285 Strange White Tower (1/2)
”So I can’t go in?” Ye Qingxuan furrowed his brows. However, his bowler hat suddenly vibrated and a glimmer of light flashed before his eyes. A complex star map suddenly appeared on the black iron gate in front of him. After looking carefully, it dawned on Ye Qingxuan.
”Aries?” he muttered.
Walking briskly around the tower, he realized that he was right. Each of the twelve gates had a different star map on it. The doors of Leo and Capricorn showed signs of being opened earlier. People had already entered. No matter how Ye Qingxuan hurried, he was still slowed down by the demons that had awakened along his path.
”Seems like every second is precious in this battle?” Closing his eyes, he pressed his hands onto the gate and instantly resonated with the music score within. This prohibition…was definitely from the School of Abstinence!
Many of the techniques used were familiar. Some had appeared in the music theory from the School of Stone Heart. The School most likely had something to do with the entire construction of the White Tower.
Ye Qingxuan could feel that the twelve gates led to twelve different places. All led to the core of the Elizabeth Tower in the end but had different lengths.
According to his calculations, the distance behind the Leo gate was the longest but it led to the core directly. There were not many blockades. The path behind the Capricorn gate was difficult to distinguish. It emanated with a sinister feeling and had already been tainted by the natural catastrophe’s power. The paths of the other unopened gates were hidden in the fog.
”So I’ll just have to gamble?” Ye Qingxuan began thinking but his hat vibrated and resonated with one of the gates.
”Libra?” It dawned on Ye Qingxuan. As the developer of the sub-originator theory, the School of Stone Heart focused heavily on the balance of both inside and out, as well as the structure and resonance between music theories. They would not sacrifice strength on one side to reinforce another side. Thus, there was neither a strongest point nor an obvious weak point. It was sealed as tightly as stone and sturdy enough to be intimidating.
”If that’s the case, then I shouldn’t wait any longer.”
Ye Qingxuan pressed his hands onto the door and began resonating with the music score on the door. ”I’m the best at things like interpretation!” he muttered softly.
His consciousness entered the gate instantly and began fighting against the defensive prohibition. After grasping the core theory for the School of Stone Heart, the seamless and flawless prohibition quickly showed many loopholes.
Analysis, interpretation, and eradication! Just like picking a lock, Ye Qingxuan could easily create his own key after understanding the lock’s core structure. The establishment and undoing of enchantments was one of the School of Abstinence’s specialties.
The orthodox method of cracking defenses was never to force one’s way through. It was to use music theory and the musician’s experience to perform reverse interpretation.
Ye Qingxuan calculated his time. With his current progress, he could probably open the gate within three minutes—if he was not disturbed.
A rotting odor suddenly blew in with the night wind, and small footsteps sounded. It sounded like dozens of marbles had fallen onto the ground. Something that smelled sour was coming.
At the most critical point of the cracking, Ye Qingxuan saw a black shadow project onto the gate, grow angry, and pounce toward him. Then it snapped into two halves in the air.
Ye Qingxuan smirked and closed his eyes, focusing entirely on the cracking. When he opened his eyes again, the small noises were gone but the sour smell had multiplied. He looked back. Two meters away, demons that looked something like centipedes lay on the ground in pieces.
All the pieces were two meters away. Their blood and bodily fluids formed a mournful arc. Anything that tried to pass that arc had shattered.
Ye Qingxuan looked away. Only an idiot would not put up defenses when cracking codes in a creepy place like this.
With a crack, aether solidified into a strange key in his hand. He pushed it through the gate and the stars on the surface extinguished one by one. Finally, an invisible force swept past him and disappeared—Bell Authority Confirmation Complete!
A monotone mechanic voice sounded in his ears. Then, the seamless door rumbled and slid into the walls, opening the path.
Ye Qingxuan stared into the empty space and his expression changed. The youthful song had started again. It echoed in the darkness behind the door.
”The king and his helpers kidnapped the queen, imprisoning her in dreams…We have power and the sea so which direction should we wander…Thousands of pairs of hands will raise the sails…” The song was filled with resentment as if the trapped souls were singing. He could not tell where the song came from. If he listened closely, it felt as if the song was everything. Someone was murmuring in his ear.