When Ye Qingxuan walked down from the reception room, he saw the priest sitting on a chair in the library, looking down at the holy scriptures that he had not finished copying a few days ago, with an indifferent expression, but vaguely melancholy.
Ye Qingxuan walked to him and apologized in a low voice: "I'm sorry, Father, I failed to live up to your expectations."
"Although I know you are a troublesome kid..."
Father Ben shook his head: "But this time it's really difficult for me."
"It's always been so difficult, Father." Ye Qingxuan laughed: "It's been really hard for you to endure me for so many years."
"Yes, a bad boy like you who is obsessed with revenge will cause headaches wherever you go." The priest said coldly: "Now I don't have to worry about it, and I feel much more relaxed. .”
Ye Qingxuan smiled and asked after a long silence: "Father, why, why did you let me be the scribe here in the first place?"
"Because you are a child who can read and write. You don't need to arrange room and board, and you only need to pay half of your salary. And it doesn't look like you are hopeless. You can be saved." The priest answered without thinking.
"that's it?"
Ye Qingxuan couldn't believe it.
"Isn't this enough?"
Ye Qingxuan was silent for a moment, then laughed softly: "Father, you are indeed a good person."
"So I won't treat you badly."
The priest stood up and patted him on the shoulder: "Congratulations, Ye, you are fired from today. Just treat this as a parting gift."
He threw something over, and Ye Qingxuan took it and saw a circular holy emblem with three nested rings, about the size of a coin. It is dark gold, like some kind of token, with a line of fine codes pressed on its edge, but when you touch it, it feels smooth and without any dents.
"What's this?"
"The Holy Emblem means that you have been recognized by the sect. It is something that was awarded to you in advance. I will help you complete the procedures after returning to the Holy City." The priest said lightly: "With it, you can handle a small amount without payment." You can take an interest loan, or get limited help from a church in any place. At least you won’t have to live on the streets if you can’t survive in the future.”
"Thank you then."
Ye Qingxuan flicked up the Holy Emblem, caught it, and put it into his pocket. His big eyes continued to blink: "Is there anything else? Normally at this time, shouldn't you give me a divine weapon or a map of peerless swordsmanship?" ?”
"I don't have any of the things you mentioned, but there is an ax in the backyard. Do you want it?"
Ye Qingxuan did not dare to ask for it. He was not sure whether the ax would hit his head when he was given it.
"If nothing happens, you can go pack your luggage. When you go to Avalon... I won't see you off." The priest waved his hand and signaled him to leave.
Ye Qingxuan stood nearby, opening and closing his lips, but didn't know what to say.
He looked at the slightly older man in front of him, this strange priest who was cold and stubborn, could not speak yet, never tolerated other people's mistakes, and always set an example.
Five years ago, he pushed open the door of the church, saw himself in the snow, and stretched out his hand to him. It's not charity, but help as a matter of course. Five years later, he was about to leave this church, but when he looked at the man in front of him, he suddenly felt reluctant to leave.
In the end, he still didn't think of the best words to say goodbye, so he could only nod silently, turned around and closed the door for him. But when he left, he hesitated in his steps.
Ye Qingxuan turned around and saw him praying with his eyes closed, and suddenly felt the sadness in his heart surge a thousand times. He didn't dare to stay any longer and wanted to escape from here.
"Father, I still feel...it was great to be saved by you at that time."
While praying, the priest suddenly heard the boy's words of farewell. He was stunned, raised his head, and only had time to see the white-haired boy running into the sunshine outside the door.
The afternoon sun was dazzling and dazzling, swallowing up his shadow, as if he had walked into his own future.
After five years, that little kid is finally no longer a kid.
Father Ben's lips trembled, but he did not stop the young man's back after all. Just stare at it gradually, watching him run further and further away, and finally disappear.
In this long-lost silence, the corners of the priest's mouth curled up slightly.
Like laughing.
…
…
The next day, we arrived at the dock at a quarter of noon.
Ye Qingxuan carried a huge suitcase and squatted on a chair, waiting for a ship from Yanan to Avalon to pass by in another quarter of an hour.
- "Titan", a new type of ship purchased by the East India Company from the Order's shipyard. It is said that the first-generation freighter was like a sampan compared to it in terms of cargo capacity and speed.
Generally speaking, such a large ship will not pass by such a small pier because the draft of the pier is too shallow. But as it passes, a sampan is lowered to deliver mail from various places and goods ordered by some merchants to the town. Ye Qingxuan can use the holy badge given to him by the priest to board the sampan, get on the boat first and then pay for the ticket.
This is the fastest way to get to Avalon, and it is also the greatest convenience that the priest can bring to Ye Qingxuan within the scope of his permission. Wolf Flute, who set off on the same day as him, took a carriage, but he would only set off in the afternoon, so he and Vito came to see him off.
"You will probably be a little nervous when you go out for the first time. But you can go on your way with peace of mind. The money order for the bounty will be credited to your account in the church in half a month. At that time, you can take the Holy Emblem to the loan office of the church to get it. That’s it.”
Wolf Flute patted him on the shoulder and said naggingly: "Be careful after going to Avalon. Remember to find a hotel near the school to stay. You will have a dormitory after you enroll. Avalon has been there for the past two years. The environmental pollution is a bit serious, PM exceeds the standard, uh, you can just understand that the air is bad, remember to buy a mask and wear it."
As he spoke, he paused and his expression became ugly: "Remember to be careful of those dead kids begging for food after you get off the boat, they will steal your money."
"Don't worry about me, Mr. Wolf Flute."
Ye Qingxuan laughed: "I was one of those dead children many years ago."
"You sociable brats are really not cute at all."
Langdi shook his head. Soon, he remembered something. After looking around and finding that no one was paying attention to him, he lowered his voice: "Ye, there is something I think I need to tell you."
"Um?"
"No matter what the reason is, you have to remember that when you return to Avalon this time, you can no longer say that you are the son of the black musician." He pressed the white-haired boy's shoulder: "You are just someone I recognized when I was wandering in the East. He’s just a young man, do you understand?”
Ye Qingxuan was silent. He looked at the man in front of him and saw the sincerity and worry in his eyes, so he smiled reluctantly:
"You know everything?"
"I am a musician after all."
Lang Flute looked at his eyes and sighed softly: "Ever since I found out that you knew the song of the Rain Demon, I felt it vaguely, but I didn't expect it to be true."
Ye Qingxuan was silent.
"Oriental, with 'blood of the dragon' silver hair, and the surname 'Ye'... the characteristics are so obvious that you can understand them if you think about it for a while. The scepter-level musician who was once a genius is now third on the wanted list. The name of the traitor who killed sixteen Anglo-Royal musicians five years ago and then joined the natural disaster: 'Moon Yin' - Ye Lanzhou."
Wolf Flute sighed: "I was also shocked. You are actually his son. This can explain that you know the song of the Rain Demon. After all, your father was once the best evil god hunter."
"My father is not a traitor."
Ye Lanzhou whispered: "He did not betray humanity."
"The problem is, everyone thinks so."
Langdi organized his words, but in the end he could only sigh helplessly: "I can only say that he used to be a very good person. After all, I once took the Oriental music theory taught by him when I was at the Royal Conservatory of Music, and he also invited me, a poor student, to Had dinner.”
"You know him?"
"We met several times. He used to teach at the Royal Academy of Music, but he stopped teaching after getting married. In short, whether you want to find out what happened back then or what to do, I suggest You pretend to be an international student from the East. After all, it's good for you."
In the long silence, the white-haired boy seemed to be thinking intently.
"Mr. Langdi, aren't you afraid?" Ye Qingxuan suddenly laughed and asked softly: "Aren't you afraid that I will betray humanity and become a traitor?"
"Ye, sometimes you are such a self-aware brat."
Langdi looked down at him and laughed at him mercilessly: "You know what? You are the legendary guy who can't be creative even if he does bad things, so... just be a good person honestly."
As he spoke, he took out a thick notebook from his pocket and put it into his hand: "This thing will be given to you in advance as part of the thank you gift."
Ye Qingxuan took the thick notebook and found that it was an old leather notebook. After flipping it open, he found that it was filled with small characters and various graphics.
It took a lot of effort to bind it. Even the cowhide cover is much thicker than an ordinary book, and it feels like a piece of iron when pinched.
"These are the notes I took when I was admitted to the academy. They include the introductory notes of the four schools, as well as some miscellaneous things. Oh, by the way, this part was written when I was taking your father's class!"
Next to him, Lang Flute opened his notes and pointed to one of the pages.
On that page, there were just two lines of scrawled notes, and the rest was a piece of music that looked weird. It seems incomplete and cannot be clearly identified.
"I'm sorry, I fell asleep during class and forgot what class I was in, hahaha..."
Wolf Flute laughed awkwardly.
After Ye Qingxuan was silent for a long time, he bent down to thank you and put the notes into his suitcase, saying, "I will read it carefully. Thank you, Mr. Langdi."
"Nothing... It's just a notebook. Don't worry about it. Just don't lose it."
Wolf Di looked into his silent eyes and patted his shoulder gently: "Stop talking about it and live your life well. If you can get into school, I will give you a gift. "
"Then it's an appointment?"
"Well, we've made an appointment."
Wolf Flute took two steps back, put on his top hat, got on the carriage and left.
…
…
The silent sea surface suddenly started to fluctuate, and the giant ship in the distance came riding the wind and waves, leaving behind layers of ripples wherever it passed, spreading in all directions.
"I'll send you here."
Vito hammered Ye Qingxuan's chest: "You don't have to think about this place in Avalon from now on. After the priest leaves, I will also run away. Maybe in two or three years, you can't survive anymore, you can come here Find me, I will definitely become a big shot by then."
"Hey, hey, do you want to be so confident?" Ye Qingxuan couldn't help but laugh.
"A bad guy like me will only get better and better, right?"
Vito pushed him, as if to drive him away, to cut off his reluctance: "Stop chatting, let's go! If you don't leave, you won't be able to catch the ship. Don't worry about others after you go to Avalon. Anyway, I'm sure You'll have a good time. Just don't make it too bad."
In the afternoon sunshine, the blond boy wearing a peaked cap grinned, holding a small wooden stick in his teeth, as if holding his own pipe. He waved goodbye without any regrets, because he was convinced that one day they would meet again.
"Goodbye, Vito."
Ye Qingxuan hugged him and murmured softly.
Lao Fei also ran next to him, stood up with his tongue out, and patted his shoulder with his saliva-stained paws to show his high expectations for his younger brother No. 2. Then he got into Ye Qingxuan's suitcase.
Ye Qingxuan took one last look at him and stepped onto the sampan.
…
…
When the huge ship pulled its anchor from the seabed and started sailing again, Ye Qingxuan stood on the deck, not daring to look back.
He knew that behind him, the coast was moving away bit by bit, as if a part of his heart was being hollowed out bit by bit. Perhaps a phase of his own life had remained there forever.
"Sir, please come with me."
The polite waiter woke him up and led the way: "Your room is ready. This voyage will arrive in Avalon in three days. I wish you a wonderful journey."
"Thanks."
Ye Qingxuan smiled.
In this way, the white-haired boy carried his suitcase, a box of old clothes, two thousand pounds of banknotes, an iron box and a strange old dog, and embarked on a journey that he would never return to.
He is seventeen years old this year and has not yet been crowned, but he is already an adult.
"Here I come, Avalon."
…
…
When the sampan slowly left the pier and sailed into the distance, Vito was finally the only one left on the pier.
He stared blankly at the empty sea, his only friend gradually fading away.
"Haha, are you sad? Human emotions are so weak."
A weak voice sounded: "In this short life, how much life has human beings squandered because of this kind of emotion controlled by hormones? They have paid so much just for a beautiful dream..."
"Hey, old ghost, you are really annoying."
Vito looked down at his arms and sighed softly: "Chirp, chirp, can you shut up?"
"Bold, I am..."
"You are now a worm in a bottle, a waste snack that does not even dare to touch the air. If I hadn't picked you up and brought you back, you would have been eaten by your god as a cold appetizer before the meal."
Vito said coldly: "Dear Rainmaker, I can't speak. If I say something wrong, please come out and bite me."
"You bastard! If it had been in the past, I would have killed you!"
In his pocket, in a thumb-sized bottle, a worm squirmed like mercury and roared: "I just made a small mistake in pursuing the eternal path! If it weren't for you, I would have been reborn!"
"Haha." Vito sneered and refused to comment.
After a long time, Rainmaker finally calmed down and sighed in a low voice: "Why do you have to provoke me? Can't we cooperate with each other? If I find a new body, you can also prosper... "
"That's true, but... are you mistaken?"
Vito put his eyes in front of the bottle and looked at the mercury worm: "The conditions for my cooperation with you are that you will only have a successful career, but not a new body."
"asshole!"
"If you're to blame, it's because you signed any agreement to survive!... However, although you can't always see the situation clearly, there is one sentence that I quite agree with."
"Um?"
"Power, old man, power."
Vito looked down at his reflection. Under the scorching sun, that single shadow swayed lonely, dim and pitiful: "I am so weak, it must be because I have no strength."
"I have been afraid of many things, but one day, I will be afraid of nothing..."
Under the scorching sun, his pupils were ignited by the fierce light of the coal mountain, with dark red flames:
"—As long as I am stronger than anyone else."
…
…
This year has been a normal year because the world has always been the same.
Everything has its place.
Countries argue or exchange fire with each other, and natural disasters still linger in the unexplored darkness, sometimes entering the human world, leaving behind disasters and destruction.
The old people were basking in the sun as always, savoring the taste of aging and afternoon tea. The women were raising children and talking among themselves about their parents' shortcomings. Men who are the breadwinners work hard at their jobs to put more food on their families’ tables.
The world is busy and in full swing.
The only ones with nothing to do, the only ones who are bored, are the young people on the outside.
Therefore, their eyes will sparkle when they look around this strange and huge world. Because the world really seems like a huge playground, loaded with countless dreams and aspirations.
The generous tragedy of the old era has ended, but the new heroic prologue has not yet begun.
On this embarrassing day, two teenagers spent their coming-of-age ceremony on the same day and were preparing to enter.
Their future opens in all directions.