Chapter 330: A Hearing Problem

"Luo Qi is just a weirdo."

With an empty stomach, Luo Qi, who was just walking into the hall, paused. He looked out and saw the hall was filled with hearth fires, and candlesticks of varying heights were scattered everywhere, working in tandem with Magic to illuminate the entire hall.

At a glance, he saw quite a few figures. Several people who looked like Highland Mages were sitting facing the wall in a corner of the hall, and Kawa was busy bustling about, making arrangements in the middle of the hall. Several curtains had been set up, partitioning off a few areas, and there were many cushions on the floor, along with many pieces of rosewood furniture that Luo Qi couldn't quite identify at a glance.

A faint, elusive breeze blew over, and Luo Qi smelled a fragrance that seeped into his heart. His footsteps slowed down unconsciously, and even the interval between every two heartbeats lengthened. He felt suspicious, wondering if he had heard something. He walked into the hall as if stepping into a melody; he followed the rhythm of the melody with his breathing and heartbeat, a rhythm as serene and slow as a flute played in the quiet of the night.

He subconsciously suspected that something bad had happened and focused his mind to sense it, but it was like stopping to listen to whispers in the wind—there was actually nothing there. He exerted his attention to resist, but the result was like punching into water; he found no target.

"Luo Qi isn't that weird, okay? Where do you think he's weird?"

He heard it again. This time he recognized it was Guan Xinyue talking about him. No matter how she retorted to his face, she was actually always shielding him; he knew that.

"This guy Luo Qi," the person answering was Shang, "he's a perfectionist. He can't tolerate the existence of contradictions, he doesn't like being out of control, and he doesn't like anything with mystical tendencies."

"What you're describing sounds like a normal, good person," Guan Xinyue said. "Do you want a lunatic who ignores all contradictions, loses control every day, and is all mysterious?"

Luo Qi still couldn't see where the two of them were gossiping about him, so he simply stood still and listened carefully for the direction.

Shang laughed, "Yeah, a guy who nitpicks about this being a paradox and that being illogical, a guy who doesn't like anything with mystical tendencies... a Mage."

"Oh." Guan Xinyue conceded, "Put that way, he is indeed a bit weird." "So, in our world, Luo Qi is truly a weirdo," Shang said affirmatively. "But for all his weirdness, sometimes he's also weirdly awesome, so it's alright. What about you, girl, what do you mean?"

"I... I feel like Luo Qi has changed."

"Changed? Changed to be even weirder?" Shang brushed her off. Luo Qi could tell he was treating Guan Xinyue's words as the sensitive overthinking of a young girl.

"I feel like Luo Qi is changing every day," Guan Xinyue said stubbornly, a bit angry at Shang's lack of seriousness.

"Hm?" This time Shang was a bit more attentive. "Tell me about it."

"Don't you feel like sometimes he suddenly becomes awesome, suddenly knows something, suddenly... everyone changes, but Luo Qi's change is simply a mutation-level, large-scale one," Guan Xinyue said.

Luo Qi frowned. He hadn't thought Guan Xinyue would observe him so carefully. Perhaps women were inherently delicate and sharp. Girls were a book Luo Qi could never read through and a subject he could never study clearly in his entire life.

Guan Xinyue continued, "It's as if what I see every day is just Luo Qi's shell; he's still that cute boy, but inside this shell, he's been changing violently. When I first saw him, I looked into his eyes and dared to say I understood his heart. But now I understand less and less what he's thinking. I feel like he's planning to do something, and I haven't seen him discuss it with anyone. As a friend, I think this isn't good; I'm very worried about him."

"He... he discussed it, right? Didn't he have a few meetings with Du Zhengyi and our Great Mage?" Shang said with a clueless air.

His cluelessness infuriated the young girl. Guan Xinyue said annoyedly, "I don't like him changing!"

Luo Qi couldn't describe how he felt. He never expected that the first person to notice he had a problem would be a human girl. In that case, would Du Zhengyi and Pei Shu have noticed something too? He had to ponder this; he didn't want to fail before he even started!

Suddenly, he had a strange sense of familiarity, like a warm, cozy approach. Luo Qi turned around abruptly.

Du Zhengyi, who was walking toward him and was more than ten steps away, was startled, "How did you know I was coming?"

Luo Qi shook his head blankly. Du Zhengyi didn't pursue it, walking a few steps closer and looking at his expression with some suspicion.

"What?" Luo Qi asked guardedly.

Du Zhengyi looked at him carefully, "Luo Qi, have you changed a bit?"

What? Damn it!

Du Zhengyi tossed a bag of beans to him, and he subconsciously reached out to catch it. Du Zhengyi took the final step over, reached out to grab his shoulder, and pushed him under the firelight to take a closer look. "You actually got this tanned. It's too shocking. I haven't seen you for a day; where have you been hanging out?"

Luo Qi was greatly shocked, "I... I was in the tropical forest."

"Are you brainless?" Du Zhengyi shook his head helplessly, "You're really something."

Luo Qi felt a bit stifled. He hadn't thought about this issue, so he asked, "Where are the two of them?"

"Oh, the Highland Mages have all returned, you saw that, right? So they've utilized this hall. It seems like this is a shared space for everyone; they spend all their time here except when sleeping. Shang and Guan Xinyue are here too; the bedrooms are too narrow and not suitable for daily life. Shang has been reading, probably wanting to take the opportunity to finish all the Highland Mages' medical books. Let's go over too. People here just find spots at will, and they've occupied a spot too," Du Zhengyi said, turning to lead Luo Qi toward a corner of the hall.

Luo Qi followed Du Zhengyi. At first, he thought his eyesight might be bad and that he would reach the territory Shang and the others occupied after walking a bit, but this walk turned out to be dozens of meters. At such a distance, separated by several layers of fluttering curtains, furniture of varying heights, statues in the Highland Mages' exotic style, screens, and magical plants, it was impossible for Luo Qi to see them at all.

Of course, he also shouldn't have been able to hear the two of them chatting at all.

In a corner of the hall—a genuine wall corner, both comfortable and able to maintain a bit of privacy—it could be called the prime location here. Shang was half-reclined on a cushion, reading a book, with the text projected in front of him. Guan Xinyue couldn't use such things and was boredly drawing a comic.

A screen was vaguely blocking them in front. The candlelight flickered beside the screen, and their shadows were cast upon it, causing both of them to look up.

They happened to see Luo Qi's dumbfounded look.

"Luo Qi, what's wrong with you?" Guan Xinyue asked immediately.

Luo Qi's mouth was so surprised he couldn't even close it, staring blankly at the two of them.

"What the hell are you doing again?" Shang asked.

Luo Qi turned to Du Zhengyi, "Brother, I've suddenly developed super-hearing."

Shang clicked his tongue, "How old are you? Don't be talking nonsense and acting spoiled with Du Zhengyi all day."

Luo Qi turned his head angrily, "Brother! Just now, behind my back, you called me a weirdo!"

Shang and Guan Xinyue were both stunned. Luo Qi took an angry breath, looking like he was about to be choked with rage, "It really happened!"

Du Zhengyi understood, "You heard that while standing in that spot just now?"

"Yeah," Luo Qi said.

"Interesting," Du Zhengyi pondered, "The Highland Mages' territory is indeed interesting."