Chapter 193: Entanglement

Luo Qi sat quietly on the sofa in the hotel's first-floor coffee shop with a cup of coffee in front of him; he didn't even know what kind of coffee it was, nor did he have any idea what he had said to the server when he bought it.

Majiang arrived faster than he had expected. By the time he contacted Majiang on his phone, Majiang had already arrived with Guan Xinyue at the sixth city Du Zhengyi had traveled through. He told Majiang their specific location, but when they met, he didn't know how to explain things to Majiang; he felt it was all his fault, even though he didn't know exactly which step he had gotten wrong. However, Majiang didn't say anything to him; in fact, Majiang's attention was entirely on Du Zhengyi, and he didn't want to ask anything. He knew that Majiang was truly a good Doctor.

Treatment within the Mental Domain required a quiet and stable environment, and a hotel with good soundproofing was a decent choice. Majiang needed to treat Du Zhengyi while in a state of Meditation. Guan Xinyue was kept behind by Majiang to assist, and only Luo Qi was driven away; Majiang did not want to risk being accidentally attacked by Luo Qi during the treatment process. Even if Luo Qi did nothing, to the pure, quiet, and neutral environment required for Meditation, a high-energy existence with volatile emotions like Luo Qi was like a piece of white-hot metal or a screaming engine; only by rolling far away could he be of the greatest help to Du Zhengyi.

Luo Qi wandered around the hotel and eventually found the coffee shop that had just opened for business. A few people were eating breakfast there, but overall, it was still quiet.

Luo Qi picked up the coffee cup with trembling hands, took a sip, and then gulped down more than half the cup. He had been rushing about all night, exhausting a great deal of energy, and he had no food in his stomach. The coffee took effect in his bloodstream rapidly, and his hands shook even more violently.

With a "clatter," a table knife was slammed heavily onto the tabletop. An elderly couple closest to Luo Qi suddenly began to argue. The argument escalated rapidly; the old man was red with rage and knocked his plate onto the floor.

Someone screamed, perhaps out of fright. A mug fell from a clerk's hand, and the clerk suddenly became inexplicably irritable. A sleeping baby in the arms of a young woman suddenly woke up and began to wail.

Luo Qi could not take it anymore. He stood up, trying his best to stuff his annoyance, anger, despair, and panic back into his pockets. He left the coffee shop and walked quickly through the lobby, where a female guest checking in at the front desk suddenly began to shriek hysterically because of a problem with her reservation.

Luo Qi wandered frantically through the hotel, not knowing where he should go or where he could calm himself down. Most importantly, where could he go so that everyone else could be a little calmer? Perhaps he should throw himself into a great forest, making those bad-tempered baboons even angrier than usual and those crazy rabbits even crazier.

About three hours later, Majiang found Luo Qi in the hotel gym. Luo Qi was sitting blankly on a stationary bike, surrounded by a dozen men working out frantically.

Majiang hesitated for a moment at the gym entrance, as if all the so-called "hell gyms" he had seen before were not as much like hell as a gym where Luo Qi was present.

"Hey." Majiang walked in swaying and sat down on a bike next to Luo Qi. "Du Zhengyi is fine. He'll be mostly recovered after sleeping for another two days."

Luo Qi let out a sigh of relief. "That's great. Thank you, Doctor."

Majiang nodded, looking at the man next to them who was desperately practicing deadlifts. "I reckon his muscles will be too sore for him to stand up tomorrow."

"I..." Luo Qi said awkwardly, "I'm really sorry. I didn't notice. I'll find a way to make him calmer..."

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Majiang said. "It's better to wait for him to calm down on his own. It's healthier for his body's various indices to drop back down slowly."

"Then I'll wait a while before I go see Du Zhengyi," Luo Qi said.

"You won't be able to tell anything if you go see him; he's sleeping. I asked Guan Xinyue to keep him company for a while; Xinyue will call if anything happens," Majiang said.

"Thank you for coming over so quickly," Luo Qi said honestly, no longer having his usual spirited way of snapping at the Doctor.

Whether Majiang found him pitiful or thought he looked strangely cute now that he was being obedient, he kindly told him, "We have a Medical Entanglement."

"What is an Entanglement?" Luo Qi asked subconsciously.

"Du Zhengyi and I have a shallow Entanglement. The primary agreement is a Medical Agreement, so I can establish a connection in the worst-case scenario," Majiang said.

Luo Qi realized to some extent that Majiang was willing to chat with him more because he wanted to help him relax his mind and resolve the chaotic situation around him. He also knew he should take the opportunity to think about something else to ease the tension. "Is an Entanglement Telepathy?"

"Something like that," Majiang thought for a moment. "If I had to put it, it's also like a type of Contract. Between Du Zhengyi and me, it's a Medical Contract; Du Zhengyi has Battle Contracts with certain Guardians."

"What?" Luo Qi was startled. "Then are you required to treat Du Zhengyi under the Contract? And does Du Zhengyi sometimes have to fulfill obligations under the compulsion of a Contract?"

"Uh..." Majiang pondered, not knowing how to put it. "This is roughly equivalent to a Loose Contract. People who have formed an Entanglement can make preferential choices under peaceful conditions, but to say it's as strict as those Loyalty Contracts in fairy tales, that's impossible; subjective Yajian overrides everything. Otherwise, Du Zhengyi's little companions wouldn't be able to accuse him of betrayal, nor could they take action against him. Du Zhengyi can actively ignore their Battle Contracts, and I can also choose to ignore whether Du Zhengyi lives or dies."

"So you just felt that Du Zhengyi needed help? And his approximate location? Even though you were that far away?"

"Ancient teachings say that as long as we are under the same starry sky, a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers are as close as if they were right in front of you," Majiang said. "Did you only learn human fairy tales when you were a child? Don't you read our own books?"

"I've been catching up on quite a few now," Luo Qi said.

"You don't have a single expression on your face right now; you're looking more and more like Du Zhengyi. You're really becoming less and less cute," Majiang sighed.

"Doctor, can I learn medical techniques from you?" Luo Qi ignored what he said and asked seriously.

Majiang hesitated. "You aren't suited for learning healing. Besides, even if you started learning now, it wouldn't be in time to be of any help, would it?"

"I still want to learn. If you don't want to teach me, I'll just go find books to read myself," Luo Qi said.

Majiang shrugged indifferently. "If you're willing to learn, then learn a bit. Knowledge is always useful, anyway."