Chapter 145: Ouroboros

"Mandala." A whisper came from behind them.

Luo Qi turned his head and looked at Majiang in surprise, "What did you say?"

Majiang was drawn over by their conversation and also looked at the snake-shaped totem, its body twisted into an ∞, swallowing its own tail. "Its meaning is Mandala; in ancient Mage medicine, it represents an energy center. I saw it in a book in the school Library. Oh, right, the name of this thing is Ouroboros."

Ouroboros? Luo Qi was startled; it was a nice name, "Isn't this a mathematical symbol for humans? In mathematics, doesn't it represent infinity?"

"This symbol is much older than the mathematical concept," Majiang said slowly, "The first day determines the last day, just as the snake's tail should return to the snake's mouth; it ends at the same moment it is born."

"What is this? Is it your Secret Language?" Guan Xinyue asked with some awe.

"No," Majiang shook his head, "It's from a book left behind by a Mage from another continent a long time ago, titled *Letters to a Friend*."

"Never read it," Luo Qi said regretfully.

"I haven't read it either," Du Zhengyi said, "Majiang is a Doctor; the number of ancient texts he has read is beyond what an ordinary person can compare to."

"It's not an important book anyway," Majiang said, "However, the image of the Ouroboros is actually found all over the world. I remember that the Mages living on the Highland also have the Ouroboros mark."

"Tibet?" Luo Qi said in surprise. Only a very small number of their Mages lived in Tibet, and most lived in seclusion, rarely dealing with the Qionglin. "Is it also carved near the Public Post Station? If this symbol represents an energy center, carving it on a Public Post Station would make sense. But why is the Ouroboros also carved in the temple dedicated to the Great Black Heaven? That temple isn't a Public Post Station, right?"

His last question was directed at Du Zhengyi. Du Zhengyi nodded affirmatively, "It is not a Public Post Station. I couldn't even feel any special power there."

"It's not exactly the same thing," Majiang said from the side. "As far as I know, this Ouroboros emblem is called the Endless Knot by the Highland Mages, and its meaning represents the cycle of life and death."

Du Zhengyi suddenly glanced at Majiang, his expression unreadable. Luo Qi vaguely felt Du Zhengyi's emotions fluctuate for an instant, and he felt inexplicably afraid; at this point, he was practically a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring. "Is it a Curse? Yesterday, just after Du Zhengyi arrived here, he experienced a narrow escape from death; it was practically a cycle of life and death. Should I grind this Ouroboros away?"

Majiang had been lost in thought, but he couldn't help but laugh, "Luo Qi, you..." He couldn't continue; the estrangement from Luo Qi was ultimately hard to maintain, and in the end, it could only turn into helplessness, "Can you let us be serious for a moment?"

"Exactly," Guan Xinyue chimed in, "You're destroying public property. Do you know that's like a Barbarian carving their name on a Pyramid?"

After laughing, Majiang continued, "The meaning of the Ouroboros is roughly equivalent to immortality. According to the Highland Mages, the Ouroboros is a supreme being, capable of self-reference and infinite cycles."

Luo Qi pondered this after hearing it, "So it means it's really badass?"

Majiang was annoyed by his crude and simple summary, but he couldn't say he was wrong.

"So Da Hei marking Ouroboros everywhere means he's really badass and awesome, awesome enough to jump out of the Five Elements and step beyond the boundaries of life and death?" Luo Qi said with an incredulous look, "Is there such a badass Mage?"

Neither Majiang nor Du Zhengyi spoke. Guan Xinyue waited a moment and couldn't help but say, "Da Hei wants to start a cult; which god doesn't claim to have stepped beyond the boundaries of life and death? If they didn't say that, how could they have any followers?"

This time, Luo Qi felt that what Guan Xinyue said made a lot of sense, and he nodded repeatedly.

Du Zhengyi carefully examined the area again and shook his head, "Forget it, let's not delay any longer. Let's leave here."

Luo Qi was eager to leave immediately, "You told her to contact you on WeChat next time, right? Let's go quickly; I don't want to get near this kind of place ever again."

Du Zhengyi didn't answer, and Majiang tapped him on the head.

The return trip was calm and uneventful; the plan to go shopping with Guan Xinyue had fallen through. Guan Xinyue wasn't in very high spirits either, saying she didn't want to go out anymore and just wanted to go back and lie on her own bed.

When they returned to the Ancient Town in the evening, even Luo Qi felt it was quite welcoming; he had originally wanted to stay in Du Zhengyi's detached, unfinished building. Now, having gone through such an unprovoked disaster, he didn't feel the courtyard here was cramped anymore. Guan Xinyue ate a little something and went back to her room to rest early. Luo Qi carefully escorted her back to her room and awkwardly expressed his apologies, telling Guan Xinyue that if she had nightmares and felt scared at night, she could come find him, as he was very good at driving away nightmares. But Guan Xinyue was too sleepy to appreciate his apology.

Du Zhengyi and Majiang lit a lamp downstairs and chatted while having a drink. Luo Qi didn't go down; he lay on the bed upstairs and went online.

He tried the keyword "Ouroboros" in a search engine and was startled by the richness of the search results. In mathematics, the Ouroboros represents infinity. In modern physics, the Ouroboros describes the concepts of particle physics and the universe, symbolizing the intersection of the infinitely small and the infinitely large; in other words, the Ouroboros represents existence. From the perspective of mysticism, an Ouroboros eating itself is clearly not stupid, just a bit strange; Luo Qi thought that eating oneself was clearly a paradox. But from another perspective, the great snake survives by eating its own tail, and the tail it regrows allows it to survive infinitely, so the existence of the Ouroboros is a mode of eternal existence. No wonder Majiang said the Highland Mages believe the Ouroboros is self-referential and a cycle of life and death, representing the Endless Knot.

Luo Qi fell into deep thought. He realized that the image of the Ouroboros actually permeated the world, spanning human and Mage cultures, as if people in every civilization had realized some similar secret.

He stuffed another crispy peanut into his mouth, crunching loudly, clicked on Guan Xinyue's laptop again, and turned a page of the book spread out on the bed. Oh yeah, a multitasking Luo Qi is truly amazing.

His door was pushed open rudely from the outside.

"Luo Qi!" Du Zhengyi said at the doorway.

"What is it?" He lay on the bed, pondering, and stuffed another crispy bean into his mouth.

"Isn't that my bed you're lying on?" Du Zhengyi said calmly.

"Yeah," Luo Qi said, unmoved, and turned another page of the book. "Want a bean?"

"What are you doing?" Du Zhengyi asked.

"Waiting to chat with you about the Ouroboros," Luo Qi said casually.

"If you dare to eat on my bed, we are finished," Du Zhengyi said, "I'm going to kill you, and Majiang can help me clean up your corpse."