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The Taboo
Time: 3:20 PM
Not long after the opening match ended, the sound of the end of the match at the second arena could be heard.
Giya Academy lost, and Clear Wind Academy’s first representative team advanced to the next match.
I stood up, intending to leave the gathering place. I turned around and wanted to thank the person from Seven Hills Academy, I don’t know when he’d left, but he wasn’t sitting there anymore. Really, he’s a strange guy who has a mysterious way of coming and leaving, but he gave me a rather good feeling.
Just as I turned around and was about to leave, I saw the assistant who was on standby in the medical team, talking with someone. He then nodded and headed towards the resting area of senior and his team. In just an instant, a few people disappeared into the resting area.
Was someone injured just now? Suddenly there was a strange thought spreading out in my mind. Just now, during the match, it didn’t look like anyone got hurt at all, and it could also be said to be rather peaceful. Did someone actually suffered some internal injury?
Gasai?
I didn’t look like it. He looked completely fine for the whole entire match, and not even a strand of his hair looked harmed.
Senior didn’t even go on stage to compete, so it can’t be him either.
After the elimination process, the only one left is the five-colored rooster head is left. Who told him to have itchy hands and hit the fairy weapon just now. Maybe it’s some kind of curse, such as breaking his fingers or something.
Who cares if he dies.
…
However, I still have some friendship with the five-colored rooster head… Since he is (suspected to be) injured, then it will only be natural if I go and take a look, right? Otherwise if that guy suddenly had a baffling looking-for-me-to-settle-the-accounts, then I would be the unlucky one.
Then alright, based on the excuses above, I better go there to take a look and make sure the five-colored rooster head is still alive.
After I left the General Assembly’s field, I followed the route the five-colored rooster head took me through and look for the entrance to the corridor of the player resting room. But after I turned at a corner, I was immediately dumbfounded. Where is the intersection?
Just now the place that the five-colored rooster head brought me to changed to a super huge wall, where not even a mouse hole could be found.
What’s with the current situation? It can’t be that I got lost because the paths has been changed and went to the wrong place?
After I go back today, I most definitely must find the manual for the new paths and take a look at it. Otherwise, if I have to chaotically fumble around and come to classes late everyday, my nerves will really break down.
“What are you doing here?” A voice behind me suddenly asked. I immediately turned around, and behind me was a very beautiful big sister with short brown hair and blue eyes. She felt like someone who is in college, “General students aren’t allowed to enter this place.”
“Uh… I’m sorry, because my friend is participating in the competition… I probably took the wrong turn…” I don’t know how to explain myself to this stranger. If I said I wanted to go in to take a look at the five-colored rooster head, I don’t know if she would believe me. After all, I looked like a passer-by who doesn’t have anything to do with the players.
“Oh I see.” The big sister smiled, “You didn’t take the wrong turn, one would only be able to enter the player resting room area if they are people who are involved and approved. Or, if he was being brought in by a player. People who are not involved would only be able to see the barrier wall. Seeing that you know about this place, this means that you’ve already entered this place before.”
“Ah, that’s right. I did come here before.” I was rather embarrassed as I smiled.
“Then follow me in.” The very kind-hearted big sister stood in front of the wall, and in an instant the wall turned into the corridor I remembered from before, and we were instantly able to pass through it, “You are probably Atlantis Academy’s second representing player’s friend, I’m Clear Wind Academy’s first representing team’s instructor, Rosabie Sinla.”
“Huh?”
Lies, she looks so young!
“I’m a first year student in Atlantis Academy, Chu Ming Yang. Thanks for bringing me in.” I quickly bowed.
“You should know where Atlantis Academy’s resting room is, right. It’s at the opposite direction of Clear Wind’s, so I wouldn’t be following you over there.” Sinla smiled, and then nodded at me.
“Yes, I know. Thank you very much.”
Then Sinla was still smiling before she turned around and walked towards the other side of the corridor.
I seem to be meeting a lot of good people recently.
Hurrying past the path, sure enough, it didn’t take me long to be able to see Atlantis Academy’s resting room plate.
I don’t know if I would be scolded for coming here without authorization? Should I go in?
I started to hesitate.
Just as I was hesitating if I should just go in by myself or simply turn around and leave so I won’t disturb others, someone silently opened the door, “Student Chu?”
An unexpected person.
* * *
I was dumbfounded, I was stunned, I stood at the same spot, not knowing what kind of reaction I should make.
The person who opened the door wasn’t senior, Gasai, the assistant, or the five-colored rooster head, but Restua. When did he come here?
“You came here to take a look at the situation?” Probably didn’t expect me to come over. The moment Restua opened the door, he also had a rather surprised look, but he very quickly reverted back to his normal expression.
“Look at the situation?” I was confused.
He was talking about the five-colored rooster head’s situation? That person’s worst situation would probably only be broken fingers, I guess.
“Come in first before we talk about this.” Restua moved back to make room for me to pass through, and only then did he close the door.
As soon as I entered, the person whom I thought was injured, was standing not too far away from me, very alive and kicking, looking like he wasn’t injured at all.
Gasai was also standing at one side.
They’re both not injured? Then who’s injured?
“I’ve already told you before, it’s best to avoid using two conflicting powers at the same time, but you just don’t want to listen. If you keep ignoring the warning of others, you’ll die of pain sooner or later!” From one side I could hear a ridiculing voice, it was the assistant’s, and vaguely with a little blaming tone mixed within.
I followed the voice and looked across. I saw senior sitting at one side of the bed, and in front of him was the assistant, who kept on nagging, and then the former used a kind of wanting-to-murder-someone look to glare at him.
On Senior’s face, below his eyes and forehead, crimson and silver crisscrossing weird totems could be seen. I’d seen the red ones before, it appeared once during the time when we were being plotted against at Giya. However, I’ve never seen the silver ones before. Even with his gloves taken off, his palms and the back of his hands had those kind of totems, it felt rather strange.
“Too repetitive!” He kicked at the assistant.
“Hey, hey! A patient should act like a patient.”
“Get lost!”
What kind of situation is this? Wasn’t it supposed to be the five-colored rooster head having his fingers completely broken off?
The five-colored rooster head who should have his fingers broken walked over to my side, and rested his arm on my shoulder, “Why did you come over?” As soon as he opened his mouth, he asked.
“I was purely passing-by.” What was I supposed to say, I thought it was you who was injured, and if I didn’t come, you would come and look for me for revenge. Thus. I came to take a look, but in the end, it was actually senior who was injured.
I thought he didn’t compete on stage?
“I’m sorry, all of you, we are going to start the treatment, so please don’t try disturb us while we do.” Restua used a somewhat apologetic smile as he said to us, and then he walked towards the side of the bed.
I actually wanted to say, “you can just pretend I’m not here,” but a white thin smoke suddenly floated past me.
I’ve seen this scene too many times, it’s the essential play when the ghost child appears.
“I’m here.” Sure enough, the ghost child went past me, floating in mid-air.
“I would like to trouble you guys for your cooperation.” The assistant nodded at Restua and the ghost child, “And then the three of you passers-by ABC, I know that you guys are filled with questions, but we want to start the treatment now, so if there’s no problem then don’t make any sound. If you make any sound, I’ll make sure you wouldn’t be able to make any more sounds in the future, so be careful.”
Gasai, who was passer-by A, nodded, and was extremely cooperative.
The five-colored rooster head, who was passer-by B, snorted twice, and sauntered towards one side and sat on the sofa.
… Wait a minute, I’m passer-by C?
Alright, I’m passer-by C. Anyway, I’m already very similar to a passer-by in the entire story, one more time wouldn’t make much of a difference.
The assistant turned around, facing Restua and the ghost child, “Next, it’s you guys, because the main point is to remove the two ice and fire energy that are intertwined together, I would like to trouble the two of you to put aside your racial discrimination, and help out one another.”
“That is for sure.” Restua smiled, his level of cooperation was hundred percent.
“As long it has something to do with Black Robe, I naturally have no objection.” The ghost child was fairly cooperative, too.
However, why do the two of them have racial discrimination?
“Very good, then please listen to my instructions.”
After he finished speaking, the assistant snapped his fingers and on the floor, a huge silverish blue array appeared. It was a huge square array surrounded by totems, and then beside it were clothed with four small square totem arrays.
Senior stretched out both his hands, one hand was resting on Restua’s palm and the other one was resting on the ghost child’s palm, and then the three of them closed their eyes.
“Allow the excess and uncontrollable energy to leave, allow it to become a new energy for its new owner to possess, allow the natural energy to once again awaken, allow the new born energy to once again become active.” Being activated by the assistant’s voice, the array on the floor started to rotate slowly. With the incantations, the totems on top kept on changing its arrangements and ordination.
I saw the totem markings on senior’s body becoming increasingly obvious, like some kind of infection. The silver and red totem markings appeared on both Restua and the ghost child’s hand. Then after about a dozen minutes, the totem markings on senior’s body slowly faded away.
After my watch’s second hand had gone one round, the silverish-blue array was terminated at the same time.
As soon as the array completely disappeared, Gasai was the first one who went towards them, with a rare look of concern, “Is it ok now?”
The assistant rolled his eyes at him, “Nonsense, who do you think I am?”
Other than you being a woolly aborigine, I really can’t think of anything else.
“Other than being good at medical treatment, you’re a useless turkey.” Senior, who was sitting on the bed, slowly opened his eyes, and then he threw an even more extreme, killing-one-without-leaving-any-face ruthless sentence over.
Holding onto his chest and taking three steps back, the assistant used a kind of completely unable-to-believe-this and despondent eyes too look at him, “I’m willing to give you my heart and lungs*. Also, as soon as I heard that something happened, I was the first one to rush over here! You, you, you, you actually said this kind of sentence to repay me! Do you think what you did is right!? You ungrateful, heartless child!”
[T/N: Willing to sacrifice anything for someone.]
“I remember that the person I was looking for was Yue Jian and not you.” Senior once again issued cold words. The room temperature was lowered by a few dozen degrees, “Even if you want to dig out your stomach, guts, and other internal organs, it has nothing to do with me.”
“Yue Jian, that kid’s skill is not comparable with mine. If you want him to treat you, then you can just wait for your death.” The assistant snorted twice, extremely proud of his own medical treatment skill.
“I feel that being treated by you would mean that I am looking for my death.” Standing up and patting his sleeves, senior continued arguing with him.
In the end, are the both of them good friends or not?
I guess they are.
* * *
“Feeling better?”
Taking advantage of the gap of both their mutual bickering, Restua opened his eyes after he retrieved the totems on his hand. He softly asked senior whose vigour looked extremely well.
“Nn, thanks, Restua, Tong Lang.”
“There’s no need to thank me, this is what I should do.” At the same time, the ghost child was also taking care of the markings on his body, and then floated in mid-air. With still kind of lifeless flat tone he said, “Just to remind you, even if you are someone who can completely fuse two energies together, please remember that these two energies are originally a taboo and conflicting energies. Next time, please do not treat your life as a joke.”
Treat his life as a joke? I doubtfully looked at senior, who doesn’t look like someone who was at the verge of death.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Senior who rarely listens to others, nodded, and didn’t continue to say anything more.
Patting him on the shoulder, Restua also smiled.
I finally understood the familiar feeling Ran gave me. It was actually very similar to Restua. The both of them are actually from the healing department!? No wonder every time I saw Restua, I have a my-spirit-was-set-free kind of feeling; I finally understand it now! The entire mystery is finally solved!
“Then, I’ll take my leave first. There’re still some accommodation issues regarding the competition that I need to settle.” Restua slightly bent his body, extremely polite, he bid everyone goodbye, and left the room.
“I’ll also leave first.”
As for the ghost child who comes and goes hastily, I didn’t have any special feeling of gratitude, since he was always like this.
The interior of the room suddenly became silent.
“Don’t you think you owe us an explanation?” The person who broke the silence was Gasai. He took off his mask and put it aside. Seemingly elegant, he then started making tea on a table. However, his hands were using too much force, and even the cups were issuing strange noises. Boss, if you continue clutching the cups, they would most probably shatter on the spot…
The entire atmosphere was rather tense, I suspect I came at a wrong time.
“What actually happened?” I secretly nudged at the five-colored rooster head who was at one side and asked softly. I had no idea what happened, and I seemed to have somehow stepped into a circle of someone’s storm.
“Who knows. The moment we got back to the resting room, something was suddenly wrong with senior, so we looked for the people from the Medical Team.” The five-colored rooster head who also didn’t know what happened, rested his hand on my shoulder, using similarly soft voice as he answered me.
“If there’s something you want to ask, then just ask directly. Don’t start whispering at each other, so annoying!” Senior said to us, and the five-colored rooster head and I had the daylights scared out of us. We then took one step back.
Behind me is the door, it’s more convenient if I want to escape.
“Everyone clearly wants to ask why did you suddenly have a “break out,” our dear Prince.” Not knowing what death means, the assistant spoke in an extremely provocative tone, and even lifted his little finger.
Sometimes, some people are really bored of living, and didn’t know what death means.
After three seconds, the assistant was beautifully thrown off someone’s shoulder towards the other corner of the room, and afterwards, a “ka-thud” announced he was wiped out.
He is currently in a state of extreme anger.
A drop of cold sweat secretly trickled down my back, “I’m sorry for bothering everyone, I suddenly remembered that I still have something to do, so I’ll go back to the dorm first, see you later!” The legendary beast’s, who’s protecting my life, sixth sense told me to hurry up and escape from this place.
“Stop right there!”
I’m finished, I’m dead, I’m caught in a disaster. I just know I couldn’t escape.
I forcefully closed my eyes, waiting for my death. However, I didn’t do anything for someone to want to kill me, right?
A hand held onto my shoulder, “Who did you come in contact with just now?”
Ah?
I opened my eyes, and saw senior standing beside me, red eyes staring at my back, “You brought something you shouldn’t have in here.” Saying that, he grabbed at something on my shoulder, a black long thin object was being pulled out by him.
This can’t be right? I didn’t know I had a sea cucumber on my body!
“What sea cucumber!” Senior directly smacked me behind my head, “This is a following spying black insect.” He threw the black object in his hand onto the floor, Gasai and the five-colored rooster head came nearer to get a better look. It’s a black long strip-like object, probably about fifteen centimetres long, crawling on the ground trying to escape, and then senior stepped on it.
To be honest, it’s rather like the XX (because it’s disgusting so it was automatically muted) in the toilet.
“The black insect will automatically integrate with the surrounding scene, changing its colour and shape. It’s an intelligence gathering insect that’s not easy to detect.” Senior grinded the thing beneath his shoes, and then the XX below his feet became flat, “Just now, who was the one who brought you in?” Red eyes sharply staring at me, there was a kind of illusion that if I don’t say it I will be killed and have my corpse left under the sea.
“That’s… it’s a woman. She said she’s Clear Wind Academy’s instructor, Sinla.” I didn’t dare to omit anything, so I just told them about those things that happened just now when I came in here.
Gasai firstly wrinkled his forehead, “Chu, we’ve never heard of Clear Wind Academy having an instructor coming along this round. Also, Clear Wind Academy’s resting room is not over here. Over at this side, there’re only our school, Barbulis, Tiya, and Giya. Five representative teams using this side of resting room. And the other five representative teams, Clear Wind, Alis, Seven Hills, and Evil Spirit’s resting rooms are at the other side of the corridor after entering the door.
“Ah!” Is that true?
I was lied to!
Then how was she able to come in?
I thought that this place could only be entered by the players or people who are involved? This means she’s someone who is involved, right?
“The instructor most probably completed the formalities at the last minute.” Senior crossed his arms, and then he continued stepping on the insect on the floor. Ignoring the xx, which was wriggling and struggling, he continued, “I guess she probably saw that Chu was with us in the previous match, so she deliberately allowed him to come in. Then, she used him to gather information, because for both the first and second resting areas, as long as it’s the players or people who are involved, they would be allowed to enter.”
So to say, I was being used as a courier? A free black insect courier, right?
“I’m sorry! I didn’t know that she…”
Gasai patted my shoulder and interrupted me, “It’s fine, this kind of things would definitely happen. Anyway, even if it wasn’t you, someone else who will bring it in, so you don’t have to mind it.”
I secretly glanced at Senior.
“Anyway, even if you were possessed by something, you also wouldn’t notice it. Why should I even hope that you’d notice you were carrying an intelligence gathering insect?” Senior said as a matter of factly, “However, I don’t know how much the other person has already heard.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he fiercely kicked black insect, that black xx issued a strange hissing sound and was smashed. It then turned into a pile of black dust, and disappeared without leaving a trace.
“Should have… already heard everything.” Gasai’s face looked pretty bad, “Hurry up and tell us, what’s with your break out, we need to be prepared for the opponents doing some backhanded things during the competition.”
Sounds like a very serious matter.
Senior nodded.
* * *
The tea’s fragrance drifted past.
“This are handmade desserts that were sent by the Elves.” The little girl that was the embodiment of the gold eye black snake, carried a huge plate that was filled with exquisite biscuits and desserts and put them on the table.
… Wait a minute!
Weren’t we supposed to play out the historical revealing-the-huge-secret scene?
Why did the scene have such a big change, turning into an afternoon tea activity that involves everyone?
This is a very misleading behaviour, don’t you guys know this!?
With a “bang” sound, senior smacked me behind my head.
“You, who were sitting at the audience seat without doing anything, had it easy, but we are hungry and tired. Aren’t we allowed to rest while talking over this!?” He sat on the sofa, and took the cup of tea Xiao Ting passed to him.
That kind of sentence being said by you, who has highest record of N-number of days for not eating because of work, was especially unpersuasive.
The assistant and the others, each found a place on the sofa and sat down.
“Yang~~ Hurry up and come over here.” The five-colored rooster head patted the empty space beside him, “I’m waiting for you.”
Intuition told me that by sitting beside him, something would definitely happen. I looked around, and in the end I decided to sit beside senior Gasai.
Xiao Ting filled my cup with an unknown beverage.
Very fragrant, extremely fragrant, but since it was a snake that poured it, I was rather worried if the whole cup was actually full of venom.
“My power actually consists of fire and ice elements.” Without any nonsense, as soon as senior spoke, he went straight to the point. So straightforward that it caused me, who was considering whether I should drink the tea, to think that my ears cramped and I misheard him.
Red eyes suddenly turned around and fiercely glared at me… There’s no problem here, please continue.
“We already know this.” Gasai very calmly said.
Even if you knew, I don’t know about this, boss.
“Anyway, my original power is fire and ice.” Senior scratched his head, and said with a rather bored and annoyed tone, “I had them as soon as I was born, so there’s no need to explain about its origin.” I know that these two sentences were for me, because everyone glanced at me.
“Senior, I personally wanted to know why you have those two powers.” The five-colored rooster head, who wasn’t afraid of death, raised his hand and asked, but coincidentally he asked something that I wanted to know too.
Why did senior have two opposing powers?
The same for the illusionary weapon that he uses.
“That’s a personal privacy.” Senior actually used a very old-fashioned and brief rhetoric to pass off the question!
“In short, that innate power is not something one can casually use. If one could balance them, then that’s fine, but currently this fella still cannot perfectly control his ice and flame, so just now that huge spell he used on stage is prohibited.” The assistant continued, “The thing that happened just now was due to the powers getting out of control.”
Oh, I probably understand what he meant.
Because manhua always had this. When one goes out of control he would turn unruly and destroy the world kind of old storyline.
“This definitely wouldn’t be able to destroy the world.” Senior glared at me.
“I already knew about this fact, and this kind of power is going against nature.” Gasai picked up the cup and very elegantly took one sip.
“So cool!” A completely meaningless declaration was issued by the five-colored rooster head.
“I forgot to remind you about this before. According to the Medical Team’s research, similar thing would definitely happen during this competition. So you guys, who are in the same team with him, should pay more attention. As in the last few competitions, the finals had a very high casualty rate, and this year probably won’t be much different.” The assistant suddenly became serious, kind of like a chief’s seriousness in a meeting, “As soon as he goes out of control, you’ are to quickly notify the Medical Team, Restua and Tong Lang.”
Restua and the ghost child?
I suddenly remembered that the both of them were here earlier.
“Restua and Tong Lang can balance those two energies.” The assistant added.
“Restua is fine, since he is someone who is easy to look for. As for Tong Lang’s item, I already gave them to Chu.” Senior lazily said this mystifying sentence.
Everyone’s eyes suddenly gathered over at my side.
“Ah?”
When the hell did I receive the ghost child’s item?
“That cell phone.” Senior threw another sentence at me, “That thing has Tong Lang’s one and only avatar. Because Tong Lang isn’t able to appear in this world with his original body, he is only be able to use some spells and using that intermedia to appear.”
“Is that true!?” I jumped up from the sofa.
All the mysteries are finally solved!
No wonder I felt that the rate the ghost child appearing beside me was very high, so high that I don’t think that it was because of encountering him due to him passing-by.
So he actually emerged from my cell phone!
That cell phone ghost!
So just now when Restua opened the door, he was actually going to look me?
Correction, to look for the ghost child.
“Well, this means that from now on, it’s best if Yang Yang isn’t too far away from your team. With that, as soon as any problem occurs, we can find the person nearby.” The assistant very quickly made this conclusion.
“Isn’t it better to just give you back the cell phone?” I looked at senior, since I wanted to get rid of the phone which houses a ghost. Anyway, I don’t often use the phone, and if I really need to use a phone, getting a new number wouldn’t be that difficult anyway.
The main point was, a normal cell phone wouldn’t house ghost.
Senior put down the cup in his hand, “Chu, before you return it to me, you should think about it. How many times have you been saved by Tong Lang?”
… Several times.
“If you return it to me, there wouldn’t be anyone beside you anymore. And the next time you’re being attacked, you would probably go directly to heaven.”
Such evil and instigating words!
“If you want to make sure that Chu is always nearby, I do have an excellent idea.”
Gasai suddenly clapped his hands.
Then, my eyelids started to twitch.