Five days later, the orbital carriage stopped at a station in southern Asgard. A few minutes later, a light carriage set off from the station, went around the outskirts of the city, and finally entered the manor along the mountain road.
The door opened for a moment and was quickly closed in the darkness.
Laura opened the car door and heard the sound of the ocean tide.
The huge manor was full of people coming and going and the lights were brightly lit. Someone walked down the door steps quickly, reaching out to help Laura out of the car, like a considerate and gentlemanly housekeeper.
"Professor Laura, it's been a hard journey."
"Richard? When you were in the academy, did you ever smile so considerately?"
Laura said calmly: "Unfortunately, it is still too fake, just like your boss, disgusting."
Richard's expression twitched and he couldn't help but look away: "I'm just a civil servant receiving a dead salary, and I'm a temporary worker without even an agreement. Please don't embarrass me."
"Really? Then I'll go to the fifth department to talk to your boss another day?"
Laura asked back, but Richard didn't dare to answer the question, he just took half a step ahead to lead her the way.
He looked careful and cautious, as if the person next to him was not a graceful and elegant noble girl, but an ether bomb that could explode at any time, a cannibal troll that chose people to eat.
Too many people have been unlucky because of this incident recently, and he doesn't want to be one of them. Even Maxwell doesn't have a temper, let alone a small employee like him
As early as the day after Ye Qingxuan's accident, the principal discovered that when his personal barber was shaving him, all the shaving cream in the box had been replaced by a miserable green poison that would seal the throat when it seeps blood... The threat was palpable. .
Who knows how many people this woman has planted hints and self-destructive impulses in their minds. If she goes crazy, half an Angel will jump into the fire pit with her.
Fortunately, Ye Qingxuan was not dead and she had no chance of going crazy.
Along the way, Richard was struck by the cold gaze behind him. He could not help but speed up and move along the roads and corridors of the manor.
The sound of the sea tide is gradually coming, and with the biting cold wind of early winter, the green plants on both sides of the road have been stained with a layer of hoarfrost and are gradually beginning to wither.
"He's waiting for you inside."
Richard opened the door for her, took a few steps back and left quietly.
The light from behind the door fell on Laura's face, and the gloom and madness in her eyes disappeared. Her expression changed and hesitated, like a timid little girl.
"Laura?"
A slightly hoarse voice sounded from behind the door: "Stop standing at the door, come in."
The room behind the door was empty, with the strong smell of disinfectant still lingering, and the sound of the ocean tide came from the window. Laura walked into it, but felt the warmth of someone living here.
Finally, she looked toward the terrace.
On the terrace, a thin figure sat on a chair, silently watching the waves outside the terrace. His white hair reflected the moonlight and had grown very long at some point.
The short half-month separation felt like a long time. Laura could vaguely distinguish his appearance, but she could hardly recognize him.
She sighed softly, picked up a thick terry blanket from the back of the chair, and covered him.
Ye Qingxuan's wrist was thin and pale, with traces of pinholes and drips still remaining. Sensing Laura's gaze, he hid his wrist under the blanket.
"It's a joke for you. I was originally in better condition today, but the doctor is unwilling to prescribe effective medicine, so I can only take care of it slowly."
Laura didn't speak. She knew without thinking what medicine Ye Qingxuan wanted the doctor to give him.
Those medicines that seemed to have amazing curative effects were all at the expense of overdrafting the body and life. Forget it at other times, with Ye Qingxuan's current physical condition, taking that kind of food would simply be asking for death.
Not hearing Laura's voice, Ye Qingxuan smiled, changed the topic, and pointed outside the railing.
On the distant sea, the waves are surging, and when they collide with each other, they make a distant and quiet sound. In the distance, the lights of the coastal city are like stars, reflected on the sea, just like stars falling into the sea, majestic and quiet.
"This is Maxwell's private property, isn't it? Only now do I know how much that guy enjoys it."
He sighed softly: "No wonder he always likes to cry about poverty. If it were me, I would have to buy such a good manor even if I embezzled school funds. If we are short of money later, we can write a report letter to the royal family and get a reward."
“…”
Laura pursed her lips and said nothing.
She looked down at Ye Qingxuan, reached out and touched his white hair. Ye Qingxuan looked back at him with quiet eyes, unlike the young boy he had when they first met.
Like a statue of iron and stone, with sharp edges and corners, silent and quiet, no longer naive or weak.
For some reason, Laura couldn’t help but feel sad when she saw him looking like that.
"It's good to be alive."
She reached out and stroked his hair and hugged his shoulders from behind: "I wanted to give you a beating first. You have to be obedient. If you do, I won't beat you in the future."
"Yeah, I know."
Ye Qingxuan nodded, raised his hand, patted the back of her hand, and just let her hold him, staring silently at the broken moonlight in the sea.
After a long time, he hesitated and asked softly:
"Laura, if a person has no heart, how can he still live?"
Laura was stunned and raised her head to look at him.
After Xiao Yuan was broken, Ye Qingxuan, who had lost his heart, was no longer able to survive. Not to mention becoming a musician, it was already very difficult to continue living.
The Knights Templar spared no effort to rescue him, spending countless precious materials to save him from a near-death state. Doctors told her it was a miracle he survived.
But no one knows how long this fragile balance can be maintained.
Everyone is waiting, but how long can Ye Qingxuan wait
Ye Qingxuan looked at Laura with pleading eyes, waiting for her answer, as if waiting for the final judgment.
"OK."
She stared at Ye Qingxuan and said softly: "It's just that there is no heart. Believe me, Ye Zi, you will survive."
"Really? That would be great."
For some reason, Ye Qingxuan laughed and said with a comforting expression, "That's great. I'm worried about being regarded as a freak."
He reached out, lifted up the thick plush blanket, unbuttoned his coat, and exposed his chest.
There are still fine traces of sutures around the heart. But underneath the sutures, there was a faint red light burning quietly.
It replaced the heart and continued to beat in his chest, supporting his life and breathing, allowing him to survive death and struggle back from hell.
"What's this?"
Laura looked at his heart blankly, her sight penetrated the flesh and blood, and fell on it, and she saw the bright red crystal embedded in his body. It was a physical object made of countless complex music theories, replacing the small An organ that is integrated into the body.
She was in disbelief, almost suffocating.
"This is probably what allows me to continue living." Ye Qingxuan pressed his heart and murmured softly.
It was the crystallization of miracles, the creation of legend, the power that the alchemist had long dreamed of, transforming iron into gold and giving life to dead things...
—Philosopher’s Stone!
Ye Qingxuan closed his eyes and thought of that childish face again. The girl who woke up from her dream looked at him with a smile and stretched out her hand, wanting to touch his face.
"I remembered you."
She recognized herself, so she placed the Philosopher's Stone in his arms that would save her.
"Don't die, Ye Qingxuan."
These were the last words she whispered in her ears.
Therefore, Ye Qingxuan survived, even if he lost his heart and Xiaoyuan was broken, because of the life given by Elsa.
"Give me a hand, Laura."
Ye Qingxuan fastened his buttons again and raised his hand: "The rest time is over."
Laura pursed her lips, stretched out her hand, and pulled him up from the recliner, but she couldn't feel much weight. His body was as light as dry wood.
Ye Qingxuan put on his coat, held on to the wall and slowly led the way, and finally pushed open the door downstairs.
In the vast hall, there was a quiet bustle.
A dozen hurried-looking record-keepers were leaning over the table in the corner to take notes, looking at cart after cart of materials pushed from the library, leaving manuscripts all over the floor. Finally, there was a huge map on the wall. Put a mark on it.
On the other side of the hall, half of the wall was forcibly removed, destroying the original unified and exquisite decoration style. It was replaced by a giant "tuning instrument" that had just been transported here.
A tuner like a stone tablet is wedged into the soil, and metal wires stick to the outer wall of the manor and extend into the sky, capturing complex signals in the sea of ether and transmitting messages. Several discipline musicians are fine-tuning it to ensure it works properly.
Richard stepped forward and handed him a letter that had just been delivered. The seal of the letter was covered with black paint, and Ye Qingxuan frowned.
"The men of the Whaling Brotherhood failed and were not retained."
Ye Qingxuan nodded: "After all, it is a smuggling group at sea. We can't have high expectations after landing. Did they say anything?"
"Originally they wanted the remaining half of the money."
Richard shrugged: "However, after your deputy Mr. Watson cut off their president's nose, they returned all the advance payment."
Ye Qingxuan took the letter opener, cut open the letter and read it, with a clear expression on his face: "They want to make money but don't want to cause trouble, so they decided to deal with the side that seems easiest to deal with... Richard, we gave too much money. I'm so relieved that I've been treated as weak and can be bullied. I'm afraid it's not enough to cut off just one nose."
Richard seemed to know a lot about the "former military doctor" and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "You put it like that, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep any part of that guy except his nose."
"We all know that this is a job where you work hard to make money. After you make money, what do you do with your life?" Ye Qingxuan lowered his head, tore up the letter and threw it into the trash can.
"Where are our guests now?"
He raised his head and looked at the huge map in front of him.
On the map, blood-red red dots are marked, as if blood points out a winding road. From south to north, it approaches the center of the earth—the Holy City—in a zigzag manner.
Not even close…
"It's not far, Colt, you have to hold on."
Ye Qingxuan smiled. He leaned back on the chair, closed his eyes, and seemed to have plunged into the huge map. He stretched out his hand to move the chess pieces, full of expectation, and whispered softly:
"You must... hold on a little longer..."