Chapter 20: The Tavern

Majiang raised his wine glass to toast with Luo Qi, then downed it in one gulp. Luo Qi weighed his body, which had just been stitched up, and took a small sip. The drink the Doctor had ordered for him actually tasted quite good; it was mixed with the flavor of mint and had a faint, bitter edge, but after swallowing, it left a refreshing sweetness.

Majiang ordered another glass of wine and didn't say anything for a moment. Luo Qi thought he probably wanted to leave some time for him to think after saying those words. This was a common method used by good teachers—heuristic education—but Luo Qi never took the bait.

He had already thought about these things while at the clinic, but if he backed out now, his credits would be gone. Moreover, he would always be left wondering in his heart why this matter had come looking for him in the first place. What's more, trouble that was postponed was still trouble; sooner or later, it would come knocking again.

He thought about it carefully; Majiang really wasn't a bad person, nor was he someone with much of an agenda. "Do you really want to know how I ended up teaming up with Du Zhengyi?"

Majiang's eyes lit up.

Luo Qi took another big gulp of his drink before he had the courage to go all in, "Because Teacher Liu Li, you remember her, the department head, said my Luck was exceptionally high."

Majiang was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. "So that means you're a mascot?"

Luo Qi slumped his shoulders and sighed, "Don't even mention it." Then he began to sip his wine in small amounts. He had originally been very sensitive about his status as a mascot, but now, perhaps because Majiang was a laid-back person, he didn't trigger other people's sense of inferiority as easily as Du Zhengyi did.

"Don't take it so hard," Majiang said, becoming a bit more easygoing. "The world just revolves around geniuses like Du Zhengyi."

He raised his glass to clink with Luo Qi and shared his own story with him. "The year I graduated, my graduation project was already half-finished when one day Pei Shu walked into my lab and told me my graduation project topic had been changed. The new subject was the recovery of that brat Du Zhengyi."

Luo Qi laughed.

Majiang continued, "That was unlucky enough at the time, but who knew this project wouldn't just end at graduation? By the time I came to my senses, it was years later, and Du Zhengyi seemed to have been dumped on me for good."

At this point, Luo Qi couldn't help but wonder if Du Zhengyi was injured often. Then, thinking that Majiang hadn't answered him just a moment ago, he realized asking again would seem like prying. He changed the subject, "Doctor, can I ask some questions in your professional field?"

Majiang said with a grin, "Go ahead."

Luo Qi put down his glass and asked seriously, "Can you kill an alcoholic Old Mage without attracting any attention?"

Majiang looked at him in surprise, forgetting to even drink his wine.

"If you don't want to be discovered by the Supreme Committee, the safest method is to use human methods to kill, avoiding energy residue that could be detected."

"Human methods? Arsenic? Cyanide?" Luo Qi asked; he was someone who watched plenty of movies.

"That would be too obvious," Majiang said. "Human police aren't idiots; they'd see through it at a glance. If I wanted to kill an alcoholic old man, I might choose to inject him with alcohol after he's passed out drunk. The gap between severe intoxication and alcohol poisoning isn't that large; it's very easy to kill someone who is already drunk by increasing the alcohol content in their body. When the autopsy is done, it will just look like alcohol poisoning. An old alcoholic drunkard drinking himself to death—that's not a rare occurrence. For a death that seems reasonable, most forensic doctors won't examine it too carefully. This way, you can get away with it from both the Mage and human sides."

Luo Qi didn't speak for a while. The revolving lantern at the corner of the table spun continuously, casting mottled shadows on his hands. The palace lanterns overhead swayed beside the pillars, shedding the firelight of a bygone era, and the dragons in the caisson ceiling seemed to breathe under the shifting light and shadow. The girls on the throne were already half-drunk, leaning against each other and chatting, much quieter now. The fools who had been sword-fighting were drunk, lying sprawled out like corpses on the base of the throne, as if reenacting a palace coup from some year long ago.

Luo Qi finished the wine in his glass and grew melancholy. For a moment, he seemed to see that decaying courtyard, the long-aged Old Mage sitting in a study from two eras ago, gazing outside with gloomy eyes. He had lost his precious treasure; his eyes could only see the ghosts of the dead, not the desires of the living. He drank heavily day after day, until one day, the Grim Reaper of the new era walked into his courtyard with light steps, holding a syringe.

"Then, is there a way to kill someone and make it look like they died of a heart attack?" Luo Qi turned his head to ask.

Majiang smiled, "There are plenty of ways to do that, kid."

"I thought so," Luo Qi muttered. "That must be as easy as a gas explosion."

Majiang didn't understand the implication of his words and waved his hand to order another round of drinks for himself and Luo Qi. This time, his wine was a solid amber color, with a large ice ball frozen inside.

"I don't know what the point of you asking me these things is," Majiang took a sip of wine and added, "and I don't want to know."

Luo Qi looked at him.

"But I think I'll give you one more piece of medical advice. Do you want me to write it on paper? Never mind, I can't even read my own handwriting the next day." He put down his glass, turned his body, and faced Luo Qi almost solemnly to announce his advice, "Listen well: by tomorrow, your body will be basically back to normal. When that time comes, go back to school and tell Liu Li that you don't want those credits; let her keep them for herself."

"You mean I should threaten Liu Li to give me more credits before I'll do the work?" Luo Qi said. "I never thought about being able to bargain for this before."

Majiang stared at Luo Qi with bleary, drunken eyes, "Not bad, kid, you've got some guts, huh?"

Luo Qi snorted, enduring the drunkard patting and slapping him. Majiang leaned his shoulder closer to his and whispered, "Let me use an analogy. I can tell just by looking at you that you play games, so you can definitely see that Du Zhengyi is a professional player; he's destined to compete. You're an amateur player; there's no need to get involved. Of course, I've said all I'm going to say. These words come from a kind doctor's advice to you; whether you follow the medical advice or not is up to you."

"How so?" Luo Qi asked humbly for guidance.

"This is what I think," Majiang said. "There are very few coincidences and accidents in this world. For example, is it really such a coincidence that you were chosen just because your Luck is high? For example, the Psychic Beast losing control in Du Zhengyi's hands at just the right moment... is that possible?"

He shook his head and finished half his glass. "Since these things have happened, there must be a reason, it's just that we can't see through this reason for the time being. I don't doubt that there's a problem with you yourself; I suspect someone is making a move using you. Someone wants to use you as a pawn; wouldn't it be better if you just ignored them and didn't enter this game?"

Luo Qi hesitated and said, "Even if I don't enter the game, Du Zhengyi is always going to be in it. What about him?"

Majiang raised his eyes and looked Luo Qi over carefully, "You kid, you really are quite earnest."

Just then, the frog on Luo Qi's chest suddenly vibrated, giving him a start. Majiang looked at him mockingly. Luo Qi had a sudden realization and pulled his phone out of the shirt pocket behind the frog; it seemed he wasn't used to the phone yet and had forgotten he was carrying it. Majiang turned his gaze away to look for beauties who could heal his eyes; he really couldn't bear to look at this half-wit Luo Qi anymore.

Luo Qi looked down at his phone. His first reaction was Du Zhengyi, but then he remembered that Du Zhengyi didn't have a phone at all. The person who sent him a WeChat message was Guan Xinyue, asking how things were going and why he hadn't replied for so long.

Guan Xinyue had sent him several WeChat messages, but he had been in a coma at the time, so he had no idea. He replied that he was sorry he hadn't checked WeChat. Guan Xinyue asked if he was some old man who didn't know how to check WeChat, and he replied to Guan Xinyue with a string of rabbit emojis spitting.

The music in the tavern gradually became quieter; it had probably switched to the second half, and the music now included melancholic, ancient drumming. A woman sang lazily in a modern, tough vocal style, accompanied by the drums. She was a petite young woman wearing a Manchu-style vest and narrow sleeves, but she wore wide-leg trousers, which had recently become popular again in human society. In fact, if you looked closely, her top was also modern clothing; it seemed the nostalgia feast of the night was completely over.

Majiang had switched between several types of wine; it seemed he didn't care what the theme of the revelry here was. Even if they were toasting for International Women's Day, it wouldn't matter to him. To him, a tavern was just a tavern; nothing could steal the spotlight, as wine was the eternal theme.

It was at this moment that a thin, middle-aged man sat down beside them.

When Luo Qi looked up from his phone and saw him, he had already sat down. Calling him middle-aged, Luo Qi couldn't accurately guess his age; he could be around sixty, or he could be over a hundred. He looked neat, spirited, and extremely well-groomed, like a narcissistic successful person. But his eyes were gentle and humble, with a smile on his lips that was quite likable. He sat beside the sloppy Majiang like a loyal, honest, yet alert sheepdog that had spontaneously come to find an orange cat for company.

"Even tradition is being consumed; we really are becoming more and more like humans, aren't we?" This was his first sentence, spoken to Majiang. His voice had the cadence of the good old days, his demeanor was gentle, and a glimmer of humor flashed in the corners of his eyes, along with an appreciation for Majiang, this younger generation.

Luo Qi didn't know how the drunken, unkempt Majiang had been spotted by this person at a glance; even Majiang himself felt flattered and looked a bit bewildered. Majiang turned halfway around, "Haven't seen you before, first time here? Their Jinbo Wine is definitely worth recommending; the taste hasn't changed in eight hundred years."

Eight hundred years... Luo Qi calculated silently. If Majiang wasn't talking nonsense, that was wine from the Song Dynasty.

The stranger accepted his suggestion gracefully. The shopkeeper brought out the fine wine in a Jun Kiln Wine Cup, which seemed to confirm Majiang's words. The stranger also seemed to have excellent taste; he first admired the porcelain holding the wine for a while, revealing a satisfied smile, and then slowly tasted the wine, "A fine vintage."

To use such pedantic language to evaluate it? This person seemed to be living in the wrong era. Luo Qi took a hard sip of his drink, which he had diluted with plenty of fruit juice and milk, using the straw to make a harsh sound to express his disapproval.

The stranger ignored him and began to chat with Majiang about interesting things from his travels; he had just finished archaeological work in the upper valley of the Xilamulun River. As far as Luo Qi knew, that might not be far from the Hongshan Culture ruins, and the Ancestor of the Mages might have lived in that vicinity for a period of time.

Luo Qi quietly sized up the stranger. He had no signs of sunburn, nor did he look like he had lived in the ice and snow for a long time. Even his nails were trimmed round and neat, and the skin on his hands was even more tender, maintained like a woman's hands. The robe he wore was neat and sophisticated, with every corner of the garment lying perfectly flat. He wore the attire of the most Orthodox Mage, with the cross-collar pressed meticulously. The fabric was expensive and looked like it came from the hands of a Mage; there were fewer and fewer Mages now willing to spend so many Credit Points to wear such clothes.

The stranger was very good at talking. When he started speaking, it seemed very plain, but this plainness could always lead people into the web he wove with his words. By the time he threw out the punchline, Majiang was already laughing to the point of tears. The speaker himself, however, always just smiled faintly, as if that barrage of humor had nothing to do with him.

"Are you a Doctor?" After laughing for a while, the stranger suddenly asked Majiang.

"How could you tell?" Majiang asked him with a smile.

The stranger let go of his wine glass, opened his palm upward, and made a gesture as if he were sensing balance.

"You can feel the energy preference of the Magic I use?" Majiang's expression became respectful, "That's truly amazing. Among the people I know, only a few can do that."

Luo Qi strongly suspected that the few people Majiang mentioned included Du Zhengyi.

"I just felt the traces left by the Magic you use frequently," the stranger smiled. "Medical Magic that accelerates muscle and bone growth leaves a faint scent of tobacco."

Luo Qi understood a little; it was just like how he could smell the burnt caramel scent left by grand carnival Magic, only the stranger's senses were more acute. Grand Magic participated in by many people was, of course, as obvious as a scar on the forehead when the traces were fresh, and ordinary humans could smell it too. But Magic performed by Majiang alone, even after several hours, being detected was not easy.

Majiang thought of this too; although it wasn't an active Magic Measurement, it was still remarkable. He gave the stranger a thumbs-up.

"Just finished a major surgery, right?" the stranger asked in a friendly manner, "Need alcohol to balance out the heavy power?"

Luo Qi felt a bit embarrassed now; he had originally thought Majiang was just an unreliable drunkard, but now he remembered that healing him must have cost Majiang a great deal of energy. Concentrating fully for a long time to use a large dose of a single Magic is very uncomfortable for a Mage, causing dizziness and mental agitation while being unable to think. Alcohol happens to be a way to accelerate a Mage's return to balance, which is why many Senior Mages are somewhat alcoholic in their old age.

Luo Qi felt ashamed; his own meager energy reserves were simply not enough to overload, so he had forgotten this aspect, appearing somewhat ungrateful.