307 The Past and Future

"If you want to switch, I also—"

"No need." Ye Qingxuan shook his head and placed the monocle before his eye. "One that suits is the best." Just as Ye Qingxuan had thought, this could make up for his shortcomings, especially his weakness in the School of Revelations. There were not many musicians who studied and did well with four schools like him.

For the School of Abstinence, he had improved a lot after inheriting the School of Stone Heart. The core of the Avalon enchantment was like a surprise experience gift package. Personally experiencing the power of Genesis, he had improved even more. Now, this school was his strongest point. He did not have to worry about the School of Mind and Illusion either, thanks to his talent and the guidance of that witch Lola.

The School of Revelations was the one he had wanted to learn. However, he barely qualified. Other than Bolero, he had not learned many other music scores. The Eye of Silence would make up for this shortcomings, as well as boost his overall abilities. It would be much easier to distinguish the other objects.

Just as he had guessed, the crystal bone was the inheritance of nirvana from the School of Mind. He had Lola for guidance and coaching though, so he did not need it.

The stone tobacco pipe was a good thing. The phantom beast inside was alluring to people but…he really did not want to become an addict that always held onto a pipe so he had to skip it.

He did not know what the flagon was for but, according to the Eye of Silence, its true value came from its material. Shards of some sacred weapon had been melded into it so the flagon could automatically convert any liquor inside to fine wine that could act as recovery medicine. Drinking it could help recover energy. Long-term usage would probably help improve one’s physique as well. It was definitely high quality recovery alchemy equipment.

For most musicians, it was a great thing to be able to forever save on the expenses for recovery medicine. For Ye Qingxuan though…he did not lack this money. Lola was rich and bought high quality recovery medicine from the Cavendish Laboratory by the trunk. In addition, Maxwell had transferred most of the smuggling business to Ye Qingxuan as thanks for saving his life. This meant Ye Qingxuan could rule over downtown for Maxwell. As long as occasionally showed up for a meeting, he could sit and reap in the benefits.

Just the annual interest from this dirty money was enough for Ye Qingxuan to live lavishly. To be honest, the strangest life was to have money he did not know how to spend. It felt great!

As for the damaged armor, everything was great except for one fatal flaw—it was too big! If Ye Qingxuan tried it on, he would turn into a two-meter tall giant, which was obviously a problem. He would not be able to do any secret attacks in that, so he had to pass.

"I’ll settle with this one." Ye Qingxuan chuckled. He activated the monocle and information flooded into him. He almost went blind from all the glowing aether marks.

Soon, he became used to it. He adjusted the inner intervals and tuned it to his needs. Now, he was able to see everything with his right eye. When he looked at a tile, the Eye would tell him the material, production site, and length of creation. If he focused on his palm, he could look past the flesh to his bone.

Under the Eye of Silence, blood flowed like a silver river through his semi-transparent arm. It shone with serene moonlight. That was the Deva’s blood that contained aether-like qualities after flowing through the sub-originator. When he looked up, he felt like he was going blind.

The frail princess Mary in her white dress suddenly became a human-shaped beast. Her entire body shone with blinding red light. It overlapped into a pair of dragon wings. Even the air she exhaled that hung in the air shone with dragon breath. Ye Qingxuan gulped and looked away.

Mary saw his reaction and blanched. For some reason, she looked away and hid her face inside her hat. "Please don’t…" She looked down as if upset. "Don’t look at what you shouldn’t."

No, no, no! You misunderstood! I wasn’t looking at that! Ye Qingxuan secretly wiped away some cold sweat. No wonder she was the Red Dragon’s descendant. Just a glance was terrifying.

-

After the short awkwardness, he finally walked out of the chamber. At the thought that the princess with prejudice against him was finally leaving, he could not help but sigh in relief. Royalty all had weird tempers and were hard to get along with. Easterners said that being with royalty was like being with a tiger. This Red Dragon princess was pretty scary too.

A carriage was waiting at the front of the Jianlan Underground Palace but Mary did not get on. Instead, she stood in her spot, as if considering something. Ye Qingxuan’s heart skipped a beat. He had a bad feeling. Did she notice the exchange between him and Gawain?

"Umm…Mr. Holmes," with her back to him, Mary looked down and suddenly said, "thank you."

"Huh? Uh, what?" Ye Qingxuan froze.

"Thank you for saving me. I am eternally in your debt. Would you be able to leave your address so I…I can pay a visit?"

"It was nothing, Princess. Please don’t mind." Seeing her awkwardness, Ye Qingxuan could not help but laugh. He wanted to say something but suddenly saw the person waiting beside the carriage. That person was looking at him.

After a pause, Ye Qingxuan looked down. "Your Highness, I apologize for the impoliteness, but I must take my leave."

Stunned, Mary reached out to hold him but Ye Qingxuan had already passed her. He walked toward the square without hesitation. Mary gaped at his back. Seeing the man waiting beside the carriage, she grew more confused.

"Mr. Lancelot?"

The middle-aged man beside the carriage leaned on his cane and coughed quietly as he looked at Ye Qingxuan’s figure. The youth walked away with an emotionless face as if he saw nothing.

"Maxwell can’t block ‘Lancelot’s’ perception. I know it’s you," Lancelot said when they brushed shoulders. "You want to hide from me your entire life?"

Ye Qingxuan’s steps halted. He just smiled without saying anything, as if mocking the man.

"Can’t you just…let the past be past?" Lancelot coughed. "The nobles who forced the Queen to punish your father had all failed with the parliament. Isn’t that enough? Come back, the armor of Lancelot is still yours to inherit. You should understand the expectations the family has for you. Why must you hate the family so stubbornly?"

"Mr. Lancelot, I think you’ve misunderstood something." Ye Qingxuan looked back as if he had heard something hilarious but his expression was somber. "I never hated the Lancelot family. Not a bit. I am just…deeply disappointed."

Lancelot lowered his eyes and did not reply, letting Ye Qingxuan leave.

When Ye Qingxuan was far away, he heard a low murmur carried by the wind. "Ye Qingxuan, you’ve been insisting on those unavoidable things all these years. Can you really be happy?"

Ye Qingxuan froze and turned to look back. Lancelot’s expression was somber with expectant eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but the youth suddenly looked up and smiled.

He said, "Sorry, my surname is Ye." So I don’t belong to the Lancelot family. So I’m not happy.

He turned and left.

-

Metals clashed in the heavy darkness. It sounded like cold surgical knives and forceps hitting each other.

"No need to stop the blood," said a hoarse and strange accent. "Start changing all the blood now. Match it with the patient’s blood type. Give me blade number three."

"The heartbeat’s almost gone. Do the cardiac injection. If there’s no effect, use a music score to control the heart. We only need half an hour."

"Where are the spare organs? Change it if it gets rejected. I won’t believe it if none of the five work."

"Is the brain under anesthesia? Idiot! Why didn’t you say so earlier? Give him another shot!"

Darkness and dizziness fell again. He closed his eyes.

After who knows how long, he opened his eyes again. Everywhere hurt and his body seemed to be shattered. There was a respirator over his face and layers of tubes connecting his body to the alchemy machine maintaining his life. It was strange…

In disarray, he suddenly thought that he was just like the man he had once called ‘father’ right now.

"Open your eyes and look here." A man that smelled of antiseptics looked at him. The old man’s head was wrapped with an Indian turban that was so old one could not tell its original look.

"What number?" The Indian pulled his eyes open and held up some fingers.

"Five," he said scratchily.

The old Indian man nodded in satisfaction and let go. He vaguely heard voices beside the bed.

"As you wished, the surgery is over. He’s still alive and will live for a long time. If he’s careful, he can live for at least sixty years."

"Very good, Ghandagar," a young man said. "You’ve fulfilled your promise to me."

"Just as we had agreed on, I used all my knowledge to complete this surgery. No one will know. I’ll cooperate and have my memory wiped as well. This will have never happened but I hope you’ll remember your promise to me."

The youth smiled. "Ghandagar Rahul, I promise, under the name of the Vengeful Spirit, that you can live peacefully in downtown for the rest of your life. I’ll protect your son as well. The mistakes that the imperial physicians of the chief made will no longer have anything to do with you."

"Ganesa will bless you, kind sir."

"I hope," the young man said lightly. "You can go now. I have something to say to him."

Footsteps sounded. The old Indian left politely and closed the door.

The man on the patient’s bed opened his eyes. His breathing was turbid and his voice was weak and unclear. "I’m still alive?"

"Yes." The white-haired youth dragged a chair over and sat beside the bed. "Thankfully, it was easy to find a corpse to replace you that night in Avalon. You should thank Lola. If not for her illusions, you wouldn’t’ve been able to live so long and pull through the surgery."

"Surgery…" The patient breathed with wet sounds. It seemed to be a sigh. "What did the surgery do?"

"Some good things," the young man answered. No matter if it’s the family’s restrictions, the flesh mutated by dark musicians, demonized organs. I helped you get rid of all everything. Everything that isn’t human was purified by the moonlight and you got a new face too.

"I also put something into your heart. If you try to have anything to do with natural catastrophes again, no one’ll be able to help you."

"My sound of heart is so messy now. Did I fall from the Resonance level?"

"Yeah but you can probably get back up with your abilities. But…" Here, the young man sighed heavily. "One vertebra was too tainted so we could only cut it out. You might never be able to stand up again."

"…Being alive is better than anything."

"Yeah, being alive is great." The young man pulled something from his pocket and placed it beside the bed. It was a stack of identification cards and a notebook filled with cramped font. "This is your new identity. I made it for someone else but she’s busy studying now and probably doesn’t have time to play, so you can use it."

The cards were laid out before him. They seemed old but were flawless. The picture was his current appearance; there were no flaws in the mark and signature either.

"You graduated from the Imperial Anglo Medical College and became a medic. Later, you were sent to the Northumberland Fifth Corps in India. The Bahata War erupted. Your group was sent to Bahata to fight the followers of the natural catastrophe. You were sent back after getting injured in the second year. All your comrades were killed so don’t worry, no one will recognize you."

The man stared at the profile picture on the card. After a while, he asked quietly, "So this is me from now on?"

"From now on, you no longer have anything to do with the past. Embrace your new life." The young man glanced at him and uttered quietly, "Mr. John Z. Watson."