80 The Day of The Dark Night

Elsher Elrod banged on the door to Yeon's home.

"Yeon! Open the door!"

She knew that Yeon was awake since she could hear his singing from the garden, but no matter how much she knocked, no one answered.

She also knew that Yeon could hear her knocking from the garden. She was tempted to jump over the wall and move directly into her court, but she refused to act in such a discourteous way.

'Then it would be like he won! That bastard –'

"Yeon!"

She was already annoyed since she had wandered all over the sect looking for his house. It didn't help that she had understandably started looking in the regions near the Inner Court.

Despite Yeon's infamy, no one knew where he lived.

After arriving at the sect, Yeon had attended exactly 0 lectures and 0 training sessions.

She had walked around expecting to find his home rather quickly but had completely failed.

During her search, much to her surprise, she had found out that Mia and Emily lived separately from Yeon despite being lovers.

She approved of their distance in a setting where the focus should be on cultivation, and she had asked around for the girls' homes instead.

Today was the Day of The Dark Night and so all lectures and classes had been cancelled. Mia and Emily had not been in the training grounds nor the library so she concluded that they must be at home.

However, upon reaching there, she was greatly frustrated to realize that neither of them were.

After a desperate search nearby, she finally found Yeon's home. But the bastard was ignoring her.

Just before she lost her temper, Emily opened the weathered door.

"Senior Sister Elrod, what are you doing here?" she asked in genuine confusion.

She had heard her voice from the garden, but she couldn't believe that it was her. Elsher had supposedly prayed to the Heavens so that she wouldn't have to meet Yeon, yet here she was banging on his door.

Elsher read the doubt in Emily's face.

"It's not like I want to be here either. He's skipping all the lectures like some deviant, so I had no choice but to come find him myself," she grumbled.

"Couldn't you have asked someone to pass on your message?"

"No, I couldn't. Are you going to let me in or not, Disciple Emily?"

From the veins protruding on Elsher's forehead, Emily decided that it wasn't worth aggravating her any further and led her to the back where Mia and Sylvie were watching Yeon.

Elsher looked around the house and frowned.

"This is where the Laughing Tyrant lives?" she mumbled to herself in disbelief. The house was beyond humble, it was decrepit.

"He says it has a homely feel to it and that Sylvie hasn't complained."

"Who's Sylvie? Another lover of his?" Elsher asked mockingly.

"She's…." Emily was lost for words.

Sylvie was Yeon's slave, but their relationship was definitely much more than just master and servant.

They shared a vague yet intimate relationship that was difficult to judge.

The house was small, and they reached the garden before Emily could think of a suitable answer.

Yeon was sitting on a stump in the garden, singing to himself with his eyes closed.

Mia sat on the terrace, smiling dumbly while watching him.

Sylvie was also sitting on the terrace, but she kept a respectable distance from Mia. Her eyes were closed and her expression neutral as she focused on her master's voice.

Her complexion had noticeably improved, and she had put on some weight. She was still incredibly skinny, but it no longer looked as if she was half a step from death.

Elsher was momentarily mesmerized by Yeon's beautiful voice only to be rudely awakened by the sight of Sylvie.

Elsher physically recoiled and pushed down the urge to gag. She had been brought up in a wealthy and protected environment, so she had never seen someone with such disfigured skin.

"…The rumours of him doting on a jinx were true. How inauspicious," she scowled.

Yeon's singing which had been like an angel's choir abruptly came to a stop.

He opened his eyes and Elsher was struck by the intensity of his glare. It was like her very being was sucked into those empty pits that were devoid of emotion.

She took one step back as an eldritch killing intent washed over her for a fraction of a second.

Cold sweat lined her back, and she bit her lip to not faint from fear. During that short moment, it was as if she had been entirely consumed in a murky world of black like the insides of a demon.

She was reminded that he was nicknamed the Laughing Tyrant for his manic and chaotic nature. He was wholly unpredictable and had no fear of death during battle, the worst type of enemy.

"I apologize for having offended you, Disciple Yeon," she cupped her hands and decided to step down.

She could tell from the killing intent that Yeon had broken through to the Flesh Cleansing realm. She could no longer freely look down on him.

Reuben Fastilla had made the same mistake and nearly paid the price with his life. And that was when Yeon was a Bone Cleansing cultivator.

She wasn't sure if she could take Yeon on now that he was in the same realm as her. Moreover, she was here to deliver a message on behalf of her sister, not make an enemy of him.

Yeon ignored the apology and walked up to Sylvie.

"Ignore her, Sylvie. I don't believe that your scars reflect your soul in any way," he said in a gentle voice.

He pet Sylvie on top of her head and brought his hand down to her cheek. He made sure that it was his right hand so that he was holding her scarred side.

Elsher felt her insides physically recoil at the sight, but she kept quiet.

"And doing this doesn't give me bad karma." Yeon smiled at her.

Sylvie leaned into his hand and looked up at him. She relished that feeling of rubbing her cheek against his warm palm and met his tender gaze.

"Yes, Master."

"…" Elsher turned to check the expression of Yeon's supposed 'lovers'.

They had a weird half-smile as they watched Yeon's antics with both exasperation and warmth.

Elsher was bewildered that Yeon's lovers would allow such brazen intimacy with a jinx slave.

"Is…Is he always like that?" she asked Mia.

"He is," Mia pouted.

"We were really, really~ worried since Yeon hadn't contacted us after his breakthrough. We thought that maybe something went wrong, but it turns out that they were just sleeping together! For the entire day!" Mia complained with puffed-up cheeks.

Elsher's mouth opened in absolute disbelief as Mia's misunderstanding struck her straight in the gut, a verbal sucker punch that left her eyes shaking in confusion.

Elsher's imagination was running wild as the image of Yeon and Sylvie took on a rosy hue. She flinched as she felt a hand on her shoulder, waking her up from her delusions about the beauty and the beast.

"Sylvie was having a hard time sleeping, so when she finally fell asleep, Yeon watched over her so that she could rest properly," Emily explained.

Elsher slowly nodded her head taking in the new information.

"It's not whatever you thought it was…"

Elsher continued to nod her head in an exaggeratedly slow way.

"Ok?"

Elsher could only nod.

"And Mia…" Emily looked at Mia's innocent face, a face of a girl who had no idea what was going on, "Mia… just stop."

"Stop what?" she asked in a miffed way. She felt like Emily was looking down on her, and her thoughts were absolutely correct.

"Just stop… talking…?" Emily knew that she had made a mistake with her wording since Mia's cheeks ballooned up as soon as she finished talking.

While Emily was trying to calm Mia down, Yeon approached Elsher to greet her.

"Elsher, it's been a week since you said that we would never meet. Did you miss me?" Yeon teased with a confident smirk.

He whipped his hair behind his shoulder, letting the black and white strands open up like a peacock's tail.

"Disciple Yeon, that was disgusting." Elsher's face wrinkled at Yeon's extravagant behaviour.

The previous aggression was nowhere to be seen, and he acted so naturally that Elsher quipped back without considering her manners.

She didn't even bother correcting Yeon on her title. She knew that Yeon would never call her Disciple Elrod.

"What are you here for?"

"Elder Sister Yuula is asking to meet you in the Yellow Lily Pond Hall to see how much you have improved since your last meeting." Her tone was hard as she was passing on the message reluctantly.

"You can tell her that my harp has improved by leaps and bounds," Yeon chuckled.

Elsher frowned at his confidence. She had watched the process of learning the harp from her sister, and she knew that it was incredibly difficult.

"Elder Sister did not lend you her introductory manual for you to disappoint her. She even lent you one of her pedal harps…" Her eyes shot daggers at Yeon.

"Reject the invitation until your skills are at a suitable level and do not waste Elder Sister's time," she warned.

"But didn't you see me practising just now?" Yeon asked while pointing at the stump.

"Your singing?"

"That's just how I practise, good right?"

"Yes…" Elsher admitted. Yeon's singing was ethereal, it was assured in its tone and its captivating melody never wavered.

She wanted to refute him, but she wasn't the type to lie.

"But that has nothing to do with the harp," she said with crossed arms.

"It has everything to do with the harp. It's how I learnt all my instruments," Yeon said while pointing to his head.

"I only got to touch my first instrument 5 years after learning how to play it, and I became the best in the world," Yeon said smugly.

To Elsher, who knew that Yeon was not Continent's best musician by any means, looked at Yeon like one of those kids who spouted outlandish lies to impress their crushes.

Yeon could see that Elsher was having none of it, and he had expected this reaction. He decided to put on a show before the solar eclipse.

Yeon sat down on the stump and began singing again.

Mia and Emily quickly quietened down and sat down on their respective seats. Sylvie had ignored all the drama and had remained seated throughout the conversation.

Yeon's silvery voice began to ring throughout the garden.

His eyes were closed just like last time, except this time his hands were in the air.

His voice never shook, like a towering tree, his tone never faltered and stood strong regardless of the surrounding winds.

The melody cut through the air like an arrow, lodging itself in the listener's hearts to make them bleed with foreign emotions dictated through his siren song.

For the first time, Elsher's emotions and Yeon's were one and the same as they lived vicariously through his music.

Yeon's fingers seemed to grasp the air in front of him, moving in and out to follow the rising waves of his music.

His feet that had been stationary, began to move around as if he were stepping on invisible rocks.

Elsher was mesmerized by his display of puppetry. She recognized those movements since she had watched her sister for hours on end.

'He's playing the harp!'

But she kept her words to herself, afraid to interrupt his piece.

Yeon opened one of his eyes to playfully look at Elsher.

Elsher's eyes that had been soft, drugged by his voice, regained their clarity as she noticed Yeon's smug stare.

Yeon motioned with his neck, his face seemed to be saying 'if that's impressive, then watch this.'

He then summoned his harp while he was singing and their melodies exchanged places like two ballroom dancers switching partners.

Elsher watched in awe as Yeon continued to express himself through the instrument rather than his voice.

Just as the melody reached its peak, the tipping point of the song, he stopped.

"What!? Why!?" Elsher exclaimed involuntarily.

The others seemed equally disappointed, but they didn't complain as they had already heard the last segment before Elsher's arrival.

"This is as far as the demo goes. Please purchase this piece if you would like to listen to the rest," Yeon said in a calm and steady voice reminiscent of those found in adverts:

"By the way, the price is at an all-time low of 3 contributions points!"

"Shameless! Shameless! Who charges 3 contribution points for a single song?"

"I told you, I'm world class. It's a cheap price, really. My stocks will only rise from now, and you'll become the girl who rejected Yeon's music at 3 measly contribution points."

Yeon put on a disappointed expression.

"So meagre and cheap coming from the Young Mistress of the Elrod clan."

"You-" Elsher exclaimed angrily.

But Yeon pointed up at the sky before she could finish.

"It's nearly time for the Day of The Dark Night. We should admire it while we can."

That was the real reason he had stopped playing. His previous piece had been timed so that he could finish before the solar eclipse, but he had been interrupted and the ending had been delayed.

Elsher begrudgingly backed down. She felt like she had been toyed with the entire day by Yeon.

Yeon sat beside Sylvie and the girls on the terrace while waiting for the eclipse to begin, and they chatted about trivial things.

"They say that the Day of the Dark Night occurs when the greedy Celestial Dragon, Aago, attempts to steal and swallow the Sun," Elsher explained. She was the most well-read individual and knew the most about ancient mythology.

Yeon had a wry smile as he knew the scientific explanation for eclipses.

"Why would you want to eat the Sun?" Mia asked.

"Probably because the Sun is the provider for all. It is the ultimate source of life, time and fate. If Aago succeeded, he could control everything…" Emily guessed. She turned to check with Elsher like a diligent student seeking approval from her teacher.

Elsher nodded in agreement.

"It is said that the Celestial Dragon is powerful but foolish. Aago succeeds in swallowing the Sun for a short moment, but he is overwhelmed by its power that it must spit it back out. He retreats for 10 years, waiting for his injuries to heal before attempting the feat again."

"Wow…" Mia said in a daze.

Their conversation continued until the eclipse began.

"Aago is swallowing the Sun," Mia mumbled.

"What if Aago succeeds in swallowing the Sun," Yeon asked curiously. He knew that it was impossible, so he felt no threat from the idea.

The other girls were not as relaxed at the concept.

"Then, we will all live as slaves to Aago as the Celestial Dragon rises up to become an all-powerful existence," Elsher replied with her brows furrowed.

There were countless ceremonies that were occurring around the Continent as they prayed to the Sun to help it fight off Aago.

Some wore bright jewelry and lit up lights, while others performed ritualistic sacrifices and dances.

Even now, there were no lectures as the Elders were doing their ceremonial duties to help the Sun fend off Aago.

As the eclipse reached its peak, and the entirety of the Sun became covered, the world was plunged into darkness.

However, not all light was lost.

Off in the distance, Yeon could see something shining ominously.

"Can no one else see that?" Yeon asked.

"No?"

"What's wrong, Yeon?"

Yeon squinted his eyes at the source of light.

'It's Raven…'

The bird's right eye was shining red, and Yeon was the only one who could see it.

Feeling uncomfortable at the revelation, Yeon stood up to capture the bird when a piercing pain assaulted his head.

He had remained silent even as his body was cut countless times against Reuben Fastilla, but he could keep his composure.

It was like someone was using his brain as playdough, squashing it until it ripped through the gaps between the fingers.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH-"

Sylvie was the first to react as she lept up to help Yeon, but his body crumbled in her arms as he fainted.