Chapter 209: The Robber

There was only one table occupied in the hotel restaurant, partly because seven in the morning was not the restaurant's business hours for proper meals, and partly because Majiang said that since Luo Qi had the ability to make others cook early, why couldn't they have a hearty feast early, especially since they were all suffering from jet lag from having their days and nights flipped anyway.

Both Du Zhengyi and Luo Qi had not eaten for two days; Luo Qi first devoured a few mouthfuls without any regard for his image, only to find that he was suffering the consequences, as his stomach, which he had been torturing for two days, simply could not handle the food.

"Du Zhengyi, even if you are Du Zhengyi," Majiang said, stuffing a small piece of steamed pork ribs with rice flour into his mouth, "you absolutely cannot guess what Luo Qi did!"

Luo Qi put down his chopsticks and hid himself behind his arm, "My intraocular pressure is suddenly a bit high."

"You should have some pressure." Majiang looked at him, "Faking illness is useless, Luo Qi, even a blind man can see through your pathetic little tricks."

"Brother Jiang," Luo Qi asked uneasily, "why do you know what I did?"

"There is a saying: good news doesn't leave the house, but bad news travels a thousand miles." Majiang said, "Your cat is on the table, do you have any table manners?"

Luo Qi covered his little cat, his expression turning stern, "When I was asleep, did those wood-and-grass people from the Black Market come knocking?"

Du Zhengyi raised his eyes and glanced at him, "You went to the Zhouqiao Grass Market yourself?"

Luo Qi looked at Du Zhengyi and then at Majiang, hesitant, and finally looked at Guan Xinyue for help, "They aren't trying to trick me, are they?"

Guan Xinyue carefully poked a pineapple bun with her chopsticks, "It seems... they aren't."

"Hear that, you bear cub!" Majiang said, and the black cat leaned over again, determined to hook the rib steamer by Majiang's hand; he tossed a piece of rib to the kitten, "Is your cat only focused on meat?"

Luo Qi was in the midst of tension and anxiety, "His name is Ruiqi."

"He's the same generation as you," Guan Xinyue said.

Luo Qi did not talk back; his head was indeed aching a bit, with a throbbing sensation near his temples, which could be a hangover, or perhaps the ill effect of the pressure added to his head over the past two days.

"Luo Qi, I truly admire your courage." Majiang tossed another piece of rib to the kitten, "You are definitely the only person in the last century to provoke a Black Market administrator like this. What I'm most concerned about is, were you in an mentally abnormal state at the time?"

Luo Qi did not make a sound, lowering his head to face his empty plate.

"What exactly did Luo Qi do?" Du Zhengyi, who had been silent for a while, asked in a low voice.

"Your Luo Qi..." Majiang was so angry he simply put down his chopsticks, otherwise he would have been pointing them around uncivilly, and might have even knocked them on Luo Qi's head. He turned to Du Zhengyi and said, "Did you see his cat? Do you think it's different from the one he had before?"

Du Zhengyi glanced at the cat, and Luo Qi also looked at his own cat, "What's wrong with the cat?"

"That was robbed by your Luo Qi from the Zhouqiao Grass Market," Majiang said irritably, "your little partner has really outdone himself, he ransacked the pet shop there!"

"What?"

This exclamation actually came from Luo Qi's mouth, and even Du Zhengyi looked at him suspiciously, "This news is inaccurate?"

"What's inaccurate? Even the Qionglin knows about it now, and I even confirmed it with the Black Market management; it was indeed your Luo Qi. I think he must have had a blackout from drinking, he has no idea what he did." Majiang said. "He's crazy, not paying for things in the Black Market."

"Why didn't you pay?" Du Zhengyi asked quietly.

"I..." Luo Qi said, and he thought about it carefully, "I forgot to pay."

"Forgot..." Majiang was stunned with anger, "What, did you go to one of those new twenty-four-hour integrity supermarkets for humans?"

Luo Qi sat there blankly, and Du Zhengyi, perhaps thinking he was scared silly, even picked up a shrimp dumpling for him, "Drinking too much and causing a scene is just causing a scene, no need to be this scared. Every so often there's a legend at the Zhouqiao Grass Market; the Black Market, deep down, is just a matter of money. Paying back double and adding a bit of face, it can always be smoothed over."

"Hey, Du Zhengyi, what kind of talk is that? Are you really going to be that protective?" Majiang said irritably, "Do you think your little cutie used Telepathy to trick them into giving him the cat? He damn well robbed them by force. He opened all the pet cages, used a python to strangle the shopkeeper until he passed out, and had a damn scorpion sting the clerk until they passed out. He smashed the place to pieces, drank all the wine they had hidden, and finally ran off holding this cat. Passing by that famous well in the Zhouqiao Grass Market, he even threw a wine bottle into it and spat in it! Let me tell you, regarding the spitting, even if you put all your face on the line, the Black Market administrator won't forgive him, or you, his guarantor!"

Du Zhengyi was also a bit astonished, his eyebrows slightly raised, "When you get rebellious, you really have to spit, don't you?"

"What?" Majiang said angrily, "What is the point you're focusing on? You still think it's no big deal? You've got to be kidding me?"

Luo Qi, however, was more surprised than anyone else; he couldn't help it, "Just for this little thing?"

"Damn it," Majiang glared at him, "aren't these things big enough?"

Luo Qi hesitated for a moment, not sure if he should say it. Du Zhengyi was eating his meal unhurriedly and asked in a low voice, "So Luo Qi, what exactly did you go into the Zhouqiao Grass Market for, and what else did you do?"

Majiang looked at Luo Qi in astonishment, "What do you mean?"

"Don't always treat Luo Qi like a lunatic." Du Zhengyi said calmly, "How could he possibly go into the Black Market specifically just to drink and rob a zoo? Is he that childish in your eyes?"

"Damn it," Majiang muttered another curse, "I really wish he was just being a bit childish. What else did he do? I don't have the guts to keep listening."

"I beat up Dai Wei." Luo Qi let it all out and told the truth.

"Who is Dai Wei?" Majiang was startled, then realized, "No, that's not important, you actually broke the biggest rule of the Black Market and hit someone inside?"

"How did you hit him?" Du Zhengyi ignored Majiang and continued to ask.

"With..." Luo Qi hesitated, "we just watched a movie together."

Guan Xinyue across from them suddenly caught on, "A horror movie?"

"Yeah." Luo Qi said.

"No one died? No one went crazy?" Majiang asked worriedly.

"Dai Wei is a middleman; he was issuing bounties for several big shots in the Black Market. I made him withdraw the bounty." Luo Qi said in a low voice, "He had a bounty on Du Zhengyi's body parts."

Majiang took a deep breath, and he and Du Zhengyi exchanged a look.

Guan Xinyue looked at them from side to side, "Is that also against the rules?"

"Combined with torturing people in the Black Market, this is enough for the Black Market administrator to issue a new Golden Order for Luo Qi's body parts." Majiang said in a low voice.

"But," Luo Qi said, feeling a sense of relief, "but they didn't mention this?"

Du Zhengyi also looked at Majiang, and Majiang shook his head, "No one knows about this."

Luo Qi let out a sigh of relief and sat up straight, "See, I knew they were more inclined toward Du Zhengyi; I just did for them what they found inconvenient to do directly. Robbing a cat or whatever is just avoiding the heavy and focusing on the light. To hell with the neutral Black Market administrator; I knew everything was politics."

Majiang had nothing to say, and Du Zhengyi began to analyze, "The Zhouqiao Grass Market doesn't want to damage its relationship with any party, but what they want more is to maintain the status quo. The Lotus Burner is rising, and the balance maintained for a thousand years is being broken; ancient forces like the Zhouqiao Grass Market might feel threatened. It is understandable that they would lean toward the Qionglin and Pei Shu at such a time, especially since the Sandbox Rules of the Zhouqiao Grass Market were not broken; Luo Qi did not use offensive Magic."

Majiang looked displeased, and Du Zhengyi sighed and said, "They have no choice; offensive Telepaths are indeed above many rules. And I think the Black Market administrator doesn't want to easily offend this type of Mage, especially since they might not yet know who this Mage really is; Luo Qi is completely in the shadows compared to them."

He saw Luo Qi beside him looking smug, and changed the subject, "So Luo Qi, you should still tell us what you were actually going to the Black Market to do. You must have only found out about the bounty on me after you went to the Black Market, right?"

Luo Qi became nervous.