Chapter 559: Meeting Up (2)

Wen Lin sat down across from the round table, placed her hat on the edge of the table, and naturally crossed her long, slender legs. Luo Qi couldn't help but glance at her legs.

She picked up a thin, long cigarette, glanced at the "No Smoking" sticker on the dessert shop wall, and just held the cigarette between her fingers without lighting it. "So," she looked at Luo Qi, "you really are a boy."

Life Lesson Number 250: When a woman full of life experience shows off her... certain parts to you, don't fail to control your eyes. "It doesn't matter even if you think I'm an earthworm."

Wen Lin nodded politely, accepting Luo Qi's statement.

Guan Xinyue sized her up a few times, then turned her head and whispered to Liu Ziyi, "What kind of nonsense is he spouting? Why an earthworm?"

"Oh." Liu Ziyi struggled to swallow a mouthful of sticky taro balls, then cleared her mouth to say, "Maybe it means earthworms are hermaphrodites, and when earthworms mate..."

Luo Qi's face turned black. "Junior Sister Liu Ziyi! Thank you! No lecturing! And I don't need a translation either!"

Wusu raised her head, struggling to hold back her laughter. Guan Xinyue had a blank expression on her face. The man who sat down next to Wen Lin wore a bitter look of life's hardships. Wen Lin looked at Liu Ziyi with understanding and mouthed, "Thanks for the translation."

"This is..." Luo Qi turned to the man next to Wen Lin, "You look a bit familiar."

The man gave a bitter smile. "We have met... I mean, if the guy with the harelip at the Street Office that day was you."

Luo Qi remembered. "Right, right, your name is Chi Qian, right?"

"Shi Qian," Wen Lin corrected.

Wusu finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"My apologies, my apologies, my memory isn't very good. It's all Chi Yu's fault for having such a strong presence; my brain is filled only with him. Do you drink milk tea? The milk tea at this shop is pretty good." Luo Qi said. As if echoing his words, a shop assistant walked straight toward them and expressionlessly placed two cups of milk tea in front of the two of them. Luo Qi greeted them to drink the milk tea as if he were the owner of the place.

Shi Qian still gave a bitter smile, and as if he were lacking in Qi and blood, he said in a low voice, "That's not important, it doesn't matter."

Wen Lin took over the conversation. "Speaking of Chi Yu, I seem to have vaguely heard that he made a mistake at Qionglin."

"Speaking of Chi Qian... Shi Qian," Luo Qi said with a smile, "I believe I only invited you alone."

The cigarette in Wen Lin's hand spontaneously ignited. She grinned at Luo Qi, put the cigarette in her mouth, and exhaled a wisp of smoke. "You have quite a few people here, and there's even such a Great Mage sitting by your side as your companion."

Luo Qi didn't speak. Women are truly hard to deal with; the longer they live, the harder they are to deal with.

Wen Lin flicked the ash and continued, "You begged me to go investigate that godforsaken, shitty place. I didn't want to stay there for even a nanosecond—it was eerie, hair-raising, and disgusting. But I still investigated it for you, and then you suddenly disappeared and never contacted me again. Why should I run this cheap errand for you? If I hadn't actually seen you today, I would have thought Du Zhengyi had kidnapped the Great Civet King to get married, hiding on some uninhabited island for their honeymoon."

Liu Ziyi choked on a mouthful of mango sago, pushed the bowl away while coughing, and Guan Xinyue rolled her eyes coldly at Wen Lin, pulled out a tissue, and handed it to Liu Ziyi.

"Something like that," Luo Qi said calmly. "We've been trapped in a place where we couldn't contact the outside world for a while."

A Battle Mage of Wen Lin's level was, of course, not in Qionglin's inner circle, nor in Pei Shu's circle of trust. It was normal that she didn't know where Luo Qi and Du Zhengyi were or what had happened to them. But Fan Shi wouldn't be unaware. This perhaps just went to show that she was eager to make a clean break with Fan Shi, having run as far away as she could during this time. Luo Qi could tell her complaints were just for show; she would probably be willing to go to hell if it meant having a reason to stay away from her old boss.

"And now? You're already able to bring friends out for afternoon tea. Couldn't Du Zhengyi at least send me a Mage letter or make a human phone call?" Wen Lin said with dissatisfaction, though the level of her dissatisfaction was beginning to drop.

"He is with twelve Battle Mages and it's inconvenient for him to contact you. I've already come out to contact you, isn't that the same thing?" Luo Qi said soothingly.

"He went out on a mission with so many Battle Mages? Did he encounter such a serious incident?" Wen Lin frowned and asked with concern.

"No," Luo Qi said earnestly, making it hard to tell if he was lying or not, "they just went for a team-building exercise."

Wen Lin was finally amused by Luo Qi. She looked at him helplessly, as if he were a naughty little kitten. What could she say? She could only sigh, toss her long hair, and flip her thick, fluffy hair over one shoulder. Luo Qi watched this imposing and confident movement of hers. She was somewhat like those Oriental girls who had just entered the West, trying hard to imitate confident and independent external traits, but because her frame was too small and her face too flat, there was always some sense of incongruity. She also tilted her head to look at Luo Qi, offering her best profile view; this method was a bit like Wusu's. But how to put it—after seeing Wushan's performance at close range, her way of displaying charm couldn't be considered seamless. Besides, she definitely hadn't rested well lately, or perhaps her internal heat was too high, as there were some small bumps on her face if one looked closely.

A flash of boredom crossed Luo Qi's mind. Life is limited; why couldn't he use this time to play games with Du Zhengyi? If he had to be serious, he would rather learn Ancient Spells from Liu Ziyi, sitting in the big tree of the Highland Mages like two well-behaved children, beloved by everyone.

"Do you have any progress?" Luo Qi asked, glancing at Shi Qian, counting him in as well.

"Perhaps we should step aside to talk," Wen Lin said, glancing suggestively at Wusu. Wusu smiled at her slightly, as if sunlight had poured over her, and she couldn't help but return a smile.

"Oh, it doesn't matter," Luo Qi said as if casually, "Great Mage Wusu is a Treasure Hunter I invited."

Wen Lin hesitated for a moment, reluctantly accepted Luo Qi's explanation, and took a step back. "I sense there is another human here. No offense intended, but the human mind is not safe."

"It's fine," Luo Qi said. Everyone looked at him, more or less surprised.

Wen Lin's face stiffened. She looked at Luo Qi suspiciously, her voice becoming a bit shrill. "Planning to hold a press conference?"

Luo Qi laughed. "Who knows? Maybe that's exactly what I mean?"

Shi Qian shifted anxiously in his chair and couldn't help but start shaking his leg, as if he were about to bolt up at any moment as if his butt were being burned. Wen Lin gave him a warning glare, turned back, and nodded at Luo Qi. "Whatever, you're the boss, you call the shots."

(End of chapter)