Chapter 529: The Might of the Sage

"Wait." No matter what Luo Qi was saying, Mahjong didn't have the capacity to figure out what Luo Qi meant for the moment. He didn't have the time; he only managed to rush over to grab Luo Qi's collar, urgently growling in a lowered voice. "Stand still for me, you can't just barge into the Venerable's office like this! Are you crazy?"

Luo Qi suddenly twisted his body, escaping from Mahjong's grasp. Mahjong was stunned for a moment; in his impression, the clever parts of Luo Qi were limited to his brain. Or perhaps he had been misled by daily scenes—just because Du Zhengyi could catch a civet cat with one claw didn't mean an ordinary person could.

He was dazed for only an instant, but Luo Qi took advantage of this opportunity to shove the door of the small conference room open with his shoulder, finally barging in with a flourish.

"Hey," he said, greeting the King of Mages as casually as could be, his gaze glancing over Du Zhengyi.

For a moment, the top of Luo Qi's spine went a little numb from panic.

He knew perfectly well why he was panicking. Du Zhengyi could be persuaded, and Pei Shu could control Du Zhengyi to a certain extent. Of course, not by thought control, but perhaps by appealing to a sense of justice, or some sentiment that only the two of them could understand. Du Zhengyi was raised by him; he was the one who cultivated and educated him into the person he was today—the trust between them was as thick as four complete sets of the *Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance* stacked together.

Du Zhengyi was sitting on a cushion next to Pei Shu, his long, ungainly legs stretched out lazily, and he raised his head to look at Luo Qi quietly.

No criticism or lecture.

Luo Qi calmed down, and without realizing it, he straightened his back, turning toward the elder Pei Shu with as much respect as a polite young man. "Pei... Teacher, it's like this, I figured you would definitely call me over for questioning, so I saved time and came over myself."

The lion-like Old Mage looked at him; he must have been wearing an angry expression just a moment ago, but upon hearing this, he couldn't help but laugh. "Oh? You are quite a diligent and sensible child."

Luo Qi nodded slightly, holding back any irreverent remarks. He couldn't tease the Qionglin Venerable who was also Du Zhengyi's father; he could overcome his bad habit of having a sharp tongue sometimes.

"However, the fact is that you made me have to rush to see you," Pei Shu said, neither soft nor hard.

Luo Qi swallowed, and a common human idiom slipped past his lips, "I only did what every qualified People's Mage should do."

Pei Shu stared at him for a moment, finally bursting into loud laughter, laughing until he lowered his head, his hands resting on his knees. After a good while, he said, "Child, it has been a long time since I was amused like this."

Luo Qi didn't laugh; he glanced nervously at Du Zhengyi, and unluckily discovered that Du Zhengyi wasn't laughing either. He tore his gaze away from Du Zhengyi. "I do not regret any of my actions."

"You exploited loopholes in the system and spread Qionglin's secrets, yet you don't regret it?" Pei Shu said. "Child, I always thought you were just a soft little kid, but it turns out you're a tough guy?"

"I'm super soft," Luo Qi licked his lips like a cat, "and especially sensitive, with a nervous breakdown."

"Is that so?" Pei Shu asked.

Luo Qi was so suppressed by his gaze that he couldn't lift his head, and the tattoos on Pei Shu's face kept distracting him. The patterns of the tattoos were small facial masks, like the face paint of some primitive tribes, extremely artistic, and upon closer inspection, they looked a bit like the script of ancient mages. He struggled to focus his attention, regained his confidence, and picked up where he left off. "That's why those monsters give me constant nightmares. I can't rest easy. If I may say something that might sound disrespectful, most Qionglin Mages are useless trash. The signs appear again and again, yet those who protect our world are unreliable."

He felt Du Zhengyi suddenly raise his head to look at him at that very moment, his gaze as sharp as a needle.

Luo Qi's throat felt a bit dry; no one would believe his bullshit, but he insisted on continuing, reinforcing his self-generated confidence, and rambling on about his sense of responsibility as a newly appointed Qionglin Mage.

Pei Shu listened to his statement seriously, or rather, tolerated him blathering on, and finally summarized his words, hitting the nail on the head. "You want Qionglin to immediately establish an Investigation Team to investigate Ganzhou."

"Especially Kongsang Mountain," Luo Qi said, not giving an inch.

"Under your unremitting efforts," Pei Shu said with a hint of sarcasm, "we have no other choice but to immediately dispatch elite personnel to Kongsang Mountain in Ganzhou. We must seize control of the scene before it is dug three feet deep by all sorts of wild mages, even though it is just an empty tomb."

"Perhaps it's just because the grave robbers lacked the necessary techniques. Based on the situation at Xingtai Mountain, if I were sent to assist in the investigation, there might be a major breakthrough," Luo Qi said.

"That's right," Pei Shu looked at him, "that time you were digging everywhere at Xingtai Mountain, Du Zhengyi almost lost his life."

It was like being doused with a bucket of ice water; it took a long while for Luo Qi to find the ability to speak. His cheeks felt as stiff and sour as if he had taken a large gulp of cheap red wine with too much tannin. He swallowed this bitter wine and admitted it in one breath, "Yes."

"Teacher." Du Zhengyi moved slightly to the side; even from two meters away, Luo Qi could feel his unease. He knew what Du Zhengyi was going to say—that matter couldn't be blamed on Luo Qi.

"Du Zhengyi," Pei Shu emphasized his tone when mentioning the name, pressing back the words Du Zhengyi was about to say, "as you know, his health is not very good. He doesn't want to recuperate at home and wants to do what he can; I respect that idea of his. My original intention was only to hope to use his experience and his wisdom to complete some investigations that are difficult for others to obtain, not to have him running on the front lines. And certainly not to borrow him to be your nanny, to protect your life, or to protect your utilitarian desire to make a name for yourself."

The room went quiet. Luo Qi's face slowly flushed red, as if he had been slapped hard across the face. On the other hand, even an Old Mage like Pei Shu, who had spent a lifetime observing people, thought he was just a vulgar idiot; he should be proud of himself. But in reality, Pei Shu might have overestimated him; he was even more vulgar than he thought. He didn't even desire to achieve great things or make a name for himself. Although the result of doing so would cost Du Zhengyi, it might indeed benefit many people. He was even more useless, like an illiterate old farmer in the countryside, only wanting the apple tree in his own garden to grow well.

"I can't even blame you," Pei Shu said. "You didn't intentionally tie yourself to Du Zhengyi. I don't want to talk to you anymore today, child; spare me the nonsense you've told others. Aside from the reason of Du Zhengyi, you are not suitable to leave here in the short term. Follow the Highland Mage and practice diligently; first, calm down your boiling intent."

Pei Shu was harder to deal with than anyone else. Luo Qi mumbled, unable to say anything. Although he wanted to convince himself that it didn't matter, he had still suffered a critical hit and couldn't think of what to say at this moment.

"Go back," Pei Shu said calmly, cutting off his last shred of hope, "Du Zhengyi will stay a while longer; I haven't finished what I have to say."

(End of chapter)