Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  “Of course not.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head. “But if you stop now, it’s not too…”

  “Die!” Edmund cut him off and raised a hand, eyes fierce.

  The energy building up in his ring had turned the amber a crimson red. The catastrophic Dragon Breath would spew out in the next moment.

  Some in the audience had already covered their eyes, too scared to look.

  But Brian finally reacted, his face changing dramatically. “Edmund, stop!”

  “Too late,” Dominic laughed loudly at their misery. Brian had put up the soundproof barrier himself. It had nothing to do with anyone else.

  —

  Aether surged wildly inside of the snake circle. Crimson red light lit up from within the amber, the piercing redness blinded everyone in a second. The wild heat spilled in all directions. Even the transparent barrier was revealed under this heat, restraining the bright radiance within it. But despite how terrifying it was, it was only the precursor.

  Edmund put everything into guiding the aether, but when he looked up, he saw Ye Qingxuan’s faint smile through a layer of fiery light. The smile was so full of pity and mockery.

  Under everyone’s nervous eyes, Ye Qingxuan raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Immediately, the mirror matrix began spinning, replicating the Church’s machinery with aether. Seventeen dazzling silver reflections joined together immediately. There were no sparks as they touched each other, no rotating, creaking, or grating. The lotus-like matrix closed in soundlessly.

  In an instant, the limitless red light disappeared. Replacing it was a wail that sent goosebumps up everyone’s skin.

  “Ah!!”

  —

  The seventeen mirrors formed a seamless wall, trapping all light and heat within it. In the blink of an eye, the mirrors turned red hot from the terrifying heat. As if an oven was about to be melted to the ground, one could see melting metal and copper dancing in the flames.

  The Dragon Breath had yet to be released, but the heat brewing in the light was enough to evaporate the mirrors. But those mirrors which should have been surrounding a lighthouse reflected the light, increasing it’s power by one-thousand, turning the inside into an inferno. It was the matrix designed by the church! Even in its most basic form, it could transform a sliver of light in the night sky into a lighthouse!

  The mirror formation was sustained for a second before falling apart. But the light and heat had already disappeared. The Dragon Breath had lost all control. The aether that had flooded over dissipated soundlessly. All that remained was Edmund, singed black and laying on the ground.

  —

  —

  “My eyes! My eyes!” Putting a burned hand over his face, he touched his body, but he could only feel burned skin and charred clothing. “What did you do? What did you do?!” he screamed in hysteria, blood seeping from his face. “You b*stard, what the f*ck did you do to me?!”

  “I just wanted you to experience the ‘Lighthouse’.” Ye Qingxuan walked over and bent down to look at him. “How did it feel under all that light? I hope you can be like the lighthouse and be a useful member of society.”

  “Ye Qingxuan!” Hearing those words, Edmund growled hoarsely, “Ye Qingxuan! I’m going to kill you!” His features twisted and his charred skin cracked open, revealing the bloody mess inside.

  “Edmund, calm down!” The barrier around the snake circle shattered and Brian rushed in. Frantically, he poured medicine over Edmund’s body, keeping him alive.

  “Chorale musicians! Where are the chorale musicians?” Brian searched in panic, completely forgetting that he had gotten rid of the practice ring’s chorale musicians in order to help Edmund with his plan.

  “How can you be so cruel?!” He glared at Ye Qingxuan, unable to hide his panic.

  “Ha.” Ye Qingxuan shrugged. “You are ‘allowed’ to injure and maim in the concertmaster challenge…Isn’t that what you said?”

  “You!” Brian’s face was practically black with anger, but he could not deny Ye Qingxuan’s words. He glared at the student coldly and turned back to help Edmund’s friends pick him up and take him to the hospital, but someone stopped him.

  “What’s the hurry, professor?” Charles stopped him, seeing through his attempt to muddle through. Seeing his nervous expression, Charles laughed. “That was the last round. You haven’t announced the result of the challenge yet.”

  “Now’s not the time for this!” Brian’s eyes twitched, unwilling to face the result.

  “Really?” Grinning, Charles patted his shoulder. “Then please go do whatever you’re busy with. When I was wandering around just now, I ran into an old man. He seems to be really dissatisfied with you.”

  Brian flinched and turned around. Dominic stared emotionlessly at him from the shadows. Nothing was said, but for some reason, cold sweat beaded on Brian’s forehead. Under everyone’s anticipating eyes, his features twisted. Finally, he grit out through clenched teeth, “The winner of the tenth round is Ye Qingxuan!”

  The silent crowd erupted into cheers in an instant. After witnessing such a legendary fight, no one could resist the urge to jump up in excitement.

  Bai Xi yelled happily in the crowd. As she cheered, she turned around, looking for Ye Qingxuan. But all she saw was the youth’s lonely backside within the snake circle.

  As if sensing her gaze, Ye Qingxuan turned around. Seeing her smile, he gave her a thumbs up, smiling tiredly.

  Then, before her shocked eyes, the white-haired youth fell over, unconscious.

  —

  Yunlou Chaoyue watched quietly from the entrance of the underground palace. Her face was neutral, as if she had been looking at mere hallucinations and nothingness in the air.

  “A bunch of uncouth things who dared to be so violent before the Princess. My apologies for ruining your experience.” Beside her, Sydney wiped away his sweat and explained quietly, “Please do not misunderstand. These embarrassments are still the minority of the academy. The true geniuses are all chivalrous gentlemen. We’ve also arranged a banquet tonight, you will…”

  As if she had not heard anything, the girl focused on the center of the square, studying the unconscious youth and the frantic girl hugging him. Confusion entered her cool eyes, as if she had never seen something like that before.

  In the square, Bai Xi glanced up accidentally, looking into the direction of the girl. For a moment, their eyes met through an opening in the crowd, and they saw each other clearly. Elegant and downtrodden, reserved and panicking, mature and immature. One looked like a princess, the other did not.

  In the next moment, the crowd rejoined and the girl disappeared, as if swallowed by the ocean.

  The princess stepped forward subconsciously, but then hesitated. She did not take another step forward.

  After a long time, Yunlou Chaoyue turned around gradually, letting the girl remain lost in the sea of people.

  “Maybe it’s better this way…” she murmured.

  “Huh? Miss Chaoyue, what did you say?” Sydney asked.

  “Nothing.” She shook her head and suddenly said softly, “I said I want to leave, so let this be a farewell, Mr. Sydney.”

  “Miss Chaoyue, Miss Chaoyue!” Shocked, Sydney ran over and subconsciously grabbed the girl’s sleeve. “Where…”

  The words died in his mouth when the girl turned back, looking at him silently.

  There was not fury or bone-chilling disgust in those eyes—only coolness. It was as if she was high up in the sky, looking down at the mundane world, and so humanity’s ugliness was reflected in her eyes.

  In the face of those eyes, Sydney let go reflexively and retreated. “No, I—I didn’t…”

  The girl turned and left without another word.

  86 Expectation and Loneliness

  When Ye Qingxuan finally woke up, it was already dusk. He was in the school hospital. The Chorale musicians there told him that he was okay, but he used too much brain power and suffered from severe malnutrition. It did not se
em like it was a big deal, but it was not a difficult illness either.

  “Your fee will be waived. Thanks to you, we were able to practice a big surgery.” The doctor rubbed his hands together excitedly before leaving. “If you can send some more rich boys here to be our little white…uh, to be treated by us, we can give you twenty percent off in the future!” With that, the door slammed shut. The only person left in the hospital room was the quiet Abraham.

  He studied Ye Qingxuan, eyes unreadable, making Ye Qingxuan feel a little embarrassed. “Professor, what’s wrong?”

  Abraham remained silent. His metal finger tapped against his knee, as if trying hard to find suitable, gentle words to communicate, but in the end, he surrendered to his lack of social skills. Sighing, he gave up. “Why didn’t you give it your all?” he asked straightforwardly, raising his head. “You went easy on him.”

  Ye Qingxuan froze, the smile on his face stiffened. “You could tell?” He scratched his face, wanting to relieve the tension in the air, but Abraham remained silent, waiting for his reply. He had let go at the most important point.

  At that time, the Dragon Breath was still in the brewing stage. It had needed two breaths’ time to destroy the matrix, but that was enough for Edmund’s plan to backfire and for him to burn to a crisp in his own catastrophic fire. He would not have lived, and he would not be so hateful either. If Ye Qingxuan had been a bit harsher, if he had killed Edmund…

  “It would be worse if I had done that, right? The consequences for killing someone are heavy. Their retaliation would probably be even worse, and you’ll face pressure and…” Ye Qingxuan stammered. But seeing Abraham’s eyes, he could not keep going.

  Abraham gazed at him and asked softly, “Yezi, that isn’t what you were worried about, right?”

  “Professor, I don’t understand,” Ye Qingxuan said, getting upset. “Didn’t I put my all into it? I’ve already worked really hard. Look, I won.”

  “Winning is a result,” Abraham said neutrally. “Giving it all you have is the determination to gamble everything.”

  Ye Qingxuan froze. After a long time, he lowered his head in defeat. “Professor, are you saying that I should’ve killed him?”

  “Yezi, I don’t know how you view musicians, but we aren’t as saintly as people make us out to be. Sometimes, it is just another job. Some jobs are dirty and some are not, but even the cleanest musicians might not have clean hands. Do you understand?” Abraham gazed at him. “It’s never good to kill, but sometimes, bad things might be good decisions because no matter what you choose, you should never choose weakness. Weakness means that you can only survive on your enemies’ pity.”

  Ye Qingxuan said, “I…had a grasp on things.”

  “You won’t have a grasp every single time!” Abraham raised his voice. “Being weak in a fight between musicians is being irresponsible with your own life. Are your enemies weak to the point that you need to bestow pity on them?”

  Ye Qingxuan hung his head, unable to refute him.

  Seeing his gloominess, Abraham sighed and said softly, “I hope that was your last time doing that. Yezi, I don’t want to see my students die before me.”

  “I…” Head lowered, Ye Qingxuan answered, “I understand.”

  “It’s not the best time for this topic. Rest and we’ll talk later,” Abraham said a little clumsily. He rose and bid Ye farewell. Before opening the door, he hesitated again and looked back at his student. “Yezi.”

  “Yes?” The youth raised his head.

  “Congratulations,” he said quietly, his expression filled with both awkwardness and happiness. “That’s what I had planned to say.”

  The door shut soundlessly.

  —

  After a long time, someone snuck in. Looking left and right to check that the coast was clear, they strutted to the bed. Picking up the fruit basket, they started munching.

  Seeing the youth deep in thought, he whacked the back of Ye Qingxuan’s head, “Hey, kid, what’s up?” Charles lowered his voice and spoke like a weird drunk uncle, “Are you frustrated about the secrets of youth? Don’t worry, let me tell you…”

  What he got in return was a middle finger. “Senior, I wish your intelligence level was a bit more stable.”

  “Oh, you seem fine! I got a bit worried when I was outside eavesdropping.” Charles shrugged and patted his shoulders. “Relax a bit. Professor wants the best for you, just like me, right?”

  “I know.” Ye Qingxuan massaged his temples and rested back against the headboard. “That’s why I have a headache.”

  “Why?” Charles asked.

  “You know, I…really hate it when other people have high expectations for me.” Organizing his thoughts, Ye Qingxuan said quietly, “To me, expectations and anticipations make me feel that if I don’t do something, if I don’t reach a goal, or don’t change myself, I’ll be a big failure.” He thought about the priest and his professor’s face and he could not help but sigh. “The more highly people think of you, the more disappointed they will get. Since that’s the case, why do they still have high expectations?”

  “…That’s what you’re worried about?” Charles muttered. “Don’t be so zhong’er, Yezi.”

  “What’s zhong’er?”

  “It’s a disease that lowers your intelligence and turns you into a hipster. In the late stages, you’ll think that only you can save the world. You’ll take on the big demon for your girl, or you’ll just want to destroy the world…”

  “That sounds pretty good?”

  “It’s actually not that bad.” Charles sighed and scratched his head. After a long time, he looked up. “Yezi, you’re already seventeen years old. I don’t know how to tell you this: expectations might not be a good thing, but if you don’t want people to have high expectations, you’ll…be lonely.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with being lonely,” Ye Qingxuan murmured. “I’m happy when I’m alone too.”

  Hearing this, Charles laughed as if it were a naïve joke. “Yezi, you can be happy, and you can be lonely. But it’s impossible to be happy and lonely…” Quietly, he said, “…You’re lying to yourself.”

  —

  Yunlou Chaoyue strolled down the quiet alley at dusk. She gazed around at the strange landscape of the foreign city. She lowered her head, measuring the length of each tile with her footsteps.

  Behind her, the old servant followed her every step. Watching the princess’s backside, she wanted to speak but hesitated.

  “What’s wrong, Nanny?” Yunlou Chaoyue gazed at her. “Is there something you want to say to me?”

  The nanny lowered her head and advised softly, “Princess, you are a descendant of the skies, but this is a barbaric land. If something happens…”

  Yunlou Chaoyue shook her head. “There’s no one else here. Nanny, you don’t need to call me by my title.”

  “But you are the Princess, how…”

  Hearing her words, Yunlou Chaoyue nodded, suddenly realizing, “It seems that Yunlou Qingxi hasn’t told you anything.”

  The old servant’s features tightened. After a long time, she finally moved her lips. “P-princess, you are joking again.”

  “I am not joking.” Yunlou Chaoyue halted in the quiet alley and looked back at her. “Isn’t your loyalty to my ‘uncle,’ the ‘true ruler’ of Yunlou City?”

  The servant gazed at her silently. There was a pause before the fear in her eyes settled and turned cold. “Nothing escapes the princess’s eyes, as expected. But I don’t understand where I was mistaken.”

  The girl shook her head. “Nanny, you have done well. You are loyal and a hard worker. There is no mistake.”

  “Then why…”

  “Nanny, do you know that the Westerners have a saying that the eyes are the windows to the soul?” Yunlou Chaoyue looked into her eyes, her gaze still cool as ever. “This saying is very accurate. Every time I look at your eyes, I feel that you are hiding something in your heart.”

  Taken aback, the se
rvant sighed. “I see. Have you known…since the beginning?” She raised a hand and removed her hairpin, freeing her salt-and-pepper hair. Accompanied by the popping of joints, her stooped back gradually straightened. The age spots and wrinkles on her face trembled and writhed before finally disappearing. Under her skirt, her swollen muscles trembled, then tightened. Her bones expanded instead, hardening. The skin on the back of her hand tightened, turning scaly like a fish. In the blink of an eye, she was no longer an honest and humble servant woman. She had become fierce, her eyes sharp. Beastly faces swam about on her skin.

  “Where are the others? Tell them to come out.” Yunlou Chaoyue glanced around the small alley. “It’s hard to find a quiet place in Avalon.”

  Light footsteps sounded as soon as she finished. Two men clad in robes walked out of thin air from both sides of the small alley. They moved swiftly and their faces were blurry, seeming like ghostly spirits. One carried a pipa and was surrounded by dancing ghosts. The other had a huqin on his back and a cloud under his feet. Their strange bodies resonated with the outside world. All three of them were powerful musicians who had broken past the Barrier of Knowledge—Resonance Musicians.

  87 Da Shao

  “Why are you willing to work for someone so ambitious? You are all so successful and accomplished. If you use your skills for good, you will help so many people,” Yunlou Chaoyue sighed.

  “Silence, witch!” the huqin musician retorted. “Twenty years ago, Yunlou Qingshu took advantage of the ailing leader to revolt, and stole the power after his concubine had a bastard child! Now he calls the old leader’s first son Qingxi Highness as the traitor. Is that not blasphemy?”

  The musician with the pipa laughed, his voice soft like a girl’s. “And you are not even Yunlou Qingshu’s daughter. What right does a phony have to judge my leader? Don’t think I don’t know that the true princess hasn’t been in Yunlou City since last year.” He continued, “Yunlou Qingshu is so sneaky. His real daughter disappeared and he replaced her with some girl to send to Anglo, but at the same time, he sent people to search for his daughter. Why would he send you here if it wasn’t look for her?”