Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  With a dark face, Donald picked up the severed head. “Look at this cut and their sabers. They aren’t typical bandits. They’re the elite cavalry who fled from the Caucasus Federation. They have thirty horses and at least forty men. One charge can flatten our camp. One of my men has already dead. I took your money so I don’t care about dying, but how many do you think can escape if they charge into the camp? If you can escape, can you keep the goods?”

  The merchants fell silent and exchanged glances. They soon said a new number.

  The hoarse voice did not laugh. He seemed to be in deep thought.

  “This number isn’t that small and you’re very genuine, but…” His tone changed and became taunting. “Did you count the goods in your wagon from the Chainsaw Fraternity?”

  Donald froze. He turned back to the merchants but they could not meet his eyes. Someone said, “That’s a trade secret. We couldn’t help hiding it.”

  “F*ck, you’ve killed me!” Donald clenched his jaw. “These motherf*ckers even know what goods you have. They definitely have spies in your group and targeted us when we left!”

  “What do we do now?” someone asked with a trembling voice.

  What else could they do?

  Whistles sounded in the wind as arrows shot out. Donald raised his arm abruptly and blocked an arrow with his sword. The arrow split into pieces but the ridge of his sword fissured as well.

  Donald’s face twitched. Clenching his jaw, he chanted quietly, “My heart is like steel, my blood like fire.” Firelight shot out from his blade. His sword transformed into the Blade of Fire. This was high quality battle alchemy and was his bottom line. But it was too late. The pounding of war stallions was right before him.

  324 Do You Really Need to Be Like This?

  The sound of hooves trampling on the ground was like thunder rolling. With the help of special horseshoes, the steeds ran fast. In the twinkling, the ‘thunder’ came from afar, almost entering the range of the flames. It was too late.

  Donald’s face slacked. The Caucasian Cavalry’s frontal array was charging forward. Even the fierce heavy armors of Asgard needed to weigh the consequences, let alone such a motley caravan. He gritted his teeth and rushed forward against the thunder. He struck down his sword to block the enemy sabers. The outcome could be seen in seconds.

  But at that instant, the steed under the Caucasian bandit was startled. It stood up, hissing uneasily. Then with weak legs, the steed foamed at the mouth. Its expression twitched with extreme fear. The bandit fell down to the ground with the steed. He broke his legs on the spot and was unable to climb up. Looking at the Donald with the sword, his eyes were filled with despair.

  Donald hesitated. Rather than seizing the opportunity to cut off his head, he quickly retreated back to the defensive camp.

  That was weird! That was too weird!

  His entire body was tense. He restrained the mysterious outbreak of unrest and fear. He turned back but saw his companions’ pale faces. Suddenly, the horses tied in the camp hissed painfully and collapsed to the ground, twitching. They struggled to escape as if they perceived something horrible was approaching. They even trampled each other…

  The Caucasian bandits were already in chaos. They were in an even worse situation than the camp.

  In the darkness, only a mess of roars was heard. Then the horses caught in chaos were forcibly injected with sedatives. Deprived of their mind and ability to think, they temporarily became puppets that could only react mechanically. But this was not over yet.

  “Who is it?!” someone screamed in the darkness but was quickly cut off.

  Suddenly, there was a burst of unrest that was immediately set to the silence. The voices of the bandits vanished as if they were engulfed by endless darkness.

  A black figure slowly approached in the darkness. One step, then another step… As if he was stepping on everyone’s heart, every inch he approached magnified the pain and panic in their minds.

  Finally, the ethereal figure walked toward the camp, shrouded in heavy black mist. The black mist seemed to carry some sort of nightmarish beast. It constantly revealed hideous scales and claws. Sometimes it was like a beast, sometimes a tsunami, and sometimes the faces of the dead surfaced, spouting persuasive words. Those who saw froze and trembled as if they were cursed.

  At the very front, Donald’s blade suddenly erupted with a fiery glow that aroused him from the vertigo. He gritted his teeth, raised his sword, and aimed at the man. “Halt!”

  The figure instantly stopped in the mist and his eyes swept over. That pair of eyes were green like wolves’ eyes and contained some sort of unspeakable greed. His gaze swept past the people’s face like a blade grazing over them.

  Donald heard the trembling sounds of the people beside him. Those who had never experienced true fear before hoisted their crossbows and aimed at the gradually approaching figure. Their fingers on the trigger twitched uncontrollably.

  “Hold on!” Donald kept down his voice. “Do not shoot the arrows, do not shoot!”

  The Caucasian bandits had already shown them what the outcome was if they shot the arrows. In just a few seconds, they would be completely destroyed. No one knew if they were still alive or not. No, death was better in front of that kind of guy.

  He looked at the dark figure. He was drenched with cold sweat and he shuddered uncontrollably.

  “My…my friend!” He could barely suppress his fear. “We’re all trying to survive. How about we help each other.”

  “Give me.” The figure spoke with a husky voice. His gaze seemed to penetrate Donald’s body and into the camp.

  The merchants shuddered and paled. In the end, they gritted their teeth and nodded. “Give it to him!”

  Soon, men carried a dozen coffin-like iron boxes and placed them outside the camp. “Everything is here.”

  Donald looked at the figure with vigilance and horror. “Friend, we just ask to live—” Before he finished his words, the figure pounced on the box and ripped the iron box off like tearing a piece of paper. The power armor that was hidden in it rolled out and stopped at his feet.

  The latest model of power armor was the Chainsaw Fraternity’s prestigious product. Each one could be exchanged for a fist-sized piece of gold. But the dark figure froze and immediately upended the iron box with rage!

  “Who the h*ll wants this?!” the figure roared and glared at Donald.

  In the silence, the members of the caravan blanched. The dark figure bent over, seeming to be sniffing something. Suddenly, he cried desperately, “It’s overcooked! It’s burnt! Hurry up or nothing will be left. I helped you to settle such a big trouble. Now I just want to eat something. How can you fool me like this?” He looked at the stew on the fire with grief and indignation. It had already been overcooked. He pounded his chest. “Tell me, do you really have to be like this? Really? Really?”

  -

  “Would you like some meat, sir?”

  “Would you like some water, sir?”

  “Would you like a chicken leg?”

  “Sir, I made some soup for you. It can nourish your body.”

  “Sir… Sir… Sir…”

  Ten minutes later, they sat next to the fire. The caravan’s chief and Donald sat carefully by the figure’s side and kept offering food to him. They behaved like waiters in a pub.

  The figure, stuffing his face, ignored them. He kept eating anything that was offered to him. His stomach seemed to be bottomless. Finally, he gnawed on Donald’s last brisket and sighed with dismay. “Ah, I’m finally full.”

  Donald’s face twitched. Was there an incinerator in this guy’s belly?

  “Well, sir…” He hesitated, pointing to the dark mist around him, and forced out a smile.

  The figure froze for a moment and hit his head. “Ah, I was too hungry just now. Sorry, I forget that extremes bounce back. I’ve been forcibly suppressed for such a long time. As a result, the power grew too much, almost beyond my control…”

  He
took a deep breath and flicked his fingers. After a desolate string sound, the dark mist around him as well as the terrible power that made the horses scared gradually dissipated, exposing a young face and big dirty turban.

  “Do you have a bed?” The young man got up and looked around.

  The caravan leader hurriedly pointed to his tent and gave it to him.

  “Thanks.” The young man nodded with satisfaction. He pulled some cash from his pocket and stuffed it into the leader’s hand. The merchant froze. He tried to refuse it but the young man waved his hand.

  “See this as pay for the next few days of food and travel.”

  Wait! The next few days? The merchant froze and soon became depressed. Was this sir going to stay for a few more days?

  The young man crept into the tent without any suspicion and fell asleep quickly, snoring. The people exchanged blank glances with each other. Finally, Donald, with grimace, was pushed out. He carefully approached the tent to say something but felt coolness against his throat. A line of blood appeared.

  Donald touched his neck blankly and felt a small wound there. With a scream, he collapsed to the ground, trembling. He finally realized that the tent was surrounded by faint smoke. A figure stood in the smoke like a ghost, overlooking him coldly.

  Donald dared not say anything. He looked at it in awe and crept away. “It’s a blessing, not a curse.” He touched the wound on his neck and said to the caravan’s leader, “You’d better be respectful to that gentleman. He’s not interested in what you want to do. You’d better treat him well. Otherwise…I don’t know if you can get to the place safely.”

  The caravan leader shivered and nodded.

  The night deepened.

  -

  It was not until after daybreak that the caravan had the courage to look out of the camp. They saw the chaos, the horses that ran into each other and fractured their bones after being frightened, and the bandits that had fainted and lay on the ground in a mess. They quickly broke the bandits’ legs and threw them into a carriage.

  Any one of these guys was wanted with great reward. The city-states along the way had probably all prepared gallows to hang them. As long as these guys were identified, they could get a windfall. As for this group of bandits, they would get a beautiful rope necklace.

  Ye Qingxuan just said that they could do away with those guys in any way they liked. Then he gathered all the swords and other weapons and put them in his backpack. Now he looked like an Indian wanderer who sold swords.

  “This is fun,” Ye Qingxuan said to Donald. “Don’t you think that collecting about one-hundred enemy swords is really cool?”

  “Well, as long as you’re happy.” Donald could only boil it down to the strange hobby of a mysterious musician and kept his mouth shut.

  From then on, Ye Qingxuan lived a cozy life in the caravan. After breakfast, he just laid in the carriage and slept. After dinner, he laid in the tent to read some books. Sometimes he would hunt some wild animals for a meal. This kind of life was sweet as honey when compared to having no food to eat and no place to sleep. Well, other than the fact that he often had to see the captain who was disgruntled for having to share a tent and carriage with his deputy hand. But Ye Qingxuan could definitely ignore this since he was such a generous man.

  “Boss, do you have more food?” Ye Qingxuan poked his head from the window and asked with a smile. “Can I have more? I’m a little hungry.”

  The caravan leader looked behind, frowning. Donald was at a loss. Finally, he ran into the distance to hunt some rabbits. Ever since Ye Qingxuan joined them, the guards’ duties only involved catching rabbits to eat.

  Soon, Ye Qingxuan’s lunch was brought to the carriage.

  Ye Qingxuan lay there. He hummed and read a book while eating roast rabbit. Watching those guys outside the wagon eating dry food, he felt a great satisfaction from the bottom of his heart. The life was so simple and fulfilling. There was nothing to complain about!

  But in the afternoon, the convoy stopped for some reason. Some noise came faintly from the distant.

  Ye Qingxuan frowned and poked his head out to ask, “Why is it so noisy outside? What’s the matter?”

  A man ran to the front, quickly ran back while panting. “A madman stopped in front of us. He’s asking us to take him to Auschwitz.”

  “Oh?” The young man frowned and a strange premonition appeared in his mind. When his perceiving thread extended over there, he could not help but want to whistle.

  Then he heard a familiar voice shout seriously, “Yes! I am Ye Qingxuan!”

  325 Rain

  “My name is Ye Qingxuan and it will not change. Food is free in the East so why can’t I hitch a ride?” The proud youth with mottled white hair and ragged clothes blocked a caravan. His clothes were ragged because he did not start off with much clothing. His hair was mottled because…his hair dye had faded.

  Now, ‘Ye Qingxuan’ pointed at his fading white hair and said proudly, “Do you see this? It’s the noble blood of a Deva! Hurry up and give me your best carriage. Otherwise, I’ll lose my temper.”

  “Uh…” Donald gripped his sword as his expression twitched. With this situation, he could not fight the man but he could not not fight. Who knew if the man was a musician or not?

  He looked to the carriage in the center of the caravan for help but the youth there just blew his whistle without a care. What was wrong with this trip? Why did he keep running into such weird things? Before he could react, a cackle sounded in the air.

  “Ye Qingxuan? I’m looking for you!” A black shadow instantly descended from the sky and clawed ‘Ye Qingxuan’s shoulder, lifting him up. The three-footed eagle’s wing spanned a dozen meters. It was clearly a summoned phantom beast.

  The musician on the eagle’s back played his flute and cackled. “Going to Auschwitz is a death trap for a weak musician like you. Why don’t you form a team with me? You can try decode—”

  Before he could finish, something whistled through the forest. A blinding beam of light flashed in the air. It sliced off one of the eagle’s wings and burned half of the Summoning musician’s body.

  Yelping, the musician urged the handicapped eagle forward.

  “You think you can get to Auschwitz?” A woman with a tattooed face rode a python. She beat her copper drum and chased after him. There were thunderous rumbles and booms. Melodies overlapped each other, creating dizzying and complex ripples.

  One could faintly hear ‘Ye Qingxuan’s say indignantly, “Psh, stop dreaming! Bring it on…”

  The entire caravan seemed to be fossilized. The mortals always suffered when the gods fought.

  “What…what’s going on?” The caravan leader was close to tears. “Why do people keep fighting when they’re talking? They blocked our path!”

  “Boss, be happy they aren’t drag racing!” The turbaned youth beside him munched on baked seeds as if this did not bother him. “If I were you, I’d choose a detour. If they come back—”

  Before he finished, the leader jumped. He almost bounced off of his horse. “Detour! Turn around! Hurry! What are you still waiting for? For those unlucky b*stards to pay your salary?”

  The long caravan turned around and carefully avoided the musicians’ battlefield after going in a big circle.

  -

  After ten days, Ye Qingxuan’s happy days of lounging around finally ended. He could only hitch a ride to here. There were no more after this. He had traveled slowly and casually for so many days but, according to the arrangement, Ye Qingxuan was still on time. It was good enough that he had arrived! He had already planned on whiling his days away like this. With his small physique, killing was not his thing. He should treasure his life!

  “Sir, you’re leaving now?” At the fork in the road, the caravan leader bid farewell to Ye Qingxuan politely. “You’re leaving so soon. Why don’t you stay a few days? We will treat you with hospitality.” He regretted his words as soon as he uttered them because Ye Qingxuan’s eyes
brightened.

  “Really?”

  “Uh…” The leader wiped at his sweat and stammered, “But we shouldn’t hold you back. Your time is precious. How can a small caravan like us waste your time?”

  “Ah, no, not at all. And furthermore, you even dare to sell powerful things like the power armor. Your business is probably pretty big, right?” Ye Qingxuan glanced at him with a subtle smile. Moving from the topic, he lifted up his bag and spoils. “Oz is up ahead. Thanks everyone for letting me catch a ride. Let’s part here.”

  The youth turned to leave. After hesitating, Donald called out, “Sir, can you…can you tell us your name?”

  “Me?” Ye Qingxuan looked back from his horse with a strange expression. “I’m…Simon! Right, Simon. Just remember me as a peace-loving Indian musician.”

  “Simon?” Donald sounded out the unfamiliar name. “Then, may we meet again, Mr. Simon.”

  “Yes, may we meet again.” Ye Qingxuan whistled and patted the stallion’s neck. The horse neighed and galloped off.

  Watching as the youth faded into the distance, the caravan leader sighed, “What a miracle. I never expected to meet such a figure on the road. It’s a pity he left so hurriedly. Do you think he’s a Resonance musician from the legends with that power?”

  “Maybe. I can’t tell,” Donald lamented. “I didn’t know you’d be so generous as to gift him your horse.”

  “Huh?” The man froze. “Didn’t you give him it?”

  He stared at Donald; their expressions changed drastically.

  The leader stared at the youth’s silhouette. After a long while, he muttered, “He even steals horses? This *sshole Simon is so shameless…”

  “Yeah. That Ye Qingxuan is shameless too!”

  -

  The youth whistled as he raced through the wilderness. After the long journey, he was finally close to Auschwitz. After five kilometers, he would be at the small village of Oz. It was the last rest stop before Auschwitz.

  Under the blazing sun, he could only see clumps of withered brambles and half-dead shrubs on the prairie. This was not far from the ancient Thebes civilization and still contained old relics and remains.