Chapter 2589: Chapter 810: Lines and Lines

Intersecting parallel lines.

It sounds contradictory, but Zheng Qing feels this is the most appropriate way to describe his relationships with the two witches.

If it weren’t for Poseidon ’born from a sentimental encounter’, he and Su Shijun would be completely different people: one is a prominent, strikingly beautiful member of the Moon Council, the youngest member of the Magic Alliance Conference; the other is an obscure student with an ordinary lineage at the First University.

Using parallel lines to describe their relationship couldn’t be more fitting.

In theory, parallel lines cannot intersect.

But just like Zheng Qing and Jiang Yu’s elective courses—two people attending different subjects simultaneously and yet attending the same class at the same time, an event that is logically contradictory in the traditional sense, yet truly and undeniably happening in the magic world—in other words, their worlds are both parallel and intersecting.

"Intersecting parallel lines? How so?"

Xin Fat Man didn’t expect that his blunder would allow him to get the first-hand gossip from Zheng Qing. He was overjoyed and quickly smoothed the feathers on his pen, eagerly looking at Zheng Qing: "... Take your time, no rush."

Zheng Qing glanced at him sideways.

"Do you know about the king crab and cockroach?" He thought of an inappropriate example.

"Yes, of course!"

Fat Wizard nodded repeatedly, introducing enthusiastically, "King crab is delicious, nutritious, and has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, strengthening bones and enriching marrow, nourishing muscles and promoting blood circulation, clearing channels and benefiting joints, healing injuries, nourishing liver yin, and replenishing stomach fluid; cockroaches... some species taste good. Of course, fishmen, ogres, and goblins don’t care about those details. Besides being edible, cockroaches can also be used in medicine. They are salty and cold with minor toxicity and have the effects of dispersing blood stasis, resolving lumps, detoxifying, and promoting urination. What does this have to do with the three of you?"

After analyzing enthusiastically for a while, he realized the topic seemed a bit off.

Zheng Qing pursed his lips.

"Most people don’t realize king crabs and cockroaches belong to the same phylum—Arthropoda." He extended two fingers, making a parallel gesture: "Their differences are smaller than those between human-faced rats and Motela rats..."

Hearing this, Xin decisively turned to look at Xiao Xiao.

"Human-faced rats belong to the Alchemy Creature Kingdom, while Motela rats belong to Chordata." Doctor Xiao succinctly explained, making a shut-up gesture to Fat Wizard, seemingly very interested in Zheng Qing’s example.

Zheng Qing continued without paying attention to the side interlude: "... They have similar nerve structures, similar carapaces, similarly segmented legs, they all have antennae, and even their taste is similar. But their eating methods are vastly different—king crab is best steamed or boiled alive and eaten with sauce; cockroach tastes best when fried—what does this illustrate?"

"Two creatures that seem unrelated can be very similar; two creatures that seem very similar are fundamentally entirely different." Xiao Xiao rubbed his bamboo slips, thoughtfully nodding, then shifted his tone: "... And two distinctly delineated life paths may converge at a certain dimension; two seemingly overlapping life paths may actually follow a parallel track in another dimension."

Fat Wizard furrowed his brows, staring at Zheng Qing.

"Can I understand this as," he bit the feather on his pen, trying to summarize: "your life trajectories with Su Councilor and Jiang Da Headmaster are three parallel lines that only look like they converge in other dimensions? Is this what you mean? Are you planning to draw a clear line with them both? Is this a breakup statement? Do you have a death wish?"

His voice grew higher and increasingly distorted towards the end.

Zheng Qing, frightened by his reasoning, turned pale.

"Nonsense!"

He raised his voice, nervously glancing out the window before bringing his gaze back, somewhat angrily at the Fat Man for misconstruing his meaning: "I only want to emphasize, true love isn’t two overlapping lines on a piece of paper... There’s no need to stick them together! As long as the life trajectories extend in the same direction, whether it’s two lines or three lines, they can all appear as one line!"

Upon hearing this, Xin Fat Man and Xiao Xiao both showed disdainful expressions.

"That does remind me of the ’Dao Companion’ concept commonly used by old-school wizards."

Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses, looking sharply at Zheng Qing: "But, according to this theory, the actual number of ’other lines’ hidden beneath your line is uncertain... Being able to overlap with three lines can mean overlapping with thirteen or even thirty lines... Truly a thesis of saintly scum!"

He shook his head, a look of lamentation at the declining morals and changing people’s hearts.

In contrast, Xin Fat Man’s attitude was more direct.

"In other words, you want both the fish and the bear paw, right?" The Fat Wizard said sarcastically, shaking the small notebook in his hand: "Would you dare to publish such words with your name?"

Zheng Qing obediently shook his head.

A sudden voice sounded in the ears of the three.

"Mr. Zha shook his head not because he was ’afraid’, but because you can’t afford the brush fee." Dylan’s head rested on the edge of the black coffin, his face pale, his voice appearing weak.

"Why are you up so early today?" Xin Fat Man checked the time, surprised.

"What do you think?" Mister Wolfman laid back his lips, revealing two little sharp fangs: "Try sleeping at night with several people practicing singing outside your tent!"

Outside the coffin, the three folded their hands in apology.

After lowering his hands, Zheng Qing remembered another matter.

"I saw Michael at Shanglin Garden," he observed Dylan’s expression, cautiously conveying the meaning from the Tabbot family: "His idea is that you can’t hide in school forever... Why not try meeting and chatting with that zombie lady? Just treat it as a date."

"Not zombie young lady but zombie grandmother..." Dylan yawned, correcting.

"I always remember you boasting about being over a thousand years old, based on that age calculation, you should be a vampire grandpa." Zheng Qing couldn’t help but mock: "Even if you don’t want to follow the family’s arrangements, you should think of a more plausible reason."

Dylan yawned again.

"There were a few comments in your conversation just now that I found very true."

He extended his fingers, drawing two lines in the void, his voice sounding somewhat lethargic: "Two creatures that seem very similar are fundamentally completely different. Like human-faced rats and Motela rats, they’re reproductively isolated! Isolation, understand? Meaning their offspring are likely to end up as a pile of rotten flesh... Do you know how many forbidden children between werewolves and the blood race perish? I’ve already received heaven’s reward of a one in a billion luck probability. I don’t think my children would be luckier than me... An experiment table is colder than a coffin."