Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The moment the barrier collapsed, Li Yuebai tensed every nerve in his body again.
Was he really going to meet Ye Qing like this?
Heaven knows, what he wanted most right now was to stand before Ye Qing without any barriers, say a few words to him, even put his arm around his shoulder… But no, this was both what he most wanted to do and what he absolutely couldn’t do.
The barrier was gradually disappearing, all the illusions were gradually disappearing, and everything around him was gradually returning to the original state of the Seven Star Tower.
Ye Qing would soon appear before him, perhaps no more than three meters away.
This impending reality left Li Yuebai speechless with nervousness.
A vampire and a vila… what would happen if they met at such close range?
He abruptly turned and rushed towards the open window.
The Seven Star Tower was in a prime location, nestled against a mountain and beside a river. It was built on a small hillside, and below the window was a large, deep pond covered with a faint green algae.
There was no time to hesitate; the barrier was about to collapse.
At the last second, Li Yuebai leaped onto the windowsill, fixed his gaze on the deep pond below, took a deep breath, and jumped.
The cool night breeze brushed his ears, followed by the rapid descent, then the overwhelming scent of seaweed, and finally, the lukewarm water completely enveloped him, suffocating him.
Water, water everywhere, his skin was soaked through, his ears were ringing, and despite holding his breath, the relentless current still tried to force its way into his respiratory tract, his lungs ached, and he dared not open his eyes, tumbling and sinking in the darkness.
In the darkness, he heard a roar, urgent, furious, a tone he had never heard before.
“Li Yuebai!”
The voice was Ye Qing’s, but the tone was completely different.
Ye Qing always maintained an infuriatingly calm demeanor, preferring to remain silent whenever possible and speaking as little as possible. He never liked to make a scene, and even in the most urgent situations, he couldn’t be bothered to raise his voice.
But now, the voice he heard was not only urgent and furious but also somewhat panicked.
Was Ye Qing someone who panicked so easily?
Moreover, he was clearly in the water, his ears filled with water, so why could he still hear Ye Qing calling him? Was it a hallucination?
After a second of stunned silence, Li Yuebai realized— this voice wasn’t transmitted through his ears, but directly from the system deep within his heart.
Ye Qing was speaking to him through the system— no, roaring.
Li Yuebai steadied himself, finding a bit of balance in the darkness.
He could swim a little, and his lungs still had enough air. After the initial discomfort, he gradually tried to stabilize his body and slowly float upwards.
“Xiao Ye, don’t make a fuss.” — He sent Ye Qing a text message.
“…”
After seeing the message, Ye Qing finally fell silent.
He was probably relieved to know he hadn’t died from the fall or drowned.
“Tsk tsk.” The system popped up: “You haven’t seen each other for so long, and now that you finally do, you don’t even look at him before jumping off the building… You’re so heartless…”
“Don’t you know best why we can’t meet?” Li Yuebai was furious upon hearing the system’s voice.
“Dear host, you should at least have told him first. You didn’t see his expression…” The system shook its head and sighed.
“This isn’t the time to say such things.”
The water pressure gradually decreased, and Li Yuebai finally surfaced, revealing his face and breathing air.
The air was filled with damp moisture. Li Yuebai opened his eyes and struggled to look around.
It was the dead of night, but there was moonlight.
The moonlight shone on the pond, on the hillside, on the wilderness, making it difficult to see many things.
Just now, he had used the moonlight to see the location of the pond.
Above them stood the Seven Star Tower. Although its exterior was illuminated by moonlight, the interior remained pitch black, making it impossible to see Ye Qing’s figure.
Previously, inside the tower, a spellcaster had used magic to create light, allowing him to see the illusions. But now, the barrier had collapsed, the light had vanished, and everything was plunged into darkness.
Ye Qing must still be inside.
“In the pond, nothing to worry about, don’t come near.” – Li Yuebai sent these few words to Ye Qing.
With his body submerged in the water, his Vila’s aura was sealed, preventing it from dissipating too much. In the darkness, no one could see his figure or face clearly, and as for his voice, he didn’t need to make a sound at all.
Having found this safe state, Li Yuebai finally felt relieved.
However, this state of safety didn’t last long.
Someone came, or rather, a vampire came.
The Seven Star Tower was located in the old city, now abandoned and indistinguishable from the wilderness – there was a difference, though; the wilderness at least offered natural scenery, open and bright. But the area surrounding the Seven Star Tower was a scene of ruins and gnarled trees, exuding an aura of terror.
Now, countless figures emerged from the distant ruins.
Some had long hair, some wore black cloaks, some revealed gleaming white fangs in the moonlight, and some effortlessly cleaved an old tree in two with their long fingernails.
The vampires had arrived.
They approached the pond where he was.
Gao Chengyu was no easy opponent. Since he had invited him to the Seven Star Tower, he was determined to capture him there. The illusion barrier method had failed, and he wouldn’t give up so easily; he would undoubtedly send more men— if mental warfare failed, then a real, physical battle would suffice.
Li Yuebai’s heart sank. He immediately submerged and swam towards the edge of the pond.
There were too many vampires, and his gun was already soaked. He had no chance of winning in this fight.
However, Gao Chengyu held an entire orphanage as hostages. If he were to escape, he would be breaking his promise, and the hostages’ fate would be unimaginable.
Having already agreed to come to the Seven Star Tower, there was no possibility of desertion.
“Stay in the water, don’t come out.” Suddenly, Ye Qing’s voice rang out again.
It was the most familiar tone in his memory, cold and indifferent, as if nothing could affect him.
Li Yuebai felt his eyes sting.
He looked up at the Seven Star Tower, at the dark window— and sure enough, he saw Ye Qing.
Ye Qing sat on the windowsill, one leg propped up, the other dangling casually, his right hand supporting his chin. This posture made him look exactly like a clown in a work of art.
His pale skin reflected an unusual hue in the moonlight, making the blue tear beneath his eye even more distinct.
He was beautiful, and very lonely.
Li Yuebai had always known that the deeper meaning of a clown was not happiness, but sorrow and loneliness.
For thousands of years, those renowned clowns who brought countless laughs to emperors and commoners alike had, without exception, a sorrowful essence. They were either pessimistic and world-weary, or violent and cruel; they didn’t even love themselves and might even have loathed themselves.
Despite this, they could never openly display their sorrow and loneliness to the world— in public, they had to stay happy, they had to be comical, they had to go to any lengths to entertain others and make everyone laugh.
Therefore, the world’s top clowns all eventually went mad because of loneliness.
The dormant Joker who possessed Ye Qing was no exception.
Li Yuebai had speculated countless times about why the Joker and Vila were in the same coffin.
After much guessing, the most plausible reason seemed to be that the Joker had forcibly kept Vila by his side, but Vila only felt disgust and hatred towards him. For hundreds of years, Vila had kept herself in a coma, refusing to wake up and even glance at the Joker.
The Joker was inherently such a mad, obsessive, and tragic being; how could the Vila possibly like him?
Therefore, the first thing the Joker did upon waking wasn’t to possess Ye Qing, but to forcibly possess Li Yuebai using the Vila— the Joker’s intelligence and ruthlessness allowed it to easily discern that the relationship between Ye Qing and Li Yuebai was unusually close. Thus, it used this method to bind Vila and itself together once again.
It was a coincidence that brought Ye Qing to the Joker. Despite the coincidence, Li Yuebai often thought that the Joker’s image was actually quite suitable for Ye Qing— both were lonely and unhappy. The difference was that Vila despised the Joker’s loneliness and unhappiness, while Li Yuebai found Ye Qing’s loneliness and unhappiness quite endearing.
For example, under the moonlight, Ye Qing’s appearance momentarily stunned Li Yuebai, making it impossible for him to look away.
Now, in this life-or-death situation, three words inexplicably popped into Li Yuebai’s mind: “So beautiful.”
Ye Qing didn’t let him look for long.
The vampires were getting closer.
Ye Qing smiled, then the smile vanished instantly.
He leaped from the windowsill, landing in the midst of the menacing vampire horde.
Li Yuebai felt his heart stop beating. He wanted to warn him to be careful but feared that such a warning would only distract him, so he could only quietly hide in the water, unable to do anything.
“Dear host, do you think he will win? Or will he die?” The system’s sarcastic voice appeared again.
“Dear System, you can try to toy with me however you want,” Li Yuebai’s voice was colder than before, “but this time, I absolutely will not allow you to hurt him again.”
“Huh? Whether or not I hurt him, is that my decision?” The system feigned innocence, denying everything: “Dear Host, aren’t Ye Qing’s enemies those vampires? What does that have to do with me?”
Maybe it has nothing to do with you, but who knows if you’ll betray me again and pull another “banana peel mechanism”?
“Dear System, I’m giving you one last chance,” Li Yuebai said clearly, word by word: “Either obey my orders or die.”
“I only obey the orders of the Supreme God,” the system replied.
“Then I’ll directly ask the Supreme God,” Li Yuebai took a deep breath: “Please give me a chance to kill this system.”
“Huh? Kill me? The system has no body or soul, how can it die?” The system let out a wild laugh: “Besides, the Supreme God will absolutely not agree… Huh?”
The system’s voice suddenly stammered.
“The Supreme God agreed, didn’t he?” Li Yuebai sensed something was amiss.
“Yes…yes!” The system stammered again, its tone revealing panic.
“Of course the Supreme God will grant my request, because you’ve gone too far this time.” Li Yuebai laughed. “Besides, you said the Supreme God’s goal is to see interesting stories unfold, and if the host can kill the system, that would be the most interesting thing.”
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