by Feng Yue
Firebird! It was Firebird?!
Aloise screamed instantly, ordering the two others to protect him. The two dark musicians were forced to transform into their true nature and pounce on the creature attacking from the dark.
The darkness swallowed them and there was no more sound from them.
In the blink of an eye, Aloise had the crystal eye in his hand, quickly swallowed it, and rolled onto the ground. The two dark musicians that had charged into the darkness finally reappeared. Their corpses rolled out from the darkness.
They were completely broken as if they were wearing many layers of clothing. One layer was skin, one was flesh, one was internal organs, one was bone. It was as if they had been sent to the surgical table, were quietly dissected by dozens of doctors for hours until each organ was dissected, and were now placed neatly on the ground.
They were a beauty and joy to look at…as if!
“No way!” Ye Qingxuan muttered.
Seeing the corpses roll out, he was tongue-tied. He looked toward the ball of burning darkness. It danced and thinned, revealing half a scaly claw from within. It was a slim yet wild body. The white clothing had been dyed red. For a moment, the figure was beautiful, dazzling, and flirtatious.
The Ripper!
“What drug did you take? How are you suddenly this powerful?”
Ye Qingxuan’s entire body froze. Those two dark musicians were many times more powerful than him, but had been turned into that state instantly. If the Ripper was this powerful last time, it would not be enough for her to play with even if Ye Qingxuan had two hundred legs!
“Dirty.” a hoarse voice sounded in the darkness as if in reply or just a monologue. “Dirty again, dirty again…Purify, must purify…purify the outsiders…purify disgrace…purify garbage, purify, purify, purify, purify, purify…”
“Hey, can you say something else?” Of course, Ye Qingxuan was not stupid enough to say that aloud but it felt good to mutter it silently. It was clear that the Ripper found him dirty and wanted to clean him out.
“But isn’t it tiring to clean the entire Avalon’s Shadow? When will you even finish? Won’t you go crazy? Wait…the Ripper’s probably crazy already.” For a moment, realization flashed through Ye Qingxuan’s eyes and he felt pity. It was so sad that she had gone crazy from cleaning.
To be honest, he was impressed by himself for being able to talk nonsense to himself under this kind of situation. However, it was clear that he was not the Ripper’s main target. It was Aloise, Satan’s soldier who had a much darker aura. That guy’s destructive aura was almost thick enough to be juiced. If Ye Qingxuan was the Ripper, he would be the first to go! But what happened next was totally unexpected.
On the ground, Aloise watched as the Ripper walked toward him. He suddenly laughed and shook the small bell in his hand. Ding dong~
The crisp sound was mixed with the odd cawing of an eagle. The blood light around him shook, left his body, and flowed into the bell, which shattered immediately. It transformed into a bloody vortex. A hand reached out and pulled him away.
He escaped? Escaped! That *sshole had activated Avalon’s Shadow’s exit and escaped!
Ye Qingxuan was dumbfounded.
“F*ck, where’s your dignity as a musician? Aren’t you afraid of embarrassing your god by running without a fight?! And if you ran…then what am I going to do?”
Not only was his wish of leaving shattered, his body began trembling before he even had time to fear, because the Ripper looked over in the darkness, as if looking at something dirty. The cleaning was about to begin…
260 You Probably Won’t Believe Me…
Not only was his wish of leaving shattered, his body began trembling before he even had time to fear because the Ripper looked over in the darkness as if looking at something dirty. The cleaning was about to begin…
Frozen, Ye Qingxuan stared blankly behind the Ripper. His eyes were in despair. “Percival?”
In the silence, the Ripper did not look back. Unmoving, she just stared at Ye Qingxuan.
Ye Qingxuan froze, swore in his mind, and ran. “This is horrible! Even psychotics didn’t fall for these distractions anymore! How can I live anymore?!”
In that moment, he felt the moonlight on his body shake violently. A large majority of it was used up in an instant. It was dim like a flickering candle in the wind. A shallow claw-mark was scratched onto his back. The burning darkness chased after him like a sarcoptic mange.
Panicking, Ye Qingxuan could not worry about his body anymore. He adjusted the steel skeleton within his robe to the most extreme mode and shot forward like an arrow. Each step taken was as painful as doing a split, but his speed had increased by three times.
And it was thirty times with the help of the moonlight. His body transformed into a shadow and rushed inside the Royal Musician Division’s building. He did not look back as he ran crazily but fulminations sounded continuously behind him.
He did not dare to look back—he was scared that if he did, he would see the Ripper right before his eyes, reflecting his pale face in hers. In situations like these, he should just focus on running until he ran out of energy!
The moonlight was used up quickly, dying away like a candle in the wind until all that remained was a small flicker. The tiny moonlight made Ye Qingxuan’s face ghastly pale as he panted.
He discovered an even worse problem—he was too tired!
“If I can survive, I’ll start running from today. I’ll practice for the marathon and exercise for Anglo,” he vowed silently. With the last of his strength, he sprinted toward the corner, covered his head, and broke through the window!
Boom! The youth spun in the air and landed in the center of a silent street. He climbed up with a roll and rushed toward deeper into the dark street.
The Ripper’s cruel figure was only a step away but did not chase after him. The figure stopped behind the broken window and looked at him coldly. Having escaped, Ye Qingxuan could not help but be proud. After a few more steps and turns, he would have widened the gap and lost the Ripper; however, there were no “few more steps.”
Under the cold moonlight at the end of the street, a headless stallion screamed. The dark on the horse hoisted his dragon scale sword. The blade reflected the moonlight, chilling Ye Qingxuan’s heart. It illuminated the bitter tears in his heart.
“You really came! Uh, I was just kidding about you coming. Can you please go back?” he pleaded internally. But it was obvious that that was impossible.
Ye Qingxuan stopped and looked back at the Ripper, who was staring at him coldly. Then he looked forward to the dark knight, who was preparing to charge. This was depressing.
The dark knight before him, the Ripper behind him…He was dead!
But unpredictably, there seemed to be a sigh. A familiar shadow jumped down from the wall. It looked at him with disdain and turned around. Nudging the manhole beside him, it opened its mouth and said, “Bark!”
This meant, “What are you waiting for? Jump, dumb*ss!”
Ye Qingxuan swore that he had never felt so mindblown in his entire life. The last time he had a similar feeling was when he saw his senior running down the streets nude. This time, it was seeing Old Phil appear in Avalon’s Shadow.
“Y-y-you…” Tongue-tied, it felt as if all his world views had been shattered. “I—I…you…”
Old Phil rolled its eyes and jumped down. It meant, “You can keep waiting if you want to die but I’m leaving!”
Not daring to hesitate, Ye Qingxuan quickly jumped in and followed Old Phil forward. The dog walked quickly and twisted and turned in the complicated sewer system. Ye Qingxuan soon lost his sense of direction.
Thank god the Ripper and dark knight did not follow. Perhaps the entrance was too narrow for them or too dirty, or perhaps they had started fighting on the surface.
Anyway, Ye Qingxuan had survived sure death and his eyes teared up involuntarily. As he continued walking for who knew how long, he started hearing
a trickle of water under his feet.
Ye Qingxuan had stepped into a puddle. Soon, he discovered that it was the Blood Path he had lost.
Old Phil picked up the pace; Ye Qingxuan had to run to catch up.
Suddenly, he heard the roar of water. When he rounded the corner, he saw the foul-smelling populated water rush down the sewage pipe. There were rotting vegetables in the water, along with a rotting scent. When he looked back, the Blood Path was no longer there. There was only a dusty wall covered in spider webs.
He had…exited Avalon’s Shadow?
-
Under the weak light of dawn, Ye Qingxuan carefully pushed the manhole cover and peeked out at the world. He saw the chaotic market, the weak street cleaner, and a muscular middle-aged woman with a basin of dirty water.
Wait…dirty water?
With a slosh, the water splashed all over Ye Qingxuan’s face. It was the smell and feeling he was familiar with. Yes, it was the dirty water used for boiling chicken feathers; however, he laughed involuntarily after the shock.
He had really come out?!
Under everyone’s stunned gazes, a strange man climbed out of the sewer with a giant dirty dog and began cheering as if he had received a new life. The terrified middle-aged woman gaped at his happy state. After a long while, she spat out, “This isn’t my fault. There’s something wrong with his head.”
-
Ten minutes later, he arrived at the large hall of the Caput mansion.
Pinching her nose, Lola looked at him in disgust. “Did you climb out of a landfill?”
“Probably,” With a wry chuckle, Ye Qingxuan collapsed onto the sofa and waved. “Stop caring about all that. Give me something to eat and then let me sleep.”
Seeing how he did not take himself as an outsider, and his unapologetic expression, Lola’s face instantly darkened. “You think my home is a hotel and you can come and go as you wish? Also, why do you bring everything here? Get that dog out of here!”
“Huh?” Confused, Ye Qingxuan looked to Old Phil. It was sitting beside him on the sofa. It was dirty and left a bunch of black marks on Lola’s favorite lush Indian rug. Now, it was side-eyeing Lola arrogantly.
Ye Qingxuan’s expression grew wry. “You might not believe it, but that’s my savior. I’m alive because of him!”
“Ha!” Lola was clearly close to losing her temper. With a dark expression, she gritted out, “Your savior sure is special! Ye Qingxuan, can you think before you make things up?”
“Anyway, just believe me. I’m so tired.” Ye Qingxuan held Lola’s shoulder with his dirty hands, leaving two handprints on her white shirt. “Can you let me sleep first? We can talk about things later.”
“Ye Qingxuan, you’re getting more and more reckless.” As a clean freak, Lola was so angry her eyes were twitching. Squeezing out an eerie smile, she said, “Sure, you can sleep. Would you like Sister to accompany you?”
Ye Qingxuan instantly grew shy. Scratching his face, he stammered, “This…Thanks but no thanks, Auntie.”
Thud! He flew out and landed outside the door.
“Ye Qingxuan!” In her original spot, Lola’s hair had turned snow-white from anger. Sharp fangs poked from her mouth, her eyes were murderous, and her face was cold. Though she had bad temper, anyone would be pissed at this!
First, she used up all her strength to save him after learning he had entered Avalon’s Shadow. Then, she waited for an entire night in worry, and finally, he came back with a dirty dog, smelling like he was pulled out a landfill.
Furthermore, he did not even say a single word of thanks. Not only was her night of worry and waiting were wasted on a dirty dog, Ye Qingxuan had said something no woman could bear. One must admit that Ye Qingxuan deserved it!
But after a while, Ye Qingxuan was still unmoving on the ground. Blanching, Lola went over and kicked his face. On the ground, Ye Qingxuan rolled over and snored. He was sleeping like a dead dog. He was so infuriating that he made one want to step on that face.
Yes, Lola felt much better after stepping on him. She looked up and called, “Sam!”
Soon, the ugly and lame servant stumbled over. Lola glanced at him and pointed at Old Phil on the sofa. “Get it some food and wash it. Note, it eats whatever you eat. It must eat better than you, understand?”
Sam’s features spasmed but he nodded.
Looking away, Lola bent down and tugged at Ye Qingxuan’s pant cuff. Dragging the youth as if he was a dead dog, she stumbled clumsily up the stairs. Finally, she pushed open her bedroom door and tossed him on the bed.
She finally remembered that he smelled really bad! Heart breaking, she gazed at her bedroom and her bed. When she saw Ye Qingxuan, she was so angry her teeth were sore. But after a while, she could only sigh.
Whatever. They were all useless now, so she would just change everything. There was no need to feel sad. Glancing at how deeply Ye Qingxuan was sleeping, she felt her own fatigue. After all, she had used up too much strength and had waited for a whole night.
She yawned and turned to leave. After two steps, she turned around angrily and glared at Ye Qingxuan. Why did she have to sleep in the guest room? This was her bedroom and her bed!
And so Ye Qingxuan was kicked to the side. Lola pulled down the curtains and carefully rolled out the unsullied blankets. Rolling herself into a cocoon, she closed her eyes. However, it felt weird without a pillow.
After a while, she surrendered and pulled an arm over. Putting the arm under her head, she closed her eyes. She felt much better imagining she was using a bag of the world’s best blood as her pillow. She slept heavily.
261 Holy
When Ye Qingxuan woke, he discovered that he was sleeping on a soft bed. The emptiness and fatigue that filled his body had disappeared too. There was a bitter taste in his mouth as well. It was probably medicine that Lola had poured into his mouth. He did not know what medicine it was but it was clearly expensive.
His tensed nerves had finally relaxed a bit. Even the disgusting sewer smell had mostly faded. But for some reason, his arm felt sore. Was this a side effect of the medicine?
Rubbing his face and sitting up, he felt the heaviness of sleep. When he saw the note at the top of the bed, he instantly woke up and felt chills.
“Dearest little Yezi, a hot bath is ready in the bathroom, food is on the table, and I’m in the library. Do you want to shower first? Or eat first? Or get the f*ck over and explain what happened?”
Of the short few sentences, the first part seemed gentle and teasing. However, Lola seemed to put all her anger and frustrations into her pen. The red ink pierced his eyes. This was not teasing! If he did not deal with this correctly, it was basically a death letter!
Here, he finally realized that Lola had worried about him for the entire night and he did not even thank her. No wonder she was so pissed. One must never anger a woman, especially a woman like Lola who could kill easily kill someone. Avalon had four full years of bloody history that could prove this point. Ye Qingxuan was going to get killed by her too.
At this thought, he did not dare to waste any more time. He scrambled out of bed, rushed into the bathroom, quickly got rid of the smell, rushed out, stuffed some pieces of bread into his mouth, and rushed into the library.
…
Half an hour later, Ye Qingxuan sat in the silent and dim library like a good student. He placed his hands on his knees, and smiled demurely without speaking. Lola’s expression was heavy. After listening to Ye Qingxuan’s story, she sipped her red tea. The knocking of porcelain created a heart-stopping sound.
The old-fashioned hat was placed on the table between them. It quietly emanated an ancient aura. The so-called ‘ancient aura’ sounded powerful but no matter how one thought, it did not seem to be of much use.
“So you’re saying that you were out the whole night and almost died just to bring this back?”
“Yes.”
“What did the parliament take away?”
“I don’t k
now.”
“What happened at the Royal Research Institute?”
“Not clear.”
“Where did the Ripper come from?”
“Not sure.”
And then a long, long silence.
After the long silence, Lola finally looked away and Ye Qingxuan secretly let out a breath. Sweat rolled down his back. If he really thought about it, he did not accomplish anything other than bringing back a stupid hat after working the entire night.
Yes, he made things difficult for the parliament, but only bringing back a hat from Avalon’s Shadow was not allowed.
“The parliament went wild trying to take this. Maybe it’s some holy weapon.”
“All the holy weapons in the world are in the Church with serial numbers. There are only sixteen at most. How can a new appear out of nowhere?” Lola glanced at him. “Do you really think that you can find something at the level of the Sword within the Stone from Avalon’s Shadow?”
“Uh, I was just suggesting the possibility.” Ye Qingxuan flipped the hat over. “Look, at least it’s alchemy equipment. Can you test it?”
“Yes, I’m disguised as a scholar of ancient studies, but I’m not an alchemist.” Lola rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you put it on?”
“Good idea!”
“Hey, you want to die?”
Ye Qingxuan had actually started considering it seriously. There was a large possibility that he would die, but it would not be worth it if he put in so much effort to bring a hat back and did not even try it!
After repeatedly checking for satanic traps or controlling music scores, Ye Qingxuan took a deep breath and put the hat on.
All was still. Nothing happened.
Lola looked at him seriously. She was ready to destroy the hat at any odd sign but Ye Qingxuan’s face was blank. He moved his neck, touched the hat, and tried many poses, but nothing happened.
“How do you feel?” Lola asked gravely.
“It’s pretty comfortable and the size is just right!” Ye Qingxuan grinned, feeling quite happy. “Do you have a mirror?”