Silent Crown

The moment the door was closed, Ye Qingxuan fell into the abyss. Actually, it was just a hallucination. Other than the fact that there was a blur before his eyes, his body did not actually sense any loss of gravity.

This world felt like an illusion, as if it was part of an illusional realm. But the difference from illusions was that it had already turned into a suggestion of illusion and had merged into part of a massive fictitious scene.

“Loading of translation plugin is complete.”

Ye Qingxuan suddenly woke up with a shock to a string of fine characters. He saw a green ocean around him. An ocean of unlimited words.

In the blink of an eye, the entire world had been replaced by formulas and laws. Everything had turned into a string of dull and boring data and records, including Ye Qingxuan himself.

It was not an enjoyable feeling, but over here, even his unhappiness was merely categorized as a string of insignificant characters in Ye Qingxuan’s data. Besides, why was it a translation plugin? He could sense that this was Ye Xuan’s doing, but why was there a translation plugin in particular?

Ye Qingxuan had already obtained most of the knowledge about ancient languages from Ye Xuan’s memories, so an additional translation plugin would not have made much difference. But very soon, he discovered that the function of this plugin was different from he had understood. What it translated was not languages…

Based on his “senses” and “observations,” every phenomenon on earth, which had initially collapsed into countless formulas and records, was undergoing transformation, sublimation, and conversion rapidly. It was not an earth-shattering revolution. It was just a matter of not having the foresight to see something more important.

Through the “filter” of the translation plugin, the world of data within the central core was rapidly transforming into something that Ye Qingxuan could recognize. Therefore, a lofty maze rose from the ground. Not only did it consist of a flat plane of four houses on both sides, both the sky and land were engulfed by endless fog and towering walls respectively. In this world, which was so dark that it was hard to tell if it was day or night, there were six paths that led to six different destinations.

At the end of each path was yet another six paths. After six has been multiplied by six, the result would be multiplied by six again… Just like that, the maze would increase rapidly at a terrifying rate.

In the blink of an eye, he had no idea where he was exactly. Even the door that he had entered from had already been submerged by this maze. Ye Qingxuan was even beginning to suspect if he had heard wrong. Was this the shortcut that Ye Xuan was talking about? This was clearly a cage with no end! Now, he would not even be able to find his way back…

Could I have accidentally offended this ancestor, so he decided to set up this trap to kill me? He might just do that… Ye Qingxuan began to judge others by oneself as he assumed the worst of Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan’s impatient voice could be heard beside his ear very quickly, “Are you finished? Why are you in a daze? Run!” He was anxiously urging, “The network police of the firewall have already discovered you!”

“What’s that? Network… police?” Ye Qingxuan was in a state of confusion as he looked around the maze. “They sound like those patrolling guards of Avalon?”

“They are totally different! They were all originally artificial intelligence responsible for law enforcement in the fictitious illusional realm. They are not even considered humans. They have already been infected by Tung Wang Kung, so you better not take any chances…” Ye Xuan suddenly stopped talking and his voice quickly turned into a piercing scream. The distorted communication line was completely cut off.

In that instant, Ye Qingxuan turned back suddenly and saw a towering shadow that had appeared behind him without him knowing. It was like a cold and evil silhouette straight out of a nightmare as the translation plugin was not averse to using the most horrible images of Ye Qingxuan’s memories to present this object. One could see that it was a humanoid in a black uniform. It felt like both metal and glass at the same time, but one thing that it definitely was not was flesh and blood.

It was wearing a huge cap that covered its entire face, or, to be more exact, it did not even have a face, to begin with. There was only a pair of cold and cruel eyes on the towering body, staring down at Ye Qingxuan, as if it was judging and scrutinizing every single dirt in his heart.

“User Ye Qingxuan, you have been reported for violating the regulation of network management and user civilization convention,” a cold and mechanical voice said.

That thing drew out something like a sword and aimed it at Ye Qingxuan. The blade of the sword was shining with destructive light. It was obviously standing in front of Ye Qingxuan, yet it felt like the latter was completely surrounded by it.

“In the conversation between you and user ???, you used derogatory terms about females and have committed the offense of discrimination against females…”

“Wait, wait!” Ye Qingxuan was shocked as he felt wronged. It would have been fine if he was accused of being a murderer or lunatic, but to be accused of discriminating against females out of nowhere?

“When did I insult females?”

The “network police” took out a scroll and showed him the records of him talking to Ye Xuan. One of the sentences, ‘What happened to you and your eldest grandson after that,’ was highlighted in red.

“This sentence hinted at the lack of ownership of females and their passiveness in emotions. It also objectified females, thus revealing the ugly side of your male chauvinism!” The network police declared, “You have been found guilty of discriminating against females and your punishment is the ‘death penalty’!”

“What the hell, wait a minute!” Ye Qingxuan subconsciously tried to resist but realized that he could not sense any aether at all. In fact, he could no longer move his legs and he could feel his heart becoming stifled.

“Even if I really did discriminate against females, surely there’s no need for a death penalty! What about banning me from talking!”

“Guilty. Death penalty!” the network police shouted as it raised the sword. All of a sudden, it stopped. “Search has been completed. Accusations have been refreshed. User Ye Qingxuan has committed the crime of breathing, the crime of living, the crime of abusing pets, the crime of individualism, the crime of rebellious thoughts, the crime of being a hazard, the crime of illegally getting over the wall… crime crime crime crime crime!”

Countless cold voices of declaration began to pile on top of one another as Ye Qingxuan was being accused of countless mind-boggling crimes. All Ye Qingxuan wanted to do was to destroy this damned thing.

Even if we ignore ridiculous crimes like breathing and illegally getting over the wall, what the hell is the crime of abusing pets! Friend, do you still talk with reason? It was Old Phil who was abusing me, and not the other way round! Ye Qingxuan wanted to rebuke but it was too late.

In the instant that each voice spoke, a layer of red light would appear around Ye Qingxuan’s body until he was completely dyed a scarlet-red color. It was as if he was being burnt by flames, and these flames seemed to be eroding his “data body” with the aim of completely crushing and dismantling his processes.

“Punishment by death penalty!!!” In that instant, the network police swung its sword of conviction.

A process, by the name of “Pain.EXE,” was instantly activated tens of thousands of times repeatedly. It occupied all of Ye Qingxuan’s computing space as he screamed in pain and despair with every inch of consciousness and breath. But soon after, there was instantly a roar.

Through the filter of the translation plugin, Ye Qingxuan saw that within the data layer beneath countless formulae, a massive object, that looked like a palm, suddenly appeared. It violently hedged itself between Ye Qingxuan and the network police and tore open a gap, before dragging him out and swinging him towards the maze. That was Ye Xuan in “Neanderthal.”

“Stop screaming! Run!” He urged Ye Qingxuan to flee immediately.

The executable program, named “Pain,” was completely shut down in an instant. His entire body was clearly damaged, yet he felt no pain nor did he feel anxious. Ye Qingxuan was hacked by Ye Xuan by force to execute a sandbox procedure, known as “mechanized thinking.”

Under the protection of the procedure, he seemed to have been separated and isolated from the outer world. He could only control himself with a few pathetic control buttons as he saw himself fleeing his life like a headless rat. But he was running ever so slowly. He could even look through the gigantic hole in front of him to see what was happening behind him.

That network police was splitting itself up rapidly as one became two, two became four, and four became eight… More and more were appearing from all directions. Each silhouette was exactly the same in their cruelty. Their cold eyes stared at him as they declared in a low and rumbling voice, “Death penalty! Death penalty! Death penalty!”

“This won’t do. Sooner or later… No, they will catch up with us immediately.” Ye Qingxuan was screaming in panic. “What are those things? Think of something, Ye Xuan!”

“Why are you crying in despair now when you were still so courageous just now!” On the other end of the communication line, Ye Xuan sounded like he was also under tremendous stress. “Neanderthal is a closed system. It’s already a miracle that I am able to interfere a little with the outside world! These are the mutations of artificial intelligence after they have been injected with the virus. Wait a minute, the setting of the previous virtual environment has yet to be erased. Hang on, hang on! I found it!”

A black window popped up in front of Ye Qingxuan at the end of Ye Xuan’s unexpected discovery. A string of numbers and codes were rapidly being entered.

“keyser soze 9999”

“I see dead people”

“there is no spoon”

“It vexes me”

Some of the commands turned red the moment they were entered, while others were effective and instantly created layers of light around Ye Qingxuan.

A majestic and luxurious pumpkin carriage immediately appeared underneath his feet as the strange projections of seven dwarves surrounded him while singing and dancing. The worst thing was that he realized he was wearing a white lacy tutu. On his back was a pair of butterfly wings that exuded all sorts of colors. A whiteboard had now turned into a shimmery golden light. And the speed had increased tens of thousands of times!

It was so fast that Ye Qingxuan could not even react. At each juncture, he could only rely on his instincts to decide which path to take. As the carriage charged at full speed down each path, the exit was nowhere to be found. Behind him, the group of artificial intelligence, which had now turned into a virus, was still pursuing him endlessly. They were following closely like shadows, and it felt like if they were to slow down just a little, they would immediately be caught up.

Some of the dwarves had already been caught up and were hacked down. As blood spurted everywhere, they quickly became a blur and turned into blocks of mixed-colors.

Ye Qingxuan lowered his head and looked at his lacy tutu and the cute and pretty pink magic wand in his hand. He began to feel hopeless. “What the hell are these things!”

“Cough cough, I recall that they are the equipment in a type of card game.” Ye Xuan replied somewhat awkwardly, “But you don’t have to mind it. At least you are now a big shot with amazing equipment! As long as you are not so foolish to think that you can retaliate against them, you should be safe for now.”

“Then where exactly should I go?” Ye Qingxuan looked around the maze in confusion. He could not figure out the maze and neither did he know where to go.

“You ask me, I ask who! It’s already a miracle that I can help you until this stage. Even grandfather is not almighty, alright? You still have to depend on yourself!” In times of crisis, even Ye Xuan, who had been portraying himself as a mild-mannered and reliable person, was beginning to reveal the unreliable side of him. This only made Ye Qingxuan feel like beating him up.

“Can you say something useful!”

“Oh, what I’m saying is that I can’t help you. You are on your own.” Ye Xuan was so casual in his reply that Ye Qingxuan felt like vomiting blood.

“I’m almost going to die. Can you stop taking advantage of me?”

“Look how much I have already helped you! What more do you want?!”

“Are you taking advantage of me now because you think that there will not be any more of such opportunities in the future?” Ye Qingxuan replied furiously. All of a sudden, there was a flash in front of his eyes and his entire body froze. Even as they were running for their lives, he could feel a chill go down his spine.

“What happened? Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?”

Ye Qingxuan desperately wanted to swallow his saliva to express his panic but he had no idea what the command for such an action was. He could only look at the blurry images on both sides nervously. “Just now… did you see a white shadow flash past us?”

“No!” Ye Xuan kept quiet for a long time before sending over a broken ellipsis. “Are you trying to tell me a ghost story in the virtual system? You may begin your performance…”

“Really, I’m not lying…” Before Ye Qingxuan could finish his sentence, another white blur flashed past him. If he had any goosebumps now, they would definitely be standing straight up. “I saw it again!”

“That’s not right. Everything is normal on my side. Is there something wrong with your nerve interface? You don’t look like you have claustrophobia? Unless…”

“Stop trying to diagnose me!” Ye Qingxuan was on the verge of jumping in anger. He was so confused because the pale white figure has appeared once again and this time, it was right in front of him. He gritted his teeth and gripped tightly onto the damned pink-colored heart-shaped magic wand and urged the horse carriage to charge forward.

Whatever that thing is, I’m going to crush it!

In an instant, the charging pumpkin carriage covered a long distance and tried to crush it with a roar. But at the very last second, Ye Qingxuan seemed to have been struck by lightning as he pulled back on the ropes tightly like a mad man. The two white horses at the very front let out a screech as they lost their balance and crashed into the wall. Amidst the roar, Ye Qingxuan felt like he was almost completely crushed.

There was an earth-shattering roar as the south wall was knocked down. But there was no dust and dirt flying around. The horse carriage began to gallop once again. After it had passed through the thick wall, it was able to keep itself intact miraculously. Only one pumpkin was lost in the process.

While in a state of confusion, Ye Qingxuan could hear Ye Xuan screaming furiously at him, “Have you gone mad! If I had not reacted fast enough, your data shell would have already exploded due to an overload!”

“… Bai Xi.” Ye Qingxuan turned around while still in a daze. He was trying to take another peek at that familiar figure through the broken hole that was getting further and further away. No matter what, he did not dare to believe what he saw. In the instant before the crash, he saw Bai Xi. That face was so familiar.

“What you saw was an illusion!!!!” Ye Xuan seemed to be suffering from tremendous pain as he screamed at him furiously, “Don’t be foolish, Ye Qingxuan. Everything that you see in the maze of the firewall is all fake! Even I am fake! I died centuries ago, do you understand! You keep trying to kill yourself like a lunatic, yet now you are telling me you saw Bai Xi? Save it! Bai Xi is not here!”

“I saw it!” Ye Qingxuan rebutted angrily, “I saw it!”

“What you saw was only data! Just data, do you understand? Damn it!” Ye Xuan was hollering, “It’s not real. Do you really think this is some virtual world? This is a sandbox! This is the data layer and there is no way thoughts can exist here! Only rigid programs are run here! Humans do not have things like souls either! Wake up, Ye Qingxuan! No human can appear in the maze of the firewall. No one! That includes you. You are still dreaming while in your seat, except that you are able to feel what your account data is feeling!”

In that instant, Ye Qingxuan froze. It was as if time had stopped.

“Ye Xuan, just now…” He seemed to be in a daze. “What did you say just now?”

“What happened?” Ye Xuan, who was on the other end of the communication line, seemed to feel that he had gone overboard and now felt a little awkward. “I said that you are just an account.”

“The previous sentence. The previous sentence that you said!” Ye Qingxuan gritted his teeth. “You said that there is only ‘rigid programs’ being run here, right?”

“Why? Wait, wait, wait, wait! No way…” Ye Xuan’s logic module seemed to have come to a conclusion. Then, he began to lose control of his emotions. “Are you saying that that lady has turned herself into a program through her own will? Impossible! What is she after? Just to appear here? That would be suicidal!”

“Exactly. Just like you!” Ye Qingxuan was feeling upset for no reason and he was trying his best to suppress it. Suddenly, he turned the horse carriage around and charged back towards where they came from.

“Have you gone mad? You can’t find a way out so you have decided to die?”

“No, I’m just going to look for her.” Ye Qingxuan ignored Ye Xuan’s attempts to stop him and single-mindedly headed back.

He was finally starting to recall something. That pair of eyes. Her eyes… they were so empty and serene. The look in her eyes was just like the one he saw in that small alley in Avalon that night, when he met Bai Xi again.

But the person he saw was not Bai Xi; it was Chaoyue…

“Wait a minute, Ye Qingxuan. For all you know, she may want to kill you! She already trapped you once!” Ye Xuan desperately went through Ye Qingxuan’s memories as he assessed all the information related to Chaoyue. “There has been a huge problem with that girl from the moment she was born. I don’t even need a CT or any diagnosis to know that she must have undergone partial brain resection and her pons had been cut off. Her actions and behaviors are merely in accordance with the logic machine that her father had created. Her own personality is so weak that it’s almost negligible. Otherwise, what is she doing here? You are upset because your affection for Bai Xi has shifted onto Chaoyue due to their resemblance. Be rational! If you are still pinning your hopes on her helping you, then you are really resorting to a very desperate measure!”

“Then why hasn’t she tried to kill me?” Ye Qingxuan countered, “If she had wanted to kill me, she could have killed me with a virus at the moment she stopped me, right?”

“Don’t be foolish…” Ye Xuan sounded like he was scolding someone but there was only a piercing scream beside Ye Qingxuan’s ear. Soon after, there was a lot of noise, followed by a blur shout from far away.

“Tung Wang… seal… communication line will soon be… you… Ye Qingxuan… you… sorry… you have to be careful…” Ye Qingxuan could sense Ye Xuan’s voice leaving him very quickly. There were more and more layers of isolation. Finally, there was only a hoarse sigh. The communication line had been cut off.

It was peaceful and quiet once more. No sound could be heard even as the broken carriage was still galloping at full speed. Only Ye Qingxuan was calling out randomly in vain. Ye Xuan’s voice had vanished. He has been left behind on his own to sprint at full speed in the endless maze, only to realize that he could not find the path that he had come from. After losing his directions, he suddenly felt that he might never be able to make his way out of this.

Ye Qingxuan tried to call out Ye Xuan’s name but there was no response. Perhaps he was really upset this time and decided to cut off the communication line to let Ye Qingxuan live or die as he wished. Or perhaps something else happened that he had to take care of his own safety first.

As for Ye Qingxuan, he was completely lost on his search for the way back. He was like a mad man as he desperately tried to search in vain for the illusion that did not mean anything. The funny thing was that right now, he was so lost that he did not even know where to go if he wished to kill himself.

Perhaps a long time had passed. Perhaps it had been many years or maybe it had only been an instant. He finally saw the blurry figure once again, as it appeared at the end of the path. For some reason, her figure was shimmering even as it floated, as if it was as slim as an illusion.

She looked at Ye Qingxuan and stretched her hand to point towards a junction in the maze. Before Ye Qingxuan could say a word, she had already vanished, leaving Ye Qingxuan sprinting in the direction that she had pointed, like a fool. But very soon, at the end of the path where the six paths converged together, a new figure appeared once again and pointed ahead. Ye Qingxuan adjusted the ropes without a second thought. He wanted to use this opportunity to shout out loud but he realized that he could not make a sound.

A loud explosion behind him almost flipped him over. Behind him, countless infected artificial intelligence had appeared from all over the place as they tried to catch up with him.

“Crime crime crime crime!!!!”

“Death penalty! Death penalty! Death penalty! Death penalty!”

Countless red lights, that represented crimes, chased after him and tore away at his broken horse carriage. All they wanted to do was to stop the carriage, even if they only managed to tear away a single nail. First, it was a nail, then it was the main body of the carriage, and finally, the rear, the pedestal, the seat, the axles, the wheels, and even the rope snapped.

Ye Qingxuan had no choice but to jump onto the back of the horse as he clung on to the horse’s neck for dear life while galloping in the direction that the illusion had pointed. Eventually, there was a spot of white light from a long distance away. Ye Qingxuan finally saw the exit.

That slim illusion was standing right at the exit, as it quietly pointed the way for him. It was about to allow Ye Qingxuan to pass by and sprint towards freedom. But at the instant that they passed each other, Ye Qingxuan leaped off the horse before rolling on the ground crashing into the wall due to the momentum.

Not too far behind him, the infected artificial intelligence was charging over in waves. But as they came nearer to the illusion, they began to slow down. The closer they came, the more they began to stutter. Eventually, they were trapped in a time that had slowed down by tens of thousands of times.

They were so near yet so far.

“You should not have stopped.” Ye Qingxuan heard her voice. Those empty pair of eyes were looking at him. She continued, “Bai Xi is waiting for you.”

“Then what about you?” Ye Qingxuan looked into her eyes. He realized that the thinner the illusion became, the faster it would disintegrate and dissipate into the endless ocean of data.

“I am fine where I am.” Chaoyue replied calmly, “I like it here. It is very quiet.”

“Don’t be foolish. No one likes to become a machine! And no one likes a weird place like this!” Ye Qingxuan ignored her and stretched out his hands to pull her along, only to realize that his feet seemed to have been glued to the ground. He was no longer able to move. He barely managed to speak through gritted teeth, “If Bai Xi was to see you give up on yourself like this, she would definitely be mad at you too!”

Chaoyue looked at him quietly. It had always been like this from the very beginning. It was as if she could never sense the pain of separation but was merely musing about something that could never be understood. The look in her eyes would become… one of confusion. “I poisoned you once. You should hate me.”

“I think everyone in this world has tried to harm me before, but I’m the Holy Mother, so I will forgive everyone. No matter. Even if I get really angry, the moment I see the pleading look on their faces, I won’t bear to do anything to them.” Ye Qingxuan tried to squeeze out some thoughts and memories from his brain and continued with a smile, “You pointed the way for me, so we are even now.”

Chaoyue remained silent. There were no reactions. She was like a little child that was in a daze, or perhaps… she was unable to react.

That group of infected artificial intelligence kept approaching and was almost about to reach them! There was no time. Ye Qingxuan flew into a rage.

“Chaoyue, Yunlou Qingshu is already dead!” He was shouting and jumping at the same time, but immediately became more restrained. “Alright, this is only a guess as I don’t have any proof, but it has been so long and he has yet to respond. There’s still Bai Heng, that b*stard, out there. That snitch must be dead already! Even if he isn’t, just treat it as he has! Don’t be a machine anymore! Do whatever you want, just stop being a machine!”

“But I don’t know how to do anything else.”

“Then learn! Like Bai Xi!” Ye Qingxuan was shouting at her with all his strength. “Be yourself!”

In that instant, amidst the fleeting time, Ye Qingxuan sensed that he was beginning to hallucinate. But that hallucination was so short that he barely detected it. Chaoyue had already vanished. Before she vanished, the corners of her mouth had curled up slightly. As if she was smiling.

As the figure was broken, he was also pushed out of the maze and he was falling from the sky. He could hear the sound of wind roaring past him as fell, as if he would fall forever. He saw the group of infected artificial intelligence crashing into each other at the exit but they could pursue him no further.

He finally entered the deepest level of the central core. He was getting closer to the Originator. But when he looked down at his bare hands, he could not help but feel overwhelmed with rage and gloom.

In the end… in the end… in the end, he did not manage to do anything. Light had swallowed everything. He has finally entered the Originator.