Chapter 129: A Messy Affair

Luo Qi tremblingly poured himself a glass of Sprite; bubbles splashed everywhere, with half the drink pouring into the glass and the other half spilling messily onto the table.

Luo Qi looked up at Du Zhengyi beside him, let out a breath, and a hint of relief appeared on his face. He reached out to pick up the glass of Sprite and examined it carefully.

Guan Xinyue came in from the front courtyard while chatting with Majiang. Luo Qi looked up at Majiang expectantly. Guan Xinyue hopped over to his side, glanced at the spilled Sprite on the table, and said, "Is this a sequela of a cerebral thrombosis, Luo Qi?"

Luo Qi had been feeling restless and irritable after being cooped up in the square courtyard enclosed by the small building all afternoon. Although he had finally managed to barely control the direction of his power, the fruits of victory had come far too late. After making a fool of himself all afternoon, he didn't even know if he had actually improved compared to before. Du Zhengyi had been reading on the side the whole time, and just as it was getting dark, he had suddenly found his aim. In his heart, he was actually uneasy, suspecting that Du Zhengyi on the side had still helped him a little in secret. After all, when Du Zhengyi used his abilities, he was almost completely silent, with no signs visible at all. If Du Zhengyi had secretly helped him out of kindness to boost his confidence, he would be too embarrassed to ask Du Zhengyi directly.

As for Guan Xinyue, she had been busy mocking him all afternoon, and he was already annoyed to the point of exasperation. Yet Du Zhengyi had said that when truly using Mage abilities, it was rarely during the comforting moments of daily life; for instance, in combat or while fighting for survival, the environmental parameters at such times were inherently dynamic. To put it in plain language, there would always be someone interfering with his use of Magic, so having Guan Xinyue distracting him on the side was a good thing. Therefore, although he was not a person good at concentrating, he didn't say anything and spent most of his energy on blocking out Guan Xinyue's interference.

Now, looking at Guan Xinyue ridiculing him with a face full of glee, he couldn't hold back his anger anymore. "You really are suited to be a Battle Mage; you can talk a person to death with just your mouth, and words turn into knives the moment they reach your lips."

Guan Xinyue was taken aback and started to feel a bit aggrieved. She had actually been very happy; everyone was together, Luo Qi had finally finished his business, and everyone could sit down to eat dinner together.

Majiang saw that the atmosphere was all wrong and quickly said, "Hey, Luo Qi, you're losing your temper with a young girl—have you no shame?"

Luo Qi also felt that something was off to some extent. He had always been unwilling to have conflicts with others, nor was he willing to have serious arguments, let alone the fact that the other party was indeed a girl younger than him. But he couldn't bring himself to apologize either. Plus, he had concentrated for an entire afternoon, and the energy and physical strength he had expended were no less than that of a surgeon who had just finished an operation. He was now so tired that he couldn't even speak, and he just wanted to let it go.

Luo Qi avoided looking at Guan Xinyue's face and said with a dejected expression, "Why should I yield to a young girl? This is gender equality; me retorting to her is showing her respect."

"Alright, the girl has a sharp tongue but a soft heart; she's just straightforward in character," Majiang said.

Luo Qi didn't speak, secretly thinking it would be better to go back to the bedroom upstairs to catch up on sleep. He had been sleep-deprived, having only slept for two hours in the morning, and hadn't made up for it during the day.

Who would have thought that after Majiang finished that sentence, he would ask with a grin, "Did you really move the dirt into the pit? It wasn't Du Zhengyi who helped you? I let Guan Xinyue watch you; even though you didn't use a shovel, you can't fake it with a Mage either—do you think Guan Xinyue can't tell? You can't always use Du Zhengyi as a crutch; you need to learn to walk on your own, you know?"

This sentence hit exactly on Luo Qi's suspicion. He subconsciously glanced at Du Zhengyi and noticed that Du Zhengyi was slightly frowning, as if he had also been hit by what Majiang said. Luo Qi felt completely dejected now. Even though he already knew he was a Telepath, he was useless at everything else besides Telepathy. He had tried his hardest to test all afternoon, but in the end, he hadn't been able to obtain a higher certification. He was indeed inseparable from Du Zhengyi; if he had to rely on Du Zhengyi's reinforcement to barely act like a normal Mage, how much difference was there from before? Before, he was a low-ability Mage; now, he was a crippled Mage.

Filled with dejection, he looked up and saw Guan Xinyue glaring at him with her face tilted up triumphantly. All his pent-up fire rushed toward Guan Xinyue. "What do you mean by 'sharp tongue but soft heart'? Being vicious is called a sharp tongue and a soft heart? What do you mean by 'straightforward'? Being self-centered and relying on putting others down to find a sense of superiority—that's what you call straightforward."

Guan Xinyue's face turned bright red, as if she were about to cry.

Luo Qi suddenly felt it was meaningless; if Guan Xinyue cried, it would be even more meaningless. Girls were just troublesome; they could talk about you, but you couldn't talk about them, otherwise they would either go crazy with anger or cry. In any case, it was always the boys who were unlucky; girls were right when they were right, and they were still right when they were wrong. What was the point of him arguing with her here? It would be better to go back to his room and sleep.

In any case, Majiang was staring at him and blinking, wary of the girl's crying tactic, looking as if he didn't dare to say anything either way. Finally, he squeezed out a solemn sentence: "Luo Qi!"

Luo Qi slumped his shoulders, feeling that it was useless for a man to live a few more years; Majiang was just useless. "I'm going to sleep, goodnight."

"What?" Majiang said in confusion, feeling that Luo Qi was truly skilled at sudden, unpredictable moves.

"Wait," Guan Xinyue suddenly shouted, her face flushed red.

"What for?" Luo Qi turned his head back and asked listlessly.

"I bought food back this morning, and you didn't even eat! Everyone is having a barbecue tonight, and I've been preparing things for days, and you still won't eat! Do you want to show some respect for the fruits of my labor?" Guan Xinyue said emotionally.

Luo Qi still had a dejected face, not even lifting his eyelids, and said indifferently, "Then do you want to stop being so self-centered? Respect my need to just sleep right now."

"Luo Qi!" Majiang called his name again. "Guan Xinyue is concerned about you, hoping you eat on time. Can't you understand such a small thing? It's not like it's your first day knowing her; isn't her way of expressing herself just a bit awkward?"

"Thanks, I still prefer gentle, sweet, and innocent girls who say what they mean and are preferably a bit more understanding, instead of being so bossy and annoying."

Luo Qi said, turning his head to continue walking upstairs.

Guan Xinyue cried after all, turning and running outside.

Majiang shouted after her twice but couldn't stop her. "Damn it, why do one, two, three of them all leave through this side gate? I'm going to seal this door tomorrow."

Du Zhengyi, who had been silent on the side, finally said, "Luo Qi, go call Guan Xinyue back."

Majiang looked at Du Zhengyi gratefully, but Luo Qi let out a "humph," headed straight for the stairs, and didn't pay him any mind at all.

Majiang stared in astonishment at the stairwell where Luo Qi had disappeared, until a "bang" of a door slamming shut came from upstairs. Majiang turned his head and looked at Du Zhengyi in shock. "Did you see that? The first person to dare slam a door at you! Although he locked the door, aren't you going to Teleport up there and beat him?"

"You're the one who told me not to use energy casually, Doctor."