Chapter 170: My Name is Huang, as in Desolation

Li Ye was far faster than the swarm of bats. Even while playing “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix” with both hands, he could still lead the swarm on a merry chase across the Ruins, as if he were flying a kite.

As it turned out, “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix” affected all species of birds.

To be more precise, it affected all winged creatures, since bats were mammals.

Wherever Li Ye passed, sparrows and crows all joined in, mixing with the swarm of bats to chase after him in a rather spectacular sight.

The first movement of “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix” was “The Phoenix’s Demise,” which should have depicted a hundred birds mourning the fall of the Phoenix.

But in this bizarre place, the birds chasing Li Ye were so frantic they looked like they wanted to devour the Phoenix’s flesh and blood before it could even draw its last breath.

The second movement was “Phoenix Nirvana,” symbolizing the Phoenix’s rebirth.

But the flock of birds behind him only grew more excited, as if the reborn flesh was even more tender, and they chased him with even greater fervor.

The third movement was “The Phoenix’s Ascension,” with a hundred birds paying homage. Yet, when Li Ye played it, the flock didn’t seem to be paying homage at all. It was more like they were using the pretense of “defending the crown” to assassinate him, the monarch…

Well, just great!

‘There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes,’ he thought.

‘So the meaning of a song depends entirely on what kind of audience is listening, is that it!’

…

At first, Li Ye had played “Horse Race,” which had agitated everyone’s emotions and even made the bats attack faster, each one scrambling to be first.

His second piece was “Moon Reflected in Erquan.” Its sorrowful melody had brought the bats to tears and caused the besieged group to lose their will to fight…

“Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix” had only lured away the birds; the beasts and humans were unaffected.

‘So, different songs produce different effects…’

Li Ye analyzed the situation internally. But if the Erhu only had these mundane effects, it seemed a little lacking. The Pipa of the King of Chiguo had four strings representing the four phases—earth, fire, water, and wind. Once strummed, wind and fire would arrive in unison.

‘How are those kinds of skills produced?’

‘However, the Pipa has four strings, while the Erhu only has two. Even if it came with any Divine Abilities, it would probably be related to Yin Yang Qi, right?’

Li Ye played “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix” for over seven minutes, completely luring the swarm of bats away from the group of people.

Then, he put away the Erhu, slipped into the fog in a few quick steps, and shook off the flock of birds chasing him.

The creatures in the Ruins were hostile toward one another. Once freed from the control of “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix,” the various birds lost Li Ye as their target and immediately started fighting amongst themselves, forgetting all about him in an instant.

…

There was no sense of direction in the fog, but Li Ye never made a mistake retracing a path he had already walked.

Soon, he found the group that had been besieged by bats earlier.

He hadn’t gotten a good look at them before when they were surrounded by the swarm. Now that he was closer, Li Ye could see that it was a five-person team: three men and two women. Some carried swords, others carried guns…

They were all around the same age, in their early twenties.

All of them wore outfits resembling protective suits and transparent helmets, completely covered from head to toe. Not a single strand of hair was exposed.

When they saw Li Ye, the looks of gratitude on their faces instantly turned to shock.

“You… you’re alone?” The person who had shouted to Li Ye earlier swallowed hard and instinctively tightened his grip on his sword hilt.

“Why aren’t you wearing a protective suit?” a delicate-featured woman beside him asked in surprise.

“Rong, Sev… Seventh-Rank experts don’t need to wear protective suits,” a baby-faced boy stammered, staring at Li Ye.

…

‘Protective suit?’

‘Seventh-Rank expert?’

Looking at the attire of the people before him, Li Ye extracted the useful information from their words and asked, “Who are you?”

“Senior, we’re students from Red Cloud Academy undergoing our graduation trial.” The leader, perhaps realizing that gripping his sword hilt might provoke Li Ye, let go and bowed respectfully. “I am He Xu. Thank you for saving our lives, Senior. I spoke rudely before. Please forgive me…”

“What is Red Cloud Academy?” Li Ye interrupted him to ask.

“…” He Xu froze for a moment before replying with a puzzled expression, “Red Cloud Academy is in West River City. It’s one of the Federation’s ten key universities, responsible for funneling talent directly to the military.”

“How far is West River City from Wanxiang City?” Li Ye frowned and asked again.

“Wanxiang City?” He Xu was stunned again. He turned to the person next to him. “Rongrong, your geography is good. Have you ever heard of a place called Wanxiang City?”

The girl named Rongrong shook her head. “No.”

“…” Li Ye was taken aback. He frowned and asked, “Think again. Are you sure you’ve never heard of it?”

The group exchanged bewildered glances.

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“Me neither.”

…

“Senior, is it possible you’ve misremembered?” He Xu asked cautiously.

“Impossible. That’s what my Master told me. He said that if I ever gained the ability to leave the Ruins, I should go to Wanxiang City to find him.” Li Ye presented the Erhu in his hand. “This is the token he gave me.”

‘Leave the Ruins?’

He Xu and the others’ pupils contracted. It was as if they had heard something unbelievable.

“Senior, may I be so bold as to ask your Master’s name?” He Xu suppressed his nervousness and asked, trying to sound calm. “Perhaps we can help you find him.”

“He never told me his name, but I know what he looks like. He has a black mustache, a square face, and likes to wear all black. He’s about as tall as me.” Li Ye thought for a moment, then crouched down and drew a very abstract face in the dirt. “He looks something like this. Oh, right. He said he’s in his fifties.”

All five of them gathered around, leaning over to look at the face Li Ye had drawn on the ground, and began to speculate amongst themselves.

“Who is this?”

“He kind of looks like someone from the Dugu Clan. The people in their family all have square faces.”

“Lots of people have square faces. Are they all from the Dugu Clan? The Bow Saint, Bai Xuan, has a square face too!”

“Bai Xuan is only in his thirties. Didn’t you hear the Senior say the person he’s looking for is in his fifties?”

“Someone who can freely enter and exit the Ruins must be at least a Ninth-Rank master. Think about it. Which Ninth-Rank master has a square face and is in his fifties?”

“There are several with square faces, but I don’t think any of them are in their fifties…”

“Maybe it’s just someone we don’t know about. The Federation has plenty of hidden Ninth-Rank masters.”

…

“So you don’t know either?” Li Ye listened to their discussion and frowned again. “Take me to the Federation. I’ll look for him myself…”

“Senior, are you really from inside the Ruins?” He Xu asked, standing up.

“Yes. Besides my Master, you’re the first living people I’ve ever met,” Li Ye said.

“From the deep Ruins?” the girl named Rongrong asked excitedly.

“I suppose so,” Li Ye said after a moment of silence. “The place where I live is full of monsters. Besides my Master, there was no one else. I’ve lived there for as long as I can remember. Master taught me how to read and how to play music. He told me that if he didn’t come back for me one day, and if I could break the restrictions of the Ruins, I could go to Wanxiang City to find him…”

“No way, for real?”

“Can people really survive in the deep Ruins?”

“Senior, you’ve lived in the Ruins since you were a child?”

…

Excitement gleamed in everyone’s eyes. Their curiosity overcame their awe of Li Ye, and they all started asking questions at once.

Of course, this also had to do with Li Ye’s appearance. The peak of the Harmonization Realm had frozen his looks, and his Divine Power had further refined his aura.

It made him look like he could be eighteen, or maybe in his early twenties.

Li Ye glanced around at them, his eyes perfectly conveying a mix of confusion and vigilance.

Faced with their sudden burst of enthusiasm, he took a step back as if to leave, but then, as if a thought occurred to him, he stopped. “He Xu, can you tell me about your world? My… my Master might not have been very clear…”

Innocence, bewilderment, a natural wariness and fear of the outside world, mixed with a dash of curiosity…

While Li Ye was observing He Xu and the others, He Xu was also observing him.

Taking in Li Ye’s entire performance, his heart began to beat a little faster.

‘It’s confirmed.’

‘He really is from the deep Ruins.’

‘I’ve hit the jackpot!’

“Senior, may we ask your name?” He Xu softened his expression as much as possible, afraid of scaring away this boy who had never had contact with the outside world.

“Huang. My name is Huang,” Li Ye said, glancing at him.

“Huang? What kind of name is that? Don’t you have a family name?” Rongrong asked, puzzled.

Li Ye looked at her and said seriously, “My Master has called me Huang since I was little. He said I was born in a desolate land, so my name should be Huang.”

“…” Rongrong fell silent for a moment. Looking at the lonely, stubborn boy before her, her eyes suddenly reddened.

“Senior, you’re about our age. Can I call you Huang?” He Xu asked tentatively, looking at Li Ye.

‘So you’re just going to forget that I saved your life? What’s next, are you going to try and PUA me?’

Li Ye scoffed internally but nodded, continuing to play the part of the simple boy from the Ruins. “You can. My Master also calls me Huang.”

This world suppressed ninety percent of his Spiritual Power and Divine Power. Moreover, four streams of Demon Qi had found their way here. Acting as high-profile as he had in the last world was simply not an option.

“Huang, the outside world might be a little different from what you imagine,” He Xu continued, looking at Li Ye. “In the Federation, you need identification. Without it, you can’t get anywhere. You can’t even enter a city.”

“What’s identification?” Li Ye frowned and asked.

“It’s this.” He Xu pulled a tag from his pocket. “It records all of our information, from birth until now. With this, we can freely move about the Federation, get married, have children, go shopping… Without identification, you’re a non-person. It’s a good thing you ran into us. Otherwise, if you tried to force your way into a city, you’d most likely be captured by Federation soldiers and studied. After all, you’re from the deep Ruins. Your value to the Federation is immense…”

“Studied?” Li Ye looked at He Xu in confusion. “What does ‘studied’ mean?”

“They might draw your blood, inject all sorts of drugs into you to see how your body reacts, and interrogate you about what’s in the deep Ruins. They would very likely torture you…” He Xu looked at Li Ye with a grave expression. “In short, once they capture you, you’ll never get out.”