Critical: Ages Below Critical Chapter 2.2

Chapter 2: Bestowment of the Seal (Part 2)


 

[West of Aslan Empire - Outside Town of Fauser]

“Also, we don’t have to go to Fauser anymore, it’s already……” Yin Chen pauses before continuing, “We’ll set off directly from here to Rennes’ port to take a boat, that’s the easiest and quickest way to reach Gelanerte.”

Qi Ling nods in a daze behind Yin Chen. He lifts his head to look towards the direction of the village, everything is dark and nothing can be seen in the darkness of the night, yet he remembers the scene when he escaped from the inn, the blood splattering in all directions, the innards scattered across the ground, thinking about that now, a sorrowful expression appears on his face.

Yin Chen looks at Qi Ling and sighs softly.

When Yin Chen reached Fauser, he initially thought that he had been too late, from the inn at the mouth of the village until deep into the village, thick icicles of various sizes pierced up from the ground. On some of them were human bodyies on others, a few sets of b.l.o.o.d.y innards; the whole town resembled a chewed-up h.e.l.l created by a monster. He senses the remnants of the track taken by soul powers in the air and chases it all the way deep into the forest outside the town, and then he sees Qi Ling in deep sleep on the ground.

He closes his eyes; all he could sense are what’s left of the soul powers from Qi Ling’s body. The three red dots he had seen before from the ‘Source of Prophecies’ are no longer there, leaving only Qi Ling. He is unsure of why that is the case either.
 

Yin Chen looks at the sorrowful Qi Ling and approaches him slowly, reaching his hand out to him.

Qi Ling does not speak, yet his pupils are shaking, obviously feeling a sense of fear.

Yin Chen closes up on him slowly, saying: “Don’t be afraid, I am not going to hurt you.” Yin Chen lifts his hand onto his face, the tops of his fingers grazing upon the bone behind his ear. “It may hurt just a little bit, but it will be okay, bear with it for a moment.”

Yin Chen’s fingertips latch onto Qi Ling’s scalp, a few strands of bitter cold energy pierces into Qi Ling’s body with lightning speed like a sharp needle, the insane could touch that went into Qi Ling’s head made his heart grip with fear.

Yet the one who is truly in fear is Yin Chen.

When he let his few strands of sensor soul powers enter Qi Ling’s body, he discovered that those powers he released into Qi Ling’s body has disappeared immediately without a trance, in comparison, the soul powers contained in Qi Ling’s body is like an ocean without an end overflowing with reckless large waves.

Yin Chen finally confirms that Qi Ling is the disciple that the Silver Priests tasked him to find.
 

Yin Chen sighs, looking at Qi Ling before him who is as pale as a sheet, his gaze unreadable.

But it’s probably a good thing, compared completely changing a person who has already learned some unregulated form of control for soul powers, a person like Qi Ling can start from the basics.

Just as Yin Chen wanted to put down his hand, suddenly, it’s as if he felt something, his fingers releasing another wave of heavier soul powers. “Don’t move”, Yin Chen commands with a low voice. Qi Ling had already been scared, but looking at Yin Chen who looks as if he has just seen the devil, he feels even more afraid and unsettled.

Shocked, Yin Chen withdraws his hand, his face pale and expression imposing. He cannot bring himself to believe what had just happened within the past few seconds, to be more precise, it is that his own soul powers felt as if a monster whose strength is beyond estimation engulfed them, and it was within an instant. What is more scary is that, if Yin Chen had used a large amount of powers with the intention of harming Qi Ling, or if he had not drawn back in time, maybe the unguarded powers in his body now would have been swallowed by at least half.

“What sort of…monster…do you have…in your body…”

Qi Ling’s face is pale, completely baffled by what Yin Chen is saying, but, from the horror on Yin Chen’s face, he knows that something terrifying must have happened.
 

[West of Aslan Empire – Port City of Rennes]

Lianquan stands up and walks to the window before jumping forward with force, her whole person resembling dark heron floating towards the night sky. The moonlight reflecting a ghostly black sheen on her pure black robes, paired with the moon in the sky and the blue-black waves on the surface of the ocean beneath her feet, she looks like a dark spirit crossing the sky.

A blurred white shadow appears in the sky and moves past her at the speed of light silently.

Lianquan changes direction in the air and shoots after the white shadow.

The vast and majestic ocean was left behind, the white and black shadows moving at the speed of meteors blur among the countless rooftops of churches and palaces.

“If you want to die then I’ll aid you……” On the exposed arms and neck of Guishan Lianquan, golden circuits in the form of countless interweaving crucifixes appear, the ma.s.sive amount of soul power crashes like a tidal wave, with a dull roar in the sky, a large being suddenly materializes. The ma.s.sive pitch flack shadow covers the city beneath their feet. A pair of wings as ma.s.sive as mountains, countless silver wings emitting piercing light in the night sky, the sharp callings are like sharp swords cutting through the night sky.

Guishan Lianquan stands still on the juncture between the full wings, the wind blows at her robes, her soul beast “An Chi” ferries her silently forwards then white shadow before them, if you are observing from then ground, it seems as if a large iceberg is moving rapidly in the night sky.
 

[West of Aslan Empire – Outside Town of Fauser]

“Don’t move.” Yin Chen holds Qi Ling, asking him to stand straight.

Yin Chen reaches out his hand to untie his clothes, revealing the firm chest of the youth, “What…what do you want to do……” Qi Ling looks embarra.s.sed.

Yin Chen ignores him, only moving to press his long and slender fingers against his chest, Yin Chen closes his eyes before transferring more soul power into Qi Ling’s body. The being inside Qi Ling is unbelievable. If what he sensed before isn’t’ wrong, then what other secrets are hidden in this youth’s body?

And in then next moment, Yin Chen feels that the soul powers that sank into the youth’s body from his fingers are being swallowed by a ma.s.sive magnetic black hole, pulling him into a limitless abyss. Just when he moves his hand away from Qi Ling’s chest, he feels it – five paths of soul powers as fast as lightning, like writhing snakes, twisting and surrounding his own powers, from the depths of Qi Ling’s body, it surges out to attack and engulf him.

With a whoos.h.i.+ng sound, Yin Chen falls backwards, his whole person moving at rapid speed towards the crown of the tree high up like a soundless bird, and then he flips in the air before dropping with a dull sound a hundred meters away from Qi Ling. Sound as loud as an explosion, dust in the air, amidst the fumes, Yin Chen kneels with one knee on then sound, under his knee are countless cracks on the surface of the ground.

He raises his head and looks at Qi Ling in the distance who falls straight to the ground.
 

The tumbling waves of air in his chest are like water that has just reached boiling point, yet it is the most extreme of coldness, it’s hard to describe such an absurd misconception, yes, it is the boiling coldness, like countless sharp blades swimming within him cutting everything in its path, all the vital energy and limbs are torn apart by these blades, his physique breaking apart, shattering into dust, becoming thick liquid and finally morphing into air. The body no longer exists.

Qi Ling’s consciousness is murky, countless entangled powers are swimming recklessly in his body, like a primitive piece of land, countless sources of water coming together and separating, in his vision blurred by illusions, are countless golden light streams flowing in the darkness, densely packed together like a ma.s.sive root system, and all the veins, arteries and even capillaries are swelling due to these golden light.

“I am doing to die……” Qi Ling squeezes out from his throat painfully and weakly.
 

When Qi Ling opens his eyes again, his surroundings are completely dark, only unknown scatters of golden pieces of light floats between the tree branches, perhaps they’re just fireflies.

He struggles to support himself up, the feeling of an explosion tearing his body into pieces has disappeared, and it feels as if the pain never existed.

He turns his head and sees Yin Chen sitting behind him; face pale and panting, looking as if he was going to collapse.

“Are you……okay?” Qi Ling runs over and squats before him carefully.

“I’m okay,” Yin Chen’s pale face looks as flawless as a thin piece of fragile jade under then moonlight, “I was supposed to bring you back to Gelanerte before going ahead with the 'bestowment of the seal, but if I didn’t do that just now, you would have lost your life……” After saying so many words at one go, Yin Chen pauses, his complexion even pastier.

Qi Ling can indistinctly see on his exposed neck and collarbones the golden circuit routes, they look exactly the same as the ones he had seen before he lost conscious. Unsure of the reason, the gold s.h.i.+ning brilliantly on Yin Chen’s nape looks proceeding attractive, as if an unknown power, or miracles of beauty to the highest degree are calling out to Qi Ling, he wants to get closer, wants to make it his own……a psychedelic and confused feeling complicated Qi Ling’s vital energy and blood, he suppresses his heavy breaths and shakes his head forcefully.

Yin Chen observes Qi Ling, as if suddenly understanding something, he gestures at Qi Ling and says weakly: “You’ve just been through the ‘bestowment of the seal, you have to……distance yourself from me……”

“Why?” Qi Ling looks at Yin Chen with a flush on his face.

“Because……right now, you’d find me……how should I put it, very ‘attractive’?” Yin Chen tilts his head, seeming as if he had found the description after much labour.

“Ha? ……You? Attractive?” Qi Ling rolls his eyes forcefully in the dark before retreating two steps and squatting down, he puts his hands into a fist and holds it old, “This gentleman, believe me, you’re really thinking too much!”

Yin Chen closes his eyes, too lazy to debate with him.

Qi Ling looks at the weak Yin Chen before him, he no long said anything, he dared not even breathe too heavily, he squats before him quietly, looking at him, after a long time, he sees that Yin Chen’s complexion has returned to normal, only then does he tug on Yin Chen’s sleeve before asking him softly.

“What is ‘bestowment of the seal’?” Qi Ling scratches his head.

“On every single soul master, there will be a seal, this seal is located at different places on the body based on the person’s return circuit of powers, they also have different shapes. And the seals on a ‘Lord’ and a ‘Disciple’ are known as ‘Seals of the Lord’, the ones on the ‘Lord’s body and the ‘Disciple’s body are identical, they are also at the same location. After the ‘Lord’ finds his or her ‘Disciple’, they are brought back to the imperial capital Gelanerte where they will bestow the ‘Disciple’ the same power return circuit as himself and allowing the ‘Disciple’ to have the same ‘Seal of the Lord’ as himself, this is known as ‘seal bestowment’.”

“Oh……” Qi Ling understands little, he pushes up the hair in front of his forehead, revealing his pretty hairline, his expression puzzled, “Then why did you say if you didn’t perform that just now, I would have died?”

“’Seal of the Lord’ isn’t just a simple imprint. It is the center of our soul powers, it is also where we are the most weak, it is also the starting point when we use our soul powers. And, then most important thing is that, it is where our ‘soul beasts’ lie normally. Do you know that in the ‘Seal of the Lord’ on your body, Cang Xue Zhi Ya is currently staying there obediently? If I didn’t perform the ‘seal bestowment’ just now, it wouldn’t have found a place to inhabit in your body, his soul powers won’t be able to co-exist with yours, the final result is either you die or it will die.”

“……So scary!” Qi Ling falls to the ground, “I mean, that monster that had been chasing after me to kill me just now, is currently in my body?! So scary!”

“It will no longer see you as prey, now it will only listen to your commands, it will do whatever you instruct it to, there are only two commands you cannot say, one is for it to attack its own soul master, the second is for it to commit suicide,” Yin Chen looks at the dazed and frightened Qi Ling, “If you don’t believe me then let it out now.”

“No no no no no no no!!!” Qi Ling shakes his hands quickly and squats as if he suddenly thought of something, looking at the boy before him who didn’t even look much older than him, his complexion even more attractive than he is under the moonlight, “Just now you said that I am your ‘Disciple’, then you are……you are a ‘Lord’? You’re one of the seven most powerful people in the country?”

Yin Chen rolls his eyes, unwilling to respond to him, but Qi Ling stars at him for a reply, Yin Chen only nods unwillingly when he starts feeling uncomfortable by the fiery gaze.

“Woah!” Qi Ling stands with a rustle, “I can actually meet a ‘Lord’! And be a ‘Disciple’ of the ‘Lord’! This is awesome!” Qi Ling squats down again, but figures that it’s too much of a ha.s.sle and sits down on the ground, stretching his long legs out, “’Lord’, what do you want me to do? I can cook for you; my cooking is really good, the whole town knows about it! I can also wash your clothes for you, since you’re always wearing white, it must get dirty so easily, and if you walk for just a moment in the forest while it’s raining you’d turn into a mud monkey immediately! I can also ma.s.sage well, I comb hair well too, look at your locks, you even have a plait, it must be difficult tying it every day, do you need me to help you comb? I can tie a prettier one for you, like the one on my head now, look at it? Do you like it? Let me think of what else I know……”

Yin Chen closes his eyes and rubs his ears, Qi Ling starts gurgling out ice shards again. Qi Ling gestures, “I understand I understand, I’ll shut up” while vomiting.

Although he looks melancholic as he sticks out his numb tongue, Yin Chen can still see the desire and happiness from within in his eyes. Yin Chen cannot help but smile. When he realizes that he’s smiling, even he became scared.

“Master ‘Lord’, will you teach me soul powers?” Qi Ling moves slightly closer to Yin Chen.

“Of course.” Yin Chen replies pa.s.sively.

“Really? That’s great!” Qi Ling crawls up and dances with joy, “Master do you need me to pound your back for you? Your ‘Disciple’ doing it? Your robe is too thin, are you cold, are you cold? My body is firm, do you want my clothes? Do you want water? I’ll go find some water for you……”

Before he finishes speaking, Yin Chen raises his hand again.

Qi Ling clamps his hand over his mouth immediately before raising his arms in surrender. However, this time Yin Chen doesn’t fill his mouth with ice, instead, he gestures casually into the sky, the rustling of leaves is heard. Qi Ling looks up, the dew between the countless leaves, s.h.i.+ning with light, flies to Yin Chen like fireflies, coming together to form a ball of water the size of a fist, Yin Chen reaches forward as if picking an apple, “I’m actually really quite thirsty”, he puts the water ball elegantly into his mouth. Qi Ling is dazed, “Master lord, you’re so great……”

“Stop calling me ‘Lord’, my name is Yin Chen.”

“Yin Chen……the name is so nice……I heard Shen Yin say that they categorize lord’s into degrees, Yin Chen, which degree of lord are you? You’re so amazing, you have to be in the top three right?” Qi Ling gestures wildly, seeming exceedingly excited.

“Yeah. There are seven degrees of lord’s, from seventh to first, the smaller the number the more powerful. I’m the ‘Lord to the Seventh Degree’.”

“What……” From Qi Ling’s tone you can tell that he is very obviously disappointed, “You’re the weakest of the lot.” He spreads his hands, just as he finishes his sentence, with a whoosh, the soil between his legs suddenly crack open, a shark icicle resembling a bamboo shoot pierces from the ground and holds itself at his throat.

“I was wrong……” Qi Ling begs for forgiveness with his chin raised.

“Hmph.” Yin Chen huffs before closing his eyes to rest, wanting to ignore Qi Ling completely.

The icicle returns into the ground with a rustle. Qi Ling laughs dryly before scratching his head.

“Then again, among then seven of us, the one ranked second, the ‘Lord to the Second Degree’ is one special existence, if you ever come across him, it’ll be in your favour if you avoid him”, Yin Chen opens his eyes and tells the youth in front of him.

“Why? Isn’t he just the second, unless he’s even more powerful than the first?” Qi Ling asks.

“Because the ‘Lord to the Second Degree’ is the one response for clearing out the lord’s who betrayed the country or the Silver Priests, so he’s also known as the ‘Killing Lord’, to put it more simply, he’s the lord that’s responsible for killing other lords. His disciple as well, known as then ‘Killing Disciple’. As for the ‘Lord to the First Degree’, or 'Top Lord'……you don’t have to worry, you probably won’t see him in your lifetime. The current ‘Lord to the First Degree’, none of us has seen him. We heard that he’s always been staying in the deepest part of the Heart in Gelanerte, and he never left.”

“So it’s like this……” Qi Ling nods as if he understands slightly.

“I’m very tired, I need to rest for a while. If there’s nothing important, don’t disrupt me.” Yin Chen closes his eyes again and leans against a tree trunk to sleep.
 

The moonlight s.h.i.+nes on Yin Chen’s handsome features, making his face look as clean and delicate as smooth china, Qi Ling leans close, he can smell the fragrance blowing from Yin Chen in the air, as if the fragrance from a clean tree, it’s as delightful as an illusion, this scent is really attractive……attractive?

Qi Ling shakes his head suddenly and scoots away from Yin Chen. He lifts his hand and smacks his temple, “Am I sick?” He turns to spy on Yin Chen again, it’s true that his features are perfect, his brows thick and his eyes clear, under his tall nose bridge is a pair of plump pink lips. But it’s not enough for people to find “attractive” right? Looks like when he wakes up, he has to question this, if not there may be dire consequences.

Qi Ling makes up his mind, suddenly remembering that Yin Chen said there is a Lord’s Seal on his body, he lifts his clothes – it wasn’t on his chest and stomach, he takes off his top and twists to look at his shoulders and waist, he didn’t seen it either. “Oh, then it should be on my leg?” Qi Ling turns, Yin Chen looks as if he’s in deep sleep, hence Qi Ling takes off his pants.

“Oh, so it’s on the b.u.t.t!” Qi Ling nods, lost in thought, “Didn’t Yin Chen say the ‘Lord’ and the ‘Disciple’s ‘Lord’s Seal’ are identical from the shape to the location? Then Yin Chen’s must be on his b.u.t.t as well……” Before he could finish his sentence, he’s bending over and spitting out ice shards. There is too much ice this time, Qi Ling furrows his brows, it doesn’t seem like they’re disappearing any time soon.

“Our ‘Lord’s Seals’ are located at the last disk of the tailbone, not the b.u.t.t.” Yin Chen who had his eyes closed all along walks slowly to Qi Ling from the tree root, he looks at Qi Ling with a cold glare, saying: “Since you already took your clothes off, well then……” After saying that, he slowly unb.u.t.tons the intricate b.u.t.ton made from silver on his collar and takes off his robe.

“What do you want to do……” Qi Ling blushes all of a sudden. “Weren’t you sleeping? Don’t come over……I’m warning you……”

Yin Chen doesn’t speak; he looks at him and continues taking off his inner garments, and then releasing the sash around his waist, under the moonlight, Yin Chen’s physique is lean and firm, his tanned muscles form his wide chest and toned abdomen, the soft light from the moon envelopes his body in white mist.

“I……” Qi Ling’s face is flushed red, for some odd reason, his heart is beating very quickly, in the end he can’t help but exclaim, “I like girls!!!”

This unexpected revelation stomped Yin Chen, when he bends over to cough, Yin Chen waves his hand in the air angrily, the icicle pierces through the ground again between Qi Ling’s legs and holds itself against the crotch of his trousers.

Qi Ling flushes with shame, he bites his lips, as if making a very hard decision, he closes his eyes before shouting, “I really like girls! Stop forcing me!”

Yin Chen rolls his eyes and leans against the tree beside him. “Look closely, idiot!” Yin Chen turns around, moving his soft hair away from his back, revealing the cleft of his bottom.

Qi Ling opens his eyes, originally wanting to retort, but he was so surprised by the sight that he couldn’t utter a word, he looks at the dream-like scene before him,  feet rooted to the ground in a daze.

Yin Chen’s bare body before his eyes is showing him a never before seen, miraculous sight.

“This……this is……”