Apocalyptic Forecast - Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Faust (Part 2)

“As you wish.”

Faust danced excitedly, enjoying the sweet sensation of pain and anger as it opened its mouth and spoke loudly as if reciting a poem:

“One ritual, ten gluttons, the bones of a hundred people, the eyes of a thousand flying birds, and ten thousand poisonous snakes!

“One weeps because of death in a coffin; one perishes because of a change in Hell.

“The shadow of rebirth relies on one’s wings, and the dormant bird shall fly into the sky!”

Pa!

It was the sound of a handrest breaking under an overly tight grip.

Ai Qing gritted her teeth in anger and said nothing.

She had given up her most precious treasure, in return for a prophetic poem that sounded like utter bullsh*t.

After satisfying its urge for poetic creation, Faust ruffled its hair, seemingly more refreshed. It raised its head and grinned at her with a look so penetrating it might be able to see through layers of ice into the deep layers of lava.

“You have one last question.”

Ai Qing remained silent.

Meanwhile, Faust waited patiently.

When she finally calmed herself down, she asked her last question.

“… Will the Astronomical Association lose anyone in this incident?”

Faust raised its eyebrow in response.

With its cane in hand, it moved forward and went up to Ai Qing, then stopped before her and examined her face. It quietly examined the newfound calmness in her face and looked straight into her eyes. When it finally found the eagerness to provide the answer, a malicious grin spread across its face.

“Do you want to know?”

It chuckled as its eyes widened. “Do you want to know? Do you really, really want to know?”

Ai Qing kept quiet.

“You had a better question to ask at first, so what made you falter, little girl?” Faust continued staring at her in amazement, a satisfied smile on its face. “I know who you’re asking about so there’s no need to beat around the bush now. I can tell you the answer straight away.

“But—”

It paused dramatically and named its price, which almost seemed like a joke.

“—In exchange, I want your tears.”

“No way.”

In the deafening silence, Ai Qing looked at him icily. “That’s impossible for me.”

“I guess you’re doomed then! No answer for you! Haha, hahahaha, hahahahaha…”

Faust burst into laughter. The devil who had peeped into its master’s mind was now mocking her. “Why do you care about people other than yourself? Little girl, don’t you hate all this? You hate Ascenders, but you also hate powerless people; You hate the powerhouses, but you also hate the weaklings.

“You hate those who are happy, but you don’t pity those who have lost everything.

“Is your hatred toward everything really necessary?”

“Enough!”

It gave her a vicious grin before ripping open her final scar. “But the person you hate the most is yourself, isn’t it?”

Ai Qing did not respond.

It was as if she had not heard it speak at all.

“You will suffer eternal pain and you won’t be able to find release.”

Faust continued grinning at her, its forked, viper-like tongue stirred its poisonous saliva in its mouth. “Nobody can save you, little girl. Your heart has long been left in Hell, a lonely place where even demons can’t survive!

“—You will suffer eternal pain, just like how you will be lonely forever!”

“If it’s just loneliness and pain, is it really something to be afraid of?”

Ai Qing finally looked up and replied softly, “If you’re done being happy, I believe it’s my turn now…”

At that instant, Faust’s eyes widened.

It slowly bent down.

His dumbfounded gaze fell right on the middle of its abdomen, where a dagger that had no handle was impaled.

Then, the dagger was pulled out.

A dazzling sacred gleam emerged from the blade of the dagger as the dark, black droplets of fresh blood immediately evaporated with a sizzle.

This was the farewell gift she had meticulously prepared.

Boom!

Its body began to shake violently before finally disintegrating into ink-sized mosquitoes that were drawn back into the book where the pages were flipping aggressively.

“Go back to Hell, Faust,” Ai Qing said in an indifferent tone, “Enjoy your immortality and you’re your knowledge that even slaves would pity.”

“No, I will look forward—”

Although in excruciating pain, the devil took one final mocking glance at the mortal world. “The next time we meet, you will pay…”

Then, the demon’s figure disappeared into thin air.

The Armored Man who was gripping his sword tightened his grasp around the handle and loosened it several times, but eventually, he stayed still.

Although Ai Qing had damaged border relics, she technically did not violate any rules.

The book finally closed itself as the shackles locked together.

His sealed eyes seemed to glance in the direction of Ai Qing for a long time, then he finally withdrew his gaze and turned away to leave, morphing into a phantom.

The study finally fell silent again.

For a very long time.

Suddenly, a phone rang.

Incoming call—Unknown.

.

The phone continued ringing persistently, desperately waiting for her to respond, until she finally reached out and pressed the answer key.

“Who is this?”

“Is this Lil Qing? It’s me, Qi Wen, your Third Uncle Qi. Do you remember me?

A peal of warm laughter came from the other end of the phone as the slightly aged voice spoke again, “I’m sorry for calling out of the blue. Am I bothering you?

I heard from Grandfather that you’re in New Ocean now, and I have to say, I was a bit surprised. You have been here for a while now, so why haven’t you come over to visit me?”

The old man on the phone continued with a sigh of emotion, “Your cousin just flew back from America a while ago. You young people should have a lot of common interests, so you should stay in touch and communicate more with each other… Why don’t I come to pick you up tomorrow and you can have dinner with us at my place?”

“…”

Ai Qing listened silently, suppressing the unpleasantness and gloominess in her chest. She had had enough with this self-conceited man.

“Mr. Qi, I’ll pass on your offer of dinner. I have been busy with work recently.”

“Come on, we’re family, don’t be a stranger. Are you still angry with your family? Remember, blood is thicker than water. There’s nothing that can’t be resolved within a family,” Third Uncle Qi said with a heavy sigh, “If you really insist on being angry, let your Third Uncle quell you, is that alright?

“Your grandfather will be turning a hundred years old in a few months, so don’t hold a grudge against him anymore. During every occasion and holiday, the old man would always ask if his Lil Qing was coming back. He tried calling you, but you never picked up. I understand that work is important, but is it more important than family?

“Besides, the old man did what he did back then for your own good, didn’t he? Look, your father succeeded in Ascension, and even your elementium showed signs…”

Clack!

The ballpen in Ai Qing’s hand snapped.

Sitting in the silent room, Ai Qing’s eyes drooped, no longer able to hide the sadness and frustration that was currently so great that it penetrated into her very bones.

She let the person on the other end of the phone continue chattering for a long time until he finally shut up.

“Mr. Qi, I think that’s enough boring family talk now. I still have work to do, so there’s that.

“Lastly, please remember that my name is Ai Qing,” she added.

“—The Ai in ‘Mugwort’, and the Qing in ‘fine weather’.[1]

“If that’s what you think, then there’s nothing more I can say.”

Faced with silence, Qi Wen decided to not say anything more, and instead merely sighed. “The old man had always told us this—children who don’t go home are constantly enduring hardships outside.”

Rustling sounds came from the end of the phone.

Then, the caller hung up.

Ai Qing gently placed her phone down, the look on her face impassive.

If good news was a tardy pigeon, then bad news would probably be a flock of crows that flew together and constantly dropped stinking feces, leaving behind a disgusting mess.

They would all appear in one place at the same time.

A time when you least wanted it, and at a place where you least hoped to be.

Right then, not only did she have work issues regarding the People of the Pure Land and the allegedly prophetic stories from Faust on her mind, pressure from her family had suddenly popped up in front of her at the least appropriate time.

Though, she had long expected something like this to happen.

She already understood how precious she was as a puppet.

Whether it was from her family’s standpoint or her personal judgment, she would never allow herself to sever connections with the Yin Clan.

After declining for nearly a hundred years, the Yin Clan had finally dusted themselves down and reformed after much effort, but they were still far from their original prominent state. Nobody could guess how long it would take for them to recover their past glory either.

In other countries, where noble families had been ongoing for generations, ten measly years was nothing compared to the hundreds of years of hardships it took to climb back to the peak of their powers; there were many families which did just that.

Of course, there were many corpses found along the way, as well as people who remained missing until this very day.

This was an extremely prolonged bet with everything on the table at stakes, every single chip valuable. In other words, this meant that in order to achieve their goal, everyone in the clan would serve as an extremely precious pawn, regardless of if he or she was part of the main or extended family.

On top of that, Ai Qing had now become the Astronomical Association’s invigilator. Despite the fact that she was still a newcomer, the power she held behind the scenes during urgent times was astonishing.

It, therefore, made sense that the Yin Clan would have prepared to participate in this struggle between the sovereign faction of the Astronomical Association’s internal Wuchang and the border faction that represented the border.

In fact, they might have already placed their bets.

As for herself, what role was she playing in their plans?

Ignoring her body’s screams of tiredness, she continued driving her brain to function. In the long silence, Ai Qing began to envy the stupid fat man.

At least he could easily find a huge amount of calories at times when he desperately needed it.

Unlike herself, who could only add cubes of sugar to her coffee, making it taste sickly sweet.

What picked on her cautiousness was not the families. Well, at least not at the moment.

It was the phone call.

What did it represent and what did it mean?

Was it a warning? A gentle reminder to reform family bonds? Did it mean something else?

There should be more to it.

She had no valid reason to overthink, but she had a hunch that Qi Wen was speaking for someone bigger than the Yin household.

There was no denying the fact that the Yin household had had his back many years for now, but come to think of it, Qi Wen had many people of hidden potential and power in his hand. If that was the case, why did he have to obediently listen to the Yin household’s orders like a lap dog and kiss their *ss over such a small matter?

Was his intention pure and simple at all?

No matter how earnest his words, she could sense something fishy from Qi Wen’s behavior. It was as if he was hiding something.

Even the seemingly sincere persuasion of his seemed to be in an attempt to probe and test her.

Although she had never had any contact with them, she knew how much power the Qi household held in this small, steadily declining town.

It was almost like the Huai household back then.

From outside, the Qi household seemed to make their living in shipping and logistics, yet nobody knew what kind of smuggling businesses they ran in the dark.

It was nothing unusual though.

Such business deals were too common to even bring up. After all, everyone made do with whatever they had. Having the advantage of being along the coast, they made good use of their coastal routes to smuggle contraband. It would be stupid not to.

These things could not be stopped, and knowing how experienced Qi Wen was, there was no way he would leave behind any clues that could eventually lead back to him.

Then, what was he trying to probe out of her?

What did he want from this invigilator?

She pondered quietly for a very long time before finally letting out a long sigh of frustration. It seemed that no matter what, it was time to rearrange and reconsider all possible hidden perils…

Aside from that, she had to prepare all the necessary precautions as well.

After a long moment of consideration, she picked up the phone.

“Hello, this is the Archive and Records Office of the City Library. May I know who this is?”

“Professor, is that you?

“Aside from the ongoing investigation on the Savior’s Association, can you help me track the Qi household’s movements over the past few years? It’s urgent.”

There was the soft rustling sound of writing from the other end of the phone, and soon, a low voice replied, “Alright, I have already listed it on the records. Same old price, but if it’s flagged urgent, I will have to charge you an extra 30%. Is that alright?”

“That’s up to you. I just want the results.”

“Give me one day.”

The professor responded curtly and hung up the phone right away.

Ai Qing put the phone down, and though she seemed expressionless, the uneasiness in her chest grew.

After a long time, she closed her eyes and let out a long, exhausted sigh.

[1] In Mandarin, the word 艾叶 (Àiyè) refers to Mugwort, a type of flowering plant, and the Ai in Ai Qing comes from the first word in Aiye, whereas the Qing in her name is 晴 (Qíng), which is made out of the Qing in 天晴 (Tiānqíng), which means fine weather.