Chapter 401: Great Cause

Luo Qi blinked in surprise, his gaze shifting back and forth between the old woman who led the Black Market and the young Qionglin War God. "Hey, on one side is Mars, on the other is Athena; who should I listen to?"

A smile appeared on the old woman's face, and she looked at him with soft eyes. "Thank you, you really are a good child."

Du Zhengyi glared at him. He coughed under the pressure, stretching pitifully in the gap between the two great mountains. "Um... Nainai, can you tell fortunes or something? Are you a diviner? A Calculator? I have a bit of ability, but this bit of ability can only count as me knowing a little technique, right? If anyone can really push for change, it should be a big shot like little Martin who loves to dream, not a mechanic like me. I don't have any ideology, not even a thought. As for me, as long as my family is all here and the cats are all here, I can close the door and sleep. I'm such a person who doesn't contend with the world, very Buddhist; if you have that kind of expectation, you might have really found the wrong person."

Luo Qi's earlier words sounded like he wasn't giving up, and Du Zhengyi stared at him unhappily, but hearing him speak appropriately later, with needles hidden in the silk, he seemed to have truly matured a bit. Du Zhengyi looked toward the stove fire; the mushrooms he had laid back on the grill were completely charred. He cleaned the grill and replaced them with beef slices to roast again.

Just as he was gradually relaxing, he heard Luo Qi ask again, "So Nainai, can you see the future?"

He resisted the urge to glare at Luo Qi; he knew that as long as there was the slightest possibility of digging for information, Luo Qi would never let it go.

"Do you want to know the future?" the old woman asked Luo Qi gently in return.

Du Zhengyi glanced at Luo Qi and, sure enough, saw a confused, lost look on Luo Qi's face. Yes, what is there to see in the future, anyway?

As far as Luo Qi's monotonous life went, the weight he himself occupied in Luo Qi's life was undoubtedly not light, and the future Luo Qi cared about was naturally the future related to him. But this future, even Mahjong could predict: it was certain that the Qionglin War God Du Zhengyi would soon be bedridden. If the future could truly be predicted, then the future anyone saw would be this future; Luo Qi had no need to ask at all.

"I don't want to know the future," Luo Qi finally said in a low voice.

"So, you see..." The old woman spread her hands, expressing heartfelt helplessness toward life and the world. Her finger wore a jade ring set in silver metal. When she reached out her hand, Du Zhengyi heard a hum of energy and couldn't help but look up.

Just then, the few tables sitting opposite them suddenly retreated, the space was abruptly widened, and Luo Qi was startled into a shiver. This child was still like this; his courage could be astonishingly large when he said it was, but when it was small, he would jump at the falling of a leaf, no better than a kitten. Luo Qi reached out to grab his arm, and he heard Shi Xiansheng let out a relaxed, happy laugh, followed by a sound of a pipa that cut through the air like flowing water, accompanying the laugh.

The fragrance of the incense burner rose in curls, and several rolls of light gauze, thin as cicada wings, were thrown down from the air, hanging around them. Vaguely, behind a roll of green gauze sat a man holding a pipa, looking just like the Tang-style pipa kept in Guan Xinyue's home.

The sound of the pipa began from there, but before anyone could listen closely, three more sitting figures appeared behind another layer of curtains. They looked like women, two playing horizontal flutes and one holding a xiao. First came a long, lingering xiao note, followed by the winding harmony of the flutes. The few musicians were all focused, none of them looking toward their side, almost like people in a painting. Yet this music was real and pleasant, shaking the heart.

Looking again at the diners who had originally been eating and drinking in the barbecue shop, they had long since disappeared without a trace. Looking closely, behind the musicians, there seemed to be solid walls covered in bamboo. Yet a gust of wind blew in their faces, carrying the scent of mountain forests.

Luo Qi opened his mouth wide, stunned into speechlessness once again. A Mind Archmage in the words of others, he now couldn't distinguish between an Illusion and reality at all.

Du Zhengyi shook his head. The local beer in front of him had been replaced by an elegant wine pot. He pulled it over and filled three Jun-kiln cups that had appeared out of thin air with fine wine. He was not surprised by everything before him; how could Shi Xiansheng be content with the role of a guest? They had been dealing with each other for a long time; when had he ever seen Shi Xiansheng give up the initiative? In the time it took for a gust of wind, Shi Xiansheng had already turned this place into her own banquet hall, occupying the psychological advantage.

The first cup of wine was yielded to Shi Xiansheng. Du Zhengyi smiled and said, "Shi Xiansheng, the scene is set too big. Are you trying to suppress a child who hasn't seen the world?"

"I have never been able to suppress you," the old woman complained slowly. "Because you have no taste and are never moved by art."

Luo Qi came back to his senses and couldn't hold back a laugh. Du Zhengyi didn't care, but his indifferent attitude was more like a tacit admission.

The old woman turned to look at Luo Qi and said, "It's a pity I'm old and can't keep up with the changes in human aesthetics. A few days ago, I went to see a human exhibition of sky-high-priced furniture; I was impressed and also confused, not knowing if I should design furniture skins like them. For example, should I paint the incense burner shell full of L and V?"

Luo Qi let out a "pfft" of laughter. The old woman frowned as if troubled and continued to chat with Luo Qi. "I'm not like Du Zhengyi and his old captain. I have never been a soldier for a single day. I can drive them with wisdom, and for the rest of the time, I can raise dogs and ponder art investment."

"Mm-hmm." Luo Qi nodded in agreement. "Their brains are all a bit... Brother, don't be angry—all a bit straight."

"Only straight brain circuits are suitable for being driven by Qionglin, using their sacrifices to offer tribute to the Mage World," the old woman said frankly, then took care of Du Zhengyi's emotions. "I am not attacking Qionglin; I respect you, child. Someone must always sacrifice for the whole to achieve a great cause."

"A great cause..." Luo Qi pondered for a moment.

The old woman looked at him keenly. "What do you want to say, child? I never work for Qionglin, nor do I put on Qionglin airs; you can speak freely. Seriously, don't waste the opportunity of me sitting here. I've lived longer than them, and I've spent my whole life managing information; I know a lot of things!"

"I wanted to say..." Luo Qi hesitated, not knowing how to organize his words. "I feel like I've heard this sentence many times."

"A great cause?" the old woman asked knowingly.

"A great cause, a common great undertaking, a supreme purpose, a great goal..." Luo Qi listed several nearly synonymous phrases and said suspiciously, "I've heard many people say it, with different purposes, from different camps, but they all say it like this. It seems a bit... different paths leading to the same destination."

When he said this, he looked at Du Zhengyi cautiously, afraid he would be angry. Because Luo Qi knew that the people who said this were the Lotus Burner, Qionglin, Zhao Jiaozhu, Pei Shu, and also the Progenitor Mage. In Luo Qi's eyes, these people were gradually overlapping; on some level, these people had some obvious common traits to him.

"That is because this is the purpose of a Mage's existence," the old woman said affirmatively.

Luo Qi turned back in surprise. "Purpose? Isn't it meaning? Like, fighting for a certain belief for a lifetime is meaningful, or something like that?"

"Of course it's a purpose. Because we were created by the Creator, and since we were created by the Creator, of course there is a purpose. We were born for something, born with a mission."

"Uh..." Luo Qi thought for a moment. "Human mythology says the Creator was lonely, so he created them..."

"Do they think they are the Creator's pets?" the old woman asked curiously.

Luo Qi choked, not knowing how to answer.

The old woman did not delve into it. "That must be a complex question, and you are right not to know. Humans have always been asking themselves where they come from; that is their problem. For us, Mages were created by the Progenitor Mage, and the purpose was to realize a great common cause. Of course, time passes, and now even the Progenitor Mage is nowhere to be found; no one has known for a long time what the great common cause actually is. This kind of statement just comes from a distant racial memory; it counts as a relatively catchy slogan that anyone can borrow."

Luo Qi and Du Zhengyi exchanged a glance. He turned his head and stammered, "If you came to buy news about the Progenitor Mage... I can swear on my father's dignity that we don't have information on the Progenitor Mage."

The old woman laughed and joked, "It's fortunate that I know your father is a decent man with some dignity."