Chapter 195: Xingtai Mountain

Luo Qi did not recover from his shock for a long time. "You know? Xingtai Mountain?"

"Xingtai Mountain, legend has it that there was an astrology platform on it in ancient times. There is a village at the foot of the mountain; I visited it when I was a child," Guan Xinyue said, her expression somewhat uncomfortable. "Why do you want to go there?"

Luo Qi looked at Guan Xinyue in surprise. "And why did you go there?"

"It was probably when I was about ten years old. Grandfather took us camping, we crossed Xingtai Mountain, and we rested in that village for a while," Guan Xinyue said. "I didn't like that place. The villagers nearby wouldn't go there at all, saying the people in that village all died of infectious diseases. It wasn't until I arrived there that I realized it was the place the girls in the village had talked about. I wanted to go home immediately, but my sister had heatstroke, and my grandfather wanted her to rest there for a while."

"Did anything special happen later?" Luo Qi asked.

"No." Guan Xinyue shook her head uncomfortably, feeling a bit ashamed. "My grandfather said I was making a fuss. Actually, now that I'm telling you this, I also feel like I was being a drama queen. Telling you these groundless things interferes with your judgment because, truly, nothing happened at all... Do you think I'm a drama queen?"

"No," Luo Qi said softly. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers in front of Guan Xinyue. "Look at my hand."

Guan Xinyue subconsciously stared at his slender fingers, and before she knew it, her attention became focused. Suddenly, she felt a deep sense of misery from the bottom of her heart, as if life were so bleak there was no hope left. She felt so sad she couldn't even sit still, and she suddenly burst into sobs. Luo Qi reached out and pressed her shoulder. "Xinyue, shh, shh, nothing is wrong."

Guan Xinyue came to her senses. She looked at Luo Qi in surprise. That wave of sadness had come inexplicably; she didn't know why she was grieving. Now that Luo Qi was pressing her shoulder, a wave of warm hope welled up from the bottom of her heart, just like a new sunrise breaking through the haze after the night had passed. "What was that?"

"I wanted to tell you that sometimes your feelings aren't necessarily your problem." Luo Qi managed a faint smile and let go of her shoulder.

"There really is something there?" Guan Xinyue asked.

"Hmm," Luo Qi hesitated for a moment. "Your sister rested there; how did she rest?"

"Just rested. Grandfather took care of her in a dilapidated house because there was shade there," Guan Xinyue said, somewhat nervously. "I stayed outside in the sun."

"Your grandfather didn't let you stay in the shade?" Luo Qi asked in surprise.

"Of course not, it was me who refused. I refused to enter that house. At the time, I thought it was haunted, and everyone knows ghosts fear the sun. I was a very stubborn child when I was young; if I wanted to stay under the sun, I would stay under the sun, and my grandfather couldn't do anything about me. Later, after we rested past noon and my sister had taken a nap, the sun had slanted quite a bit, so we hurried home."

"Your sister took a nap in that place." Luo Qi repeated her words softly.

"What?" Guan Xinyue became nervous. "Do you think there's a problem? What did you think of?"

"No problem." Luo Qi said, his expression somewhat detached. "I was just thinking that Du Zhengyi is also sleeping in the room right now."

Guan Xinyue opened her mouth, looking at Luo Qi in surprise. It took her a long time to speak. "At least tell me what is actually there, okay? I know there must be more to your words."

Luo Qi licked his dry lips, thinking about how to describe it to Guan Xinyue. "There is a... damn, you were actually right. Who said humans can't use Telepathy? There really is a ghost in that place."

"What kind of ghost is it?" Guan Xinyue was calmer than he had imagined; it was as if the deeper they sank into the matter, the more stable she became.

"Do you remember the Great Mage Guan who existed in your Ear Bone Stud?" Luo Qi said. He saw Guan Xinyue's eyes widen, her dark brown pupils rotating slightly out of fear and shock.

Luo Qi continued, "There is a crystal with even more powerful energy in that place, preserving a very ancient consciousness. It should be the Yajian of some mage from ancient times; it has always been there. I always wonder, there are so many good places in the world, why did your grandfather choose to take his family to live in that unrefined, unfriendly village with no beautiful scenery? Your grandfather must have been guarding something. The incident that happened to your family might not just be related to him discovering the Lotus Burner; the root of the disaster might be buried much further back."

Guan Xinyue covered her mouth, trembling slightly. After a long while, she said, "Is that the work he did for your supreme Great Mage?"

"It should be." Luo Qi nodded.

"If that's the case, why did that great mage do nothing after he died?"

"You can't really say that. Du Zhengyi is his trusted aide, perhaps even his right-hand man. Him sending Du Zhengyi here doesn't count as doing nothing," Luo Qi said in a low voice, though he didn't fully believe these words himself.

"That's not enough at all." Guan Xinyue choked back a sob, then turned her head to look the other way. "But, never mind. I also know you can't count on others for everything. Then what was my grandfather guarding there? Guarding that consciousness?"

"No, that consciousness should also be a guard, another layer of guardianship, and also the source of energy there," Luo Qi said, turning his head to look at the door of the inner room. Knowing that Du Zhengyi was sleeping peacefully inside, a sense of stability surged in his heart.

"What is there?" Guan Xinyue asked.

"Nothing at all," Luo Qi said, sounding like a sigh, and also like a mockery. He turned his head to look at Guan Xinyue and smiled reassuringly.

Guan Xinyue bit her lip and didn't continue to ask, turning instead to say, "My sister that day... was she brought there by Grandfather on purpose? For what?"

"I don't know. Your grandfather is gone, and your sister's whereabouts are unknown, so everything can only be guessed. I'm wondering, did your sister start showing abilities at that time, namely the Guan Family's Telepathy ability? I'm thinking, since the Du Clan has been doing the same work for the Qionglin for generations, does that mean the Qionglin has such a tradition, and the Guan Family has also been doing another kind of work for the Qionglin for generations? Your Gugu doesn't have Telepathy ability, so she didn't inherit the tradition, just as not all children of the Du Clan have combat talent," Luo Qi said, deep in thought.

"The Du Clan?" Guan Xinyue thought of something. "Is the Jiangnan Du Clan mentioned in that 'Record of Jiangzuo Child Prodigies' really Du Ge's family?"

"Yes," Luo Qi said, waving his hand to tell her not to distract him again. "I'm wondering, could that day have been your grandfather taking your sister to get authorization verified by that spirit?"

"Could my sister have gone missing because of this?"

"Perhaps those two people were only able to wreak havoc in Huangcun by controlling your sister," Luo Qi said. "I think I should find someone who knows the inside story and is willing to talk about it."

"Doesn't Du Ge know the inside story? Didn't you say he was that Great Mage's right-hand man?" Guan Xinyue said. She now had some complicated feelings toward that supreme mage who refused to truly offer help.

"That requires him to be willing to talk," Luo Qi said quietly. "I have a feeling he seems to have told me many secrets, but those were all related to me; as for other matters, he actually refuses to say anything."