Chapter 166: Self-Proof

Du Zhengyi knew there was another person in the room, only he could not see them. He had already witnessed Luo Qi's ability to maintain non-directional Mental Induction for long periods; in other words, Luo Qi was like a mobile energy source of hallucinations, capable of inducing hallucinations in his surroundings indiscriminately. Thus, a more powerful and mature Mind Mage could similarly accomplish more complex Mental Induction, even becoming nearly invisible. It was just that the more complex the hallucination, the more boundaries it would have—for instance, places that defied common sense, which were the instinctive struggles of the induced brain.

He might have been considered a quite combative Battle Mage in the Qionglin, but he knew that three years ago he had not defeated the invisible person before him, and three years later he likewise had no chance. His head ached severely, the nerves in his temples were twitching, and his barrier was in precarious condition; he had to grip the railing of the ladder to keep from falling headlong.

This sudden weakness plunged him into a strange sense of powerlessness and pain, worse than the headache. But suddenly, a gentle sensation welled up deep in his mind, like a tentacle, or like a cat's tail absentmindedly flicking against the barrier of his Yajian.

He was startled; this familiar Yajian was Luo Qi. He knew that Luo Qi had recently been constantly testing the range of his own Yajian, and his recent habit was to contact his brain at certain time intervals. As long as they were within a certain physical distance, Luo Qi would use his mind to mimic a human clock pulse, regularly confirming his existence to him.

This was annoying, but everyone who kept cats knew that when a cat wanted to do something, you actually had no way to stop it. Over time, he had also grown accustomed to Luo Qi's harassment; in any case, every time Luo Qi merely pushed his Yajian forward in a distracted manner, like the tides of the ocean. But today, this pulsed Consciousness Contact from Luo Qi actually jolted him awake from his sudden panic.

He was finally able to calmly analyze his current situation; he had only one path to take: retreat. It was also this Yajian that reminded him that Luo Qi was nearby, and Zhouqiao tonight was not safe. He did not know if he had been lured away from his post, and he did not know if anyone had discovered that Luo Qi was a rare and precious fool. He knew even less what reaction the Mind Master hiding in the room would have once they discovered Luo Qi's presence. He had to leave here and take Luo Qi away as well.

Du Zhengyi slowly retreated, went downstairs silently, revoked all Magic power, and quietly withdrew like a mortal.

Sweat dripped from his forehead; suddenly, walking into the bedroom of the Grim Reaper could not have felt any different. He returned to the empty shop. People were chatting as they passed by outside, heading straight for the casino, bringing a bit of human vitality to this empty room.

Du Zhengyi walked out the door. There were more people on the street than before. He sensed that the one called Dai Wei was still leaning against the base of the mountain wall, but Du Zhengyi no longer had time to see if he had discovered him. He hurried through the ancient market, unceremoniously pushing aside the increasing number of people in Gujing Square. Some people recognized him; he did not care how they looked at him, or how many people would know by tomorrow that he had come here. There were also those who recognized him and were terrified of him, avoiding him from afar; he did not look to see how many of these people were on the list he was originally supposed to arrest.

He hurried back to the Wanshi Shop on the upper street, drenched in sweat, one foot stepping over the threshold, looking inside while panting. In this brightly lit shop, he saw the tall goddess he had met once before.

With healthy wheat-colored skin and half her hair braided into several plaits, she sat on a stool, rudely lifting one thigh to step on another stool, hunched over like an old monkey, intently watching the dozen or so Obsidian Pendants lined up on the counter.

—In Du Zhengyi's view, the real Goddess Ata would never look like this.

The goddess looked up at the sound and flashed her little white teeth at Du Zhengyi, "Hey, bro, you're back?"

That was it; this smile was completely Luo Qi's, on Ata's face. It looked as if the goddess had developed schizophrenia.

"What are you doing?" Du Zhengyi asked, bewildered.

"Oh, it's like this." The goddess reached out and patted the Pangzi beside her, "My brother has a super luxury limited edition calculation crystal, and he's decided to let me have it!"

"Your brother?" Du Zhengyi looked at Pangzi again; Pangzi was indeed serving Luo Qi like a little brother. "Did you seduce him?"

"No, no, no," Luo Qi said, "I truly conquered him, conquered him with my superior intelligence. And I even negotiated a good price with him. Since your credit account might be temporarily unusable, I negotiated an installment plan with him. I'm helping him consecrate these Amulets first as a deposit, and you can pay the balance later."

After finishing, he looked at Du Zhengyi suspiciously, "What's wrong with you? Did you run back? Did a merchant keep a vicious dog?"

"What is consecrating?" Du Zhengyi asked impatiently.

"It means injecting my spiritual power," Luo Qi said indifferently, "putting in some of my power, my fragmented thoughts."

"Fuck," Du Zhengyi said, "are you playing at mitosis here? It's too dangerous, fuck... forget it, let's not talk about this for now. I'll let your teacher discipline you when we get back; your teacher has more authority on this matter. I'll ask you first, who exactly is the person I'm seeing now? How do I confirm that you are still the person I brought in before I walked out that door?"

Pangzi looked at them, feeling a bit dizzy, "Holy shit, what's going on? My boss has been here the whole time and hasn't left. Aren't you being a bit obsessively careful?"

Luo Qi, however, made a big turn on the stool, sat cross-legged facing Du Zhengyi, and drawled, "Oh~~~, playing the 'prove I am me' game, I'm the best at that! Philosophically speaking, a man cannot step into the same river twice, so the person you saw before you left and after you returned..."

"Shut the fuck up!" Du Zhengyi roared.

"Fine, fine, you have no sense of humor," Luo Qi said, "then I'll prove it now—you've always worshipped me; I am your conscience."

Du Zhengyi cursed, stepped forward in two strides, and yanked Luo Qi up, "Let's go! We're leaving here immediately."

"Hey, hey," seeing Luo Qi struggle to turn back to grab the crystal he wanted, Pangzi hurriedly helped Luo Qi pack the crystal box with a knowing look, while asking, "Boss, you're that heroic? Even the famous Du Zhengyi worships you?"

Du Zhengyi couldn't help but curse again, "I'm distinguishing his authenticity based on how shameless he is, okay?"

Luo Qi chuckled, and while stuffing the things Pangzi gave him into his pocket, said, "Why else would they say this is the tacit understanding between brothers?"

Du Zhengyi was practically carrying him out, and he was still waving his arms to say bye to Pangzi, "See you later, buddy! Let's chat on WeChat when we get back, let's keep in touch and have a pleasant cooperation in the future!"