Chapter 134: Getting One's Wish

Du Zhengyi parked the car at a fork in the road, pulled the handbrake, and said, "You wait for me in the car."

Luo Qi hurriedly grabbed him, "Practical lesson, take me."

Du Zhengyi looked at him hesitantly, wanting to say no.

The back door was opened and closed with a "bang," and both of them were stunned, turning to see that Majiang's seat was already empty. Only Guan Xinyue remained in the back seat, looking hesitant, unsure of where she should go.

Luo Qi didn't care anymore, seized the opportunity, and followed him out of the car. Seeing that Du Zhengyi had also gotten out, Guan Xinyue hurriedly followed as well.

Majiang was stretching his limbs beside the car, walked a few more steps to loosen up, and said with a yawn, "Luo Qi, come over for class."

"What?" Luo Qi looked at him cautiously, "What do you want? Do you want me to help you break tree branches or something? What kind of class can you hold here?"

Majiang looked at him with a strange smile, but turned to say to Du Zhengyi, "You really lack basic trust in others."

Du Zhengyi looked at him expressionlessly; in fact, Majiang had hit the nail on the head regarding his problem. Unfortunately, knowing one has this problem doesn't necessarily mean one can change it. Du Zhengyi's lack of confidence in others was mostly because, in reality, no one could keep up with him; it was better for him to do it in one go than to waste the effort correcting others and salvaging losses. In other words, Du Zhengyi didn't care.

Luo Qi, however, had shifted to a different line of thought and said defensively, "I have never felt that Du Zhengyi doesn't trust me, you'd better stop spouting nonsense."

As soon as the words were out, he felt Du Zhengyi glance at him. He turned his head and saw a hint of something indescribable on Du Zhengyi's calm face.

Majiang couldn't help but laugh, and said to Du Zhengyi with a double meaning, "Do you see it? Actually, the most suspicious person who doesn't trust anyone is Luo Qi. The four of us are already completely standing together, and the fact remains that I am the one sheltering the three of you, yet even so, Luo Qi still doesn't consider me one of his own at all. I can predict that if you leave, Luo Qi will absolutely not accept my help."

Luo Qi raised his head, habitually looking at Du Zhengyi first, but he couldn't understand what Du Zhengyi's expression meant. He also didn't know why the Doctor wanted to say these things, but after thinking about it, he decided he couldn't take the risk. "If I was a bit impolite, I apologize." After saying this, he decided to act cute and added, "I've always been a good kid."

Majiang looked into his eyes with a slight smile, which made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"I was originally going to help you, you little idiot," Majiang said. "The wariness of a herbivore like you is truly annoying."

Luo Qi didn't expect to be spoken to like that, but upon reflection, he faintly felt that Majiang wasn't wrong. He was indeed different from those who had been confident since childhood; he had always lacked that innate boldness, lacked the spirit to easily forgive others and trust them.

Memories of being bullied and mocked in childhood often surfaced, still carrying a spicy taste years later. He had barely survived by relying on a bit of cleverness, hiding under a shell of humor to make himself feel better and to make people more tolerant of him.

Even now, he still hadn't adapted to the fact that he was no longer a dwarf; he couldn't forgive his parents, and he was somewhat unable to trust this world. Indeed, if Du Zhengyi were not here, he would never be willing to associate with Majiang, nor would he be willing to stay with Guan Xinyue.

"Telepaths, always being loathed by Orthodox Mages, it really makes sense."

Luo Qi was startled, and it took a full few seconds before he realized it was Du Zhengyi speaking.

He looked at Du Zhengyi in surprise. Du Zhengyi's expression was as ugly as if he were holding back from taking action. Just when he thought both he and Majiang were about to get beaten up, Du Zhengyi shook his head, "You bunch of mind-reading idiots."

Just as Luo Qi wanted to say something, and Majiang was about to protest, Du Zhengyi vanished from between them in a flash.

"Damn," Majiang said loudly, "Is being able to use Spatial Teleportation something to be proud of?"

Luo Qi was dumbfounded for a while, and finally decided to abandon Majiang and Guan Xinyue and walk into the mountains by himself. Anyway, since Du Zhengyi parked the car here, he must have wanted to take the only small path into the mountains.

Guan Xinyue was in a dilemma behind him for a while, and Luo Qi heard her ask anxiously, "What exactly is going on? What's wrong with you all?"

Luo Qi quickened his pace, intending to simply shake the two of them off; it would be best if he got lost in the mountains.

Unfortunately, the mountain was not truly treacherous; the trees were dense but not deep, and there was only one mountain path, so it wasn't easy to get lost. Majiang followed steadily behind him, and even Guan Xinyue followed at the rear.

"Luo Qi," Majiang called him from behind.

He didn't answer, just walked quickly through the mountains. His pace grew faster and faster; after all, he was a Mage, and even if he couldn't reach Du Zhengyi's speed, his physical fitness was far superior to that of a human. Majiang, however, had to look after Guan Xinyue's pace and couldn't walk too fast, so he gradually fell behind Luo Qi.

Luo Qi had been having a bad time these days; he had been depressed ever since receiving his mother's letter, and Du Zhengyi's inexplicable demand that he learn from Majiang made him even more depressed. He had never wanted to learn things he wasn't good at since childhood, let alone learn from Majiang. Du Zhengyi was right about one thing: he and Majiang were both damn Telepaths. Humans who were completely blind in their Yajian could still sense each other's malice, and the slightest bit of hostility and distrust between two Telepaths was like having an amplifier attached.

Furthermore, there was that wretched little southern courtyard, so cramped it made him depressed; he was about to go crazy.

Suddenly, he realized he had started running, and was running faster and faster. He ran desperately, as if he could shake off all his unhappiness, as if he could escape those depressions, as if running faster would allow him to shake off the version of himself he found most annoying.

His chest stung, yet he felt exhilarated. Sunlight poured down through the gaps above his head. He suddenly reached out to grab a tree branch, leaped up to step on a higher branch, and used all his strength to jump onto a fork in a tree trunk further away. He ran among the trees, power continuously surging forth, allowing him to run faster. He hadn't had such power before; he only had time to think about this when he was completely deep in the forest.

At this moment, he was shocked to discover that he had actually gotten his wish.

The great, glorious, and always correct Luo Qi had successfully gotten himself lost.

He stood in the middle of a bifurcated tree, looking back at the sea of trees behind him with a mix of surprise and melancholy. As far as his eyes could see, there was absolutely no trace of a path to follow.

For a long time, Luo Qi didn't think about a way out; his internal mental theater was busy staging a fierce production of which type of Magic Du Zhengyi would use to kill him once he dragged him out of the forest.

It was unknown how much time had passed before he came back to his senses to face the problem. A faint rustling sound came from behind him, like a snake climbing up a tree branch.