Silent Crown Chapter 156

An old man with black gloves stood at the end of a long street. He lit his cigar and inhaled deeply before letting out a puff of cool blue smoke. He waited quietly.

After a long time, his shoulders twitched and he turned slowly. A figure had appeared behind him. "Mr. Holmes," he nodded. "I have been waiting for you."

"Mr. Ghosthand, long time no see." Ye Qingxuan smiled and took off his hunting hat. "I remember our first meeting was outside the White Horse hotel. You gave me directions before, but now it's the opposite."

Ghosthand gazed deeply into the youth's eyes. He could not help but sigh in lamentation. A few months ago, he and the youth had met for the first time, brushing past each other on the street. At that time, he was still the debtor, Ghosthand, an infamous legend of Avalon. Ye Qingxuan was just an Eastern kid who had just arrived.

At that time, the kid was like fish on the cutting board. Ghosthand could do whatever he wanted to him. But in a few short months, Ye Qingxuan had made a name for himself. He used his actions to incite fear and respect from many people. He was the Vengeful Spirit of Avalon. Even the Shaman wanted to have him as a right hand man and had high expectations for this young man. Fate was not something the average man could predict.

"Please help us with the Professor's traces." With that, Ghosthand turned to lead the way.

Ye Qingxuan walked into an alley. Stepping over puddles and broken tiles, he walked into a hut. The empty hut was covered in blood. And the corpse in the center was already stiff.

The cold night had preserved the body well. Instead of decaying, the corpse's skin was deathly pale. The sight was chilling.

"Who is this?"

"A smuggler. His nickname is Lychee. Lychees are a rare Eastern fr…"

"I know." Ye Qingxuan nodded. "A Westerner with this name? That's rare."

"It's because the thing he's most famous for is smuggling in ten tons of lychees. He got it through customs and sold them throughout the entire Anglo market."

"A fruit smuggler?"

"They look clean and cute, but it's just a disguise. There were refined opiates inside the lychees," Ghosthand stated. "It was all high-grade stuff. The Indians called them Krishna. With this boat-load, the Indians were able to buy ninety percent of the market, creating the basis of their illegal drugs market.

"Lychee had always been Silo's right hand man and was hated by others. But he was very careful. Sometimes he would even disguise himself as a pregnant so no one could get any dirt on him."

"Pregnant?" Ye Qingxuan squatted and looked at the swollen body. Seeing the beard and thick chest hair, he could not help but furrow his brows. "He really put in a lot of effort…When was the corpse discovered?"

"Three hours ago," Ghosthand said as he smoked. "According to the Shaman's rules, illegal drug smugglers should have their feet and hands chopped off, but he was already dead when we arrived. The Professor was a step before us. This is probably revenge on Silo's betrayal."

"Not just that." Ye Qingxuan shook his head. "If it's just for revenge, the Professor would hang Silo's brother Po Sinai before Silo's bed. When Silo wakes up from a nightmare, he'll see his brother's twisted features and forever live in fear…"

Ghosthand flinched. "How do you know?"

Ye Qingxuan gazed at him coolly. "That's what I'd do if I were the Professor."

Ghosthand fell silent.

Ye Qingxuan felt around the corpse, looking for any marks left behind on the body. It was much easier with Bolero. He pressed a hand on the corpse's chest and transformed the liquid in the body into perception threads to investigate the organs. Quickly, he let go.

"His heart stopped suddenly. There was internal bleeding in his organs and his brain seemed to be poisoned…" Ye Qingxuan's eyes hardened. "Lychee wasn't killed. He scared himself to death."

Ghosthand immediately understood the fury in the youth's eyes. "This is what you often do…Is the Professor trying to provoke you?"

Ghosthand knew that Holmes was a dark musician who hated to see blood and kill others. He would always make the enemy torture themselves. No matter how cruel he was, he would never take any lives. He was merciful and valued life—he was not like a dark musician at all.

But that was the cruelest. His enemies often wanted to die but could not! Such as the ruined Pyramid King and Indian musician Puspotkata who had turned into an idiot, and the many others who had been sent to the Arkham Asylum…If Ye Qingxuan had wanted to punish Lychee, he would undoubtedly use this method; however, the Professor was much crueler. No matter what the process had been, it was horrible enough to create nightmares.

In the stillness, Ye Qingxuan gazed coolly at the corpse's dull eyes. After a long while, he stood up slowly. "I think he's challenging me. Most people would think I did this."

If it was just Lychee, Ye Qingxuan would not care, but this was a warning. If he still could not find the Professor before the next kill, the victim would be someone different.

Ye Qingxuan could think of many that he could be used as a scapegoat for. An important figure in the police department, the son of a noble…At that time, it would be much more difficult to work in Avalon.

The Professor was taking revenge on Ye Qingxuan for knowing that he was a Moon Spirit. He wanted Ye Qingxuan to know that if he revealed the truth, he would also make it impossible for Ye Qingxuan to survive in downtown.

But what was the point in killing this person just to warn Ye Qingxuan when he could plan further and take revenge on the parliament? Or was this a plan to kill two birds with one stone, and just happened to be a warning?

Studying the corpse, Ye Qingxuan suddenly asked, "Mr. Ghosthand, is it true that you can capture an enemy's soul and make them work for you? If it's true, can you do it on Lychee?"

Ghosthand chuckled and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Holmes, but when did humans ever have something like a soul? It's probably just philosophers spreading false information," he said. "The only thing I can do is kill people. And I can't do anything after that. After all, you can only kill someone once. So, I have to disappoint you on this."

Ye Qingxuan had not had much hope on this strange rumor in the first place. Hearing Ghosthand's explanation, he just nodded and said lightly, "I'm not disappointed. Sometimes, it's not bad to have a solution that can solve everything."

"Oh?" Ghosthand looked up. "Do you not think that it's a shame to be a murderer like me?"

"No, I just think it's laughable." Ye Qingxuan glanced at him, not scared of angering the old man. "Everyone knows that killing can't solve everything, but so many people still think that everything can be solved by killing. It's strange, isn't it? Some things can't be changed, no matter how many people you kill."

Ghosthand did not reply.

Ye Qingxuan squatted down to check the corpse again. He would not let anything past his eyes. He could tell that the man had suffered a long torture before his head. The first thing to be attacked in the terrifying hallucination was the brain. His mind would be tortured by unprecedented horror and blood would rush to the brain.

When his subconscious mind found something it could not understand, fear would be born. When the fear reached a certain level, his subconscious mind would search for salvation in death. His heartbeat would quicken, his panting would become heavier, and his glands would secrete more hormones. The hormones would stimulate his organs, causing internal bleeding. The hormones in the blood would reach his brain, poisoning it. That was how someone could be scared to death.

But soon, Ye Qingxuan found something strange. "What is this?" He carefully squeezed the corpse's stiff wrist. Flipping it over, he studied the grain-sized sore on his palm. "Ringworms?"

"It should be formed by the bacteria or fungi on him," Ghosthand said. "Sailors often have this type of skin disease."

Ye Qingxuan shook his head. "It's different from what sailors have. Their skin diseases are usually caused by sunburn, allergic reactions, and organisms in the seawater. This looks like he caught it by working in rotting and humid places. He hadn't been infected for long either. He should've been at a very dirty place recently…"

Quickly, he thought of something. Tossing the hand down, Ye Qingxuan cast a rune and called forth a water bubble. He splashed the water on the corpse's feet. Under his manipulation, the water regrouped into a dirty ball. He cast another instantaneous rune for fire and evaporated the bubble. The water vanished quickly.

A clump of dark red dirt remained in the air. It radiated with a rotting smell. There were also specks of white crystals in it.

"What is this?" Ghosthand furrowed his brows.

"Dried mud." Ye Qingxuan rubbed the dirt in his hands and watched as it fell through his fingers. "There's only one place in Avalon with this kind of dirt. Only the mud in the sewer is dark red like this."

"Are you talking about the mud diggers?" Ghosthand thought of the occupation. "Actually, Lychee had hired many mud diggers who used to unclog the downtown sewers to put traps all over the tunnels, like he was looking for something…He probably found it, or else the Professor wouldn't have come for him.

"Lychee is partners with the Indians, so it also means that he's working for the parliament. The Professor is still searching for clues about the parliament."

Ye Qingxuan nodded. "Where do they mostly work?"

"The proximity is too large." Ghosthand shook his head. "Avalon's sewage system is complex. Not many people can navigate it well. If they wanted to do something, they could only put traps everywhere."

Ye Qingxuan guided the dust on the ground into a map of Avalon. "Show me where they had traps."

Ghosthand paused before drawing a circle on the map. Practically half of the downtown was included, as well a portion of midtown.

"No, it's too big. It's like searching for a needle in the haystack," Ghosthand said, shaking his head. "There are thousands of stores in this area, not to mention the sewage system underneath. One portion even goes toward Queen's Avenue. It'll be even harder to distinguish there."

Ye Qingxuan scanned the map. A string of names flashed past his mind: King's Cross, Bay Queen Park, Amersham and…

Ye Qingxuan's eyes brightened and he pointed to a spot on the map. "It's here."

Ghosthand looked at where he was pointing at. "The Arkham Asylum?"

"Correct." Ye Qingxuan showed Ghosthand the small bits of white in the clump of dirt. "This should be saline and other chemical materials. The asylum just happens to have a factory nearby that produces these things for the Royal Research Institution. No other places in the sewer would have such heavy chemical residue.

"Lychee must have been working in the sewer under the chemical factory. If we want to find the Professor, we should look there."

Hearing Ye Qingxuan's analysis, Ghosthand's eyes brightened and then dimmed again. The youth could feel the murderous intent and fear in his heart. Ye Qingxuan looked up and gazed at him, smiling.

Ghosthand's lips twitched and he lowered his slightly raised finger. He had suddenly felt the urge to kill after hearing Ye Qingxuan's analysis. If he did not kill the youth now, he would be even more difficult than the Professor in the future…Now, he was already able to be the Professor's opponent. If he rebelled against the Shaman in the future, it would become a big problem.

But quickly, his logic pushed down this urge. Ghosthand's expression returned back to normal and he sighed. "As expected, Mr. Holmes. You are more of a detective than a musician, and you're quite awe-inspiring. No wonder the Shaman thinks highly of you."

"A detective? That was one of my childhood dreams." He rose and dusted his shoulders. "I feel accomplished for scaring Mr. Ghosthand as well. But I hope we won't have this type of misunderstanding again." He enunciated clearly and his voice was neutral, but his meaning was clear: If there was a second time, if Ghosthand showed any hostility, Ye Qingxuan would fight back without hesitation.

What was more headache-inducing was that Holmes was able to discover the truth from the smallest clue. If he sensed that Ghosthand saw him as an enemy, he would not act brashly. Instead, he would set a string of traps. Even if he did not kill Ghosthand, it would still be torture.

If Ghosthand wanted to kill him, he would have to be well-prepared and have the determination to fight to the death. Holmes was the most difficult enemy and no matter what, Ghosthand did not want the youth to be above him.

Sensing that the youth was unhappy, Ghosthand sighed. "My apologies, please do not mind me."

"No problem. I'd be honored to be your enemy." Ye Qingxuan waved his hand and moved on from the small test and returned to the main topic. "It's almost daybreak. If we act now, it'll be hard to cover our tracks, and we might fall into the Professor's trap. I plan on going to the factory tomorrow. Would the Shaman be able to give me some aid?"

Hearing this, Ghosthand fell into deep thought. He waved his hand, telling the others to leave.

In the stillness, he stated, "Tomorrow isn't a good day. If you can, I hope you can wait a few more days. I'm sure that's what the Shaman would say as well."

"Oh?" Ye Qingxuan furrowed his brows slightly. "Why not?"

"The Shaman had asked me to work with you, but tomorrow, I have to be his bodyguard and I won't be able to help you." Ghosthand smoked his pipe and said quietly, "The storm is about to arrive. Mr. Holmes, please reconsider."

Considering this, Ye Qingxuan asked, "Are you planning something big tomorrow?"

"Our battle with the parliament has reached its climax. There are hundreds of corpses thrown into the sewer every day. We received news that the parliament is planning something big tomorrow. There had already been a large amount of armaments sent to the thugs, including two archangel armors with serial numbers erased. We will also fight back officially tomorrow."

His words shocked Ye Qingxuan. "Is Avalon just going to let you fight in downtown like this?"

"If Avalon wants this battle, then it will happen. Hasn't it always allowed fights in downtown to go on?" Ghosthand replied lightly. "Downtown will be a mess tomorrow. Mr. Holmes, I hope you don't fall deeper into this quagmire. We won't be able to aid you in your mission, so why don't you change the date?"

Ye Qingxuan thought for a moment and sighed. "Whatever, let's just do our own thing. You work on the parliament and I'll work on the Professor. We all have our own missions at hand. It's just killing people so why do I have to choose an auspicious day?"

Ghosthand saw the determination in his eyes. After considering for a moment, he pulled a card from his pocket. "If you insist, don't reject the help of this man."

"Who?" Ye Qingxuan took over the card. There were no words on it. The white paper just seemed to be a design of a horse stained with red. He understood instantly. "The butcher?"

Chapter end