Chapter 162: Black Market (10)

Luo Qi finally completed his seal design—an angry civet cat throwing its fish, which fit perfectly with the imposing, majestic aura of the Great Civet King that he was. He was in high spirits and wanted to show his seal to Du Zhengyi, only to have his head knocked by Du Zhengyi, who told him that his seal was best kept known only to himself.

Wan Pei personally saw them out of the tavern, and Luo Qi apologized to Wan Pei, "The next time we meet, I will appear under my real name."

Wan Pei shook his head and said to Luo Qi in a gruff voice, "Mind Mages are the most ancient of Mages; in ancient times, Mages would never speak their true names. Do not casually tell strangers who you are. I do not need to know who you really are; to me, you are Du Zhengyi's brother, and you are my brother too."

His single eye looked at Luo Qi solemnly, and he added one more sentence, "Do not forget what you said."

Du Zhengyi had been looking at the deep alley outside the door, but upon hearing this, he turned around to look at him and Luo Qi.

Catching Du Zhengyi's gaze, the one-eyed old man raised his head and said sternly to him, "Take care of yourself."

Du Zhengyi nodded and dragged Luo Qi out.

"Let go quickly." Luo Qi was dragged along stumbling, yet he still said happily, "The reputation of the Goddess Ata is about to be ruined by you. Pushing a goddess in a place like this, do you not want a Wushan membership card for the rest of your life?"

"We have plenty of scores to settle after we go back," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice.

Luo Qi laughed, not minding it at all, "My third career goal has been born, and it currently ranks first among my career choices."

"Are you planning to try a honey trap all by yourself?" Du Zhengyi asked.

"Haha, of course not! I plan to be a lackey for your 'Grandpa' and help watch the place," Luo Qi said.

Du Zhengyi said indignantly, "Your 'Grandpa'!"

Luo Qi waved his hand with a smile and said vaguely, "Anyway, in terms of age, everyone is a 'Grandpa'."

"Stop talking nonsense." Du Zhengyi looked around; the passersby were already staring without hiding it, "How much longer can your focus hold up? Supporting such a complex hallucination consumes too much energy."

"That's why this is a rare testing opportunity; it's perfect for me to test my own limits," Luo Qi said with a grin.

Du Zhengyi did not object; he knew he would always be persuaded by Luo Qi. He shook his head helplessly and said, "The thirteenth shop further ahead, the one with the banner hanging at the entrance, is the one that sells crystals. I don't want any more complications; we are going straight there."

There were many more people coming and going in the market than before, and most of the Mages passing by stared at them either openly or covertly. Even if the two of them walked in silence, they were still very conspicuous. After walking for a while, Du Zhengyi felt his blood pressure rising again. Most of these Mages qualified to stroll through the Zhouqiao Grass Market were staring at Luo Qi. Luo Qi comfortably enjoyed this attention, occasionally raising his hand to wave at people.

Du Zhengyi had lost the mood to scold him; with a dark face, he walked with him to today's destination. Du Zhengyi was actually a bit curious about just how strong Luo Qi's ability to depict things was, and just how much the image of the Goddess Ata he created resembled the real goddess. Unfortunately, the principle of Mental Induction lies in the brain's tendency to ignore, and his brain was already about to explode from being angered by Luo Qi; it was impossible for him to ignore him.

Right at the entrance of the crystal shop, Luo Qi raised his hand and waved enthusiastically at the shut-in fat man inside. The fat man was uncharacteristically cold and ignored him. Luo Qi was actually surprised for a moment, staring with his deer-like eyes and asking Du Zhengyi, "Did I fail? I feel like it's still working, isn't it?"

"Don't ask me. I promise you, little darling, in my eyes you have always been the same stupid self," Du Zhengyi said through gritted teeth in a low voice, stepping past Luo Qi to enter the Wanshi Shop first.

"Welcome," the fat man said mechanically, his eyes not even moving from the book spread out on the counter.

"Has your brain been eaten by a Mind Mage too?" Du Zhengyi said irritably, his temper already reaching a critical point.

Luo Qi followed in tactfully and leaned over the counter to look at the small stones inside. Most of these stones were translucent, with some interesting-looking sediment patterns hidden inside. The shapes of the stones were somewhat irregular, with a hole ground into them and a string threaded through, looking as if they could be worn as a necklace.

He blinked and extended his mental tentacles to merge into the twenty-some crystals in the counter simultaneously, but he found nothing in the shallow capacity of the crystals. He understood; these were stones without Magic, only used for storing information.

On the other side of the counter, the fat man, who had finally stirred, laboriously took a box out from the cabinet behind him. He placed the box in front of Du Zhengyi and said haughtily, "These are the best crystals. If you want a Calculation Crystal, what a coincidence, please look at this Violet..."

Luo Qi hurriedly looked over. It was a translucent purple crystal, very eye-catching, with an exquisitely crafted Silver Dragon coiled around the purple crystal. The shopkeeper had set the crystal into a Silver Dragon brooch; the design of the Silver Dragon alone was already very attractive.

Who would have thought that before Luo Qi could even probe it, Du Zhengyi seemed to lack the patience to even look at it; he snatched the crystal brooch and threw it away casually. The crystal hit the wall and fell to the ground, breaking into two pieces.

Luo Qi was startled, and the Pangzi in the shop stood there with his hands spread, also stunned.

Du Zhengyi grabbed the Pangzi by the collar and slammed him against the wall, saying in a low voice, "I have been trading here for ten years, and this is the first time I have encountered someone putting such inferior goods in front of me."

The Pangzi was almost knocked out of his wits; he looked at Du Zhengyi, stuttering, and finally managed to straighten his tongue to say, "It's really not, it's really not... this... this is the best thing in our shop."

Luo Qi's cat suddenly let out a sound. Luo Qi took a step forward, scrutinized the Pangzi carefully, and stopped Du Zhengyi, who was about to lose his temper. "Brother, this person isn't lying."

"What?" Du Zhengyi turned his head to look at Luo Qi in annoyance, his hand still pressing the Pangzi against the wall without letting go.

Luo Qi narrowed his eyes and looked at the Pangzi again, "He really isn't lying. Let him explain."

Du Zhengyi endured it for a moment and released the Pangzi, "Speak quickly. I hate people who waste my time more than anything in my life."

The Pangzi clutched his chest, waiting for his heartbeat to settle for a long while, as if he had almost had a heart attack, "My god, you scared me to death."

"Hurry up and speak," Luo Qi said gently, "I can show you something even more terrifying."

"I..." the Pangzi said, "There really are no other crystals. They were all bought out long ago. No matter what type of High-energy Crystal, there are none left! Otherwise, my uncle wouldn't have let a loser like me watch the shop alone!"

"All sold out?" Luo Qi said in disbelief, "Such a big move?"

"Yeah, if you don't believe me, go to other markets. The High-energy Crystals in all the major Black Markets have been bought out," the Pangzi said, "Why are you being so fierce? Selling to anyone is still selling, isn't it? I'm a merchant; would I keep the goods for myself to admire if I didn't sell them?"