Chapter 288

Luo Qi held the children's book in his hands, looking up at Du Zhengyi in surprise.

Du Zhengyi also leaned forward from the sofa, moved closer to look at it with him, and urged, "What are you waiting for? Open it and see."

"What if I open it and find it's blank inside?" Luo Qi said, unwilling to face a new wave of disappointment. "What do you think a brat could possibly remember? It's quite possible I'm just comforting myself within a hallucination."

"Hard to say," Du Zhengyi said. "Given your parents' capabilities, they might have stuffed things directly into your head."

Luo Qi muttered a curse under his breath, though he didn't know who exactly he was cursing.

He flipped open the thin book, and the large, bright colors of the children's picture book rushed toward him. Luo Qi's heart stirred. "I do remember this book."

"What story does it tell?" Du Zhengyi also looked at the pictures in the book. Even though Luo Qi knew this was not the real Du Zhengyi, he still couldn't help but shift the book toward him.

It was truly a bit embarrassing to say it out loud; Luo Qi flipped through the pages and said with thick skin, "This is the adventure story of a clever little raccoon cat."

Du Zhengyi let out a mocking sneer. "Now that I think about the chuunibyou title you gave yourself, Great Raccoon Cat King, it wasn't just something you said off the cuff; it actually has a source."

"I—I actually had already forgotten these kinds of childhood stories. Fine, the title Great Raccoon Cat King is practically my dark history." Luo Qi flipped through the pages angrily. "I remember this is a series of books; the clever little raccoon cat has adventure stories in space, on the ocean floor, at the center of the earth, and even in the ancient age of dinosaurs."

"Then this is a set of human children's books?" Du Zhengyi asked. "Mage children's books aren't divided into volumes like this."

"That's not important," Luo Qi muttered. The childhood story became vivid because he had opened the picture book, and he recalled more details.

"What's important is the theme of this one," Du Zhengyi said wisely.

"Right," Luo Qi admitted. "The theme of this book is biology. This one is about the little raccoon cat being treated by the Ant Queen because of his bravery and fearlessness, living in the Great Huai'an Kingdom—I can't take it, this is too childish."

Du Zhengyi smiled and took the book that Luo Qi had tossed aside. "I suspect the authors of this series are your mom and dad."

"Yeah, that kind of taste." Luo Qi sighed. "Where do you think the Queen is? Why am I able to have this breathing room? Is the current illusion mine, or is it an illusion induced by the Queen?"

"Don't," Du Zhengyi said, while continuing to leisurely eat an apple and flip through his childhood book. "I am here precisely to keep you optimistic. You have to see hope to have a chance at solving the problem. Besides, in the real world, I truly exist right now, don't I? Even if you can't solve the Queen from the inside, I will eventually shatter her from the outside."

"No," Luo Qi said urgently. "If you do that, you'll die. I must be able to think of a way; I have to think of a way for us both to survive."

"Luo Qi," Du Zhengyi suddenly called out to him. "I don't think the story is what's important."

"What?" Luo Qi asked in surprise, but vaguely, he had already understood. Every picture in the book flashed before his eyes at high speed; those shallow, whimsical stories were far inferior to Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales. But within the drawings, many obscure images were depicted: slightly distorted and deformed teacups, plates, the little raccoon cat's gestures...

"This is..."

"A string of Secret Language," Du Zhengyi added.