Silent Crown

Chapter 152 Savior in the Quagmire

"Don’t worry. I’ll help you deal with the rumors. You have nothing to do with the Blood Path and shouldn’t be in this mess. The least I can do is make sure you stay far away from the dark side of life," the Shaman said lightly. "Just return to the Royal Academy of Music and stay there. Soon, order will return and Avalon will become peaceful once again. You’ll be able to live your own life too, Ye Qingxuan."

But the youth did not reply and instead just lowered his head. After a long time, he asked in response, "Do you think I will?"

The old man was stunned. "Is my promise not enough?"

Ye Qingxuan chuckled and shook his head. "It’s not about promising to solve the problem." The Shaman was about to say something, but the youth continued. "Even if you can protect me, if I do get involved with the Blood Path one day, would you choose Avalon’s Shadow or the insignificant child of an old friend?

"Whether you like it or not, I’ve already been pulled into this quagmire. Since I’m here, I need to at least understand what happened. Closing my eyes, stuffing my ears, burying my head into the sand and pretending nothing happened…that’s not my style."

"You don’t believe me?"

"I’m just saying that no one’s promise is enough for these things," the youth said lightly. "You can make thousands of promises but I only have one life. I can’t hand it to someone so easily. If my rejection hurts your dignity, then I’m sorry. I need to live carefully and cautiously. I don’t want to die before I accomplish things."

The room’s temperature seemed to drop. The Shaman no longer spoke. He studied the rebellious confidence in the youth’s eyes. "…So you’re saying that it’s okay to die after you finish those things?"

Ye Qingxuan considered those words and nodded. "Perhaps."

-

The Shaman stared deeply into his eyes and then looked away. His voice turned from gentle to serious. He was no longer "old guy," but was the Shaman now, the former Dark King. "If you don’t plan on getting out of the mess, then why don’t you help?"

"The Shaman needs my help too?" Ye Qingxuan asked back.

The Shaman nodded. "As you’ve seen, I’ve declared war on all of downtown. There’s also the parliament standing before me. The Professor is an obstacle."

Ye Qingxuan was taken aback. "You’re not scared of the parliament but you’re scared of the Professor?"

"You don’t know how destructive he is," the Shaman said. "To me, as long as you have a worry, then you have weakness; as long as you have a goal, then there is a path toward it; as long as there is a benefit, then it’s worthy to go after.

"In this gamble I have many bargaining chips, so I never worried about the parliament. But the Professor is different from them." His eyes were chilling. "The Professor is a maniac, an unstable element because he doesn’t care about gambling. No one knows what he’s thinking, but he knows too much. That is the most terrifying.

"Nine years ago, he appeared in Avalon and singlehandedly ruined the order and rules I created. He forced this city into the quagmire. All these years, he has been walking freely in this quagmire, digging for the dirty and dark secrets. He has also bought associates and created a network…

"But even if he’s alone, he can still cause destruction. Do you understand?" He looked at Ye Qingxuan. "I can’t have a variable in my world. The Professor must disappear."

"So you want me to do it?" Ye Qingxuan asked.

"Weren’t you planning on it before? I’m also curious why he’s so determined to get you, and why he thinks you have something to do with Avalon’s Shadow…You’re also curious about him, are you not? Or you could say that you’re even happy that you’ve found a good opponent—the best counter to you."

Fear flashed past the Shaman’s eyes as he spoke. "I hope you don’t think the Professor is a beaten dog now. Who knows what else he has hidden? I’ve also heard that he has prepared to attack the Royal Academy of Music. You might see him in the classroom in a few days."

Ye Qingxuan fell silent. He was stunned by the Professor’s audacity. So many people in downtown had thirsted for Avalon’s Shadow…but no one had ever gone after the Royal Academy of Music.

If Ye Qingxuan did not go out, he would only be challenged by the elites. No one else would care about him. It was the birthplace of Royal musicians and the breeding grounds of Anglo’s musicians. Other than the visible defenses, there were countless hidden research labs. And if the alarm was activated, the Round Table Knights would come from the sky…The Professor wanted to attack the Academy? Was he crazy?!

"All you have to do is find the Professor. I believe in your abilities. I can also help you too, or even hire the Bloody Butcher to deal with the trouble. But I don’t want you to be distracted by him at the moment." He focused his eyes on the dark shadow of the towering city behind him and said softly, "After all, I want to put all my focus on the true enemy now."

"The parliament?"

"Someone in the Parliament. I suspect that Satan’s power has already seeped into Avalon. His follower might be hidden amongst them."

Ye Qingxuan fell silent and then suddenly asked, "You mean they did all this on purpose?"

The Shaman nodded. His voice was filled with battling emotions. "Avalon doesn’t care about the mess in downtown, right? They just watch on as downtown falls further, rots further, and becomes a bloody quagmire.

"The parliament wants to see this. If they want the Blood Path, they won’t leave any witnesses for the Royal family to interrogate. They must make everything into a mess. But unfortunately for them, they won’t get what they want as long as I am here," he said lightly.

"The creator of the quagmire should be buried in it. I will personally bury their corpses."

"So you came back to stop them?" Ye Qingxuan glanced at him. "You were free from the quagmire. You could’ve just gazed at it from afar and stayed away. Why did you come back?"

-

After a long silence, the Shaman said, "Maybe because of responsibility."

"You think you’re responsible for this city?" Ye Qingxuan could not help but laugh.

"Why not?" the Shaman asked back, but his eyes became helpless. "To be honest, I don’t understand it either. My era has passed and this city doesn’t welcome me anymore. Why did I come back? I’m just making it hard for myself."

Ye Qingxuan remained silent.

Sensing the awkwardness, the Shaman chuckled. "Sorry, I said something you don’t understand." Smoking his cigar, he sighed. "Actually, I was an author for some years after leaving Avalon, and published some books.

"They were all bad poems and folktales, so the sales were very low. But some people liked my poems and so I loved them. Sometimes I would meet them and drink and talk with them. Many of them were students or researchers. They were young, stubborn, and innocent.

"We would sit in a tavern and drink bad beer. The owner was my reader too and would give us discounts. Sometimes, he would play an instrument. To be honest, he was really bad at it.

"Sometimes I’d wish that I had a few female readers. Even if they were far away and just wrote me a letter, it would be nice. But sometimes, I would get drunk, hang on their shoulders and say some random things. But I’d be satisfied and everyone would be happy.

"The world is big and people desire many things. But some people just want recognition…it’s that simple. I’ll keep writing as long as they’re there and someone wants to read my books. I’ll keep writing until I die. I want to respond to their voices."

He gazed at the youth. "To be honest, I’m sad that the city has become this mess after I left. Some people felt that they were living without dignity and wanted me to return. So I did. I’m the only one who can give them hope. This is what I want. Do you understand, kid?

"I want to respond to their wishes and change this dark quagmire. I want the people who can’t live under the sun to have dignity too. So many corpses have been buried in the quagmire all these years. They’re all begging me for help. If I don’t do these things, who will?

"I’ll recreate the rules and give these people a way to live. Even if there’s no sunlight, they should have rules and order. If no one will do it, then let me do it. If these people are abandoned by the king, then let me be their king. Do you understand now?"

The Shaman stood in the cemetery. His black shadow covered the tombstones, reaching into the distance. He studied Ye Qingxuan, but there was no blazing light in his eyes. Instead, they radiated with piercing darkness.

"I returned because I’m their savior, their king!" He stepped forward and stared at the youth, reaching out his hand. "Ye Qingxuan, come help me, just as your father did."

There was a long, long silence. As if he was deep in thought, it was a long while before Ye Qingxuan looked up and said, "I’ll help you." He stared at the Shaman’s outstretched hand and saw the power hidden behind the hand—it was an invitation and a great gift. If he reached out, he could become the Shaman’s right hand man and control Avalon.

But he did not reach out. Instead, he took a step back and shook his head. "But I’m helping you for myself, not for your so-called order of the underworld."

The Shaman fell silent.

"To be honest, I don’t understand what you’re saying about the savior, the king, the order of the underworld—but there’s one thing I know." In the silence, Ye Qingxuan looked up into the Shaman’s eyes.

"No matter how glorious the title is, evil is evil. It will never make this city good. Everything you’re doing will only make it not as bad. When those people abandoned living under the world, they should be ready to die in the sewer. They shouldn’t be hoping for some savior to give their lives more dignity.

"In the end, the savior of villains is still a villain. And no matter how orderly this world is, it is still a quagmire. You’re trying to find a savior in the quagmire?" Ye Qingxuan shook his head, his eyes becoming cold and scornful. "You’re looking in the wrong place."

In the silence, cold rain fell through the fog to the still cemetery. When the rain drops landed on the Shaman’s palm, they broke and turned to water vapor.

He retracted his hand and sighed soundlessly. "Ye Qingxuan, you look identical to your father."

"We’re not the same," Ye Qingxuan said as he put on the hunter. "Not the same at all."