Chapter 158: Black Market (6)

A man pushed aside those blocking his path and walked up to the table where Du Zhengyi and Luo Qi were sitting. He had drunk quite a bit, and when he shoved away the woman clutching his arm, he used considerable force; Luo Qi felt a surge of annoyance watching it.

He was a tall, lean man who stumbled as he reached them. At first glance, Luo Qi only noticed his hair, which was damp and curled, plastered against his scalp as if he had just washed it. Or perhaps he was simply aiming for this look of excessive hair-product use; Luo Qi couldn't tell. Just as Mages couldn't quite grasp humans, he sometimes didn't understand Mage fashion trends either.

The man was wearing what could barely be considered Mage attire, though it wasn't particularly formal. Underneath, he wore an off-white cross-collar robe cinched with a black belt, and over it, a cloak with silver hidden patterns. But Luo Qi knew that the prestige of a Mage's clothing was reflected in the belt—this was an unwritten rule in the Mage World. Beyond the high cost of the fabric, many Mages were accustomed to using expensive crystals as belt ornaments. Thus, Luo Qi could tell the cloak was just for show; the belt revealed his poverty. Or perhaps he hadn't been wealthy for long enough to convince master tailors to accept his commissions.

However, Luo Qi knew that if he kept acting like this—with his cross-collar hanging loosely open, exposing his honey-colored pectoral muscles and showing off everywhere—he wouldn't get a master tailor to accept his order even if he paid double.

Furthermore, if this man didn't look so sinister when eyeing people, Luo Qi could barely count him as a handsome man. Beneath those few strands of unruly hair on his forehead, his brows were dark and long, and his eyes were slightly deep-set beneath his brow bones; the shape of his eyes quite met the requirements of general aesthetics. His nose bridge was straight, which also gave him a spirited look. But the philtrum was a bit too long, and his lips were too thin, almost as if he were pursing them on purpose.

"Du Zhengyi," he said, the name sliding around in his throat as if he wanted to spit it onto the ground.

Luo Qi felt uncomfortable; he saw that the man's knobby fingers wore a snake-shaped ring, and he held a short blade of Obsidian in his hand.

"Pardon me for saying so," Luo Qi said suddenly, suffering from a bit of after-effect—he wanted to vomit at the sight of Obsidian, "a knife made of Obsidian is purely an ornament; it shatters at the slightest impact. Are you planning to attack Du Zhengyi with that thing, or are you looking to stage a scam? Let me tell you, if Du Zhengyi breaks that thing of yours, I am absolutely not paying you a cent. If it's a precious antique, you'd better get insurance."

"Who are you?" the man asked him gloomily.

Luo Qi shrugged, picked up his wine glass, took another sip, and ignored him.

Shui Xiansheng said in a difficult position, "Sir, you are a guest here, and you know the rules of this place. If you want to start a fight here, I will have no choice but to have you thrown out."

"We just want to have a word with an old acquaintance," the woman beside him said. "I promise, it's just rare for us to run into Mr. Du, and we want to talk. If Mr. Du is busy, we can wait a while."

Luo Qi glanced at her. She was a quite pretty woman with a chic short haircut, wearing a black trench coat with a wide belt cinched at her waist like a corset, featuring a large buckle in the front that shone with a dark luster like Obsidian. From the waist down, her trench coat turned into a black leather skirt, making her look sharp and full of presence. Her hands were covered in black leather gloves, and she wore an exotic bracelet on her wrist; Luo Qi could tell her entire outfit was from popular human luxury brands.

It was hard to estimate a Mage's age, but Luo Qi saw a world-weary sophistication in her eyes, so he guessed she was slightly older than the man.

Shui Xiansheng smiled gently and shook his head. "Our conversation has already ended. If you only want to chat, this is a place for chatting, but I am also about to yield my seat to my guests."

After he finished speaking, he stood up slowly. Just as Luo Qi was about to get up to help him, he vanished into thin air from across the table.

Luo Qi was stunned for a moment, then realized what happened and secretly shook his head, wishing that Du Zhengyi would be just as nimble when he reached that age.

The man was unceremonious; he took two steps forward and sat in Shui Xiansheng's former seat, not even thinking of offering the woman a chair.

The woman had no intention of sitting either. She stood where she was, her gloved hands tucked into the pockets of her trench coat, watching them with some anxiety.

Du Zhengyi had not said a word from beginning to end, quietly observing the newcomers.

"Isn't this a dog of the Qionglin?" the man laughed lowly.

Luo Qi's brows shot up. His cat struggled, jumped onto the table with grace and agility, and then darted back into his arms, as if the man's baleful aura had startled it.

"What do you want to say to me?" Du Zhengyi said emotionlessly.

"Nothing much, just an old acquaintance coming over for a chat. I heard you aren't as impartial and public-spirited as you used to be." The man gave a gloomy laugh.

"Where did you hear that?" Du Zhengyi said, as if brushing him off.

"News in the Zhouqiao Grass Market always travels fast. Du Zhengyi, the people here don't like you; you have plenty of enemies here. Do you remember how many people's family members were dragged from their homes by your own hands? It was one thing when you had the Qionglin as your backing, but if you don't have the Qionglin, that's another matter entirely."

Luo Qi froze, feeling tense.

"If I didn't do some things, someone else would have. I don't want to repeat my reasons for doing things to you again," Du Zhengyi said. But since he was willing to speak, he had more patience than usual. Luo Qi didn't know if this was because they were in the Grass Market; fighting was forbidden in the Grass Market, and Du Zhengyi couldn't just knock the other party to the ground at the first sign of disagreement.

"Right, you were solving potential crises for the Mage World," the man suddenly laughed, though his eyes were cold, sinister, and devoid of mirth. He slapped Luo Qi's glass, sending it flying. "Du Zhengyi, when you took my younger brother away, he was only thirteen. A thirteen-year-old child—it's not even clear yet whether he'll be a good person or a bad one in the future!"

"A thirteen-year-old child who used his intent to push a human child off a building," Du Zhengyi said coldly. "Face reality."

"He was only thirteen!" the man growled in a low voice. "Even humans would give a lighter sentence."

"I didn't make the laws; evaluating and educating your brother is the Qionglin's job," Du Zhengyi said.

"Is that so?" the man said, his tone suddenly becoming mocking. "I heard you recently let go of a minor who was being held by the Qionglin. Why?"

Du Zhengyi did not speak. Luo Qi thought he could say it was just a rumor and that no one had any evidence to accuse Du Zhengyi. But Du Zhengyi only remained silent.

The man chuckled lowly. "Just because this one was someone you knew. Then what about my brother? I haven't seen my brother since then; I don't even know if he's dead or alive. Is this the fairness you speak of? Is this how you shamelessly uphold fairness?"