Chapter 519: Nighttime Visitors (5)

"Don't guess my intentions; you wouldn't understand them anyway. Mages never truly listen to what others have to say," Luo Qi said. "Mage Liu, let's return to a serious topic. When it comes to whether or not to cooperate with me, you have no other choice. Stop giving me those childish speeches about how you would never do this or that. To me, those declarations sound like a two-year-old shouting that he absolutely refuses to eat. But the bright side is that I'm not asking you to do anything evil. Since we are both doing the right thing, why be so narrow-minded about the fact that I'm the one who initiated it?"

"What you say sounds somewhat reasonable, the logic of a bandit," Liu Xiuyun said stubbornly. "As long as I maintain my free will, I will never submit to you."

Luo Qi leaned over to pick up a photo frame from the small table and said quietly, "Everyone can be threatened, as long as you find the right method."

Liu Xiuyun became alert. "Disaster should not reach one's wife and children. If you want to harm my daughter..."

"Mm-hmm. How could I dare? I'm afraid of being pierced through by your righteous aura," Luo Qi said. "Besides, if you double-cross me tomorrow and really lock me under the Qionglin, how would I have the chance to harm your little daughter?"

He finished with a smile, looked up at Liu Xiuyun, and said, "I'm not yet so depraved as to harm a child."

"Perhaps I should call your friend over, and we can talk about this together..."

"Mage Liu." Luo Qi sat back on the sofa with the photo frame. The frame spun once in his hand, and the little girl's innocent smiling face turned toward Liu Xiuyun. "Do you love her?"

Liu Xiuyun's jaw tightened.

"Mage Liu," Luo Qi said, "do you understand what love is?"

"This topic is too childish," Liu Xiuyun said.

"What do you think I'm asking you? Do you think I'm going to recite a poem for you?" Luo Qi smiled slightly. "According to human research, love is just a chemical reaction, a reaction where your brain gives you a reward for doing something right. Love is great, but it isn't mysterious. Simply put, it's related to a substance called dopamine. I once received the favor of a Wushan Goddess; she gifted me some knowledge that let me understand the mechanism of love. I assume you must have heard that a Goddess can grant people supreme bliss. I hope you aren't too narrow-minded and haven't simply equated the words 'supreme bliss' with sex. Sometimes a Goddess will gift a guest love; although it isn't true love, I believe the feeling isn't much different."

"What do you mean?" Liu Xiuyun asked, his entire body tensed up.

"You understand what I mean. It means the reverse is also possible; I can make you unable to feel love ever again. When your daughter reaches out to you, you won't want to hold her. Even if you occasionally pick her up, you will no longer feel the sensation of holding a treasure. When she is sad, you won't be able to sense it immediately. You will no longer be able to carefully perceive her needs, and inadvertently, you will often place her in dangerous situations. You will know it's wrong, but you will start to forget her, you will start to ignore her, and you will be impatient when teaching her. You will start to think she is a fool, a little monster that always cries and makes noise. You will know you shouldn't, your mind will be perfectly clear, but you will uncontrollably start to crave being rid of her..."

"Shut up!" Liu Xiuyun roared suddenly. His emotions were fluctuating violently, and under the intense stimulation, he suddenly broke free from the restraints on his lower body and stood up. His chest heaved violently as he glared at Luo Qi.

Luo Qi just smiled and repeated his old words once more, "Everyone can be threatened, as long as you find the right method."

"Demon." Liu Xiuyun looked at him with disgust and terror, breathing heavily.

"I didn't come here to make friends," Luo Qi said. "The war has already begun, and the war was never started by me. I've also heard that war is never just. Why would you want fairness for your daughter? But let's not talk about your daughter or your wife; they have nothing to do with this matter to begin with. Everything will go smoothly and properly. Unless... unless you insist on biting onto me tomorrow. For me, turning you into a cold stone would only take... hmm, I estimate about—one-thousandth of a second."

Liu Xiuyun fell silent. In the stillness, he stared at Luo Qi, a boy sitting on his sofa—gentle, pretty, lively, and harmless. Surely no one had ever thought that the demon from ancient legends would look like this.

"I will let you go," Liu Xiuyun said, "but I will keep watching you, child. I will watch with my own eyes as he is abandoned by his followers, besieged on all sides, and doomed forever."

"Let me whisper a secret to you," Luo Qi said, pulling his feet back to sit cross-legged on the sofa, resting his chin on his hands propped on his knees as he looked at him—"I don't care."

"Is this the same method you used to threaten Du Zhengyi?" Liu Xiuyun asked.

Luo Qi was amused and laughed out loud. "Do you think Du Zhengyi has any weakness that can be grabbed onto?"

"Everyone can be threatened, as long as you find the right method—isn't that what you said?"

"Right, right." Luo Qi nodded and said with a straight face, "That's why I said I would have a good cry and scare him to death."

Liu Xiuyun didn't want to entertain this childish and unreliable talk. His thoughts shifted, and he suddenly said, "Do you know that your friend Du Zhengyi has no birth information? No father, no mother, no siblings, no family."

Luo Qi's expression changed slightly. Liu Xiuyun believed he had found a breakthrough point for Luo Qi, but just as he was about to try saying something more, Luo Qi suddenly tilted his head to listen, his face changing as he said, "Can't play with you anymore, someone has come to find me."

Liu Xiuyun didn't feel anyone approaching. Just as he began to doubt Luo Qi's mental state, the room door was kicked open with a boom. An impatient face appeared at the doorway; the person leaned against the door, looking around the room with a face full of disgust. Liu Xiuyun stared blankly at Du Zhengyi, then turned to look at Luo Qi.

"What are you doing here?" Du Zhengyi asked stiffly. Liu Xiuyun tried to sense unfriendliness in his voice, but Du Zhengyi raised his eyes and gave him an even colder glance.

"I came to chat with Mage Liu to let him know I'm a good person," Luo Qi said.

"Don't waste your effort," Du Zhengyi said, then changed the subject, "You aren't wearing shoes?"

Liu Xiuyun stared at Du Zhengyi in astonishment. What was even more unexpected was that Luo Qi took the opportunity to stretch out both arms, just like a toddler, and said shamelessly, "Carry me back!"

He clearly saw Du Zhengyi roll his eyes in a way that was completely unlike a warrior. Of course, he refused Luo Qi, and said roughly, "Get out yourself. I'll give you two seconds; don't make me wait."

Luo Qi stood up cleanly and neatly and ran out like a well-trained, super-well-behaved puppy. Liu Xiuyun watched silently, actually too shocked to move. The look Du Zhengyi gave him from behind Luo Qi was as cold as a final warning. The moment he slammed the door shut, Liu Xiuyun began to feel confused—did Du Zhengyi have some psychological deviation because he had no parents growing up, such that he didn't know Luo Qi wasn't a puppy but a fire-breathing giant beast?

(End of chapter)