Chapter 694: The Disappearing Entrance

Du Zhengyi walked quickly back to the courtyard; the Old Mage's ferns trembled slightly in the breeze, their new leaves, curled like springs, thriving in the gloom. He could be certain there was nothing unusual here; this courtyard was still alive. Liu Xiuyun had found the right person, but his line of investigation had to be wrong.

Liu Xiuyun turned his head from the books in the study and glanced at him in surprise, as if blaming him for the noise of his entry, which had disturbed his work.

"Mage Liu, what exactly did Zhou Ruisi take just now?" Du Zhengyi asked, as politely and properly as he could.

"It was some of his grandfather's calculation manuscripts and notes. Most of those things had already been compiled by his grandfather and published as papers; there was nothing particularly sensitive about them, so they could only be considered personal items. That is why I allowed him to take them," Liu Xiuyun explained.

Luo Qi went out of his way to find Zhou Yanchen's personal items?

As far as he knew, Luo Qi's attitude toward human science was always that of a hypocrite—he would eat up the sweet, crunchy outer shell of human science with relish, but if someone wanted to break open the skin and explain the arduous mathematical derivations at the core, he would immediately pull a long face and run as far away as he could. Even if some of these mathematical derivations overlapped with the magic theory of Mages. Just how much of a driving force could it take to force Luo Qi to go after calculation manuscripts?

"What is it, Mage Du? Did you think of something?" Liu Xiuyun tried his best to keep up with his train of thought. "Do you think this matter is suspicious? Is it possible that Zhou Ruisi took these manuscripts for Luo Qi?"

That wasn't it; Mage Liu still hadn't figured out that Luo Qi didn't need to find an intermediary to take someone else's things.

"If it were Luo Qi who wanted those manuscripts, what could he gain from them?" Du Zhengyi asked.

Liu Xiuyun replied in a calm tone: "This knowledge can all be obtained through public channels. Honestly, what we worry about every day is that young people are not seeking progress. Qionglin is so eager that it would like to open up all channels of knowledge right to the pillows of young Mages, but the vast majority of young Mages seem to think knowledge is poisonous, terrified that our knowledge will pollute their clean, empty brains. If there were a young person whose thirst for knowledge reached the level of theft, even Pei Shu would be moved to tears."

"In other words, Zhou Yanchen was not involved in any top-secret missions?" Du Zhengyi asked.

"My records show that he almost never disappeared from the public eye, so he shouldn't have had any secrets. Besides, he was a steady scholar; if he had really been involved in any secrets, he wouldn't have left sensitive information in his notes," Liu Xiuyun replied.

"Then what remains in a person's private manuscripts and notes is only that person's cognitive characteristics," Du Zhengyi said, pondering.

Liu Xiuyun frowned. "So, you are certain that Zhou Ruisi took the items for Luo Qi?" Du Zhengyi did not answer him, so Liu Xiuyun ignored the question and continued thinking. "If you can be certain of this, then what Luo Qi wants is to observe Zhou Yanchen's cognitive characteristics more directly. Everyone has their own preferences and their own characteristics, which is why every person's soul is unique. Luo Qi is a Mind Mage; of course, he cares about these things. It's just that Zhou Yanchen has already passed away. As far as I know, Mind Mages only care about the living, yet right now, Luo Qi is like someone studying the portrait of a wraith."

"I am in agreement with Mage Liu's thoughts," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice.

But Liu Xiuyun could not agree with his own reasoning. "But what is the point of doing this?"

"I don't know the specific situation. I only know that by the time everyone understands the meaning behind it, that in itself will be a major event that overturns Qionglin," Du Zhengyi said.

Liu Xiuyun looked at Du Zhengyi with some hesitation. He had already given up on searching Zhou Yanchen's study, but thinking of Du Zhengyi's status—even though he was also one of the Venerables—he was still afraid of asking too much. He cautiously and tentatively asked, "You are one of the few people in our world closest to the core secrets. Can you assess how much of an impact what Luo Qi is about to do will have on the world?"

Du Zhengyi shook his head. "I have spent my life guarding the core secrets of the Mages. If I said I knew nothing about the core of how the Mage World operates, that would certainly be absurd. I do have many guesses, but I have never been willing to think too deeply. No matter what the secret is, and whether I agree with those existences or not, I have no time to change anything, so I have become accustomed to not letting myself care about those things. If Luo Qi really causes some great disaster, from the way I view the world and the scale of time I observe, I wouldn't care either."

Liu Xiuyun's expression became somewhat sorrowful. He heard the subtext in Du Zhengyi's words; the look on his face was a mixture of concern for Du Zhengyi and helplessness at having discovered the vortex. Du Zhengyi turned his face away, avoiding the concern and pity from others that he was not used to; such things felt mostly like an intrusion into his personal space.

Liu Xiuyun also quickly composed his emotions. He murmured, "Luo Qi is the complete opposite of you. He has just acquired his abilities, like a newborn, and has plenty of energy to want to kick the Qionglin he finds displeasing to pieces. Young people like to destroy and look forward to rebirth, but they don't necessarily have any ideas about reconstruction. This is also why Luo Qi pushed you aside; he knows that you might not be happy to see what he is about to do."

"To some extent, in his eyes, I also count as part of the old-fashioned establishment," Du Zhengyi agreed with his view, objectively evaluating the reality of the situation.

"Mage Du, since we are on this topic, I would still like to ask you to find a way to talk to Luo Qi. I will continue to use these clumsy methods to try to figure out Luo Qi's train of thought, but I am afraid my speed is not fast enough."

"I was just about to tell you, I want to go to the Grass Market and see if I can find Luo Qi, but I have to say the hope is not high."

Du Zhengyi's sudden concession made Liu Xiuyun pleasantly surprised. "That would be best. I can send you an official letter asking you to go to the Grass Market to help me purchase some necessities; after all, it is not convenient for me to enter and exit that place. You can keep this letter to avoid encountering trouble from Qionglin."

Du Zhengyi did not refuse Liu Xiuyun's kindness, even though he had already anticipated that Luo Qi would not be waiting in the Zhouqiao Grass Market for Qionglin's people to come and find trouble with him, and he would likely not be able to find Luo Qi in the Grass Market either. There was a half-month time difference between him and Luo Qi; Luo Qi had run half a month ahead, and it was now very difficult for him to guess how far Luo Qi had gone.

But when he truly discovered a few hours later that the Zhouqiao Grass Market had been closed for ten days, he was still taken aback.

The Black Market sandbox that had operated for over eight hundred years had just disappeared like that. Luo Qi had ended a tradition that had lasted for over eight hundred years in the Mage World in one go; even Du Zhengyi had to admit that Luo Qi had great courage, or to put it another way, Luo Qi had become even more uninhibited when he acted like a bastard.

More importantly, this meant that Luo Qi had gained actual control of the Grass Market within at most a week. There was a big difference between obtaining authorization from Shi Xiansheng and actually becoming the leader of the people.

For a moment, Du Zhengyi felt a slight sense of bewilderment. He stood on the human street, the energy field of the sandbox having gone completely silent; he was not yet used to the loss of the Zhouqiao Grass Market interface. He looked at the street, where people came and went but which was empty under another layer of vision, and amidst the immense discomfort, he gradually distinguished the presence of some Mages in the crowd.

They were Mages from Qionglin, and they were also looking for the entrance to the new Grass Market.