by Feng Yue
Bai Xi woke, glared at him, and flipped over to continue sleeping.
“Where did you go?” Ye Qingxuan sighed. “You came home so late.”
“Nowhere,” Bai Xi answered in a muffled voice, as if upset. “I’m tired and I want to sleep. Leave me alone.”
“…Why are you in my hospital bed?”
“There’s thunder and I’m scared.”
Ye Qingxuan looked out the window and saw sparkling stars in the clear night sky. Well, if she said there was thunder then there was thunder. He sighed and shut his eyes, curling into the corner that the girl gave him. In the stillness, there was only a centimeter between his hand and Bai Xi’s cheeks.
“Bai Xi?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t wipe your snot on my face the next time you cry.”
“Oh…”
89 The Dark Legend 1
Early in the morning in the quiet Jianlan Underground Palace, Dominic hunched before the towering copper door in the square, pushing it open slowly. An eerie breeze blew out from the darkness.
“Follow me.” He glanced at the youth behind him. “I’ll take you to the library.”
Ye Qingxuan nodded and followed closely, entering the darkness past the threshold. Behind him, the heavy door slammed shut. With the dim light from his lantern, he could vaguely see the person in front of him.
A breeze blew past in the surging darkness, extinguishing the flame inside the glass. Ye Qingxuan froze, his footsteps halting.
“What’s wrong?” Dominic looked back. Will-o’-wisps seemed to dance in his eyes, shining faintly and sending chills down Ye Qingxuan’s spine. Seeing his expression, Dominic laughed eerily. “Don’t be afraid. As long as you don’t have a light, there’s nothing to be afraid of on this path.”
The corners of Ye Qingxuan’s lips twitched. Not knowing what to say, he hurried to catch up, scared he would get lost.
All was still in the darkness, but Ye Qingxuan could not shake the feeling that someone following him. There seemed to be laughter in the faint wind, but when he listened for it, he could not hear clearly. Things he could not see wrapped around him as if scrutinizing his face and bare skin. Some opened their mouths, wanting to devour that sweet piece of meat, but the small bell on Ye Qingxuan’s wrist rang gently and they did not dare to get close.
They finally passed through the darkness. Torches lit up from the sides of the long tunnel. The flickering lights illuminated his body again, and he could finally let out the long breath he had been holding. His body had felt like it was going to dissolve in the endless darkness.
“We’ve arrived.” At the end of the tunnel, Dominic reached out and pulled open the metal door for Ye Qingxuan.
The metal door grated and creaked. The piercing sound echoed through the darkness like faint laughter. Behind the door was an empty, warmly lit hall. As if this place had been maintained year long, the glazed tiles were glossy enough to reflect one’s image. The chandeliers on the ceiling were spotless as well. Unlike most libraries, there was no rotting or moldy scent, nor was there any dust. Everything was in perfect state.
Lines and lines of ancient shelves, crammed with books, stood behind three rows of reading tables. Some of the books had been printed in recent years. They had innovative designs, and the ink smelled faintly of roses. Some looked like artifacts from the Dark Ages. There was sheepskin wrapped over the papyrus, emanating a metallic scent.
“The Library of the Royal Academy of Music is the largest library in all of Anglo. It was established to preserve civilization when attacked by the natural catastrophes. The library holds many confidential materials, letters, and conference records. Other than precious music scores and secret books, there are also dark secrets…” Dominic continued. “Everything here is top secret. If you accidentally see something you shouldn’t see, watch your mouth. I don’t need to say more, do I?”
“No, no need.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head forcefully, scared that doing anything wrong would end with his death.
“Good.” Dominic nodded. “Other than you, there are still some little things being raised here. Don’t be startled if you accidentally see them. The license bell on your wrist is only effective for one day. If you don’t get out of here before midnight, you will be treated as an invader. Understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“There are five levels here. You are allowed to browse in areas at and under the musician level. If you go to the wrong place, you will also be dealt with by the little things, understand?”
“Uh, yes.” Ye Qingxuan had started doubting how ‘little’ those little things actually were.
“Do not damage the books and do not think about stealing. These little things treasure old ties and are very particular. If you anger them…you understand.”
“I understand,” Ye Qingxuan sighed. “I’ll be dealt with, right?”
“You’re a bright student.” Dominic nodded, signifying that Ye could enter.
“One more question.” Ye Qingxuan asked curiously, “There aren’t any signs here. What if I accidentally go to the wrong place?”
“It’s easy,” Dominic chuckled. “If you hear footsteps behind you, it means you should turn back.” His shadow disappeared into the darkness.
The metal door slammed shut and Ye Qingxuan was left alone in the quiet library. But the feeling that he was being watched did not go away, in fact it got stronger. He sat on a chair in the reading section, gazing around. There was no one there. But when he closed his eyes, it felt as if the room were packed.
The clearly nonexistent people were all obedient scholars. They read the ancient texts in the silent library wordlessly. They did not even make a sound while flipping the pages. They met each other’s eyes, deep like dark vortexes. Finally, their gazes fell on the youth who did not belong there, and they refused to avert their eyes. Their faces were blank white spaces!
Ye Qingxuan’s eyes flew open. The fantasy disappeared from his mind as if it had never existed. He shook his head. He could not keep scaring himself.
“Okay, let’s find out where the teacher records are first.” According to Charles, there was nothing that he would not know on the first level. Indeed, the shelves he walked past were all filled with geographical reports throughout time, and boring account books. Occasionally, he would see biographies, travel notes, and histories of other countries. But none of those meant anything to Ye Qingxuan.
He continued past the records area. The next area was filled with records of currency exchange rates between countries and other trade information. This would have been heaven for an accountant, but Ye Qingxuan did not care one bit. What did the trade war between East Tianzhu Company and Yunlou have to do with him? Giant sums were involved in it, and reading into it could have great benefits. Maybe he could even grasp the market’s future trends and make a fortune, but that was not Ye Qingxuan’s goal.
The next area was finally the musician area. The amount of the research material was dizzying. Ye Qingxuan squatted by a shelf and stared at an entire row of basic runes from each School, almost drooling. In the end, he bid them farewell with a broken heart and continued searching for the documents he needed.
Finally, he found a map of Avalon in the corner of the first level. “Wow, this place is big…” He gazed around at the dozens of bookshelves. The shelves were more than twice his height, filled with all types of books. A majority of them did not even have titles and only had a serial code. Trying to find something there without any type of catalog was like finding a needle in the haystack.
“Book management requires knowledge.” Now, Ye Qingxuan finally understood what the priest had meant.
Sitting on the floor, he looked up at the bookshelves that soared to the ceiling. He felt helpless. “Then let’s just look for the needle in the haystack.” Gritting his teeth, he pulled out the file closest to him. Opening it, he found that it was an intelligence record of downtown criminal organizations.
“Shaman: T
racking Investigation Report?” Ye Qingxuan was taken aback. Flipping through a few pages, he saw the faded text, “…According to investigation, Shaman left Avalon secretly five days ago and is very difficult to trace. This seems to be related to smuggler ships…” The passage was from six years prior. There were some bookmarks after it, marking later investigation results. Unfortunately, the results were, “untraceable,““did not appear” and finally, “disappeared.” Shaman, one of the ten legends of Avalon, the King of Downtown, had just…disappeared from the Royal musicians’ clutches?
There were no more investigation reports after that, much to Ye Qingxuan’s disappointment. The records had started when the mysterious Shaman had first appeared, and meticulously recorded every detail until his disappearance. He had gone from a nobody to the controller of all of downtown in just a few months.
Of the downtown gangs, first was the Caucasian Bear Claws, then the Indian Union, and then the Corsican Mafia. Every criminal organization downtown pledged their loyalty to the mysterious man, offering one-fifth of their monthly profits in exchange for the Shaman’s permission for them to operate.
The recorder had also made some hypotheses based on textual research, deducing how the Shaman negotiated with all of the gangs. He had also collected many rumors. The descriptions were so vivid that one could not put the book down. But at the most important part where the Shaman had fought with the elites who had ventured into smuggling…stopped. It ended with a disappointing “disappeared.”
“Did the author get castrated? Where’s the rest?!” Ye Qingxuan muttered angrily. He returned the file and took out another one from the shelf. This was one was…“The Bloody Butcher: Analysis of the Chrysanthemum Hotel Massacre?”
In shock, Ye Qingxuan chose another book. “Report of Handling the Soul Eater?” Following that was, “Ghosthand: Criminal Activity Record,““The Phantom Carriage: Path Analysis and Organization.” Finally, he understood what that bookshelf was for.
“Could it be the research files of Avalon’s top ten legends?”
90 The Dark Legend 2
Ye Qingxuan had always thought that the ten legends were just folktales and myths. Many people believed in them, but Ye Qingxuan had always felt that they were too incredible to be true. But now there was an entire bookshelf of their records in front of his eyes. Things did not seem to be so simple…
The Shaman was the mysterious man who had made the rules that guided the entire criminal underworld of Avalon. He was Avalon’s Dark King, and had ruled downtown until his disappearance six years ago.
The Chrysanthemum Hotel Massacre, three years ago, was complete slaughter in Avalon’s classiest hotel. Everyone regardless of their gender and age had been pulverized. Viscount Filo, the target, had had his head yanked off from his body. This was one of the records of the Bloody Butcher.
The Soul Eater was one of Avalon’s midnight horror stories. A series of research found its true form—a musician who had turned himself into a snake demon after converting to Satanism. Hunted by multiple Royal musicians, he jumped into the sewer in the end.
According to the records, the Soul Eater was injured and went crazy while fleeing. Motivated by hunger, he attacked a school. Because that had violated the Shaman’s rules, he had been killed by the Shaman’s assassin, Ghosthand.
Ghosthand, known as the debtor in legends, and was the Shaman’s right hand man. Anyone who violated the Shaman’s rules would be hunted by him. Legends said that the Phantom Carriage soared through the air at midnight. The Musician’s Union verified that it was alchemy equipment left behind from the Dark Ages. It was unimaginably fast and even to this day, no one could describe it clearly. No one knew who rode it or why it was there…
There was also some whom Ye Qingxuan had seen with his own eyes. “Analysis of Hariti’s Death.” Ye Qingxuan opened the book with trembling hands.
Hariti had lived undetected in downtown for countless years. She steered clear of the larger organizations, never tried to steal territory, and never tried to dabble in smuggling or the black market. Instead, she supplied the larger organizations with live items. Her clients were scattered throughout all of Anglo, and the demand was huge every year. The requests included strong workers for plantations, slaves for the mines, beautiful virgins, and more often, children…
When the Shaman had been around, there was no space for her. But after the Shaman disappeared, she no longer needed to follow the rules, and started her business again. Then half a month ago, she died.
According to research, she had been commissioned before she died. It was unclear what it had been for, but some suspected that it had something to do with Yunlou City’s ambassador entourage. Then, she died.
She died in her own nest, bleeding from every pore, her face completely hopeless. The survivors went crazy after overdosing on opiates. They were sent to the Arkham Asylum, but there was no hope for recovery.
The Chorale musician responsible for the autopsy had reported, “According to the dissection, her body had mutated in what seemed to be the ‘Siren transformation.’ This should be one of the missing experiments from the attack on the Royal Research Institute twelve years ago.
Note: Please see file BP198 for more information on the attack on the Royal Research Institute. Must be Scepter level and…”
The words were crossed out after that point. According to the autopsy, Hariti had not only inhaled large amounts of opiates before her death, but had also experienced the back bite of the formless ghosts and had gone insane. The cause of her death was sudden mental trauma. The fatal trauma had destroyed her tenacity instantaneously, destroying her entire brain, turning it into mush. Swift and clean.
Most of the evidence had been wiped out, but according to measurements from the aether ball, there had been a performance above the Scepter level. It was suspected to be related to the phenomenon of the moon above the ocean which had occurred in downtown that night. It was suggested that related departments investigate further. The last bit of conclusion had been scribbled over in black and was unreadable.
After reading, Ye Qingxuan quietly put the report back in its spot. Originally, he had thought that the crazy woman was just a regular human trafficker. But now he had started to think that things were much more complicated than that. Thankfully he and Bai Xi had not left behind any traces, otherwise he could not know if he would have been at the academy or in prison.
But this ignited Ye Qingxuan’s curiosity about the ten legends. Unfortunately, that curiosity was killed as he read about the nude man who ran about at midnight. The Avalon Police Force had used every type of investigation method and had finally established a hypothesis.
“Spy theory: this d*mned nudist is a Burgundian spy. He wants to transmit some message to his cohorts by running while nude. According to experts, the locations he appears in, and the streets that he runs through are all predetermined codes. His cohorts can learn secrets about the Avalonian Royalty by decoding these.”
“Yeah right! The locations he appeared in were based entirely on how much money he had had at that time, alright? And the streets he ran through were determined by the debtors chasing him…” Ye thought.
Even more absurd was the phenomenon theory, the illusion theory. Many experts strongly believed that the nude man was a collective illusion representing that Avalonians were facing higher work stress and craved freedom. Some also hypothesized that the nude man was a mysterious natural phenomenon. An eyewitness said that a flying disk had appeared in the sky right before the nude man had appeared…
“Take care, Senior.” Ye Qingxuan put the book back where it belonged.
Soon after, he became enraptured by the most horrifying of the ten legends. It was the Ripper—the Whitechapel killer. Apparently, this mysterious serial killer had often appeared in the Whitechapel area, specifically targeting prostitutes and gossipers in the night. The police force had been hunting him for a long time but could never find any trace of him. To catch him, the polic
e had even sent a beautiful policewoman, disguised as a prostitute, and had even used advice from criminals to wait outside the Whitechapel for half a year. She had countless clients, but had never met the Ripper. Instead, murders continued happened in other places, and the honeypot mission ended in failure.
“This d*mned b*stard is, without a doubt, a complete lunatic,” a psychoanalyst said in the file. According to analysis by criminologists, all murders had some sort of interest, wanted to fulfil his ideal, or wanted to silence someone. But the Ripper seemed to have no motive whatsoever. He seemed to only be venting his emotions through serial killing. The murders were ongoing, but not a trace had ever been found.
Obsessed, Ye Qingxuan followed the book’s appendix and found more and more related records. Without realizing it, he had wandered into the deepest part of the library. And he finally realized that something was wrong. There seemed to be something behind the Ripper case.
In many cases, the police force had an extensive and seamless trap, and were always one step away from catching the guy. But the Ripper always got away at the most vital moment.
The police force hypothesized that the Ripper was a School of Revelations musician and could predict their plan. But not even a Scepter level Revelations musician would be able to toy with the police force for five straight years. Also, Anglo had skilled musicians who could block predictions as well.
There were all types of coincidences, but if one looked closely, there were also all types of strange occurrences. The first couple of times may have been coincidences, but the others were too bizarre to be considered coincidences! The guy seemed to be able to teleport!
According to records, other than the priest who had the gods’ tenacity, no one else in the world could teleport thousands of miles like characters in novels. No one could even teleport to the next room.
The ultimate proposition of the School of Modifications was “human teleportation.” But to that very day, even the Saints could only teleport everyday objects through the wind tunnel. If a human tried it, they would be torn to pieces or evaporate into a cloud of blood. No one was able to disappear instantaneously, unless he got rid of every last molecule of himself. So how did the Ripper do it? Could it be that Pope Beethoven had gotten bored and came to Anglo to kill people for fun?