Chapter 87: Ear Bone Stud

The gazes of the few men gathered on Guan Xinyue in unison. Majiang was somewhat puzzled; in his eyes, Guan Xinyue was still a child, and he had assumed she was only taking refuge with him. Luo Qi knew the inside story; Du Zhengyi had already told him that his life was only saved because Guan Xinyue had paid the price.

Luo Qi felt that Du Zhengyi saying these things was nothing but nonsense, yet he hadn't expected them to be serious about it now. As a man, he always felt this was like bullying the widow and orphans of a deceased Mage, but Du Zhengyi clearly didn't think so. Guan Xinyue didn't seem to think it was excessive for Du Zhengyi to demand payment from her now either; her expression didn't even change, and she nodded with a rich sense of contractual spirit.

Luo Qi felt awkward being caught in the middle, feeling sorry for Guan Xinyue, yet he had no standing to accuse Du Zhengyi of being unprincipled. One made an offer and the other fulfilled the contract; upon reflection, it really had nothing to do with him.

Guan Xinyue took a deep breath and said, "My grandfather did indeed entrust a storage crystal to me for safekeeping."

Luo Qi couldn't help but say in a low voice, "You don't necessarily have to take out your grandfather's things." He hesitated and added, "No one will do anything to you, and they won't kick you out right now either."

Guan Xinyue looked at him and smiled, not knowing why she suddenly felt happy. "It's alright," she said softly to Luo Qi, then raised her head to look at the other two men. Her eyes were very bright, and her lovely face was glowing. "I am my grandfather's granddaughter, but in the end, I can only decipher the contents inside the crystal by finding a Mage. After struggling for so long, besides hoping to make the incident of my sister's disappearance gain attention in your world, I also wanted to find a Mage I could trust to read my grandfather's Magic Artifact. I think I have found someone I can trust now."

Luo Qi nodded, suddenly feeling a bit ashamed. Although Guan Xinyue could be quite neurotic and occasionally annoying with her fussing, at times like this, she always exceeded his expectations.

"Thank you for your understanding and trust," Du Zhengyi said, his voice also very gentle.

Guan Xinyue smiled shyly at Du Zhengyi and said, "Actually, I've always felt that even without the matter of Luo Qi's sudden awakening of ability... long before this, when Luo Qi was present, Du Ge's personality was much better. I'll be honest, if Luo Qi wasn't there, I would be a bit afraid to talk to Du Ge."

Du Zhengyi looked at her, slightly startled, and then glanced at Luo Qi. Sure enough, Luo Qi looked a bit worried again.

Majiang was quite interested. "Is that what you think?"

"You don't think so?" Guan Xinyue countered.

"I've known Du Zhengyi for a long time," Majiang said with a smile. "We knew each other when he was still small, so we're too familiar to notice anything. Besides, I don't really mind him; no matter what his mood is, it doesn't hinder me from talking to him."

"Maybe so, but when Luo Qi isn't here, Du Ge seems more..." Guan Xinyue mused, hesitating and not daring to be sure of her wording.

"More unlike a person?" Majiang fearlessly helped her complete the sentence.

"Mm," Guan Xinyue bravely responded, carefully watching Du Zhengyi.

"Then you don't need to mind," Majiang said with a laugh. "Du Zhengyi hasn't been in the best health these past few years, so his mood has been poor along with it."

"In poor health?" Luo Qi repeated, watching Du Zhengyi's face turn cold. He knew he shouldn't ask about such private matters, but since the big-mouthed Majiang had already said it, he couldn't help it. Li Xu's speculation that Du Zhengyi had suffered a psychic attack immediately came to his mind, accompanied by the fact that Du Zhengyi's energy depleted faster than the average man's; he would get sleepy very early every day, have trouble waking up in the morning, look like he was about to run out of power from time to time, and be very frugal with his use of Magic Ability... these bits and pieces flooded his mind.

"Stop the anxiety! Luo Qi!" Du Zhengyi said with a grim expression. "Do not radiate us."

Luo Qi apologized hastily, quickly reviewing the method Majiang had taught him, and tightly closed his Consciousness Space. At the same time, he asked, "Is it still a sequela?"

"It will get better," Du Zhengyi said dismissively. "Let's talk about business; don't waste any more time. Xinyue, when your grandfather gave you the crystal, did he ask you to give it to anyone in the future?"

Guan Xinyue inevitably had to read the room. Du Zhengyi's face was full of toughness; she didn't know if Luo Qi was outputting anxiety—human minds were far less sensitive than Mages'—but anyone, with or without Magic, could see the anxiety on Luo Qi's face. On the contrary, Majiang looked indifferent, as if he were an outsider. So, in the end, she yielded to the toughest of them all, Du Zhengyi, and answered his question earnestly. "My grandfather didn't say who I should give the crystal to, but in his final days, he often had me keep this item. According to him, because I am not a Mage, the aura of the crystal on me is the weakest, and almost no Mage would think the crystal is in my hands. That is why I believe he must have had enemies."

"It's on your person?" Luo Qi said in astonishment. A scene flashed back in his memory: Guan Xinyue inadvertently tucking her hair behind her ear, revealing an ornament worn on her ear bone. At the time, he had even thought that piercing in that spot must be quite painful.

Guan Xinyue swept up her hair right in front of them, revealing an Ear Bone Stud on her ear; the light of the crystal shimmered in the sunlight. Luo Qi hadn't expected this Magic Artifact of the Great Mage to be so small. He watched in shock as Guan Xinyue carefully took off the Ear Bone Stud. If a massive secret was truly contained within, who would have thought this item had been on the ear tip of a sixteen-year-old human girl all along?

"Great Mage Guan is truly no ordinary figure," he heard Majiang exclaim from the side. "The granddaughter he raised is no ordinary person either."

"I am not my grandfather's bloodline, you know," Guan Xinyue said with a smile.

"Does it really matter if there is a blood relationship?" Majiang said in a low voice.

Guan Xinyue lowered her head, her hair brushing past her ear tip. A layer of crimson stained her cheeks, and she said "Thank you" in a very, very low voice, like a murmur between her lips.

She extended her slender, piano-playing fingers; the crystal was at her fingertips. She handed it out, giving it to Du Zhengyi. "I hope that I can also know what happens after this."

"We won't exclude you," Luo Qi said, regardless of whether Du Zhengyi thought so or whether Majiang felt it was appropriate.

Du Zhengyi did not speak, but the moment his palm touched the crystal, a stream of energy leaked out from within it continuously. He opened this Storage Crystal in front of Guan Xinyue. Luo Qi knew he would do this; he knew Du Zhengyi's heart was just as disgusted by injustice as his own.

Golden data was released from the crystal, but it seemed slightly different from an ordinary storage crystal; even Du Zhengyi let out a confused "Hm."

Luo Qi, sitting to the side, suddenly determined where this slight difference lay: it was an active Yajian Zhiliu, not stored data. He couldn't care about thinking further and reached out to grab the crystal from Du Zhengyi's hand.