Silent Crown

Chapter 332 Stranger

After leaving Elder Caligula's home, Ye Qingxuan decided to explore the rest of the Auschwitz market and see the overall terrain. Multiple places had been bought and radiated with obvious aether waves. He could see invisible walls if he used the Eye of Silence.

Some places were flattened and the sole remaining building emanated a cold aura. Some places were deep in the residential area but there was no sign of life. He could sense a mass of dark fog but did not know what was hidden inside.

There was nobody like Ye Qingxuan who slept happily in the inn at night and went to sell in the market in the morning. However, when he returned to his stall, he found that someone had come over.

There seemed to be a customer sitting before the empty stall. He picked at the weapons, looking at this one or touching that one like a picky customer. In the end, he picked a short sword and stroked it.

"Hello, Mr. Ye." Hearing the footsteps, the musician turned around, revealing the face Ye Qingxuan had seen last night. "I'm Colt," he said. "Colt Flagg. My teacher has mentioned you before."

"And your teacher is?"

"Heisenberg," Colt answered. "Grandmaster Heisenberg of the Rock Institute."

Ye Qingxuan thought of the cold hawkish face within the council members of Abraham's appraisal. He could vaguely see traces of it in Colt's face. They had the same cold hardness.

He nodded. "My apologies, I was impolite."

"Nothing to apologize for. After all, our teachers don't have a great relationship." Colt glanced at him. "My teacher said that he isn't as good as Abraham. Abraham has a perfect student who can continue and develop his legacy. To be honest, I am envious."

Ye Qingxuan's eyebrows shot up. He did not expect Heisenberg to think so highly of him. "He flatters me."

Colt chuckled. Rather than replying, he toyed with the sword. "Want to work together?" he asked suddenly.

After thinking for a bit, Ye Qingxuan shook his head. "I'll pass. I'm not really social."

"That's a pity." Colt looked at him coldly. "Your answer is such a pity." With a snap, the sword was unsheathed. The blade shone coldly. Faint waves of aether rolled off of Colt. It was heavy with animosity.

Ye Qingxuan stared wordlessly. He would be a bit worried if Colt was a hot-tempered Modifications musician constantly troubled by his beastly nature, or a mentally unstable Summoning musician. He would not be worried at all if the opponent was a logical and introspective. No sane person would go against the rules of the Sacred City and put the locals at the market in danger by fighting with him.

Revelations musicians also had low lethality so every action was precious and made for the kill. In some extremist schools, a Revelations musician would not act unless he was at least sixty percent sure he would be successful.

Instead, Ye Qingxuan had to be careful to not fight back and give this guy something to latch onto.

During the quiet stalemate, Colt laughed at himself. "As expected, this trick doesn't work on you." He sheathed the sword again and put it back. "Nice sword." With that, he rose, bid farewell politely, and disappeared into the masses.

Ye Qingxuan looked coolly as he walked away and returned to his spot. After a long time, he picked up a rag and wiped away Colt's fingerprints. Sheathing the sword, he smiled into the distance. Under his feet, the rag silently burned to ashes.

-

At the end of the street, Colt stopped after turning. He looked at the girl hidden in the shadows. "Arianna, how is it?" he asked quietly.

Arianna's expression changed. She shook her head unhappily after a while. "There's still no reaction. Are you sure you put my personally-made 'hint' onto his stall?"

"I swear," Colt said lightly. "I'm the only Revelations musician in all of Auschwitz that can discover hints." Before he could finish, a small sound shot from Arianna's fingertip. Her expression changing, she looked down and found that the ring had cracked.

"Really?" She took off the expensive alchemy equipment and tossed it into the trash. "There's another one now."

After a moment of silence, Colt lowered his eyes. "It seems like we should raise Ye Qingxuan's threat level. Tell the musicians teaming up with us to be careful of him. Treat him as a Resonance level enemy."

"That dramatic?" Arianna furrowed her brows. "They won't accept it if there isn't any evidence. How can the weakest guy suddenly jump to the top of the list?"

"No problem. If they want evidence," Colt scoffed and turned, "there'll be evidence once Ye Qingxuan takes care of some stupid guys."

-

Ye Qingxuan was not thinking about what Colt had planned. He just took it was a test from a fellow competitor. After checking the illusion fulcrums he had hid in nearby stalls, he started thinking again. He soon discovered that someone strange was keeping an eye on him.

And the person was really close.

And really cheeky.

Cheeky to the point of squatting before him and staring with a curious and focused gaze.

It was a little Romulusian girl around the age of eleven or twelve. She wore a dirty robe like everyone else. Her hair was brown with strands of gold. She was mixed. Her old backpack was filled with little trinkets, from hair clips, scissors, pieces of paper, to a dead white rat. It had been turned into a specimen and she took it everywhere with her. Someone had drawn on her face with weird paint, making her look like a little witch that would be burned at the stake in olden times. Now, she squatted by the stall and looked up and down, creeping Ye Qingxuan out.

"You…what are you looking at?" Ye Qingxuan scooted back and gazed blankly at the girl.

Hearing his question, the girl was stunned too. She quickly shook her head and replied honestly, "I forgot."

Ye Qingxuan almost spat out blood. He coughed violently, not knowing how to reply. The girl remained squatting and rested her chin on her hands. She looked at him curiously.

"Are you a foreigner too?" she asked. "I saw some others looking at you too."

"How many people?" Hearing her words, Ye Qingxuan furrowed his brows. "Are there still a lot?"

"Probably?" The girl scratched her messy hair. "Can we not talk about this? I can't remember."

Ye Qingxuan could hear the sound of his sanity shattering. What do you mean you can't remember? And talk about what? We're not talking about anything! Don't act like we're already familiar with each other!

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." Ye Qingxuan forcefully himself to calm down. "How can I help you?"

"Oh, we don't know each other?" The girl looked at him in confusion. Finding her answer in his upset eyes, she nodded. "Then you've already bought a map, right? Just pretend I was never here."

"What map?" Ye Qingxuan had never had such a hard time talking to someone. He was even doubting his own intelligence. Was this girl crazy?

"Oh, so you haven't bought it?" The girl's eyes brightened. "You want it? The map's really cheap! Don't you foreigners all wanna go to the palace under the mine? I'm the only one who's been to it! I can't take you but if you spend…spend…" She paused and flipped through her pocket. Taking out a price sheet, she glanced at it and stuffed it back. She stated, "Spend three-hundred bucks and you'll get my hand-drawn map!"

You think I'll believe you and give you money? Ye Qingxuan made a face but did not know what to say.

"Oh, you think it's expensive?" The girl misunderstood and scratched her head apologetically. "Yeah, I think it's expensive too. How about you give me a hundred? If you still think it's not worth it, I can tell you a secret passageway." Without waiting for Ye Qingxuan's reply, she took out a strange 'map' and started drawing on the back. Her drawing style was, well…extremely 'spirited,' filled with wildness and emotions. Simply put, Ye Qingxuan could not distinguish anything other than two statues and a door.

Soon, she stuffed the map into Ye Qingxuan's hands and gazed at him expectantly. She was waiting for money.

Was this a new kind of scam and beggar technique? Ye Qingxuan was numb. He thought, fine, it's just a hundred bucks. Please take it and stop damaging my sanity and logic.

"You should've just told me you want money!" He sadly took out one hundred dollars and gave it to her. The girl accepted with a smile but realized the money would not budge. She tugged it again. Ye Qingxuan let go and grasped her wrist.

She looked at Ye Qingxuan, but Ye Qingxuan was looking at her wrist. There was a tattoo of two snakes entwined on a cross on her wrist. Ye Qingxuan took out his pocket watch and realized that there was no difference in the design.

"Where did you get this tattoo?"

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