Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  Nothing could be turned back.

  After a long silence, Ye Lanzhou slowly took off his glasses. His eyes were troubled and exhausted, as if he could see the youth sleeping in the darkness.

  “Yezi, it’s been so many years and you look so realistic, but you’re still just living in your dream,” he murmured. “Perhaps this is fate and the future you chose. The Ye family has inherited the Deva’s blood for millenniums and has always suffered the curse and prophecy. It will be tested in your hands.”

  Ye Lanzhou picked up his pen and wrote his comments at the bottom of the test. It was the ancient name created from passing between reality and dreams, brewed from the thoughts and dreams of many—Dreamweaver.

  232 Night on Bald Mountain

  “Hey, kid, wake up!” In his sleep, Ye Qingxuan felt someone slapping his face. Drowsily, he opened his eyes with difficulty and saw Hermes’s vague features.

  “How much is this?” Hermes raised some fingers.

  “Three.”

  Hermes seemed to nod and asked, “What is forty-four times six plus fifty-two divided by two?” Ye Qingxuan was a bit dazed. “Seems like your logical thinking hasn’t recovered. What about your sense of time?” Hermes asked again, “What time is it?”

  Ye Qingxuan looked past his shoulder and up at the sky. “From the sun, I think it’s afternoon?”

  “Hey, this is Jianlan Underground Palace! How is there a sun?” Hermes lit a string of incense and swept it past the youth’s nose. “The ritual was successful but your mind hasn’t recovered yet. Go to sleep.”

  “No, I clearly saw…” An extreme urge of sleep attacked Ye Qingxuan. His vision went black and he fell asleep once again.

  In his dream, he saw a blazing sun in the sky. There was also a moon hiding below the horizon, radiating pale white and blue light. The moon seemed to be murmuring to him but it was too far away, and Ye Qingxuan could not hear clearly.

  He saw the sun fall closer and closer to the horizon as the moonlight rose inch by inch. In the end, the sun and moon shone for a short period at the two ends of the sky. Their radiance fell upon the youth like the pupils of gods.

  Ye Qingxuan finally clearly heard the phrase they repeated endlessly in his ear. It was a murmur from ancient times, the truth carved into stone.

  Ye Qingxuan woke from the dream at that moment.

  He did not know when he had been lifted out of the Cave of Sleep and into the resting room of the library. The room was empty and completely still. He thought back carefully, but felt that only a few ridiculous scenes remained in his mind.

  He could not remember anything else.

  Just as he was sifting through his memories, he touched the heavy stone in his hands. The stone was icy cold with a metallic feeling. The wedge-shaped words jolted his memory of the blazing sun and moonlight murmuring in his ear from his dream.

  They said, “As if you are above, as if you are below, as if all is beginning.”

  The youth caressed the runes on the surface and finally understood what the wedge-shaped text was. They were not simple words; they were music theory precise to the extreme. They were the result of research and evolution using the School of Modifications as the starting point and the Creator as the proposition.

  It used the process of alchemy as an analogy for music theory and created a new categorization for all organisms’ physical substance. In addition, it suggested an incomplete but reliable tree diagram, allowing one to trace all organisms to their source and beginning of all…if the diagram was complete, of course.

  If alchemists could understand this, they would definitely be overjoyed and use all their fortune in exchange for it, but to Ye Qingxuan, it was useless. However, though Ye Qingxuan did not dabble in the School of Modifications, he felt as if a new world had opened up and the music theory in his mind had changed with this knowledge.

  When he looked, he could practically sense the source of all. He was clearly sitting inside the room, but he seemed to be able to feel the radiance of the gradually setting sun. Was this a hallucination?

  “Don’t space out,” an ancient voice suddenly said. “Being slow is a musician’s mortal enemy.”

  Instantly, a wind with a bloody scent blew past. Ye Qingxuan started rolling on the ground without thinking. Then there was a giant explosion and a large hole appeared on the ground.

  Right where he had been standing, a strange metallic creature with long and thin limbs appeared. It seemed to be ripped apart by someone’s bare hands; its body was skinned and replaced with a layer of rusting bronze. A bone face mask seemed to grow out of its flesh. There were three eyes on the mask—two on the left and one on the right. There were small dots on the rheumy yellow pupils, like the compound eyes of an insect.

  “A stray?” Ye Qingxuan felt a chill go down his spine. Why was there a low-level Satanic demon here?

  But there was no time for him to think. With a scream, the stray pounced at him. The limbs with a metallic luster cut through the air and yelled terrifyingly. Ye Qingxuan stumbled back and felt its sharp nails sweep past his eyes. His previously unfeeling eyes suddenly felt something cold brush past.

  With no time for hesitation, Ye Qingxuan quickly tightened his fingers as if he was squeezing something. The Jiu Xiao Huan Pei on his forefinger flashed dimly. Amidst the sound of crystal multiplying, the instrument strings sprouted out of thin air. Then, out of Ye Qingxuan’s expectations, it changed abruptly and transformed into the unstable apparition of an instrument in midair.

  After swallowing all that spirit, Jiu Xiao Huan Pei’s own spirit had recovered a bit. It could now change its appearance to suit the music score’s requirements.

  Yes, very good!

  Excitement flashed past Ye Qingxuan’s mind and he began playing an intense melody. A sharp sound instantly shot out. It was a tight swirl and the melody reached its climax in a few short moments.

  Then Jiu Xiao Huan Pei vibrated, letting out the majestic roar of a horn. The melody called to the aether and formed an invisible rope. It wrapped around the stray like layers of shackles, immobilizing it.

  During the roar, the stray’s body shook. Its limbs doubled and clawed at Ye Qingxuan’s face. He stared at the sharp incoming hand without moving.

  Because a silver chain had already extended out of thin air, wrapped around the beast’s limbs and tightened! With a crack, the bone shattered. The stray wailed and was immobilized within the chain.

  The horn sounded once again. The melody was light the sun, breaking through the darkness and announcing the coming of morning. Within that melody, the cold noise of grating melody sounded.

  Iron sand appeared out of nowhere. They crashed against each other, turning red-hot with friction, melting into each other and transforming into numerous sharp nails. The long black nails still had a shade of hot red and they pierced downward, following the horn’s guide.

  Instantly, they buried into the stray’s body and ripped it apart. They pierced through easily and nailed it onto the wall. The burning runes and oaths of defeating demons shone blindingly on the long nails.

  The shine was like fire, burning the stray from the inside out. Furious flames spilled out from the eyes, nose, and mouth of its strange mask. Within a few seconds, its insides had turned to ashes from the explosive fire. The demon vanished instantly like a hallucination. Only deathly white ash floated down from the air.

  “Long time no see, Night on Bald Mountain,” the ancient voice sighed. “Back when the court of the Church had not been replaced yet, you’d be able to see the stakes set on fire whenever the melody sounded. The sky would turn red from the burning flames.”

  Dominic had appeared behind the youth at some point. Seeing the youth’s shocked expression, he seemed to understand something and chuckled strangely.

  “Did you see it too? Good, you’ve improved. It seems that you’ve improved on observation skills during Deva sensing. Good, you’re not far from the official Musician level…” He turned as he spoke
and went off silently with his cane. Ye Qingxuan was still rooted to his spot.

  What was that?

  The moment he turned around, he saw the stooped and old Dominic, as well as the illusionary mountain of bones. It seemed to be an enormous cave formed by the withered bones of countless demons. Dark fog hung inside the cave like a calling from Hell.

  The apparition quickly disappeared as Dominic left. All that remained was a plume of black smoke and footprints like rising flames. The footprints reached into the darkness and vanished with Dominic.

  This was a terrifying sight that Ye Qingxuan had never seen before—he was frozen.

  “Did you do this?” He looked down and touched the stone at his fingertip carved with wedge-shaped words. Totally confused, he finally said self-mockingly, “Whatever, why am I all hung up on this?”

  Were there not other things waiting for him to do?

  -

  “Wooh, cheers, cheers!” Charles cheered in the tavern. He chomped on a large sausage kebab and danced happily.

  He could only reveal his true fighting spirit when eating buffets as he stuffed his mouth crazily. In a mere half hour, he had already eaten a few days’ worth of food for a strong man. But according to him, it was a rare opportunity to eat meat, so he should eat a month’s worth before thinking about anything else.

  Bai Xi, who had come with him, sat on the side with a neutral face and pretended she did not know Charles. Ye Qingxuan did not have much shame, but he still felt pressured by the manager’s angry eyes when he sat next to Charles.

  This time, even the Professor, who did not leave often, came out to eat and celebrate Ye Qingxuan’s sublimation ritual. This restaurant was right across from the academy and was not too far.

  Maybe he was happy because of the ritual’s success and picked up a cup of beer after eating a little, watching his students stuff their faces with a smile. During the small break after finishing, and before the server brought over a new platter of meat, Charles’ mouth finally had time to rest. He wiped his hands and asked the question he was most concerned about, “Yezi, stop being mysterious. I’ve been waiting for the whole day. What results did you get from the sublimation ritual?”

  Ye Qingxuan grinned. He looked to the sides and snatched a deck of poker cards left over from the customers on the table beside them. After washing the cards, he looked up at Charles.

  “Which one do you want?”

  233 To Not Lose

  “Which one do you want?”

  “Really? Why don’t you give me the little joker?”

  Before Charles finished his words, Ye Qingxuan had directly drawn one card from the deck and thrown it at Charles without even looking. The card turned over in the air, and it was indeed the little joker.

  After staring at the card for a long time, he looked up and said, “Give me the big joker!”

  The youth popped another card out from the deck and flipped it on the table. It was exactly the big joker that Charles asked for. The two jokers together looked particularly bizarre.

  Bai Xi raised her hand. “I want a king.”

  “Well, I’ll give you all four.” Ye Qingxuan quickly popped up four cards. The kings from four different suites flipped in the air, reversed, and finally landed on the table in a row before Bai Xi. Ye Qingxuan’s fingers did not stop. He kept popping up a few cards, dazzling their eyes. “Let me give you a flush.”

  In his hands, that pack of cards was like a living thing which continued to fly out and stack on the table in different suits, finally becoming four neat stacks. In the end, there was only the queen of spades in his hand. As his fingertips reversed, the card revealed its figure hidden in the mist.

  That hideous and dignified figure stood with a cane, politely standing in the dark as if he was looking at you through the card—It was the vengeful spirit, Sherlock Holmes.

  “Well, I like this one.” Ye Qingxuan looked at the card, laughed involuntarily, and stuffed it into his pocket.

  “Yezi, let’s discuss something!” Charles was simply too happy to function. “Tomorrow, I’ll take you to a good place…”

  “Ha, I won’t go to the casino.” Ye Qingxuan curled his lip. “Senior, don’t expect to make a fortune through this. This is only a small trick brought on by the sublimation ritual. You can use it for fun, but if you really meet a casino expert, you’ll still lose. You’ll lose no matter how much money you bring.”

  “Oh, fine.” Charles became dispirited immediately. “Then at least tell me how you did it.”

  “It’s very easy. You just shuffle, like this…” As he spoke, the young man rearranged the cards randomly and shuffled it with his ten fingers. After a few actions, the deck was placed on the table and spread again. Within just two seconds, the disarranged deck had been sorted out, arranged orderly according to its suits and numbers. It was practically like a new deck.

  It was so simple and casual, so easy. If Charles and Bai Xi did not know that Ye Qingxuan had never played a card before, they would think that Ye Qingxuan was possessed by an old gambler, a dead cheater, or a dealer.

  “Everything has its source.” Facing their startled eyes, Ye Qingxuan shrugged and smiled. “No matter how chaotic a deck is, it was in order at the beginning, just like now. All I have to do is reorganize the order so that they can recover their original position.”

  “Oh?” Abraham, who had been on the sidelines, suddenly chuckled. “It’s an interesting idea, Yezi.” Then he picked up the poker on the table and waved it at the youth. “Play a round?”

  Now, not only was Ye Qingxuan stunned, but also Charles. Abraham had never played poker before; he did not even know the rules and still needed Charles to explain it for him.

  Ye Qingxuan also rarely played poker, but with his own super memory and calculation ability, Ye Qingxuan still covered Bai Xi, the gambling queen, with white strips of paper.

  There was some disparity as to who would win!

  “Professor, since you are interested, I’ll definitely play with you. But if you can’t beat me, don’t you think it’ll be embarrassing?”

  “It’s just a game, no need to be pressured.” Abraham recognized the cards under the Charles’ guidance and said with a serious face, “I’ll try not to lose too.”

  -

  Ten minutes later, it was a draw.

  Ye Qingxuan looked blankly at the scattered cards on the table. He was dazed. Before him, Abraham still had a dull and emotionless face, but he made Ye Qingxuan feel ridiculous. Abraham did not even know the rules and still needed Charles to guide him.

  Ye Qingxuan did not understand why it was a draw. He was holding a good hand that he had not been able to put down yet. He just felt that there was something wrong.

  “Play again?” He asked.

  Abraham nodded.

  This time, he persisted for fifteen minutes, but still, it was a draw.

  This time, Bai Xi, who had been standing on the same side as him, discovered that Ye Qingxuan had bad luck and was not able to do something. This hand was extremely painful to play and Ye Qingxuan was like a completely novice who did not know the rules at all. Abraham was holding an average hand, but Ye Qingxuan was still forced to welcome a draw.

  “Play again?” asked Ye Qingxuan, and Abraham nodded.

  Twenty minutes later, a draw; again, a draw; again, a draw…

  One hour later, Ye Qingxuan was already covered in sweat, breathing heavily, and a little bit dizzy…For the first time, he felt his brain power was limited. This was even more exhausting than when he went to Revelations to play the Joker game last time. He felt restricted and had completely lost his confidence in defeating the enemy in the end. He was holding a good hand, but he did not even have the opportunity to play it.

  This time, it was still a draw.

  Ye Qingxuan did not win and Abraham did not lose, but the frustration of not knowing the opponent was more painful than a bloody defeat.

  “I don’t want to play anymore.” Ye Qingxuan gav
e it up with a bitter expression. “How did you do that, sir?”

  “The rules decided it, didn’t they?” Abraham’s awkwardly put away his scattered cards with his steel prosthetic arm and said, “Don’t be upset, I’m not a very smart player compared to you, and my calculations aren’t accurate either. But if winning requires the right time and place, then it’s easy to be not to lose. Just follow the rules.”

  “The rules?” Ye Qingxuan smiled wryly. “What rules? Poker rules?”

  “Everything runs from life to death; the sun and moon rise from east and set to the west; the ocean brings tides; a year is divided into four seasons; fruits will mature after sowing and the ripe fruit will fall to the ground…these are all rules, Yezi. Or, a term that you’ll understand better, it’s called music theory.”

  Abraham’s words stunned Ye Qingxuan, like blow to the forehead by a big ax. There was enlightenment in the moment of pain.

  The professor’s voice sounded in his ear, “The core of the Abstinence is to know the rules and music theory and apply your strength to it…What we are concerned with is not the object outside the body, but the music theory followed by the aether. Thus, we can remain undefeatable.” He paused, clinked his beer with Yezi’s, and let out a relieved chuckle.

  “Now do you understand? This is the first step in the field of the Abstinence and the deeper core of the interpretation method.” He murmured, “Congratulations, Yezi, you have stepped into enlightenment through your own understanding, even if I have not taught you anything. You’re a genius, and moved faster than I’d ever expected.”

  Immediately after the enlightenment, Ye Qingxuan finally grasped the inexplicable sentiment brought by the sublimation ritual, but when he finally thoroughly digested this understanding, he could not help but become a little frustrated. “Sir, you shouldn’t teach me Abstinence, right?”

  “You thought it up yourself, didn’t you?”

  Like an illusion, Abraham’s smile seemed vaguely sneaky. “After all, I haven’t taught you anything about it. What you’ve learned has nothing to do with me.”