Chapter 544: Highland Office

He hid behind someone, and Du Zhengyi did not bother to turn around to drag him into view, walking straight toward the stairwell without sparing another glance at Han Yi, who had been poked full of holes. Luo Qi followed him automatically, step by step, turning onto the wooden stairs and walking downstairs.

The first floor was also empty; Zhou Quan, who had brought him here earlier, was nowhere to be seen, likely having run off the moment he saw Du Zhengyi. In the empty teahouse lobby, an antique record player was playing an old Indian song with poor clarity, and an old Tibetan man with half an arm exposed was hunched over behind the counter, sorting through a winnowing basket of dried cheese, with a stick of Tibetan incense burning nearby.

Oh... Luo Qi realized, he was not human.

No wonder Du Zhengyi had arrived so quickly and found him so accurately, plucking him out in one go. And why Zhou Quan dared to lure him out to meet an outsider alone. That bastard Zhou Quan never told the whole truth at once; he had said the place next to "here" was a human stronghold for Battle Mages, but he hadn't said "here" was a human stronghold for Highland Mages. Zhou Quan had controlled the situation tightly; he could meet with Han Yi, but the time was certainly limited, and the length of this time was the process of the Highland Mages sending word inward, notifying the Qionglin Mage circle, and finally alerting Du Zhengyi.

Although Luo Qi would have come out regardless, the thought that he had once again underestimated that bastard Zhou Quan made him flare up a bit.

Just now, the Highland Mages must have known Du Zhengyi was about to arrive, so they began using their own methods to drive away irrelevant humans. Highland Mages were very knowledgeable about special plants; the burning Tibetan incense contained ingredients they were skilled with, which could lightly stimulate the human brain, causing them to have the urge to leave this place.

However, the thought-driving effect caused by this bit of plant matter was truly too mild; it was very slow to take effect on the human brain, and its mental influence on Mages was almost non-existent, but this method's strength lay in being natural and leaving no traces. But for a cat, this stimulation was quite strong, so Luo Qi had actually known from the start, but he hadn't paid much attention to this harmless scent. One had to know that humans themselves often accidentally created incense with various effects, whether it was to focus the mind, stimulate desire, or induce sleep; he had sensed it and hadn't thought much of it, assuming the shopkeeper just wanted the customers to get lost once they finished their tea, rather than keep refilling their cups and occupying the chairs.

Du Zhengyi stopped at the counter by the door, and Luo Qi stopped as well, watching Du Zhengyi turn to respectfully nod and bow to the Mage who had one arm and half a shoulder exposed. He stood by waiting, his mind calculating wildly; honestly, he hadn't expected the Highland Mages to be so meddlesome.

The Highland Mage looked peaceful, nodding slightly in greeting, his gaze still lingering on the pile of cheese, contentedly continuing to sort it. Luo Qi reached out and quietly took a piece of dried cheese the size of a milk candy, stuffing it into his own mouth.

The market outside was bustling, and stepping out felt like returning to the secular world. Du Zhengyi walked into the human street and headed straight forward; Luo Qi followed behind, identifying the route several times, and felt it didn't look like the route to take him back immediately.

The dried cheese was terrible, and it was also very hard to finish; the more Luo Qi chewed, the worse it tasted, and suddenly a burst of courage welled up, causing him to grab Du Zhengyi's arm from behind. Du Zhengyi was pulled by him, stopped his steps, turned his head, and stared at him coldly.

Luo Qi loosened his fingers and wiped them on Du Zhengyi's sleeve, as if to smooth out non-existent claw marks, and made small talk, "If... calculating by a hundred-point anger scale, how angry are you... right now?"

Du Zhengyi looked at him for a moment, "One hundred and twenty."

"Ah?" Luo Qi was startled, his expression becoming even more cowardly; he hadn't expected Du Zhengyi to answer him, "Then is your blood pressure okay?"

Du Zhengyi looked at him without speaking, perhaps also feeling that scolding him was useless; the things he could scold him for had already been said before, and he couldn't come up with anything new now. The two of them stood by the street, the flow of people like running water, constantly flowing to their sides, then bypassing them to continue rushing away. Luo Qi couldn't stand Du Zhengyi's disappointed gaze, gradually lowered his head, stood silently for a while, then perked up and laughed, "Brother, you were really cool just now. I haven't seen you use such a big move before; you didn't overspend your mana, did you? Are you okay now?"

"Shut your mouth."

"But he wanted to see me, I had to hear what he had to say. After all, he..." Luo Qi bit his lower lip, regretting stuffing that piece of cheese into his mouth; the Tibetan cheese was too hard, too fishy, and too bitter for him.

"After all what?" Du Zhengyi stared into his eyes, his gaze sharp, his tone sarcastic.

"After all, he is one of the people investigating me." Luo Qi forced the meaning into another direction, but Du Zhengyi let out a clear sneer, and he wisely shut his mouth.

"After all, he wishes he could kill me," Du Zhengyi said, stating Luo Qi's correct answer, his tone as strange as spitting out a mockery.

Luo Qi looked up at him, raised his hand to scratch his forehead, as if Du Zhengyi was a bit dazzling today, making his eyes swim.

Today Du Zhengyi might have been angry to the extreme, let out a cold laugh, and continued, "I know, but I don't care at all, because he has no way to retaliate against me; Han Yi is just a clown. If, and I mean if, if he really manages to become a problem, I don't care about killing a Mage. Luo Qi, who am I? Answer me, who am I? You don't want to say? Did you see just now, that I am someone very skilled in killing techniques? Think about it carefully; although no one told you, if you think about it, you will understand that not every person who causes trouble can be successfully brought back to Qionglin and locked underground. Killing is naturally more efficient; I have always been a high-performing warrior, and I am skilled at hunting High-Reaction Mages. So, I really don't need your long-winded concern; do you know how ridiculous you are?"

"Mm," Luo Qi said, his hand clenched into a fist, rubbing his nose, rubbing out a vague answer. His irises were very bright, and his nose felt stuffy, as if he were about to have a runny nose. In his great rage, Du Zhengyi still turned his gaze away, his ears suddenly hearing Luo Qi vaguely ask a question that sounded like, "Really?"

"What did you say?" Du Zhengyi asked irritably.

Luo Qi took his hand away and put it behind his back, "I said, would you really kill Han Yi?"

Du Zhengyi furrowed his brows and glared at him.

Luo Qi met his gaze, took a short breath, paused for a moment, and said, "That partner of yours from before, what was her name... Chu Yao, would you really kill her fiancé?"

Du Zhengyi stared at him coldly, not answering his question.

"See," Luo Qi said, his voice steadying again. "How hard it is to live with a bottom line; of course I care about you. We people who want to save face, we should always help each other, shouldn't we?"

Du Zhengyi turned his head away, gave up on talking to him, and fell into silence.

"And does he really have no way to retaliate against you? Then why did you come over so quickly, and why are you so angry?" Luo Qi said carefully, "It's a pity he didn't realize that the way to retaliate against you was right in front of him; he thought of you as too powerful. But you are so angry, and you put so much effort into warning him, he might have already figured it out by now."

"You really have the nerve to say that."

"Then is your father named Du Tingxiu?" Luo Qi suddenly asked.

"Huh? What kind of bullshit are you saying?"

(End of chapter)