147 Moonligh (1/2)

”That’s right. I’m the dark musician who’s become a bit famous in recent days.”

Claude’s vision went black. As if he had fallen into icy waters, he almost passed out from the shock.

The only thing more terrifying than death was wishing one was dead. Most of those who fell into the hands of dark musicians would alternate between these two experiences. The torture of being alive, but worse than death, was the despair of wishing to be dead but unable to die!

”You and the Professor weren’t actually fighting!” Claude muttered in despair, finally seeing the light. ”You’re working together.”

”Don’t make wild guesses if you’re not smart enough. I just passed by and pushed you further into the ditch.” Ye Qingxuan shrugged. ”I mean, you all want to jump in and can’t be stopped. I can’t let the Professor get all the good stuff, right?”

”You!”

”I strongly suggest you don’t act brazenly,” the youth stared into his eyes and reminded him. ”Or else we’re done talking, understand?”

Claude froze, panic flashing past his eyes.

”If you can’t satisfy me, I can promise that whether you die or live, the entire world will know tomorrow that you’ve betrayed the Royal Musicians to work for the parliament! You don’t want to become a traitor after you die, right?”

Claude froze and hacked up a mouthful of black blood. He roared hoarsely, ”Despicable!”

”If you’re scared of people finding your weak points, then you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.” Ye Qingxuan scoffed. ”But it doesn’t feel good to be a slave to others when you have such a bright future, right?”

”What do you know…” Claude forced out in resentment. ”Do you know how much I’ve put in to climb to this position as a commoner? If not for the parliament, I wouldn’t even be part of the Royal Musicians!”

”That is not an excuse,” Ye Qingxuan interrupted coldly. ”I’m not here to listen to how hard your life is. If you don’t want to be forced out of the Royal Musicians, you’re going to have to talk nicely with me.”

”…What do you want to know?”

”Who is the robin?” Ye Qingxuan asked.

”I don’t know.” Claude laughed, mocking both Ye Qingxuan and himself. ”You’ve made a mistake. I’ve never seen him in person…I don’t know anything about the parliament.”

”You think I’ll believe that?” Ye Qingxuan asked.

Claude’s eyes rolled back, his gaze unstable. ”If I’m not injured, I can resonate with the world and swear to the Originator… but if I wasn’t injured, why would I compromise with you?”

”Seems like you’re not giving up.” Ye Qingxuan stared at him. Suddenly, he grasped Claude’s chin and reached into his mouth. With a snap, he broke off a fake tooth and yanked it out.

Ye Qingxuan crushed the porcelain tooth in his hand, revealing the blood-red crystal inside. Seeing that the crystal was in Ye Qingxuan’s hand, Claude’s face grew pale, and his eyes dimmed with defeat.

”The Crystal of Virtue? It’s been ten years and you still haven’t changed where you hide it?” Ye Qingxuan scraped off a bit of powder with his nail and flicked it into his mouth. The powder melted in his saliva and transformed into heat, spreading through his body.

Ye Qingxuan shivered. His face, pale from blood loss, instantly turned ruddy. In fact, the blood had come back so strongly he almost had a nosebleed.

The Crystal of Virtue was a precious medicine known as the ‘second life.’ As long as they promised to be loyal to the royal family for life, all Royal Musicians could receive one. As long as the musician was not completely dead, he could be brought back to life with this medicine.

”What a good thing,” Ye Qingxuan praised as he stuffed it into his pocket without hesitation. ”I’m keeping it.”

Seeing that his last shred of hope had been stolen, Claude screamed in anger. He tried to climb up and take it back. Besides fury and hate, an ineffable fear rose in him. Why did the dark musician know so much about Royal Musicians? Why could he see every move? Did he have the Starry Eyes sound of heart too?! But Satan’s power was supposed to deform the sound of heart. Why could this guy act so brazenly in Avalon?

Sensing his thoughts, Ye Qingxuan’s eyes turned mocking. Under those scornful eyes, any struggle became laughable. It was the humiliation of having every thought read by the other; it was the fear of walking up naked under the blazing sun.

”If you’re good and tell me about the parliament, I can bring you to the doctor. You might be able to return to the Resonance level with the help of the Chant musicians. Otherwise, you know how valuable you are to dark musicians, right?”

Claude did not reply. His burnt face was filled with despair. Finally making his decision, he said hoarsely, ”I’ll talk. I know how to contact the robin. Every time I contact him, I…” For some reason, his voice trailed off and his broken face suddenly bloated.

Ye Qingxuan reacted quickly, yanking Claude’s collar. ”He cursed you and you didn’t even know?! Talk! Time’s running out!”

Because he had spoken the forbidden words, Claude’s body quickly expanded to twice its original size. He looked like a balloon now.

”…I just…when!” Claude struggled in panic as the curse within him was awakened. ”Robin, you…my body…”

”Finish what you’re saying! I’ll avenge you!” Ye Qingxuan stared deeply into those hopeless eyes. ”Where is the robin? What does the parliament have to do with Ye Lanzhou?!”

”I, I…” Claude’s blood vessels were about to explode. ”Lanzhou…”

”Spit it out!” Ye Qingxuan stared at him, eyes wild and frantic. But a hand grabbed him and dragged him out of the house before he could react. Then Bai Xi tackled him.

Boom! The ground behind Ye Qingxuan shook like an earthquake. Scalding blood and fire spewed from the crack in the wall. Claude had exploded from the curse within his body…

”Are you crazy?!” Bai Xi glared at him as if looking at a madman. ”He was going to explode and you just stayed there! If I didn’t drag you out, you would’ve died with him!”