Chapter 574: The Misconception of the Flying Bird

"We crossed over from this river valley, and are now on the side opposite to where you were before," Luo Qi said, standing on a dirt slope to introduce the area. Behind him were mountains covered in glaciers, and the river curved here, the broken ice shimmering with a bluish luster.

Du Zhengyi lit a cigarette, gazing at the surging river and the vehicles parked by the bank. "You didn't even get your crotch wet; what kind of cars did you drive here in that have such good seals?"

Just as Luo Qi was about to speak, Wen Lin smiled and said, "How could we possibly drive through such rapid water? When we arrived, the water depth didn't even reach the car doors. The river's flow isn't very high in the morning; it only starts to rise after one o'clock in the afternoon, peaks in the first half of the night, and then gradually recedes."

"Is it like this every day?" Du Zhengyi asked, his eyes turning toward the female Mage.

A cold wind blew, and Wen Lin wrapped her windbreaker tighter, tossing her hair. "Yes, I suspect there must be a reservoir lake downstream; this river is glacial meltwater. The peak water volume is already much higher now than when we came a while ago. It's getting warmer day by day, and there is more and more meltwater, pouring into the river incessantly."

"So that's how it is," Du Zhengyi said.

Luo Qi observed the way Wen Lin looked at Du Zhengyi; she couldn't see anyone else, her eager expression like someone staring at the last piece of cake in a display case at 4:30 in the afternoon. She wanted to devour Du Zhengyi. Luo Qi grinned and glanced at Shi Qian, who stood in the shadow of the mountain peak, watching Wen Lin and Du Zhengyi only out of the corner of his eye.

Wen Lin seemed very satisfied to have the opportunity to hold forth. Her eyelashes drooped for a moment, and Luo Qi watched with curiosity as she revealed the soft innocence of a young girl; her smile was warm enough to thaw frozen earth. She tilted her face, earnestly offering knowledge to Du Zhengyi. "I hear humans say that glacial melting is particularly severe now. This river valley was formed in ancient times; back then, the entire canyon must have been filled with water. The river in the valley was very narrow a few decades ago, but now it is getting wider and wider, and it will be even wider by summer. Although it won't be wide enough to fill the canyon, it will certainly be impossible to cross the river by then."

Luo Qi looked up toward the downstream of the river, imagining the landscape of ancient times, and fell into deep thought. Suddenly, he smelled cigarette smoke; Du Zhengyi had lit his cigarette, and Luo Qi immediately reacted with a conditioned reflex, pretending to cough.

Du Zhengyi turned and left the riverbank, calling to the Mages he had brought. "Let's go, while it's still light. Mage Xiang, come with me to take a look; we shouldn't be far from the slaughter site now."

"I'm going too, I'm going too," Luo Qi said hurriedly, trotting to catch up, coughing all the way.

Du Zhengyi let out a deep breath, holding the cigarette in his hand. "Your lungs still aren't better? I remember yesterday on the stairs, those little hooves of yours were running quite happily; I didn't feel like you had pulmonary insufficiency."

"Sigh," Luo Qi said brazenly. "Brother, have some pity on me. Half of my lung was grown back with great difficulty through sheer willpower; I'm afraid it will never return to normal function in my entire life. My old lungs, they really are too pitiful."

Du Zhengyi looked up at the sky in resignation, cursed silently, extinguished his cigarette, and tossed it away. Yan Hao looked at Du Zhengyi in surprise, then at Luo Qi, and when he turned back, his gaze met that of the Old Mage Xiang Qian, seeing a flash of amusement in the old man's eyes. That old Battle Mage looked at Luo Qi as if he were looking at a mischievous grandson. Luo Qi must have sensed it too, for when he rushed up, he gave the Old Mage a fawning smile. This... this little demon holding the Universe Ring.

"What are you going for?" Du Zhengyi asked. "There are only dead people ahead; dead people have no Yajian, it's useless for you to go."

"To broaden my horizons," Luo Qi said, spouting nonsense. "Let's all go together. Guan Xinyue, come too; it's fine if you're a little braver."

Mahjong said irritably, "Luo Qi, do you really think this is a spring outing? Du Zhengyi, what do you say?"

Du Zhengyi spread his hands, his irritation showing as he smoked half his cigarette. "Do I have a choice? Why are you all asking me? Heaven and earth are my witness, he wasn't even brought by me today."

Mahjong was speechless for a moment, but still glared at Luo Qi.

Luo Qi turned his head and ignored him, triumphantly whistling a long, clear note. A shrill bird cry immediately responded to him from afar.

Du Zhengyi looked up at the mountain shadow, thoughtful, and in an instant, that familiar black bird circled out. "I knew it..."

Xiang Qian also looked up, and the moment he saw the black bird, he understood. "Luo Qi, is that you? Zhengyi, you didn't let me strike down that bird earlier—was it actually because of this? You knew at a glance that it was being controlled by Luo Qi?"

"I only suspected..." Du Zhengyi said with a cold face. "I thought..."

"Why stop mid-sentence?" Luo Qi said, puzzled. "Don't tell me that now, Brother, you suspect it's me every time you see an animal? I'm not like that."

"I wouldn't suspect every animal is you, but I think a Mind Mage should have some standards and not fly a bird with the wrong wing frequency," Du Zhengyi said. "Unless it's a half-baked Mind Mage."

"What? You're completely slandering me like a layman. Mahjong, you tell me, is it easy to fly a bird? I'd like to know how many Mages can control birds?" Luo Qi said.

"What do you want me to say? Let me tell you, Du Zhengyi, there aren't many Mind Mages who would enter a bird's brain. The brain structure of a bird is completely different from that of a mammal; entering their brains is very dangerous," Mahjong said.

Luo Qi stiffened his neck and said in a low voice, "That's because they're too incompetent; skills vary from person to person, and this is very easy for me. Anyway, the surface is very safe now, there's no one around, and the nearest moving object is twenty kilometers away. I find birds very useful; they are simply too useful."

Of course, he had to bluff; how would he know that Mind Mages rarely touch the Yajian of birds? He didn't have the time to read such trivial knowledge. He only thought it was useful, so he used it. Du Zhengyi stared at him for a while; he suspected Du Zhengyi had seen through him, but he steadily adjusted his facial expression, revealing the inscrutable look he had been using lately. If Du Zhengyi really had seen through him, he didn't say anything, but instead reached out and pinched his shoulder.

Luo Qi used all his willpower not to scream in public and lose face. He was certain that this black-hearted bastard Du Zhengyi had pinched his shoulder until it was bruised; he was almost certain he had fractured a bone. Just that one pinch, as if he had only moved his fingers lightly; outsiders probably couldn't even tell he had used force...

Sweating, he glared at Du Zhengyi in secret annoyance. Du Zhengyi turned his head back with a pleasant expression and gave him a meaningful look.

The bird overhead let out a shriek, darted into the clouds, and vanished.

"Set it free?" Du Zhengyi asked, as if he knew everything.

"Yeah," Luo Qi said irritably. "Gotta accumulate some virtue; I still need to save up points to redeem rewards."

The people around them looked at them suspiciously; only Xiang Qian laughed out loud.

Luo Qi was too angry to speak, hurrying along and reaching the bend in the river first. Du Zhengyi pulled him back, preventing him from slipping on a pile of viscera. He cursed under his breath and jumped to the side.

The slaughterhouse appeared too suddenly. Liu Ziyi hurriedly retreated, pulling Guan Xinyue back to the highest ridge, and after regaining her composure, she spat out, "Disgusting."

Zhou Ruisi vomited again, thoroughly. Mahjong also stopped in his tracks, covering his nose. The Battle Mages, including Wen Lin and Shi Qian, walked down the slope as if it were flat ground, spreading out to bend down and inspect the area.

"Are you alright?" Wusu asked Guan Xinyue considerately.

Guan Xinyue looked up blankly. "What's wrong? Isn't this just a desolate beach where the river bends?"

Liu Ziyi turned back in surprise to look at him. Wusu frowned slightly and then smiled. "Luo Qi is truly considerate."

"How so?" Liu Ziyi asked in surprise.

"He has isolated Xinyue's five senses," Wusu said. "I suspect Xinyue won't see anything today."

Guan Xinyue subconsciously looked toward Luo Qi, who was jumping down the river beach as if stepping on springs. She didn't even know what target Luo Qi was heading toward. "I don't need that."

"In the era that is about to arrive, we may all need the help of others," Wusu said with a smile. "Having friends is always good."

(End of chapter)