Chapter 516: Nighttime Visitors (2)

Luo Qi lifted his head upon hearing this, the playful expression on his face vanishing. His eyes blinked slowly, his long lashes casting a shadow. Liu Xiuyun realized he was a beautiful child; when he was in kindergarten, everyone would have been unable to resist wanting to hold him in their arms. It was a pity that as he grew into a man, those large eyes would count against him, making him appear much younger than he actually was. "I'm sorry to have hurt you by telling the truth."

"My brother said to let you leave here? To avoid me?" Luo Qi's tone was quite strange, like something a pouting child might mutter.

Liu Xiuyun could be certain that Luo Qi had not touched his memories. In this interval, he had secretly checked himself using magic for countering Mind Mages. He had been interfered with by an illusion, likely when he saw the flames, but that was only a shallow level of Mental Induction; Luo Qi had also attacked his brain. He asked distractedly, "Your brother?" Then he realized who Luo Qi was referring to. "How interesting, a little demon has latched onto the best Mage in Qionglin. They say that mentally unstable High-Reaction Mages are always attracted by powerful magical forces; it seems that is indeed the case."

Luo Qi really did pout. "Why would you attack me for no reason? Is it because you have no upbringing?"

Liu Xiuyun choked. No matter what, he had not anticipated that Luo Qi's way of talking would be like this. He froze; for a child who was just sitting properly on his sofa, his own performance did not look like a mature middle-aged man at all. This damn child was a child in every sense of the word, barefoot, and even carrying a cat...

"A gentleman is innocent, but holding a jade ring is a crime," Luo Qi said softly. "The demon is in your hearts, not me."

"You are still a child; perhaps you should think about why everyone suspects you," Liu Xiuyun advised in a didactic tone. He wanted to stand up, but his lower limbs had lost sensation, so he had to sit bolt upright to maintain his dignity.

"Why can't you people just let me go?" Luo Qi asked in a low voice. "I could even live outside the Magic World; I would rather be exiled. But even if I am proven harmless, I will not be let go; I must serve Qionglin for life."

"This is a duty," Liu Xiuyun said. "Serving Qionglin for life is a noble virtue. Is there anything wrong with dedicating one's life to one's own kind? Do you not realize that your own thinking is very selfish?"

"Can I not have freedom? If I just want to open a pet shop, how far off the mark could that possibly be?"

"For our race, which is sparsely populated and on the verge of extinction, true freedom is a luxury," Liu Xiuyun said.

Luo Qi pointed to the photo beside him. "Your daughter? If she were me, would you demand this of her too?"

"I would educate her to be a person with more sense of responsibility than you. Sacrificing the self for a great cause is a noble choice," Liu Xiuyun said. "You understand human society. If you were a human man, would you intend to be a deserter in the face of national life and death, violating the Conscription Order?"

The black cat on the floor meowed and jumped back into Luo Qi's arms. Luo Qi stroked its spine soothingly. "Mage Liu, do you know? I do respect you. Although we might have some disputes over how to define the state of life and death, you are still a fair, good person."

Liu Xiuyun looked at him in silence.

"Did my brother really say to you personally that he wanted you to leave here tonight?" Luo Qi asked again, stubbornly.

Liu Xiuyun looked at him with pity. "If you are willing to repent and willing to confess more issues, perhaps things could have a better outcome."

The black cat meowed again, rolled over on Luo Qi's lap, and began licking its paws. Luo Qi's hand landed on the black cat's spine.

Liu Xiuyun sensed something eerie; there seemed to be a connection between that cat and the person, as if they were communicating. "Are you very concerned about Du Zhengyi's attitude?" he asked subconsciously. Now he discovered that the cat's ginger-colored eyes had been staring at him the whole time, as if a monster were digging deep into his soul.

"Of course," Luo Qi laughed. It was the crisp laugh of a youth. He raised his eyes, and only then did Liu Xiuyun discover that there was not a trace of gloom in his eyes, nor half a shred of depression from being betrayed.

"You..."

"If Du Zhengyi really advised you to leave," Luo Qi stopped laughing, and the youthful flavor in his eyes vanished, "then there is only one possibility: he must have discovered that you set a trap."

"What trap?" Liu Xiuyun said vigilantly, but those ginger cat eyes kept pressing on him. His thinking began to slow down; he could not think of a countermeasure.

"I don't know," Luo Qi smiled slightly. "You tested Bailida? Of course, a person of your high position and power has your own people. But your people didn't detect anything, and you assumed that their abilities were unable to detect the Yajian I had tampered with. Then the only way is to catch me when I make a move. I guess you must have carefully studied Liu Ziyu's report; you borrowed the magic remaining in the Sandbox, and now you are monitoring my magic in this room. Whatever space-stretching magic, this place is just a Sandbox."

He could not speak.

Luo Qi grinned. "Du Zhengyi discovered something, but he couldn't tip me off. Perhaps it was out of loyalty to his profession, perhaps it was the Tangled Magic at work—ah, whatever the reason, Great Mage, to tell you the truth, I don't care. He wanted you to leave because as long as you leave, I won't walk straight into the line of fire."

Liu Xiuyun's face flushed red, sweat beads emerged from his spine, and he clenched his hands tightly, still unable to shake off the strange confinement.

"You cannot lie," Luo Qi blinked and reached out to stroke his cat. "How fun, there are more creatures in this world with telepathic abilities than just Mages. Some humans have a little bit; they are collectively called the sixth sense. A humanoid race also possesses Telepathy, more powerful than most Mages, and completely different from us, impossible to distinguish. Perhaps the Ancestor Mages captured them, perhaps the Ancestor Mages created them, who knows? I guess you also don't know that all Seal Beasts have telepathic abilities to a greater or lesser extent, even this inconspicuous little kitty. Seal Beasts are prepared for Mind Mages, I guess, because they can all be connected to us like this."

"Seal Beasts?" Liu Xiuyun repeated in astonishment.

Luo Qi ignored him. "We must hurry, Mage Liu. My brother won't give you much time; he might walk over and drag me back at any moment out of impatience, and then I won't have time either. Look, how difficult it was for me to sneak out for a trip; I'm still sick." He shook his bare feet, signaling Liu Xiuyun to look at his sleeping attire. "Don't worry about me being unloved; my parents, friends, and brothers all love me, and my mental health is better than you could imagine."

"If you want to modify my thoughts..."

"Then such a large dose of Mind Magic would get me caught, I know," Luo Qi interrupted him impatiently, then stuck out his tongue and put on a show of straightening his attitude. "Mage Liu, I just want to have a talk with you. Like two civilized people, face-to-face, a decent talk."

"You are decades away from being decent, you greenhorn," Liu Xiuyun said angrily.

"Yes, yes, yes, what could be more frustrating than not being able to beat a greenhorn," Luo Qi said perfunctorily. "I understand you."

(End of chapter)