446 For the F*cking World (1/2)

There were no more words.

These were Ye Lanzhou's last notes and his last essay.

For this world, for morals, to save the world, or for other sublime things…but he never mentioned his wife and son.

”It really…is you…” After a long, long while, Ye Qingxuan closed the notebook quietly. ”It really is you.” Under the dim light, he leaned back in the carriage seat and closed his eyes weakly.

”This world?”

You did everything for this world?

Silently, aether crumbled the notebook. The pieces fluttered to the ground like snow. In the ripples of the furious music theory, wild aftershocks of the disturbance nature spread.

The white snow burned and faint sparks floated down, disappearing from the world.

Ye Qingxuan stared at the pile of ashes and murmured, ”F*ck the world!”

-

A long time ago, Ye Qingxuan heard a joke: a farmer's wife bought a basket of eggs in the city. Because she was pretty, a group of thugs on the way teased her, wanting to drag her into the forest. The woman refused and used immense strength to fight them off. The thugs were intimidated by her power and knelt down in humiliation. They admitted their ulterior motive and begged for forgiveness.

”That's it?” The woman dusted herself in disdain. She said, ”I thought you wanted to steal my eggs.”

All these years, Ye Qingxuan wandered through the world with no home to return to. He had lost so many things. He loved his mother and hated Ye Lanzhou. But he always thought that Ye Lanzhou had unspeakable troubles.

He must have had a reason for what he did.

Maybe he had tried to protect his family. Maybe he wanted to escape from the fate of the Ye family's Dragon Bloodline or was tricked by Hyakume. Or maybe he had some inexplicable secret… So he had to do what he did.

Ye Qingxuan had made so many excuses for him in his mind. But then Ye Lanzhou told him he did all this for the eggs.

What a joke.

Ye Qingxuan thought furiously, F*ck your eggs. F*ck Ye Lanzhou!

This world was so cold and ugly. It seemed to always be snowing while he walked barefoot. He could feel the bone-numbing cold with each step. There were many people who should be more inclined to love it, protect it, or sacrifice something for it. But even if the first one hundred people were dead, it would not fall upon him.

He loved the world but the world did not love him.

Such irony.

Such pity.

Ye Qingxuan thought his life was as laughable as a joke. He had used more than ten years to come here. He found the truth, only to discover that Ye Lanzhou had just wanted to be a nameless hero.

Okay, go be your nameless hero. Go sacrifice yourself gloriously where no one knows.

For some reason, Ye Qingxuan suddenly wanted to return to Lute. Perhaps, he should have inherited the priest's position in the beginning and spent the rest of his life in that small seaside village. He could be a respectful priest without any troubles.

Lowering his head, he caressed the holy emblem. He missed his professor, he missed Bai Xi and Charles, and he even missed Old Phil.

He finally decided that when this was all done, he would leave. From then on, he would have nothing to do with this weird duke title, this surname, and the hero who had abandoned his wife and son.

The carriage stopped. Ye Qingxuan pushed open the door.

”Thanks, Wolf Flute. I owe you.” He turned to bid farewell.

Wolf Flute looked at his tired expression and shook his head. ”I should have let you know earlier.”

”There's nothing you should or shouldn't have done. You've done enough for me.” Ye Qingxuan rubbed his forehead. ”I'm a little tired. I won't go tomorrow.”

Wolf Flute was taken aback but he quickly smiled. ”Congrats. When you wake up, you'd probably be a true Disturbance level musician.”

”Wolf Flute…” The youth looked at him with troubled eyes.

”Huh?” The other was confused.

”The tragedy of my life all started with aether.” Ye Qingxuan laughed at himself. ”Lola was right. If I had other choices, I wouldn't choose to become a musician.” In the cold wind of the night, the youth turned and left.

Wolf Flute watched as his figure walked into the embassy and disappeared inside. For some reason, he suddenly thought of the youth back then. The white-haired youth had smiled and walked into the hot sunlight, stepping onto the path to his future. The scene was right before his eyes was as if it was not too long ago.

He lowered his head and sighed. Lighting his last cigarette, he exhaled his sense of loss with the smoke. ”Little Yezi, seems like you've really grown up.”

-

Under the same night sky, Charles opened the window. Cold wind blew in. He yawned into his palm and rubbed his hands. He shivered under the cold breeze. His fatigue gradually disappeared. It was four o'clock. After a few hours, the sky would lighten. After laying low for so long, they had finally moved from the crappy warehouse to an inn. However, it was only Constantine and Charles. The others had all been secretly arranged to leave the Sacred City and go by sea to the New Colony.

Only the two of them remained in the Sacred City.