Chapter 542: Du Tingxiu (8)

"Of course she's crazy," Han Yi replied to Luo Qi's words. "Constantly scribbling the same passage, just like constantly tearing up paper—of course she's a lunatic."

Luo Qi's expression was complex as he watched Han Yi in silence.

Han Yi sneered, "But you don't need to have that guilt common to those female Mages, always thinking we owe humanity something special, because it isn't just humans who go crazy."

Luo Qi was stunned, "Who else?"

"Du Tingxiu, of course. Isn't he?"

Luo Qi was startled for a moment, then realized that if one didn't consider the details, it seemed one could say that. Anyone who wanted to murder the Head Venerable and rebel against the Supreme Committee was, of course, a lunatic.

Han Yi was even more categorical, "Before this, Du Tingxiu was a perfect gentleman, without the slightest sign of going mad. I checked the work logs in the Qionglin; until the day before he received the letter, Du Tingxiu was still diligently handling the trivial matters in the Qionglin. He even had a work schedule for the future. A whole month of work progress, all of it the most boring work in the entire Magic World—one-third of the work was reviewing forms. If a person is still thinking about fixing the sewers tomorrow or repairing the underground warehouse next week, that person would never go crazy enough to lead their entire family in rebellion."

Luo Qi opened his mouth, wanting to find some words to refute him, but the result was like a fish in water, opening and closing his mouth in vain. He wanted to say that perhaps that man had indeed been busy with the most mundane things in the secular world, making the most boring and comfortable plans for tomorrow, until a bolt from the blue shattered his life, and he hurriedly picked up his battle blade, only for the edge to be turned toward his own dearest friend and confidant.

Han Yi's voice pulled him back from his listlessness once again, "If you trace this line back about a thousand years, a Treasure Hunter arrived at Kongsang Mountain in Ganzhou. He also went crazy, inciting Yin soldiers and Abnormal Beasts to rebel against the Supreme Committee, and in the end, he even burned down the then-headquarters of the Supreme Committee."

Han Yi continued to chatter on, presenting him with more evidence, attempting to prove that Du Tingxiu was crazy, the Du Clan was crazy, and everyone who had been overly tainted by Kongsang Mountain was crazy. "You're interested in the Lotus Burner, aren't you? I checked all the old files of the Pendragon Orbital System; the previous generation of leaders of the Lotus Burner also went to Kongsang Mountain, and the activity of the Lotus Burner organization increased unprecedentedly after that. This cannot be a coincidence; there is something in Kongsang Mountain comparable to a Curse. Even the thick-headed humans are affected, and Mages are their prey. I have been to Kongsang Mountain myself, and as I told you at the beginning, it is by no means a comfortable place. I only stayed there for a few days; I dare not say what it would be like if I lived there for three months."

Luo Qi remained silent. He knew that Han Yi had observed the surface phenomena and made his own inferences based on them. With insufficient information, he had arrived at a rather superficial conclusion, but this conclusion was indeed not entirely useless. At least he was right about one thing: there was a problem with Kongsang Mountain. Although Du Tingxiu, the traitor from a thousand years ago, and the traitor from a dozen years ago all had Kongsang Mountain become an important turning point in their lives, the specific circumstances might be completely identical.

By the time Han Yi started saying that Wen Lin, who had always been loyal to Venerable Fan Shi, had also gone to Kongsang Mountain and even lingered in the mountains, completely ignoring Fan Shi's orders, this was, of course, already a far-fetched interpretation. It was just that Luo Qi did not want to refute him, did not want to leak any information to him, and only rubbed his face in distress.

"I hope you can see the key to the problem," Han Yi said paranoically. "Kongsang Mountain makes people crazy; it can affect our minds. A thousand years ago, it could affect a rebel army through one person; decades ago, it affected the entire Du Family through Du Tingxiu; a dozen years ago, the Lotus Burner repeated this scene. This kind of transmissible influence is like an infectious disease, like a mental plague!"

"Wait," Luo Qi suddenly called out, jerking his head up. "You said... a plague?"

Han Yi nodded and said dogmatically, "What else could better describe this situation besides a plague?"

Luo Qi wavered slightly, vaguely beginning to doubt what he had firmly believed. Du Zhengyi had once said that his parents died of a plague, a plague of Mages...

"Du Zhengyi is a very unusual Mage," Han Yi said in a dry voice. His lips were chapped and peeling, and drinking ghee tea all the time hadn't made them much better.

"What do you mean?" Luo Qi said guardedly, involuntarily revealing a trace of concern and the resulting revulsion, his voice rising sharply at the end. He hurriedly covered it up with a softening tone, "The Du Clan bloodline is different from ordinary Mages to begin with; of course he is unusual."

"I'm not talking about his abilities; I'm talking about his conduct—it is truly unusual," Han Yi said bitingly.

Luo Qi swallowed the words he wanted to use to defend Du Zhengyi; those words were always on the tip of his tongue, ready to fall out at any moment if he wasn't careful. "It is a bit unusual, but he is not harmful to the Qionglin."

"I don't think so," Han Yi said. "Mage families have never done anything as uniformly as when the Du Clan rebelled. You know Mages are like cats; they can never truly live in groups. The Du Clan's behavior is like a brain infection. Refer to the human situation: they usually isolate and destroy high-risk infectious diseases, but there are always humans who can't help but hide their infected relatives, resulting in evil consequences. If this is the current situation, and Pei Shu has hidden Du Zhengyi, who may also have been infected..."

Luo Qi rapidly assessed whether the Supreme Committee would believe his testimony if Han Yi provided it to them. The probability of the Supreme Committee believing his nonsense would not exceed thirty percent; Han Yi might have already moved toward severe paranoia. He himself fit his own testimony; he looked very much like a paranoid psychopath driven by Kongsang Mountain.

Who would have thought that at this moment, Han Yi smiled, calmed down, and said, "But in the end, I suspect that Pei Shu himself is also guarding against Du Zhengyi. Recently, the number of times he has summoned and used Du Zhengyi has become fewer and fewer, hasn't it?"

This sentence was the one that truly felt like a thorn piercing Luo Qi's chest. He frowned, easing his discomfort. Of course, Han Yi didn't know that the reason Du Zhengyi had reduced his missions was because his body no longer allowed him to use too much Magic. However, what Han Yi said was close. Pei Shu was indeed gradually abandoning Du Zhengyi; he didn't know why he had determined that Du Zhengyi was not worthy of a longer life. "You are a Mind Mage," Han Yi looked at him and said, "Perhaps the most outstanding Mind Mage in the current hundred years after Pei Shu; have you ever discovered even the slightest abnormality in Du Zhengyi's mind?"

Abnormality? Abnormal softness and abnormal kindness? Abnormal magnanimity?

Luo Qi pressed his lips together tightly, restraining the temper that was about to become irritable.

"It doesn't matter if you don't know," Han Yi said in a low voice, his tone becoming more sincere. "May I ask you to keep an eye out? If you have the opportunity, try to pay attention to Du Zhengyi's mind."

Luo Qi nodded slowly, silently recalling that vast and tranquil expanse of water in Du Zhengyi's mental world behind the dam; no matter when or who had the chance to experience it, it was that person's good fortune.

Han Yi hesitated for a moment, as if he were paying a deposit, and took something else out of the inner pocket of his jacket.

For a split second, Luo Qi actually thought he was going to pay him off, only to find that what Han Yi held in his hand was a storage Crystal. Judging by its appearance, it should be a rare High-energy Crystal.

"Stored inside is a memory of Kong Junxi, related to Du Tingxiu. He met Du Tingxiu twice: once before Du Tingxiu entered Kongsang Mountain, and once after Du Tingxiu came out of Kongsang Mountain."

Luo Qi's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately realized the importance of this memory. It was like a record of an experiment, exactly a control group, recording the nodes before and after Du Tingxiu entered the critical stage. If analyzed carefully, one might truly catch a glimpse of the clues to the truth of that year.

Han Yi carefully weighed the Crystal in his palm, as if weighing its importance. "Perhaps after hearing what I said, you might find it absurd. But you are... a person with hope. I ask you to please think more about it; you will surely find that my words actually have some truth. Especially this memory, a memory that Kong Junxi specifically kept, is very precious. I hope you will take a serious look at it."

Luo Qi couldn't help but reach out toward the stone. His heart jumped heavily; he actually shouldn't touch a Crystal of unknown origin casually. Mages used Crystals to store everything: vicious and complex Curses, inescapable Sandboxes, ancient demons... He had been unlucky many times; if he still picked up such things so easily, he...

Just as his fingertips were only a tiny physical distance from the Crystal, he suddenly felt a change in the force field, and a mysterious magical power twisted the space around him. He widened his eyes, sweat broke out on his forehead, and his heart began to race wildly.

(End of chapter)