Chapter 531: Han Yi

"I'm feeling a bit uneasy," Zhou Quan said to Luo Qi. The nervousness on his face was indeed already impossible to hide. He glanced around vigilantly, but his vigilance was not as sharp as a Battle Mage's; the vigilance of administrative personnel always looked close to neurotic. "I didn't expect you to come as soon as I mentioned it. I thought you were the type who valued your life. However, I chose the specific location here; the antique shop next door is a confidential office location for high-level Execution Mages in the Highland—oh, you have to believe me, I would never leak secrets casually unless absolutely necessary—in short, it's a Safe House."

"A Safe House?" Luo Qi raised an eyebrow. "Does it have an RPG inside, or a submachine gun?"

Zhou Quan paused and said dryly, "There's a Rabbit Hole inside."

"Oh."

"The password is 93°," Zhou Quan said, then asked uneasily, "You can produce an accurate temperature on the doorknob, right?"

Luo Qi frowned and took a sip of the butter tea in the glass latte cup; the tea had been poured by the uncle hosting them using an old-fashioned thermos, yet the taste was surprisingly good. He set the glass latte cup back onto the red-and-white striped linen tablecloth and said vaguely, "Don't fret over that."

"My god, you really can't, can you? I'm sick to death of you night-school-level trainees. You can launch strategic strikes against a Great Mage, but you might not be able to steadily heat a pot of water at all; that's practically crippled," Zhou Quan muttered.

"So you're the type who starts cursing when you get nervous," Luo Qi said leisurely, not minding at all. He even looked around the surroundings at his leisure. More than half of the people here were tourists, almost all humans. Under the warm yellow lights, many young literary women were taking photos of their teacups and the dark red wooden pillars supporting the house. It had colors as rich as an oil painting. "The biggest danger is that we won't leave fast enough and will be caught by Du Zhengyi. I hope your client is someone who gets to the point and is concise."

Zhou Quan's face fell a little. "He's not my client."

"Contacting him is good for us. Anyway, this old widower is always going to do something; if we avoid him, we'll be too passive. Besides, I'm really suffocating in the Highland Mage's nest. I don't care if you take a fee from me; this is a win-win situation," Luo Qi said.

"Fine." Zhou Quan let out a breath; the scent of Tibetan incense here was too thick, which was no good for a Mage's sensitive sense of smell. "He sent me a few pieces of information, so I owe him a favor."

"Is he well-informed?" Luo Qi asked.

"Battle Mage," Zhou Quan said, as if those two words alone were an exclamation. "Except for the stupidest of those brutes, they roam through all the dimensions of this world. Whether it's the secrets of the Magic World or the secrets of humans, they know quite a lot. They are familiar with the way this world operates, so... they also understand the Black Market."

"You really love doing business," Luo Qi realized after hearing the end that Zhou Quan's focus still landed on the market. "You really are an anomaly among Mages."

Unexpectedly, this sentence seemed to turn into some kind of compliment in Zhou Quan's ears. Zhou Quan's eyes and brows bloomed with a smug smile. "Of course. You are also an anomaly in the Mage World. Although we look quite different, in reality, we are the same kind of person—anomalies of the world."

"Maybe so," Luo Qi said, taking another sip of butter tea. He observed the beaming Zhou Quan and gradually realized that he was right. Although his own pursuits were completely different from Zhou Quan's, he at least couldn't bring himself to loathe Zhou Quan. "You are very much like a human."

Zhou Quan bit his lower lip and smiled smugly. "You are also very much like a human."

"What? Do you mean humans can also twist other people's Yajian?"

"Technique doesn't change the essence," Zhou Quan said. "I like the... diversity of humans."

This time Luo Qi nodded. He didn't want to continue this topic; he wasn't in the mood to sit in a teahouse and chat like a real human, especially about such vacuous topics. "What kind of person is Han Yi?"

"Oh, he is a quite good Battle Mage, a first-class Battle Mage," Zhou Quan said.

"A Battle Mage like Du Zhengyi?" Luo Qi asked cautiously.

"No, no, that's impossible. Du Zhengyi is an anomaly; no living Battle Mage can reach his level. He is not Du Zhengyi's opponent at all," Zhou Quan said immediately. "But Han Yi is an excellent combatant among normal, ordinary Mages, a true warrior."

"Does a 'true warrior' mean..." Luo Qi asked, "a superficial compliment, or does it actually contain some standard?"

"It means he possesses excellent tactical thinking and has a tenacious will," Zhou Quan said with a beaming smile. "Oh, I seem to have given a hollow compliment again, but for those in the know, the meaning of these two sentences is very precise."

"I understand," Luo Qi nodded. "It means he will bite onto Du Zhengyi and not let go until he completes his revenge goal."

"If he really intends to take revenge, of course." Zhou Quan nodded. "But I'm not friends with him, so I don't really know him. I often wonder, does anyone really hold onto the past and insist on revenge? Ah, but I still remember Chu Yao, a good girl, very charming; anyone would want to marry her."

"Even if she were a celestial being, he is just venting his anger. Du Zhengyi never harmed her, and the person who ultimately killed her wasn't Du Zhengyi either, but he... forget it, I understand." Luo Qi said angrily for a moment, then suddenly deflated. "I understand his feelings; he's just venting, and he's very paranoid. I know why he wants to see me; I must be the only breakthrough point Du Zhengyi has shown in years. He wants to come over and see if he can gain some advantage."

"When he comes, we'll understand," Zhou Quan said. "I'm also very curious."

Luo Qi glanced at him, suspecting that curiosity was the biggest reason driving him to act as their go-between. They didn't continue chatting, because Luo Qi suddenly looked toward the stairwell. An Yajian, different from a human's, suddenly appeared there, the Yajian tightly contracted and protected under a thick, complex Shield. This was not a soul Luo Qi would be interested in, but he had to admit that he did possess a will as strong as steel; the Shield protecting himself was as hard as cold ice.

At the same time, he could also taste it: this was a bitter soul suffering from torment.

Luo Qi subconsciously licked his lips. "Something unappetizing has arrived."

A pair of leather boots stepped onto the rough wooden floor of the teahouse's second floor, and Luo Qi saw a pair of cynical, world-weary eyes. He regretted a little why he had come here; he wasn't here to listen to the complaints of a middle-aged man ravaged by life. If things didn't progress, in another twenty years, he himself would be a middle-aged man ravaged by life, with a belly full of bitterness to spew at the whole world.

(End of chapter)