Silent Crown

Chapter 127 Despicable and Shameless

The two stood frozen in place in the silence. They gazed at the door that should have been closed, and exchanged glances.

Considering the situation for a moment, Ye Qingxuan turned around without hesitating and gestured for Bai Xi to leave. The situation was too weird. It was best to avoid risks.

But Bai Xi would not budge. She grabbed Ye Qingxuan’s sleeve, shaking her head.

Ye Qingxuan stared at Bai Xi and chuckled dryly. When did he become less brave than a little girl? Had he really been scared out of his mind by the chase a few days ago?

Sighing silently, he gestured for Bai Xi to get her weapon ready. He activated Jiu Xiao Huan Pei too. He was ready to grab Bai Xi and run at the slightest sign of trouble. One was in charge of fighting, the other in charge of escaping. They had distinctive roles which slightly overlapped.

In the stillness, they padded soundlessly to the open door. There was a vast space behind the door. Countless torches illuminated the mighty formation of mercury, gold, ancient silver, gems, and other alchemy material on the ground. It was the Resonance Ring that required invaluable material.

Amid the complex music score and notes, each node had a prayer flag. The flags were filled with runes and holy figures. They fluttered in the nonexistent wind, radiating aether like alchemy equipment from a school of music. They formed a structure with the Resonance Ring below. Huge amounts of aether flowed through the material, brewing power and radiating gloriously.

The glow illuminated the script on the flags. Countless runes floated in the air, transforming the world into something holy. But in this holy room there was a corpse with a slit throat.

All Ye Qingxuan felt was delayed fear.

The corpse was the musician who was supposed to guard this place and perform the ritual, but he had been attacked and his throat had been slit before he could fight back. Blood flowed.

In the stillness, Bai Xi tugged the corner of Ye Qingxuan’s shirt and pointed to the back of the Resonance Formation.

When the Resonance Ring broke apart, it would not self-destroy when outside forces entered. The material inside could be taken out too. That included the object all musicians were crazy for—the saint’s relic!

Maybe because of his absolute confidence in his plan, Ye Qingxuan was focused entirely on breaking through the formation and undoing the runes. He did not sense the two newcomers on the other side of the rippling aether. But when he saw them, he felt that they were extremely familiar.

Bai Xi pulled her bow out wordlessly. She mimed slicing one’s throat, as if asking for his opinion. "Cousin, his posture is so perfect. Should I give him some arrows?"

Before Ye Qingxuan could reply, his expression changed.

In the silence, even the slightest crinkling of clothing could be heard. The figure flinched and raised his head, looking over. His eyes were dark and sharp like an icicle in the darkness. They were filled with hair-raising coldness.

When he saw Ye Qingxuan’s outfit, he remembered something and shock appeared in his eyes. "…Holmes?" A hoarse voice came from the shadow under the hood, "The dark musician?"

Seeing those eyes and hearing that voice, Ye Qingxuan realized who the man was and sighed. "I can’t believe I’d run into you here…" He paused and narrowed his eyes. "Mr. Professor."

Behind the formation, the Professor rose slowly. He sighed at fate’s arrangement. "And I to you, Mr. Vengeful Spirit."

--

One was downtown’s criminal mastermind; the other was the new infamous dark musician. Neither had expected to meet under this situation, in the Indians’ cellar…

As if old friends had met coincidentally, they made small talk through the formation’s barrier.

"I heard you were injured?" Ye Qingxuan asked casually, leaning on his cane. "It doesn’t feel good to be chased after, right? Have you become weak without the Butcher’s help?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but those worthless pieces of trash can’t hurt me. As for you though…" The Professor did not laugh, but his voice was full of mockery. "You used some low tricks on the Pyramid Scheme. You seemed to get cocky after fooling those idiots."

"The human heart is a beautifully mysterious thing. No matter how many times you explore it, you still find something new." Ye Qingxuan laughed with a hoarse voice as if he had not enjoyed enough. Staring at the Professor, his eyes hardened. "If I have the chance, I’d love to test your limits."

"Oh? And I’d love to see how it feels to kill a dark musician."

Both smiled at the same time. As if finding their soulmate, they began laughing loudly. But in the next moment, a silver flute dropped from the Professor’s sleeve and began to play a vague and chilling melody. He had attacked!

Ye Qingxuan moved too. He pressed the cane against the Resonance Formation, ready to attack. "If you’re not afraid of me activating the formation’s self-destruction, then we can die together or get the people outside to come fight too," Ye Qingxuan thought.

The flute music stopped instantly. The Professor’s face darkened under the hood. He did not put down the silver flute, but instead repressed one of the melodies.

"Despicable!" he squeezed out between clenched teeth.

"Shameless!" Ye Qingxuan retorted without guilt. "You’re the one who moved first. Why are you yelling at me?" His hands were still on Jiu Xiao Huan Pei, ready to attack. Faint music hummed from the instrument. There was a hair’s breadth between it and the Resonance Formation.

Seeing him close to touching it, the Professor’s eyes became even colder. "You better stop…"

Ye Qingxuan scoffed, "Why don’t you let go?"

The Professor paused and finally gave up on fighting the youth here. He suggested, "I’ll count to three and we let go together."

"Okay." Ye Qingxuan nodded.

In the stillness, the two stared at each other and said in unison, "One, two…three!"

The next moment, the Professor stopped the melody brewing in the flute. Ye Qingxuan retracted his cane as well. Good. They had both followed the rules and were true to their words. Very good.

But then a murderous glint flashed past the Professor’s eyes. The cold flute melody sounded again. He was going to take this opportunity to kill the d*mn b*stard! But he did not expect that after Ye Qingxuan put his cane away, that his agile partner would aim her bow at the formation! Like an experienced assassin, she pulled the bow back half an inch!

In the next moment, there would either be a shattering explosion or a fight to the death, but they halted once again. The flute music dissipated and the hand on the bow relaxed slowly.

"…"

"…"

The deadly silence was awkward as h*ll.

"Despicable!" the Professor cursed under his breath.

"Low-class!" Bai Xi had found the chance to cut in. If this were an insult competition, the points would be 1:2 now!

"Yay, we won!" Ye Qingxuan and Bai Xi high-fived each other, whistling, their eyes bright with joy.

For some reason, the Professor suddenly felt weak. It was an insult to his intelligence to fight with these two idiots.

"…" The stalemate continued.

The Professor finally broke the silence, "We can’t keep wasting time. Puspotkata might come back any time."

"Right." Ye Qingxuan nodded, not without mockery. "You make so much sense. I’m in awe."

"How about we let go at the same time?" the Professor suggested.

Ye Qingxuan shook his head. He jutted his chin at the formation between them. "It’s easy to let go, but what about the stuff? How do we split it?"

The Professor sighed. "Undo the formation first…Whoever does it first gets the stuff."

"I agree." Ye Qingxuan nodded politely. "I have a partner. Do you mind if she helps me?"

The Professor glanced at Bai Xi. Seeing that she was just a student, he nodded.

"One, two…three!" both of them let go. But at the same time, they reflexively raised their hands. Sensing the other’s guard, they lowered their hands in regret again.

"He will be a strong opponent in the future." For some reason, the thought appeared in both Ye Qingxuan’s and the Professor’s mind. They retreated in unison, showing that they had no bad intentions.

Watching them exchange glances and their troubled expressions, Bai Xi could not help but shake her head. "…You’re both so boring."

--

When both were certain that the other would uphold the agreement, and that they themselves had no chance to make the first move, they gave up on attacking. The most important task at hand was to get the treasure. Everything would be lost if they did all the work and someone else took the reward.

The Professor was focused on breaking through the formation on his side. He did not think about helping Ye Qingxuan at all. Sometimes he would glance over to observe what Ye Qingxuan was doing, as if trying to calculate his mysterious enemy’s skill and technique…

But Ye Qingxuan obviously could not let that happen. It was just breaking through a formation under a spell. He just had to reverse the steps and create it again. It should be easy with the deciphering method…yeah right!

If Abraham, who could perform the Requiem enchantment, could do it, breathing through the Resonance Ring would be easy as pie. But Ye Qingxuan had only studied for a little over a month! He had not even finished the book! He could only manage to decipher single notes. He was completely at a loss when faced with a measure…

But no problem. He did not have the skills…but he had Bai Xi!

He glanced at the girl, his eyes saying, "Cousin, it’s your time to shine!"

"Watch me!" Excited, Bai Xi moved over. Rolling up her sleeves, she pointed and looked at a point in the distance. Right before her finger, the aether above the Resonance Ring instantly scattered. Talent: Zhaodang!

At its full power, Zhaodang could create a dark zone where the aether would be uncontrollably powerful, but when it was on her finger, it was like a knife that could slice through all enchantments and aether structures!

Under Hermes’s guidance, she had learned how to control the terrifying power within her a few days ago. She no longer had to worry about using up all her energy.

The little girl who loved to show off had performed it for Ye Qingxuan, winning the youth’s praise and satisfying herself. She had also erased all help from Hermes and credited the huge success to her own talent.

As for the Professor on the other side of the formation, his eyes practically fell out of their sockets. He rubbed his eyes, scared that he had gone crazy. "What the f*ck?!"