Chapter 539: Du Tingxiu (5)

"Are you implying that I haven't told you everything?"

"Mage Han." Luo Qi stared into his eyes. "You went to such great lengths, and even owed Zhou Quan a favor, just to sneak me out to a place like this. Since you're already here, you can't be planning to say only this much. Or is it that after seeing me up close, I've disappointed you so much that you've changed your mind?"

Han Yi let out a laugh. "I truly didn't expect you to be such a thorn in my side. I have a feeling that if I were to change my mind right now, you might actually hold a grudge against me. I'd end up offending you before I knew it."

"Offense is hardly the word for it." Luo Qi smiled, though the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Let's be open and honest and talk about something practical. I have a hunch that you're going to talk anyway, so we might as well save time to avoid exposing my whereabouts. I might be willing to help you in the future, or I might decide against it after some consideration—I'm telling you this upfront. If you want to rely on mere speculation to stir up a hot-blooded young man like me and make me suspect the Head Venerable—I don't even know if you realize you aren't just going after Du Zhengyi, you're going after the Head Venerable—in short, with such a massive matter, how can you expect me to trust that this line of investigation is correct based on just a little speculation?"

Han Yi gave a mocking smile and shook his head. He reached for his pocket, hesitated for a moment, and finally pulled out a mobile phone.

Luo Qi gave a dry laugh, suppressing his inner anxiety, and said casually, "A new model, huh? I've been trapped for so long, I didn't even know a new one had been released. Do the features work well?"

Han Yi ignored his remark, swiped the screen to unlock the phone, then opened a photo and pushed the phone across the table toward Luo Qi.

Luo Qi hurriedly took the phone, suppressed his wild guesses about the contents of the photo, and looked urgently at the screen.

For a long while, Luo Qi couldn't say a word.

The photo on the phone was perhaps the most boring image Luo Qi could have imagined in his life.

A sheet of white paper, filled with high-level incantations written in a black gel pen; the language of the Ancient Mages crawled all over a... well, it was an A4 sheet of paper. It was like an ordinary human college student, perhaps a science or engineering major, suddenly faced with a page covered in oracle bone script, where every character looked like something they recognized yet didn't recognize at all. Unfortunately, this feeling of recognition was definitely an illusion. He read it three times in a row and was certain he didn't recognize a single incantation symbol, nor could he pronounce a single sound.

Luo Qi just stared blankly at the photo on the phone, not knowing what to say.

Han Yi patiently waited for him for a moment. "Well?"

Luo Qi blinked, his mind a total blank; he couldn't even remember if it was possible for a Mage Apprentice of his age to learn high-level incantations. Because he had been too self-aware over the years, he had just been coasting through school. Even though he had been cramming in these recent days, time was limited, and he could only take shortcuts, learning only the techniques he urgently needed to use.

"This..." Luo Qi grunted, gritting his teeth to bluff his way through. "This isn't really anything special."

"This might not be anything special, but I certainly didn't mean for you to read it," Han Yi said.

"The significance isn't in the meaning or usage of this incantation?" Luo Qi felt a bit relieved. "I really can't see any clues."

Han Yi smiled. "Have you noticed that this is written on A4 printer paper?"

Luo Qi didn't understand what he meant and looked at him in confusion.

"This thing isn't some top-tier, high-level Magic, so of course you wouldn't think much of it."

Luo Qi was grateful that he thought so highly of him.

"But, what if I told you that the person who hand-wrote these incantations was a human?" Han Yi said in a low voice.

"You aren't..." Luo Qi said, "drunk, are you?"

Writing a little less today to prove I'm still here ▂ Continuing tomorrow.

(End of chapter)