Chapter 73: Anchor

"Why on earth did you think to use me as the Anchor Point for your Yajian?" Du Zhengyi said, suppressing his temper.

Yes, suppressing his temper; he didn't dare scold him too harshly because Luo Qi would occasionally put on a cowardly, frightened act. What was even more hateful was that you couldn't tell if he was being real or fake. When he was a coward, his self-esteem was incredibly elastic; now that he had suddenly become a Mind Master, could one even hope to discern his true nature?

Not only could Du Zhengyi not scold him, but he also had to get him something to eat. There wasn't much edible in Du Zhengyi's refrigerator, only cereal soaked in milk. Luo Qi didn't particularly complain, looking like a victim as he lowered his head and scooped it up with a spoon.

Getting no answer, Du Zhengyi couldn't help but continue, "What is called an Anchor Point requires stability above all else. Couldn't you have chosen a scene from a childhood memory? Or chosen a house? A tree? A mountain?"

"I did choose a house," Luo Qi swallowed a mouthful of cereal. "I chose your house, and you, sitting under the window. When I came out of the bathroom, I just felt this feeling was super reassuring, the quiet beauty of the passing years..."

"The quiet beauty of your mother..." Du Zhengyi felt his blood pressure soaring. Just as he was halfway through the curse, Luo Qi looked up with his spoon, staring at him in shock, looking as if he couldn't even hold the spoon steady. He swallowed his anger, restraining his irritability. "Then tell me, how could me sitting under the window make you feel reassured?"

"You're so badass, killing anyone who blocks you, killing any Buddha who blocks you—your turf is naturally extraordinary. No one can beat you; that is a sense of security. Especially when you're just sitting in your own home, leisurely drinking tea," Luo Qi said. "I just feel super reassured."

Du Zhengyi was speechless for a long moment, finally sighing, "Your thinking is truly direct."

Luo Qi poked at the cereal with his spoon. "I don't know what's wrong with you? This kind of thing is kept in my heart anyway; it's a very subjective thing. If I feel it's reassuring, then it's reassuring. Do you have to react so strongly? If I felt Sun Wukong was the most badass, I would have thought of Sun Wukong in my heart. But at that time, I was saved by you descending from the sky, all badass and saving my dog life; I'm grateful and thinking of you—is that my fault?"

"You really have a nerve, damn it," Du Zhengyi couldn't help but say. After finishing, he suddenly looked at Luo Qi threateningly. "Your tongue is so slick, it looks like you've recovered a bit. You were just acting all jumpy to play me, weren't you?"

Luo Qi didn't speak, burying his head to start eating the cereal in big mouthfuls, scooping the milk with loud slurping sounds, as if he had made up his mind to annoy Du Zhengyi to death and make him get lost.

Du Zhengyi looked at his cowardly appearance, sighed, and said slowly, "Although I can't be called a Mind Mage, I still understand a bit of the theory behind it. An Anchor Point should be the most stable and safe existence in a person's heart; this Anchor Point must be real. No matter how many Illusions and interferences from others' Yajian there are, your Anchor Point is a cornerstone of your existence. The more stable, warm, and trustworthy the Anchor Point is, the more solid your existence becomes. Judging by the length of time we've known each other, I am very honored to have received such great trust."

"Don't mention it," Luo Qi said with some satisfaction. If this were a few days ago, he would be beaming right now. However, although he had improved, his condition was indeed poor and couldn't withstand too much tossing. "A friend in need is a friend indeed, it's understandable."

"I'll make a bold guess: is your Anchor Point particularly real? The details recorded in your Yajian must be very detailed, right?" Du Zhengyi said patiently. "It doesn't just contain my appearance, habitual movements, and the things I said to you. It also contains the limited characteristics of my Yajian that you were able to perceive?"

Luo Qi didn't know what he meant by asking this, so he cautiously didn't open his mouth, keeping a low profile while continuing to drink his milk.

Du Zhengyi sighed helplessly. "In other words, your Yajian recorded a real version of me. The imprint I left in your Yajian is very deep, so when I truly appeared, once I dropped my barriers, your Yajian immediately identified me. Although you couldn't use the Anchor Point well at the time, my appearance helped you complete the function of the Anchor Point, and your Yajian immediately stabilized."

"Right, just like the Sea-Stabilizing Needle," Luo Qi said unexpectedly.

"Fine," Du Zhengyi said. "If I find out that this sentence of yours is actually a dirty joke, I will beat you until you vomit blood sooner or later."

Luo Qi bit his lip and blinked, saying nothing.

"Luo Qi," Du Zhengyi said, "have you ever thought about what would happen to your Consciousness World if I ceased to exist?"

Luo Qi looked up at him, his eyes flickering. "Ceased to exist means..."

"Most people's Anchor Points are chosen from objects with past memories, houses, or even people from past memories," Du Zhengyi said. "The reason is that only the past is eternal."

"A hundred years from now, the way you look today will naturally be the way you look in my memory," Luo Qi said cautiously, though his hands began to fidget with the spoon uneasily. "Does it matter?"

"I am truly honored that you would still remember me then," Du Zhengyi said, avoiding Luo Qi's eyes. "But Luo Qi, I think you probably guessed long ago that I didn't come out to do social research. My work is very dangerous. If there really comes a day when you hear I'm gone, the shock you receive then will be more severe than simply hearing a friend is gone. It won't just be sadness for a friend; your Consciousness World will also become precarious."

"What do you mean?" Luo Qi asked him in a murmur. Du Zhengyi came back to his senses and noticed that Luo Qi had really started to get nervous. Unlike his previous posturing, the light in his eyes began to waver, with faint signs of panic about to erupt.

"Luo Qi." Du Zhengyi reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "I was just saying 'if'."

Luo Qi put down the spoon and raised his hand to support his forehead. "Let's talk about this another time, okay?"

"Can you change your Anchor Point and think of some good times from the past?" Du Zhengyi said carefully, placing his arm on Luo Qi's shoulder, holding him like a buddy having a heart-to-heart. "Think about your past friends, your family, happy things from when you were a kid..."

"I was always bullied when I was a kid because I couldn't show any Magic Ability," Luo Qi said mechanically. "In kindergarten, people tore up my drawing book; in elementary school, people even peed on me. I tried to commit suicide once when I was fifteen, but it didn't succeed. Since then, I started to yearn for human society. As a result, I was tied to the train tracks by Zhao Zhiyan, waiting to have my legs crushed by a train, just because I wanted to be a human. I might have had some friends, but none of them ever made me feel truly comfortable and at ease. Family... my grandfather loved me very much, but he died too early, and my impression of him is blurry. My parents always had a bit of a gap with me; now I know why."

Du Zhengyi was stunned and could no longer speak.

"I didn't care about any of this originally, until Majiang said I had to pick an Anchor Point, but no matter how I thought about it, I couldn't find a memory that was truly reliable." After saying this, Luo Qi stood up, turned to occupy Du Zhengyi's bed, pulled the quilt over himself, curled up inside, and said from under the covers, "Besides, even if you ask me to change it, I can't do it. I'm not some highly skilled Mind Master."