Silent Crown

Chapter 173 Entrustment and Compensation

"It smells so bad…"

Ye Qingxuan held his nose and opened his eyes with difficulty. He could see blinding sunlight behind half a rotten leaf. The light was hot and it hurt his eyes. He lay in the foul odor and surrounding him was…oh, it was a pile of garbage. He was in a garbage pile?

Wait, why was he here?

He remembered that he had played the overture of Moonlight and sank into the melody. He did not even know to fight free. Then he became dizzy and the Professor…

Yes, he fell into the Professor's clutches!

The thought gave him a headache. His head really did hurt. The blood loss and exhaustion gave him empty pain and uncontrollable hunger. He quickly felt around his body. Good, his equipment was still there. Jiu Xiao Huan Pei and Indra's Eye were untouched too.

But…the Blood Path's sign was gone.

In its place was a folded piece of paper. He opened it with difficulty and held it close to read the small words. The elegant and flowing script only wrote a few sparse words.

"Come find me."

The somewhat familiar face appeared in his mind again. Ye Qingxuan could not help but sigh. His head began to hurt again. That d*mned woman threw him in a pile of trash!

He pulled himself up and stumbled out of the garbage, but he felt extremely weak. His head pounded, his body hurt and he was hungry. He could barely even stand up straight.

"Hey, friend," he said to the beggar squatting beside the garbage. "Got any food?"

"…No!" The beggar froze before quickly hiding his bowl behind his back. He had half a bowl of leftover porridge!

"You have porridge! Why didn't you tell me…"

Ye Qingxuan's eyes brightened and snatched the bowl without hesitation, using his hands to eat. He did not feel anything was wrong until he saw the beggar's hurt eyes.

"Ah, sorry. I'm too used to stealing food." He chuckled awkwardly and coughed, trying to put on a serious face. "How about this? Go tell the Shaman's men that Holmes wants to see their boss…If you're lucky, in twenty minutes, you'll be sitting in…sitting in…" Ye Qingxuan thought for a bit and pointed at a classy restaurant that had not opened yet. "I promise you'll be sitting there eating steak!"

The beggar gaped at him in doubt.

Seeing him like that, Ye Qingxuan just shrugged instead of urging him. "Even if you don't go, your porridge's gone and you can't beat me so…"

Hesitating a bit more, the beggar stomped his feet, grit his teeth and walked away with tears in his eyes.

-

-

Twenty minutes later, faint perfume filled the air, along with soft music.

A tidy server led the stinky beggar across the fine carpet to the best spot in the entire restaurant. The server pulled out the chair politely, gesturing for the beggar to sit. Then he gently offered the menu.

On the other side, another server brought over freshly-poured red wine and introduced softly, "Sir, today's main course is Burgundian escargot. I also recommend you try the fried lobster and swan liver…"

The beggar sat on the chair in a daze. He felt dizzy, as if he was in a beautiful dream. The guy who stole his porridge was telling the truth? Was he dreaming?!

"I want this, this and this…and that!" He stared at the menu filled with delicacies and pointed randomly. In the end, he was completely dizzy. "I want everything on here! Uh…can I get take-out too?"

"It's no problem, sir," the server replied with a smile. "Please wait a moment. I will notify the head chef now."

"Good! Hurry and go!"

The beggar was close to tears. They could even do take-out? Didn't they say that there was a dress code here? Thank god…no, thank the mighty Sherlock Holmes!

-

Downtown, in an insignificant tavern, the Shaman stood before the bar and studied the youth beside him. After a long while, he nodded. "You look pretty good."

"I smell horrible. Stop lying through your teeth." Ye Qingxuan sighed. He stuffed rolls of paper up his nose but still could not block out the stench.

"Fine." The Shaman sighed as well and moved to the side in disgust. "Can you go shower?"

"Sorry, but no." Ye Qingxuan rolled his eyes.

"Then whatever."

The Shaman shrugged and motioned for the bartender to leave. Soon, the tavern was empty save for the two before the bar. In the stillness, the Shaman pinched his nose and sipped from the cup of alcohol. He finally felt a bit better.

"Let's talk about your work." He gazed at Ye Qingxuan. "How did you do with what I entrusted you?"

"It was smoother than I'd expected. It was solved without any effort." Ye Qingxuan arched an eyebrow and whistled. "Things happened as you wished, Mr. Shaman. From now on, the Professor won't be an obstacle."

"Really?" The Shaman fell silent and studied the smelly boy. As if he had been angered, metallic light reflected in his eyes, its edges sharp. "Ye Qingxuan, have I told you the rules of trading with me?" His voice was cold as he enunciated each word, "Never try to lie to me!"

"You think I'm lying?" Ye Qingxuan looked at those furious eyes and could not hold in his laughter. "But I feel like you already trust me."

He paused and uttered the Shaman's name.

The Shaman's true name.

Silence.

Deathly silence.

The Shaman froze, as if he had turned to stone. He gaped at the youth. After a long time, he pulled out his pipe, lit it and took a deep breath before exhaling heavily. When he had almost finished the pipe, he finally asked, "When did you guess it?"

"Last night," Ye Qingxuan replied lightly. "The Butcher's actions confirmed my suspicions. At that time, I thought that you knew too much. Then this morning, when I stole a bowl of porridge and ate while squatting on the street, I suddenly had inspiration."

"Inspiration?"

"Yes, inspiration." Ye Qingxuan looked up at him. "It's too coincidental, don't you think? You're really careful, but there are still too many coincidences. I read the files that the Avalon police department compiled about you. To be honest, you're practically a legend and really impressive.

"A few minutes ago, I compared your tracks and the times you appeared and disappeared, and I suddenly thought of a name. I finally understand why you've always trusted me."

"That's it?" the Shaman asked coldly.

"That's it." Ye Qingxuan shrugged helplessly. "I have to say, it's not your fault. The problem is that my father really didn't know that many people in Avalon."

"So it was Ye Lanzhou that messed up?" Stunned, the Shaman laughed at himself. "For all these years, I've gone through everything, trying to be mysterious. I thought that the secret was kept perfectly. But now, I'm old and you caught me…f*ck." He could not help but curse.

"That's how life is, isn't it?" Ye Qingxuan raised his cup toward him. "Cheers to the Shaman's victory."

The Shaman did not reply. Ye Qingxuan shrugged and downed his cup. Then he rose to leave. "Thank you for everything you did for me, Mr. Shaman." He put on his hunting hat and bid farewell. "Please take care of me in the future too."

"It's not over yet." The Shaman's voice stopped him. It was followed by the sound of wind.

Something flew over. Ye Qingxuan turned and caught it, realizing that the Shaman had thrown over a metallic plaque. The finger-sized plaque had a name on it. It looked like one could string a chain through it and wear it around one's neck.

"What is this?"

"Since there's an entrustment, there should also be compensation," the Shaman replied lightly. "There's an old guy called Dominic who guards the Jianlan Underground Palace at the Royal Academy of Music, right? He owes me. Take this to him and he'll understand. You don't have to reject this. This is the compensation that you exchanged your life for, so of course it's a bit more bountiful. Be prepared for the surprise."

"Surprise?" Ye Qingxuan could not help but chuckle bitterly as he stuffed the plaque into his pocket. "Let's talk about surprises tomorrow. I still need to go to class. I've been ditching a lot and even though the Professor won't get mad, I still feel bad."

"You're a good student?" The Shaman gazed at him strangely. "That makes me pleased."

"Your news is outdated, Mr. Shaman." The youth walked through the door, only leaving behind a self-deprecating chuckle. "I'm the infamous disgrace of the Academy now."

-

-

In the afternoon, sunlight poured from the sky. The busy streets were bathed in the warm glow.

It was the type of relaxed, long and warm afternoon that made one tired. Even the stray cat on the wall had lazily fallen asleep in the gentle sunshine.

After the rioting last night that was apparently terrifying, no one took the sunlight for granted. A few men sat in a café on the busy street, describing what had truly happened last night.

It was something about a Vengeful Spirit and the Professor dueling in the asylum. The Vengeful Spirit had turned into a giant bat and dropped from the sky. The Professor's face was painted white. He opened his mouth and laughed crazily after seeing the Vengeful Spirit fall into his trap.

They described the scene as if they had witnessed it.

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