by Feng Yue
Everything returned to silence.
The cells in on either side were still silent and empty but Ye Qingxuan was somehow kneeling on the ground. The dagger that had been in his boot was now pressed to his chest. It nicked at the flesh with a cold stinging pain.
Freaked out, Ye Qingxuan threw the dagger away. Looking down at the faint wound on his chest, he seemed to feel the pain of piercing his heart. “What is this…”
This time, he felt goosebumps as he looked at the empty cells. There was a strange atmosphere everywhere. Each inch of air was filled to the max with the thick negativity. Darkness surged. Burned. A hoarse moan sounded deep in the darkness.
Ye Qingxuan’s head shot up. There was a figure shackled with layers of chains in the burning darkness. The figure emanated a wild aura. The demonic twisted silhouette was hidden behind a veil. The golden hair was dyed red and dust covered the white dress.
Ye Qingxuan could vaguely see her eyes behind the red veil. There was endless darkness and wildness in those eyes, as well as sulfur and burning firelight. It was like a dragon at the brink of death—the Ripper.
-
Ye Qingxuan’s body tensed instantly. He finally understood how those demons outside had died… Like him, they had probably been affected by the Ripper’s wild aura and fell into frenzy. Had the Ripper lost control again?
Ye Qingxuan scared himself with the sudden thought. However, nothing changed in the Ripper’s eyes after he waited and held his breath for a while. They were still empty and unfocused, filled with chaos and craze. Even when the gaze fell on him, it was as if the Ripper was looking at grass. There was no sign of perception.
Ye Qingxuan stared at the Ripper silently. After a while, his gaze moved to the shackles and it finally dawned on him. All those handcuffs and shackles were probably put on by the Ripper herself, right?
She knew that she was going to lose control so she came here, closed all the doors, and restrained herself here with the chains. Along the way, the affected demons could not withstand the craze. Going wild, they killed each other. This all came from the terrifying aura she emanated subconsciously.
Ye Qingxuan would have dug out his own heart and died in this dark dungeon if he did not have Jiu Xiao Huan Pei. Compared to the terrifying aura, the Ripper’s own strength was extremely weak. She was as weak as a candle in the wind. She seemed to be burning herself up and venting out this strength.
Thinking of something, Ye Qingxuan held his breath and looked into the unclear darkness. Moonlight lit up in his eyes.
Under the moonlight’s glow, the darkness finally grew clearer and he could see what was hiding deep in it—it was the Eyes Within the Eye, the evil within evil. This was a mark of Satan!
The mark of the satanic eye was carved onto the Ripper’s chest as if drawn with blood. It was embedded in the flesh, engraved in there. A dark and crazed aura flowed from it endlessly, eroding the Ripper’s body. This was the curse of Hyakume. The mark was where Hyakume’s gaze was focused. He had put the Ripper in his eyes and reflected his power from the abyss into her body. This meant that the Ripper was being transformed into a demon every second of the day. Her original wild power was also rebelling against this process.
The two powers used the Ripper’s body as a battlefield to fight to death. There seemed to be an invisible ax in their path. Blood spurted out but the wounds quickly healed, only to be torn apart under another battle.
Bending down, Ye Qingxuan looked at the puddle of blood that had turned into a stream. The Ripper had probably been stuck in this torture for days.
He slowly approached.
“Presumptuous!”
When he was only a step away, a sharp crack suddenly appeared under his feet. Pebbles flew up and shot at Ye Qingxuan’s face. The Ripper screamed as if she had either woken or was trapped in a nightmare. She raised her eyes but emotions battled in her crazed eyes.
She was looking at Ye Qingxuan but it was as if she was looking at something horrible. She murmured in panic, “Dirty, it’s dirty…it’s all dirty…”
Looking at her eyes, Ye Qingxuan felt as if he saw faces hidden in the darkness. He could not find a focal point. There seemed be thousands of people. And it was the ancient lingua franca…
Had she been possessed by King Arthur? Turning into a psychotic killer after being possessed by King Arthur. This was an unfunny joke.
“Calm down.” Ye Qingxuan raised his hands. “I don’t mean harm. Maybe I can help you. We don’t have much time.”
“It’s you! Mordred.” The Ripper stared at him from behind the shackles, though her eyes were unfocused. Her voice was hoarse and wild. “Why do you not kneel before me? You’re clingy and linger…you b*stard can never be shaken away, I know! I know! I should’ve killed you long ago! No, you’re already dead Mordred, you’re already dead…Merlin? What is Merlin doing now?!” The Ripper yelled as she convulsed, “Traitor! You group of traitors! Guinevere, Percival, and that creature Merlin, you all want to betray me!”
Ye Qingxuan suddenly heard metal grating. The chained Ripper suddenly jumped forward to rip him apart but was stuck in midair, restricted by the shackles. The strength cast forward scraped Ye Qingxuan’s cheek, leaving behind a bloody mark. Blood flowed down his face and joined the bloody stream on the ground.
He stumbled back in the silence. His heart had started convulsing painfully again. Looking back in shock, he heard footsteps approaching from outside the dungeon door. That f*cking dark musician had caught up again…
“My friend! Where are you?” Naberius’ voice resounded amongst the ruins and neared. His tone was filled with anticipation. “Escaping can’t solve any problems. How much longer are you going to hide for? Are you testing my sincerity? Please be rest assured. My enthusiasm will melt your cold heart!”
“Are you crazy?!” Ye Qingxuan thought. If possible, he really wanted to slap that question on Naberius’ face. That man seemed determined to force Ye Qingxuan into becoming a dark musician and make headlines.
But why?! How come everyone was crazy these days? There was a crazy dark musician outside the door and a crazy Ripper inside the door. The entire Avalon’s Shadow was crazy.
“This is a disease. They need treatment.” Ye Qingxuan clenched his jaw and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Finally deciding, he muttered, “Friends, you all need treatment!”
-
“Mr. Holmes? Why must you reject my enthusiasm? Can’t you see my sincerity?” Under the fog of the ruined square outside the dungeon, Naberius paced and gazed around. His smile was filled with warmth.
Every few meters, the dirt of the ruins would rumble and a corpse would climb out to show him the direction Ye Qingxuan had gone in. He gradually walked straight to the youth’s location.
In the end, he stood outside the dungeon and gazed happily at Ye Qingxuan’s hiding spot. “Did my enthusiasm make you shy? That’s understandable! Understandable! Chasing so bluntly is truly impolite. You must feel embarrassed, right?”
273 Danube River of Blood
The fog was silent. No one replied.
Naberius seemed to hear the youth’s curse and he opened his arms cheerfully. “So you have nowhere to run now, huh? Why are you insisting on your prejudice? Why don’t we hold hands and walk toward the beautiful future together? Come, I can play a waltz and we can dance together with this beautiful melody!”
The instrument pounding like a heart in his hand gradually swelled and distorted, transforming into something like a French horn. Holding the odd instrument, he announced enthusiastically, “Next, please enjoy the musical piece brought to you by Naberius—The Danube River of Blood!”
An eerie breeze abruptly rose in the stillness. The French horn began playing energetically. At first, the sound was delicate. There was a tinge of bloodiness in the aura that spread in all directions.
Gentle and strange, the melody sounded like the murmurs of lost souls. Then the horn suddenly jolted. It crescendoed and a melody
flowed from thin air like a river. The music notes resounded as countless notes overlapped, shot out, and transformed into the graceful and gentle melody.
This music score required dozens of musicians to play in coherence. However, the power gifted by Hyakume seemed to give Naberius hundreds of hands. The hundreds of fingers on each hand played the layered tune. One could not resist the urge to walk forward and dance to the melody. However, the melody was incomparably eerie. It was like skeletons hugging and dancing together in the cemetery. It was like embracing death.
This was not the original Resonance level score. This was a dark melody modified by dark musicians. The witches and followers at the ritual would embrace each other, perform intercourse, dance with skeletons, and offer themselves to the glorious lord under this melody.
The fog had been forcefully scattered by this intensifying melody. Immediately after, a blood-red river trickled out of thin air. This was not the Blood Path—it was the Danube River that had been dyed red by skeletons, corpses, and death! Everything covered by the river was isolated by the world. This place had already been turned into a demonic abyss!
The melody ravaged the souls of all living organisms, snatching away their reason, dragging them into the dark territory. The bloody river tossed violently. Countless illusionary figures walked out, dancing to the melody.
Naberius bowed slightly and reached out a hand. A hand gloved in white lace reached out from the bloody river and rested on his hand. He stepped back and a girl dressed in a pure white veil was led out. Her figure was enchanting yet pure, like a girl attending a wedding. However, the girl was clearly a rotting skeleton. Even the wilted flower crown could not return youth to the ugly face.
With a happy and strange smile, she walked into Naberius’ arms. She held his hand and began dancing. This was the spirit hidden in this music score—the spirit of the dark music.
The overture finally ended with her appearance. The river of blood surged in all directions and flooded into the dungeon, swallowing everything in its path.
Countless skeleton girls in veils climbed out. They enthusiastically yet gently ‘welcomed’ all living things into the dance of death!
“You’re still hiding?” Naberius asked hoarsely amidst the eerie dance. “Mr. Holmes, are you really allowing me to do whatever I want? Your kindness makes me feel guilty.” The melody suddenly intensified and crescendoed. Naberius laughed loudly and sang along with the song.
“Ah, ah, you worry so much. You’re young and beautiful, gentle and kind. You’re like a piece of gold shining in the mine. True love awakens here beside the Danube River, beside the beautiful Danube River of blood!”
Boom! The bloody river jolted, interrupting Naberius’ song. His expression changed drastically, and he turned toward the river. A crack had appeared within the water. It looked like a claw that was frantically tearing the river apart. The waves surged but were unable to heal the scratch. It was sharp as a blade with pure and solid murderous intent. It was like the furious roar of a dragon who was about to die.
The Firebird?!
Naberius froze. Who…
The youth’s hoarse voice came from the darkness, “Thank you for the waltz, my friend.” He laughed with inexplicable cheer. “Sadly, I already have a dance partner.”
Sharp murderous aura flooded into the darkness. The veiled girls who had climbed out of the blood river were shattered to pieces. They were all in ruins!
“The Ripper…”
-
Fresh blood flowed in the dark dungeon. Under the layers of chains, the wound-covered youth embraced the Ripper. The formless but tangible murderous intent solidified into an ax that fell upon him. His layers of shields counteracted them so he was not torn to shreds. He only suffered ghastly wounds.
The immense pain rose in waves. Now, he finally understood the pain that the Ripper suffered at every moment. The little defense equipment that he had stolen from the dark musicians was unable to protect him against the Ripper’s heavy murderous aura.
She had not activated it yet, but it already felt like thousands of knives. He would have died long ago if he did not have the lifesaving hat. The music score Holy had maintained his minimum lifeforce.
Bearing the pain, he looked down at the Ripper. He could not see her face clearly but the eyes behind the bloody veil were wild yet hollow. She seemed to be trapped in a nightmare.
“I don’t know who you are but it doesn’t feel good to be controlled by either King Arthur or Hyakume, right?” Ye Qingxuan murmured. “It’s useless to just bear the abuse. You must fight back to receive freedom!” He paused as the eerie waltz played on. He squeezed a smile onto his painfully twitching face. “The waltz has already started. Don’t let the guests wait for too long.”
Ye Qingxuan reached out and grasped her cold wrist, murmuring in her ear, “Dance with me, crazy killer lady!”
-
Above the rippling Danube River of blood and within layers of chains, Ye Qingxuan gripped her hand and guided her to take the first step. The surging murderous aura shot in all directions. It disrupted the river, tearing the bloody brides into pieces.
Half of Ye Qingxuan’s body was covered in wounds as well during this attack. Blood rolled down his face but he did not stop. Ye Qingxuan guided her to step to the rhythm of this eerie and strange melody, twirling gently. The moonlight in his eyes illuminated.
“Let me see what you’re hiding inside!” Coherence began instantly with the moonlight as a bridge!
If Lola was here, she would definitely slap him for not caring about his life. Coherence for the School of Mind was the most dangerous of all schools. This represented the clashing and assimilation of two minds. If their strength was too different, he would be destroyed if he relaxed for a second. The terrifying emotion was contagious as well. He would definitely be influenced if he underwent coherence with someone as crazed as the Ripper. This meant that there were now two maniacs.
Unfortunately, this was not the first time Ye Qingxuan flirted with death. In fact, as for going crazy…He had never been this calm since he decided to return to Avalon. How could he be normal if he wanted to overturn the verdict for humanity’s number one traitor?
He instantly passed into the Ripper’s damaged heart and entered her mind. He was at once practically brought to his knees by the tidal wave of negativity.
Nope, there was no hope. Even someone as determined as Ye Qingxuan suddenly had the urge to give up. The Ripper seriously had no hope.
The moonlight guarded his mind, allowing him to see the Ripper’s current situation clearly. Right now, there was a large consciousness spreading quickly in her. It was a negative emotion that was as bottomless as the sea. This was the curse of Hyakume—anger, fear, jealousy, greed, brashness, cowardice…every negative feeling known to man appeared continuously.
The Ripper was powerless. Her mind was already at the brink of cracking. Now she had completely lost control under the erosion of the negativity. Some power gradually awakened and appeared. Now, it was too large to control. She could only vent out the anger in vain.
Ye Qingxuan was frustrated. Was she really possessed by King Arthur? What terrible thing had she done to fall to this state? What was this constantly swelling power? It was obviously a curse!
Now, they were entangled and could not be separated! It was as if a mentally ill patient on the brink of schizophrenia suddenly had another even more debilitating disease. Adding madness to madness and a disease to a disease!
Hyakume was not the strongest. Ye Qingxuan could casually extinguish any bit of it. The scary part though was that it would reappear just as fast. It had no true form or core that could be attacked. The thousands of negative feelings rose in waves, forming dark chaos. It was just chaos.
Even if a shred remained, it could instantly come back to life. Now, the chaos had polluted more than sixty percent of her mind. This meant that it was going to succeed. The patient was beyond saving!
Seeing this
situation, Ye Qingxuan had a migraine. He could not help it. At this point, it would require a true miracle. No medicine could help. Furthermore, if he rushed in with his consciousness, he would be attacked by both sides. The best case scenario would be to be assimilated by one of them.
At that time, he would be worse off than becoming a dark musician. He would be completely obliterated!
His features twitched; his expression was troubled and ugly. It was not that he did not want to help her. It was just that nothing could save her at this point.
Unless the Ripper woke up by herself and truly grasped her power. But was that possible? She would not lose control and run to kill people at the Whitechapel Church if that was possible. So there was only one solution.
“I’m sorry.” Ye Qingxuan sighed. “I’m not an official psychologist. I only learned some random music theory from the School of Mind. You’re unlucky for being stuck with me.”
The youth had opened his eyes again after a second.
“Clench your jaw!” He glanced at the dull girl before him and punched her forehead suddenly. “Let’s try the trick of fighting fire with fire!”
Boom!
274 Chapter 269
In a twinkling, Ye Qingxuan blacked out. Then the crazy dark melody sounded in the minds of the two like a chorus of hundreds of people. The image of the black river, emerging from Ye Qingxuan’s heart, rushed into her brain.
It was the river of darkness that had been absorbing the guilt and negativity of countless people. At this moment, it was like a waterfall. Flowing with the plaintive melody and rhythm, it rushed into the battlefield of two emotions.
This was the strange movement Black Friday. It was not sinister but it was more powerful than that.
Having not fully played this movement for a long time, the black river of sighs had reached to a scale much larger than Ye Qingxuan’s expectations.