magician in town

Chapter 687 The New King
Before Du Zhengyi even reached his office, he ran into Zhou Quan in the corridor. Zhou Quan was being surrounded by several monks complaining to him, and he was dealing with them patiently. When he suddenly looked up and saw Du Zhengyi, his face immediately showed double the guilt and flattery. "Oh, Monk Du, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I made a mistake in my busy schedule today, and I'm sorry to have troubled you to come all the way up to find me."

As he spoke, he quickened his pace, broke free from the entanglement of the mages, and came to Du Zhengyi's side, apologizing repeatedly and offering to take him to the office to revise the work task sheet.

Du Zhengyi's reputation for being difficult to deal with was well-known throughout Qionglin. Zhou Quan's mistake had brought him trouble, which was truly pitiful. In addition, the monks, not wanting to provoke Du Zhengyi, were much more understanding and put their own affairs aside, no longer stopping Zhou Quan.

Zhou Quan loudly apologized, while Du Zhengyi followed him into his office with a cold face.

As soon as the door closed, Zhou Quan's smile became less exaggerated, his back straightened, and he more casually invited Du Zheng to sit down.

His office was small, seemingly carved out of the suites of grand mages, but it was still a private office. Du Zhengyi could sense a subtle shielding magic flowing within, ensuring his privacy.

The office contained a desk piled high with miscellaneous items. Behind the desk was an office chair, and behind that, a shelf was cluttered with magic crystals and piles of old papers. In front of the desk was a reasonably comfortable sofa chair; few visitors stayed for long conversations, so this chair was probably reserved for his own rest. Next to the sofa was a simulated window displaying a forest view, and in front of the window was a small tea table with a half-dead green plant on it.

Following Du Zhengyi's gaze to the greenery, Zhou Quan gave an "Oh," and hastily tossed a ray of sunlight onto its head. "Master Du, please sit. Would you like some tea? Coffee? Milk tea? Or... some wine?"

Du Zhengyi sat down on the sofa. "No need."

Zhou Quan quickly made him a cup of tea. "As you can see, the death notices for Xiang Qian and the others have been publicly released."

Du Zheng nodded. "Thank you for your notification."

“It’s a small matter, not worth mentioning.” He sat down at his desk, casually generated a file, glanced at it hastily, and got straight to the point, “I’m sure I like Roach. I created a separate file for Roach, and it’s very detailed. When I had some free time to read it, I found that I had linked you to Roach’s file. So I came directly to you to talk to you, maybe it will save time.”

Zhou Quan glanced at the file one last time, as if wanting to confirm one last time that he had chosen the right person to communicate with.

He put down the file and looked at Du Zhengyi. "I heard that you have just recovered your health and may not know that Caoshi has a new master."

Du Zhengyi immediately had a very bad feeling.

“They have a new king, and the new king calls himself the Great Tanuki King.” Zhou Quan looked at Du Zhengyi. “I searched for the Great Tanuki King in my private files, and when I opened the file, the subject was the Luo Qi Volume again.”

Du Zhengyi finally understood why the title "Big Tanuki King" appeared on the work order. He recalled Luo Qi's encounter with Mr. Shi in that messy little barbecue restaurant, right under his nose, where Luo Qi and Mr. Shi had a conversation behind his back. Afterwards, that kid confessed to him that Mr. Shi had given him the knowledge base, but only a small part of it; he didn't mention much about being crowned at the barbecue restaurant.

“I don’t want to dig up secrets,” Zhou Quan said cautiously, observing Du Zhengyi’s reaction.

Qionglin, the God of War, showed no subtle change in expression. He sat there expressionlessly, without making any movement.

Zhou Quan was somewhat disappointed, but he wasn't too bothered. This was something he had anticipated; it was impossible for Du Zheng to get a free ride. "I know that the world may have undergone earth-shattering changes, and a hurricane is already sweeping through our world. I don't have the ability to judge the outcome, nor do I know who is on the side of justice, who is the driving force, or who is an unavoidable victim. But in the past, I advised me to push the news to you as early as possible."

“I’m willing to pay for this information,” Du Zhengyi said calmly. “Of course, I definitely want something in return,” Zhou Quan said, then smiled again. “However, things have developed to this point; it’s become too serious. I have a feeling that money is no longer important. So you don’t need to pay me yet, and you don’t need to worry about me asking you for favors in the short term. I’m too scared to care about those things now. Time is limited, so let’s get back to the point. During the past ten days or so that you’ve been unwell, I’ve summarized a few points from the reports of the Venerables, which you might want to hear.”

He took a deep breath and said in a low voice, “First, you should have already heroically sacrificed yourself. But Roach somehow managed to save you. They judged that Roach used a method from the long-lost progenitor era. They don't understand how Roach used it, only that the progenitor mage's artifacts used by Roach had been destroyed, which makes Roach very suspicious. Second, before Roach disappeared, there was a massacre around you. Everyone except Roach's friends died, which makes Roach extremely suspicious. I initially thought Roach killed them, but from some scattered reports, I sensed that the scene was very bloody. In any case, telekinetic mages kill very elegantly, and the scene doesn't fit the characteristics of telekinetic mages killing. But finally, and most importantly, the Chief erased our memories. The Chief's reason for doing this doesn't seem to be to protect Roach, otherwise Roach wouldn't have run to Grass City and become a marginal figure in the gray area of ​​the mage world. So I think it's mostly because Roach possessed some secret, and in a sense, he went on a killing spree, becoming a scandal in the magical world. Or perhaps, Roach came into contact with a secret of the magical world, and that secret itself is a scandal.”

After saying this, Zhou Quan stood up. "Alright, Master Du, you have to go. Our relationship isn't that deep. If we were discussing official business behind closed doors, we should have finished by now."

Du Zheng stood up. He understood Zhou Quan's meaning. If they delayed for too long, people in Qionglin would become suspicious.

"Thank you," he said in a low voice.

Zhou Quan opened the office door for him, smiled, and said in a low voice, "I hope you know what's going on here."

Du Zhengyi also hoped he could truly understand what was going on. He knew someone was watching him, and he should act normal. This might be why Luo Qi hadn't contacted him. He had been too hasty; the possibility that Luo Qi might be lost in the world of thoughts was too high, high enough to make him anxious.

But it seems that Roach has held on; he can still manage the basic administration of the grass market, which means that not only is his mind normal, but he can also think at high speed.

According to the information Zhou Quan provided, a massacre did indeed occur, but for some reason, Luo Qi seemed able to control it, at least ensuring that the slaughter didn't affect his friends. He couldn't figure out what was going on; Luo Qi was just a mind mage, he had no means of physical defense. This made him seem more like the perpetrator.

Getting entangled with Caoshi was no good. He now felt that Mr. Shi had probably gone mad before his death, clinging to Luo Qi as a lifeline to pass on power. But he found himself unusually calm about the matter. Perhaps it was because he should have been dead, or even killed Luo Qi, but Luo Qi had reversed the outcome, giving him a "second chance" that temporarily changed his mindset. Or perhaps it was for a more practical reason: Luo Qi needed to deal with the complex realities of Caoshi, so he was too busy to think much. He was probably bogged down in the most mundane reports, not even having time to go insane. As for what Mr. Shi had given Luo Qi, that required a two-pronged approach.

He even conceived a new perspective: would keeping Roach confined to the office, entangled in complex interpersonal relationships, make him more stable? This was a path completely opposite to that of the Highland Mage—busy, mundane, high-energy-consuming, low-output, yet perhaps better for maintaining mental and physical health, because Roach simply didn't have much time or energy to explore his own spiritual world. If possible, he should get married sooner, form a family, and allow him to transition into a different kind of intimate relationship, gradually fading out of the picture. Perhaps he and Roach had spent too much time together; the secluded environment with few outsiders had made them too intimate, and this kind of bondage wasn't conducive to Roach's mental and physical well-being.

Since one cannot return to the mainstream society and gain acceptance from the world, then turning to a marginalized society is also a choice. When people have no other option, they must face reality and make a compromise.

He even thought somewhat rebelliously, why didn't he ask the clownfish who his wife was? Anyway, he didn't seem to be planning to look for his wife, so it would be better to let Roach meet her sooner.

He walked into Qionglin's restaurant with a blank expression, his mind wandering aimlessly. He had no choice but to eat; that was the only way he could look like a normal person.

Perhaps because many people had been called back to Qionglin today, the restaurant was crowded. As he walked in, some people looked up at him, but most, as usual, chose to ignore him. He walked silently into the restaurant, a few idle words drifting into his ears.

"All the shops near my home in Wushan are closed."

"It's the same near my home. I heard that all the entrances to Wushan are closed."

Du Zhengyi frowned.

(End of this chapter)