real?”
“I wouldn’t get my hopes up. That guy’s character and gifts are usually worse than anyone’s imagination. The last time he brought me a gift, it was a huge donkey head that could be put on my head, but it was still dripping with blood.” He paused, his expression became more unpleasant. “I hate donkeys.”
“Is it really okay for the boss and the staff to have such a bad relationship?”
“If that guy died in a gutter, the world would be a better place.” After Seton finished talking, he shut the book angrily, took some money from the drawer, and went out for a drink. He did not even bother to close the money cabinet. It was just like him since he had a very simple mindset.
Ye Qingxuan looked at the golden light reflecting from the cabinet. He swallowed his saliva, then shut it with his eyes closed. “So much money,” he could not help but think.
“Hmmm,” a sneer came from the corner. But when Ye Qingxuan looked up, Bai Xi was still in complete silence.
He sighed.
Bai Xi was squatting in the corner behind the window on the chair she had occupied, using the counter as a dividing line. She and Ye Qingxuan were clearly separated. As if they had previously agreed on such terms, they did not talk to one another.
The afternoon sunlight came in, obscured by a huge grandfather clock, leaving Bai Xi sitting in a dark corner. Sometimes the dust floating in the air fell into her hands, reflecting her silent eyes. It made people feel pity for her.
Ye Qingxuan’s hand touched the crystal ball, then sighed. He lowered his head again.
“You may pity her, but who will pity you?” he thought.
-
Four days. If he counted the nights, it would been four days and five nights. Three runes, and all the standard syllables had been memorized by heart, but he could not say them. He had practiced no less than a hundred thousand times with the aether, but it had not resonated with him even once.
Ye Qingxuan was desperate. Maybe he was cursed by the aether?
Even someone with no talent, with tens of thousands of attempts would at least improve their success rate by one percent.
Ye Qingxuan’s was still zero, a desperate zero. No matter how many times he tried, whichever rune he practiced was still a zero.
From one to two was very simple, as long as the effort was made to do the addition, but what about from zero to one? Ye Qingxuan just did not know how. No matter how hard he tried, what had not existed still did not exist. Tall buildings were built from the ground, but what land belonged to him? He silently stared at the aether ball in his hands, not knowing what to do. His heart was gradually filled with sadness.
In the silent shop, only countless ticks made a rhythm, monotonous and persistent, constantly jumping from one second to another.
In the afternoon sunshine, Ye Qingxuan could not help but yawn. He felt quite sleepy. Rubbing his vocal chords with his fingertips, he asked himself if this was all worth it. The ring coiled with a silver string silently reflected the sun, flashing.
“Musician.” He sighed softly, and closed his eyes, feeling the wind blowing from afar.
But quickly he realized that this was a shop. The doors were closed, where had the wind come from? He was not sure when it started. Everything was silent.
-
He opened his eyes and saw the dust on the front of the counter silently blowing off with the wind. Thousands of years had seemed to have passed within a moment. The windows were broken, the glass had become powder. Wooden furniture had rapidly decayed, and cracks spread along the wall. The burning and lonely sunlight shone through the cracks onto Ye’s face.
He was frightened and wanted to jump up, but felt his body glued to the chair. He could not move. The familiar world quickly faded away from him, and all the familiar people and voices were no longer there. Old Phil was gone, Seton had disappeared, as well as Bai Xi. He was left alone in this lonely house.
He sat in his chair, watching everything decay. Weeds grew from the crack of the floor, and vines climbed up the wall. The busy streets outside disappeared, and were replaced with empty and barren land. The whole world was quiet. Ye Qingxuan could only hear the ticking sounds around him. The indigo moon, representing bad omen, was hanging in the sky!
36 Do You Regret It?
Under the indigo wash of the moon, time flew quickly, like a waterfall shooting down thousands of meters. And just like that, the oceans turned to grass fields, and bustling cities became abandoned hills.
At the foot of the abandoned hill, tombs jutted from the earth, staggered and reaching towards the edge of the sky. Under the moon’s glow, the mismatched tombstones shone coldly. They seemed to come from all over the world, all from different eras. Some were stone tablets and others were wooden stakes. Some were fit for royalty, while others were broken beyond repair, covered with a spider web of cracks. Under every tomb, there was a different Lamp of Souls enshrined, but more than half of these ancient lamps had gone out.
In this silent world, everything was still as death.
Ye Qingxuan sat on the chair, fearfully gazing at his surroundings before seeing a man facing him, standing among the tombs. The quiet moonlight shone upon him, revealing the silvery patterns of his black robe. The patterns shimmered. They belonged to a heraldry he had seen before, but he could not remember where.
A wind blew from far away, his long silver-white hair flowed, like mercury fluttering in the sky.
“Father?” Ye Qingxuan subconsciously held his breath the moment he saw that face. Very quickly, he realized that it was not his father’s face. It had some of his father’s characteristics, but it was not truly him. At times, it looked more like Ye’s own reflection, and sometimes looked like neither one of them.
Stunned and dazed, Ye realized that the man was studying him too, his eyes unreadable. The man opened his mouth and made sounds. It was as if he was talking, pausing between each word, but Ye Qingxuan could not hear his voice clearly. The man repeated himself again and again, and the wind brought back a strange echo. His voice pushed the world to change, rotating the stars, transforming the winds, raising the earth, letting floods loose…but that thunderous voice was still so unclear.
Ye Qingxuan tried hard to interpret the words, but he could only cry and howl from the pain in his chest. The searing pain spread through his body, and every blood vessel shook madly. It was the pain of being thrown into a pool of lava. Something was filling him, stopping him from listening to the voice, but as the pain intensified, the voice became clearer.
The silver-haired man gazed at Ye, repeating himself.
Drowning in the flood of pain, Ye Qingxuan’s was barely conscious, hoarse screams escaping his body. Finally he felt his body rip into a million pieces, and then he fell into a bottomless pit. Darkness consumed his world, swallowing everything.
But just as he fell into the blackness, he heard the man’s desolate murmur, “Do you regret it?” His voice was heavy with ancient grief and pain.
—
“Ah!” Ye Qingxuan jolted awake from his nightmare, screaming hoarsely, cause the lone flame of the candle to shutter in the deep night.
He had not realized he was stuck in a dream until now. But why was he wrapped in bandages and lying on a bed? His body was still gripped with immense pain. The pain in his dream must have come from real life. But where was it coming from?
He was going crazy.
“Stop screaming, since you’re awake.” Seton was focusing on a book at the foot of the bed, sparing him a glance. Holding up the book, he asked, “What does this word mean?”
Ye Qingxuan needed something to distract him from the pain, so looking at the word became his savior. With some difficulty, he replied, “Repent. This word comes from the written language of the Sacred City, and is derived from ancient literature. It means, ‘I went astray and sinned. Because of this, I repent.’ Related books and references are ‘Dogmatic Commentary,’ edited by the six generation of popes, and ‘Lingua Franca Dictionary’…” He could not go on.
If his voice had been like sandpaper, now it was like the sound of two pieces of metal rubbing against each other, sharp and piercing. “What…what is wrong with me?” He looked at Seton in confusion.
“Don’t know. When I found you, you were bleeding from every pore.” Seton shook his head and pointed at the floor, “The entire floor was red because of you.” His eyes became cold again, “Have you thought about how to pay for the floor, and your medical bills? My shop isn’t a charity. If you can’t pay up, I can introduce you to a doctor who sells organs…”
“I have to pay?” Ye Qingxuan almost shot up from the bed. “The floor will be fine after we wash it! Why do you have to change it! Sir, can you not be so stingy?”
Seton humphed and did not mention money anymore.
“How long was I sleep for?” Ye Qingxuan asked with a dry smile.
“According to the doctor, you should’ve kept sleeping and never woke up, or just die from blood loss, but you woke up after six hours, so I guess you’re okay.” Seton nodded. “Since you’re okay, get back to work tomorrow.”
“Hey, where’s your humanity?”
“You want humanity? So do I! When the owner comes back, he’ll see the floor and think that I can’t even look over a shop! I was already pissed at that bastard and you just had to come and make things worse.” Seton continued in a somber voice, “I said before to not give me trouble, but you’re just too troublesome.”
“Okay, there’s a lot of pressure on you too.” Ye Qingxuan wanted to cry. No one had it easy in this world. “But no matter what, thank you for saving me,” he said quietly. “And I’ll find a way to pay you back.”
“Just give me the money. That’s all I put in,” a voice said.
Seton rose and revealed the person behind him. “She’s the one who saved you.”
It was Bai Xi. The white-haired girl had been standing there since the beginning, but had been obscured by the burly Seton. She looked at Ye Qingxuan, and unwillingly greeted him.
“She found you rolling around on the ground. If you remember anything, you should remember that y
ou also bit her,” Seton stated. “You had extreme blood loss and she was the only one who could give you blood. If not for the fact that Easterners reject foreign blood, I’d think you’re a werewolf.” With that, Seton turned to leave. “Rest well. You can have a break tomorrow.”
Before closing the door, he added, “Remember. Just one day.”
—
With the slam of the door, the room sank into overwhelming silence again.
Ye Qingxuan gazed wordlessly at Bai Xi, but Bai Xi turned her head away from him. Old Phil paced between the two of them in confusion, not sure what happened. Saving someone should be a proud moment, but for some reason, Bai Xi was uncomfortable. Under the flickering candlelight, she lowered her head and toyed with the corner of her shirt, like a student scolded by her teacher.
Ye Qingxuan opened his mouth many times, but never knew what to say.
As the silence continued, Bai Xi finally could not stand the awkwardness any longer. She mumbled, “I—I’m leaving.”
She turned, wanting to leave immediately, but a voice behind her sounded, “Thank you.”
Bai Xi’s shoulder trembled, as if she had been startled. Looking down, she stuttered for a while before uttering, “Oh,” as if she was very unwilling. “I just called someone over. But your eyes were telling me ‘let me die.’ Sorry I couldn’t fulfil your wish.”
Hearing her words, Ye Qingxuan’s features twisted. She was still hung up on that small detail? Children who hold such grudges would be powerful later in life. When he was her age, he was far less of an expert at street survival skills.
“Huh, you don’t have to fuss over these details,” Ye said.
“I’m not being fussy.” Bai Xi glared at him.
“Right, I’m just being petty.” Ye Qingxuan finally had a thread of thought. This girl was stubborn as a mule, and he could only go along with her. Knowing this, things became much easier. Acting like this, she finally seemed like a kid.
“Are you from the East?” Ye Qingxuan pushed himself up and rested against the headboard.