AZI Volume 3 Chapter 36

"…"

Thoroughly exhausted, Qing Yue pants with sweat rolling down her face, to which, Ye Chen says—

"Take some water in, but make sure to not drink all of it."

"G-Got it…"

Currently, everyone is seated together in a circle.

Any extra layer of clothing—that goes over the upper body, was removed, and stored away into their backpacks.

"…"

Looking at the two storage pouches in his hand, Ye Chen asks—

"How does this thing even work?"

Leaning over, Long Hua takes one of the drawstring pouches, and opens it.

(Doesn't use spirit Qi to open, figure as much.)

Peeking into the pouch, Long Hua sees a decent collection of supplies—from food to basic camping necessities.

Pulling his head away from the pouch, Long Hua reaches a hand into it, and draws out a bottle of water, prior to replying—

"You basically just open it, and think of what it is that you want, and it will appear in your hand."

"Convenient."

Catching the storage pouch that is tossed back, Ye Chen looks at the others, and says—

"I'll keep one on me—if the rest of you don't mind. Question is, who wants the second one?"

"I'm fine without it."

Qing Yue is the first to opt out, whereas Long Hua shrugs his shoulders—being fine with whoever, since he doesn't have a need for it himself.

(…Hmm.)

Noticing how quick Long Hua had opted out as well, Ye Chen presses his brows together for a brief instance.

Considering how it was by his effort alone—that the Ashen River Hall had lost four pouches, no one would think it strange for Long Hua to ask for one.

"Hmm, Yu Ji, you have it."

"Are you sure, vice-captain?"

Directing a meaningful glance at Long Hua, Li Xue answers—

"It would seem kind of odd—for me to receive it, after Long Hua said those words, right?"

"Then, I won't be polite."

Receiving the storage pouch, Yu Ji stuffs it into her pocket.

Using this chance to catch their breath, Ye Chen fills Li Xue in—on the total amount of supplies, that they have on hand.

Momentarily—

"By my estimate, we have enough supplies to last us for two weeks and a half. And if we're stingy about our supplies, we might even get it to last for longer."

Saying this, Li Xue frowns, to which, Ye Chen takes over, and adds—

"Might sound bad, but we might have to steal from others."

"Heh, we've already done just that."

Raising a chuckle in response to Long Hua's reply, Ye Chen's expression momentarily turns solemn, as he says—

"Right, let's talk about our next step."

Simultaneously, everyone nods, while Ye Chen continues to say—

"Unlike the folks at the Ashen River Hall, we don't really know what sort of dangers there are in this place. However, our focus should be to find this teleportation magic array that they mentioned. The moment we find it, we get the hell out, agreed?"

"I'm fine with that."

"I am as well."

"The question is, where is this magic array?"

"…"

As silence looms over the group, no one really knows where to start—with there being nothing more than blue skies and sand around them for as far as the eye could see.

Shrugging a shoulder, Long Hua remarks—

"Take a step and see, I guess?"

Raising a frown, Li Xue remarks—

"Those guys from the hall, they mentioned mapping this place out. I assume they have a tool—from the Immortals, for that as well?"

"Probably. Ai…"

Heaving a sigh towards Li Xue's question, Ye Chen looks up at the blue skies. It is also then—that he notices the lack of moving gears, being present.

"…"

Blinking his eyes with a hint of amazement, Ye Chen regains his wits quickly, and says—

"Regardless, sitting here isn't going to help. We'll take a few minutes to let Qing Yue rest. After that, let's just pick a random direction, and walk it? We'll adjust to the situation accordingly."

Agreeing to this, everyone nods.

In the same instance, Yu Ji notices something amiss with Ye Chen's speech pattern, as she asks—

"Captain, you're not calling us with our ranks anymore?"

"We don't know what the hell is waiting for us in this desert. So… As cliché as this might sound, we need to trust each other a bit more—to raise our odds of survival."

Saying this, Ye Chen looks to Long Hua, to which, the latter says—

"Quit looking at me like that, surnamed Ye."

"Surnamed Long, I feel like—out of all of us here, you're the one to have been prepared the most. A pair of sunglasses to block out the sun, and a calabash for water storage, along with a new pair of boots."

"…"

Outwardly smiling, Long Hua inwardly clicks his tongue; it's individuals like this—that make it impossible for him to lower his guard.

"You're overestimating me."

Glancing at Long Hua, Qing Yue thought—

(Only a ghost would believe that.)

"Whatever. Five more minutes."

"Forget it, I'm well-rested, as is, captain."

"You certain?"

Replying with a nod, Qing Yue stands up, and begins to brush off the sand—that is sticking to her clothes and skin.

"Alright, let's go then."

Following suit, everyone else rises off the sand.

(Hmm. To go solo, or to stay in the group, still can't decide which is best. I guess…)

Facing forward, Long Hua decides to stick with the group for now.

If it becomes unbearable, making himself vanish shouldn't be too difficult—without the Immortal detection systems nearby, he has full access to his cultivation base after all.