Chapter 408: The Rebirth of the Great Civet Cat King

Luo Qi lay in his bedroom, feeling as if a lifetime had passed. It wasn't just because his body had been snatched away, his soul banished, and he had undergone a long out-of-body experience... No, of course it wasn't just because of this reason, which he was almost tired of talking about.

There were two main reasons:

1. Mahjong had conducted a retaliatory medical examination on him. To confirm whether he was really him, Mahjong had flipped him over and over, performing countless necessary and unnecessary medical diagnoses (human experiments) on him.

2. If a person has been bedridden for a long time, or has been a vegetable for a period of time, even if it was only a two-day career as a vegetable... but a vegetable is a vegetable, and after suddenly switching back to an animal state, it is best not to eat too much at once. Especially high-fat, high-protein foods like meat, or high-sugar snacks like dried figs.

After Luo Qi finally got rid of Mahjong and the vomiting and diarrhea, he lay weakly in his room, while Du Zhengyi sat beside him, playing a game with the freshly charged electricity, making crackling sounds. He had just woken up from a deep sleep, and it was already daytime outside again. He lay there listening to Du Zhengyi play games for a while until he couldn't help it anymore, and he arduously stretched out a finger to attract Du Zhengyi's attention.

"Can I play a round?" he said in a hoarse voice.

"No," Du Zhengyi said flatly.

"Why?"

"Because I want to play, and the power is limited."

Luo Qi lay there feeling devastated for a while, then licked his lips, "Aren't we friends through life and death? Brothers who would die for each other?"

"When you need your big brother to save you, your big brother can give his life for you," Du Zhengyi said idly. Although he couldn't see his face, Luo Qi knew this voice didn't sound sincere.

"Then let me play the game for a round?" Luo Qi pouted and said.

"My life I can give you, but the game, no," Du Zhengyi said indifferently.

Luo Qi kicked the quilt in anger, kicking the thick, suffocating quilt off his body. "Why are you here?"

"This is..." Du Zhengyi said slowly, only halfway through. From the sound, Luo Qi knew his attention had been drawn to the game; he was at a critical moment. "... the intensive care unit."

Bullshit, this was clearly his room. But Luo Qi felt this point could also be skipped, so he asked again, "Then am I a patient?"

"Duh," Du Zhengyi said.

"Then as a patient, sleeping in my own room, why am I the one sleeping on the floor, while you sleep on my bed like a master!"

"Do you have an opinion?" Du Zhengyi asked.

Luo Qi thought about it, "No."

"Then why are you spouting nonsense?" Du Zhengyi said.

Luo Qi gloomily threatened him, "I think I'm going to throw up again."

"Get out and throw up, silkworm," Du Zhengyi said without a care.

Luo Qi turned over on his floor bedding in a huff, wishing he could make a sound on the floor. He lay on the floor and thought for a while; Du Zhengyi's Yajian gently circled around him, like hot spring water flowing in a world of ice and snow. At least it showed that Du Zhengyi really wasn't disgusted or guarded against him because he knew some of his "little secrets."

He stretched his limbs out on the floor and gave a comfortable stretch; who would have thought he really missed the cozy feeling of stretching as a human.

"I really like being with you," he said.

"Thanks," Du Zhengyi hummed.

"You're an interesting person," Luo Qi said.

"Are you leaving your last words?" Du Zhengyi stopped and asked.

"Of course not."

"Then shut up," Du Zhengyi said, and began to continue manipulating the game.

"If one day, I mean if, we really can't find a way, I wouldn't mind sharing a body with you," Luo Qi said.

"Luo Qi, you're not even an adult yet!" Du Zhengyi said.

"You know what I mean." Luo Qi sat up, his pair of black eyes staring straight into Du Zhengyi's eyes, "I'm not testing you..."

"Thanks," Du Zhengyi said, "Do you dare to be more ambiguous?"

"Did I say something wrong?" Luo Qi blinked, revealing a hint of realization, "Then should I use the word—share—to be more accurate?"

"No," Du Zhengyi looked into Luo Qi's eyes and said, "Your skull isn't big enough."

"I've thought about it, I can discard some useless memories. We Mages record the details of the past in minute detail, even the smell of the air on a certain day is remembered. I can delete these parts. I'm different from ordinary Mages; I can process my own Yajian more actively. I can also delete this part of you, and then we share the memory space, each preserving our own self. For subjective decisions, we can resolve them through democratic consultation," Luo Qi said, "Think about the bright side, in the future when I take the train, I can play with myself for the whole trip, and I'll never be lonely or bored again."

This was a bold, but also creepy idea. Luo Qi's black eyes watched Du Zhengyi brightly. This was his bottom-line idea, and also an idea both desperate and full of hope, so he never wanted to show his cards to Du Zhengyi so early; it was all that damn Progenitor Mage's fault.

"No," Du Zhengyi said expressionlessly. If he had any emotions, he hid them; Luo Qi didn't feel them. Du Zhengyi was like a blank slate in front of him now, which made him a little anxious. Du Zhengyi continued, "I don't like being a shorty."

"Fuck," Luo Qi blurted out, then hurriedly stuck out his tongue.

"No," Du Zhengyi emphasized seriously again, "Don't even think about it, Luo Qi. Any act that goes against nature will not have a good result. If you do that, the mildest side effect is schizophrenia."

"Meaning I think I am Du Zhengyi?" Luo Qi's eyes were bright and sparkling, asking eagerly.

Du Zhengyi looked at him for a while, watching him bounce in and out of the bottom line, testing his patience. He tapped Luo Qi on the forehead with his finger, then said earnestly, "Sometimes, I feel like I might have connected with Luo Ruian."

"My dad?" Luo Qi asked with interest.

"I'm starting to understand him. I used to think he was a pervert. But every day when I have the thought of wanting to castrate you, I feel my soul is gradually drawing closer to Mind Archmage Luo Ruian. He really is a Great Mage with foresight; I should have listened to his lectures more."

Luo Qi curled his lips, "I was just saying, I have a sense of proportion."

"Bullshit," Du Zhengyi said, then lay back on the bed to continue playing the game, scoffing at Luo Qi's sense of proportion. "Do you feel okay now? Any aftereffects? Any trauma issues? Any excessive panic? No need to answer, I know you don't. I'm actually curious why you don't?"

Luo Qi's mouth, which had just opened, closed again. He thought for a moment before opening it again to say, "My life has always been like this; this is life. Life is a battle. What to do if you're traumatized? Of course, put on a Band-Aid and get back up to fight! Oh, right, if I could choose, I'd hope this Band-Aid had a caterpillar pattern, a little bear would be fine too, but don't use the Forbidden City cultural creative pattern!"

"Just assume I understood that. I'm much more at ease with you; you're particularly resilient in some strange places..."

Luo Qi lay on the bed watching Du Zhengyi's screen; if he couldn't play, watching for a while was fine, it was better than just listening to the sound. "You haven't told me what exactly happened in the last few days."

Just as Du Zhengyi was about to speak, he suddenly leaned closer, sticking his nose to Du Zhengyi's abdomen to sniff. "Magic to accelerate tissue growth?"

"Your nose is getting sharper and sharper," Du Zhengyi said, glancing at him suspiciously.

"Yes, my senses have strengthened along with my Mind Mage abilities," Luo Qi said vaguely.

"Don't strengthen your abilities at will, you know?" Du Zhengyi said.

"I know, side effects, blah blah blah," Luo Qi said indifferently, trying to use his Yajian to lift Du Zhengyi's shirt to look at his not-yet-fully-healed scar. "Did I do that?"

Du Zhengyi dispelled his amateur magic and shifted his attention. "Shi Xiansheng is really interested in you."

"I think she's just dissatisfied with the Qionglin and wants to use me as a gun," Luo Qi muttered.

"She came to show goodwill to you, and also to warn us. First, she did us a favor, and second, she expressed appropriate sincerity for our future cooperation with the Black Market," Du Zhengyi said.

Luo Qi didn't say that this sincerity was even greater than what was on the table. He asked, "Although the Black and White are incompatible, she is actually gray, not completely black. Why does she have such great hostility toward the Qionglin?"

"Because she..." Du Zhengyi trailed off vaguely.

"You know? Why?" Luo Qi asked, surprised, leaning over the edge of the bed like a cat waiting to be fed.

Du Zhengyi glanced at him and unconsciously lowered his voice even further, though there was no one else around to hear. "Because... she and Pei Shu... in the past..."

Luo Qi let out a yelp, "What? The two of them had a thing?"

"What do you mean 'had a thing,' don't put it so crudely." Du Zhengyi glared at him. "It's just... anyway, they didn't make it to the step of marriage."

"Why?" Luo Qi asked gossiping, "Now that you mention it, they look quite compatible, both being pretty old."

"What kind of nonsense is that? Even the oldest people were young once, how is that compatible?" Du Zhengyi said. "This was all many years ago. I heard it was something like a disagreement in principles, so they broke up. Thinking about it, a breakup is quite normal; one supports the principles of the Qionglin, and the other chooses to manage the Grass Market. That couldn't lead to marriage, it sounds very strange."

Luo Qi, however, had an epiphany: love turned to hate, hoping to use the hands of a small fry like him to cause a ruckus in the Qionglin, to fiercely humiliate and torment her old lover—this was definitely worth passing on her mantle to him. "Brother, do you read the books of Jin Yong?"

"Where are you dragging this off to now?" Du Zhengyi said with disdain.