Chapter 700

The situation is this: Xiao Yun and the Great Tanuki King had some disagreement, and to show sincerity and achieve reconciliation, Xiao Yun went alone to the appointment. Of course, he wouldn't enter a dangerous place unprepared, but his safety measure ultimately brought back only a severed arm.

"The whole story is crystal clear." The mage who came with the severed limb to demand an explanation ended with these words, face full of grief and indignation.

Ata listened in shock, even bravely stepping to his side, her beautiful eyes gazing compassionately at the severed arm. She raised her arm, placing her hand on the visitor's shoulder, conveying sincere comfort.

"No matter what happened, this is a tragedy, and no one wants to see such a bloody scene." She gently stroked his shoulder, like a sister and like a mother, "Calm down a bit, you need to hold on, so we can discuss what to do next."

The visitor's stiff expression softened involuntarily; he couldn't help but look at Ata's eyes, moved by her endless sympathy and support, his voice even choked up indistinctly. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes showed grievance, his body slightly leaning toward Ata, as if instinctively seeking help from a mother.

Du Zhengyi watched silently, taking in every subtle change. He also used this opportunity to examine the severed limb; the cut wasn't completely clean, not like a slicing spell, nor like being torn off by centripetal force. There was a hint of green on the wound, which he couldn't make out.

"Discuss?" The visitor finally realized Ata seemed to have switched the topic of discussion, spat out a mouthful of saliva, and asked indistinctly.

"Of course we need to discuss what to do, Gu Feng. I know you've worked with Xiao Yun for years, you're friends and family, but you need to calm down first. We must immediately have the medical mages treat the severed arm; if we keep standing here talking, the tissue on the arm will completely necrose, and even as mages, we won't be able to restore Xiao Yun's body." Ata said, already summoning the medical mages without allowing refusal.

The mage called Gu Feng had no reason to refuse, but this was clearly not what they had prepared. Ata's hand returned to his elbow; whenever she got close and touched him, he felt a soft, dependent tenderness, not wanting to retort, wanting to trust. "Gu Feng, we still need you to recount the detailed circumstances. I believe Xiao Yun is still alive—don't ask how I know, believe me, only if we take proactive action can Xiao Yun be safe. I simply don't believe Xiao Yun would have any conflict with the boss. I've had deep talks with Xiao Yun many times; I know his loyalty. Anyone who says he would betray Grass Market, betray my boss, I will never believe! He is no traitor—if he truly were a traitor, how could a Mind Archmage still believe him, especially inviting him out to meet? You know, Mind Mages are actually fragile and vulnerable to attack, and now there are far too many people outside seeking trouble for the boss. Given this situation, the only thing I can think of is that they encountered danger, real danger. Xiao Yun would only suffer such harm to protect the boss."

Du Zhengyi stared in shock and confusion at Ata the goddess; the people in this room had just all stood up in shock, an atmosphere of disdain, anger, and fear filling the room, some with ulterior motives, some hesitant, this newly gathered small group not yet having established firm trust. A bloody severed hand was enough to make Grass Market's core tense with drawn swords. But Ata, with nearly invisible strength, turned the situation around, and they all began to hesitate. Hesitation, after all, is equivalent to losing strength.

At this moment, the medical mage rushed in just in time, quickly taking charge of the severed arm. They didn't care whose arm it was, only exerting their full effort with magical means to provide the severed arm with a way to sustain life. The mages in the room unconsciously watched these medical mages work, and Luo Qi's power was working diligently.

When the doctors were cleaning the wound of the severed arm, Du Zhengyi finally saw clearly that the green substance stuck to it was a grass leaf.

Only when the medical mages announced that this severed arm had a great chance of being saved did Ata sigh in relief and turn to look at the others. She spoke at length, expressing all her worries about Xiao Yun and the boss.

She continued: "For all the families present here, this is now a critical moment of life and death. You all know I come from Wu Shan, and Wu Shan only takes action when the era is about to undergo great change. I am here, representing Wu Shan's choice of the Great Tanuki King. The Highland Mage is also here, at least the Highland Mage is not an enemy of the Great Tanuki King."

She paused, looking toward the Highland Mage sitting quietly in the corner, who indicated basic acceptance with silence. She continued: "We all know that Qiong Lin, which maintains the order of the Mage World, has encountered problems, and we know the order is about to collapse. In this chaotic era, we who live in the in-between and gray areas should unite, and we also all need a truly strong and powerful king. Perhaps I should say, fortunately, this king also needs us."

Gu Feng's gaze swept tentatively over the crowd, and Du Zhengyi saw someone shaking their head faintly.

"What reason would the boss have to kill Xiao Yun? Xiao Yun deals in information, but I think the latest news can only be produced by the boss himself, isn't that so? In this world, what information could Xiao Yun possibly grasp that the boss, as a Mind Archmage, cannot obtain?" Ata asked gently.

No one answered her; she had raised a key question. Everyone knew that in this world, it's hard to keep secrets before a Mind Archmage. After experiencing the initial bloody baptism of power, now is a period of stability, and their interest struggles haven't reached the point of drawing blood. Moreover, the Great Tanuki King has always been generous, taking limited shares in interests.

"Everything will wait until we find the boss again; I believe he will contact us at the latest in two days." Ata said.

"Then it's two days." Gu Feng finally regained his agility, his scattered gaze becoming firm again: "At most two days, we need an explanation."

Ata nodded, not asking who "we" referred to. This made Du Zhengyi somewhat worried; Ata seemed to have taken control of the situation on the surface, but was actually retreating step by step. She probably doesn't actually know what happened; she's just steering according to a prearranged plan.

Du Zhengyi could understand why Luo Qi placed her in this position. Luo Qi served in this arena as an indisputable, unchallengeable authority, but that wasn't enough, so he used Ata to carry out pacification and management.

Luo Qi himself has already been drawn into the center of this world's chaos; after this storm rages, Du Zhengyi doubts he'll still be able to find Luo Qi's whole corpse.

A hand gently slid into his arm's crook; he came to his senses and met Ata's dangerous eyes, "You're too pessimistic—this is exactly why the Great Tanuki King no longer regards you as his closest friend."

He gave a faint smile, his gaze sweeping over the crowd; their attention, both overt and covert, all fell upon him.

Ata's mockery hadn't ended: "Those on the bridge have no right to be pessimistic. These are the Great Tanuki King's words. People who exude a pessimistic air will all be driven by him to the lowest deck."

Du Zhengyi said nothing, wisely walking outward, no longer hesitating or delaying. Ata gave the remaining people an instruction, then followed him outward, leading him to the side gate of the courtyard.

Outside the narrow side gate, a lane leads to a solitary hexagonal pavilion. Standing on the pavilion, one can overlook the mountain path streets and also gaze far at the broad river waters. Ata led him up there, chatting casually as she said, "Before, this was a place to disembark and rest; the river was just outside the pavilion, and people said farewell here. Since I came here, sometimes in my dreams, I can see vague images."

"Do you know what Luo Qi is doing?" Du Zhengyi asked, feeling the presence of the Pendragon Track, this hexagonal pavilion being a station.

"I don't know, nor do I want to know." Ata smiled gently, speaking honestly: "But Wusu said, Luo Qi is the only person in Chaos who still has some compassion. If he can, he will leave us a path to survival. Of course, if he can't, that's also normal—human strength ultimately has its limits. We chose Luo Qi, merely choosing the path with the highest survival probability."

Du Zhengyi just silently gazed at the distant river waters; Ata had to continue herself: "Luo Qi hopes you stay in Qiong Lin."

"Someone has already relayed that to me." Du Zhengyi said lightly.

"Then you must take this to heart, because Luo Qi has already told us this many times, fearing we'd forget to pass it on. I don't want one day him to implant this phrase in our brains, so that when we see you, we're forced to repeat it over and over. I beg you, don't force him to turn us into parrots." Ata said, then laughed again. Du Zhengyi couldn't tell whether she was intentionally controlling others' emotions or if her nature is simply eternally cheerful, neither hurried nor delayed.

She activated the teleportation magic for Du Zhengyi, finally smiling at him: "One more relay: don't let people discover you're important. Also, what I myself want to say to you, Du Zhengyi—stay away from Luo Qi, for what he does will eventually lead you to kill him with your own hands. How did that saying go? 'Shared moisture in drought is less than forgetting each other in the rivers and lakes.'"

Du Zhengyi's temper flared exactly when Ata was sending him into the Pendragon Track transmission system. He angrily turned his head, seeing the familiar Qiong Lin transfer junction, and Mahjong's face.

"Finally got you! Time for a recheck—how long are you going to delay? Do you need the doctor to personally come and catch you for examination? Please, I don't want to collect your corpse, too troublesome, there are many reports to write." Mahjong said listlessly. "Or you could first finish my reports, then court death?"