Chapter 187: Fire

Luo Qi had a gut feeling that something was about to emerge from the flames. Within minutes, the great fire had completed its encirclement; Huangcun would be burned to a blank slate. There was a Barrier around the outside of Huangcun, so the fire did not spread outward. Du Zhengyi was controlling the high-temperature flames, which could melt even steel, to burn inward. Huangcun had turned into a giant steel-smelting furnace, and Luo Qi suspected that in the end, not even a brick would be left.

"Will you end up burning the village into a giant pit?" Luo Qi waited for a while, but no person or thing that could strangle the Old Soul appeared. He finally couldn't help but speak.

Du Zhengyi gazed into the depths of the fire, frowning. Luo Qi began to have that feeling again—that Du Zhengyi could see things he could not. He had already probed shallowly with his mental sense, but there was no mental sense in the fire. "Is it a divine beast?" Luo Qi asked anxiously. "Qiongqi? Or Pixiu?"

"It is a divine beast, two of them," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice.

Luo Qi grew tense. The fire was already contracting, and the flames were burning fiercely in the center of the village. Luo Qi thought it was his imagination, but in the fire, he hazily saw human-shaped shadows.

The fire soared to the heavens, and the mountains were silent. For a moment, Luo Qi had an illusion, as if humanity had never appeared, and eternity had always been thus. Here, there were only Mages, and the strange and magnificent world of Mages.

Human shadows appeared in the depths of the fire. Luo Qi first thought Du Zhengyi had finally made a mistake, but then a second shadow appeared in the flames, and Luo Qi finally understood what Du Zhengyi meant.

In the firelight, Luo Qi saw a red umbrella. A man was holding this umbrella. The high-heat flames were like water, parted by the red umbrella, with sparks falling onto it. The man holding the umbrella was just past middle age; his face was still young, yet pain had sculpted his features. His build was lean but sturdy, and his gait was smooth, but Luo Qi noticed the walking stick he held in his left hand.

That walking stick distracted Luo Qi. He felt as if he had been shot, staring blankly at the dull stick, as if that thing were the scythe Death used to harvest lives. The man met his gaze for a moment, his eyes distant, as if he hadn't seen him at all. Luo Qi understood what he meant—he wasn't even worth looking at. Bitter water churned in his chest.

Luo Qi was not an arrogant person, but recently he had gradually come to believe that he was born to be a Mind Archmage. Until today, until this moment, he had been taught a harsh lesson. Luo Qi hadn't sensed the existence of these two Yajian at all. Du Zhengyi had discovered their Magic traces, while in his own field of vision, it was as if his eyes had been covered.

The man's gaze turned to the person under his umbrella, and only then did Luo Qi shift his focus from his stupor to that person. It was a man who didn't look very old, wearing a full suit. He walked through the great fire, yet his suit remained perfectly intact. Luo Qi first noticed only that he had exceptionally bright eyes, and then he was drawn to his attire. His dark suit was well-tailored, and the collar of his shirt held the glint of a tie pin; he even wore a slightly ornate tie pin in an old-fashioned way.

Compared to the mature and steady air forged by pain in the man holding the umbrella for him, the man walking under the umbrella appeared so young and lively, agile and full of spirit, his expression one of nothing but ambitious delight. He even flashed a smile at Luo Qi and Du Zhengyi like an old friend. Du Zhengyi surely ignored him entirely, so he winked his right eye at Luo Qi with a hint of complaint, as if he were certain Luo Qi would appreciate his humor and decent manners.

But at a closer distance, Luo Qi saw that he was not as young as he appeared on the surface; there were fine lines under his eyes when he smiled. At the same close distance, Luo Qi also saw that he wore silver cufflinks on his sleeves.

His mental state was excellent, as if he could walk on air; his every gesture was elegant and powerful, like a born leader.

From afar, he reached out a hand toward Du Zhengyi, full of sincerity.

Du Zhengyi leisurely shoved his hands into his trouser pockets, making it clear he had no intention of shaking hands. Luo Qi looked back and forth in surprise and asked in a low voice, "You know each other?"

"No," Du Zhengyi said idly. "I've just seen a similar scene before."

"Where?" Luo Qi asked nervously.

"One year when I was in Kyoto," Du Zhengyi said. "I saw a night parade imitating geishas going out on the street."

Luo Qi didn't know if he could still laugh, but the other party looked up at the red umbrella above his head and actually let out a "pfft" of laughter. "Sorry, all the umbrellas at home were taken out; this is the only one left."

Luo Qi knew he was joking. He looked warily at the cold-faced man holding the umbrella; the pain on his face hadn't faded in the slightest, as if it were deeply rooted and entrenched in his bone marrow. They had already walked out of the fire. He looked up, closed the red oil-paper umbrella that could serve as an antique, and tossed it casually into the fire behind him. The umbrella vanished into nothingness in the great blaze in an instant.

Luo Qi gasped. The man in the suit laughed again, as if everything were beneath his gaze, everything under his control. He must have been used to being a leader; a lazy confidence ran through his entire body, yet he also had a capable, hands-on style. Luo Qi vaguely thought that his power probably didn't come entirely from inheritance.

The man smiled with the self-satisfaction of someone who had seen through his opponent. Since Du Zhengyi refused to shake hands, he bowed slightly—Luo Qi thought of Benedict, not the one who was Sherlock Holmes, but the one on the Shakespearean stage. But then, the words he clearly spoke swept through the valley like a thunderclap: "Du Zhengyi, young and promising, I have admired you for a long time." He nodded toward Du Zhengyi, then turned elegantly to Luo Qi and nodded as well. "And Luo Qi, the little friend who just joined the Legendary Mage Club, your ability is something even my friend Clownfish... speaks highly of."

Luo Qi's mouth, hidden under his outdoor scarf, hung open. He stared blankly at the man, his foolish look amusing the man.

He looked at Luo Qi with affection and teased, "Take off the mask. Isn't it hot wearing that thing? The temperature of the flames here is fifteen hundred degrees."

Luo Qi shook his head and said earnestly, "The ash in the fire is too thick. Most fire victims die from smoke inhalation, don't you know that?"

The man burst into loud laughter, as if he truly liked this way Luo Qi had of earnestly playing dumb. Beside him, the man who frightened Luo Qi more turned his eyes and gave him a deep look.

Luo Qi avoided the man's gaze. Du Zhengyi suddenly spoke up beside him, "As the leader of the Lotus Burners, you are shockingly young."

The man in the suit looked at Du Zhengyi, his eyes pleasant and his expression gentle, as if he had met a friend of equal weight in a social setting. "My surname is Zhao," he said with great vigor.

"A great surname," Luo Qi couldn't help but say.