Chapter 446: The Path of Resurrection

Relative to the two consciousnesses currently communicating, a rather long blank space emerged between them. In the mental world, where consciousness serves as the sole form of existence, such a long duration would be enough for each of them to complete twenty theses on Kongzi.

This thought reminded Luo Qi that he hadn't even done his homework yet.

Luo Qi grew irritable, "Are you senile? Or are you superstitious that one should be too calculating? You should know, whether you admit it or not, I will eventually figure out this business of whether there is an Entanglement or not!" "How much do you understand about the concept of Entanglement?" the clownfish asked him.

"Enough. I know this thing is fair, two-way, and completely binding," Luo Qi said. "I plan to try and see if I can take advantage of you. Theoretically speaking, you can rely on me to enter the Highland Mage's Barrier, and I can rely on you to enter somewhere else—perhaps the Lotus Burner's lair."

"You can ask me directly if you want to know about that place, or perhaps I will tell you myself when the time is right," the clownfish said calmly, yet he was observing Luo Qi; his intent was filled with bewilderment, which Luo Qi could feel. He used a different, hissing, acerbic voice to whisper, "I must admit you are harder to deal with than I imagined, but you are also unbearably naive. Did Du Zhengyi join some cult and get brainwashed, where the first rule of joining is to sacrifice oneself to save a special education case like you?"

"So, do I have an Entanglement with you or not?" Luo Qi ignored his sarcasm.

The clownfish transmitted a string of amusement to him, "Don't you dare dream of getting rid of me."

Luo Qi could not suppress the disgust surging up from his heart. Even though he could already confirm his guess regardless of whether the clownfish admitted it or not, it was still hard to believe, "You make my scalp crawl."

"We are Mind Mages; we need to get used to the idea of putting things into our brains," the clownfish said indifferently.

"It's disgusting," Luo Qi said. His intent spat out a series of vicious curses, a motley collection mixing the profanities of both the Mage and human worlds. He was practically screaming, "It's like I wanted a proper marriage, only to have my household registration stolen by a whore like you."

The clownfish took a moment to react—a duration that was slightly long for a Mind Mage—but he finally figured it out. His consciousness seemed somewhat emotionally stirred, "You actually wanted to form an Entanglement with Du Zhengyi? Are you insane to think a Gushan Guard would fall for your trick? You want to use such a crude method to scam a gate pass into Gushan? I understand now why Du Zhengyi is friends with you; he must be a narcissist. Being friends with an idiot allows one to maintain a sense of superiority at all times."

"If you idiot hadn't touched my brain first, I definitely could have gotten Du Zhengyi to agree in the end! You don't know a damn thing! Now, even if he agreed to establish a Deep Tangle with me, the moment we opened our brains, he would realize that I have an Entanglement tied to you!" Luo Qi said with disgust, his malice suddenly increasing, "Great, you've killed Du Zhengyi a second time, because I may never have another chance to bypass the Gushan Guard. I should settle for the second-best option—tearing your brain apart right here. I can't save him, but at least I can take revenge and vent my anger."

"Impossible."

"Impossible to kill you?" Luo Qi asked back angrily.

"I believe it is highly possible for you to severely wound me, but what good is mutual destruction? I advise you to restrain yourself," the clownfish said slowly, his attitude very serious, "I meant your first plan is impossible."

Luo Qi shook his head indifferently, "I can, because I am so naive and gullible, so Du Zhengyi would definitely have agreed to me in the end."

The clownfish was silent for a long time once again. He scrutinized Luo Qi's consciousness, and Luo Qi was not sure what he saw. "Of course," the clownfish finally said, reluctant and restrained. His image and voice both became cold and stern, "Du Zhengyi is a rare fool, a hero; he will save you in the end."

Luo Qi felt ashamed, but he suppressed this useless sense of shame.

"You've ruined my chance now, and you still want to use me to get a gate pass for Gushan," Luo Qi said.

"Luo Qi, your method is indeed a shortcut, but it is also a trick. According to my plan, you will eventually attain a status in the Qionglin no less than Du Zhengyi's. Pei Shu has deeper expectations for you than you think; one day you will come into contact with the core secrets of the Mages. I will help you, which is also to my benefit. I know you are unwilling to work for the Qionglin, and as long as there is another path, you are unwilling to take this one, but all victories require sacrifice," the clownfish said smoothly. His consciousness was very persuasive; Luo Qi tasted his pain and anxiety, as the clownfish allowed him to understand a part of the real him. "This is the most stable path. I am not interested in the other secrets of the Mages; all I want is for my lover to be resurrected. I think this request of mine is not excessive."

"I can't wait until that time, because Du Zhengyi won't last until then," Luo Qi said pallidly.

"Why?" the clownfish watched him calmly, "You can resurrect your friend."

"I can also resurrect the people you've killed over these years, right?" Luo Qi asked him softly, "Guan Yushan, Guan Ya..." one name after another spilled from his mouth, "and those humans whose names I don't know, who were killed in the terrorist attack at the shopping mall."

The clownfish remained unmoved, "But I successfully exposed the Lotus Burners, forcing the Qionglin to take notice. I saved more people, perhaps tens of thousands. Sometimes, to achieve the correct goal, one can only use the wrong methods; this is the real world."

"Answer me, can you resurrect these people?" Luo Qi asked, his consciousness pressing directly upon the clownfish.

The clownfish fell into silence once again. Luo Qi knew he was calculating—calculating how much impact different answers would have on Luo Qi and how they would change the future. Luo Qi felt something; he intuited that the clownfish chose honesty, "No."

"What is the method of resurrection actually like?"

"I don't know," the clownfish said.

This was a lie. Luo Qi felt it, just as distinct as the difference between the wind blowing from the mountains and the wind blowing over the water; he could vaguely distinguish it.

"No matter what the method of resurrecting the dead actually is," Luo Qi said calmly, having pondered this question for a long time, "I have gradually realized that this world must follow some basic laws and basic logic. For instance, the dead must be very difficult to revive, or this world will not bear a large number of resurrections, or the sacrificial cost required for resurrection is extraordinarily huge. To be honest, I can barely distinguish what true death is anymore. I have detached from my own physical body, and the Highland Mages' belief that they can ascend to heaven does not seem entirely false either. I don't know what method you will use to resurrect the person you care about, but for me, my friend is not yet dead; his existence is incomparably real, so I will not sacrifice his current state of existence for anything. Making me believe I can call him back after he dies is not as good as letting me see the chance to keep his current life."

"Oh, you are negotiating with me," the clownfish slowly bloomed into a cold sneer, like wind blowing across an ice surface. "You are very good at negotiating terms. Looking at you like this, I find you are much more mature than I thought. Which one is the real you?"

"I do want to talk to you. I've been thinking these past few days about how to contact you and wanting to set a time to sit down and talk," Luo Qi said in a low voice. If Liu Ziyu hadn't discovered the energy anomaly, he would never have thought the clownfish was still here. He had originally wanted to send her back and then come find him alone, but this opportunity was also good. "I don't intend to be friends with you, so what kind of person I am has nothing to do with you. Yu Shu, let's take a professional attitude and discuss the matter as it stands. Regarding Du Zhengyi's situation, I have thought about it for a long time. When I was in the Progenitor Mage's container, I had endless time, and no one was bothering me, with no physical body or too many emotions to deal with. I carefully combed through the whole thing, and later I finally thought to analyze exactly how you hurt him. We are all Mind Mages; there shouldn't be any trade secrets regarding this point."

"What do you think?" the clownfish asked.

"Most of the time when we attack others, we first tear their brains, causing irreversible brain damage. But analyzing Du Zhengyi's symptoms, his mind is undoubtedly still sound. He certainly cannot use much Magic, but that is because his spirit is primarily being used to maintain the barriers protecting his mind; it is not that his brain is currently injured. He is healthy now, but he is destined to die because of brain damage..." Luo Qi said, "This sounds complicated, full of contradictions and mystery. But I have gradually discovered a universal law of the world, which is that no matter how complex a problem is, once broken down, there is always a very simple truth at the deepest level of the problem."

The clownfish watched him, waiting for this young Mage Apprentice to reveal the simple answer at the very bottom of the deepest mystery.