Chapter 44: The Rescue Plan

The sky was overcast, and the leaden clouds were like paint that wouldn't dissolve, pressed in clumps over the forest by a soul-painter. The blurred halo behind the cloud layer emitted a dismal light; even the sun appeared ancient and pale here.

A man and a woman appeared in this forest. The woman seemed startled, her pair of cat-like eyes widening slightly. The man followed her gaze and looked around. "You didn't come at the right time. If it were any colder, ice dust would be dancing in the sunlight in the forest, and Qionglin would look like a crystal forest."

"A crystal forest at minus forty degrees?" Guan Xinyue asked.

"There are times when it's even colder," Du Zhengyi said. He led the way, weaving through the Bei Guo forest where there seemed to be no path. His movements appeared irregular, yet he could accurately step onto the solid crusts of snow. Guan Xinyue soon realized that only by stepping in his footprints could she avoid being tripped by tree roots, shrubs, and gullies hidden under the snow.

"I just saw a big river over there. Can't we walk in the open area by the river?" Guan Xinyue asked.

"No, the riverside is the Scavengers' territory. I don't want to deal with them."

Guan Xinyue knew it wouldn't work just by thinking about it. As for what "Scavenger" meant, she didn't even want to ask for details just by hearing the name.

"Are you planning to use normal channels to get Luo Qi out?" Guan Xinyue asked again, having not been quiet for long. "Didn't that old thing insist on taking Luo Qi away just because he was a minor that day? He has no reason to detain him for so many days!"

"Reasons can always be found," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice. He had avoided this truth for several days, and only now, when the young girl asked him directly, could he no longer dodge it.

He walked in silence for a while, until the trees ahead began to thin out again. "I don't intend to use normal channels."

Guan Xinyue seemed to be startled as if she had just realized it. "You intend to walk straight into the highest institution of Mages and take someone away right under the noses of a bunch of Great Mages?"

"When you proposed a deal to me, you didn't think it would be like this?" Du Zhengyi said. "What else? Were you asking me to find a lawyer to file a lawsuit?"

"I thought if you took extra care, you could speed up the progress of things," Guan Xinyue said in a low voice behind him. "Can you really do it?"

For a long while, Du Zhengyi did not answer. After a moment, he only said dismissively, "Let's try and see."

"Is there anything I can help with?" Guan Xinyue asked.

Du Zhengyi's pace slowed down. For a while, he said nothing, as if making his final resolution. "Whenever a Mage uses power or comes into contact with an Energy Crystal, they leave behind their own traces. This energy trace is unique, just like a human's fingerprint, voiceprint, or iris. Execution Mages usually rely on these traces to track people, and I am very skilled at tracking myself."

"Then you..." Guan Xinyue paused. "Are you saying that as long as you take action to rescue Luo Qi, you will definitely leave traces?"

"Yes," Du Zhengyi said. "If I want to help Luo Qi, I will definitely leave traces. As long as I leave traces, I cannot escape the investigation of the Great Mages, and in the end, even I will have to be stifled underground in Qionglin. Therefore, this is an impossible mission."

Guan Xinyue opened her mouth, then swallowed that surprise. "I'm glad for the first time that I heard there was a 'but' here."

Du Zhengyi looked back at her. "Yes, there is a 'but' here—but humans do not have any energy traces. There is an Energy Crystal in the central hub of Qionglin that maintains Qionglin's defense. I cannot touch that crystal, but a human can."

"A human? Me?" Guan Xinyue widened her eyes in surprise, not even realizing that they had stopped walking completely at some point. "Me?" she asked again softly.

"If you are afraid, I will think of another way," Du Zhengyi asked.

"No." Guan Xinyue swallowed. Although her complexion was poor, she did not shrink back. "There is nothing I am afraid of."

Du Zhengyi nodded approvingly, then turned his eyes away for some reason. For a moment, his face was filled with self-loathing, like the shadow cast on his face by the black pine trees.

"Then tell me, how can I get to Qionglin?"

"You are standing in Qionglin right now," Du Zhengyi said.

Guan Xinyue was startled again. "Me? Here?"

"Isn't this Qionglin?" Du Zhengyi asked in return.

Guan Xinyue looked around in a daze at a forest of silver pines covered in white snow. If this place wasn't called Qionglin, she really didn't know where should be called Qionglin.

"If it were a Mage, they couldn't turn off Qionglin's defense without leaving a trace. If it were a human, they would have no way to walk out of the Illusion on the outskirts of Qionglin. But if a Mage and a human cooperate, both points are extremely simple. The Great Mages don't think this way because there has never been a Great Mage who cooperated with a human," Du Zhengyi said. "In the eyes of the Great Mages, humans are so insignificant they don't exist. Mages who wanted to cause trouble in Qionglin in the past tried everything to destroy the Defense Crystal or hide their energy traces, and there hasn't been a successful case yet."

"I really don't know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult, but I'll take it as a compliment," Guan Xinyue said. "What are Qionglin's defensive Magics like? Tell me first so I can have some idea."

"There are many types of defensive Magic," Du Zhengyi said. "The most important point is energy monitoring. This forest is now filled with Monitoring Crystals the size of ice crystals; they are almost everywhere."

Guan Xinyue couldn't help but look up and survey her surroundings. A gust of wind blew the crushed snow off the silver pines, and such white figures were flying everywhere in the forest. In the dim daylight, it was almost impossible to distinguish whether they were crushed snow, ice dust, or crystal fragments the size of dust.

"But you don't have to worry. Mages are obsessed with monitoring energy. You have no energy, so in Qionglin's field of vision, you don't exist. Right now, Qionglin can only see me," Du Zhengyi said.

"You rely on Magic just like we rely on modern technology," Guan Xinyue said.

"Something like that," Du Zhengyi confirmed her statement and continued, "The most important part of the plan is how to get Luo Qi out of the Monitoring Crystals that cover Qionglin. Although Luo Qi's Magic Ability is low, it is not entirely non-existent; he will still be identified by Qionglin's defense system. Although I can modify the Secret Language in the Defense Crystal to add an exit permission for Luo Qi, that is too complicated, and it will inevitably leave a trail in the future. I think the only reasonable way is to directly turn off the Defense Crystal. As long as it is turned off for a period of time, I have hope of using that time to take him away."

"I understand." Guan Xinyue grasped the general outline of the plan. She vaguely felt that Du Zhengyi had made a very bold plan, one that might be shocking in their world.

"No matter the circumstances, I will prioritize ensuring you are safe," Du Zhengyi said, and after finishing, he continued to walk forward with his head down.

"It's okay," Guan Xinyue said in a low voice. She looked up at Qionglin under the clouds. "I've already walked this far, how could I not go there and take a look?"

Although her voice was very low, it was heard clearly by the Mage's ears. Du Zhengyi stopped. At this moment, a tall building appeared abruptly in this primeval forest of Bei Guo. He looked up at this magnificent white marble building. He still remembered the shock he felt when he first came here as a child. In his memory, under the clear winter sky, this grand white stone city once shimmered with a faint light like a temple, as if responding to the whispers of the gods in heaven.

This was the core of Qionglin, and the core of Magic on this continent. It was built quite late, so it inevitably carried a touch of Victorian architectural style. The original temple was destroyed in a civil war among Mages. At that time, it was still an all-wood structure, a black building in the Tang style, with golden totems outlined on the roof, standing quietly in the mountains and forests, equally magnificent. Luo Qi must have heard the stories of those old times, and perhaps Guan Xinyue had heard them too. Originally, she had no chance to stand at the door of the temple in the stories, but that was not a pity; if she could exchange it, he knew she would have exchanged it for her original plain life without hesitation. But fate is sometimes so absurd.

Just like Du Zhengyi himself, if he could choose, he would rather he had never come to Qionglin.

"Is this the hub of Qionglin?" Guan Xinyue hurried a few steps, interrupting Du Zhengyi's train of thought. She stood side by side with Du Zhengyi. After all, she was still young, and her small face was filled with excitement when she saw the center of the Magic World.

"Yes," Du Zhengyi said, withdrawing his gaze and no longer looking at the temple.

"Not as cool as Hogwarts. My sister always used to make this place sound really mysterious."

"What is that?" Du Zhengyi said, and after asking, he waved his hand with an expression of "never mind." "Whatever that is, this building conforms to the era's characteristics and aesthetic features of the time. Did you expect this to be a European castle? If it weren't for the fact that wooden buildings are hard to preserve, this place would be completely Chinese-style."

"This is also very beautiful." Guan Xinyue smiled, sincerely praising Du Zhengyi's culture. He was momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say. "Is Luo Qi here now?"

"He should be underground," Du Zhengyi said. "Qionglin's underground holds quite a few criminals, most of whom are Mages with extreme tendencies, and a small portion are other types of criminals."

"You have quite a few lunatics?" Guan Xinyue asked in surprise.

"The total number of people held here is not large," Du Zhengyi said. "Ordinary criminals are usually doing hard labor and are not held here."

"How do you plan to go down and save Luo Qi?"

"After Qionglin's defense is turned off, the entire hub will be paralyzed, and there will definitely be chaos. The prison is a subsystem independent of the entire defense. I will go to the prison as an interrogator to interrogate a lunatic I had locked up before. Don't worry, that person is not an extremist; he is a complete lunatic who is constantly casting Fireballs. As long as I guide him to attack Luo Qi's cell from the outside, I can use his Magic power to open Luo Qi's cell."

Guan Xinyue hugged her arms to her chest, feeling a bit nervous. "It sounds reasonable. It should be fine, right?"

Du Zhengyi smiled. He was somewhat surprised that one day a young girl would worry about him. "Don't worry, I am often sent to various places to deal with this kind of mess."

After a short pause, he said, "The key to this matter actually lies with you. I will take you for Teleportation soon, but I cannot teleport too close to the Defense Crystal. That thing is too sensitive, and any Magic Energy too close will be captured by it. So if we want to walk into the room where the Defense Crystal is kept, we must pass through a hall and walk past at least dozens of Mages."

"What?" Guan Xinyue almost screamed. "Past dozens of Mages? Even if your crappy crystal can't identify humans, are you Mages all blind? Can't you be blind enough to not see me?"

Du Zhengyi raised his hand in a gesture for her to restrain herself. "That's why the hardest part is that you have to remain calm. No matter who approaches you, don't panic. Ordinary Mages are of course not blind; they will see you by my side and naturally assume you are a Mage, or the daughter of some Great Mage. This isn't entirely a lie; you are, after all, the granddaughter of Great Mage Guan Yushan."

"Do you mean the Great Mages happen to be blind?" Guan Xinyue asked incredulously.

"No, they are neither blind nor not blind," Du Zhengyi said, a sly smile appearing on his face. "Great Mages are accustomed to using energy detection instead of their eyes to look at people. They don't look at people with their eyes; they perceive the Mages around them through energy testing. If some Mages who look respectable happen to approach me, just stand a little further away, and try to get close to the young Mages. It doesn't even matter if you go and talk to them, you know? As long as you act natural, that's it."

"Are none of those young Mages Great Mages?" Guan Xinyue said cautiously.

"Among the young Mages, I am the only one who can do that; it is impossible for me to betray you."

"Oh—" Guan Xinyue breathed a sigh of relief, knowing what kind of powerful guarantee she had received, "No wonder Luo Qi hates you."

Du Zhengyi's expression faltered, but Guan Xinyue's eyes had already rolled around, "Hey, forget it, forget it, no one really hates you. That... although there is no evidence to be found, will they suspect you? Will they suspect that it was you who took Luo Qi away? After all, you two have been very close lately, and with your abilities, one can imagine there is a high probability that you did it."

Du Zhengyi smiled slightly, and a trace of imperceptible arrogance was revealed once again, "Without solid proof, what can they do even if they suspect me?"

Guan Xinyue nodded in understanding; even if Luo Qi didn't hate him, there must certainly be plenty of people who do.

"Then... have you thought about why they are targeting Luo Qi in the first place? Is it because they see he is relatively weak and want to use him as a scapegoat?"

"I cannot be certain either," Du Zhengyi said. A layer of gloom drifted over his heart once more, and as if talking to himself, he said, "I have some guesses, and if I am unfortunately right, then he is currently..."

He shook his head at this point and refused to say anything more.