Chapter 51: The Laughing Man

Luo Qi lay quietly in the Crystal Coffin. He opened his eyes in the water, surprised to find himself still alive and still submerged. However, this taste of being alive was not pleasant; fortunately, his Yajian seemed to have blocked out all painful nerves, leaving him with only a vague perception of his body. He sluggishly deduced that the only possibility for him still being alive was that he had not been truly cut off from oxygen. He was lying in an ancient water tank, soaking in a solution, but this solution could not be real water, nor was it a product of a Mage. When Li Xu utilized the conveniences invented by humans, he truly had no fear of being slapped in the face.

His thoughts gradually churned. He remembered that Li Xu had thrown him into the water to open his Yajian, and he also remembered that when he truly abandoned the shackles of his Yajian, Li Xu had not actually squeezed into his Yajian. On the contrary, Li Xu seemed to have seen something and fled in a state of near-total disarray. He had followed him unconsciously; in that void, he had to have somewhere to go, and as a result, he opened Li Xu's Consciousness World. Just as he vaguely realized this, he found himself growing stronger and stronger within another's consciousness, strong enough that he could replace Li Xu. Of course, he could also tear Li Xu apart, even if his own Yajian were to vanish into smoke along with him, it would not matter.

He suddenly became completely clear-headed, realizing truly that he was still alive, though he did not know what had become of Li Xu. He opened his eyes wide and, through the water's surface, saw the rough wall again, along with that familiar smiling face in the corner of the wall. His memory space became clearer than ever before, and he suddenly remembered the origin of that smiling face. That smiling face was not a symbol of a Mage. He had indeed seen that smiling face before; it came from a human animated film, the logo of the Laughing Man in Ghost in the Shell.

He shuddered at this startling realization, his Yajian racing. An Obsidian tabletop was something only ancient Mages would use; this was an ancient and traditional Interrogation Room. If so, why would a Mage use such rough walls in their ancient glory? Unless there was another layer of glorious illusion covering the rough walls, which everyone else could see, but only he could not. He saw only the rough walls, so the Laughing Man on the wall, mocking the Mage World, was something they could not see either.

Luo Qi knew that sensational anime, which was produced around the mid-nineties, meaning that someone had come here in the last twenty-some years and left this mark. That person was able to leave a mocking smile at the base layer of the illusion, ridiculing a crowd of Mind Mages.

Then what about him? What exactly was Luo Qi himself? He could hear whispers, constantly murmuring in his brain, with one voice louder than all the others, making his head ache. The more blurred the physical pain became, the more obvious the pain in his head grew. Gradually, he could no longer bear it, and he reached out to grab the edge of the Crystal Coffin.

The voice in his head grew even louder, chattering and asking, "What on earth happened? What is wrong?" He used all his strength to grip the edge of the Crystal Coffin, dragging his weak body up; he felt as if his fingers were about to break.

Just then, "Luo Qi!"

The voice in his head was too directional, making him tremble involuntarily. He lifted his head in a daze, his head breaking the surface of the water, and he saw the terrified face of Zhao Zhiyan. He suddenly realized he had to take Zhao Zhiyan out first, otherwise, Zhao Zhiyan would do anything to take him out.

But his respiratory system suddenly began to work. The liquid in the Crystal Coffin mixed with his tears and snot as it flowed out. His nearly deflated lungs left the amniotic-like environment, and the stinging pain of suddenly inhaling air made him scream. He did not know if the moment of a baby's birth was just as painful, but children did not seem to be as miserable as he was; at this moment, he could barely tell if he was alive or dead.

The voice in his head was also screaming, shouting "Kill him," "Kill him." Unconsciously, he considered several Magic spells, pondering whether to use a summoned weapon to kill or to summon flames to burn someone to death. Luo Qi, who was struggling to climb out of the Crystal Coffin, suddenly froze. He realized abruptly that he actually did not know such Magic at all. He neither understood how to kill with a summoned weapon nor how to generate enough flames to burn someone to death. These high-level Magic spells were not within his range of knowledge, and he had never thought to learn them.

His movements stiffened, and he looked up at Zhao Zhiyan in a daze. For some reason, Zhao Zhiyan was trembling all over, looking at him with malice, yet his shifting eyes revealed that he had more fear than disgust.

Why was he so afraid of him? Luo Qi looked at him blankly, then saw Li Xu lying on the ground. Li Xu was motionless; Luo Qi could not tell if he was dead or alive. Only at this moment did he truly realize that what he had deduced was what had actually happened; only at this moment did he truly accept everything that had occurred.

Zhao Zhiyan stiffened in their eye contact, then suddenly raised his hand. Luo Qi let go and rolled onto the ground at almost the same time. This fall hit him hard, and intense pain flared from the ribs he had injured just days ago. A throwing knife struck the Crystal Coffin above his head.

He had never had such fast hand-eye coordination, and he had not even really seen that Zhao Zhiyan was going to throw a knife at him. He just knew; Zhao Zhiyan's thoughts were as noisy as static, giving him a headache, and he could see Zhao Zhiyan's intentions.

He lifted his head, staring straight at the terrified Zhao Zhiyan. He imagined himself merging with Zhao Zhiyan; he imagined Zhao Zhiyan's hands gripping his own throat. This imagination took some effort at first, and Zhao Zhiyan kept screaming and struggling in his own hands. But in this life-or-death situation, Luo Qi had a natural determination to focus his attention and firm his will. When he saw Zhao Zhiyan gripping his own throat, he only trembled, not even having time to process the eeriness of it.

Zhao Zhiyan collapsed two minutes later. Luo Qi did not know if he was dead, and he did not even have the energy to care. He heard the whispers again; those whispers came from the Obsidian tabletop, urging him to touch the emblem of the Laughing Man.

Luo Qi knew he would eventually do so. He braced himself against the wall, stood up, and reached out to touch the emblem.

With a sharp, light buzz, the oldest Interrogation Room of the Qionglin opened its doors, and Luo Qi stumbled out.