by Feng Yue
Hearing their words, Colt smiled. Seizing the chance, he walked toward the door. His frail figure disappeared in the darkness. There were no more sounds. All was silent.
Technically, Colt should give them a sign no matter what he found. It was inevitable for them to think the worst after such a long stretch of silence.
Just as Ye Qingxuan and Colt stared at each other awkwardly, there was an angry roar.
It was Colt. It was like a wild roar after losing all sanity, filled with unrestrainable shock and hysteria. Ye Qingxuan and Torre froze before sprinting into the darkness.
They quickly saw Colt. He was rooted in the darkness, his eyes dark and furious. Veins bulged on the hand that gripped his wooden staff. This was the first time Ye Qingxuan saw him lose control. He could not even control his aether waves anymore. If this was a black zone, he would have imploded from the backlash of the music theory.
Furrowing his brows, Ye Qingxuan looked around. He froze as well.
Torre looked in silence; only his expression changed. After a long while, he sighed. “I’ve used up all my ideas,” he said before turning to leave.
In the darkness, Ye Qingxuan focused on everything the Eye of Silence would sense. After a while, he took a torch from his pocket and raised it up. Under the illumination, Ye Qingxuan scanned every inch of the dark hall.
The walls were covered in paintings of heaven. The colors had faded after the thousands of years and had become speckled. The angel’s faces were unclear. When they looked down at the newcomers, their gazes were blurry and muddled, as if they were looking here from long, long ago.
Eleven statues stood in the hall among countless dust and cobwebs. These eleven Romulusian gods had stood here for thousands of years and had become damaged beyond repair.
This place was like an abandoned temple. It had been years since anyone had come to worship.
There was an altar under the various statues but the sacred fire had long been extinguished. All that remained was white ash. The fire watcher’s chair beside it had rusted and one could vaguely see the image of the saint sitting there.
There was nothing else here. There was none of the noble graves that they had expected, nor any challenges. There were not even any spiders. There was only an empty temple. It was terrifyingly still. There were no paths either. This was the end of the underground palace.
“So what’s this?” Ye Qingxuan gaped at the giant broken statue before him. After a long while, he threw down his torch and glanced at Colt. “Did you discover any secret paths or hidden rooms or any other traces?”
Colt turned around. There was mockery in his dark eyes. “Would I be like this if I did?”
Who knows? A tricky b*tch like you can do anything… Ye Qingxuan thought. Of course, he could not say that out loud. Otherwise, Colt would have flipped out. But despite the fact Ye Qingxuan could still crack jokes, he was disappointed as well.
The Eye of Silence did not detect any hidden rooms or secret paths. There were no double layers either and there was nothing behind the paintings. Ye Qingxuan cut some pieces down, only to find yellow dirt. There were no messages in the paintings. The ground was smooth and had been cut from stone, just like the statues.
He reached for the broken ‘probe’ he had found in the palace. Poking the ground, he discovered that there were hundreds of meters of dense stone underneath. There was no empty space at all. That meant there truly was nothing hidden here. That posed another question…
Ye Qingxuan sank into deep thought. Where did the King of Yellow go?
353 Barrier of Knowledge
Five days. There were no traces or progress in five whole days. The frustrated musicians had flipped through the entire palace, pushing aside and smashing the statues and looking through all the coffins but they found nothing.
They did not find the King of Yellow, but they did find a dozen yellow cloths wrapped around corpses. It was enough for everyone to use for blankets at night. Some musicians were still investigating closely but many impatient ones had gone home already. Others had just started fighting the palace, practically beating each other’s brains out. However, there was no progress.
The King of Yellow was still missing. His disappearance was strange and unnatural, dumbfounding everyone.
As the days passed, autumn was coming to an end and winter was coming. With the wind, Auschwitz’s temperature dropped lower and lower. Many people changed into their winter clothes.
In the sky, gray clouds clumped together, brewing with a blizzard. It was rare to see sunlight. Under this suffocating atmosphere, many had either lost the motivation to continue searching or felt anxious to do something big.
Ever since Colt returned from the underground palace, he locked himself in the church’s library. He rarely came out and his teammates gradually stopped contacting him.
In the library, the bedraggled Colt sat amongst scattered books. He read book after book of records in silence, trying to find some clues. However, it was to no avail.
After he flipped through the excavation records for the fifth time without any results, he closed the book expressionlessly. The book turned to dust under the angry aether waves and fell from his hands. The white dust fell into the scattered records on the ground.
“Those Romulusians…” Coldness flashed past his narrowed eyes. “They must’ve hidden something important!”
It was a pity the Sacred City forbade musicians to do anything to the Romulusians. Otherwise, Colt definitely would not have wasted all this time. As he pondered in silence, his expression changed. He tried to think of a way to make the Romulusians talk.
Unfortunately, Caligula was a trickster who did not care about anything. He took drugs and drank every day. It was clear he was the worst off mentally of these refugees.
If Colt did something wrong, he could ruin it all. If there was a commotion, the School of Rock might get ordered directly by the Sacred City to modify itself and pay for it.
The current pope was not merciful. His tactics were comparable to the fifth pope who had resealed the Dragon of Armageddon. He was never lax with those who went against the Sacred City’s orders.
The ring on his finger suddenly flashed while he was deep in thought. His eyes brightened. Pulling out a pitcher of water, he poured it out seemingly carelessly. However, the water never reached the ground. It turned into a thin water mirror in the air under the gently flowing melody.
This was just a medium. It was actually a projection from a scepter in the aether world. The ‘Torchlight’ that shrouded the School of Rock thousands of miles away now projected into his mirror. It also established the connection between him and miles away.
A blurry figure soon appeared in the water mirror. He said, “Mr. Colt, there is news about what you wish to investigate.”
In the North, above Asgard’s frozen earth, the School of Rock was perched at the peak of a cluster of mountains. It rose out of stone that contained a rich iron mine. It was the highest point on Earth and was the closest to the stars.
There contained the world’s oldest School of Revelations and the source of all “Starry Eye musicians”—the “Secret Keepers.” Colt’s teacher, Heisenberg, was one of those grandmasters.
For millenniums, the Secret Keepers received signs of the future from deep within the stars. They also listened to the voice of the earth. Under the guidance of the few generations of grandmasters, there were people all over the world to provide information to the Secret Keepers. They continuously provided secrets and messages, pushing the School of Secret Keepers closer and closer to the legendary point of ‘all-knowing.’
As Heisenberg’s student and the future inheritor, Colt naturally had the right to use this vast information web to his advantage. Now, days of silence later, he finally received feedback from the informants.
Colt only nodded. “Speak.
“Ye Qingxuan is a member of the music history department of the Anglo Royal Academy of Music,” the man in the mirror said
. “This music academy is particular about heritage and knowledge. However, he was able to enter the academy with unprecedented full marks on the written exam.
“Because of his qualifications, he was seen as the disgrace of the academy, but those who mocked him all disappeared within the academy. During this year’s school trials, he went against the entire academy by himself and won first place. At the same time, he helped an infamous failure of a senior graduate with the highest score…
“Within half a year, he went from a student with nothing to an official musician. He may even break into the Resonance level within a short period of time. His teacher is Abraham, who made the biggest ancient academia discovery within decades due to his interpretation of the Voynich Manuscript.
“I’m sure you’ve heard about the plagiarism scandal. According to investigation, Ye Qingxuan played a major role in this. To take revenge for the plagiarism, he singlehandedly forced Ingmar, professor of the School of Revelations, to insanity. Ingmar died in the asylum two months later, mysteriously just like everyone else who had wronged him before.
“This includes Gavin’s brother Banner. Gavin had become enemies with Ye Qingxuan due to this and was affected. The entire Adrian family had fallen during Anglo’s political cleansing last year…
“According to our investigations, the second princess had seen him off when he embarked on the journey here. She is the heir to the crown. His relationship with Anglo’s royal family is not average.
“According to informants, there are rumors that his recommendation letter when he entered the Royal Academy of Music was written by the current…King of Black?” When he finished reading, the man in the mirror laughed, thinking the last sentence too incredulous. However, Colt did not laugh. After a long silence, his face darkened.
“I see.” Colt raised his eyes and asked, “What does my teacher think about the King of Yellow’s traces?”
The man in the mirror answered, “According to the grandmaster’s speculations, the Sacred City already knows where the King of Yellow went but isn’t willing to publicize it. He doesn’t understand why the Sacred City organized this trial. However, the end result will be to use your hands to tell the world where the King went or completely bury this matter.”
After pondering, Colt nodded. “I understand.” He raised his hand to end the water mirror but the man spoke.
“The grandmaster has another word for you. He hopes you can listen carefully.”
Confused, Colt looked up.
The man in the mirror looked at him and said coldly, “The grandmaster said that, if you wish to accomplish something during this trial, then Ye Qingxuan is your enemy. If you really can’t win against him, don’t even think about inheriting the mantle. I would rather end this school in my hands than have it ruined by incapable musicians.”
Colt nodded after another stretch of silence. “I understand,” he said. “Please tell him that I understand.”
The water mirror dissipated. In the silence, Colt looked down, staring at the yellowing scrolls. He hid his gaze in the darkness.
-
At noon, a merchant caravan unwillingly stepped onto the barren earth and traveled dozens of kilometers to Auschwitz.
The market near the gate that had been deserted for a while was finally filled with the sounds of hawking merchants. Most caravans were unwilling to come here because there were not many people and they did not have much money. The merchants just sold some grains, meat, salt, and other unprofitable goods. The money they could make after all that effort was probably not even as much as the profit of a batch of silk. If the Sacred City did not give merchants tax redemption for going to Auschwitz, no one would come.
Amongst the hustle and bustle, a white-haired youth lay in the best spot and slept. Bathing in the sun, he slept so well it was shocking.
Someone in the passing carriages was confused. He raised a and to lift the curtain of his carriage. He stopped when he saw the young man. His eyes were meaningful.
“What’s wrong?” his companion asked.
The man looked away and let down the curtain. In the dimness of the carriage, the man with a hood stated, “For some reason, I really want to kill him…”
-
For some reason, his train of thought was interrupted. Ye Qingxuan opened his eyes and sighed dejectedly. When he looked at the passing carriages, he yawned and flipped over to continue sleeping.
With his eyes closed, he could practically see the dazzling symphony of predestination. Other than the dead saint, he was probably the clearest about this symphony. He transformed into moonlight and entered it, experiencing every change in the majestic music score.
Countless music notes formed intervals; the intervals worked with each other to form the music theory, expressing incredible miracles. It was vast yet detailed, fine yet majestic… He was in awe whenever he thought about it.
Ye Qingxuan knew without a doubt that his Moonlight could be developed to this extent if he had the ability. After merging into this symphony of predestination, his knowledge of music theory had improved a lot.
Symphonies of predestination were the crystallization of a musician’s soul. It contained his life, experiences, personality, and everything else. Entering it was the same as that saint giving him everything to learn. If not for the Barrier of Knowledge, Ye Qingxuan would probably have risen to Resonance on the spot.
Ye Qingxuan still did not abandon his path, step around the Barrier of Knowledge, and use the symphony of predestination to break into Resonance. If Lola found out about that, he would probably get hung on Traitor’s Gate for being a disappointment. But what should he do now? At a loss, Ye Qingxuan opened his eyes and stared blankly at the sun.
After a long period of accumulation, he finally ran into the enemy of all musicians, the eternal shadow, the impassible wall—the Barrier of Knowledge!
354 Existence of Knowledge
For the first time, Ye Qingxuan experienced the depression that came with not being able to make any progress no matter how hard he worked. It was not serious enough to be traumatizing, but he could imagine how crazy he would feel if he were stuck here for three or four years.
So many musicians were willing to turn to the dark side just to obliterate this obstacle. One must make sacrifices and be determined to abandon everything. Otherwise, they had to be prepared to never take another step forward.
Ye Qingxuan sighed and closed his eyes. Reaching out, gentle music notes sounded as his fingertips pressed down. The fog dissipated. The formless aether sea gradually showed its vast appearance, filling the sky and earth. Compared to it, he was even smaller than dust. However, in this speck of dust, his perception extended boundlessly and delved deep into the aether sea.
Ye Qingxuan could feel four paths slowly unfurling before him. They varied in length and led in four different directions. They represented the four schools that he had knowledge in.
One of them seemed to be made from countless stars. The stars rotated, illuminating the fog for him. They faintly pointed out the direction of the end. This was the music theory path for the School of Revelations.
One path was fleeting like a hallucination, fading in and out of existence. This was the School of Illusions.
One path extended from under his feet and spiraled upward. Countless unclear faces appeared, stared at him. They were filled with incessant temptation, luring him to come forward and walk to the end. This was the School of Mind.
The last path was the longest and the firmest. It extended from his body into the sky, extending steadily inch by inch to the core of all. This was the School of Abstinence, which was the school Ye Qingxuan grasped the most of.
He could feel that he was only a tiny bit away for his consciousness to go through the musician path and enter the heart of the aether sea. Then, he could project into the aether world, nail himself into a spot, and resonate with the world to enter the Resonance level. He only needed a bit more. However, this little bit was as vast
as an abyss.
Ye Qingxuan knew he could not cross the abyss until he broke through the Barrier of Knowledge. This was why he was frustrated. The Barrier of Knowledge would not be known as the cliff of despair if it were easy to cross, would it?
Only the cream of the crop could use their ability to cross the Barrier of Knowledge. The cost of using a spirit or demon was too small, so small people easily lost sanity due to this difficulty.
Ye Qingxuan retracted his senses and opened his eyes again. “Is it time to eat?” he muttered to himself. He touched his stomach and it grumbled.
He was once again whiling his days away. During the day, he would go to Caligula’s house if he was bored. They would talk about classics and history and other small talk. He had learned a lot about Romulusian history and the elder had given him some drugs to get a high as well. Ye Qingxuan memorized the former and tossed the latter into the trash. Other than that, he had no accomplishments.
Occasionally, he would go to the Church to see if the priest made any progress in the virus research.
As for the King of Yellow? Ye Qingxuan had forgotten all about him. After all, he did not come here for the Pope’s reward.
Just as he was tossing on the chaise and wondering if he should eat some fried pancakes or dried grains, a shadow fell across his face.
“Hey, sunbathing?” The white-haired senior from the East bent down and smiled at him.
“Mr. Hu, you’re taking a walk again?” Ye Qingxuan rose and invited him in. He poured a cup of coffee from the stove for the man.
“I’m taking a stroll,” Mr. Hu said, kicking at the covers. “I used to really like walking. When I was still a student, my teacher would tell me to take a walk whenever I am feeling down or feeling indecisive about something.”
“Does it work?”
“I guess?” Mr. Hu scratched his head. “Once, my teacher met with the emperor. He was troubled when he returned so he took me out on a walk. We left from the capital and walked west for ten years before coming back slowly. In the end, my teacher thought it through.”
