Chapter 344: The Temple

"The ground exposed where there is no snow ahead is red, and not a blade of grass grows there." Luo Qi and Zhou Quan walked slowly toward the depths of the valley; he noticed that Zhou Quan, like Du Zhengyi, was calculating and measuring the energy along the way. "Do you know why?"

"Humans have explained this situation; it's because the soil is rich in iron," Zhou Quan said simply, diverting his attention from his calculations.

Luo Qi gained a new understanding of Zhou Quan. "That's rare. Most Mages don't care about human knowledge."

"Quite a few Mages know these things," Zhou Quan said. "They're just embarrassed to say it out loud. Everyone lives in human society; most have televisions, almost everyone has mobile phones and computers. If you can learn things just by watching a TV series, who wouldn't know? It's just that everyone pretends not to."

"Du Zhengyi doesn't have a television, nor does he have a mobile phone or a computer," Luo Qi said casually.

"I can imagine," Zhou Quan made a face. "He's different from us; he is a Mage among Mages."

"Do you believe the soil here is rich in iron?" Luo Qi asked suddenly.

"You've got me there." Zhou Quan smiled and looked Luo Qi over again, as if trying to see the entity behind the mask Luo Qi presented to him. "Some soil is indeed red because it is rich in iron, but containing certain rare Magic elements can also make the soil appear crimson, and, what's more, it can keep grass from growing. Ah, as for exactly which Magic elements it contains, I don't know. You know I'm in charge of the archives; I've read quite a lot of things, but what I know is all superficial."

"That's already impressive."

"Then can you tell me why those jackasses are poking their heads around at the mouth of the valley?" Zhou Quan looked back at the wild donkeys again. "We've walked into a place where even jackasses won't go; I don't really like this scenario. If you dig into the implications of this, it doesn't look very good."

"They are animals," Luo Qi said concisely, his mind still pondering other things.

"Huh?" Zhou Quan said. "So they're better than us?"

"Oh, animals survive on instinct; they can sense a powerful Yajian here. I don't know how to explain it to you, but I reckon their feeling is like when you sense someone behind you, but when you turn around, you don't see anyone. So you just can't help but keep looking back," Luo Qi said very calmly.

"Buddy, you're giving me the creeps," Zhou Quan said.

"There's something even creepier," Luo Qi muttered. "We are about to reach the boundary line between where grass grows and where it doesn't; we need to be cautious when we get there. Have you heard of the Highland Mage's Curse?"

"Oh, I'm in charge of the archives."

"Understood. Since you know, I don't need to continue telling ghost stories," Luo Qi said. "Then do you judge that there won't be that kind of silent, invisible Curse here?"

"It is impossible for a Curse to exist in this world," Zhou Quan said firmly. "Everything has an explanation."

"You think so?" Luo Qi blinked, a bit confused. "In the past, I was the only one who would say things like that."

"That's because they were too narrow-minded. Of course it's like that; we are Mages, not the village witches who treat people's illnesses," Zhou Quan said. "Curses are purely superstition."

"Then do you mean that Curses don't exist? That the people rumored to have died from a Curse didn't all turn into liquid when they died?" Luo Qi asked.

"I didn't say that; the poor devils who liquefied definitely liquefied. So many reputable Mages witnessed the death process of the Mage who was cursed to death recently; if they wanted to fabricate a cause of death, they could have made it sound more realistic, not so bizarre. Because this matter is so bizarre, it must be true," Zhou Quan said.

"Do you think a Curse and..." Luo Qi said hesitantly.

"And invisibility are both not superstitions, but some kind of Magic?" Zhou Quan took over his words deftly. "That's right, that's exactly what I think. Since it's a type of Magic, then it's definitely not the mountain cursing, nor is it the valley cursing. Whoever can use a Curse must be a person."

"But if it were Highland Mages cursing, they wouldn't not admit it," Luo Qi had basically figured out the behavioral patterns of Highland Mages after his few days of Highland life.

"Perhaps it was left behind by Mages from even earlier times, something even the Highland Mages aren't entirely clear about," Zhou Quan said.

Luo Qi felt there was more to his words; he must know something, but for some reason, he was unwilling to say it clearly. "Are you implying the Ancestor Mages?"

"Why would you think of figures from that legendary period? We Mages don't really record history, and actual history has gaps. The history of Mages is very chaotic, Qiqi; anything could have happened," Zhou Quan said, the last sentence said in a cheeky tone.

Luo Qi wasn't angry; there was a magical soothing mode in Zhou Quan's charm. No matter what he was saying, his tone and his demeanor could always make people feel comfortable. This might be the reason why Zhou Quan could complete his work; Mages were a group of cats that couldn't stick together, and Zhou Quan could weave through them and gather these cats together. Besides that, Zhou Quan was also much smarter than he had previously imagined.

They talked as they walked, and Luo Qi noticed that the terrain slowly rose again after a descent, and a brand-new landscape was right before their eyes. This should have been their last chance to turn back; after all, there was still danger in moving forward, and the Curse remained the thing that troubled them most. After all, before the onset of the Curse, no one knew if they had been hit. But just as they approached that invisible boundary line, Luo Qi suddenly realized that the two keywords—red soil and no grass—were not important at all.

"Have I been hit by an illusion?" Luo Qi opened his mouth in astonishment.

Zhou Quan stared blankly at the mountain wall in the distance. "Aren't you a Mind Mage?"

"I suppose," Luo Qi said. "But no one issued me a professional title certificate."

"Have you ever been hallucinated?" Zhou Quan did not move his gaze.

"Doesn't seem like it," Luo Qi said.

"Has Pei Shu ever hallucinated you?"

"No," Luo Qi said.

"Then you definitely haven't been hit by an illusion," Zhou Quan said.

Luo Qi gazed at the majestic stone pillars stuck to the mountain wall in the distance. The wind and snow had eroded part of the pillars, but those beautiful and vigorous lines still retained most of their form. The stone pillars were five or six stories high, pressed tightly against the mountain, as if they were a huge gate tower.

"It doesn't look like the style of the Highland Mages at all. It's as if another group of people did it. Do you think there will be inscriptions in ancient Mage language on it?" Zhou Quan said.

"Now we definitely have to walk closer to take a look, right?" Luo Qi said.