"What? You actually say I'm not good at cold jokes?"
Qi Zhimu seemed to have his rebellious streak triggered, getting more excited as he spoke.
"Why is the Aeon of The Hunt called Lan? Because He is blue, and 'Lan' sounds like the word for 'blue' in Chinese. Hmm? Why aren't you laughing? Is it not funny? Then I'll tell another one."
"The Aeon of Elation never gives alcoholic drinks to the Aeon of Trailblaze. Do you know why? Because the Aeon of Trailblaze is a 'Nameless' (Wu Ming), and 'Name' sounds like the word for 'Drunk' (Ming), so the drinks for Akivili can't contain alcohol."
"Still not laughing? Your emotional management is quite good. It seems I have to bring out the big guns!"
Seeing that Herta still had no particular reaction, Qi Zhimu leaned closer to her ear again.
"Do you know who is the fastest among the Five Elements? Answer me first."
Herta: "...Water?"
"Wrong!" Qi Zhimu smiled triumphantly. "It's fire, because fire has long legs (Ham Sausage)."
"..." Herta sighed silently and closed her eyes.
"Ho ho, still want to challenge my reserve of cold jokes, kid? Then you've really hit a steel plate. There's bound to be one that makes you laugh!"
"Question: Why can't dogs sunbathe? Because they'll turn into hot dogs."
"In the stories of your Azure Star, there was a weapon forge. One day, the hammer said: 'I'm a blacksmith.' The sword said: 'I'm forged from iron.' Guess what the blacksmith said?"
" 'I use the hammer to forge the sword,' right?" Herta replied perfunctorily.
"Wrong! The blacksmith said with a look of shock: 'The hammer and the sword are actually talking!'"
"..." Herta felt a bit of chest tightness; her breathing was becoming labored.
However, this was actually a good thing.
Mr. Magician's chatter was ten or a hundred times more pleasant to hear than the malicious voices surrounding her.
No, that was an understatement.
It was a thousand or ten thousand times better.
"Herta! How do you still have the face to live in this world? Azure Star becoming like this is all because of your great-grandfather!"
"Just go die... go down quickly to accompany those who died..."
"Want to save Azure Star? Hahaha, fine. When you reach the end and find it's a desperate dead end, you'll know it was all in vain!"
"A genius girl famous before the age of ten? What a joke. You were just born into a good family and inherited that little bit of ink in your parents' brains. What's so great about that?"
"Do you think 'I' am saving you? I'm just giving you hope first, only to crush it ruthlessly in the end..."
Originally, Qi Zhimu was too lazy to pay attention to the heart-stabbing words around them.
But hearing the replica next to him wearing his own face actually dared to call himself 'I' and talk about giving hope then crushing it—wasn't that slander?
He was fuming.
"Piss off, I'm a man of my word!"
The people speaking ill to them were not their own replicas, but rather replicas of each other.
"Bullshit! I said I'd eat her, so I won't allow her to be talked to death by you abominations."
"Flat-chested? If you're sick, go get treated. Don't fantasize about an undeveloped kid. Truly disgusting."
"Huh? You say she's ugly? She's so young, beautiful, and cute. Tell me, where exactly is the ugliness?"
"Stop talking nonsense here, or I'll make you fly!"
"You abominations over there, it's too ridiculous to curse someone by saying they'll never get married. If I'm willing to let this kid live for a few more years, the people chasing her could probably circle a hundred Labyrinth Zones."
Herta listened to Mr. Magician's unrefined cursing.
His voice was mixed among countless malicious words, yet it became clearer and clearer.
"abominations are just abominations. What kind of roadside trash actually questions my taste?"
"If the kid in my arms were ugly, she wouldn't even have the qualification to be emergency rations. I would have burned her to ashes long ago, or frozen her as a negative specimen."
"Listen up, all of your mothers are *Azure Star expletive*... oh wait, I forgot you're motherless abominations."
Finally hearing the crude insults, Herta couldn't help but speak up.
"...I didn't expect you to be a foul-mouthed Magician. Your creator really... makes one not know what to say."
"Cursing is bad, but sometimes when dealing with things that aren't human, you have to shout it out."
Qi Zhimu didn't think much of it, instead curling his lips proudly.
"If I don't curse today, I'll feel uncomfortable all over when I think about it later. I might even wake up from sleep in a fright. Wouldn't that be torturing myself?"
"Aside from the flaw of having an average power setting, I quite admire the person who created me. Regardless of whether it's a bad show, at least the character design is fresh enough."
Herta: "In what way do you mean fresh? A man-eating Magician who is fluent in profanity?"
"No, no, no."
Qi Zhimu's right arm tightly held Herta's legs up to her hip area, and he wagged his right index finger before her eyes.
"Most Magicians in works, whether good or bad, consider themselves noble and focus on superficial etiquette. Over time, they all become the same, leaving only boredom."
"Who says a Magician can't be a flamer and argue with people? Besides, I'm not even flaming people, but the abominations that are cursing you."
Herta looked at his face quietly.
He was saying so much probably to distract her, not wanting her mental state to collapse from those malicious words.
Hmm... his face was unexpectedly easy on the eyes.
For a man-eating Magician, setting aside the character profile for a moment, the modeling seemed a bit contrary to common sense.
As the saying goes, the appearance is born from the heart; what kind of character should have what kind of temperament.
But as for him... if it weren't for the wizard hat and long robe being so full of mage vibes, his identity would still be open to question.
"Mr. Magician..."
"What?"
"What kind of work did you come from? Can you tell me?"
"Oh, it's just—"
Mid-sentence, Qi Zhimu suddenly stalled.
While walking forward holding Herta, he rubbed his chin with two fingers, falling into deep thought.
"Strange, I actually can't remember. Whatever, it's not important what work I came from. You just need to remember that I'm your creditor. So, you can also call me Mr. Creditor."
"Alright, Mr. Creditor."
"Anything else you want to ask? Be quick about it while I'm in a good mood."
Qi Zhimu reached out and pinched her small face.
"The texture is so good. It seems the taste is also guaranteed. Ah~~ I really want to send you back to Azure Star quickly..."
Herta didn't dodge, nor did she pull his hand away.
She knew it wasn't necessarily just because he was in a good mood; he was just willing to accommodate her because he didn't want her attention to be pulled away by the ghostly shadows whose cursing was becoming increasingly foul.
"Those abominations that copied my appearance are also saying very nasty things about you. Aren't you angry?"
"...Nasty?"
Qi Zhimu looked around at those replicas who had Herta's appearance but could do nothing except point fingers and move their little mouths, his tone full of mockery.
"I can only say they are far from it. Their cursing sounds like acting spoiled. If my character had certain fetishes, I might even enjoy it a bit."
"By the way, is the cursing level of these abominations linked to the original person?"
Herta thought for a moment and nodded slowly: "It's possible."
"Heh, if you put it that way, wouldn't them cursing you be equivalent to me cursing you? That's a bit annoying."
As the two walked further and further, the Herta replicas specifically targeting Qi Zhimu became fewer and fewer.
In the end, only those targeting Herta herself remained.
"What's this? You know cursing me is useless, so you're bullying the weak? If you've got the guts, come at me. What kind of skill is it to target a kid? *Azure Star expletive*!"