It was a stone radiating a bloody red light as it drew closer and closer to Xiao Ping.
'What is this?' Xiao Ping wondered to himself as he watched the stone approach. He did nothing... because he knew he was not within the boundary that allowed him to approach it without being vaporized.
The stone stopped, having met resistance from the seal placed around those stones and the luminous stone.
The stone retreated backward while floating in the air, then lunged forward again, each time producing a loud collision sound, over and over.
'What is it doing? Does it want to break free?' Questions swirled in Xiao Ping's mind, until he finally opened his mouth and said, "Do you want to get out?"
But the stone did not answer his question and continued crashing against the boundaries of the seal, again and again.
"Stop!" Xiao Ping suddenly shouted... having grown tired of all the collisions, and continued, "Do you want out that badly? Then be patient a while, until I can lift the seal from you all! From my experience with such things—things I've read about in novels—I believe you've been sealed here for hundreds, even thousands of years. So waiting a few more months isn't too much for you, right?"
When Xiao Ping finished speaking, the bloody stone suddenly stopped, as if it understood his words, and returned to its original place.
"I didn't expect that to work on it!" Xiao Ping said as he exited the large stone door, entered the tunnel, and walked for several minutes until he finally reached the stairs fixed to the wall. He climbed up until he emerged... on the floor of the hut, next to the bed.
He pushed the bed, which had been slightly moved aside, back into its correct position over the opening. Then he dusted the dirt from his clothes from being underground, took his umbrella from the hook, left the gardener's hut, and moved among the beautiful plants the gardener had cultivated—a cover for his other face and what he hid.
He opened his umbrella and walked behind the university campus under the watchful eyes of the female students heading toward their dormitories behind the campus.
But they said nothing... instead, they hurried to make the most of their time to study for upcoming exams, so they had no time for gossip or backbiting.
Xiao Ping circled the huge university campus until he reached the front courtyard at the entrance.
He saw James and Catherine arguing, but there was a third party present—a middle-aged woman with a few white streaks in her hair, wearing a monocle.
She was speaking with strange fluency and smoothness to James, as if she knew him well. Xiao Ping did not linger long and soon moved closer to them. When he reached them, he was met with Catherine's contemptuous look: "Where have you been! You incompetent guard!"
"Lazy! What did we agree on earlier?" James said in a serious tone.
"Lazy! You must not say such things to Mr..." said the woman beside them.
"Xiao Ping!" James quickly said.
"Yes. You must stop saying such things to Mr. Xiao Ping, because he is your personal guard, not your servant! So you must mind the words that come out of your mouth!" the woman said as she bowed and greeted Xiao Ping gracefully, saying, "I am sorry, Mr. Xiao Ping, for what Catherine said. She is ignorant of some matters she hasn't learned well yet!"
"I'm sorry! Mr. Xiao Ping if I bothered you!" Catherine said while looking aside.
Xiao Ping paid no regard to her apology but instead deeply focused on the words of the woman before him.
'Words that carry great depth beneath their simplicity. It seems she despises me indirectly, as if expecting my reaction after saying that!... Hahaha, but... analyze or expect from whom? I am the psychiatrist here who also suffers from psychological ailments!' Xiao Ping thought to himself before removing his hat from his head, greeting the woman before him, and saying, "There is no need to apologize, because this doesn't bother me, Madam..."
"Eleanor Vance! That is my name, Mr. Xiao Ping!" Eleanor said, extending her hand to shake Xiao Ping's. He looked at her hand coldly, did not extend his own, and said, "Excuse me, but I do not shake hands with women, so please forgive me!"
"Oh, I understand!" Eleanor said as she looked at Catherine and said, "Catherine! The cafeteria chef will serve dinner soon, so you must go to the dormitory now with your classmates!"
"Yes, Headmistress!" Catherine said as she bid farewell to James and ran toward the dormitory.
"Headmistress?" Xiao Ping asked, surprised. He had been wanting to go and search for the headmistress, and here she was before him.
"Yes, Ping! She is the headmistress. Do you need something from her? Oh, right, where did you go earlier?" James asked.
"Nothing... I just wanted to take a walk around the campus a bit!" Xiao Ping said as he looked at the headmistress whom he had refused to shake hands with earlier and said, "I wanted to search beforehand!"
"For what?" the headmistress said as she adjusted her monocle and scrutinized Xiao Ping.
"It's just... I was trying to find a job opening!" Xiao Ping said.
"So?" the headmistress said.
"So, I want to apply for the late gardener's position!" Xiao Ping said.
"What? Didn't we already form a work partnership?" James said, surprised.
"..." Xiao Ping did not answer James's question and only looked at the headmistress.
"Do you know it's a strenuous job with low pay and there are some conditions!" the headmistress finally responded to the job application.
"I don't care about the low pay, so don't worry about that. I just want to know: what are the conditions!?" Xiao Ping said.
"Do you really understand what you're saying? It's a job with a salary of one silver lira per month! And the conditions are a bit difficult... so are you still sure?" the headmistress asked when she saw Xiao Ping's insistence.
'You call getting one silver lira per month low pay? One silver lira is about 1,000 copper liras! No, no... that doesn't matter now. What matters is that I take this job at any cost! I must protect that legacy below! I'm sure I'll gain something valuable from it,' Xiao Ping thought to himself while saying, "As I said before, I don't care about the money. What are the conditions?"
'Why is Ping so insistent on getting another job? I remember he had five gold liras just yesterday! Could he have spent them all?..... No, that's impossible for someone like him... something suspicious is going on,' James thought to himself as he stood by, observing from the side.
"As you wish! Mr. Xiao Ping! Follow me to the office to discuss the conditions!" the headmistress said as she turned and walked toward the university.
'Why not just finish it here?' Xiao Ping grumbled to himself as he followed her, with the silent James behind.
They entered the first floor, then climbed the stairs to the second floor behind the headmistress, walked down the long corridor, then turned right toward the headmistress's office.
When she opened its door, many bookshelves meticulously arranged under the chandelier light in the middle of the room were revealed. There was a window overlooking the campus's back courtyard.
There was a medium-sized, elegant desk in front of the shelves, with some scattered documents and books on it, a coffee cup, and a quill in a blue inkwell. Two chairs were in front of that desk.
The lanterns carefully hung in the corners provided excellent lighting for the desk and the room as well.
Xiao Ping and James stood behind the headmistress, who slowly advanced and then sat at the desk, saying, "Please, have a seat!"
James sat down, then Xiao Ping, who closed his black umbrella and, due to the lack of an umbrella stand, placed it between his legs.
He tilted his head slightly and said, "And now, Madam Eleanor, what are the conditions?" Xiao Ping quickly got to the heart of the conversation.
The headmistress removed her monocle and placed it on the desk, saying, "Simply put, they concern your gardening and plant care skills, adherence to campus rules... and your attendance schedule!"
"Oh, is that so!" Xiao Ping said, pretending skillfully.
On the other side, James said nothing... and remained silent.
"Yes, so you will attend every Sunday, Monday, and Thursday to care for the plants!" the headmistress said.
"Excuse me, but if I wanted to attend on days other than these, would that be a problem?" Xiao Ping asked.
"No... but we would pay you extra for that!" the headmistress said with a smile.
'Nonsense! Who needs your money?' Xiao Ping grumbled inwardly and said, "I stand by my word... I don't care about money, so this suits me! Also, can I take that hut as my residence?"
"Absolutely! It will be your lodging!" the headmistress said.
"Then it's settled!" Xiao Ping said as he stood up.
"Wait! You must sign this contract to prevent any liabilities to the university should anything happen to you!" the headmistress said quickly, raising a contract paper toward Xiao Ping.
'You... I'm not crazy like that gardener!' Xiao Ping settled himself back into the chair, took the quill, and signed the contract, without even knowing what was written in it.
"Well, from today onward, you are the gardener of our university, Cransevelion University!" the headmistress said.
"I will be at your service!" Xiao Ping said as he stood up, with James rising behind him, and they headed for the exit. But before they left, they heard the headmistress's voice saying, "See you tomorrow at eleven!"
"Let's hope so!" Xiao Ping said as he left with James.
"Yes, let's hope so!" the headmistress said as a faint smile appeared on her face. She then took out a picture from her desk drawer—it showed a giant figure with its hands open like scales.
"By the will of the Supreme Ruler!" the headmistress said, and then uttered strange, incantation-like words as if praying.
...
On the outskirts of the western side of the river, in Crimson Vein Street... a street stained with a dark red hue along its path.
There was a puppet theater, with an audience of young and old sitting on wooden benches, waiting for the show. The theater did not distinguish between rich and poor; everyone had come tonight to watch the long-awaited play.
And suddenly... the curtain rose slowly, revealing the darkness of the stage, arousing the audience's curiosity about what would happen in this special performance.
The story began with the narrator's voice behind the curtain:
"On a night when the beautiful crimson moon meets its eternal lover, the darkness... someone emerges trying to ruin this moment. So the moon sends its followers to stop this intruder."
A puppet wearing a round black hat emerged, moving with invisible strings with extreme care. It looked toward the crimson eclipse painted on the theater backdrop and said in a firm whisper:
"Damn! I must stop this quickly!"
But suddenly... it stopped. It heard two voices coming from the darkness.
"No... you will not stop the performance of our great Ruler!"
A puppet with long red hair dangling from its wooden head appeared.
"True! You will never stop the Ruler's performance... ever!"
Another puppet appeared with a tall hat and holding a small violin.
Then the narrator's voice returned:
"The one who wanted to interrupt the Ruler's moment tried to advance, but the followers stood in his way. And after rounds of confrontation... he finally managed to defeat them!"
"No! Why?!" a child from the audience cried out in sadness, followed by scattered sighs.
At that moment... the puppet with the black hat was lifted by its string, soaring high toward the crimson moon. The audience held their breath, hoping the Ruler's moment would not be interrupted.
And suddenly... as if their wish was granted by pure coincidence, a new puppet appeared with bat wings and holding a bloody spear. It threw the spear with force... piercing the flying puppet in mid-ascent.
The puppet fell, whispering its last words:
"Long live the Supreme Ruler... and may he forgive my sins."
The crimson moon replied in a loud, arrogant voice:
"Arise now... you are not mistaken. Welcome under my command."
And at that moment...
The curtain suddenly fell, leaving everyone in heavy silence.
End of Chapter~To be continued