AZI Volume 6 Chapter 56

"…"

Away from the others, and standing at the edge of the cave's cover, Xun Yu takes off her white oni mask—revealing an elegant face with pale blue eyes.

"Finally…"

Looking down at her right hand, which is still trembling, Xun Yu draws in a deep breath of air.

Ever since she entered this ruin, and had seen all these statues of Lord Tian She Zi, Xun Yu has been resisting the urge to worship them.

And now that she has finally given into that urge, she feels as if a heavy load had just been taken off her shoulders.

Different from the other Moon Guards, Xun Yu doesn't feel a hint of loyalty towards Nian Tao Tao, or the Long Yue family.

As for her peers, to Xun Yu—they may as well be nothing more than strangers, people that she just so happens to be living under the same roof with.

Amidst Xun Yu's feelings of liberation—

"Xun Yu, what are you doing?"

"…"

Quietly putting her mask back on, and without turning around, Xun Yu replies—

"What do you want, pipsqueak?"

"…Tch."

Despite being Qing Yue's second-in-command, Xun Yu has never once addressed the former as her commander, and has always addressed them as "pipsqueak."

The only reason Xun Yu had been allowed to get away with it was because she was a competent fighter. In fact, many in the Long Yue family consider her to be too competent.

"Need I remind you that you're a Long Yue family Moon Guard?"

Normally, Xun Yu wouldn't feel anything when reminded of this, but now, she finds the statement loathsome, causing her to reply—

"So what? Does that prevent me from worshipping a deity?"

"…"

Towards Xun Yu's uncaring attitude, Qing Yue twitches an eye, and begrudgingly remarks—

"If I can, I'd really want to give you a thorough beating right now."

"I find it laughable to hear that from a pipsqueak."

Clicking her tongue once more, Qing Yue heads back into the cave.

And as Qing Yue leaves, a random thought appears on Xun Yu's mind—

(I want to eat four meat buns.)

It isn't clear as to why, but Xun Yu feels a very specific urge to eat meat buns, and it was four to be even more specific.

...…

"Ai, Lin-xiong, let's take a break."

"Fine."

Taking things easy, neither Qing Ming Yang nor Lin Yu Heng are in any rush to reunite with their scattered clansmen.

Seating themselves beneath the cover of a large tree, Qing Ming Yang says—

"Once this is all over, you think…-?"

"Don't."

Knowing what Qing Ming Yang is about to ask, Lin Yu Heng cuts him off, and changing the topic quickly, he says—

"…I'm more concerned about the necropolis' opening right now."

"Still a couple of months away, I don't see the need to be that concerned with it. Actually… Let's talk about what story we want to use—when we do meet some clansmen."

"…I'm thinking-"

Just as Lin Yu Heng is about to say something, he detects movement approaching their direction, and momentarily—

"Lin-xiong, Qing-xiong…!"

Emerging out of the trees' shadows was a practitioner dressed in bloodstained blue robes.

And judging by the expression of dread on his face, he seems to have witnessed something terrifying, causing Qing Ming Yang to ask—

"What happened to you?"

"A-A group of weapon spirits attacked us; I was the only one that managed to escape. The others were…-!"

Seeing how chaotic this individual's state of mind is, Qing Ming Yang heaves a sigh, and takes out a calabash, while advising—

"For now, sit down and have a drink first."

"R-Right…"

The name of the practitioner is Sū Xuān, and upon informing Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng about what he had been through—

"You said those weapon spirits looked very different from the ones we encountered initially. What did you mean by this exactly?"

Towards Qing Ming Yang's question, Su Xuan answers—

"Those weapon spirits' attires, they looked no different from a common mortal; it's nothing like the clothes that those weapon spirits from the beginning were wearing. We would've mistaken them as actual mortals of the Everlasting Spirit Realm had they not shown their Weapon Spirit True Bodies."

"That's…?"

"…"

Raising a frown, Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng exchanged a look between themselves, with the latter remarking—

"Qing-xiong, this place, there's something odd about it. And these statues near us, I feel as if I've read about them somewhere…"

"I'm thinking the same. This is definitely enough to warrant a more thorough investigation."

Turning to Su Xuan, Qing Ming Yang adds—

"Once you've rested up a bit more, we should try to find the others."

"A-Alright…"

...…

Maintaining distance from the others, Long Hua, Tian Cheng, and Yao Ying seated themselves near the statue of Lord Tian She Zi.

(Hmm.)

Counting up all the items that Long Hua had acquired, along with his free rolls, the Tai Xuan Emperor reports a total of—

(52 rolls.)

"…"

Opening the gacha interface, Long Hua hits the button to roll.

"Hmm."

Narrowing his eyes, Long Hua scrolls through the items quietly.

With this 52-roll, he managed to replenish his combat bodies to twenty-one, while also acquiring some new Spirit Armaments; and among these Spirit Armaments—

"Hm?"

(Ah… I forgot about that thing…)

"What is it even?"

The Spirit Armament that Long Hua is looking at is a black rifle with the tip of its barrel cut into a slant.

As he doesn't wish to cause a commotion, he didn't bother to take it out for a proper examination.

(Something that I made way back. I called it the "Dawn Buster.")

"…?"

Towards the odd expression that Long Hua is making, the Tai Xuan Emperor clears her throat, and explains—

(*-laoban, all of us were young at some time, and because of that, we all had some...… Childish dreams. …In any case, it's both an energy-based firearm and a melee weapon. I'm sending it to your doll—since she would be able to make better use of it than you.)

"…"

Maintaining the odd look on his face, Long Hua remarks—

"…I wonder what your parents would say."

(Ah…- Sh-She would be proud of me—for having made my childhood dream come true. Besides, being able to prevent one's childhood dream from remaining a dream, isn't that something worth boasting about?)

"You seem more embarrassed about it than proud…"

(…Shut up.)