Chapter 115: Atakama

The name of the tattoo shop is Atakama. The shop's front door is wide open, and beside the door is a floor-to-ceiling glass display window. Inside the window, tree stumps of varying heights are arranged, looking like spring bamboo shoots that have sprouted after rain in a bamboo grove. Only, each stump is topped with an ancient idol: a Happy Buddha, a Japanese Tengu, an African deity with many breasts, and a variety of other gods whose names ordinary people usually cannot identify.

Behind the display window, the shop's interior features a dark red color scheme. The tattoo shop has a gallery-like style, with dozens of artistic tattoo drawings hung on walls covered in dark red wallpaper, all framed in exquisite frames. On one side is a lounge area with comfortable leather sofas, and on the other is a bar, the entire wall behind it lined with liquor bottles. In the center of this tattoo shop, a spiral geometric staircase leads directly to a mezzanine floor. However, in a shop like this, the visible mezzanine is surely an illusion; there must be a deeper, more profound place there.

This shop is, of course, not a tattoo shop; the business conducted here is also quite common in human society, counting as one of the oldest professions of mankind. Although in the Mage World, the actual events might be slightly different.

"Wushan" is the guild for this trade in the Mage World, a fact even Luo Qi knows. However, given his age and his Credit Points, he truly does not know much about Wushan. Ordinary people refer to the young women in the Wushan Guild as goddesses; Luo Qi had always assumed this was to fit the allusion of Wushan, or perhaps it was an honorific for the women in this trade, a sort of taboo avoidance.

But when Luo Qi was suddenly only inches away from a goddess, his mind suddenly recalled Duan Yu encountering the Fairy Sister in the cave at Wuliang Mountain. The foolishness of Duan Yu that he had mocked back when he was reading the book was something he could suddenly understand.

Luo Qi's gaze was completely captured by the goddess. Her beautiful eyes darted and lingered, and the smile at the corners of her mouth seemed to flicker with benevolent mockery, making him unable to stop himself from yearning from the bottom of his heart—yearning for her to speak to him. He would listen to every secret she was about to reveal as if he were listening to the sacred teachings of the Buddha; he would brave thorns and brambles for her; he would spread his cloak over the mud puddle at her feet. And just thinking about it, his heart was enveloped in supreme joy.

This state of delirious excitement lasted until Du Zhengyi impatiently jabbed his elbow into Luo Qi's ribs. Between the pain and the shock, he finally came to his senses and looked at Du Zhengyi in astonishment. He steadied himself before daring to look at the goddess again. This time, he was prepared, intending purely to see through her illusion, and only then did he realize she was not quite that perfect, but it was of no great use. She remained tall, extraordinary, and full of charm. There was no sycophancy in her eyes; she could not even be called coquettish, yet she remained dazzling and eye-catching. She was, indeed, a goddess.

"Interesting," Du Zhengyi said, appearing slightly impolite. "I thought my friend would always be able to escape an Illusion."

He was speaking to the goddess, Luo Qi realized sluggishly. He kept looking at the goddess, seeing her smile at Du Zhengyi's words; that smile lit up her vibrant face, making her glow with radiance.

"Mr. Du, I did not use any energy to hypnotize anyone," she said with a smile. "But you are right, I am also a Telepath. For thousands of years, Wushan has been studying the mind; the ability of Telepathy allows us to better collect data. The subtle movements at the corners of your eyes and brows, the tilt of your body, your every blink, every minute adjustment of your facial muscles—in my eyes, they are all like an instruction manual written in text. I was just responding unconsciously; I truly hope you don't mind."

"No energy used, that is true," Du Zhengyi said, his tone appearing somewhat cold and ruthless in front of such a goddess. "But it is still hypnosis."

The goddess's brows furrowed slightly, but her eyes remained bright, flickering with a smile that was half-mischievous and half-curious. "Since it is hypnosis, why is Mr. Du so unmoved? Ah, not even your pulse has quickened by half a beat. Wen Lin did not say who you were, but I guess you must be an Advanced Combat Mage. Aside from the Old Mages who meditate on the Dao and those Combat Machines, who else could control their body to such a state?"

Combat Machines? Luo Qi looked at her in confusion. She sensed it immediately, and her smile became sincere and moving. "I like you," she said, a trace of an imperceptible command in her tone. "Take off your mask; I want to look at you more honestly."

Luo Qi trembled. He certainly still remembered why he had to wear a mask, but disobeying the goddess's wish made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Come here," the goddess reached out a hand to him, both proud and gentle. "Come to me, otherwise I won't tell you a single secret."

Luo Qi took a deep breath. He walked forward a few steps, closing the distance between him and the woman. The goddess smiled slightly. "You are an interesting person."

"Um..." Luo Qi swallowed nervously. "It is said that you can do us a favor."

"My name is Ata," the goddess looked at him earnestly. Her eyes still held that calm and joyful expression, but she did not answer his question.

"Uh, Ata." Luo Qi repeated the name mechanically. He was very nervous, but also very happy. He had almost forgotten what profession this woman was in; there was no sycophancy in her eyes, no sycophancy in her manners, and her soul did not seem to fawn over anyone. To be favored by such a woman... a goddess... to have her gaze fixed upon him, was in itself a supreme sense of achievement. He heard himself say involuntarily, "Why is it Ata? No, I mean, is your name Atakama? That name... uh... is quite strange."

"Atakama is a desert, the driest place in this world, and also God's garden," the goddess said with a smile. Her slender palm finally landed on Luo Qi's hand.

"Why is the desert God's garden?" Luo Qi could not help but ask. His nature made him more attracted to such language, almost surpassing the fact that a beautiful woman was holding his hand. The goddess led him slowly forward, and he didn't even realize he was stepping onto the stairs.

"Seeds sleep beneath the sea of sand. Whether it is ten years or decades, as long as God sends a heavy rain down upon Atakama, the plants will seize the opportunity, and overnight the desert becomes an endless sea of flowers. This is God's garden," the goddess said.

"How long do the flowers bloom?" Luo Qi asked.

"They wither very quickly and produce seeds. The seeds then sleep again beneath the sea of sand, waiting for the next call from God," the goddess said, looking into Luo Qi's eyes with empathy. "Although it is a bit sad."

"It truly is," Luo Qi sighed. "In the future, I want to go see God's garden."

This time, the goddess truly smiled. "If you are a person favored by God, you will certainly see it."

"It doesn't have to be God, though." Luo Qi scratched his head with his other free hand and turned back to say to Du Zhengyi, who was following behind, "You can definitely make it rain, right? Even in the desert, I bet you definitely could."

"What is the point of human intervention?" Du Zhengyi said. "Anything that defies nature is meaningless."

"An interesting high-minded theory," Goddess Ata said. "No wonder Wen Lin wants to see you."

Luo Qi could not help but look at Du Zhengyi.

"But," Ata said, lifting her head with a smile, "this is Wushan, not Qionglin. In my mountain, there are my rules. If you do not wish to see her, you do not have to; I will send you away."