Chapter 2  : Lighthouse

Late at night, the sound of the crashing waves came from afar.

The town was silent, as if it had fallen asleep. Everything was quiet. The stars and the moon hung in the sky above.

In the dark, only the lighthouse on the coastline outside the town still had light coming from it.

Since the town had been established, the lighthouse had always been standing on the coastline. The church had built it with ancient technology, and it helped direct the ships that came past the reef area.

For centuries, a fire had always burned at the top of the lighthouse.

The fire burned on aether’s powers, releasing a blindingly harsh light.

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Hundreds of mirrors were placed in complex frames, forming complicated arrays, enveloping the fire.

The light, shining through a well-designed refraction angle, created a complex trajectory, its brightness increasing tenfold, shining in all directions.

This self-reliant structure was almost semi-permanent, and did not require any manual management as long as there were proficient mechanics carrying out monthly system maintenance tests to prevent possible failures.

However, it was not the priest in black that came today, but two teenagers…and a dog.

–

The only words that could be used to describe the dirty, golden-haired dog were ugly, ugly, and really ugly. It had laid on the ground ever since it got here, looking disinterested with everything it saw, and had already fallen asleep.

When a mosquito landed on its nose, it sneezed. While sneezing, its lips turned outwards as if it was grinning, revealing a row of uneven canine teeth.

Beside it, a teenager with fair blond hair leaned back against the wall, focused on shredding chicken meat with his bare hands. The chicken was savagely torn piece by piece, stuffed into his mouth, then carefully chewed.

He ate in a slow and serious manner, making people think that he was not hungry and just wanted to spend time eating.

He was handsome, but when he laughed his looks gave others the impression that he was a bad person. Those green eyes seemed to look at people as if he were a beast, looking for the best spot to take a bite out of.

By his side, the liquor bottle was half empty. He had finished all of that by himself.

“Yezi, you already know, right?” He whispered, “The opportunity to study in the Sacred City has been taken by the third son of the Thomas family.”

“I know,” an indifferent voice replied from the array of light.

“He also said a lot of ugly words,” Victor said.

“I know.”

A hand came out of the dazzling light. On the index finger was a ring made of iron wires that commanded everyone’s attention. But his voice was still indifferent, without any emotion.

“Victor, give me the eighth wrench,” said the voice.

“Are you really listening to me?” Victor asked. His eyes stung from the light, his pupils constricting, “You waited so many years to go into the Sacred City to study. All of your hard work got you here. Are you really going to watch the opportunity fall into the hands of a piece of trash that only knows how to flip maids’ skirts?”

The dog awakened. It looked up and barked, as if it was also contemptuous and could no longer stand it.

“I said hand the eighth wrench to me,” the voice insisted.

The hand in the array shook gently, reminding Victor not to keep him waiting for long.

Victor picked up the wrench from the toolbox and placed it in his hand. He started to withdraw his arm, but Victor grabbed him by the wrist, keeping him from pulling away.

The hand paused in the air.

Victor stared at the glare of the mirror frame and the array, as if he wanted to see the look on the face of the teen in front of him. He was slightly drunk, so his eyes looked angry–not at himself, but for this quiet friend of his.

“Did you hear today?” Victor whispered, “He said that you were an Eastern bastard.”

“I heard.”

“He said that kids from the streets should go back to brothels to find their mothers.”

“I heard.”

“So? Do you want to pretend that nothing happened?” Victor demanded.

Victor’s hand clenched the wrench so hard that you could see his veins popping out.

He looked at the mirror array and saw the blurred reflections inside, but the images were motionless and silent. Silence–that was all there was.

“Ye Qingxuan, if someone insulted my parents, I swear there would be a whole hell of poisonous snakes poured into his room; if someone insulted my friend, the same would happen.” Victor continued coldly, “I know that you don’t want any trouble for the priest, but sometimes, if you retreat, you will be seen as weak. You will be insulted! You’ve done so much for this town, and what have you gotten in return?

“They don’t care for you at all!” Victor exclaimed. “For so many years, they have never been grateful for what you have done, and they take everything for granted! Even if you continue to repair the lighthouse for ten more years, create tens of thousands of copies of posters, or reduce their oppression as much as possible, nothing will ever change.”

“I never expected anyone to appreciate me.”

“And no one will appreciate you! Do you know why? Because in their eyes, letting an unknown wandering beggar stay here is the greatest gift of all in this noble land!”

“Enough, Victor,” the other youth’s voice came from the array. The light was too harsh for people to see his face.

“No it’s not enough! Do you remember what Thomas said?” Victor yelled. Victor’s eyes were sharp as daggers. “He said that the opportunity was what he deserved! It will never fall on an eastern b*stard’s head because they have stolen enough from us! In the five years you were here, he took you as a thorn in his side. You spared him again and again, but how did he treat you in return? Are you really going to let it go?”

There was more silence in the array.

After a long time, the array opened and the long floor mirror was pushed open.

A teenager walked out of the light.

–

As the array closed, the gleaming light dissipated, showing the young teen’s figure.

His wore thick sunglasses–a necessary tool when working in the array, or else the heated light would blind his eyes. However, the most eye-catching feature was not his sunglasses, but his hair.

It was a pure white, like flowing mercury. The long white hair shone in the light, blending into it.

White hair was unique to the Eastern people. It was his most noticeable feature, but also his greatest sin–it was proof that he was a mix. Everyone would know what his white hair meant. He was a half-breed who would always be seen as an anomaly in both the East and the West.

This identity was more irritating than beggars on the street.

Ever since he had come here, the criticism and attack on him had never stopped.

After the priest adopted him and appointed him to become a scribe of the church library, Thomas, who had originally learned to copy in the church, watched him even more viciously.

In order to get rid of him, Thomas even hid the Holy Bible in his room, and falsely accused him of stealing books.

If Ye Qingxuan had not been able to recite the Holy Bible on the spot, proving that he had no need to steal it, he would have been cast out of town long ago, never to find shelter again.

“Victor, don’t try to push me towards revenge. You know that doesn’t work on me.” Ye Qingxuan was not enraged, and he did not argue. He just picked up the wrench and returned to the array. Then, sounds were the only things that came from the inside.

Ye continued, “Anyone can say bad words, but winning with words is of no use to me. So what if I won the argument? Thomas paid for that opportunity, and it will never be mine. I’d rather save my effort.”

Victor snorted. “Saving effort for you is coming over to fix the lighthouse at midnight and continuing to work for the town?”

“At least I can make some money. If I don’t come, the Father will have to come himself. I don’t want to add more work for him. He already did a lot to fight for the spot for me.”

“He doesn’t want you to go!” Victor said coldly. “He wants to train you into a priest and carry on his work, make you live with those cold things for your entire life! You’ll die in this tiny *ss town and all you’ll have is that metal trash.”

“Actually, I don’t think there’s anything bad about working with machines,” Ye Qingxuan said from the array. “At least they won’t lie or look down on you. Sometimes, I like them more than people. They won’t betray you if you understand them.”

Victor looked away. He tore at the chicken quietly and stuffed the pieces into his mouth, grinding them with his canines. He ate like a beast.

“It’s not over like this,” he muttered to himself rather than Ye Qingxuan.

–

–

The repair seemed extremely slow this time.

The only sound in the silence came from the array. It changed into a new structure under the tools.

Under the youth’s practiced movements, the large machine started moving easily. Hundreds of mirrors changed their positions according to the tracks, adjusting into new angles like a lotus flower blooming and closing. Complex beams of light jumped and flew into the sky.

Finally, the maintenance process came to an end. Ye Qingxuan walked out of the array and nodded after a last checkup.

“Victor, give me the screwdriver. The mirror is one centimeter off.”

“So what? What’s the point of being so detailed in this?” Victor tossed him the screwdriver that anchored some papers. “They’ll still look down on you and make fun of you for being so serious. And then they’ll enjoy their life while taking advantage of your results.”

Ye Qingxuan heard without listening. He carefully adjusted the angle of the mirror structure, gripping the screwdriver as if it was a jewel. “Sometimes, the smallest difference will change the entire result.”

He paused and said something in the Eastern language that Victor did not understand. “A millimeter of error is a difference of a thousand kilometers.”

–

As if responding to the teen’s words, a gust of wind blew from the distance. It poured into the windows and passed through the lighthouse.

Without the screwdriver anchoring them, the pile of paper at the bottom of the toolbox flew up, dancing in the air as if they had wings. One piece covered Victor’s face. He quickly grabbed it to tear it apart. But when he saw the diagram on it, he froze.

Ye Qingxuan had drawn a diagram of the mirror array on the white paper. The picture was different from the original structure. New tracks were marked and compared to the original…there was nothing alike.

The original structure had been destroyed and the pre-designed tracks by the priests had been ruined. This complex system was no longer after this adjustment!

–

Victor stared at his friend as if Ye Qingxuan was a beast.

“Yezi, do you know what you’re doing.”

“Yeah.” Ye Qingxuan’s voice was as indifferent as before.

“You know sh*t!” Victor jumped up. “Do you know how long the church used to design this array?! Do you know how much it costs to maintain it?”

He yanked Ye Qingxuan’s collar. “Yezi, this is a reef zone! So many ships use the lighthouse for direction. If anything happens, you’ll be thrown into jail! Hurry and change it back before anyone notices…”

“Nothing will happen. Nothing will change,” Ye Qingxuan said quietly. “I just made a small adjustment.”

He waved and the ugly dog, Old Phil, climbed up, running over with an open mouth.

“You’re crazy,” Victor muttered in the distance. His arms hung beside him listlessly.

–

“Victor, when did you start to think that I’m a weak person?”

The white-haired teen picked up the bottle on the ground, and walked to the window overlooking the the quiet town.

Facing the refreshing sea breeze, he drank all that remained. Then, he threw the empty bottle far away. “What’s good in saying more words? At least let your payback be seen by everyone’ eyes.”

Ye Qingxuan turned around and pulled the hub next to him.

Immediately, the lighthouse moved along with the complex structure, as if it were waking up from sleep, moving along the established trajectory. Gears riveted, winches rolled, mirrors offset, and the angles changed.

The collision of the steel parts caused sparks to fly and a deep groan–the mechanical collision’s broken sound was like heavy breathing echoing.

The originally still frame was now in crazy rotation. In the harsh light, it was like a wildly burning lotus.

Victor looked blankly at the changing flashing lights. The sudden flash was like an explosion–gone in the blink of an eye. The lotus shaped array was sealed.

The light jumped in the air, like a tame beast, going in all directions–the same as the original.

But there was just one beam of light that projected into the dark town, falling on the mirror Old Phil had nailed. Along with the will of the young teen, the light traveled through the dark town, jumping from mirror to mirror.

In the end, the hot and harsh light cast itself on the largest house in the town.

It was like a light that came down from heaven.

–

In the middle of the town, the bell trembled, as if rung in anger. Underneath it, a snarling dog bit the rope, struggling to shake the bell.

The sharp, loud noise awakened the quiet town.

People awakened from their sleep and got out of their beds. In a panic, they ran to the window, looking at the street.

There was no beast that broke into the town, nor any bandits that broke into any house. Nothing seemed to have happened. Only the sound of the alarm echoed, and a holy light fell from the sky onto the Thomas’s house.

In the town, the awoken residents suddenly became noisy.

“What’s the matter?” somebody shouted loudly.

“What happened? Who rang the bell?”

“Mom, I’m scared!”

“Hey! Look at the Thomas’s place!”

“Thomas’s home…”

Thus, the town that was just now extremely noisy turned incredibly silent.

Under everyone’s eyes, a ray of light from the sky shone down, forming a line of writing. The writing was so clear that it was like a blessing that the gods sent from heaven.

But it was only a few simple words, with beautiful handwriting like flowing water. It wrote out the teen’s kindest greetings.

– Son of a b*tch!