318 Sea Fog

"Deva’s blood…" Ye Qingxuan could feel that the power sealed in his blood was getting closer after he became an official musician and went through Deva sensing. Ye Lanzhou had sealed it, and although he could not truly utilize it, it somehow affected him. He could often feel an instinctive urge when he was half-asleep. It was urging him to hurry and enter Resonance so he could have his talent again. And also, the most important…

"Dreamweaver?" Ye Qingxuan murmured the name that had appeared in Jiu Xiao Huan Pei. This was the guide that had grown clearer after Deva sensing and was an advancement he had never heard of before.

As the musician paths became more refined throughout history, musicians of the same school began to specialize in different aspects. It created specializations for musicians like the ones for alchemists. Different musicians had their own strengths, which required different advancements.

For example, musicians of the Anglo School of Royalty would combine the theories of Summoning and Modifications when they become an official musician. This allowed them to grasp the technique of changing between elements and beasts. Compared to other advancements, the Dreamweaver had much higher requirements. Simply put, someone under the Resonance level should not even think about it.

When going through resonance, one must target one’s ‘origin’ in a special place according to the theory. However, Ye Qingxuan thought that reaching its requirement was more than difficult. The position of the origin could move!

Located between the realms of existence and nonexistence, the origin floated in the nine levels of the aetheric sea. It could move up and down and jump between the levels.

The first time Ye Qingxuan saw this, he almost cried. It was weirder the more he thought about it. Why did this origin not follow conventions? The more he thought about it the more confused he was. In the end, he decided to ignore the problem.

Deciding to relax, he started to read the books Abraham had given him. It was research about Romulus. He should at least know some basic facts before arriving there.

-

The Romulusian culture originated in a riverbank area and developed into the desert and oasis area—Thebes. This was one of birthplaces of civilization. The ancient Theban School was also born there.

After the three legendary cities of gold were destroyed, the culture spread in all directions. The people established various city-states. Finally, the hero Aeneas guided by the Originator left his hometown and established the City of Wolves in a new land. He united the city-states and created a large empire. This was Romulus.

The empire flourished within the century and created many legends. However, it was destroyed and flattened by the natural catastrophe Wave of Silver. The survivors were tainted by the natural catastrophe’s breath. From then on, they were seen as lower-class citizens and the descendants of demons. They had no home. They finally found a barren piece of land and began to live there. People referred it to as Auschwitz, which meant ‘heaven’ in ancient Romulusian. It was the biggest irony.

Reading ancient history and music scores was very difficult and time passed quickly. Ye Qingxuan soon stopped reading. He closed the book and looked down. The sailors were busy again.

The whistle was muted and the bells were taken down. The hammer was taken out and wrapped in cotton. All passengers were politely sent into the cabin. The wheel cabin was extinguished and the tied up sail was taken down. The entire ship began to float solely with the wind. The entire process was complicated and fast. Soon, the deck was silent.

Ye Qingxuan tugged on the rope and dropped down. He glanced at the man beside him. "Should I go in?"

"No need." The middle-aged captain had typical Asgardian features. His edges were sharp and his brow bone was high. He looked cold, handsome, and unfeeling. "There’s still one more hour before we enter the red zone. The passengers paid money so we have to worry for their safety. However, musicians like Mr. Ye don’t need our concern. Instead, we’ll need your concern if anything happens." With that, he took out his silver cigarette case and opened it for Ye Qingxuan. The youth shook his head and took out the pipe he had not used yet.

"That’s a good thing. You’ve maintained it well." The captain’s eyes were envious. "Can you share some tobacco?"

Ye Qingxuan chuckled and did so. "The atmosphere is so tense even I feel pressure. Mr. Captain, are you nervous?"

"Relax. We’re using the safe path for civilians and it’s just passing through the red zone. Nothing will happen if we’re quiet. You just need to get used to it." He lit the tobacco with ease and inhaled deeply. Letting the smoke out, he tilted his head back in satisfaction.

"Are you familiar with black zones?" Ye Qingxuan asked.

"Yeah, accidentally brushed past one once." The captain nodded. "The sight was so scary I still remember it. We just bumped into a reef and it was like the entire ship was alive and singing. Everyone was…"

A sailor approached and he stopped talking. He did not want unrelated people to hear his words. Rather than being secretive, it was for the good of the sailor. After all, not everyone could stand those unbelievable stories and terrifying rumors.

The sailor glanced at Ye Qingxuan and lowered his voice. "Captain, look behind you. There’s something…"

Ye Qingxuan furrowed his brows. When they approached the red zone, he had pulled in his sensory proximity and precision so he would not be disturbed. Before the sailor came over, he had felt something floating over with the current but he thought it was just trash. Hearing the sailor’s words, he narrowed his eyes to focus and quickly nodded. "Captain, you should go take a look."

Hearing that, the captain’s eyes instantly grew serious. After taking two steps, he looked back. "Together?" Ye Qingxuan nodded and caught up with them. When they arrived, the onlookers were forced away. Only he and the captain remained.

The captain looked down past the railing at the tossing blue waves. Something floated over and softly bumped into the side of the ship. It sounded like a polite guest knocking on the front door.

It was a broken shard—a broken piece of a lifeboat. All that remained was the bow and was toyed by the waves like a dead fish. On the bottom of the boat, poking out from the surface, one could see a bloated corpse. He had been nailed to the bottom.

Someone had taken out a nail from the boat and stabbed it through the man’s hand, nailing him to the bottom of the broken boat. Half of his body was soaked in the water, allowing him to float with the waves but it was not enough for him to drown.

"He nailed it himself," a sailor said quietly.

When the disaster happened, the man did not have the strength to grasp the boat anymore so he nailed himself onto it. He prayed for savior but sadly, nothing answered his prayers.

A seagull had pecked his eyeballs away. All that remained were two empty eye sockets that stared deep into the distance.

Ye Qingxuan looked away.

They had not entered the red zone yet and already saw something so pathetic. This was beyond his imagination.

The first mate asked, "Captain, this…what do we do?"

In the stern, the captain smoked and thought for a long while. Finally, he muttered, "What are you waiting for? He’s already dead. Do you want to pull him up and pray to him? Let’s continue." He turned and left.

Thus, the ship continued to sail.

-

Half an hour later, the ship that floated with the wind finally approached the red zone. Ye Qingxuan could feel that the aether in the sea and wind was close to saturation. In a musician’s senses, it was like steering into a world of star clusters. Passing through the dazzling clouds, every breath seemed to shine.

"There’s fog." Ye Qingxuan stood on the deck and stared at the fog rising in the distance.

Soon, it was thick enough he could not see his own hands. It was damp and cold and swallowed the ship. Amidst the pale whiteness, the sailors on the deck put on respirators. Even Ye Qingxuan put on a mask that looked like a pig’s snout. It was difficult to breathe with it but at least he did not feel like he was suffocating anymore.

Of course, there was nothing to see with the fog. He sensed that the water surface was empty and still. There was the sound of tides in the faraway distance. Everything was normal.

Ye Qingxuan returned to the cabin. He was ready to continue reading but he froze after two steps. Taking out his book, he realized it was wet.

"Illusion," he murmured. His finger trembled. "Did someone cast an illusion here?"

Abraham had not said anything but after the ‘fire,’ all resources were given moisture and fire protection. The books and files were not flammable and would be dry even if they were soaked in water for a few hours. He had used the School of Abstinence to refuse changes in the object’s nature. If this was the case, then did this odd fog truly exist?

After thinking for a long while, he snapped his fingers. The Bolero net was awoken. He had been adding bits of music theory from the School of Revelations. Now, Bolero, which did not have any characteristics before, had started showing signs of the Revelation’s style.

He had given up on other aspects and turned it into pure investigation and reading. Accompanied by the light melody, the perception threads were awoken again. Faint moonlight shone from it. In Ye Qingxuan’s eyes, the fog instantly became dreamy, beautiful, and ethereal.

Though it was beautiful, he did not dare to look around. The more he saw, the more he would be eroded by the illusion. Right now, he had noticed it but could not get rid of it.

Once a musician became an official musician, the structure of all music scores would change. It would become more complete and the effect’s stability would be incomparable to the past.

This was especially true for illusions. If he could not find the core and origin, he would sink further into it. In the end, he would not be able to tell reality from illusion and would be vulnerable.