Chapter 573: The Youth

Yan Hao sized up the team he had encountered by chance in this barren land, his jaw nearly dropping in surprise when he saw the composition of this group. He recognized Wen Lin; this woman with her exquisite, curvaceous figure was very beautiful, but she was not famous in the Qionglin battle methods for her beauty, but for her overbearing nature. Shi Qian, who was by her side, always followed her around like a sycophant.

There was no need to mention the great name of Liu Ziyi; in several combat meetings Yan Hao had attended, Liu Ziyi was responsible for the technical briefing portion. However, this was the first time Yan Hao had seen her out on field duty, which was simply incredible; she might trip and scrape her knees on flat ground later. He did not recognize the girl next to her; she looked truly too young, still just a teenager—who would bring a teenager out here?

What surprised Yan Hao the most was that he saw Wusu, the great Mage Wusu—no, the Great Mage Wusu, he always got it wrong in private—his status was very high, and he never appeared on the front lines. He was standing here now, making everyone uncomfortable just like a leader inspecting work. Yet he wasn't even standing in a primary position; his expression was very restrained, a look of detached indifference, as if he were a guest brought along by a friend to a friend's house, forced to be a bit reserved.

These people were like a crossover group, acting as foils to a young boy like stars surrounding the moon. By the Progenitor Mage, this was the first time he had seen someone willingly throw themselves into Du Zhengyi's arms; although strictly speaking that didn't count as throwing himself into his arms, the eager and intimate manner was no different from a Golden Retriever seeing its master. No, wait, judging by the size, not a Golden Retriever, at most a Pomeranian.

Who is this kid? Did Pei Shu have a child? A secret marriage? Which little mage gave birth to such a child for him?

A few minutes later, Du Zhengyi raised a soundproofing Shield. Yan Hao looked back at the Battle Mages; they finally looked a little less like walking corpses. Although everyone's face was still covered by a mask of ice, everyone's gaze was, after all, openly or secretly fixed on that young boy. He and Du Zhengyi were holding a small meeting as if no one else were around, arguing about something. There was always an advantage to mages living for two hundred years, for instance, being able to see someone dare to argue and challenge Du Zhengyi. This was not to say that Du Zhengyi would really beat up everyone who spoke to him like a bully in the past, it was just that Du Zhengyi would ignore them, but he was actually answering now. To be precise, he was arguing back.

Although he couldn't hear the sound, he saw with his own eyes the frequency of Du Zhengyi's speech. How should he put it? He was reminded of a great work of human literature, where a blade of grass said that after it was reborn, it would return the tears of a lifetime to the person who watered it. Well, here it was; Du Zhengyi must have owed that boy something in a past life, and was returning all his insults to him in this one.

He didn't know if that kid was stupid or awesome; he kept laughing, arguing with Du Zhengyi in high spirits. They were just standing on a slaughterhouse of unknown circumstances, waiting for the God of War to finish arguing; Yan Hao had simply lost his patience. Why didn't Du Zhengyi just knock him down with one punch? That kid looked insignificant; attacking him wouldn't even require Magic, using Magic would be considered winning unfairly, so why bother talking nonsense with him?

"Yan Hao!"

Yan Hao was startled; he didn't know when the Soundproofing Magic had been taken down. He met Du Zhengyi's gaze and didn't find any anger in Du Zhengyi's expression. The boy also looked at him quietly; the intense argument they had just had seemed as if it had never existed. He subconsciously nodded at Du Zhengyi.

"Call Zhou Ruisi over," Du Zhengyi said.

He hurried to fetch the man. Zhou Ruisi had been stuffed in the car and brought along the whole way like a piece of medical waste; he didn't know what Du Zhengyi was planning to do. If a battle really broke out, he didn't know if this Second-level Executive Mage could protect himself.

He didn't know what Du Zhengyi wanted Zhou Ruisi for now. Zhou Ruisi had just been carsick from the bumpy ride; he didn't know why his altitude sickness was so severe, he hardly seemed like a mage.

Zhou Ruisi was now instinctively a bit afraid of Du Zhengyi, and his eyes were somewhat flustered when he was called over. He was still wearing uncomfortable brogue leather shoes, and after the mad dash just now, the reddish-brown sand on the ground had clogged every decorative hole in his shoes. "Du Mage, I..." he swallowed, "do you have anything you want to ask?"

Yan Hao saw Du Zhengyi's chin point toward Zhou Ruisi; this signal was for the boy beside him. That boy smiled; he might be a boy who loved to smile very much, his eyes clear and lively, his skin fair and clean. Seeing him standing in this desolate Antelope Activity Area, it was truly unbearable.

The boy looked at Zhou Ruisi, and Yan Hao suddenly felt the boy's gaze was too transparent, overly transparent, overly deep; a chill suddenly swept across his spine. The boy smiled at Zhou Ruisi, like a doctor trying to stabilize you before doing something to you. You see the doctor smile, and then you are even more afraid; the pain might be about to be pushed onto you. Zhou Ruisi looked at the boy suspiciously, involuntarily gazing into the boy's eyes; his shoulders suddenly trembled slightly, extremely slightly, as if his breathing had just paused.

The boy blinked and turned his head to look at Du Zhengyi almost immediately, "His memory has been deleted."

What?

Yan Hao almost took a step back. Zhou Ruisi looked at Du Zhengyi blankly, looking at them in disbelief.

"Who did it?" he heard Du Zhengyi ask without doubt.

"The technique is very familiar," the boy said, "an old friend."

"Why didn't they just kill him?" Du Zhengyi asked, "They killed Lu Qingshan."

"Perhaps out of compassion; that person isn't a lunatic either," the boy said calmly, "or these are all just flaws left to attract you to get closer step by step; their target is definitely you."

"Wait a minute!" Zhou Ruisi suddenly shouted, "What do you mean? You, you said my mind was modified?"

The boy turned his head to look at him, "You don't have altitude sickness."

"What are you saying? How do you know I have altitude sickness? No, wait. Why do you say that?" Zhou Ruisi said confusedly.

"Your memory was deleted; you feel uncomfortable because of the aftereffects of having your brain forced. The person who cast the spell made you believe you have always had altitude sickness, and you are uncomfortable because of altitude sickness," the boy said, then turned back to Du Zhengyi, "He might have seen a human face; they didn't kill him, but they didn't want to leave any eyewitnesses either."

Zhou Ruisi found it difficult to accept these words for a moment and stood there blankly.

On impulse, Yan Hao couldn't help but ask, "Are you a Mind Mage? A Doctor? How can you finish checking a person's mind so quickly?"

The boy turned his head to look at him, and the smile in those eyes disappeared, "I just can. I can feel it; your will isn't enough to be an Iron-blooded Warrior. Do you want me to go through your brain to prove I can?"

Yan Hao couldn't speak, as if an invisible spear had pinned him to the spot; a slight numbness spread from the back of his head.

"He has no malice," Du Zhengyi suddenly said.

Yan Hao was taken aback and subconsciously looked at Du Zhengyi, who was speaking for him; after coming to his senses, the numbness in the back of his head disappeared.

Du Zhengyi, however, suddenly said, "Is there a toll for the village road?"

This question was asked to the boy, and Yan Hao looked at them in surprise. The boy said without thinking, "How is that possible? The village road of Liangshan?"

Yan Hao immediately felt his throat go dry.

Du Zhengyi asked again, "Have you heard of the Senior Citizens Association?"

The boy's eyes lit up for some reason, "Which idiot paid the membership fee to the association?"

Du Zhengyi pointed his chin at Yan Hao; Yan Hao was blushing, and the boy looked at him and laughed, "That's a criminal gang."

"They are all old people," Yan Hao said, finding it inconceivable.

"Being old doesn't necessarily mean having virtue," the boy said, and added, "I suggest you go to the human police station to report the case; do one good deed a day."

(End of chapter)