Crown of Silence

At the moment when the strings were vibrated, all sounds disappeared.

Originally, the silver light gathered from all directions and turned into a frenzy, but now the flashes of ether have disappeared, leaving only the lonely sound of the piano.

Hidden in that beautiful timbre is a sharp and sonorous breath, like a sharp blade unsheathed, the armor leaves rubbing against each other, and in the indescribable length, gradually revealing the majestic killing intent.

In the lonely piano sound, faint ripples spread from Ye Qingxuan's fingertips and extended in all directions.

Wherever he passed, all the light dimmed, the flames went out, the blood lost its color, and the darkness turned into meaningless gray... Everything seemed to be the same as usual, but it seemed to be pulled by something, farther and farther away.

White mist emerged from the air and spread vaguely. It was not thick, but light and vague, covering all the space. It was like the breath exhaled in winter, curling and spreading.

A faint chill rose, lingering in every inch of space.

Although her limbs could feel the remaining heat of the raging fire, both her perception and her spirit were frantically sending out a feeling of ‘coldness’.

The witch was stunned. She subconsciously wanted to retreat, but her steps stopped in mid-air. The non-existent cold had already penetrated into her brain, slowly freezing her thoughts and will.

In the end, she stood in the white mist, her will solidified in astonishment and fear.

Everything seemed to be still.

In this cold mist.

-

In the dancing white mist, there was only the sound of the piano.

Then, the lonely piano sound suddenly changed, and the seemingly intermittent notes formed a continuous movement. The real ‘small preface’ finally began.

In the silence, the piano sound suddenly rose with the crispness and depth of the sound of the ringing and the resolute thoughts emerged from it, knocking on everyone's heart.

They echoed in the air, invisible and intangible, but with a soul-stirring force. Wherever it passed, all ghosts were crushed and subdued by the majestic and cold breath!

This was not a physical interference, but a pure spiritual resonance.

The sound of the piano was sparse, but it drowned all the evil ghosts and demons. The resentment lodged in the ether was easily washed away. Those so-called resentment, unwillingness and viciousness were nothing in front of the cruel will in the piano.

It was like a tide sweeping over, washing away the fortress on the sand pile, and collapsing like a joke.

Collapse!

The cruel and persistent will turned into a sharp blade, blending into the sound of the piano, sweeping in all directions, and those invisible ghosts frozen in the white mist trembled, silently disintegrated, and fell apart.

Only white ashes fell on the ground.

Those remaining resentments dissipated, like a tide, pouring back into the fragile reason of the ghost woman!

In an instant, her turbid pupils widened.

On her aging limbs, the notes of "Di Li Che" collapsed silently, like a rag frozen in the ice.

Then, crazy resentment pulled her and swallowed up her last will.

-

As if thrown into an endless abyss in an instant.

Eyes can't see, ears can't hear, smell can't smell, touch can't feel...

The cruel piano sound stripped her perception from him again and again,

In the end, only a hunched soul was left falling into the abyss in despair.

Falling, endless falling, falling without end.

Unprecedented loneliness swept his will, causing her to wail, but she couldn't even confirm whether she could still make a sound. Until the end, he saw a round of moonlight jumping out of the abyss.

In the shackles of nearly eternal loneliness, everything lost its meaning. Even living became a long nightmare.

In the abyss without time reference, this nightmare seemed to be eternal and bound her for thousands of years, but what she really felt and touched was only that moment when she didn't even have time to move her will. ♦♦  ♦♦

After a moment, the witch still stood there, unable to move.

Bang!

The sound of firecrackers thrown into the ditch rang out.

The subtle explosion came from inside her skull, as if some fragile and soft tissue had broken. Black and purple blood flowed from the corners of her eyes, nostrils, and eardrums.

But she finally broke free from the nightmare.

In this last moment, she stared blankly at the shadow behind the boy, crying and laughing:

"You are... still here... the white-haired monster, it's you!"

Her voice was full of astonishment: "How could you be here."

In that look, there was a hint of vicious ridicule and fear from the heart. But this was only the last moment of her last glimmer of light, her eyes dimmed, and she fell to the ground.

Blood flowed from her body, pooling into the cracks of the stone slabs.

-

The sound of the piano still echoed in the narrow space, spreading in all directions as the alley extended, and the sound gradually dissipated and merged into the stone, water and wind.

At that moment, everyone in the lower city of Avalon heard the faint sound in their dreams. The sonorous sound of the piano, like the interweaving of gold and iron, merged into the dream, and changed the dream.

So, they saw the surging sea tide coming from nowhere in the dark night.

In the endless sea tide, a silver-white moon rose from the end of the sky. The moonlight shone everywhere, kindly and fairly shed its light on the world.

A bright moon rises on the sea!

At this moment, the sky and the ground are all this moonlight!

-

After an unknown period of time, the strings of the piano began to disintegrate.

The ether that had condensed into substance lost its form again and turned into silver mist. The mist quickly dissipated in the mist, reflecting the looming shadow.

Like a mirage cast from a very far distance, his figure was blurred and his face was blank. But when he stared at the boy in front of him, his eyes were gentle and compassionate.

He stroked the boy's white hair, as if he wanted to touch him with this empty mist, but he was powerless.

Until the end, Ye Qingxuan finally woke up from that state of selflessness, but only remembered seeing his last shadow.

He gradually moved away and was about to dissipate with the mist. Noticing the boy's stunned look, he stopped and turned back slightly. The corners of his mouth seemed to be smiling, but he couldn't see clearly.

"Ye Zi, solve the puzzle."

His lips opened and closed silently: "Go to the end of that dream."

The mist rippled for a moment and disappeared without a trace.

Ye Qingxuan stared blankly at the place where he used to be, and wanted to say something, but it was too late.

He felt that he was seeing an illusion, but that feeling was clearly real. The man came back, and came here because of the call of the piano. After a short stay, he left helplessly.

He pounded the wall angrily, as if venting his sadness and powerlessness: if he had woken up earlier, would he have had time to say something to him.

He didn't know what to say, maybe scolding, maybe accusing... But why did you leave so quickly?

Ye Qingxuan lowered his head in annoyance, wiping the corners of his eyes, as if to drive away the sourness and bitterness lingering there.

It was not until this time that he saw the girl's eyes gradually open, as if she had woken up from a long dream. She opened her tired eyes and stared at the boy in front of her, trying to determine whether he was her illusion.

"Are you awake?"

Ye Qingxuan wanted to pull her up, but he felt that his whole body was as painful as if he had been hit by a stone. But it was not until this time that he discovered that his broken finger bones had been reassembled at some point.

His ten fingers were still swollen and black, but they were no longer completely necrotic. Perhaps they could return to their former flexibility after applying the medicine. Ye Qingxuan tried to bend his joints and found that his fingers moved, so he smiled happily.

"Let's go."

Ye Qingxuan squatted down and whispered, "We should go back."

Bai Xi looked at him blankly, and after a long time, she pulled his sleeve and got up from the ground. She seemed to be extremely tired and had no strength to speak. But at this time she became well-behaved, ..c not making trouble, not running around, and not disobeying.

She pulled Ye Qingxuan's sleeve obediently, quietly, like all little girls. Sometimes she would look up at Ye Qingxuan's profile, with a confused and complicated look in her eyes. Sometimes she would talk, as if she was very sleepy, her voice was weak and confused: "... I just had a nightmare."

"The nightmare is over."

Ye Qingxuan said softly: "Those bad things are limited, and once they are done, they will never come again."

"Really?"

"Really." Ye Qingxuan rubbed her hair: "I won't lie to you."

"Bai Xi looked up at his eyes: "Then if I lied, would you be angry?"

"No, it doesn't matter even if you lie to me again..."

Ye Qingxuan held her hand and suddenly said softly:

"Thank you, Bai Xi. "

Bai Xi was stunned. She seemed to want to say something, but she didn't. After a long time, she lowered her head and said "Oh", and then there was no sound.

Seeing that she wanted to say something but was embarrassed to say it, Ye Qingxuan couldn't help laughing.

He was really cold, hungry, and sleepy now. His body seemed to be broken into pieces and the pain was unbearable. But these things didn't matter.

At least he had to take Bai Xi away from here first, to a place outside of hell.

"From now on, there will be a new life waiting for you."

He said softly.