Chapter 114

"My name is Wen Lin," the woman said.

"I know you are trapped. Fan Shi is currently mobilizing the Great Mages. By the time he personally brings the head Mages of each department over, you won't even be able to maintain your current situation. So I am giving you a suggestion: on the seventh floor, the top floor of the shopping mall you are currently in, there is a Wushan. It is a shop opened by a friend of mine."

"What?" Luo Qi finally shouted. "Now is not the time to develop clients, is it? Is your friend under that much sales pressure this month?"

The woman ignored Luo Qi and continued solemnly, "The Goddess there is my friend; she will let you in. I have said all I have to say; whether you accept my suggestion or not is up to you. If you are willing to trust me, perhaps we can continue to talk more."

The woman finished speaking crisply and ended the call without waiting for Luo Qi to answer.

Luo Qi was completely falling apart; he turned his head to look at Du Zhengyi. "Can you believe it? She just hung up the phone like that. Did you hear what she said?"

Du Zhengyi frowned in thought while pushing Luo Qi into a general store. Many young people who looked like students were gathered here, and the store's shelves were packed densely. Luo Qi stood next to a rack of sunglasses and tried on several pairs, finally catching sight of two lean, tall men passing by the door in the mirror.

"Actually, what she said makes sense," Du Zhengyi said suddenly.

A pair of glasses Luo Qi was wearing slid down the bridge of his nose. "You want to relax?"

"This person named Wen Lin is very smart," Du Zhengyi said seriously, ignoring his insinuation.

"Why do you say that?" Luo Qi picked out another pair of glasses.

"So-called Goddesses, or goddesses, are usually Telepaths of not very high rank," Du Zhengyi said quickly in a low voice, as if hoping Luo Qi would grasp the essence immediately. "They provide clients with stimulation that acts directly on the brain's nerves, sometimes including fantasies that do not exist in reality."

"And then we can forget our troubles in super pleasure and live in a drunken dream?" Luo Qi said skeptically. "Are we both that desperate today?"

Du Zhengyi glared at him for a long moment before saying, "I forgot you are only in the Third Grade and a semi-illiterate at that. Do you still remember what I told you about the Lone Mountain Holy Temple?"

"Oh..."

Before Luo Qi could finish his sentence, he received a rap on the head.

"I remember, I remember," Luo Qi said, rubbing his reddened forehead. "I suddenly figured it out. They need a place that can isolate external energy interference to ensure good results. Their Wushan is equivalent to the First Laboratory, right?"

"It doesn't reach that level, but it's similar. They must have spent quite a few credits buying energy-shielding materials for the renovation. If we find that place on foot and then Teleport away from there, those hunting us won't be able to detect it immediately," Du Zhengyi said.

Luo Qi did not answer immediately; he was wearing a pair of sunglasses identical in style to Du Zhengyi's, looking at him through the ink-colored lenses. "Your glasses are actually Gucci? Effeminate."

He regretfully put down his own pair, which was priced at only eighty yuan. He was increasingly willing to imitate Du Zhengyi, whether in his way of speaking or his movements. He knew himself that this was the childish behavior of a little boy imitating a big brother, but he would never admit it.

"However..." Du Zhengyi said.

"However, it could also just be a trap," Luo Qi interjected. "Wen Lin must have other motives. At her age, she really isn't suited to playing the 'innocent and sweet' act. Saying she thanks me for letting her go—could it really be that we've met, smiled, and let go of our grudges?"

Du Zhengyi looked at him with slight surprise, thought for a moment, and said, "She isn't that old, only a few years older than me. But you were right about the 'innocent and sweet' act—you're an expert at playing that yourself."

"I can't tell if you're complimenting me, so I'll just let it go. Then what have you decided to do?" Luo Qi asked.

"First of all, this is a good opportunity, and I don't want to let it go. The fact that she can use Liu Ziyu as a guarantor, has many friends in Qionglin, and has such a friendship with the Goddess here is truly unusual. Mages with such extensive connections are rare; I am a bit curious about her."

"What if this is all a set-up?" Luo Qi asked. Du Zhengyi had already turned and walked outside, and he followed closely behind.

"Do you remember her last sentence?" Du Zhengyi said.

"That if I were more flattering, she would be willing to talk more?" Luo Qi asked.

"Don't use these second-hand meanings you've interpreted yourself," Du Zhengyi said. "Her exact words were: if we are willing to trust her, we can talk more."

Luo Qi's thoughts spun around, and suddenly the view ahead widened. He captured the part he had overlooked and said with a sudden realization, "She wants to talk—that's the point?"

"She must be on the top floor," Du Zhengyi said. He pulled Luo Qi into the stairwell, went up one floor by stairs, and then boarded an empty elevator that went straight to the seventh floor.

"Looks like I really didn't do much to her if she can still jump around this happily," Luo Qi said, recalling the brief process of attacking her Yajian. The desire for survival in her Yajian had been very strong, almost begging. "But she was terrified."

Du Zhengyi glanced at him. "You are quite terrifying."

"I was terrified too," Luo Qi said unhappily.

"Even if terrified, she didn't pass up the chance to see us; this person is interesting. I think she must have something she wants," Du Zhengyi said.

While speaking, they had already reached the top floor. Du Zhengyi scanned the surroundings and finally looked toward the southeast corner. "Except for that tattoo shop, there are no traces of Mages anywhere else. She really did clear them out."

"It's also possible they are all lying in ambush inside the Wushan Tattoo shop, just that your detection ability is blocked by the thick walls of the brothel," Luo Qi said suspiciously. He watched the tattoo shop's sign from a distance with vigilance; in the center of the intertwined clover pattern was a skull, and on top of the skull was a bird—a deformed Golden Crow. In one corner of the sign, a dignified Indian woman was worshiping a pair of Happy Buddhas. This was a Wushan; that much could be confirmed.

"Let's gamble on it," Du Zhengyi said. "I am very curious about Wen Lin."

"I thought I was the curious one between the two of us," Luo Qi said, dragging his feet as he followed Du Zhengyi. "What kind of reward can this curiosity of yours get?"

"The reward is that I might get the chance to infiltrate Fan Shi's inner circle," Du Zhengyi smiled slightly. "I don't like being in a passive position all the time. I also want to know why our movements were discovered by Qionglin so quickly. Wen Lin is the person most likely to be close to the core."

"Fine." Luo Qi knew he had basically been persuaded by Du Zhengyi, and besides, he would follow Du Zhengyi no matter what. He put his mask back on and pulled his hood tighter. "I want to warn them not to scare me, otherwise I'll have a Swallowing Heaven and Devouring Earth outburst. I guarantee I'll gnaw their brains off and let them taste what it's like to be a zombie."

They walked to the entrance of the tattoo shop, and a woman was waiting there; there was no one else in the shop.

That woman was not Wen Lin, but she was graceful and peerless. Luo Qi was glad he was still wearing his mask, so no one knew how wide his mouth had opened or what a stupid look of shock he had on his face.

Chapter 113: Wushan