314 The Pas (1/2)
The smell of tobacco hung in the air. It seemed to contain the dust of traveling. A man in a gray canvas robe sat on the sofa beside Maxwell. His aether was as still as dead water as if it was swallowed by the darkness in his robe.
He looked as if he had come from thousands of miles away. He held an old pipe; his face was hidden in the darkness and difficult to see. He was talking to Maxwell. ”After all, with our relationship, I will definitely agree to help you with this.” He rose and bid farewell.
”You’re leaving now?” Maxwell tried to keep him. ”Why don’t you stay a bit longer? It’s not too late to leave tomorrow.”
”The distance is far and it will be a difficult journey. The sooner I leave the better. My goal for coming to the academy has been reached as well and there is no point in staying. Thank you for your hospitality.”
”Then, safe travels.” Maxwell rose to see him off. The traveler-like musician moved silently as if he was floating. When he brushed past Ye Qingxuan, he could feel the pair of eyes under the darkness sweep across his face. Those eyes were meaningful.
”Who was that?” Ye Qingxuan asked when the man was gone.
”Since he doesn’t wish to reveal his identity before you, it’s obviously a secret.” Maxwell smiled mysteriously and motioned for Ye Qingxuan to sit. ”Whisky or brandy? I also have the strongest ‘kerosene’ from downtown. Maybe you’ll like it.”
”Don’t you have anything nonalcoholic?” Ye Qingxuan eyed Maxwell.
He rummaged through the cabinets. Finding some black tea, he boiled water to make tea for himself. Maxwell sat with propped legs and watched as Ye Qingxuan scurried about. He did not care at all and just chuckled.
”Sorry to keep you waiting for so long. I thought you would get impatient.”
”No matter where you go, you still have to come back here.” Ye Qingxuan sat across from Maxwell, poured a cup of tea, and pushed it over.
”Oh?”
”This is for you,” Ye Qingxuan said lightly. ”I have a lot of questions so get ready to be thirsty, Mr. Principal.”
”If I knew this, I’d choose an easier topic to discuss.” Maxwell sighed and downed the cup of tea. He wiped the water on his beard like an old swordsman getting ready to fight after drinking wine. ”Okay, let’s start. Don’t worry, I won’t hold anything back.”
”Then,” Ye Qingxuan asked his first question, ”who is White Crow?”
”You know about him?” Maxwell was shocked but he shook his head. ”Unfortunately, I want to know the answer too. More than a decade ago, the Sacred City ruled that your father was a heretic and had fallen. It caused uproar but your father ran away. The Lancelot family was the first to be questioned.
”I don’t know the specifics, but the former head of the family closed himself off to the world. Due to all the pressure, he was forced to exile you and your mother. After that, he fell ill and died two years later.
”At the same time, Ye Lanzhou used his Scepter to erase his existence. Other than people with special status, everyone forgot about him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t undo his mistakes. Amongst them, the one who put in the most effort to attack the Lancelot family was the White Crow that you speak of.”
”I see.” Ye Qingxuan lowered his eyes. ”Then why did Ye Lanzhou come to the West back then? An Eastern Deva’s blood with a bright future and scepter would be the star of any school and the hope of the entire family. Why did he leave his hometown to come here?”
”Twenty-seven years ago in the East, Bai Heng inherited the noble Bai family. He led his soldiers to rebel without care for his family in the capitol Chang’an. The emperor was furious and killed his entire family. However, Chang’an was breached three days later and the royal family was practically massacred by Bai Heng.
”Bai Heng was the sole survivor of the Bai family. Due to outside pressure, he did not kill the youngest princess. He allowed her to inherit the throne, change her title to ‘Wu.’ She became the first empress. After that, Bai Heng became the high and mighty regent, and the world’s most treacherous minister.
”One year later, the Ye family was secretly ordered by the empress to fight under the name of removing treacherous officials. They partnered with the Eighth Battalion to besiege Chang’an for five years. However, the Ye family was betrayed by his ally. The head of the family was beheaded and given to Bai Heng as an apology.