Chapter 545: Is your father

Du Zhengyi turned his head and met Luo Qi's gaze as he was quietly observing him; a faint ripple flashed in the depths of those wide-open eyes, and only then did Du Zhengyi realize that the question Luo Qi had just asked was not some bullshit meant to distract him.

"Han Yi told you that my father is Du Tingxiu?"

"Hmm—" Luo Qi hummed a long note, brushing away the hair that was getting in his way on his forehead, "His resume seems pretty impressive; if he were your Baba, it wouldn't exactly be a disgrace to you."

"If a man who ended up a traitor were my father, that wouldn't be an insult to me?"

"Oh, my." Luo Qi said, he really couldn't stand the word 'traitor', "Don't worry about those details, he was technically quite brilliant, wasn't he?"

"Details?" Du Zhengyi picked up on his choice of words, offered no comment, and continued, "He is not my father."

"Don't you need to think about it again?" Luo Qi asked.

"You spent an entire afternoon with a lunatic like that? Are you sick in the head? Do I need to think about who my own father is?" Du Zhengyi said irritably, "If you have something serious to say, say it; if not, shut your mouth."

"Ah, why are you getting so angry? It wasn't even an afternoon; I had just come out when you arrived." Luo Qi exclaimed, then suddenly changed the subject, "Then what is your father's name?"

"What business is it of yours?" Du Zhengyi said with a cold face.

"You know what my Baba is called!"

"How old are you, Luo Qi?" Du Zhengyi said impatiently.

Luo Qi suddenly leaned in close to him, wrapped an arm around Du Zhengyi's neck, looked around vigilantly, and then asked mysteriously, "Then, Brother, tell me quietly, is Uncle Pei Shu?"

Du Zhengyi pulled Luo Qi off him, pushed him aside, and continued walking forward, annoyed. Following this commercial street with no purpose and no direction, he felt extremely vexed.

Luo Qi stood quietly behind him for a moment, five seconds at most, before suddenly sticking to him like super-sticky taffy, hugging Du Zhengyi's arm and pleading, "Ah~ ah~ tell me, what is your father's name? You're being so unfriendly, what kind of relationship do we have? I still don't even know whose child you are."

"My parents have no fame whatsoever; telling you would just be two names, and didn't I already tell you it wasn't Du Tingxiu? Get lost, I'm just not telling you, I have no relationship with you."

"Why are you so cruel to me? Did the thin air of the plateau kill your brain cells? Have you gone stupid?" Luo Qi stuck to his side, unbothered, "Don't think you can hurt me by saying a few nasty things; although my little heart has taken a hit, my immunity is exceptionally strong."

"Get lost, Luo Qi."

"Hurry and take back your harsh words, you are hurting your beloved younger brother, you'll regret it in a few hours. Besides, if I really did get lost, you'd definitely just drag me back, so don't bother being hypocritical. Let's face reality, praise me right now and I'll show you something good."

"Shut your mouth, Luo Qi. If you speak again, I'll tie you to a pine tree." Du Zhengyi made a half-hearted resolution in his annoyance.

"Haha, can I charge admission then? They'd definitely come to see me in that state."

Du Zhengyi paused, shot Luo Qi a sidelong glance, and turned his head away, ignoring him. Luo Qi followed him sluggishly, but no matter what else was said, Du Zhengyi just walked forward in silence.

Luo Qi laughed helplessly, one hand stubbornly grabbing Du Zhengyi's forearm, "Wait, wait, wait, I won't talk nonsense anymore, I'll show you the good stuff right now!"

Du Zhengyi irritably wanted to shake off the scrap of paper Luo Qi was holding up to his eyes; he was very annoyed, and he really had no mood to tolerate Luo Qi's childish little tricks today. Luo Qi kept nagging him to look closely and see what it meant, while stubbornly holding the paper in front of him again. Du Zhengyi's hidden anger flared up, and since no one nearby was paying attention, he irritably raised his hand and flicked a cluster of flames toward the scrap of paper.

Luo Qi screamed the moment the flames ignited; such a piece of paper would be swallowed by the tongues of fire in the blink of an eye, and in his desperation, he didn't think twice before reaching out and grabbing the flames.

The pain came a little late; he had pinched out Du Zhengyi's flames with his bare hands. He hadn't thought about anything while doing it, but now he was stunned himself. Du Zhengyi froze there, unsure if he was stunned by his boldness or shocked by his stupidity, and for a rare moment, he also hung for a few seconds.

Du Zhengyi came to his senses, cursed "Fuck," and reached out to grab Luo Qi's hand roughly. At almost the same time, Luo Qi cried out in exaggerated pain.

"You fucking..." Du Zhengyi was too angry to curse, "Serves you right! If I hadn't been able to hold it back, your claws would be charred through."

Luo Qi had his hand pried open by Du Zhengyi and turned his head away, not daring to look, "It hurts so much, my hand must be ruined, I'll never be able to play the piano again!"

Du Zhengyi subconsciously followed up with a question, "You can play the piano?"

"No." Luo Qi snorted and started wailing again.

"You fucking..." Du Zhengyi was choked with anger, "It's not burned, are you really that afraid of a little pain?"

"I'm very delicate! Besides, this is different from before; what if my hand gets charred and I can't use it? It's too miserable, I don't want to be disabled." Luo Qi cried, still not daring to look at his hand. There were many tourists on the roadside, mostly idlers, and most of those passing by looked over with curiosity.

Seeing this, Du Zhengyi grabbed his wrist and dragged him into a fast-food restaurant by the side of the road, pulling him straight to the sink in the restroom and turning on the faucet to rinse his claws. Luo Qi kept a mournful face and a tilted neck the whole way, simply refusing to look at his own hand.

"At most, it's just a few blisters," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice, "It's nothing. But are you fucking sick in the head?"

Luo Qi turned back to glare at him, arguing righteously, "As an Apprentice as young as me, what kind of advanced fire-extinguishing Magic could I possibly think of? What kind of experience could I have in dealing with this? I'm not some battle-hardened Battle Mage."

Du Zhengyi was choked up; he held Luo Qi's wrist, staring at the cold water from the faucet splashing over his claws, and after a long time, he said one simple truth, "You're going to be the death of me."

"If my hand is ruined, I can't heal myself; the cost is too high, it's not as important as growing back lungs or ribs, so I'd have to cut off my hand to save my life," Luo Qi said as if it were a serious matter.

"You're at most a gecko. 'Cut off my hand to save my life'?" Du Zhengyi pulled his hand out from under the faucet to look at it, then shoved it back under the stream.

Luo Qi started again, "Is that enough? I'm about to get nephritis from the cold."

Du Zhengyi let go of his hand, and he hurriedly handed over the paper draft he was holding in his other hand, "Brother, translate this for me."

"Are you sick? Is a Communication Spell assignment even worth..." Du Zhengyi's words cut off. He had only glanced at it and recognized the high-level Communication Spell on the paper, assuming Luo Qi had brought his homework to ask him questions, trying to fool him into finding this stupid excuse. But now, as he scanned it, he suddenly saw two unfamiliar spells. "Wait, what is this?"

Happy New Year to everyone, wishing you great fortune and good health (ˇˇ)

(End of chapter)