The white-clad waiter deftly cut away the foil, cleaned off the sediment, and carefully extracted the cork with a wine key. The vintage and place of origin were stamped on its side.
A 2000 Le Pin.
Only after the wine had finished breathing did the waiter silently withdraw.
Fingel eagerly picked up the decanter and poured the rich wine into everyone's glasses. Finally, he licked his lips and poured himself a glass as well.
Only Constantine continued drinking soda. That was what made Caesar such pleasant company: he would treat you to rare, expensive wines, but he would also thoughtfully accommodate your personal habits.
"Can you tell us now?" Lu Mingfei asked.
He, Caesar, and Chu Zihang had only taken small sips of wine, leaving the food untouched. Only Fingel and Constantine, who had nothing to do with this discussion, devoted themselves to the meal.
"Principal Angers is an outstanding educator," Caesar began. "He wanted you to teach Chu Zihang and me a few things during Free Day, didn't he?"
Lu Mingfei nodded.
"That battle certainly left an impression on me, so I hope you'll join the Student Union as my teacher." Caesar placed heavy emphasis on "teacher."
"I also hope to improve further," Chu Zihang added immediately. "The Lionheart Society welcomes you as well."
Fingel had wanted to quip about whether they were asking for a teacher or forcing his hand, but one look at the two men's serious faces silenced him.
Lu Mingfei did not agonize over choosing between them. "I'll be teaching a practical combat course this semester. You can sign up."
Caesar and Chu Zihang exchanged a glance, inwardly stunned.
This was clearly Principal Angers's doing, and it went far beyond simply trusting Lu Mingfei. He was letting a student teach a course! Combined with the wager Lu Mingfei had mentioned on the Night Watch Forum, this confirmed that it would count toward academic credit, rather than being one of the student exchange sessions held in the past.
Making a freshman a professor?
And Lu Mingfei actually had the ability to do it.
Rather than the principal's illegitimate son, he seemed more like a dragon-slaying weapon the principal had secretly cultivated, hiding his true identity beneath a slacker's cover and lying low in a small Chinese city, waiting to be activated.
And this year's freshman intake marked the moment that dragon-slaying weapon would emerge.
Lu Mingfei had no idea that the two men opposite him were already on the verge of concocting an outlandish story about the principal discovering the dragons' secrets and creating a dragon-slaying machine to counter them.
"I can't say exactly when I'll schedule the classes, but what I teach should meet your needs," Lu Mingfei said. "As for clubs, I don't intend to join any."
"All right. I respect your choice. But there's one thing you should know: the Student Union's doors will always be open to you," Caesar said evenly.
"The same goes for the Lionheart Society." Chu Zihang nodded.
They had more or less reached an understanding, and by then, Fingel was nearly full. He leisurely swirled his wine and let out a burp, then suddenly realized everyone was staring at him. For once, he felt a trace of embarrassment and scratched his head.
"I'm just here for the food. I won't spill anything," he said meekly, ducking his head.
After dinner, Caesar and Chu Zihang left, and Lu Mingfei sat cross-legged on his bed to meditate.
Constantine turned on the computer again. Whether he was playing games or watching the pirated movies Fingel had downloaded for him was unclear.
A while later, Constantine suddenly called Lu Mingfei out of his meditation. He went over to the computer and looked at what Constantine wanted to show him.
It was a message from Old Tang.
"Bro, I've got some free time coming up. Want to come hang out? Are you busy?"
Lu Mingfei remembered that Old Tang had invited him before, saying he would take him around on Greyhound buses once he came to the United States.
"I'm busy, but thanks." Lu Mingfei typed his reply into the chat box, then stopped before sending it. Something occurred to him.
"Do you want to meet this person?" He turned to ask Constantine.
After spending so much time together, Lu Mingfei could tell that Constantine was not good at expressing himself-by worldly standards, he was timid.
Perhaps he had specifically called Lu Mingfei over to reply because he wanted to accept.
Constantine nodded.
Lu Mingfei deleted what he had typed and entered a new reply.
"Sure. Just let me know when."
Chapter 50: From That Day On, the King Refused to Listen or Speak
The Equipment Department, three floors underground.
It was an enclosed space encased in granite, with only a few extremely powerful lights arranged around the edges of the ceiling. Lu Mingfei, Angers, and Constantine sat on sofas prepared in advance. The surrounding walls had been soundproofed, and the room was frighteningly quiet. Anyone alone inside would likely feel engulfed by the sound of their own breathing and heartbeat.
Now, however, a faint rustling drifted in from far away, growing steadily more distinct, like rain swelling from scattered drops into a torrential downpour.
A metronome stood on the table in front of Angers. Its pendulum swung rhythmically, clicking at constant intervals.
Under his guidance, Constantine stared at the monotonous pendulum. Gradually, his eyes lost focus, and his body sank into the soft sofa. A specially designed support structure kept him from sliding off or lying down completely.
This was the method Angers had promised Lu Mingfei would make Constantine tell the truth-hypnosis. Sometimes people's brains deceived them, making them forget or distort part of their memories. Hypnosis could make them reveal the truth.
"Who are you?" Angers asked.
"Constantine..."
Angers immediately nodded to Lu Mingfei, indicating that the hypnosis had worked.
"Who is your older brother?" Lu Mingfei asked.
"Norton..."
"Where is he?"
"Sleeping... woke up, my brother was gone. Anywhere... I couldn't find him."
Lu Mingfei was not surprised by the answer. When he had questioned Constantine before, he had already felt that Constantine was not lying.
"Are you one of those who rule over Bronze and Fire?" Angers asked.
Constantine's expression changed, first to puzzlement, then confusion. "Father... was there... We were all so... afraid."
As he spoke the latter half, Constantine seemed to truly see something terrifying. Panic and fear filled his eyes like those of a young animal, and his body trembled slightly.
"Who is your father?"
Lu Mingfei noticed a change in Angers's bearing. Sitting on the sofa opposite Constantine, he straightened his back. Though dressed in nothing more than a suit, he had the imposing presence of a warrior clad in iron armor.
"I... don't know." Constantine's expression became confused again. "I don't know."
He repeated himself, as though the question had genuinely stumped him.
"Do you know what a 'Great Rune' is?" Lu Mingfei glanced at the solemn-faced Angers, then asked Constantine the next question.
"No."
"Are you a dragon or a human?" This question came from Angers. He had regained his composure, his tone level, but the Folding Knife was already in his hand.
"I am... I am... what?" Constantine actually asked a question in return while hypnotized, showing that he harbored profound doubts about this deep inside.
Angers spun the Folding Knife between his fingers, his eyes thoughtful. The blade moved faster and faster until it left afterimages, while the fierce light in his eyes grew stronger. Finally, he looked at Lu Mingfei, who had been calmly watching him all along, and slipped the Folding Knife back into his sleeve.
"He isn't Constantine. Constantine is already dead." Meeting Lu Mingfei's puzzled gaze, he sighed softly. "A Dragon King's heart is a heart that reigns supreme over heaven and earth."
"I thought we'd already agreed on that." Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow.
"All I said then was that he'd lost his power." Angers's expression did not change. "But to them, the heart matters more than power."
"You certainly know more about dragons than those records in the library."
Angers did not deny it. "I'm merely a pursuer," he said evenly. "Understanding the prey is a required lesson for any hunter."
"Well, Mr. Hunter, unfortunately, we still haven't obtained any useful intelligence this time." Lu Mingfei stopped the metronome used for the hypnosis. The swinging pendulum halted and settled to one side, abruptly cutting off the clicks that had seemed to mark equal intervals in the silent world.
"No, I've confirmed at least one thing." Angers smiled. "We may already possess the ability to truly kill a Dragon King."
Lu Mingfei knew what he meant. Angers said nothing more and left the room with the recording.
Great Rune.
It was an unfamiliar term Lu Mingfei had revealed to Angers twice, but Angers seemed either uninterested or unconvinced that investigating it was necessary.
Even if he had asked, Lu Mingfei would not have had much to say.
The concept of Great Runes came from another world. They were vessels for Order. As he was now, Lu Mingfei could not even sense the powers of the Outer Gods, let alone commune with the Golden Order.
The Outer Gods invaded the Lands Between by sending power or Order upon shooting stars, just as the Greater Will had done in the beginning. In other words, the Outer Gods associated with Scarlet Rot, Starlight, the Black Moon of the Eternal City's legends, the Death Rite and Ghostflame, the formless mother, and so on were all gods among the stars. Those who wielded their powers on the soil of the Lands Between were merely their kin and believers.
If Earth and the Lands Between lay beneath the same starry sky, yet even the powers of these gods hungry for expansion were absent here, that could only mean the two worlds were unimaginably far apart-perhaps even beyond each other's observable range.
Lu Mingfei lowered his head and pressed a hand to his chest, reaching out to the unseen Golden Order. All that answered him was still an abyssal darkness, precisely the sensation brought on by the boundless void.
According to legend, Azur, one of the primeval sorcerers, had glimpsed the origin of glintstone in the distant stars. He had seen darkness, and that dark abyss had consumed his mind and filled him with fear.
Lu Mingfei wondered whether that darkness resembled what he felt now.
Lately, another trace of unease had arisen in Lu Mingfei: if authority over the Golden Order still resided within him after his return to Earth, would the Lands Between erupt into war again because the king and Order had been severed? The only Empyrean who still seemed active in that world was Ranni, the Dark Moon Witch...
"Lu Mingfei?"
After waking, Constantine could not help calling out to Lu Mingfei, who was lost in thought.
Only then did Lu Mingfei come back to himself and realize his mind had wandered. As a warrior, he habitually reined in his thoughts so he could devote himself to the journey or battle at hand. But ever since obtaining the Dragon King's version of a "Great Rune" from Constantine, he had found himself drifting into memories and stray thoughts more often.
"I'm fine. We can leave now. Do you feel any discomfort?" His usual composure returned.
"From that day on, the king refused to listen or speak."
The Chapel of Anticipation.
The sleeping warrior awoke, wisdom and tranquility shining in her eyes.
With a wave of her hand, deep-blue mist enveloped her entire body. Her worn armor vanished, replaced by a pale-blue gown that resembled moonlight. A broad sorcerer's hat almost hid her face and shoulders.
She walked slowly to the lifeless maiden beside the door, crouched down, and touched the counsel that remained.
"Even if guidance has long since shattered, please become the Elden Lord."
The warrior remained silent. Only after a long while did she let out a faint sigh. "So this was where his journey began."
Chapter 51
On an ordinary day at Cassell College, an explosion rocked the campus. Late that night, brilliant flames shot into the sky, briefly illuminating the Equipment Department's aboveground buildings.