Chapter 339: Chapter 338: Empire Inheritance, Fallen Princess Chapter 339: Chapter 338: Empire Inheritance, Fallen Princess “Bang! Bang bang bang!”
Facing the men rushing towards him, Richard’s movements were crisp and efficient–locking throats, elbow strikes, knee kicks, back throws…
Under the enhancements of the “Wind Force” and “Wind Light Spirit” Magic Runes, dealing with a group of untrained commoners was simply too easy.
Just after a brief encounter, those who had charged at him were laid out on the ground by Richard, screaming miserably.
Originally, more people had intended to rush forward to teach Richard a lesson and to show their leader their loyalty, but now, after witnessing Richard’s skills, they stopped in their tracks, exchanged glances with each other, and subconsciously began to back away.
The Bald Strong Man, acting as the leader, saw this and finally cursed irritably, “You bunch of trash, go on, beat him to death for me! Quick, hurry up…”
As the Bald Strong Man was speaking, his voice abruptly stopped because Richard had walked up to him. The Bald Strong Man’s henchmen had already backed away neatly into a corner, not even glancing at him, as if they were just bystanders.
Though the Bald Strong Man was furious and itching for revenge, he realized the situation was not in his favor and gulped nervously, switching to a new expression and looking at Richard with a smile plastered on his face, “That… brother, sir, I meant no offense, look…”
“Stay here, don’t move,” Richard commanded the Bald Strong Man.
“Eh?” The Bald Strong Man was taken aback, but the moment he felt the seriousness in Richard’s gaze, he nodded vigorously, “Understood, understood, I swear I won’t move.”
“That’s good,” Richard spoke softly, no longer paying attention to the Bald Strong Man and heading straight for the singing woman on the tavern’s wooden stage who had become frozen in fear.
The woman, trembling with more fear than those who had witnessed the fight, with a pale face, asked as Richard approached, “What… what do you want? I… I have a husband, and I have a son, I…”
A silver coin appeared, pinched between Richard’s fingers, and then he slapped it onto the wooden stage.
The woman was startled.
Richard spoke up, unwilling to waste words, blunt and direct, “I have no interest in you. However, the song you just played made me think of something very important. I hope you can play it once more. If you perform well, this silver coin is yours.”
“Er, that…” The woman started to say something else but noticing Richard’s slightly impatient expression, she immediately clammed up. She glanced at the shiny silver coin on the wooden stage, tempted, for she barely earned a few silver coins after toiling for a whole month. The next moment, without further ado, she began to play and sing.
The harp strings were plucked, and her voice floated out.
“…Cry, the Ancient Spirit Dance, offer, the Heng’er Yingyu…”
Richard slapped another silver coin out, startling the woman again, causing her singing to halt.
Richard said, “Start over from the beginning.”
“Uh, yes,” the woman obediently responded, took a deep breath, and started to sing and play again.
This time, Richard tapped along with the song on the wooden stage, providing accompaniment for the woman.
“…Snap, tap tap tap tap, snap, tap tap tap tap…”
“…Cry, the Ancient Spirit Dance, offer, the Heng’er Yingyu…”
Richard slapped out a third silver coin, his gaze sharp as he directed at the woman, “One more time!”
“Yes,” the woman played and sang for the third time, with Richard also tapping along, accompanying her song.
“…Snap, tap tap tap tap, snap, tap tap tap tap… snap, tap!”
Richard’s tapping stopped, certain now: it was this rhythm, this melody. The earworm that had tormented him, the tune that had been echoing in his ears, was the woman’s song!
Yes, it definitely was!
Previously, he had listened to the woman’s song numerous times, but he never paid close attention, so only his subconscious had stored the information. When the phrase from the Black Spirit Empire’s book was deciphered, it activated his subconscious, and in turn, triggered the earworm.
So, the secret hidden in the Black Spirit Empire’s book was this folk song?
Richard looked at the woman, his face serious, and asked, “Where does this song originate from?”
“I learned it from my mother,” the woman cautiously replied.
“No, that’s not what I meant… well, all right, where did your mother learn it from?”
“And who did your grandmother learn it from?”
“My great-grandmother…”
“…” Richard fell silent for a moment, then took a deep breath and said, “So, this song has been passed down in your family, right? Who was the first person to sing it?”
“In other words, how many years ago did your family start singing this song?”
“It should be about two to three hundred years ago, I guess,” the woman said uncertainly.
“At that time…” Richard’s eyes flickered, “At that time the East Coast wasn’t like it is now, right? It should have been under the rule of the Black Spirit Empire, correct?”
“Uh, this…” The woman looked bewildered, clearly not understanding history, “Maybe… maybe that’s right.”
The woman wasn’t sure, but Richard was certain.
Based on the timeline, two to three hundred years ago was indeed the era ruled by the Black Spirit Empire. The song that the woman sang should also be a folk song from that time.
In that case, everything came together.
The person who initially designed the secrets of the White Stone Tower and the Black Spirit King, for the sake of secrecy, hid key information in a folk song. And the tune of this folk song was hidden among many books. This would basically eliminate the possibility of someone randomly guessing or luckily deciphering the secret.
Then the question arose, what could be the key information hidden in the folk song?
Another silver coin slapped onto the wooden high stand.
Richard looked at the woman and asked, “This song you are playing and singing, what are the lyrics? In other words, what is the content? Don’t use that ancient language, translate it into words I can understand, and tell me.”
“This…” The woman’s face showed difficulty, “I don’t know.”
“Hm?” Richard raised an eyebrow.
The woman waved her hands in fear, “I really don’t know, I’m not lying to you. My mother taught me this song, she learned it from my grandmother, and she learned it from my great-grandmother, and then my great-great-grandmother…
In fact, long ago, my family no longer knew the meaning of this song, and we didn’t understand what the ancient language meant. We just sang it simply. It may be related to what you mentioned, the fall of that Black Spirit Empire, after all. With the empire gone, some of its ancient languages naturally went extinct. Even if they didn’t, only a very small number of people would know.”
Richard kept quiet because what the woman said obviously made sense.
But reason couldn’t be eaten as food, nor could it help in deciphering secrets. He had to find someone who understood the ancient language of the Black Spirit Empire.
The face of Great Scholar Socrates flashed through Richard’s mind, which he then dismissed.
Great Scholar Socrates was indeed erudite and might have some research on the ancient language of the Black Spirit Empire, but… Richard found it hard to trust him. Ever since receiving an invitation to an auction from him, Richard had suspected that there was more to Socrates’ identity, and this suspicion deepened when he recommended the Taboo Bookstore.
Admittedly, he didn’t think Great Scholar Socrates bore any malice towards him, but when it came to the secrets of the White Stone Tower and the Black Spirit King, it was better to be cautious.
So, whom should he approach?
Thoughts raced through Richard’s mind, and a moment later, a name surfaced.
Among the few people he had come across, there indeed was someone more suitable than Socrates to handle this matter.
In a sense, this person carried the blood lineage of the Black Spirit Empire and enjoyed the wealth left by it. Perhaps the glory of the Black Spirit Empire was no more, but this person was a testament to its existence. If this person didn’t know the ancient language, then likely no one would.
“… She is wealthy, her father is wealthy, her relatives are wealthy–her entire family is wealthy! The country she lives in is… a remnant of the once mighty Empire…”
“… The Empire unified the entire East Coast, plundered a lot of wealth, all buried underground… she… lacks nothing but money…”
Baki’s words echoed in Richard’s mind. Richard exhaled and, with his expression turning serious, murmured deliberately, as if speaking to himself, “Rose!”