by Feng Yue
“You give me the Eye of Indrah and I will let you go!” Puspotkata said through clenched teeth, “It is a holy item from my religion. It’s no use to you.”
“So this is the Eye of Indrah?” Ye Qingxuan looked at the relic and suddenly, everything became clear. This relic belonged to Indrah, an Indian saint also known as the king of thunder. No wonder there was an electric shock!
“Why is it useless?” Ye Qingxuan shrugged nonchalantly. “My chair broke a few days ago. It looks about the right size for padding. How about you let me keep it as a gift? Oh, and I’ve just calculated that this thing is my toilet’s reincarnation, and it’s destiny for me to have stumbled across it. Just let me have it.”
Puspotkata’s face turned beet red. His lips opened and closed, at a loss for words. At last, he crossed his hands before his chest, and the drum beats sounded again. “Holmes, you are courting death!”
“Be nice or I will throw it!” Ye Qingxuan lowered his hand an inch while Puspotkata licked his lips, his eyes ruthless. “I dare you!”
“Okay.” Ye Qingxuan nodded and loosened his grip.
Puspotkata’s features twisted, his eyes opened wide. As if it were in slow motion, his face distorted into a look of shock, then anger, then extreme grief. He really threw it? The b*stard seriously threw it?! It was a f*cking sacred relic!
“No!” Forgetting what he had said, Puspotkata dove at the relic without even caring about the aether. But it was too late.
A few meters away, the ball spun in the air, then fell into the muddy drain. Puspotkata could not bear to look. His eyes were full of despair.
At the last moment, a small, delicate hand stretched out from the side, and caught the Eye of Indrah.
“Yay!” Bai Xi made a peace sign with her hand and threw the relic to Ye Qingxuan. The youth posed as well, and glanced at Puspotkata who was on the ground, close to tears.
“You b*stard! You son of a b*tch!”
“It was just a joke. Take it easy!” Ye Qingxuan teased in high spirits. “I don’t think you’ve had enough fun. Why don’t we try again?”
“Good idea!” Bai Xi clapped. “I promise I will catch it again. Old man, you have to trust me!”
“Trust you? No way!” Puspotkata stood up in resentment and shame, his eyes hardened. He had finally calmed down enough to understand that the two b*stards were just playing a trick on him. But if one wanted to play with fire…one needed to be prepared to get burned.
“What do you want?” Puspotkata asked coldly.
“That’s right, let’s have a talk. Talking is better than anything.” Ye Qingxuan slowly retracted the Eye of Indrah and demanded, “Now you have an idea of what it’s like for a man to be hunted when he can’t even explain himself, right?”
Puspotkata was furious but he repressed his anger. “You can have the Eye. All you have to do is promise me one thing, and I’ll tell you the spell to activate it.”
Ye Qingxuan paused for a second with his eyebrow arched. Suddenly understanding something, he chuckled. “What promise?” he asked in a bargaining tone. “Tell me.”
“Kill the Shaman.” Something murderous flashed through Puspotkata’s eyes. “Join us, kill the Shaman, then I’ll voluntarily give this to you. We can even ask Silo to hire you as our sacrifice master. You can enjoy Ganlu City’s yearly profits too…”
“Are you kidding?” Ye Qingxuan scoffed. “You think too highly of me. I’m just a nameless musician. How can I kill the Dark King?”
“I don’t know about others, but it shouldn’t be too hard for a dark musician who could stay under the radar for so long,” Puspotkata said seriously. “Mr. Holmes, I suppose that you must be here for the Blood Path. The Shaman will not allow you to find it. When he was here nine years ago, all those who dared to look for it were killed.
“Now that the Shaman had made a comeback, he’ll go after you first. If you join us, it’s a win-win situation. Besides, don’t dark musicians always pursue power?”
“Well, that makes sense.” Ye Qingxuan frowned slightly. “However, you’re really not too sincere if you’re just using something ornamental to lure me in.”
Puspotkata kept silence for a moment before setting down his determination. “As long as you promise to deal with the Shaman, I’ll tell you the spell like I said before.”
Ye Qingxuan smiled as if he had expected it. “Since you’re so sincere, it’s a deal!”
Beside him, Bai Xi tugged at his sleeve, warning him that this old man was not reliable!
The youth waved, telling her to be patient. He gazed at the Eye of Indrah happily. “What’s the spell?”
Puspotkata’s face twisted again. After hesitating, he recited a paragraph in an Indian dialect. Ye Qingxuan was surprised, but he immediately processed it after repeating it mentally. “Do not turn three realms into ashes?”
Puspotkata was shocked, his eyes showed a hint of fear. Who would have guessed that this guy could understand Indian dialects as well?
130 Who is the Most Hateful?
In Indian legends, the demons created three metallic cities—gold, silver, and iron. Melded together, they created immense strength and an indescribable image. The gods were furious at this, and shot three arrows at the cities. Where the arrows fell, gold rusted, silver crumbled, and iron melted. The destructive fire killed all demons. Coldly watching as the earth burned to ash, the gods finally extinguished their destructive fire.
The phrase had been left behind by the God of Destruction. Using this to awaken the Eye of Indrah proved it to be an important treasure of the School of Modifications!
With this thought in mind, Ye Qingxuan tightened his hold on the orb. He was oblivious to Puspotkata’s faint sneer. “Then let me try it. Who knows if you’re lying?” As Puspotkata had expected, Ye Qingxuan grasped the Eye of Indrah and chanted, “Do not turn the three realms into ashes!”
The moment the words left Ye Qingxuan’s mouth, his palm went numb, and the Eye crackled with a bolt of lightning. As if a layer of dust had been wiped off, a crack appeared in the carved orb, revealing angry light. It shed layers of rock until it looked like a gemstone. Within it, eternal lightning flashed.
Faint rumbling of thunder came from the rock. Ye Qingxuan’s vision spun as a tidal wave of aether rushed from all direction into his control. Then, sapping Ye Qingxuan’s energy, it began to move on its own accord like a group of horses out of control. Countless silver light spots appeared around the youth.
For a moment, all color disappeared from Ye Qingxuan’s world. All that remained was the black and white of aether. As if it was the end of the world, the clean air above the crack fell and putrid gas from hell rose. Two types of ineffable power existed in one spot. They rubbed and crashed against each other, sparking destructive light.
“It—it’s moving on its own…” Under the light, Ye Qingxuan began to panic. He frantically tried to control the music score that was way beyond his abilities.
The Eye of Indrah suddenly shook and blood seeped into the gem. Ye Qingxuan’s panic intensified. “Help! It’s taking my blood…the power…I’m gonna…”
Stunned, Bai Xi tried to take the d*mned thing from Ye Qingxuan, forgetting that the electricity would burn her to ashes.
Puspotkata cackled. “Go die, Holmes!”
The drum beats sounded once again. Manipulating the aether, he created the shadow of Vidyā-rāja, the God of Light. The god opened his eyes, furious!
Puspotkata had said everything before to trick Holmes into reciting the spell. There was nothing wrong with the spell, but not everyone could use the power of the Eye! It was a destructive item that called forth the power of the Indrah, the God of Thunder! Otherwise, he would not use this relic as the medium to call forth the Holy Spirit.
The destructive thunder was definitely powerful, but not even a Resonance level musician could control unless he was very careful. The smallest distraction would cause the musician to burn to a crisp.
Now, Holmes was standi
ng at the edge of the cliff. Puspotkata no longer had to battle with this d*mn dark musician. He just had to give the man a light shove, and he would fall down the bottomless abyss.
“Do you feel the cost of greed now?” Puspotkata cackled, focusing the God of Light’s image at Ye Qingxuan. “Die from Indrah’s uncontrollable greed!” The God of Light attacked, but then someone snickered.
Puspotkata froze. Behind the God of Light, he saw the dark musician raise his head, his eyes full of mockery.
With a smile, Holmes said, “…I was lying.” He opened his hand. The ruby stone that seemed to be embedded in his hand lit up with destructive light! The wild electric current transformed into a dragon. It leapt into the night, and roared with mighty power. The electricity instantly shattered the God of Light’s image and landed on Puspotkata, swallowing him whole.
With a painful cry, the charred Puspotkata collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. The holy-looking white hair and beard were all burnt now. His skin had cracked, and his body was numb.
Ye Qingxuan walked over slowly and looked down at him.
“Why?” Puspotkata sputtered his eyes lost. “Why…can you control…”
“Yeah, why?” The youth shrugged. Slowly, he put the Eye of Indrah into a groove on his cane. It fit snugly onto Jiu Xiao Huan Pei with a click. Without a doubt, this thing was his from now on.
Ye Qingxuan bet that Puspotkata had never thought there would be an instrument that could control Indrah’s thunder, or that Holmes had such an instrument.
He had guessed Puspotkata’s dirty trick the moment he was willing to hand the Eye over. At first, he was worried that Puspotkata would keep chasing him. He had planned on parting with his beloved, and throwing the Eye in the other direction while he and Bai Xi ran for their lives in the sewer. It wouldn’t be the first time, after all. But who knew that this b*stard had ran out without bringing his instrument or defensive weapons and was struck by lightning?
Seeing that Ye Qingxuan was unharmed, Puspotkata’s eyes filled with anger. If not for his own injuries, he would do anything to kill the man, even willing to tear him up with his own teeth. “I-I won’t give up!” he howled. “That’s supposed to be mine!”
“Yeah,” Ye Qingxuan snickered. “And I’m not supposed to be chased by you all for no reason. If the world operated on ‘supposed to be’s,’ there would be no market for the medicine of regret. Oh, you’re a monk, right?” With that, he put the cane on Puspotkata’s head. “Have you counted how many sins you’ve committed after going against the creeds of your religion?”
Puspotkata froze, his eyes filled with despair. “Don’t kill me! I can give you the secrets of our School. I have six movements of Mahabharata. You can have them all! My uncle has the right Eye of Indrah too! I can trick him into giving it to you!”
Ye Qingxuan just laughed. “Since you believe in reincarnation, try to be a better person in your next life.”
Puspotkata tried to say something but his words were caught in his throat. A wailing melody sounded in his ear. The despair and frustration dug into his brain, and transformed into a dark river that practically drove him crazy.
“Sinful, sinful, sinful!” He seemed to hear Asura’s welcoming cheers from Hell. Painful wails sounded in his memory as faces flashed by, drowning him in the dark river. They drowned him bit by bit. He struggled with all his might, but ultimately drowned in his own evil doings. Under the cane, Puspotaka trembled and then stopped.
“Is he dead?” Bai Xi asked, stunned.
“Of course not.” Ye Qingxuan knocked the side of her head. “I may be underage, but I don’t break laws.” He paused, and gazed at Puspotkata’s blank eyes without pity. “I’m just sending him to the Arkham Asylum so he can make more friends.”
With that, he turned to leave, but his legs wobbled and he fell, almost landing beside Puspotkata. Bai Xi quickly caught him. “What’s wrong?”
“I think I lost too much blood.” His face as white as paper, Ye Qingxuan looked at the stone in his hands. “This stupid thing really does use the musician’s blood for electricity…I can’t use this too much.”
Bai Xi pursed her lips. “He should be glad he’s from the dragon bloodline,” she thought. “Otherwise, he’d be sapped dry.”
With Bai Xi supporting Ye Qingxuan, they started on the way home. But when they left the alley, Ye Qingxuan halted. He looked up at the end of the street…A figure stood under the cold moonlight—The Professor.
He did not seem to be waiting to attack Ye Qingxuan. He just watched them silently. Seeing Ye Qingxuan, he scoffed. “Listen, I don’t care who you are, but stay away from the Blood Path,” he warned. “Or else you’ll regret it.”
Ye Qingxuan laughed and shrugged carelessly. “To be honest, I don’t want to get into the mess…but sadly, I’ve been forced into it.”
The Professor did not reply. As if too tired to fight, he gave one last glance and turned around.
Ye Qingxuan watched him leave, and turned in the opposite direction.
Bai Xi looked at his eyes, then turned to look at the Professor’s silhouette. For some reason, her eyes became confused. “Hey, Cousin, you two are really similar.”
“Really?” Ye Qingxuan was taken aback.
“Yeah.” The girl nodded, her expression troubled. “You said you’ll follow me. Don’t run off with that guy, alright?”
Ye Qingxuan could not help but laugh and hit her lightly. “Bai Xi, you know who we all hate the most?”
Bai Xi shook her head after thinking for a bit.
“Ourselves.” Ye Qingxuan looked back in the darkness. “The more similar they are to ourselves, the more we hate them.”
—
In the backyard of Ganlu City, Silo looked at the charred old man on the rack, his eyes cold. The servants and slaves knelt on the ground, too scared to even breathe.
“He’s a retard now.” The choir musician checked Puspotkata’s vitals and shook his head. “His physical injuries aren’t too bad. They can heal with treatment, but his brain is unfortunately gone. Even if he wakes, he’ll be a lunatic.”
“Is there still hope?”
The musician shrugged. “It’s harder than creating a new body. You can’t afford it.”
Silo fell silent. After a long time, he waved. A servant cautiously pulled out three bars of gold for the musician and led him out.
Po Sinai stumbled from the basement, face pale. He shook his head at Silo. “They’re all dead.”
“How did they die?”
Hesitating, Po Sinai replied quietly, “They’ve all turned into shriveled up corpses, as if mummified by wind. The martial monks that Puspotkata had invited from India died too. All that remains is bones.”
“Isn’t the Professor also injured?” Silo asked coldly. “They deserved to die if they couldn’t fight against an injured man.”
“Yes.” Po Sinai could only lower his head.
“Get rid of all guards tonight. There’s no point in keeping these failures,” Silo ordered. “Doesn’t the opiate factory need slaves? Send them all there. The dead ones can be used as fertilizer.”
Po Sinai lowered his head, sweat rolling down. “Yes.”
“Contact the robin,” Silo said as he turned. “Tell him about the Professor and the Vengeful Spirit. Tell him that if he wants us to work for him, to bring us Moriarty and Holmes’ heads!”
131 Rune Stone Meditation
Late at night, a lamp lit up in Bai Xi’s room. After washing off the stinky oil and stains, the refreshed girl changed into her pajamas. Her long white hair fell down to her shoulders, like silver reflecting light.
She sat cross-legged on the bed holding a bunch of stuff. Her eyes seemed to sparkle under the light. “Thirty-thousand, twenty-thousand, sixty-thousand, one-hundred and ten-thousand! This one’s cheaper, only twelve thousand, but better than nothing. Wow, this is good, the purity of the gem is really high. I’ll price it at two-hundred thousand!” She smiled with satisfaction, and counte
d her war trophies over and over. She was so happy that she could melt into fluff.
The most exciting thing after committing a robbery was sharing the booty! Just counting everything was enough to make her want to scream in excitement. Bai Xi rolled on the bed with a pillow in her arms. “Oh my God! So much money! I feel like dying. How can I calm down, Cousin?”
“Die after we split everything.” Ye Qingxuan reached over to knock her back to reality. “We agreed that you can take half of everything. Have you decided what to take?”
“This is yours, this is mine, yours, mine, yours, mine….” In the shadow of the lamp, Bai Xi quickly divided the stuff into two parts, then pulled the bigger pile into her arms. “The gold, silver, and gems belong to me. Everything valuable is mine! You take those useless rune stones!”
Ye Qingxuan was speechless. This girl chose money without hesitation and gave away all the invaluable rune stones. “You don’t want the rune stones and materials?”
Bai Xi glanced at him. “Cousin, I’m a genius, okay? It would only take me one day to master all the instantaneous notes. Do you think I need those? Plus, I’m a girl. I can’t be fighting all day, right? It’s not easy for me to earn a lot of money, but now I’ll be a rich girl and live a rich life.”
Ye Qingxuan was speechless at his lack of talent. But also, what did Bai Xi mean by “girl?” Since when did Bai Xi see herself as a girl?
He sighed, having no say in the matter. He was about to argue, but when he looked at Bai Xi’s innocent smile, he could not say anything. He ran his fingers through her hair. “You’re the boss. I’ll take it all then.”
He gathered the small mountain of rune stones, and counted again. He could not believe it. In all, there were more than two hundred runes. They were all the basic notes that Ye Qingxuan needed. The Indians had probably swept through all of the surrounding black markets to collect these. But soon, something occurred to him. He looked blank and amazed immediately.