The magician in the city

Chapter 683 The Gift of Our Ancestors (73)

"Looks like I've made a wasted trip today," Du Zhengyi said, trying not to sound embarrassed. He thought he should comfort the innocent victim who had been frightened, even though she didn't seem frightened, he was still annoyed by the trouble he had caused.

Du Zhengyi had never comforted any of the victims; he always finished his work and left, ignoring the mess left behind. Now, he wanted to comfort them, but he didn't know what to say.

Or should he have been more polite and tried to build a rapport? But he'd never done that before.

He hesitated for a moment, then said with difficulty, "Roach mentioned you, oh, I've read your paper too."

Yes, Roach mentioned her. He also remembered Roach saying that they weren't close, and that Roach hadn't seen his aunt, who was a fortune teller, for many years.

When Luo Qi was mentioned, Chu Jin smiled gently, "I'm not married, and Luo Qi is our only child. He's so adorable, he's our precious baby."

Du Zhengyi didn't respond. Luo Qi came from a family of high-ranking mages, families like that often had limited time to spend with their children, but high expectations for their independence. He could certainly sense that Luo Qi was pampered, yet always carried a hint of loneliness. Chu Jin might genuinely find Luo Qi adorable, but even in his most difficult times, Luo Qi hadn't considered asking her for help.

He saw Luo Qi's shadow in Chu Jin's face. It was one thing to feel close to her, but it was another to trust her.

Du Zhengyi wanted to end the meeting today. He should exchange a few perfunctory pleasantries, showing proper etiquette in front of his friend's elders. But he was really bad at this; the greatest respect he could show his teachers was simply not talking back. That was hardly the behavior expected of an outstanding young mage friend, suitable for a junior member of the family.

Just as Du Zhengyi was about to stand up, Chu Jin's words pressed him back into his seat.

“Roach has always had a lot of trouble, a trouble that our whole family can’t solve.”

Du Zhengyi was slightly taken aback. She knew about Luo Qi? He had always thought that Luo Qi's matter was too big for his family to be known by his parents.

“Liu Li and I are good friends. I begged her to let Luo Qi go to you. You are the biggest protection I could think of for Luo Qi. Liu Li has told me everything that happened afterward. I know you take good care of him, thank you.”

"No, you're welcome," Du Zhengyi said awkwardly. "Uh... Luo Qi also took good care of me."

"Please don't be angry, and don't blame me for taking advantage of you," Chu Jin said softly.

"It's not a matter of taking advantage of him, Master Chu, you're too kind. Luo Qi is my friend," Du Zhengyi said.

He hesitated for a moment, "I don't know if you've been in contact with Dr. Roryn recently?"

“If you’re asking me as an execution mage or a battle mage, then I haven’t seen him or my sister recently,” Chu Jin said with a smile, a mischievous glint in his eyes reminiscent of Luo Qi.

Du Zhengyi understood what she meant. "Did Dr. Luo mention... that Luo Qi is facing new trouble? And this trouble is somewhat related to me."

"You mean our precious Roach uses you as his anchor, as the only beacon he can use to find himself?" Chu Jin said frankly.

Du Zhengyi felt uneasy. Now, facing Luo Qi's family, he no longer possessed the confidence he had when facing Luo Ruian. On the other hand, he hadn't expected that Luo Ruian, on the run, would tell Chu Jin all this so quickly; the Luo family's kinship wasn't as distant as Luo Qi had thought. Unexpectedly, Chu Jin continued, "Isn't that normal?"

Du Zhengyi stared at her in surprise.

"Doesn't that mean you're his best friend? Everyone has an origin in their own being, and often we become who we are because of others. If you want to maintain mental health, Master of Mindfulness, you'd better not use a goldfish as an anchor." She chuckled sarcastically at this point.

Du Zhengyi immediately sensed her subtle sarcasm towards Luo Rui'an, and also glimpsed the most common family relationship between a brother-in-law and sister-in-law—mutual contempt. Although mages rarely come from large families, their family relationships are indeed very similar to those of humans.

What truly surprised him was that Chu Jin even knew that when Luo Qi's abilities were sealed as a child, the anchor point he used was a goldfish.

"So, your whole family knew about Luo Qi's special circumstances?" Du Zhengyi asked.

“Our family is known for having a high incidence of mind-control mages. My mind-control rating isn’t particularly high, but with so many mind-control mages in the family, I naturally understand what’s going on. When my sister was dating Luo Rui’an, the family didn’t approve. Luo Rui’an himself is an outstanding mind-control mage, and I think in this mediocre era, only Pei Shu’s abilities are clearly superior to his. If he and my sister got married, the chances of them having a great mind-control mage would be too high. Of course, we were against it, the whole family was against it, and my father was almost driven mad. But do you know how low the chances are for mind-control mages to find a lover? Once they’re compatible, it’s really hard to separate them,” Chu Jin said, sighing slightly, as if recalling the scene from years ago.

“I understand,” Du Zhengyi said.

“We made many preparations for Roach’s birth.” Chu Jin lowered her head, as if recalling a dark period of time. She shook her head, waved to the coffee machine, and coffee beans materialized out of thin air. The Italian coffee machine began preparing on its own.

Genes are amazing. Du Zheng thought of Roach's recent sudden burst of talent—making beans, cookies, and synthesizing drinks—which he was thoroughly enjoying on the Highland Mage's territory. He dared to say that Roach's theoretical and practical knowledge of mind magic, which he had learned from the Hash Mage, was quite limited; he had spent all his time on this.

Two cups of coffee appeared on the round table, and Chu Jin invited him to try them. The coffee tasted quite good; Du Zhengyi could only say that it seemed Luo Qi still had a lot of room for improvement. "Despite being well prepared, Luo Qi still exceeded your expectations."

“Yes, we thought at worst he would just be another mind-control mage of Lorian’s caliber, or one of the few mind-control archmages our ancestors had sporadically encountered. We were truly unprepared to raise a child so ahead of his time. We were completely ignorant when facing Roach. We didn’t know that such a mage could possess the ability to control minds even in infancy. We thought infants couldn’t develop intelligence, so how could such a low-level consciousness influence the consciousness of others? We were so ignorant. What’s worse, not only us, but the entire magical world was unprepared to accept Roach. How long has it been since we’ve seen a mage like him? Hundreds of years? A thousand years?” Chu Jin sighed.

Du Zhengyi didn't refute. He might not have fully agreed with these things before, but after all this turmoil, and after Luo Qi had almost died countless times, he began to understand the choices made by the Luo and Chu families. "So hiding Luo Qi's abilities was a decision made by your whole family."

“At the time, all the surviving mind mages in our family participated in the plan to seal Roach’s abilities. We concealed Roach’s characteristics from the outside world, and we also concealed them from Roach himself. We told Roach that our entire family had extremely low mental ratings, and we started planting this psychological suggestion in him when he was very young. We did this to ensure that Roach wouldn’t become curious about mind magic. Everyone gradually comes to know themselves throughout their lives, and if Roach became curious about mind magic, then the seal would be very dangerous. Because although the seal contains the power of his parents and his grandfather, the main power maintaining the seal is actually himself. We designed it this way so that one day in the future, when the time comes, he can open the eggshell from the inside and obtain a new life of his own,” Chu Jin said.

“I can understand,” Du Zhengyi said, but then he recalled what happened when he first met Luo Qi, “but… his process of getting to know himself… was just too painful.”

Chu Jin lowered her head. Du Zhengyi's voice wasn't loud, nor was it aggressive, but her expression still showed a hint of pain. "Life is truly difficult."

Du Zheng hesitated for a moment, wanting to ask if she had any other methods. Although they might not be as effective as those of the Highland Mages, if Luo Qi's family was indeed a family of mind-based mages, perhaps they had some special methods. Before he could ask, he noticed Chu Jin scrutinizing him, with a look that was hard to describe. It wasn't cold, even somewhat compassionate, but there was still calculation in her eyes, as if she were calculating his worth.

He acted impulsively and blurted out, "Can I help Roach?"

QQ group: 742616118