by Feng Yue
“I did not see it with my own eyes, but I saw it from the paintings, and every god looked like a human being. Is it a coincidence? Is it fate? Or is it just a stupid guess based off of their imagination? What is this all about? What is this all about?”
“You are so noisy! Hermes, can’t you be quiet!” Behind the counter, the white-haired girl raised her eyes and glared at him.
“The entire city is killing each other like mad dogs. It’s so interesting. Bai Xi, come look.” Hermes pointed excitedly at the wild apparitions. “Gee, where’s all the pride and dignity that humans are always so proud of as the masters of the world? Would the Three Kings be sad if they could see the people they died protecting acting worse than wild dogs right now?”
“It’s just killing. What are you so excited about?” Bai Xi asked.
“Killing is boring, but it’s different if you look for the funny parts.” Hermes pointed at those dead pale faces and mocked them, “You see, these fools, they don’t even know what they died for. They were just trash when alive. They’re only useful when they’re dead. Their employers just want their lives, blood and bodies.”
Bai Xi was stunned. “Bodies?”
“Yes, their bodies.” Hermes sneered. “The parliament never treated them as their men. The only thing the parliament needed was war and blood…
“Werner and Silo are all idiots. The first only knows how to kill. The other only thinks of benefits. Only that guy Alberto is a little shrewd and received the parliament’s special treatment and exemption, so he didn’t have to take part in this meaningless battle.”
“Aren’t the parliament and the Shaman fighting for downtown?” Bai Xi was puzzled. “If they lose, then everything would be meaningless, right?”
Hermes laughed and asked in reply, “Why do you think the parliament wants to fight with the Shaman? Is it a last struggle or is it for control over the district? Of course not! They’re all important figures at the top. Why would they gamble their lives like the commoners of downtown?
“They ruled over half of the Anglo. Why would they fight with mad dogs over this tiny downtown district?”
Bai Xi did not let Hermes down. She understood immediately. “…They just want the Blood Path?”
“That’s right!” Hermes snapped his fingers in appreciation. “So far, they’ve been deliberately acting secretly to deceive all the royal agents and the Fifth Department. They took advantage of the fact that the Royals are trapped in the curse and can’t bother with other affairs. They’ve done so much just for this one thing.
“For so many years, the Royal family has been restricting the Elites and supporting the commoners to get rid of these pretentious guys. If not for the fact that the Queen of this generation is cursed and allowed them to recover, they would have nothing now.
“After being repressed for so many years, the parliament knows better than anyone that they can only negotiate with the Royal family by mastering the Blood Path and waking up Avalon’s Shadow.
“They want the immortal power left behind by King Arthur and to replace the fallen royal family! For this, they even dared to borrow the power of Satan and the natural catastrophes…” Hermes waved his hand and the illusion in the candlelight changed. As if overlooking the entire city from the sky, all of downtown was held in his hands like a small toy.
“Bai Xi, if you’ve been searching for a key for many years and you haven’t found it but you really need it… What would you do?”
The sudden question made Bai Xi fall into deep thought. At last she seemed to think of something, and her face turned pale. “…Make a new one?”
Hermes smiled.
“Ever since four years ago, the parliament had turned downtown into a quagmire. They let the men kill each other while they collected the bodies and blood secretly. They wanted to use this incomparable amount of deaths to recreate the path to Avalon’s Shadow.
“Tonight’s struggle is the climax of the blood sacrifice. The blood of countless people would be offered tonight. At that time, countless bodies would be piled into a high tower and activate the Blood Path for them!”
He paused meaningfully and whispered softly, “That is, if no one disturbs them…”
“…the premise is, if there is no one to disturb… ” The seven-stringed instrument in his arms made a sharp and taunting sound.
160 Breaking in Professionally
The alarm went off with a wail. The blinding red light flashed on in the dome, shattering the darkness and stillness. The guards were awoken and confused, and heavy footsteps sounded in the distance.
Between the hanging corpses, Ye Qingxuan’s brows gradually furrowed. He finally understood. “This is where the trap is?” He sighed. “I really underestimated you, Professor Moriarty. Was this your original goal?”
If he had thought in the beginning that the Professor would set an ambush here, now he could not believe that the Professor could do something like this even if his life depended on it. If the Professor could turn the Arkham Asylum into a demon-creating workshop and transformation center for illegal techniques, then why had he fallen to the point of being hunted by the parliament?
But this time, Ye Qingxuan had really fallen into the Professor’s trap. This guy really took revenge for the smallest thing. This was payback for falling into Ye Qingxuan’s trap last time.
When he interrogated the smuggler, he had purposefully imitated Ye Qingxuan to catch his attention and provide the next clue. Just like that, with him as bait, the Professor easily guided Ye Qingxuan over. He had found the path for free, led the attack, tested the truth and, along the way, attracted everyone’s attention. Now, the Professor was probably hiding in the darkness, watching the two idiots who had taken everyone’s attention off of him, cackling with pride.
—
When Ye Qingxuan saw the forest of corpses, he realized that Ghosthand had been wrong since the beginning. Lychee and the other smugglers had not been in the sewer searching for something. They were transporting corpses!
The sewer was really a great place. It was the best location for destroying bodies and evidence. No matter what it was, it would sink to the bottom of the murky waters once thrown in then disappear without a trace. Who would really care if the body floated into the ocean or somewhere else?
For a long time, the parliament had provoked the wars between the downtown gangs. It allowed them to kill each other, waste lives and provide with them an endless supply of corpses and blood—and missing people! Everything was transported here through the abandoned sewers. After selection and preservation, they were hung on metal hooks, waiting for further processing.
After understanding this, the confusing process was quickly organized in Ye Qingxuan’s mind. The parliament had controlled the Arkham Asylum for a long time, right? After all, what would be a better place than the asylum? This was a trash can that was both hated and indispensable. No one would investigate if an asylum hid any secrets, and no one cared what happened to the madmen here. Who cared if they were really able to turn back into regular people after treatment and return to the society?
Beside the Arkham Asylum, there was still a shiny golden plaque—the Royal Research Institution was there to cover for them. They could leisurely collect bodies or living people to explore demonic illegal techniques. They could turn these bodies into demons…For growth, for power, or to collect blood…And create the Blood Path!
At this thought, Ye Qingxuan felt goosebumps form. But the more he thought about it, the more logical it seemed. Why not?
“Are they crazy?” he murmured as he looked around at the bodies and their blind eyes…Some of them were beggars from the dirty ditches of downtown. Others were bankrupted men who had smuggled themselves into Anglo on cargo ships. There were even thugs and gangsters covered in tattoos.
Undoubtedly, these were the lowest of the low. They had died without a sound or without even knowing why they were killed. They might not have been able to make the world a better pl
ace, but that was not the reason why they had died.
A shrill scream cur through the air. Ye Qingxuan raised his hand and felt his arm vibrate.
Thud! An arrow bounced off his arm and spun in the air before landing on the metal floorboard with a clang. The surrounding figures had come in. One could vaguely see their menacing faces under the scattered red light.
“Kill them!” a somewhat familiar voice roared. “Remember to leave a survivor and find out how they got in!”
“…His orders are contradicting. Was downtown’s grammar all taught by the same math teacher?” Ye Qingxuan furrowed his brows and stared coldly at the figures closing in on him, their bows aimed at him.
“Can’t we talk it out? To be honest, I don’t really want…”
Thud! An arrow grazed his face and buried into the corpse behind him.
“Okay, if we can’t talk, then I’m sorry…” Ye Qingxuan looked down and slammed his cane into the ground. “Kneel!”
Thud! The heavy staff clanged against the steel floorboard underfoot. The instrument strings twanged and played the mournful melody. The hopeless and frantic music spread. Amidst the screams, a black river flowed out of thin air.
In an instant, the charging figures were sapped of energy and collapsed onto the ground before the youth. And then the bone saw was hoisted up and swung down! Blood flew.
The wild screams stopped awkwardly and were replaced by the Butcher’s crazed roars. In the heavy metallic scent, it was as if a beast had been let out of its cage to cause bloodshed.
“The—the Butcher?” the commander recognized the wild figure from amongst the crowd and screamed.
Ye Qingxuan looked up. His gaze went past the group of thugs and landed on the pale face. He suddenly realized who it was. “Oh, Mr. Lorenzo? Long time no see. I can’t believe you’re here…Perfect, I have some questions that I really hope you can answer for me.”
Stared at by those cold eyes, Lorenzo felt a chill shoot to the back of his head from his feet. He stepped back subconsciously.
Ye Qingxuan knew those eyes. He had often seen them on his enemy’s faces. If he had to describe it, it was something like, “Saw a f*cking ghost.”
“Sh—Sherlock Holmes…”
Hearing him utter the name, Ye Qingxuan revealed a cool smile. “It’s great that you know me. So can you tell me what’s going on with all these corpses?”
It hurt Lorenzo to be stared at by those eyes and he retreated subconsciously, yelling, “Shoot! Shoot! Kill him…” But even he knew that crossbows were useless before an evil spirit like this, not to mention the monstrous Butcher beside him!
Seeing his drugged men charge forward without any fear, Lorenzo could not help but creep backward and run for the elevator in the distance. “Godd*mmit, where are the musicians? Where are our musicians? And those experiments? Why do I have to face the beasts by myself?!” he thought.
Amid the concentrated arrows, Ye Qingxuan saw the people with bloodshot eyes scream and run over. He sighed and stepped back.
Behind him, the mighty figure suddenly expanded to three times his original size. The Butcher roared and he emanated wild heat, as if his blood was boiling. The hoarse roar caused all the bodies on the hooks to sway, as if angry wind swept in when he roared. Even those submerged in the effects of the drugs were stunned by the furious spirit. Then they fell onto the ground in two or more pieces, cut cleanly by the bone saw.
At the back of the crowd, Lorenzo turned to see the splattering blood and his face paled.Amidst all this, a thin figure walked toward him soundlessly, conducting a dark melody.
Lorenzo’s legs quivered. He hurriedly ordered his men, “Shut the door! Hurry!” His dazed men tried to pull the handle but it would not move. Angered, Lorenzo kicked him away and grabbed the handle, pulling with all his might.
The mournful melody entered his ears, but was cut off by the bright sound from the pendant around his neck. The pendant was enchanted with a rare psychological defense music score. It was activated when attacked and prevented him from falling into the dark river. The steel gate fell suddenly!
Amid the killing, the Butcher roared and charged forward. The bone saw flew as well, whistling through the air toward Lorenzo who was behind the gate.
Boom! The saw buried deeply into the heavy gate. It twanged and flakes of dried blood fell down.
Angered, the Butcher flattened a drugged lunatic beside him with a fist and walked through the blood puddles to the gate. Then he began punching the gate furiously.
The gate was at least as tall as three men stacked atop each other. It shook wildly, each punch leaving an indent, but it still did not break.
“It’s useless. This is even stronger than the other one.” Ye Qingxuan stood beside the steel gate and studied it. He scraped off a bit of rust and rolled it between his fingers. “Heavy silver, wrought iron, with some green gold added in for extra ductility…this door must be expensive.
“This kind of material was originally used for cages for demons captured from the Dark World. You can punch it for two hours without making a dent, unless you’re a Modifications musician and use wild power to make an explosion. It’s practically perfection.”
Boom! In an instant, the alarm above began flashing wildly. The countless corpses hanging on the hooks swayed and shook as well.
With the snap of a finger, Ye Qingxuan shot back a few meters and stumbled, trying to find his balance. The immense shaking made his vision go black. The Sighing Sword carved onto his arm was now burning red—with one punch, it had already reached its maximum capacity.
Before him, amidst the rising smoke, a giant hole appeared in the large steel gate. The entire door had been bent out of shape, like a wrinkled rag. A handprint was clear in the center of the gate. Even warped and distorted to this state, the door was still intact and not shattered.
But then with continuous cracks and pops, a crack snaked from the gate to the wall beside it. Stunned, the Butcher pushed it. The bent gate with the girth of a man fell back and ripped out from the wall with a roar.
“…”
161 The Butcher and the Youth
The engineer who designed the gate would have never expected that there would be a psycho who would tear the gate apart just because he could not open it.
Stepping on the gate with gravel lying on the ground, Ye Qingxuan walked inside, but he did not see Lorenzo. As expected, the guy had escaped quickly. This was a good quality to have in downtown, otherwise he would not have survived up to this point.
“Let’s go.” Ye Qingxuan looked back at the Butcher. “Since we’re here, let’s see what the Arkham Asylum really looks like.”
Through the long path and up the stairs, it seemed like they were entering a complex building. The air was still filled with pungent fumes of disinfectants. The smell was so strong it seemed to not only kill bacteria, but also people. The only sound in the silent hall were of echoing footsteps.
The lights from the ceiling were white and dazzling, illuminating the iron bars on both sides, as well as the exhausted shadows behind them.
The people seemed to have come from all over the place, and were different in age and appearance, but all of them had some abnormalities on their bodies. Some had bones outside the skin; some people’s limbs were so slender and thin that they could only curl up in the cage; some had thorns growing from their joints, making them extremely ferocious; some were covered in muscles and the bars were like noodles to them, but they did not want to escape. Then there were some who had fish gills behind their ears. They were similar to the marks on the late Hariti…it was the Siren transformation.
They were modified in different ways. Even if it was the same type of modification, it was done in a different direction. The only similarity they shared was their expressionless faces. Neither the distant thunder nor the strangers walking by the fences could attract their attention. No one even tried to ask for food or beg to be let out. As if indulging in their own small world, they cur
led up in the cages, rubbing something on the ground carefully, mumbling to themselves, spitting bubbles, giggling…
“This must be the patient’s ward,” Ye Qingxuan murmured, looking at them from top to bottom. They were all dressed in the same clothes as the skeleton in the sewer. The clothing was similar to prisoner’s’ garb - a white shift designed for convenience at the surgery table.
Ten years ago, there must have been a riot that allowed some people, like Hariti, to escape. Others did not escape. Like the withered skeleton in the sewer, they could only stare at the direction of the sky as death came. Since then, they must have tightened security, just like…like this.
The butcher looked at the modified patients coldly. He held the bone saw with his guard up, but beside him, Ye Qingxuan looked calm.
“Don’t be nervous. They won’t react.” He casually pulled a man out of a cage. The man did not struggle and allowed Ye Qingxuan to move him around. Ye Qingxuan gripped his chin and looked at his head and ears. After seeing the abnormality in the eye, he realized something.
“I was right. Their frontal lobes have been surgically removed.” Ye Qingxuan mimed stabbing his eyes with his fingers for the Butcher. “Stab an ice pick through the bottom of the eyes to the skull, then stir the frontal lobe into a mess by feeling… After this process, no matter how vicious a person was, he would become a good boy and be manipulated easily.
“Once you’ve mastered this surgery, it only takes a few minutes. It’s safe and harmless. What’s more, it won’t have any effect on the later modifications. It’s really safe and convenient. “
The youth sniffed the intensifying smell of disinfectants in the wind. Illusions flashed past his eyes. The buried memory appeared again. Those broken memories had actually become unclear through the years. He was unwilling to recall what had happened to him. But for some reason, anger burned hotter and hotter in his heart. That wrath was like lava under the earth’s crust, crossing in the darkness quietly, burning people without any fire. He didn’t even know who he was supposed to be angry at.