by Feng Yue
—
“Is Bai Xi sleeping?”
“You took her out to shop for the entire day. She started yawning as soon as she got back and is probably sleeping now. She was exhausted.”
“She’ll probably have a good dream, right?” With a sigh, Ye Qingxuan bid Charles farewell, put on his hunting hat, and pushed the door open.
“Hey, Yezi,” Charles called behind him.
“Yeah?” The youth looked back.
Charles shook the crystal ball in his hands and stated, “A mysterious power told me that today’s a bad day. Why don’t you change the date?”
“When did you start learning fortune telling like a witch?”
“I learned by myself.” Charles’s expression was serious.
“Senior, your research is never reliable and you spend your days trying to figure out how to blow up the school. I don’t really trust stuff that you learn by yourself.” Seeing Charles’s complicated expression, Ye Qingxuan could not help but laugh. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back as soon as I get it done. If…I’m successful, I probably won’t have to go out at night anymore.”
Charles watched as the youth walked into the distance. He tossed the crystal ball away and got onto the couch, looking out the window. The starless night sky was pure black, like a slab of steel in the air.
But in Charles’s eyes, the clouds seemed to be on fire and shone with a vague redness. The red firelight shrouded the entire city. When it fell onto the ground, the entire world seemed to go up in flames. “Did something happen?” He closed his eyes, no longer listening to the faint roars and wails in the wind. He murmured, “…Even Avalon turned into this mess. F*ck.”
—
It was late at night. The entire sky was covered in black clouds. The moon and stars were hidden under the layer of charcoal. One could vaguely hear the crashing of ocean waves. The city built on the mountainside was submerged in darkness. The sharp shadow seemed to pierce into the clouds, reaching into the sky. It was sharp as a blade.
At the very bottom of the city, under the towering mountain, there were no longer any buildings. There was only the sound of the rising tide and the roaring of water. Under the opened black gate, murky water rushed into the ocean. The splashes smelled foul and fell onto the rusted gate. The mighty gate trembled and wailed.
This was the Thames Gate, where the Thames River flowed into the ocean. The complicated sewage system under Avalon grouped here. Everything hidden under the city would rush into the ocean here with the murky waters. The foul and decaying smell emanated.
Beside the flowing water was an old man, sitting on a weathered rock. He looked like a homeless man, killing time with boredom.
Beside him, Ghosthand stood in the mud. Cocking his head, he lit his pipe and inhaled before letting out a cloud of smoke.
All that could be heard in the silence was the unclear melody coming from the Shaman. It was distant and hoarse, like a traveler reminiscing on his hometown. And so the song was lonely.
In the long night, the clock at the top of the mountain suddenly rang midnight. The thunderous sound spread, resonating with the steel gate beside them. The gate began to tremble and countless wheels and gears began to turn. The first tunnel opened, then the second, and the third…The time for discharging had come. The current of the Thames River become frenzied. The crashing of waves came from the darkness behind the steel gate. As if a copper kettle was boiling, bubbles appeared and the foul smell surged in the wind.
Boom! A thunderous boom sounded in the towering city. Firelight appeared in the darkness of downtown. The fire appeared out of nowhere and burned without restraint, as if it was the only light in the dark world.
The light illuminated the din of the fighting and faint roars of anger. Dilapidated buildings wailed and collapsed in the fire. This was only the beginning.
Quickly, the second, third, fourth…balls of fire lit up continuously throughout the vast downtown district. It was the angry thugs setting fire everywhere.
The sea wind brought with it hoarse roars and the clanging of weapons. The serenity was instantly shattered. Illuminated by the firelight, commotion and chaos spread at an incredible speed. Countless buildings were set aflame. No matter if they were low huts, old buildings or the luxurious Ganlu City, all were lit on fire.
The thugs carried their weapons onto the streets in groups, smashing their enemies’ territory, stealing loot and finally setting everything on fire. The fighting that had always been behind the scenes now broke through the darkness and unfolded in every corner of downtown.
The burning light illuminated the dark city. The sharp city now looked like a fiery blade, piercing into the sky. Behind the towering city walls, the nearby midtown and high-up uptown seemed to still be asleep. They opened an eye coldly, gazing as the beggars killed each other.
The Shaman’s white hair was illuminated by the firelight. “Haven’t seen such a commotion in years, huh?” he murmured, raising his eyes. “The parliament’s defense is scary. It’s like they want to burn the entire city.”
“They want to fight to the death.” Ghosthand furrowed his brows. “Otherwise, their power in downtown will be wiped out by us. This time, they won’t quit until you die.”
“Then let them come. My head is here.” The Shaman laughed loudly and produced a metal flask from his pocket. He unscrewed the lid and drank the cold wine. The wine entered his throat like a blazing sword, almost burning his soul.
“Ghosthand, where are my knights?”
“In the flames.”
“Are they fighting?”
“Yes.”
“Are they dying?”
“Yes.”
“They’re dying because of me.” The Shaman emptied the wine in the flagon and tossed it into the murky waters. “Let me watch as they die.” He reached out and took the heavy wooden drum from Ghosthand. He caressed the taut skin.
The old drum was covered with scorch marks and cracks. One could vaguely see the design on it, but it was unclear. It had aged along with its owner.
The Shaman sat cross-legged on the rock with the wooden drum in his arms. Like a warlock from the Dark World, he stared into the blazing fire and began beating the drum.
The drum beats were distant and blurry, like faint heartbeats from the underworld.
The old man seemed to be submerged in the drunkenness. He beat the drum and, feeling the unsteady rhythm, he sang hoarsely, “In the turmoil, in the brightness, in the breathing that moves all! Sink—drown—faint—go toward the carefree world!”
Boom! The flow of murky water surged! The Thames Gate shuddered and the water built up behind it followed the riverbed and rushed into the ocean. The darkness hidden under Avalon was taken with it, forming ripples in the ocean as the foul smell burst from the gate. The gate was finally opened and water from nineteen tunnels joined together, tilting without restraint.
The burning smell of fire came with the water, as well as ashy remains. Something seemed to appear within the foul yellow water. Angry winds tore apart the black clouds. Cold moonlight fell from the sky, illuminating the faces and white bones in the water. Dozens? Hundreds? Or was it thousands?!
An endless stream of bones and remains flowed from the darkness, entering the ocean. It was a river of…corpses!
In the roaring waters, the broken bodies rolled, revealing white bones, decaying intestines and blind eyes. The bodies had come from all directions. They had been thrown down from every sewer, tossing and turning in the turbid waters, brewing in Avalon’s guts, until they finally rushed out from the Thames Gate!
The Thames River was a hardworking bone collector. It collected the skeletons and corpses of those that had died in the fighting and kept them like treasures. It enjoyed their hopeless eyes, sucked away their last bits of warmth, before tossing them to the side without any nostalgia.
On the bank of the impatient waters, the Shaman looked down on the pairs of dull eyes as he sang the funeral song. “We will all d
ie and we shall never part again. Forever, forever, for eternity, we will never wake, never fear…”
The broken voice melted into the darkness and spread in the foul remains of despair. It guided the angry souls into the dark world. The corpses floated into the ocean.
158 Rio
In an instant, the entire district was cast into a nightmare. The peace and serenity was gone, replaced by nightmarish spasms and struggles. Buildings were on fire. Illuminated by the flames, the streets crawled with thugs armed to the teeth. Some were the Shaman’s men, some came from other places, and others took advantage of the chaos to break into homes…
In a desolate alley, blood flowed over the stone tiles. Bodies were dragged and thrown into the sewer where they disappeared with the bubbling water.
Amidst the roaring and screaming, the people who had nothing to do with the fighting hid in their homes, trembling. They burrowed under their covers and prayed that this long night would end quickly and that disaster would not fall on them. The dark downtown was thrown into turmoil under the blazing firelight. Even Ye Qingxuan had fallen into some small trouble.
Two figures suddenly appeared before him in the alley, blocking his way. He looked back and saw that the other end was blocked by two men with swords as well.
“I’m just passing by. You don’t have to do this, right?” He sighed. “I’m in a hurry. Can you not waste my time?”
Two muscular men with daggers exchanged glances and laughed. They closed in, eyes fierce. It seemed that it was impossible to communicate with words.
Ye Qingxuan sighed again, fixed his hunting hat and reached out.
Boom! The approaching man flew back, as if they had been smashed in the face with a steel hammer.
The man blocking the entrance was stunned. Before he could react, a black shadow charged toward him at an impossible speed. He raised his dagger instinctively to protect himself. But then an arm swung over, bending the dagger and crashing into his chest. He was slammed against the wall.
Boom! Dust flew and the dagger fell, shattering.
The two men behind Ye Qingxuan froze. They reacted quickly and charged with a yell. Ye Qingxuan turned around, clenched his fist and swung! In an instant, his fist hit a shoulder blade. There was a crack, and the strong man fell to his knees. The other man was flipped over by Ye Qingxuan and was now under his feet. After implanting the Chainsaw monk’s skeleton, the Dungeon Gentleman was able to give Ye Qingxuan enough strength to flatten these thugs. If he ignored the consequences and put all his strength into it, he felt that he could arm wrestle with an elephant.
Doing all these moves and dealing with four men without even needing to catch his breath felt really good. The only problem was…they did not seem to have been dealt with completely.
Wrinkling his forehead, Ye Qingxuan looked down and saw that the men who had collapsed were now climbing back up. Someone picked up a sword and was rushing toward him. Ye Qingxuan reached out and gripped the blade. The steel skeleton in the black gloves slowly closed in around the blade and shattered it. Then he threw the attacker onto the ground. An average man would have been knocked unconscious with that thud, but this man was just dizzy for a bit before he started struggling again.
Ye Qingxuan stiffened his body and broke their right leg. But the strange thing was, they did not scream in pain when their right leg broke and bone pierced through their skin. Their movement did not even slow down. This was not natural.
“What is this?” Y Qingxuan poked their broken bone and saw no painful expression. His brows slowly furrowed. “Do you not feel pain at all?”
Suddenly, he flipped the others over and grabbed one man by the neck, bringing him closer. Under the dim light, he saw that the man’s eyes were bloodshot and crazed. His breath smelled of alcohol, but there was something bitter in the smell, like extremely thick medicine.
“Illegal drugs?” he questioned, suddenly coming to the realization. “Looks like the Indians’ work.” At this time, the other guys slowly crawled over.
Ye Qingxuan looked at their zombie-like state and grew helpless. “You guys are so annoying. Do I really have to kill you?”
Boom! Before he could finish, one of their heads was crushed.
Boom! Boom! With two more sounds, the other two men’s heads were crushed as well. Brain matter flew, splattering onto Ye Qingxuan’s shoes.
Under the distant glow of the fire, a burly and inhuman shadow walked into the alley. It easily flattened the thugs on the ground as if it were stepping on bugs. When he walked into the alley, he practically filled up the entire space. It was chilling for one to see this figure walk towards oneself. He then took the man from Ye Qingxuan’s hands, put a hand on the head, and twisted.
Crack. The ripe fruit fell from its stem, blood spewing out.
Ye Qingxuan looked up at the face of the newcomer—as expected, he was wearing a comical and menacing donkey mask. It was the Bloody Butcher.
The Butcher gazed at him and turned to the side, motioning for Ye Qingxuan to lead the way. The giant folded chainsaw was at his back. There were layers of dried blood on it and one could not see its original color.
Ye Qingxuan glanced at him. He could not see the Butcher’s expression under the strange mask, but he just wanted to laugh. The Professor had hired the Butcher to kill him, but now he was taking him to kill the Professor. How interesting.
“Come with me,” he said as he took the lead. “There are a lot of people near the factory. To avoid getting too much attention, I…” Ye Qingxuan paused, his voice cutting off.
The youth looked up and saw a man on fire. He ran out of a burning building and rolled on the ground before finally crawling toward a dirty water ditch with a wail. His movements stopped before he reached it. He was dead.
Behind his dead body was an entire street was bathed in light emanating from the dancing flames. Amidst the flames, the crazed and dazed thugs swallowed the drugs and were submerged in ecstasy. They broke into every home and dragged the hiding civilians out…
Ye Qingxuan sighed. He could not walk further. “What a group of scum,” he thought.
—
As the fire spread gradually and illuminated the entire downtown, the din was suffused in the ocean wind.
The guards of the only entrance to midtown from downtown—the Tower Bridge—gazed at the fire from afar and readied their weapons. Occasionally, someone with sharp eyes would see the group of armed thugs and would doubt whether his police weaponry had any meaning…if a few dozen men rushed over, the checkpoint would collapse entirely.
Behind the checkpoint, the officer in charge of tonight’s shift had turned ghastly pale. He had received a message that there would be some riots in downtown, but he did not think that it would be this big.
It was like the carnival had come early. The bonfire was lit and the cheering people drank and partied through the night. But instead of flowers, they held swords, and instead of decorated masks their faces were covered in blood.
“These thugs…” He took a step back subconsciously and raised his voice. “Riders, be fully prepared. If someone attacks the checkpoint, push them back! Why hasn’t the message from the headquarters arrived? Do the higher-ups not care about this at all?!”
As soon as he spoke, the clattering of hooves traveled from behind him. He spun around as if his savior had arrived and saw a black horse. The messenger raised a lantern, illuminating the road before him as he galloped through the dark night. The badge of the Royal messenger was on his saddle. It would occasionally bounce up and fall into the light, reflecting a chilling flash.
He had rushed over from uptown, passed through midtown, stepped onto the Tower Bridge and galloped before finally stopping at the gate before downtown. He raised his badge and announced, “Everyone gather and retreat behind the bridge. Call back all riders. All Avalon policemen must stay behind the Tower Bridge!”
The officer was stunned. “Then what about here?”
The messenger gaze
d coolly at the distant firelight and squeezed out between clenched teeth, “Drop the gate.”
“But…”
“Both sides are trash and it’s best if they all die out. Just let them fight each other.” He waved coldly, motioning for the hesitant officers to hurry up. “Your task now is to control the chaos and make sure it doesn’t expand. As for these dogs, just let them burn!”
The officer fell silent. After a long time, he sighed and took the hammer from his saddle. Raising it up, he swung it down on the cable before him.
Boom! The hammer buried into the wood and cut the cable in two. The cable whirred sharply as it was pulled by the powerful group of pulleys and flew into the air.
Above the Tower Bridge, the heavy gate hovering in the air shook. Large pieces of rust and metal dust fell. Piercing groans came from the pivots and axis that had not moved in years. Amidst the scraping of metal, the gate fell from the sky and crashed onto the ground, sealing the only path between downtown and the rest of the city. In the chaos behind the gate, someone let out a shocked cry.
The commoners that had been running gasped as the gate fell from the sky, blocking their way to safety. The chasing sounds behind them neared.
“Wait! Wait… we…” A frantic woman shook the gate with all her might. Hopelessness was written all over her bruised face. “Please save us!”
The distant group of thugs with their torches gradually approached while shouting. The infant in the woman’s arms was frightened awake and began crying. The man beside them fell into despair too. He tried to crawl in under the gate.
“You can’t just leave us here! Let us in! Let us in!”
“Stand back! Stand back now!” In panic, the officer yelled repeatedly, “Don’t attack the checkpoint! Do not attack…” But he could not continue. He could no longer bear to look at those pleading eyes. Turning around with difficulty, he gazed at the messenger. His lips quivered as if he wanted to beg on their behalf, but he did not know what to say.