229 The Least of Two Evils (1/2)

The next dawn, Ye Qingxuan woke up from an obscure dream. His body was covered in cold sweat. Rather than being clear-headed as he usually was, his thoughts were muddled now. He could not remember what he had dreamed, just that there was obscurity, shaking, scratchy whispering, and low utterances in the darkness.

His memories of the nightmare diluted, scattered, and vanished. Soon, he could not say anything about what he had dreamed.

He sighed and picked up a strange stone from his bed. He had tried to communicate with this ruin last night with the interpretation method; he had wanted to decipher the strange words on it but to no avail. Then he had fallen asleep without realizing and tossed in his sleep, struggling nonstop.

Now, it seemed that this rock truly was filled with strangeness. In the weak morning light, the wedge-shaped words on the stone shone dimly with a dark green light. It looked like toxic poison left over from ancient times and made the hair on one’s neck rise.

”What weird thing is this?” Ye Qingxuan really did not know why he suddenly wanted to bring that thing back and try deciphering it. Maybe it was a random urge, or that thing truly had an attractive pull on him, luring him into it.

He sighed and stuffed the stone into his pocket. He rose to wash up, crept past the silent living room, and walked out. Not many were awake at five in the morning and the academy was quiet.

Faint white mist shrouded his surroundings. There was only a stray cat crossing the grass in the stillness. Sensing his presence, it looked up with emerald eyes. For some reason, stray cats really liked him that day. They continuously ran over and rubbed against him, purring.

Ye Qingxuan felt a lot better with this furry guy clinging onto him; however, like a misconception, he always felt that the stone vibrated slightly whenever the cats meowed, but nothing seemed different when he pulled it out.

He sighed. He had not been sleeping well these past few days and would often have these misconceptions.

Ye Qingxuan did not get up this early voluntarily either. In reality, he was so tired he could sleep for a whole day after recent events. He just could not stay in bed any longer.

The sublimation ritual had already been prepared. Once all materials were put in, he would not be able to wait much longer. Unless he really wanted to give up on his award, he must run to the library early in the morning and go through the ritual.

This should be something great, but he could not be happy with what Ingmar had done and the following solution.

”We shouldn’t live in a world where we can’t sleep in…” Ye Qingxuan muttered to himself.

He could not help but sigh. It looked like he was destined to be laborious and could not even catch a break. Just as he walked toward the library gloomily, he heard a familiar voice.

”Oh, good morning.” On the road-side bench was the former leader of the School of Modifications who had been defeated by Ye Qingxuan, James.

As if he had stayed up the whole night, there were dark circles under his eyes and he waved weakly. When he saw Ye Qingxuan, his expression became upset.

”Uh, good morning.” Ye Qingxuan was a bit confused, not knowing why James would be here. James shoved the heavy leather case beside his feet over.

”My professor wanted me to give this to you.”

”Mr. Egor?” Ye Qingxuan was stunned. Looking at the stuffed leather case, he did not know what he would receive from the professor who had never liked him.

”There are some treasured resources from the School of Modifications.” James sneezed and sniffed. This guy had gotten a cold from being in the wind for too long. Even his voice had changed. ”The School of Revelations is huge. Their archives are bigger than your entire department. How can you fight them with just your sad amount of books?”

Ye Qingxuan opened the case. It was filled with old books of Voynich Manuscript interpretations. There were also rarely seen resources and research, as well as brand new notes. They were simply stapled together; it was clear they were copies made overnight.

He could not believe the School of Modifications supported him so much. It was only a box of books, but he still felt touched. ”Thanks.”

”Don’t misunderstand. No one likes you.” James scoffed, turned, and left.

After a few steps, he had already sneezed continuously multiple times. Even his snot had come out. It was clear that he had been keeping it in so he would not lose his dignity before Ye Qingxuan.

The corners of Ye Qingxuan’s lips twitched. Just how much did this guy care about his dignity?

Ye Qingxuan sighed. He lifted the case with some effort and continued toward the library, but after a few steps, he was blocked by a black shadow that had jumped out from the side.

It was a black shadow leopard. Agile yet huge, it was half of his height even while sitting. Stared at by those eyes, Ye Qingxuan felt goosebumps all over.