“Okay, now try jumping!”
Ye Qingxuan obeyed, but then his vision blurred and he almost crashed into the ceiling! Mind going blank, he was a heap on the ground before he could react. The basement ceiling was low but it was at least three meters high, which meant that just by jumping slightly, he had shot up more than one meter! Usually, he would need three layers of the rune Flow to achieve this.
“Scared?” Charles smiled proudly, “Back in the day, I carved all of the auxiliary runes I knew, just in case. Its pretty basic as alchemy equipment, but at least you wont need to use Flow and other weird methods to run.” He walked around the youth in satisfaction and patted his shoulder, “The effect is pretty good. With your physical strength, you can escape from everyone and anything as long as you dont come face to face with something as crazy as the legendary Butcher.
“I also have openings and slots for upgrades. If you can find the frame of a complex note armor, you can instantly turn into someone awesome like Knight Templar! Just imagine you punch like usual, but now your fist can go through a steel wall! Then nothing in Avalon would be able to stop you, other than the armor of the Round Table Knights!”
“But I have to get a complete frame of a complex note armor first, right?” Ye Qingxuan rolled his eyes, “Senior, why dont you just wish that the Sword in the Stone will accept me as its master, and suddenly get taken to the palace to become the future king of Anglo?”
“Wow, I didnt know you had such a good imagination! If youre the master of the Sword in the Stone, then shouldnt I be taken to the sacred city to be the pope?”
“Hey, who was the one that first started fantasizing?”
“I was just thinking for you!” Cackling, Charles tossed over a jar of something. “Here, rub it on yourself.”
“What is this?”
“You dont want to be discovered as soon as you go out, right?” He pointed at Ye Qingxuans hair. “Long-lasting hair dye. Blonde. You cant get rid of it with water. It only dissolves with Tung oil. With this on, nobody
will be able to tell youre Eastern.”
“Why didnt you give this to me earlier?” Ye Qingxuan grabbed the ointment and began rubbing it in carefully. When he was done, Charles brought over the mirror. They were both stunned. The boy in the reflection was purely Western. The long hair was now light blonde, completely different from before.
Charles took two steps back, giving him a once-over. In the end, he realized that there was still something missing. Charles looked around for a long time before he finally put a hunting hat on Ye Qingxuans head. Now, the harmless Eastern kid had disappeared. Instead, there was a gloomy youth, pale face in stark contrast with his black robe.
Ye Qingxuan smirked, instantly turning eerie. If not for the Dungeon Gentlemans menacing aura, he would look like a cheap version of Hermes at first glance.
But Charles was still shoving things at him, like a salesman eager to get the rich customer to spend even more money. “Look at this. Helps you breathe underwater.”
“Uh, it might be useful?”
“Hand-cranked lockpicker. Its totally easy to pick locks now!”
“I dont think Id use that.”
“This catapult hook is a must for scaling walls!”
“Do I need it?” Ye Qingxuan asked, at his limit.
“What about this?” Charles shoved a mask and two steel canisters. “A gas mask and smoke bombs? I put a bunch of pepper into the smoke bombs. No one will be able to breathe after it explodes!”
“Sorry, I dont need that either.”
When Charles finally could not find anything else wrong with him, his gaze fell on the youths fingers. “This one, this weird ring, take it off. If you want to hide your identity, you cant leave behind any trace.”
“No need,” Ye Qingxuan chuckled. His fingers flitted over the ring. The instrument strings wrapped around it suddenly shot out, twanging. “I remember this is” He thought for a bit, thinking back to the frustration carved into his mind, and began chanting.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Layers of crystals suddenly covered the delicate strings. The aether rested on the surface, and transformed into something smooth like black metal. As a highly expensive adjustable instrument, its appearance was no problem at allthe technology was designed to make large instruments portable. Merely changing the outer appearance was as easy as lifting a finger.
Under Ye Qingxuans careful control, Jiu Xiao Huan Pei slowly changed. Finally, it became a black cane in his hand. Ye Qingxuan gripped the cane and twirled it before tapping it against the floor. Rather than a muted thud, it created a crisp and delicate sound, like jade pearls rolling on a copper plate. It was the sound of an instrument string thrumming.
“What about now?” Under the shadow of the hat, the youth smiled slyly.
“This isan instrument?” Charles moved closer. Before he could say anything, a faint noise sounded in his ears. It was the melody of despair that flowed like a black river. The melody snaked into his ears, burrowing into his soul like a live creature, echoing coldly. As his vision went dark, Charles sat onto the ground subconsciously. Very quickly, the sound dissipated and he could see again. But when he looked at the youth, his eyes were full of shock.
“The first measure of Black Friday? Since when could you play complex notes? Youve reached the Rhythm level!”
“Im just a fake. Deep down, Im still just a student.” Ye Qingxuan smiled in self-deprecation, “Most people go into complex notes after they learn all basic notes, but Im probably the only one who learned how to perform complex notes before I even learned all of the basics, right?”
Charles did not say anything.
“Anyway, just think of it as me cheating.” The youth smiled mysteriously and grasped his cane.”Since Im handicapped without any sense, I need a cane to help me, right?”
Seeing how sure Ye was, Charless troubled emotions ceased. He smiled helplessly and waved his hand, telling the youth to leave, “Be careful.”
“Okay.” The youth did the button on his sleeve cuff. Just as he turned around, he heard Charles say, “Hey, Yezi, you arent really stupid enough to take on all of downtown, right?”
“How could I?” Ye Qingxuan pulled down his hat and chuckled, “I just want to let those people who want my head to understand how I feel. If they understand and stop chasing after me, Ill be thankful.”
Understanding what he meant, Charles felt a headache coming. “Sounds hard. Good luck.”
“Okay.” The youth turned to leave, “”Ill be back soon.”
Ten minutes later, Charles stood in the living room, gazing at the moon. Downing one cup after another, he went back into his failure state. With a bowl in his arms and a fork in his hand, he mixed a salad in the bowl, trying to find a larger cherry tomato to eat with his wine.
“That kid gives me such a headache.” Charles sighed and muttered, “Hes like a totally different person now. What provoked him? As expected, you only realize youre old when you cant understand the kids. Ah, Im only eighteen” As he cried over his youth, a thin shadow crept up behind him, sneakily going toward the door.
“Bai Xi?” Charles asked without turning, as if he had eyes on the back of his head. “Where are you going?”
The shocked girl became petrified and stammered, “Uh, Im in a bad mood and I cant sleepI want to go out for a walk.”
“What a coincidence. Youre right after Yezi.” Charles looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Theres a carnival in downtown now. Its dangerous.”
Bai Xi instantly lost her temper, “Ill go wherever I want to!”
“But not now,” Charles sighed and stood up, blocking her. He said seriously, “Its midnight. Do you know how dangerous downtown can be? I know youre worried about Yezi, but a little girl shouldnt run around. No one will even know if a human trafficker catches you. Be good and go to sleep, alright? Otherwise, Ill get the professor.”
“Hmph!” The girl glared at him unhappily, but Charles did not budge. The way he guarded the door, no one would be able to get past.
Bai Xi gave up in the end. Sighing, she turned for her room, for her room, but when her eyes swept past a shadow in the room, she froze, “Professor?”
“Professor?! I wasnt drinking” Charles denied instinctively, hiding the bottle behind his back. He nervously followed Bai Xis eyes, but there was nothing there.
“Ah, thisthis is bad.” By the time Charles finally realized what had happened, it was too late. In the moonlight, he saw Bai Xis shadow raise her arms. There was something heavy in her hands, and brought it down against his head without hesitation.
Bang! Charles collapsed onto the ground.
“Ha! No matter how powerful you are, youll fall under the brick.” Bai Xi tossed the Anglo encyclopedia to the side. Gritting her teeth, she dragged Charles onto the sofa. After moving him into a weird position, she waved at the shadows.
“Old Phil, come on! Well lose him if were not fast enough” Under the moonlight, the girl picked up the felt hat that Ye Qingxuan had left behind. Putting on her jacket, she walked out with a grumpy dog.
The moon illuminated the dark city quietly. The city was silent as if it had fallen asleep. An intoxicated man walked down a small alley in downtown, swaying as he went.
Suddenly, a burly shadow jumped before him. “Hey, you! Come here!” A cruel-looking man waved the mace in his hands as he studied the drunk, “Stand still!”
Sensing that something was wrong, the man stuck his hands in his pockets and turned around. But another figure popped out on the other side, blocking his escape route. Seeing that he was surrounded, he pulled out his dagger, his eyes fierce, “I am Dean of the Luco family. Friend, dont do anything stupid”
Bang! Whacked on the back of his skull, the man fell to the ground. A third figure jumped down from the wall.
“Dean? Luco family? Who are you kidding?” The man with the mace kicked him, laughing proudly, “Ha, you dont know how long we waited here. You Eastern mutt, you think that I wont be able to recognize you in this disguiseyou even wore a wig!”