Chapter 313: Person

Luo Qi held on outside for a while.

Yesterday, he could still use "distant mountains like dark eyebrows" to describe the pastoral homeland of Du Zhengyi, but today, the towering peaks before his eyes possessed the most resolute edges on Earth. It was a pity that wind and snow were raging at the summit; Luo Qi could only see a faint shadow of the peaks between the bleak, swirling snow and clouds.

Looking back at the building behind him, tightly blocked within the square formed by the tree walls, he could see almost nothing.

Luo Qi cursed under his breath, silently recalling the warm, flower-scented hall from just a moment ago...

"I have one last question." Luo Qi sneezed.

In the central hall of the swastika-shaped mansion, the Highland Mage put down the plant nutrient solution he had been mixing once again, turned around, and looked at Luo Qi.

Luo Qi suddenly froze in place as if he had jammed, eyeing the Highland Mage suspiciously, "You're also a bit like an NPC; this is getting a bit eerie."

"Also?" The Highland Mage quoted his exact words with unexpected sharpness. "Although I do not know what NPC is an abbreviation for, where did the guest say they had encountered someone before?"

Luo Qi opened his mouth wide without realizing it, rolled his eyes, and said firmly, "It's all an illusion, don't mind my rambling. I think... let me ask you again, how do you determine that the portal is at this location? I mean, this hall is quite large; why don't you mark an 'X' on the carpet where the portal is? You have plenty of flowers here, you could even circle it with a wreath?"

The Highland Mage looked at Luo Qi politely and with restraint for a full thirty seconds, until Luo Qi closed his mouth himself, before he said, "Guest, the portal is right here."

Luo Qi could hardly describe the sense of superiority radiating from him. Although Qionglin was very arrogant, Du Zhengyi would at least insult people or correct their mistakes. The Highland Mage only used complete silence to force people to reflect on themselves; Luo Qi vaguely felt that he was being treated like a bumpkin.

He truly did not understand the rules here, but the rules here were also too difficult to fathom...

Luo Qi steadied himself. He had two choices for later: one was to initiate a routine consultation with Du Zhengyi when he woke up, and the other was to wait until this guy went to fiddle with flowers again and brush some paint on the carpet for him. He had already thought about what pattern to paint; the common pattern for a helicopter landing pad was an 'H' inside a circle, so to respect the Highland Mage's habit of using abbreviations, he would paint a circle and put a capital 'R' inside it.

"Guest, plants cannot survive for long away from the soil," the Highland Mage said politely.

"What?" Luo Qi looked at him blankly, suddenly realizing the Highland Mage's strange habit of speaking. "Oh, oh, sorry, I've delayed your work. I... will ask one last thing. What is this place? How many people usually live here?"

"This is a piece of real estate belonging to the Highland Mages," the Highland Mage said.

"Ah?"

"Recently, thirty-three Highland Mages and Apprentices have been living here. Currently, only I am here; in two days, the Elder Mage will return with the Apprentices," the Highland Mage said, then nodded to Luo Qi.

Luo Qi understood his meaning; it was clear and unambiguous—the time for him to shut up had arrived. He had no intention of pestering him either; he had been tossing and turning all morning and had been blown by the cold wind, and his stomach was truly a bit hungry.

"Thank you, I'm going back now..." Luo Qi paused. "Wait, I suddenly remembered that my bedroom window faces a garden..."

"We have four climate-appropriate gardens, like four small worlds. If the guest is interested, you can reach the gardens from the hall using the same method; you only need to imagine the Coordinate of the garden as your target," the Highland Mage said.

"Wait, that's not what I meant," Luo Qi said hurriedly, seizing the time, and couldn't help but tease them, "Is this piece of real estate of you Highland Mages shaped like a Buddhist swastika?"

"Wan, or Yungdrung, or Shilijucuoluochana. The names vary, but the meaning is the same," the Highland Mage explained upon hearing this. Luo Qi suddenly discovered that if he were seeking knowledge, the mage before him seemed more willing to answer.

"Around 7:30 this morning, I looked out from my bedroom window and saw a row of houses behind the garden. That row of houses is the corridor connected by the door on my right, right?" Luo Qi asked.

"At any point in time, if you look out from your bedroom window, you will see the corridor on your right," the Highland Mage answered, confused.

"Uh... that's not what I meant," Luo Qi broke into a bit of a sweat. "I mean... um... you just meant that here, right now, there are only the five of us. Right?"

The Highland Mage nodded.

"Then, Kawai," Luo Qi said, licking his lips.

"My name is Kawa."

"Oh, right, right," Luo Qi said perfunctorily. "Mage Kawa. Then at 7:30, were you living in the room in that corridor? I think I saw you."

But Luo Qi knew that figure wasn't him; he had a hunch.

"I have been in the hall the entire time. I once told the guests that if there is a need, I am waiting for everyone in the hall," the Highland Mage said patiently.

"I'll go off-topic for a second, don't you sleep?" Luo Qi asked; he was indeed going off-topic.

"I can practice Meditation in the hall. Since I did not go to the snowy mountains with the Elder Mage, I have already fallen behind. Meditation can help me make up for my lessons, and the rest gained from Meditation is more profound," the Highland Mage said. Luo Qi found that he had one thing better than Du Zhengyi: he would follow him off-topic with a very natural attitude and wouldn't go crazy. This might be the benefit of Meditation; he made up his mind to let Du Zhengyi try Meditation too.

"But at 7:30 in the morning, you were definitely not in the room in the right corridor?" Luo Qi asked again. "Did you leave the hall to get flowers?"

"This plant grows in Garden No. 1. It is impossible to see Garden No. 1 from your room, and furthermore, I did not walk into any room," the Highland Mage said steadily, still not driven crazy by Luo Qi's harassment.

"Oh." Luo Qi crossed his arms over his chest. "Then I'm just letting you know. At 7:30 this morning, I saw a figure in a room in the right corridor. And I'm sure I didn't see it wrong; my eyes are super sharp. Since that person wasn't you, I think you should keep a dog here; your doors don't seem very secure."

This time, the Highland Mage looked truly startled, gazing at Luo Qi in some bewilderment.

Luo Qi shrugged. "That's how it is. I've reported it truthfully; I'm a law-abiding citizen. The rest of the trouble is yours. I'm going to eat beans; good luck, Kawaii!"