Volume 6, Heaven or Hell, Seventh Level: Cross, Upright and Inverted (1/2)

Volume 6, Heaven or Hell, Seventh Level: Cross, Upright and Inverted

Translator: Michimochi (proofread by Trespasserby & elisa; C/E edited by lucathia)

“Who’s done dealing with the robbers on their end? The robbers I’m chasing have divided into two groups: one group seized An Xiang Ye hostage, and the other kidnapped a small boy. I’ll go save the kid first. Whoever is free, go and rescue An Xiang Ye. I’ve already uploaded the robbers’ approximate escape route to your cell phones.”

What? Wait a sec! I’ll go save the boy. You go rescue An Xiang Ye! You have to rescue him without fail. If anything happens to An Xiang Ye, it’ll definitely cause an uproar…

Click!

… He actually hung up on me!

First Wind promptly said, “Solitary Butterfly, calm down a bit. Dark Sun was communicating with all the heroes. He just stopped talking! He didn’t hang up on you!”

He did hang up on me because I was the only one who responded!

“Jeez, you are usually a cool-headed person. Why have you been so easily agitated recently, especially when it comes to Dark Sun… Ah, is it your period?”

Most certainly not!

“Oh, right. I remember now. Your period is at the end of the month, so at the end of every month you always ask me to help you watch over the northern district.”

Good, you remembered! My anger and period are not related whatsoever!

“Can you two remember that I’m still on the line?” Dragon Peace helplessly said, “Or is it that in the future, at the end of every month, you also need my help to watch over the northern district?”

Cra-Crap! I totally forgot that Dragon Peace is still here….

“Ohh! Your help would be so awesome! From now on, at the end of every month, I won’t ever be overworked…”

FIRST WIND! Shut up already!

Melody and I hastily followed Aren to the hospital room. On the way, I could not help asking first, “What happened exactly?”

“I don’t know.” Aren shook his head and said, “Not long after administering the painkillers, Ah Ye kept howling in pain and then wanted you to come.”

Hearing this, I simply used x-speed a few times. As I darted in front of the hospital room, painful cries could be heard even without opening the door.

It hurts, ow… Charles! Charles, where are you?!

I immediately swung open the door and cried, “Young Master, I am here!”

The young master whipped his head to look over. I almost jumped out of my skin because his face was a mess from crying! It was not as if the young master had never cried before, but he had never cried with so little restraint!

“Charles! Charles! It hurts!” The young master wailed, “My feet hurt! It really hurts…”

I immediately slid by the bed. The young master grabbed my arm. He squeezed it so hard that it hurt. This was also an unprecedented situation because even if the young master was seriously injured and needed someone to support him, he would support the majority of his own weight, unless he really was completely unable to do so.

Today, the young master actually used this much force in grabbing me. Does this mean it really hurts so much that he cannot stand it?

I turned my head to look at the others. The young master was not the only one in the room. There was also Mr. An Te Qi, Bramble, May, and Dell—even Melody and Aren had come. It was just that only now did I have time to notice them. Besides Mr. An Te Qi’s usual composed expression, the others were either dumbfounded or had a full on flustered expression.

But since Mr. An Te Qi has that kind of composed expression, the young master’s surgery should have been successful, yes?

I hesitated for a bit. The sound of the young master’s weeping intermittently drifted over. Although he no longer bawled loudly, the tears and whimpers had not stopped. He sniffled just like a child.

I picked up the cross on my chest and said, “Young Master, Father Yue came by earlier to ask about your well-being. He even gave me a very unique gift. Look!”

The young master looked up at me. He had cried so much that his eyes were red. Crying like this, his eyes will definitely be puffy tomorrow. If there is time later, I must help the young master ice his eyes for a bit.

I smiled and asked, “Young Master, look. Does this cross necklace suit me?”

With tears still in his eyes, the young master chuckled, nodded his head, and said, “It suits you!”

“It is even made of pure silver!” I stated while smiling. Once I finished, the young master chuckled again.

I continued, “Father Yue even told me that this cross was from a vampire. Next time, shall we ask him about the cross’s story?”

After hearing this, the young master’s eyes sparkled. He nodded and said, “O.K.!”

“There is also this.” I pulled out the small bible that had the cover with the engraved cross and turned it toward the young master. At this moment, I really could not thank Father Yue enough and said, “This bible was also given to me by Father Yue. Would you like me to read its stories for you?”

The young master nodded and said, “O.K.” When he finished speaking, his face suddenly twisted a bit, as if from a flash of pain.

I hastily said, “Young Master, which piece would you like to listen… Huh?”

Once I opened the bible, I discovered that the text was upside-down. But just now the cover was indeed… I flipped the book over to look. When the text was right-side-up, the cross actually became upside-down.

What is with this bible? No, is this even a bible?

The young master urged, “Charles, hurry and read me a story.”

“Al-All right.” I opened to the first page of the bible. Only then did I realize that the text within was not printed at all but handwritten. The script was written quite elegantly. However, it seemed to use very archaic language. Even the text was in calligraphy. Nowadays, I am afraid there is simply no one who would write in such a hand. Fortunately, I have read quite a few archaic works and I could still recognize the words.

I started reading out loud. “As the result of many years of research, the existence of another civilization before ours can be confirmed. Henceforth, I shall call it the Ancient Civilization. Modern-day human beings, at most, can be considered the survivors. As to why the ancient civilization perished, there is currently insufficient evidence to draw any conclusions. Therefore, it will be omitted from this discussion.”

This content seems to be completely unrelated to the Bible?

“Evidence shows the Ancient Civilization was more advanced than the current one… ‘Advanced,’ I am afraid, is not exactly correct as the direction of their development was not the same. Compared to our mechanical civilization, they seemed to be experts on the modification of biological forms. I do not completely understand what their so-called ‘modifications’ entailed and only have a rough understanding. They seemed to extract their own flesh to conduct all sorts of experiments, which created multitudes of human-like but also non-human-like organisms. These organisms each had their own characteristics. Among them, many of these beings can now be found in the midst of local legends, such as vampires…”

“Vampires?” The young master revealed a curious expression and said, “Hurry, continue reading!”

“Yes.” I continued, “Amongst them, there was a race called the night race. They are among the many races created by the Ancient Civilization. Many of their features are very close to what is described in local legends on vampires. Their race is labeled as the failed product that came closest to perfection. The night race is clearly mighty. They possess immortal life, but it is accompanied with almost no reproductive capabilities as well as an inability to be exposed to sunlight, or they risk being reduced to a pile of ash…”

Is reading this kind of story really all right?

As I read out loud, I grew more and more uneasy. I felt like I was onto some enormous secret. If what was written was indeed true, then this really was a colossal secret.

I looked up at the others, but they looked back at me with touched expressions. This made me feel confused. Is this kind of story emotionally touching? Shouldn’t astonished and dismissive expressions be more suitable?

At this moment, Melody walked to the hospital bed. I followed her with my eyes and realized that the young master had fallen asleep. She pulled up the bed sheet to tuck the young master in.

Upon seeing this, I closed the book in my hands, stood up, and then said to Mr. An Te Qi, “Please come with me for a bit.”

The two of us left the room together. I thought for a bit, then walked to a corner farther away from the hospital room.

“Why did he only cry in pain after using the painkillers?”

I turned around and seized Mr. An Te Qi by the collar. I am not going to give him a chance to sweep this under the carpet! I growled, “The young master looked very much in pain. Did the surgery go wrong? Or was it that the painkillers are completely useless?”

Mr. An Te Qi pushed up his spectacles, abnormally calm, and said, “Don’t worry. The analgesics work, of course. It just can’t be helped that the analgesics can’t completely erase the pain. That earlier situation was due to giving a massive amount of analgesic shots, resulting in Ah Ye’s current muddled state of mind. He is unable to use his willpower to force himself not to cry out from the pain. Therefore, he will only keep crying out.”

I was stunned, then I continued my interrogation, “Why did you use a massive amount of painkillers?”

“Because a small amount is the same as none!” An Te Qi said in a helpless tone, “Ah Ye’s physique is different from the average person’s. The dose that an average person uses simply doesn’t work on him. He must use a massive amount of analgesics in order to have any effect. As a result, he was previously very reluctant to use them.”

An Te Qi sighed and said, “In fact, letting him holler in pain is better than letting him desperately endure it. It’s much better than chatting with you with a smile, right? There’s a big difference in the level of pain when he doesn’t use painkillers. Now, you understand how much Ah Ye usually endures, right?”

So it was like that. I nodded in comprehension. With this nod, I realized I was gripping Mr. An Te Qi’s collar! I hastily let go and apologized, “I am truly very sorry!”

“It’s all right.” An Te Qi shrugged and said, “Anyway, I’m already used to it. Somehow, the people who care about Ah Ye have always been particularly violent. You’re already the least violent among them. It’s just grabbing my collar. If it were Ri Xiang Yan listening to Ah Ye’s heart-rending cries of pain, he would probably shoot my thigh without any hesitation. Anyway…”

Pushing up the spectacles at bridge of his nose, he said, “‘Without legs, you can still help perform surgeries on Ah Ye,’ is how Ri Xiang Yan always threatens me.”

“… I am really terribly sorry!”

“Sorry for what? You’re not the one firing the shot!” Mr. An Te Qi sighed, “His trigger-happy brother is definitely the biggest reason Ah Ye ended up so good at bearing with it… By the way, you did very well at diverting Ah Ye’s attention. For the next two days, don’t go to class. Keep Ah Ye company!”

“Yes.” I nodded immediately because this was what I had planned to do in the first place. With the young master in this kind of situation, how could I leave for class? Even if I did go to class, I am afraid that my mind would be elsewhere.

At this moment, the door of the hospital room opened. The one who walked out was Melody. Without waiting for her to walk over, I could not help but ask, “Did something happen to the young master?”

“Nothing happened. He’s sleeping soundly!” Melody replied as she walked up in front of us. Then, she glanced at the cross on my chest and said, “You’re probably the world’s first vampire who’d wear a cross of pure silver.”

“I think so,” I agreed on this point.

“But, well done! Keep wearing it!” Melody picked up the cross, fiddled with it, then somewhat casually said, “If any non-humans dare to laugh at you for wearing the cross, I’ll have him skewered on the Church’s cross! Hmph!”

I smiled and said, “All right.”

“The science fiction you were reading was awful. Next time, can you switch to a different book, please? The young master should like fairy tales better, right?”

Science fiction? True. To be honest, that is also a possibility!

In the beginning, I had seen the engraved cross on the book cover, and given the fact that it was Father Yue who had personally handed the book to me, I jumped to the conclusion that it was a bible. However, this could actually just be a handwritten novel.

After Melody enlightened me, I smiled and nodded. “Next time, I will read a story about heroes for the young master.”

“That’s a good idea, too.”

The next morning, after the young master regained consciousness, he was no longer willing to use any painkillers, and he even burrowed completely under the sheets. Afterwards, he said with a muffled voice, “You can all leave! Go, go do your own things. Aren, go to Luo Chu-gē’s studio! Didn’t you say that you’re embarrassed to be getting a salary? Get out, just get out!”

Actually, no one had much to do. The young master was not modeling or being a hero, so Mr. Bramble and the others did not have to watch the monitors, although monitoring could still help the police and the other heroes. However, they were the young master’s employees in the end. Helping the police and the other heroes was just done in passing and was not their main job.

Melody was pretty much in the same position. Currently, she simply could not do her work as a manager. After all, to the outside world, the young master needed to recuperate from serious injuries. If his manager continued to arrange work, it was likely that the outside world would comment that the manager was cold-blooded and ruthless.

“Yes, Young Master!” Mr. Bramble and the other two all had dark faces, but they had to comply with the order. They could only turn around to leave.

“Bramble-shū.”

Mr. Bramble had walked to the door when he suddenly heard the young master calling. “Yes, Young Master. What’s the matter?”

“Don’t call Briar over. Even if she wants to come, definitely do not let her come over!”

Hearing this, Mr. Bramble’s expression became even gloomier, but he still replied, “Understood!”

He pushed open the door and left. Dell and May followed and left even though their faces showed some reluctance. Dell simply left walking backwards, and even May frequently glanced back.

Other than the young master, Aren, Melody, and I were left in the room.

Aren doubtfully countered, “Luo Chu-gē gave me a break, so I’m currently on vacation. I just want to stay here…”

Ring ring…

Aren picked up his phone. The more he listened, the more helpless his expression became. At last, with no other alternative, he said, “There are a lot of robbery cases in the southern district. I have to leave.”

In the end, Aren turned his head and looked at me. I nodded at him. With this, he no longer looked as worried. He then left immediately.

“Melody, Charles, I’m fine by myself.” The young master still had not poked his head out from the sheets, but he knew that we had not left.

“Okay, okay. It just so happens that the department store has been celebrating its anniversary recently. I want to buy many, many clothes!” Melody took a flyer out of her purse and said, “Young Master, how about I buy you something too while I’m there? Look! These things are excellent!”

Hearing this, the young master could not help but poke half of his face out. Melody immediately held the flyer before his eyes and asked, “Young Master, which one do you like?”

It was a flyer with different models on it. There were human models. There were also mechanical ones, such as motorcycles and sports cars and the like.

“Awesome!” The young master exclaimed, exposing his whole face. He took the flyer and looked at it, captivated.

“Great, right?” Melody chuckled. “I just knew you would like it! Look at this model of a motorcycle. Cool, right? How about modifying DSII this way?”

The young master smiled and said, “This model is so exaggerated. Modifying this way would be too eye-catching. I probably can’t take that out, but letting Dark Sun ride it would be pretty nice.”

Indeed, the motorcycle on the flyer was slightly fantastical. It was even more exaggerated than the motorcycle at home that Dark Sun used. If one really did ride that out, people would probably think that a science fiction movie was being filmed.

“Young Master, check these out first. I’ll go and bring even more flyers back for you to look at later today. You can make your decision then! Right now, there’s an anniversary promotion: spend five thousand yuan, get a five hundred yuan gift certificate. It’s a really good deal!”

As she was talking, she took out a huge stack of flyers from her purse. They were all flyers on models, which amazed me. I believed that Melody was definitely not interested in collecting flyers of models. She had likely gathered these last minute in the middle of the night. It really must not have been easy gathering this many flyers.

“O.K.” The young master took the stack of flyers and eagerly flipped through them.

At this moment, Melody turned to look at me. Although she did not say anything, I still completely understood the look in her eyes… A warning. Once she left, just the young master and I would be left in the room. If I dared to leave, I would probably be pierced by painted nails the moment I walked out the door.

Melody left the hospital room. At that moment, the young master raised his head to look at me. With a stiff expression, he said, “Charles, you…”

Without waiting for the young master to finish, I immediately smiled. “Young Master, I am your butler. Is it not my business to serve you?”

The young master hesitated for a moment and said, “But…”

“Young Master.” I lowered my eyes and pleaded, “Please do not make me leave when you really are in need of care. I will feel that I am of no use at all. You would simply not need to spend that much money to hire me, so I am resig…”

The young master’s eyes widened. In a low voice, he declared, “Of course you’re useful. If you want to stay, then just stay! I don’t want to hear that word!”

“So, I am ‘resigned’ to feeling a little heartbroken. My sentence did not just consist of that word.” I smiled as I said, “Thank you, Young Master. Then, I shall stay behind and be useful as a butler.”

The young master was stunned for a while. He said, distressed, “Charles, you seem to be more and more…”

More and more what?

Aggrieved, he said, “I don’t know how to describe it.”

“Is it a bad thing?” I was a little worried.