Chapter 523: Closing the Case

"So, am I guilty or not!" Luo Qi shouted, unable to bear it any longer. He slapped the table, causing the tower of Oreo cookies to collapse, the cookies scattering across the surface. "Hurry up and tell me, I'm dying of anxiety here, waiting online! Am I a wolf, a tiger, a leopard, or some kind of beast!"

Du Zhengyi glared at him.

Everyone's gaze was drawn over, though not everyone was willing. Luo Qi's face was full of impatience, looking at the adults with resentment like an offended child. He had rubbed his hair into a bird's nest, with several tufts sticking up. Facing the stares of all the Great Mages, he rudely slapped the table like a brat wanting a snack, "Hurry-up-and-tell-me! If you want to hold other meetings, go find your own time and place! Isn't the current topic me?"

Du Zhengyi sighed heavily, shot a sidelong glance at Luo Qi, and swallowed the words he was about to say. When he turned his head back, suppressing his temper, he suddenly noticed Liu Li looking at him with condemnation. Looking at him, that's right, not at Luo Qi. It was as if Luo Qi not only didn't know how to shake hands but had also urinated on the floor, and all of this was because he hadn't disciplined Luo Qi well. He froze, spread his hands, made a "what the hell is this" gesture, and leaned back into his chair.

Liu Li stared at him and said irritably, "If you have no objections, we will vote on the result again. To be honest, I am also losing my patience. This hearing is not the longest one I have experienced, but it is definitely the most unbearable."

Luo Qi looked at her expectantly at once and even gave her a flattering smile. Du Zhengyi glared at him, feeling an urge to reach over and smooth out his hair, or... just shave it bald. The committee Mages held a discussion to state their positions, and Du Zhengyi fell into thought, pondering which Magic spell he could modify to shave Luo Qi bald in one second.

While he was focusing on selecting seven spells, he suddenly caught a sharp, gloomy gaze. He turned his head and happened to see Liu Xiuyun looking at Luo Qi with a dark expression; Luo Qi sent him a fake smile. Liu Xiuyun turned his face away, which was somewhat unexpected to Du Zhengyi, and he gave Luo Qi a passing vote with a flushed face. In Du Zhengyi's mental world, Luo Qi was lazily rubbing against him, looking relaxed; he did not feel any intent to attack or manipulate from Luo Qi's mental body, nor did he feel any fluctuations in Luo Qi's Magic Energy.

He spent every day with Luo Qi. Although a Mind Mage is hard to fathom, setting aside the identity of a Mind Mage, he was already too familiar with Luo Qi as a person. Perhaps at the beginning, he couldn't catch Luo Qi, and Luo Qi could still have a sudden nosebleed behind his back, but now he was already familiar with the mental state Luo Qi had when he was about to do something. It was hard for him to accurately describe that feeling; it might be a sudden movement of the Yajian, or a sudden tightening of the mental body's posture. The signs were very subtle, but because Luo Qi was usually sprawled on his dam, even tiny signs became very huge.

At this moment, Luo Qi was too relaxed; he was definitely not doing anything targeted. If he wanted to describe the picture of Luo Qi's current state, it would perhaps be him leaning on his back as if he had no bones, looking outward at the excitement while leisurely gnawing on an apple. He twitched a little at the thought of this, but he couldn't beat Luo Qi up because of such an unfounded situation. Because he knew just by thinking about it once, that drama queen would swear and vow that he was completely oversensitive and bullying an innocent, pure Luo Qi for no reason.

"Then..." Liu Li said from above, a hint of surprise in her voice; perhaps everyone thought the biggest mystery of the century would take at least a few months to reach a result. "Does no one object?"

Luo Qi lay on the table, propping up his chin, looking at the Venerable Mage with a cloying expression, "Still need to ask? Do you have to ask three times? Are you trying to auction me off?"

Du Zhengyi kicked him when he leaned over to start asking if they were going to auction off his virginity, and he reluctantly shut his mouth, satisfied to see several Great Mages twitching in the face.

Liu Li acted as if she hadn't been interrupted and insisted on finishing the procedural questions. She also seemed to heave a sigh of relief, looking at Luo Qi with infinite emotion—he was truly someone who couldn't be seen through, and she even shot a sidelong glance at Du Zhengyi.

"Qionglin, on behalf of the Mage community, welcomes Luo Qi to officially join the magical society. We are sincerely gratified to add such an excellent individual to our community."

Luo Qi wasn't listening at all; at this moment, he suddenly sat up straight and began rummaging through the various pockets on his person. The other Great Mages didn't have much interest either; most Mages were distracted by the bad news brought by the Mind Mage.

Liu Li couldn't continue her speech either. Skipping several hundred words of the formal welcome draft, she hastily continued, "As an Apprentice Mage who has not yet officially come of age, Luo Qi will temporarily follow a Highland Mage to continue his studies as a Mind Mage."

Du Zhengyi interjected, "How long does 'temporarily' mean?"

"Until Pei Shu returns to work and has time to be his mentor," Liu Li said.

At this moment, Luo Qi finally fished out a few pages torn from a notebook from his pocket. Opening them, he said perfunctorily, "No need to trouble everyone, I can be self-taught."

Du Zhengyi glared at him.

He raised his head and looked around at everyone; several Great Mages were whispering to each other. He coughed and said, "I have a question."

Liu Li said politely, "You have the right to ask, Apprentice Luo Qi."

"Okay." Luo Qi swept away his previous decadence and laziness, and said seriously, "May I ask, do we currently have nine Great Mages and Level 1 Executive Mages here?"

Liu Li stared at him, looking as if she had been choked. Zhou Quan, who had been acting as her secretary, chuckled, "That's correct."

"Good." Luo Qi nodded. Everyone thought he was putting on an act, deliberately making fun of the Great Mages. Unexpectedly, Luo Qi raised his head, his face devoid of any smile, "Then, according to the Qionglin Regulations I have consulted, as long as nine Great Mages and Level 1 Executive Mages are present at the same time, I can file a complaint against a Mage of any level, including a Venerable Mage."

The forest was deathly silent. Du Zhengyi slowly turned his head to look at him; he didn't look back, focusing intently on Liu Li.

Fan Ning touched his forehead uneasily, "I think Venerable Fan Shi has nothing to do with the incident where you were recently attacked by a Battle Mage; he has no personal grudge against you." Everyone knew things weren't that simple, but a charge of dereliction of duty was better than a charge of murder.

Luo Qi glanced at him and shook his head, "Mage Fan Ning, that is not what I mean. I think he indeed did not want to kill me. To a Venerable, I am just a nobody."

No one else spoke. The Great Mages looked at Luo Qi in silence, guessing about this fickle young apprentice.

"Who do you want to accuse, Luo Qi?" Liu Li asked directly.

"Of course, Fan Shi," Luo Qi answered clearly. "I want to accuse Venerable Fan of privately trafficking and using Psychic Beasts, Ancient Psychic Beasts."

The forest was quiet. A few Mages' breathing became slightly rapid; not everyone knew about the Psychic Beasts.

"For example, this," Luo Qi said. He raised his hand, and a pitch-black Alien quietly appeared in the open space in front of him.

(End of chapter)