Chapter 220: Two-Headed Dog

"There are no traces of any intrusion," Majiang announced.

The courtyard was quiet, or rather, the entire small town was in absolute silence; Luo Qi suspected that the three of them, plus the cat in his pocket and Guan Xinyue inside the house, were the only living things in this town.

"Luo Qi's cat is gone," Du Zhengyi said, reminding Majiang to pay attention.

Majiang's brows furrowed; this was indeed an anomaly that could not be bypassed. He glanced at Luo Qi, who was watching him quietly and patiently, looking even more anomalous than the cat.

"But it makes no sense that the cat felt something, yet I felt absolutely nothing?" Majiang said gloomily, turning his head to look at Luo Qi again. The anomalous Luo Qi was also quite an eyesore. "Can you feel anything?"

"I can feel that danger is lurking everywhere; we are in the eye of the storm," Luo Qi said calmly. "So, can we leave the town now and find somewhere else to hide?"

"I... do not recommend doing that," Majiang said dryly. "This place is the safest place I could find. I won't go into how the defenses here came to be, but most importantly, the defenses here were reinforced by Pei Shu. Even if they have already discovered this place, if we hole up here, we can hold out until Pei Shu comes out of seclusion. If the danger has already arrived, then we absolutely should not leave here; in a dire situation, this is the place that can provide us with the greatest protection."

The corners of Luo Qi's mouth lifted slightly, his smile pale and tinged with bitterness. He looked at Du Zhengyi. "See? I told you, we definitely can't leave here today. Even though we all already know that this place is certainly no longer safe."

"As long as we don't step outside of here," Majiang emphasized to him once again. Whenever it came to times like this, he would find that the grinning Luo Qi was the biggest troublemaker.

"Fine, although we all have our own brains, all Mages only have one brain," Luo Qi muttered. "As long as he makes the arrangements, it is the best arrangement intended for us. We are like the generals in *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*; no matter how far we have campaigned, the only thing we can rely on is the strategist's silk bag of tricks."

"What are you talking about, Luo Qi?" Majiang asked, puzzled. "Why do you have so many strange things to say? A little respect for your elders wouldn't hurt, right? If you think it's safer for us to leave here now, state your reasonable grounds, and we can discuss it."

Luo Qi shook his head. "I really don't have any better place to go, nor any more brilliant path to take. If this place can provide shelter, without Du Zhengyi having to provide shelter for me every time, then we shouldn't leave again. Who is cooking today? I'm going to see what Guan Xinyue is doing."

After he finished speaking, he went into the house first. Majiang stared at his back, feeling bewildered. "What on earth does he mean?"

"Don't you think Luo Qi is growing up too fast?" Du Zhengyi watched Luo Qi disappear behind the door and suddenly turned to ask Majiang.

"What do you mean?" Majiang furrowed his brows and said in an exaggerated tone, "I'm grateful for it; after experiencing so many things, he's finally willing to grow up."

"No," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice. "Although he has always been smart, now he changes a little every day compared to the day before. His speed of thinking is getting faster and faster, and his mind is becoming more and more mature. Just like today, he definitely hid something. Two weeks ago, he would have definitely told me in private; he is not a person who likes to keep things to himself. He can't stand that kind of atmosphere, and he can't bear the inner burden of concealment."

Majiang hesitated for a moment. "I see him acting like a three-year-old in front of you, and he doesn't give an inch when bickering with Guan Xinyue; he doesn't look like someone with a hidden agenda. Besides, I think it's because your illness this time was too frightening, and it scared him."

"What about when he's not in front of me? Has Guan Xinyue ever said that Luo Qi has changed? When you are alone with Luo Qi, have you felt that Luo Qi has changed? Most importantly..." Du Zhengyi pursed his lower lip slightly, thinking it over repeatedly before speaking, "Don't you think Luo Qi is learning too fast?"

"To tell you the truth, most of Luo Qi's learning doesn't rely on my teaching; he has always been self-taught, only occasionally coming to ask me questions," Majiang said.

"Luo Qi's Mind Magic is becoming more and more masterful. Perhaps because you are a Healing Mage, you haven't delved deep into the extent of Luo Qi's Hallucination Magic. As long as an Illusion has a single flaw, the opponent can break free. This one had no flaws, and it even included the fact that the pain Luo Qi created was real, which was how he was able to force Dai Wei to that extent. Doctor, I ask you, how did Luo Qi complete such complex anatomy and neurology courses in two weeks? I did see him reading those books, but if two books are enough to graduate, why do human doctors need to study for at least seven years?" Du Zhengyi asked in a low voice.

Majiang's brows furrowed even tighter. "Has he always been with you?"

"Doctor, does that mean he entered the Consciousness Space right in front of me and copied someone else's memory, while I knew nothing about it?" Du Zhengyi asked.

"If it's a human brain, it's very possible, and it wouldn't trigger any energy conflict," Majiang said. "It might be like diving to scoop up pearl oysters from the seabed and picking out the pearls inside. Few Mages do this; human knowledge is complex and useless, and much of it is fundamentally incorrect or full of limitations. Furthermore, the accuracy of human memory is only seventy percent; doing this would result in a large amount of incorrect knowledge."

"An important reason why Mages don't do this is probably also because of a Mage's pride," Du Zhengyi added. "But that is Luo Qi. He likes humans and understands everything about humans; the possibility of him extracting knowledge from within is very high. What I worry about is that I have always believed knowledge should be obtained through one's own study; relying on copying only results in static knowledge, and one will never obtain the way of thinking that comes from professional training."

"If Luo Qi can ingest more knowledge, he could leave behind more correct knowledge through consistency comparison, but that would require a greater workload," Majiang said, thinking earnestly. A professional demeanor appeared on his face; at this moment, they were practically in the Qionglin laboratory. "Besides, looking at the results of the matter, I don't think Luo Qi lacks a professional way of thinking."

"How do you think he managed to do it? Is his brain activity too far beyond that of an average Mind Mage? When he was arguing with Guan Xinyue, did you hear Guan Xinyue accusing him of showing off by reading two books at once?" Du Zhengyi asked.

Majiang was startled.

Du Zhengyi saw his expression become even more worried. "Doctor, he can replicate a Sub-consciousness to work in parallel within his brain."

Majiang felt that even if he saw a two-headed dog, he wouldn't be more surprised.

It took a long while for Majiang to speak. "Strictly speaking, generally only Mind Mages who have lived for over a century would dare to do this. If that's the case, it's not impossible that while Luo Qi is talking to us, another self is hidden deep in his mind, learning in the depths of time."

"The way you put it, I actually feel like laughing," Du Zhengyi said suddenly.

Majiang stared at him blankly.

Du Zhengyi smiled. "It's simply the most perverted overachiever I've ever heard of; even I can't hope to catch up."

Majiang was torn between laughter and tears. "I take back what I said before."

"What did you say?" Du Zhengyi asked.

"Luo Qi doesn't lack drive; he must have a terrifyingly huge drive," Majiang said.

"For him, will there be any adverse consequences for doing this? Doctor," Du Zhengyi asked, adding the title to remind Majiang of his status.

"Of course there are problems," Majiang said. "That wastebasket brain of his will explode sooner or later, that greedy little brat."