229 The Least of Two Evils

The next dawn, Ye Qingxuan woke up from an obscure dream. His body was covered in cold sweat. Rather than being clear-headed as he usually was, his thoughts were muddled now. He could not remember what he had dreamed, just that there was obscurity, shaking, scratchy whispering, and low utterances in the darkness.

His memories of the nightmare diluted, scattered, and vanished. Soon, he could not say anything about what he had dreamed.

He sighed and picked up a strange stone from his bed. He had tried to communicate with this ruin last night with the interpretation method; he had wanted to decipher the strange words on it but to no avail. Then he had fallen asleep without realizing and tossed in his sleep, struggling nonstop.

Now, it seemed that this rock truly was filled with strangeness. In the weak morning light, the wedge-shaped words on the stone shone dimly with a dark green light. It looked like toxic poison left over from ancient times and made the hair on one’s neck rise.

"What weird thing is this?" Ye Qingxuan really did not know why he suddenly wanted to bring that thing back and try deciphering it. Maybe it was a random urge, or that thing truly had an attractive pull on him, luring him into it.

He sighed and stuffed the stone into his pocket. He rose to wash up, crept past the silent living room, and walked out. Not many were awake at five in the morning and the academy was quiet.

Faint white mist shrouded his surroundings. There was only a stray cat crossing the grass in the stillness. Sensing his presence, it looked up with emerald eyes. For some reason, stray cats really liked him that day. They continuously ran over and rubbed against him, purring.

Ye Qingxuan felt a lot better with this furry guy clinging onto him; however, like a misconception, he always felt that the stone vibrated slightly whenever the cats meowed, but nothing seemed different when he pulled it out.

He sighed. He had not been sleeping well these past few days and would often have these misconceptions.

Ye Qingxuan did not get up this early voluntarily either. In reality, he was so tired he could sleep for a whole day after recent events. He just could not stay in bed any longer.

The sublimation ritual had already been prepared. Once all materials were put in, he would not be able to wait much longer. Unless he really wanted to give up on his award, he must run to the library early in the morning and go through the ritual.

This should be something great, but he could not be happy with what Ingmar had done and the following solution.

"We shouldn’t live in a world where we can’t sleep in…" Ye Qingxuan muttered to himself.

He could not help but sigh. It looked like he was destined to be laborious and could not even catch a break. Just as he walked toward the library gloomily, he heard a familiar voice.

"Oh, good morning." On the road-side bench was the former leader of the School of Modifications who had been defeated by Ye Qingxuan, James.

As if he had stayed up the whole night, there were dark circles under his eyes and he waved weakly. When he saw Ye Qingxuan, his expression became upset.

"Uh, good morning." Ye Qingxuan was a bit confused, not knowing why James would be here. James shoved the heavy leather case beside his feet over.

"My professor wanted me to give this to you."

"Mr. Egor?" Ye Qingxuan was stunned. Looking at the stuffed leather case, he did not know what he would receive from the professor who had never liked him.

"There are some treasured resources from the School of Modifications." James sneezed and sniffed. This guy had gotten a cold from being in the wind for too long. Even his voice had changed. "The School of Revelations is huge. Their archives are bigger than your entire department. How can you fight them with just your sad amount of books?"

Ye Qingxuan opened the case. It was filled with old books of Voynich Manuscript interpretations. There were also rarely seen resources and research, as well as brand new notes. They were simply stapled together; it was clear they were copies made overnight.

He could not believe the School of Modifications supported him so much. It was only a box of books, but he still felt touched. "Thanks."

"Don’t misunderstand. No one likes you." James scoffed, turned, and left.

After a few steps, he had already sneezed continuously multiple times. Even his snot had come out. It was clear that he had been keeping it in so he would not lose his dignity before Ye Qingxuan.

The corners of Ye Qingxuan’s lips twitched. Just how much did this guy care about his dignity?

Ye Qingxuan sighed. He lifted the case with some effort and continued toward the library, but after a few steps, he was blocked by a black shadow that had jumped out from the side.

It was a black shadow leopard. Agile yet huge, it was half of his height even while sitting. Stared at by those eyes, Ye Qingxuan felt goosebumps all over.

"Hey, Junior!" Beside the leopard was Elsa, the leader of the School of Summoning. She studied him, her eyes filled with anticipation. "Where’s your dog? It sounds really impressive and Bi’er was unhappy when she heard. You’ve been getting the limelight recently, so why don’t we find some time to have fun together?" She rubbed her hands together excitedly as she spoke. Her eyes flashed too, like a beast that had found something interesting and wanted to try it out!

Sensing this girl’s serious challenge and pricking pain, Ye Qingxuan stepped back and shook his head. "Sorry, I can’t fight now."

"Ah, so not fun!" Elsa’s face fell instantly. She tossed a giant satchel into Ye Qingxuan’s arms. "This is for you."

Ye Qingxuan almost stumbled back from the impact of the satchel. He felt his hands being weighed down and almost missed. Before he could ask, Elsa and the black leopard shadow were already far away.

Her voice traveled back, "These are some old books that the school wants to get rid of. Professor wanted me to throw them away but I didn’t feel like walking. Please take them to a suitable landfill."

Ye Qingxuan chuckled wryly and called, "Thanks!"

In the distance, Elsa waved to him without looking back and disappeared in the mist. Looking at the satchel and case, Ye Qingxuan sighed. He pulled them up with difficulty and continued on. After a few steps, a familiar figure appeared.

"Cullen?"

Seeing Ye Qingxuan’s state, Cullen was shocked. He looked down at his small suitcase and could not help but chuckle dryly. "Seems like someone got here before me?" With that, he handed the suitcase over to Ye Qingxuan. "The School of Royalty’s resources have aged badly these days and need to be copied. Since you’re coincidentally a copyist…"

Ye Qingxuan opened his mouth to speak, but Cullen stopped him with a hand. "Don’t thank me. To be honest, I really want to expel you. Your white hair is too blinding. Can’t you dye it?"

Ye Qingxuan shrugged. "Can’t help you with that."

Cullen shook his head and waved, motioning for him to leave, but Ye Qingxuan did not move. He just looked at Cullen and asked, "Why are you helping me?"

"To be honest, I really won’t if I have the choice." Cullen sighed. "But if I think about it, compared to you annoying Easterner, someone who stole research results and disgraced all musicians is worse." He patted Ye Qingxuan’s shoulder. Without saying more, he turned and left.

Ye Qingxuan stood in his spot for a long while before hoisting up the satchel, suitcase, and case. These things were heavy and annoying but for some reason, he was in a much better mood now. He smiled involuntarily.

He continued on in the still academy. When he walked past students, they would stand in place and see him off until he disappeared in the mist.

Unclear humming traveled from the thin mist; it was hoarse yet drawn out.

-

When Ye Qingxuan finally set down all the stuff before the library’s entrance in the Jianlan Underground Palace, it felt as if his entire body was going to fall apart. He could not help it; physical labor was always his worse subject. He would be out of breath from just running a few thousand meters, let alone transporting things. Bai Xi had judged him for this too many times to count.

A slight earthly breeze blew through the deserted library. There was an upset huff in the wind.

"Help me look over this stuff. I’ll take it back when I come out at night." The youth smiled apologetically at the air. "Sorry for not coming for so long. I’ll play marbles with you all when I have time."

The huffing in wind seemed to be a bit more pleased. An invisible power pulled the suitcases and satchels, moving them into the shadows until they disappeared.

"You’re a bit later than I had expected." Dominic, the guard Ye Qingxuan had not seen in a while, pointed to the stairs behind him. "The alchemist the principal hired is getting impatient. Hopefully you have a good excuse."

"Uh, sorry. I ran into some problems." Ye Qingxuan chuckled apologetically and hurried away.

There seemed to be a path waiting for him in the darkness. The stairs came alive slightly. After being in the darkness for who knew how long, Ye Qingxuan’s steps halted before an ancient door.

He felt his skin pulling taught. In his perception, he seemed to see a burning sea of light behind the door. The blinding brightness practically crushed one’s perception. It was like a giant vortex. The sea of aether revolved, sleeping peacefully. A gentle melody caressed it, creating faint ripples.

This was the source of the entire Requiem enchantment, the location where the music score of benevolence was performed—the Cave of Sleep.

A blonde youth sitting cross-legged in the dazzling silver light behind the door smiled at the shocked Ye Qingxuan, "Hey, kid, I’ve been waiting for a long time."