Chapter 75

"What is this place?" Luo Qi followed Majiang and Du Zhengyi through the main hall, bypassed a screen, and arrived in another courtyard. This place was not much different from the front courtyard, only the buildings were taller and the yard was kept tidier; banana trees were planted in front of the windows, and a few stalks of green bamboo were planted at the corners of the house. It was clearly an authentic Jiangnan residence, and it had some years on it. "Why did you prepare a place like this?"

"This is an Ancient Town; the original residents have all moved to the high-rise buildings with elevators in the city across the river," Majiang said. "However, this has been a location for a Society of Mages for a long time."

"A Mind Mage Society?" Luo Qi said. They had already walked into the main room, and Luo Qi reached out to pick at the jade embedded in the screen.

"Hey," Majiang called out, "why are your hands so restless? Don't touch that. Du Zhengyi, aren't you going to keep him in check?"

Luo Qi glanced at Du Zhengyi, but Du Zhengyi had no reaction; this reaction itself was cold and distant.

He saw Majiang also darting glances between Du Zhengyi and himself, likely having formed some sort of speculation, but he didn't say anything, instead reaching out to invite them to sit by the window. On the tea table sat an iron kettle with water inside; he took out tea leaves and reached for the kettle again. Just as he stretched out his hand, the water in the kettle began to boil. He picked up the kettle filled with boiling water, nonchalant and accustomed to it. Luo Qi watched this, thinking once again that Du Zhengyi truly used his power this way too rarely; although his power was completely overwhelming when Mages fought—Majiang was clearly no match for him at all—in daily life, Du Zhengyi always used human methods like a Primary Mage, almost just like Luo Qi himself.

"Come, Luo Qi, have some tea," Majiang said. "Pre-Qingming tea."

"It's only just March," Luo Qi said.

"Ah," Majiang didn't mind being called out. "Last year's pre-Qingming tea."

"So all of last year's tea counts as this year's pre-Qingming tea now?" Luo Qi looked at him.

Majiang just laughed heartily, his hands not stopping, bustling about until the tea fragrance overflowed. He placed the teacups in front of Luo Qi and Du Zhengyi, saying as he poured, "It's only been a few days, how did you become so sharp-tongued? You're getting more and more like Du Zhengyi. Did Du Zhengyi corrupt you?"

Luo Qi didn't speak, leaning back in his chair to look at the banana trees outside the window. He rarely went to the south and didn't know that the sunlight here could make the banana leaves look so green. A calico kitten slipped past the window; he followed it aimlessly, becoming familiar with its sensation. He secretly tracked it, discovering a total of nine cats within a range of several hundred meters.

He knew Majiang had been observing him, but even if he wanted to care, he couldn't; his thoughts were tracking the movements of the nine cats in boredom, and he heard Majiang say to Du Zhengyi, "To be honest, I didn't expect him to stabilize so quickly."

Du Zhengyi picked up his tea and sniffed it first. "Following your guidance, he found an Anchor Point for himself."

"Smart," Majiang said. "It seems Luo Qi is a natural-born Mind Mage; although he looks like a mess, his talent is actually quite good."

"However, he is using me as his Yajian anchor," Du Zhengyi said in a flat voice.

Luo Qi pulled some of his attention back from his cat-exploring journey, secretly observing Majiang's reaction.

Majiang's expression clearly paused for a moment. He glanced toward his own side, but seemed more wary of Du Zhengyi. "Oh," was all he said, but he dragged the sound out, making the meaning seem very layered. Luo Qi secretly observed his expression; Majiang's eyeballs clearly shifted behind his lenses, and the content of his thoughts seemed quite substantial. Luo Qi patiently waited for the result of his thinking. Half a minute later, Majiang said "Oh" again. He exchanged a look with Du Zhengyi, communicating a meaning Luo Qi couldn't understand.

Luo Qi felt a surge of anger, wishing he could immediately reach out and pry open both of their skulls. When he was fully capable of doing so, refraining from it was truly a form of cultivation. However, Luo Qi also knew he wouldn't do it, so he was left with only anger.

"Oh." Majiang said "oh" again, this time his voice filled with interest. Luo Qi turned his head to look at him in annoyance, unexpectedly meeting Majiang's probing gaze head-on. He was stunned for a moment, and Majiang smiled slyly, saying, "The scent of this storm is truly intense; I can even smell the fresh scent of ozone when lightning strikes."

"Don't provoke him," Du Zhengyi warned immediately.

"Yes, yes, I won't provoke your brat," Majiang said, unable to hold back a muffled laugh. "Look at you two, how is this any different from a parent taking a brat to visit relatives?"

"Alright, alright, let's talk about business now," Majiang said with a smile. "I already know what's inside the test tube solution you gave me the day before yesterday."

"That is something Li Xu used; it seems he once soaked Luo Qi in it."

"Is it a solution for creating supermen?" Luo Qi asked, holding onto a final shred of fantasy, fantasizing that his abilities were a mutation bestowed upon him by a laboratory and had nothing to do with him, and that he was still the same Luo Qi from three days ago.

Majiang looked at him in confusion. "Can your mental state be a little more stable? Do you want to spin silk, or do you want to build muscle?"

Luo Qi ignored him and retreated into his chair in boredom.

"First of all, I declare that this thing is a human product," Majiang said sarcastically.

Du Zhengyi understood what he meant. "As a Lotus Burner, Li Xu has always opposed Mages using human technology; I didn't expect him to have no psychological barriers to using it himself."

"Two-faced," Majiang said.

"Shameless," Luo Qi added.

Du Zhengyi finally couldn't help but reveal a slight smile, but the smile was fleeting. Majiang was suddenly a bit curious and asked Du Zhengyi, "To prevent Luo Qi's interference, you aren't currently keeping..."

Du Zhengyi glared at him, and the rest of his words were swallowed. Luo Qi looked back and forth between the two, desperately hoping to complete the second half of Du Zhengyi's sentence, feeling so annoyed he wanted to scratch the chair.

Majiang laughed it off and continued, "Let's not talk about other things; today we will only discuss academic issues, since I can only talk about academic issues anyway. Back to the main topic, the solution Li Xu used is called Perfluorocarbon Solution in human science."

Luo Qi was taken aback. "I think I know what that is."

"You do?" Majiang said in surprise. "Is Li Xu's Yajian still in your brain? Can you dig out more of his consciousness then?"

"Those memories are already very faint now," Luo Qi said. "He mentioned this name at the time; I always felt it sounded familiar, and now I've finally remembered what it is."

Chapter 74: The Ancient Town