บท 38: The Marketplace Legend
บรรณาธิการ: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"That was the Shaman. What about this one?" Ye Qingxuan flipped over the second card. On this card was a man wearing a hat. His golden locks reached his waist, and he stood on a pile of gold, silver, and wealth. Jewels fell from his hands like sand.
"The Trader. Apparently, you can buy anything from him as long as you have money. Even the impossible is possible with him." Bai Xi lowered her voice, "Some people also say that Anglo’s throne was bought from him by King Arthur with his treasured sword."
"How is that possible?" Ye Qingxuan laughed. "Even if it is true, he can’t live this long, right?"
"You never know. If he really does have everything, it wouldn’t be weird if he has the secret to immortality."
"…That kind of makes sense." Ye Qingxuan flipped another card. "What is this?"
The card’s background was blood red. Within the broken and bodiless limbs, there seemed to be a shadow. Everything was bloody and dark.
"Oh, that is the killer. He has disappeared now, but apparently he killed for money and he took every type of job—even the assassinations of high officials. When he’s in action, he leaves no witnesses alive. Anyone who sees him will get their heads yanked off. Someone gave him the nickname Bloody Butcher because the scene he leaves behind is like a slaughterhouse."
The white wraiths in the church—the Soul Eater; the psychotic killer who massacred in the deep night—the Ripper; the women who kidnapped children to feed devils—Hariti; the living dead who wandered in the graveyard and feasted on fresh blood—the vampires; the debt collector who could take souls with his hand—the Ghost Hand; the black shadow that flew across the sky at midnight—the Phantom Carriage. These were Avalon’s top ten legends.
"Wait, but there’s only nine," Ye Qingxuan counted with his fingers and realized that there truly was only nine.
"Oh, there’s another one." At the mention of this, the excited Bai Xi suddenly lost all interest. She revealed the last card.
On this card was the silhouette of the clock tower at midnight. In the darkness, there was something squirming and running by. "This is the last legend. It’s the Naked Man who runs through the streets of Avalon at midnight."
Ye Qingxuan was instantly awake.
"You look funny. Are you okay?"
"I’m scared." He was too embarrassed to say that he had seen this crazy man before.
The first nine of the top ten Avalonian legends were so powerful and impressive, but this last one was just wretched. Running around nude while singing at midnight. A crazy man with bird-nest hair! What was wrong with the aesthetic standards of the Avalonian people?
"What’s the last ghost card?" Ye Qingxuan looked at the two ghost cards. But rather than a clown, there were strange and ferocious buildings. The black card had a high tower. But when reflected into the water, the tower turned into a pile of bones. It stretched endlessly, going towards Hell.
"The Bloody Shadow." Bai Xi said, "Legend says that this road is hidden inside Avalon. It leads straight to the backside of Avalon. If you walk down it, you’ll see the city’s true appearance."
"Then what about the red one?" The red card in his hand depicted a large but abandoned city. It was covered with cobwebs and scorch marks. The giant city was choked with dust, as if it was already dead.
"This is the Avalon in the legends." Bai Xi paused and added, "The real Avalon."
--
It had been three-hundred years since the end of the dark ages.
Two hundred and seventy years ago, King Arthur refused the holy name given by the Sacred City. He came here instead and created sacred Anglo’s first city. This was the earliest legend of Avalon.
No longer did people know what this place had been before that.
Some scholars dug through the remains of the ancient books and came up with this strange conclusion: three-hundred years ago, Avalon was six-hundred meters below sea level. This meant that the island was supposed to be sleeping at the bottom of the ocean.
But according to the aether levels of ancient Avalonian buildings, they have existed for more than one thousand years. The scholars did not know what to do with the contradicting information. In the end, this debate could only be buried under the countless other research. But this legend had been passed on until now, becoming more and more detailed.
Some said that Avalon was originally a city controlled by Satan. It lay at the bottom of the ocean for eternity. It floated up during the War of Glory, and the world was about to be destroyed. But then Hyakume was seriously injured and left its lair. But its secret was still hidden inside the city.
Other said that this was the Burgundians’ conspiracy. But some also support the more recent continental drift theory, believing that Avalon was an island that floated from elsewhere.
"None of these are reliable. Avalonians have too much time on their hands," Ye Qingxuan dismissed these theories.
"Yeah. Let’s just play cards." Bai Xi shuffled the cards, her features dancing. "I’ll go easy on you for the first round, and we’ll start small. Twenty dollars for the first round."
His face expressionless, Ye Qingxuan reached over and took out the card she hid inside her sleeve. "I said before, you can’t cheat…"
Half an hour later, Ye Qingxuan was getting drowsier and it was hard to focus. It felt like he had a hangover, like alcohol was playing with him—making him overexcited, and then taking away self-control. Thankfully, he could still think. Thankfully…
"Okay. Hand over the money." He showed his card, and stretched out his palm with a smile. "Or else I’m going to put on a strip of paper."
There was only complete and utter silence. Past the tick-tocks, one could only hear Bai Xi’s angry pants.
The strips of paper all over her face moved as she breathed, like the legendary Wendigo. In thirty minutes, she had already lost her salary for the next three years—if she was going to get any salary.
"You told me…this is your third time playing Flush?" Bai Xi gritted her teeth. "This is how someone plays for the third time?"
"This really is my third time." Ye Qingxuan yawned and answered drowsily, "The first time, I didn’t understand the rules and lost one month’s salary. The second time, I won all their pants. From then on, no one wanted to play with me anymore. They all say, uh, that I cheat."
"You said we’re not allowed to cheat!" Bai Xi pounded on the table and got into his face. "Where did you hide the poker? Tell the truth! Or else I’m going to beat you up while you still can’t fight back!"
"I didn’t lie. I’d never cheat." Ye Qingxuan opened his arms and let the girl search him. The cards that he had shuffled fell from his hands, scattering like snow. Fifty-four poker cards, no more, no less.
The rolled up sleeves, short nails, spread-apart fingers, under the table—there were no signs of cheating anywhere. Bai Xi searched Ye Qingxuan’s pockets repeatedly but came up with nothing.
"I told you I won’t cheat." Feeling heavy, Ye Qingxuan finally could not resist the urge of sleep and sprawled onto the table. Before he fell asleep, he seemed to remember something and laughed lightly, "But I can memorize cards."
--
"Thanks for coming with me to deliver the goods."
"It’s not like I know the way."
The next day, Ye Qingxuan could finally walk, albeit with a cane.
He limped down the road. Beside him, Bai Xi, a head shorter than him, carried the case in her arms. She walked casually, glancing around.
As if she were self-conscious about her white hair, she had stuffed her hair under her hat. She was still wearing Ye Qingxuan’s clothes from before, and looked like a typical street kid.
"But it really took a lot of effort for Mr. Setton to get this business deal."
"You think too much. This is just an ornamental clock that they asked the boss to send over from Burgundy. We’re just delivering it." The corner of Bai Xi’s lips curled. "If they didn’t send a letter asking, Setton probably would’ve thrown it into the trash."
"Fine. The store will probably close someday, thanks to him," Ye Qingxuan muttered, a bit worried.
"Why are you sighing? This has nothing to do with you." Bai Xi rolled her eyes. Her pupils rolled around twice, and another bad idea popped into her head. "Hey, cousin, how much do you think this clock is worth?"
"It’s not vintage, but the signature says it was created by a very famous Burgundian artisan. It’s hard to estimate its market value. But the newest watch core, gold and silver inside, are expensive. Based off of the black market’s rule of raising the price 30 percent, it’s probably around sixty thousand."
Ye Qingxuan counted on his fingers and nodded at the end. "If it’s someone who knows the trade, it can sell for up to one-hundred thousand."
Bai Xi was dumbfounded, not just because of the price, but also because of Ye Qingxuan’s words.
"How do you know all this?"
"There are books all over the store. You can read them too!" Ye Qingxuan side-eyed her and knocked her head. "Don’t get any silly ideas. Setton wasn’t joking when he said he sends troublesome people to the hospital."
"Hey, I didn’t even say anything!"
"Nothing good comes when you call me ‘cousin.’ And I bet you were thinking about running off with that thing, right?"
"…Hmph." Bai Xi did not say anything else, but it was clear she had not given up yet.
"On my third day here, there was a thief. Setton didn’t say anything, but broke the thief’s arm that afternoon, and brought everything back to the store. His muscles are there for a reason. Don’t think that he’s harmless just because he sits and reads all day." Ye Qingxuan kept talking until the girl had goosebumps all over. This was the fourth time he stopped Bai Xi from breaking the law today. What joy…ha, as if!
This girl was too far gone if she wanted to break the law four times in one day! Other than Old Phil’s dog food, there probably was not a thing she did not want to steal.
Bai Xi poked curiously into the crowd, as if she was listening to the musicians on the street.
The dark-skinned musician sat cross-legged on a ragged cloth, playing a Qiang flute. This instrument was rare, and its beautiful music caused those pasisng by to nod and toss coins into the box in front of him.
Bai Xi glanced at the box filled with copper coins, about to drool.
Ye Qingxuan moved to stop her, but thankfully something else happened that caught everyone’s attention.
Far away, a high-pitched trumpet sounded. A clamor traveled from the distance.
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