novelThe Phantom Sun
| ← Ch.203 | Ch.205 → |
The next day, the game had reached an intense level on the field. Summoning's leopard shadows had been ignited. They roared, tangled in the multiple destructive music scores from the School of Modifications. The entire field's atmosphere had reached its peak. The spectators yelled the players' names; their cheers were like a tsunami.
Compared to the unspeakable shamelessness of the first game, the following games had reignited the students' confidence in soccer. Whether it was the teamwork, defense or offense, all were amenable. The power of music scores and aether were even more amazing, making the game much more interesting to watch.
Victory, defeat, and the advantages of each side had become ambiguous and widely different. No matter how large of an advantage one team had, they could still lose if they did not pay attention.
In the short half-hour time, all players on the field were sapped of their energy. In the end, they were practically carried off by Choir musicians and given emergency treatment.
On the field, the victor, Glenn, wiped at his sweat and enjoyed the cheers of victory. Even Egor's gloomy face relaxed slightly, growing pleased as he nodded lightly. The negative stigma on the School of Modifications had been wiped away. They had once again proved their unbeatable place in face-to-face fighting. Next, they had to find that guy who had used despicable strategies—James—and teach him a lesson!
Glenn suddenly clenched his fist and the shadow of a fiery claw flew behind him. It dispersed in the air and exploded with blinding firelight. Shocked cries rippled through the spectators.
His expression grew more arrogant. Controlling the scalding heat, he scattered it. He blew away the cinders and ashes, solidifying the ground into hard rock again. He glared at the music history's rest stand through the forceful aether waves.
"Do you see? This is the enemy you'll face next. This is the furious fire burned just for you! This is..." He froze. Something felt wrong!
No one was looking at him. There was only a lazy dog sunbathing on the empty seat. Its head rested on the seat in the front row. Drool dripped from its mouth, landing on the bunny on the front row. The bunny trembled, but could not move from under the dog's paws. Old Phil rubbed it like a toy and was indifferent about the field.
Charles, that *ss, was using binoculars to look at the hot girls in the stands on the other side. His expression grew more and more sleazy. Bench Guy had disappeared to somewhere. As for Ye Qingxuan...what was he doing?
Glenn glared with a livid expression before realizing that no one had seen his showy moment. That guy had actually fallen asleep while sunbathing right in the middle of the noisy stadium!
Ye Qingxuan was draped over a chair in the rest stand of the history department. He slept with his head back, mouth open and was thunderously snoring. It was as if he was in the late stages of tuberculosis. He was completely asleep, despite the noisy environment. He did not even wake when Bai Xi moved him into a strange meditating position with his hands put together as if praying.
Now, Bai Xi was focused on drawing a small turtle on his face. There was also a bunny, alpaca, and fox on his forehead. Sensing Glenn's eyes, she turned back and looked at the pained student in confusion. She quickly understood and waved, motioning for Glenn to wait.
Then she bent down, messed with something and lifted Ye Qingxuan's stiff arm. Four fingers had been bent down by her, while the middle finger stuck straight up.
"The f*ck you looking at?" Bai Xi shot a taunting glare at him. The aggressiveness and disdain on her small face was enough to make someone burst a lung.
Soon, she stopped looking at the pissed Glenn and looked down to continue pranking Ye Qingxuan. But for some reason, the drawing she had just finished quickly turned blurry from sweat. It looked extremely ugly and strange. Ye Qingxuan was covered in sweat within a few minutes.
Bai Xi furrowed her brows and wiped him with a tissue. Looking at Charles, she asked, "He's sweating again? Should we wake him?"
"Oh, he's probably just hot from the sun." Charles glanced at him and shot a frost ray at Ye Qingxuan's seat. When the sweat turned to frost and froze on his face, he nodded in satisfaction."Look, he should be cooler now."
-
Cooler? Ye Qingxuan was not just "cooler" now. He was practically frozen to the bone! Gusty wind blew over snowflakes the size of a thumb. They crashed against each other in the air and turned to powder. Landing in Ye Qingxuan's eyes. They melted and flowed out as tears, freezing on his face again.
He looked up, but all was dark. Endless wind and snow flew against his face. In the icy snow beneath him, his feet had turned numb. Every step in the snow was like stepping on nails.
One would only feel life burning like a fire at times like this. But in this icy world, the fire was like a candle in the wind, flickering and sputtering. Every breath made the flames disperse from the mouth and nose, turning into steam and dissipating.
Slowly, slowly, he froze in this endless blizzard.
Ye Qingxuan could practically hear the sounds of ice forming. It was the sound of his eyes freezing. He looked up, through the heavy snow, at the sky.
There was no light in this dark world, only endless blizzard. But there were clearly three suns in the sky. They burned exuberantly and radiated with dazzling light. But the light did not reach Ye Qingxuan and had nothing to do with him. They stood in the distance and gazed coldly at the world invaded by ice and snow.
"That is not your sun." A hoarse voice sounded in the whistling wind, like resentment that had paced in this blizzard for a millennium.
"Find...
"Find it...
"Find...the sun that belongs to you!"
Ye Qingxuan used the last of his strength to make a step. He felt his legs go out and the ground came into vision.
Thud. He fell into the snow and felt suffocation coming on, but before he suffocated, he turned into a frozen corpse.
He woke from the nightmare instantly and felt the warm firelight. The blizzard was outside the cave. The gentle firelight caressed him, waking him from the dream of freezing to death.
But there was no joy in his expression. He just stared at the dancing firelight before him. The nightmare had started again.
He climbed up with difficulty. It was time to leave.
-
The seemingly gentle firelight could only cause death. In a short while, the blizzard would grow and completely block his exit. The firelight would burn out too. In the end, he would be stuck in this cave and slowly freeze to death.
But now, Ye Qingxuan silently stared at the burning fire. After a long time, he gathered his courage and reached into the flames. He grasped something and pulled it out.
The flames trembled and dimmed instantly. Then it died out gradually, turning into a pile of ashes. A completely burned and disfigured corpse was in Ye Qingxuan's hands. Yanked out from the flames, one could vaguely make out its original appearance. The height, bone structure, and the unburned white hair.
"Is this my frozen corpse from the last round?" It dawned on Ye Qingxuan, but he was not happy at all."Burning my own corpse for warmth...has the nightmare gotten to this level?"
He took one last glance at the corpse and kicked it into the extinguished fire. Then he walked out the cave. The world was dark in the endless blizzard outside the cave.
"I saw three suns in the sky..." the hoarse voice sang in the sweeping wind."I stared at them long and hard, and they stared at me too, as if unwilling to leave me. The phantom sun, the phantom sun..."
Ye Qingxuan walked barefoot in the snowy plain, facing the frosty wind. Sometimes, he would look behind him. There was still warm light there, as if calling him back.
He suddenly grew afraid. Turning around, he began sprinting, getting further and further away from the fire. Gradually, the illusionary firelight disappeared in the blizzard. The endless wind and snow swallowed him. A lonely sound resounded amongst the wailing wind.
This feeling seemed familiar. It was as if it had solidified into something tangible and melted into the frost and snow. It bore through Ye Qingxuan from the outside in. His steps suddenly halted because a memory had appeared in his mind, but the memory was covered with dust.
"It was snowing like this that day too, right?" a voice murmured in his ears."You were this pathetic that day too, right?"
Ye Qingxuan was stunned. He did not dare to think back. He stepped forward, running forward in pain, as if fleeing for his life. He wanted to escape from here, escape to somewhere far—at least, get away from that d*mn voice.
But the voice followed closely. It followed his footprints like a shadow. It murmured gently, whispered hoarsely, asked angrily and roared furiously. In the end, the voice shook the wind and snow. The blizzard resonated with the icy voice.
It roared Ye Qingxuan's name. Its voice was like burning fire and like cracking firewood. It was like a call from the past, calling for him to return from the darkness. And so the dark world was suddenly illuminated with firelight.
Ye Qingxuan's steps stopped abruptly. He looked at the burning light. It was the glow from a dilapidated house on fire. The flames were so exuberant, as if it would never be extinguished. Within the flames, the wooden house collapsed, but a gentle call sounded from it.
"Shut up!" Ye Qingxuan gritted his teeth and lowered his head, not daring to look anymore, but the calls grew louder, as if wanting to rip him to shreds.
Within that icy frost and wind, the voice ruled over all. It shook the heavens and the earth. It called his name as if wanting to tear him apart.
The sky shook, the world quaked and the voice roared in his ears, "Ye Qingxuan!"
His eyes flew open with sweat rolling down his back. He practically jumped up from the seat. Now, he finally realized that Bai Xi was shaking his shoulder. It was already afternoon and she grasped Ye Qingxuan, shocking him from his nightmare.
"Cousin, wake up, wake up!"
"What happened?" He looked at the joyous atmosphere in confusion and sat back into his seat, panting heavily. He summoned clean water and frost. After wiping his sweat-covered face, he took a deep breath and looked at Bai Xi."I hope it's good news."
"You'll never guess what it is." Bai Xi revealed a strange smile. She picked up the disdainful Old Phil from the ground and shook it."We didn't get chosen again!"
| ← Ch. 203 | Ch. 205 → |