NOVEL WEB AZI Vol 3 Intermissions to Chapter 35
Intermission – Clansmen Records
Holding a book—composed of bamboo slips, is a man with black hair and azure-colored eyes.
The attire worn by the man is a plain set of black robes.
Currently, the man is seated in front of a wooden table. With how mesmerizing the grain patterns on the tables and chairs are, it doesn’t take much effort to guess that the furniture set must be worth a fortune.
The shape of the building—that the man is in, is a hexagon, that seems to stretch upwards for an endless number of meters. Lining the walls of the building are bookshelves.
Much of the books contained on these shelves are similar to the one—that the man is currently holding in his hand, but there are a few that are composed of paper as well.
From the outside, this building—that serves as the imperial library of an empire, is a pagoda with 50 floors.
Despite the pagoda possessing enough height to have 50 floors, there isn’t a staircase leading upwards. If one wished to retrieve the books—that were higher up, they would need to use magic, or fly up on their own.
“…”
As one of the doors of the pagoda opens—disturbing his reading, the man lifts his attention away from the bamboo scroll, and sees a child, who looks to be around eight years of age, walking in.
The attire of the child consists of plain white robes with a golden sash.
Similarly, to the man, the child also possesses black hair and azure-colored eyes.
However, accenting the corners of the child’s eyes are red eyeliners—causing him to give off a demonic sense of beauty, that most would consider bewitching.
Smiling at the child, the man greets—
“Morning.”
“Morning.”
A daily routine of the child’s—is that he would pay a visit to his mother’s grave first thing in the morning, as a way of showing filial piety.
The father of the child, the man in plain black robes—is the emperor of this land, which would make the child a prince.
Despite his regal status, the emperor doesn’t have much to do on the side of imperial duties—for so long as his cultivation base is unmatched, there is not a single person willing to provoke him.
Taking a seat on the chair opposite of his father, the child asks—
“Father, tell me about someone from our family line.”
The child doesn’t know much about his father’s history. However, he does know that his father and him are the two final members of an ancient practitioner household’s main bloodline.
The reason the child would ask about their clansmen—who are no longer here, is because his father seems to be at his happiest when he recalls them.
Other than his own son, the emperor doesn’t have anyone—that he could speak to as an equal; as due to his strength, there is not a single person in this land—who would dare to meet his eyes.
“Hmm. Have I ever told you about your second uncle?”
“Hm?”
In response to the child’s curious gleam, his father says—
“His name is Hóngchén. (红尘)”
Intermission – Hongchen
Your second uncle is named Hongchen.
He was a firm believer in our first-generation ancestor’s words.
The first-generation ancestor prophesized that—
“The men of my household shall have many problems with women until “he,” the one to lead this household to the apex of this universe, arrives. “He” shall become our new point of beginning, our new source, our… Progenitor.”
No one knew who this “he” was supposed to be.
However, keeping the first-generation ancestor’s words in mind at all times, Hongchen—who had witnessed the awkward marriages of those around him, vowed to never marry anyone until this “he” arrives.
In any case, due to the cultivation method and divine art hybrid technique—that Hongchen specialized in, his black hair had turned scarlet, while his azure-colored eyes had turned crimson.
Perhaps, the most famous of your second uncle’s feats—was the time when he had been challenged by over 100 members of his generation, and still ended up coming out on top.
After this feat, many sects and practitioner households would come by our family’s estate with their daughters—to propose marriage to your second uncle.
“Hongchen, when you saved me once in the past—not only did you con me of my storage ring, but you had also conned me of my heart!”
“Lady, I con others for resources; but never have I conned anyone of their hearts.”
“Hongchen, I thought we had something special together!”
“This little sister, I don’t even know you…”
“Hongchen, answer me honestly! How do you feel about me?!”
“Woman, young as you might look on the outside, but there is still a 100-year-old age gap between us.”
“Hongchen, we spent a night under the same roof together, you have to take responsibility for me!”
“Sacred maiden, we many have spent a night under the same roof; but never have we committed any illicit activities. Have some self-respect.”
“Hongchen, the fact that you went easy on me during our battle—that was your way of saying that I have a place in your heart, right?!”
“This older sister, you do realize that I had to deal with numerous other opponents beside you in that battle, right?”
Despite there being many women, who had been attracted to his strength and character, your second uncle kept giving them the cold shoulder.
“Brother, when are you going to get married?”
“Ai, Hongchen, learn a bit from your great-grandfather.”
“Hongchen, you’re getting on in age, why don’t you find a partner?”
Words of this nature had seemingly become something that numerous clansmen would use to tease him with.
And time and time again, his reply would always be—
“I’ll marry when “he” arrives.”
………
Hearing about his second uncle, the child blinks his eyes, and asks—
“Father, was “he” just an excuse—that second uncle had used, because he was simply afraid of women, so he never could bring himself to get married?”
“…I wouldn’t know much about your second uncle’s tastes, but the possibility is always there. Still, I think it’s mainly because he doesn’t wish to end up like your other male relatives—that he wanted to avoid marriage as much as possible.”
Chapter 31
Getting out of the rundown truck—
“So this is it?”
Ye Chen draws in a deep breath of air.
About 100 miles away from the walls of GC012—is an area surrounded by damaged old buildings. In the center of these grounds is a colossal crater.
Within this 120-meter-deep crater, a three-floored stone temple stands.
The hollowed areas of this temple’s structure are filled in by glass panels, and surrounding the structure is a hemisphere-shaped dome of energy—that looks to be a barrier of some kind.
“I heard when they found hints of this being here, the military ended up using a large number of explosives to open up the ground.”
“Forceful as usual.”
Over 500 individuals are gathered near the crater, with most of them being Sinners—while the rest are men dressed in military attire, who had come to oversee this operation.
Behind the crowd of Sinners are numerous transport vehicles parked in a messy manner, along with supply crates.
(I’m actually getting value out of these sunglasses…)
Getting out of the truck as well, Long Hua puts on the round-framed sunglasses. At this time, Tian Cheng is stored away in his storage pouch.
Since his destination is a desert, Long Hua is currently dressed in a white dress shirt with a pair of black hiking pants.
The hems of the pants are tucked into his new boots, and carried over his shoulders is a black backpack with many pockets.
Hanging by his hip is a calabash gourd that is tied to his belt via a quick release buckle.
“…”
Subtly spreading his divine senses outwards, Long Hua looks pass the sea of bodies.
As there are no stairs that lead directly down to the temple, numerous ropes are stapled into the ground, and left to dangle into the crater’s base.
“…”
Upon his divine senses coming into contact with the barrier that protects the temple, Long Hua constricts his eyes.
Due to the presence of this barrier—that seems to have a state preservation effect, the temple looks as good as new; for there was not a single scratch on the glass panels—that are fitted throughout its body.
“Attention!”
Simultaneously, all heads turn towards the front, where a man—dressed in a military uniform, stands, holding a microphone in his right hand.
“To those gathered here, your task-”
Ignoring the military man, who is making a speech—that will no doubt put a few individuals to sleep, Long Hua continues to observe the temple via his divine senses.
If one must summarize the nature of the speech that is given, then it mainly serves to give the Sinners—a sense of being sent off on a noble mission; akin to the sort of speech used when sending a hero off to defeat the demon king—reminiscent of a classical RPG story.
The only thing that made this speech stray from the classical RPG story archetype, however, is how, a hefty reward—in materialistic wealth, is promised outright; and in response to this, the crowd is immediately riled up with a bit of excitement—not knowing what it is that is waiting for them inside the stone temple.
“Now then, a word from those of the Ashen River Hall.”
“…”
Upon the conclusion of his speech, the military man passes the microphone over to Shao Tianming, who sweeps a bored look over the crowd, before saying—
“Most of you will probably die, but that’s just life, so don’t feel too bad about it. Right, that’s all I’ve got to say. We’ll be waiting for you all on the other side.”
Having said this, Shao Tianming tosses the microphone back before turning towards the crater. Behind him, nine more individuals come forth, and among them, are Li Zi Xiang and Chen Lan.
Different from when they first met, Chen Lan is currently dressed in a light brown jacket with a pair of black jeans, and short boots.
Taking hold of a rope each, the members of the Ashen River Hall begin to descend.
“…Come up when your office is called.”
Judging by the frown that is on the military man’s face, he clearly isn’t too pleased with Shao Tianming’s words.
However, since the other group is the one that has more experience, it wouldn’t do to start an argument here.
Eventually—
“DB-06-07 and DB-04-03!”
“Right, that’s us.”
Moving together to the front, along with another office, Long Hua glances over to the other side, and sees—
(Ah, it’s the rotten-eyed chick from the casket incident…)
Dressed in a loose white jacket over a black shirt, along with a pair of black trousers, and tall boots, is none other than Shen Le—who Long Hua had fought against during the casket incident.
“Oh? Colonel Ye.”
“It’s been some time, Téng Hào. (腾浩)”
The one to have called Ye Chen out is named Teng Hao, a man with brown hair and blue eyes.
The attire Teng Hao is wearing is a black jacket over a sleeveless shirt with jeans and brown boots.
“Captain, you were a colonel?”
Hearing Ye Chen’s military rank for the first time, Yu Ji is slightly surprised.
Continuing to move, while shrugging his shoulders, Ye Chen answers—
“Staying on the frontline for 5 years grants you a high chance of being promoted to colonel, or major—depending on your performance. Li Xue is a major, by the way.”
“Vice-captain, he’s indirectly saying you didn’t perform as well, are you just going to take that?”
Towards Qing Yue’s remark, Li Xue replies—
“Heh, he best watch his rear later.”
“…”
All of a sudden, Ye Chen feels a bit of coldness around the rear.
“Same as usual, is it?”
“Yup…”
Answering Teng Hao as such, Ye Chen heaves a sigh.
Chapter 32
Having reached the bottom of the crater, the two groups entered the temple.
As members of the two groups, take six or eight steps forward—
“…?”
“…!”
Despite still being inside the temple’s interior, the entrance had seemingly been flipped around.
Not only that, but the scenery—outside of the temple, has also been changed.
It was no longer the scenery of the crater’s bowl surface, and is instead—
“A desert?”
(Seems like Lao Bai was right.)
Feeling the hot desert wind, along with grains of sand brushing against the surface of his palm, Long Hua confirms that this isn’t an illusion, while thinking—
(Did the native people of this world’s past construct this place? If so, their tech isn’t inferior to practitioners.)
“Let’s go.”
Regaining his composure, Ye Chen is the first to take another step forward, and the others follow.
The scenery outside of the stone temple can only be described as blue skies and yellow sand—for as far as the eyes can see.
“Is this for real?”
“Quite.”
The one to answer Li Xue’s question is Shao Tianming, who is standing off to the side with Li Zi Xiang and Chen Lan.
Clearing his throat, Shao Tianming adds—
“This is at least a grade four ruin. Hard to tell its exact grade—when we’ve yet to map out its exact size.”
“You know, I was expecting more…- I don’t know? Caverns and brick walls when you mentioned excavating an ancient ruin…?”
Shrugging his shoulders in response to Ye Chen’s remark, Chen Lan says—
“You’d best get used to this, since you’ll be seeing more of this stuff later on.”
“In the meantime, get yourselves comfortable. We still got to wait for the others.”
Having said this, Li Zi Xiang is the first to turn away, and leave. Rather quickly, the other two followed.
“Hmm.”
Distancing himself from the group, Long Hua spreads his divine senses outwards.
(Damn, this place is huge. It’s no different from a secret realm…)
Reaching the maximum range of his divine senses’ detection radius—only to find out, that it isn’t even able to cover a quarter of this realm, Long Hua can’t help but heave a heavy sigh.
(How long would it even take to map this place out? Weeks? Months? A year? On foot, this may as well be impossible…)
………
Eventually, the other participants of this excavation group, along with additional supplies, arrived.
Upon having accounted for everyone, Shao Tianming holds up a megaphone, and raising his voice, he shouts—
“Alright, all of you listen up! I don’t care what that military asswipe said to you before, just know this, at this point, you cannot hope to return to the outside world—until we find a teleportation magic array!”
“Uh?”
Immediately, everyone begins to look to one another.
Those who were quicker to process the information would run back into the stone temple only to find out—
“No good.”
“Yeah, we’re stuck here…”
Although these individuals had run to the ends of the temple’s interior, and had even checked its upper floors, there were no signs of abrupt teleportation—like the one they had experienced before.
Soon, panic begins to settle in, to which, Shao Tianming says—
“Scared, are you? Well, all of you have no one else to blame but the military men, who threw you all into this hellhole. I’ll say this right now, but this ruin is at least grade four. If its size turns out to be even greater than our initial estimations, expect it to move up to grade five. In my world, five is considered the highest recorded difficulty—where every step you take is accompanied by life and death. The worst part of it all is… We’re still only in these ruins’ outer area. It’s the least dangerous area to be in, so you can expect its inner area to be worse.”
Inciting further chaos into the crowd, Shao Tianming explains the situation in the bluntest way possible.
“…”
“…”
Seeing the expected reactions on the Sinners’ faces, Shao Tianming goes on to ask—
“Let me ask you all this, how much supplies did you all bring? And how long do you think those supplies will last you—in this barren desert, under the scorching sun? A day? A week? Hate to break it to you all, but if you only have such a meager amount of supplies to work with, expect yourselves to get buried under the sand eventually.”
“What did you bring?”
“Water and some crackers…”
“…”
Seeing how riled up the crowd is, Ye Chen feels a bad premonition in his heart, as he frowns.
As soon as a few individuals turn to the supply crates with eyes of hope, Shao Tianming says—
“Some of you are probably thinking, “I can just stay here, and wait it out with these supplies,” aren’t you? Like I said, if we don’t find a teleportation magic array—we’re stuck here until we die. Instead of waiting for your deaths, I’d suggest you all—to put your backs into mapping this place out fast. Besides, no one will come back here—to pick up some worthless dogs, even if the teleportation magic array is eventually found.”
Frowns bloom like flowers across a field, as many form them on their faces—in response to the final remark.
(In this situation, as soon as an exit is found, people will only think to rush through it. They wouldn’t care about others.)
Thinking of this, Long Hua can’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia welling up in his heart.
Danger at every corner, not wanting to be dragged down by others, wanting to trample over others to get ahead; these are all feelings that would accompany a practitioner in a secret realm.
“Being able to carry a lot of supplies is the key to successfully excavating a ruin. But the amount an individual can carry is limited, hence-”
Reaching into his pocket, Shao Tianming tosses out an orb of light.
As the orb of light lands, a vehicle that is perfect for traversing through the desert appears.
“What did he just do?”
“A truck just appeared out of nowhere…”
(A storage device?)
Realizing what had happened, Long Hua widens his eyes, but then—
(No, this isn’t that surprising. This is the most common type of tech there is in the practitioners’ circle.)
“Each and every one of us in the Ashen River Hall is equipped with this thing called a storage device. Inside of it, we got plenty of equipment and food supplies. This is the most basic equipment you need—if you want to take an excavation trip seriously.”
As dejection looms over the air of the masses, Shao Tianming continues to smile, as he looks over the crowd, and asks—
“Hey, don’t you think this situation is seriously unfair to you all?”
“…”
“…”
Towards Shao Tianming’s question, which is being directed at everyone, the frown on Ye Chen’s face deepens.
In the same instance, Long Hua thought—
(This surnamed Shao is quite capable. Drop the entire crowd into despair, then leverage hope right in front of them.)
Realizing what Shao Tianming’s aim is, Long Hua smiles faintly.
Chapter 33
From his pocket, Shao Tianming takes out numerous storage pouches, and raises them high into the air.
“You need only swear your fealty to the Ashen River Hall, and these storage devices—that are pre-filled, shall be gifted to you!”
Hearing this, Ye Chen presses a hand to his head.
Without turning his face towards the others, Ye Chen asks—
“Be honest with me now, how much stuff did you all bring?”
Everyone here has brought at least a backpack with them.
However, it is just as Shao Tianming had said, the amount an individual person is able to carry is very limited, and that is what makes storage devices so sought after in this situation, where the quantity of one’s supplies is directly tied to the amount of time—that they can survive in this barren desert for.
“…Bottle of water and some dried meat.”
“Crackers, water, two cups of instant ramen.”
“Liquid food items mostly…”
“Water, a few bowls of self-cooked meals, and snacks.”
Knowing that he’d be heading into a desert ahead of time, Long Hua had gone to the supermarket right after dinner with Bai Wen, and had brought as many meal kits as possible.
“Oh god, we’re so fucking screwed…”
Hearing the items that everyone had listed, Ye Chen didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh. He himself didn’t bring anything different from the others.
Heaving a sigh, Ye Chen remarks—
“All of us have clearly underestimated this excavation…”
While Shao Tianming downs a bottle of water from having to talk so much, Wang Yongning steps forward.
Raising a megaphone of his own, Wang Yongning says—
“If you think you can pretend to swear fealty to our hall, then I’d suggest you—to give up right now.”
From his pocket, Wang Yongning takes out a single piece of parchment, and says—
“Before we hand you these storage devices, you’re required to sign this parchment.”
“…?”
Other than Long Hua, pretty much everyone looks at the parchment with an expression of confusion.
(These guys, they even got pages from a contract book.)
Sensing the subtle rotation of a magic array emanating from that piece of parchment, Long Hua shakes his head. The other side is clearly well-prepared for this situation.
“Captain, what now? I still got a little sister to take care of, I can’t die here.”
Realizing how bad the situation is, Yu Ji’s complexion is completely drained of blood. Had she known that things would end up like this, she would have spent a bit more time with Li last night.
“…”
Despite having a look of concern on her face, Qing Yue isn’t too worried—due to the nature of her Relic.
“Hmm.”
Looking at the piece of parchment—that is being held up by Wang Yongning, Ye Chen’s instinct is screaming at him to not sign it.
Drawing in a light breath, Ye Chen says—
“Steal, that’s our only option at this point.”
“I heard that, Colonel Ye.”
With a solemn expression on his face, Teng Hao walks over to Ye Chen’s group with his own squad-mates, and asks—
“How do you plan to do this?”
“Head up front, and nab a pouch as soon as possible. Right after that, start booking it.”
“They’ve got a car, though…”
Shrugging a shoulder, Ye Chen explains—
“Once people see us attempting to steal those pouches, they’ll think to do the same. Those guys from the hall, we outnumber them by a vast margin, so they can’t come after all of us.”
Seeing the logic behind Ye Chen’s words, Teng Hao nods, and asks—
“We got ten people with us, how do we split them?”
“We need three groups. One group for stealing, the other two will be in charge of opening an escape route.”
“Alright, Shen Le, you and I are in the steal group.”
“Understood.”
Nodding her head, Shen Le’s Relic—that is a single-handed sword of three feet, appears in her right hand.
“Guì Lián (贵莲), Líng Yī (灵一), Cháng Yè (长夜), you three are a part of the path-opener group.”
“Chang Ye, how about a competition to see who can beat the most people down?”
Asking this, is a youth with red hair and dark eyes, Ling Yi. Attire wise, he wears a black dress shirt with a pair of light-colored trousers, and short boots.
“Hmph.”
Raising a cold snort, the youth with brown hair and yellow eyes, Chang Ye, turns the other way. His expression seems especially cold, as he hugs his Relic—which is a sword with a white tassel, sheathed in a brown scabbard, to his chest. Attire wise, he wears a white dress shirt with a black tie—coupled with a pair of dark trousers, and short boots.
“Knock it off you two. Stay focused on the main task.”
Serving as vice-captain of the other team is Gui Lian, a woman with light purple hair and purple eyes. She wears a brown trench coat over a white dress shirt with a pair of dark trousers, and short boots.
“Second lieutenants, all of you—will go with Li Xue; you’re all a part of the second path-opener group.”
“Hmm, I’ll have to disagree with this arrangement, captain.”
Hearing that he’ll be a part of the path-opener team, Long Hua is quick to raise his objection.
“Your reasoning, 2nd Lieut. Long Hua?”
Towards Ye Chen’s question, Long Hua pulls out a ten-inch stick from his pocket, and spins it in his hand once. Inwardly, he thought—
(If I can steal a storage pouch off them, I can use mine openly in the future. That would make things much more convenient for me.)
“…?”
Noticing the hook—that is dangling at the end of the stick, Ye Chen looks to Long Hua with an odd expression on his face.
This black metal stick with a red and blue button is nothing more than a collapsible fishing rod. When fully extended, it measures at over a meter in length, other than that—it really isn’t anything special.
“Are you planning to go fishing instead of stealing, 2nd Lieut. Long Hua?”
Instead of answering Ye Chen’s question, Long Hua asks—
“Captain, do you trust me?”
Chapter 34
“Captain, do you trust me?”
“I-”
Before Ye Chen can answer, Long Hua adds—
“My mentor taught me—that the stupidest thing an individual can do, is to entrust their life to someone else. I must agree with that.”
Although Long Hua’s goal is to obtain a storage pouch, so that he can use his openly in the future, he doesn’t trust these individuals to be able to steal a pouch from the Ashen River Hall.
Taking this opportunity, Long Hua figured that he may as well be honest, and get an awkward matter out of the way.
“I’ll be honest with you, surnamed Ye. I don’t trust my back to anyone here.”
Following Long Hua’s words, tension manifests in the air, as he and Ye Chen stare at each other in silence.
(This surnamed Long, is he really planning to flip face here and now?)
A bead of cold sweat rolls down the side of Qing Yue’s head.
Ever since Qing Yue had seen what Long Hua is capable of, she has been expecting this to happen; however, she never thought it’d happen this soon.
(Shit, if this surnamed Long goes off, and acts independently, my own chances of survival will be lowered. The best-case scenario would be to stick to him like glue…)
Understanding that these ancient ruins were built with the technology of the Immortals, Qing Yue knows that her odds of survival would be higher if Long Hua was willing to stick around.
Shrugging a shoulder, Long Hua says—
“You’re not very different from me, surnamed Ye. Other than the vice-captain, you don’t really trust us either, do you? Hence, you attach military ranks to our names.”
“…”
Hearing this remark, Li Xue constricts her eyes.
Was there ever any trust between Ye Chen and her, when she had openly declared—that she would kill him in the past?
“…”
Looking past the sunglasses, and into Long Hua’s azure eyes, Ye Chen’s expression turns solemn.
Indeed, just as Long Hua had said, Ye Chen doesn’t trust anyone beside Li Xue with his back.
As ironic and strange as Ye Chen’s trust towards Li Xue might be, the latter knows to focus on survival when needed, and wouldn’t just blindly make attempts to kill him at every turn.
The matter of trust between squad-mates, this is something that Ye Chen had wanted to resolve over the course of five years—while they were all in the same office; however, the situation at this time, simply won’t allow that to happen.
If they head off into the desert in this state, the odds of them being able to survive till the end are very low.
The desert’s heatwave will be the least of their concerns in this situation. Although Shao Tianming had said—that the storage devices are pre-filled with supplies, the supply itself isn’t infinite.
Under these circumstances, prevention of in-fighting over food supplies and water should be their focus—as out of desperation, a person would do anything to ensure their own survival.
“…”
Glancing behind him, Ye Chen sees a few individuals walking up to Shao Tianming’s group with the intent to sign that parchment.
Closing his eyes, Ye Chen raises a sigh before opening them, and answers—
“I’ve said this before, but I look forward to seeing you three make it through your first year alive. Surnamed Long, if you think you’re able to raise the odds of us acquiring a storage device by being in the steal group, then… Be my guest.”
Smiling faintly, Long Hua replies—
“I’ll be the first one to make a move in a bit.”
“Teng Hao, is that fine with you?”
Looking between Ye Chen and Long Hua, Teng Hao didn’t really know what to say.
Momentarily, Teng Hao nods his head, and replies—
“Hopefully, this doesn’t come back to bite me in the rear later…”
“Right, we’ve wasted enough time as is. Position yourselves accordingly later.”
Having said this, Ye Chen looks to Long Hua, who gives a nod back before walking into the crowd.
As they approached Shao Tianming and the others, the two path-opener groups split themselves off to the side.
Upon reaching the front of the crowd, only Long Hua, Ye Chen, Teng Hao, and Shen Le were left of their group.
Having hidden his fishing rod behind him ahead of time, Long Hua draws in a breath of air, and asks—
“Surnamed Shao, how many pouches does your group even have?”
“…”
Narrowing his eyes, Shao Tianming looks to Long Hua’s group for an instance—before making a gesture towards his own group.
“…”
“…”
Simultaneously, Li Zi Xiang and the others took out more storage pouches, and raised them high into the air—for all to see clearly.
In the same instance, Shao Tianming says—
“It’s not enough for everyone, but I think most groups should be able to get at least one—assuming you’re willing to sign the contract.”
Hearing this, the panic level of the crowd rises, and just as a few are thinking of dashing up to the front, Long Hua asks—
“How much time will each pouch’s supply last per group?”
Feeling something amiss, Shao Tianming asks—
“Surnamed Long, what are you…-?”
“…”
Pressing the red button on his fishing rod with his thumb, Long Hua swings his right arm, and casts his line out.
As the fishing rod extends to its full length, time seems to slow, as the hook flies through the air, and—
Chapter 35
“…!”
As soon as the fishing hook manages to latch itself onto the four storage pouches—that are held in Chen Lan’s hand, the flow of time returns to normal.
“…”
The first to react to the situation is Wang Yongning, who dashes forth, and leaps into the air—with his right hand reaching towards the four storage pouches.
“Back off!”
Holding a bo-staff—that measures at five feet in length, Teng Hao leaps in front of Wang Yongning.
The body of the bo-staff seems to be constructed from black wood, while its ends are wrapped in spiky metal sleeves.
Towards Teng Hao’s approach, Wang Yongning draws out his Relic, which are two knives with ring pommels.
The blade of these knives is decorated with branching flame patterns, and as Wang Yongning positions them in front of himself—to block the incoming bo-staff, these patterns release a bright shine.
*Klang!* as the bo-staff comes into contact with Wang Yongning’s daggers, a crisp sound echoes outwards.
Following this, flames erupt from Wang Yongning’s daggers—pushing Teng Hao back.
“…”
Landing onto the ground, Teng Hao brushes off the flames—that are sticking onto his sleeve.
“Surnamed Long, you’re courting death!”
Towards Shao Tianming’s practitioner-like cuss words, Long Hua laughs aloud, and nods his head, while replying—
“Very good, I haven’t heard those cuss words being directed at me in ages.”
Taking the storage pouches off the hook, Long Hua splits them into two portions, and tosses them to Ye Chen and Teng Hao.
Without waiting for Shao Tianming and the others to charge at him, Long Hua immediately turns to the right, and shouts—
“Everyone, the world has only one rule to follow! Those with the biggest fist—decides order!”
Shouting these words aloud, Long Hua makes a break for it.
Simultaneously, chaos ensues.
Having seen that there were a limited number of storage pouches to be had, and that stealing was an alternative—to signing that odd parchment, numerous Sinners rushed forth, and charged at the Ashen River Hall.
“…”
Pointing her finger in the Ashen River Hall’s direction, Qing Yue orders for the giant calabash, that is looming over her head, to—
“Fire!”
*Boom!!!* upon the shot’s landing, bodies fly and scatter.
On the opposite side—
“Out of my way!”
“Get lost!”
Teng Hao and Shen Le—who had regrouped with Gui Lian and the others, have also started to fight their way out of the chaotic gathering.
“Tch, dammit.”
Realizing quick how futile it is to make an attempt at suppressing this crowd, Shao Tianming shouts—
“Get your transport vehicles out! Their numbers are too high; we won’t be able to fend them off!”
“Understood!”
“Affirmative!”
Just as the Ashen River Hall begins to retreat—
“Everyone, get on!”
Summoning out five white tigers—that are about the size of a bike, each, Qing Yue hops onto the back of one.
Rather quickly, Long Hua and the others followed.
“Holy, they’re after us now…”
Drawing out her bow, and notching an arrow, Yu Ji fires a few shots back at the Sinners—who are quick to turn their attention towards their group.
“Eat this!”
Summoning out his Relic as well, Ye Chen throws it towards the pursuers, and as soon as it lands onto the sand—
*Boom!!!* a massive cloud of dust erupts, creating a smokescreen to cover their movement.
Recalling the black greatsword back into his grip, Ye Chen dismisses it, and faces forward, while asking—
“Qing Yue, how many miles can these cats take us?”
“Probably around 40 miles?”
“Alright, we’ll take a breather after that.”
Settling on this decision, the group continues to move.
………
An hour later, out in the middle of the open desert—
“Hmph!”
*Bam!* smashing his fist against the side of a white truck, Shao Tianming grinds his teeth together in rage.
“…”
Fuming in silence, Shao Tianming gradually regains his composure, and looking back at the event—
“Hahaha!”
Laughter erupts from his mouth, as he remarks—
“Of all the things to use, a fishing rod?”
“…”
Seeing how quickly Shao Tianming had regained his composure, and is being so nonchalant about losing a few storage pouches, Wang Yongning frowns, and asks—
“That’s enough to get you to settle down?”
Ceasing his laughter, and heaving a sigh, Shao Tianming replies—
“Whatever really. Giving those supplies out—got us a good number of recruits. If those recruits manage to live to the end, it means they show promise.”
“I suppose.”
Off to the side, Li Zi Xiang looks to Chen Lan, and says—
“Chen Lan, your pay is getting docked for the month.”
Having been the only one to have lost four storage pouches, Li Zi Xiang sees this as the perfect excuse to use—to cut some of Chen Lan’s salary.
Turning to Li Zi Xiang with wide eyes, Chen Lan replies—
“C’mon for real? I’ve got a bunch of restaurants that I want to try out…”
Shrugging a shoulder, Li Zi Xiang replies—
“I’ll reconsider, if you perform well later.”
“Alright, the moment I see that surnamed Long again, I’ll get my revenge.”
………
Upon Shao Tianming having finished filling Wang Yongning in on Long Hua and the others, the latter puts on an expression of contemplation, and remarks—
“…I see. The fact that they could think to steal from us so quickly, there’s potential for them to be our biggest competitor in this ruin.”