AZI Volume 2 Chapter 33

Sitting in front of a small table, Bai Wen holds a phone to his ear, as he waits for the call to connect.

This is a condo unit located on the 50th floor of a complex.

In the center of the living room is a spiraling staircase that leads up to the second floor, and to the far right is a kitchen—that is styled like the counter of a bar. Behind the white walls of the kitchen is a large terrace.

The back walls to the right side of Bai Wen are made from reinforced glass—allowing him to get a view of the city streets below.

As soon as the call connects, Bai Wen says—

"Took you long enough to pick up."

[I tend to take my time to savor my bath, so this better be good.]

Hearing this, an awkward smile appears on Bai Wen's face—causing him to clear his throat.

"Ah… Apologies for disturbing you then. …Remember how I told you about there being a foreign guest in the Leng Bing Realm?"

Recalling this matter, the person on the other side of the phone sinks into thought, and quickly connects it to be the reason for this late-night call.

[Lao Bai, you really do work fast when it's something of interest to you.]

"My life is what's at stake here, so why wouldn't I? In any case, it's late, so let's just get right to the point, Lao Zhen—are you willing to risk some resources with me?"

[I don't do business without knowing what it is that I am buying, and how I can use my purchases to turn a profit. Explain the situation to me first.]

"We've known each other for so long, and you're still being so formal about things like this. Why not simply do something for the sake of it being fun, or to help an old friend out?"

[I know how to have fun in my spare time, Lao Bai. But this is this, and that is that.]

"If you consider yourself a merchant—be a bit more flexible. Ah, whatever, where do I start? Let me think for a bit."

...…

"Hmm. I guess this is an option, but…"

Browsing the internet through her vessel's connection to Long Hua's smartphone, the Tian Cheng that resides within the dreamscape—places a hand to her chin in contemplation.

"Making myself out to be a native of this world is somewhat out of the question. As for making myself out to be someone from his previous world… The moment he recovers even a tiny bit of his memories that has me in it—will cause all the trust that I've worked to build to go up into smoke. If I say, I'm someone his shizun sent…- No, if he's as sharp as he was in the past, he'd probably ask why his shizun had sent a woman instead of a man. If I ask him how much of his memories he's recovered through my vessel…- Too risky to ask at random. I need a topic that can lead into it naturally. Regardless, everything I've looked through so far can be used as reference material. Hmm, the most convenient setting that I can think of—centers around me being a long-forgotten Divinity. But without knowing too much about the world beyond the Leng Bing Realm, I won't be able to construct a more convincing backstory for myself."

...…

The next day—

"…"

Opening his eyes, Long Hua continues to remain unmoving on the bed, as he waits for his vision to adjust to the light.

In the same instance, the sound of tableware being moved about can be heard coming from the kitchen.

"…"

Blinking his eyes, Long Hua raises a yawn, as he momentarily peels himself away from the bed.

Grabbing his phone from the side, he checks the time to see that it was only seven. Normally, he would think to sleep for another hour, as the office doesn't open until nine, but—

"Master may want to do some grocery shopping later. There isn't much left in the fridge."

"Thanks."

Receiving a plate that holds a plain egg sandwich coupled with canned slices of meat, Long Hua goes over the incident that happened last night while eating his breakfast.

Amidst Long Hua's review of the situation, Tian Cheng doesn't say a word, as she listened while standing in front of him.

Upon the conclusion of the review, Long Hua asks—

"What do you think of this weirdo from what I've told you so far?"

"A weirdo indeed. But not a weirdo without benefits, he should be worth associating with."

Answering as such on the outside, Tian Cheng inwardly thought—

(If I can somehow get this weirdo to talk a bit more about the Everlasting Spirit Realm's history, I should be able to construct a better backstory for myself.)

Wiping his hands with a wet towel, Long Hua thought for a moment before asking—

"Worth associating with… In that case, any thoughts on how I should interact with him?"

"Master believes that it would be best to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship—where you use one another for your own gains, is that correct?"

"Correct."

"I would agree with this approach, as we currently know very little about him and the Ling Yuan family."

"We know very little about the Long Yue family as well… You'd think they're dragons—if you only took their horns into account, but I think they're Nian beasts instead."

Hearing this, Tian Cheng thought—

(Nian beasts, even back in that world, such beasts are a rarity. But… From what I recall, those two that we saw, their blood…- No, not just blood; a whole bunch of things about them seem out of place, at least compared to the ones I'm accustomed to seeing.)

Nodding her head, Tian Cheng asks—

"Has master never tried to probe Lady Nian for more information?"

"It's not that I haven't; it's more like she knows very little about her own family's secrets."

"In that case, we would need to ask her mother."

"The young are tender, while the old are vicious. I doubt we would get much out of that Nian Tao Tao—even if we asked her with a blade pressed to her neck. She'd sooner bite off her own tongue before spilling any secrets she may have."

Saying this, and recalling the gleam in Nian Tao Tao's eyes then, Long Hua thought—

(Those are the sorts of eyes—that a person would direct at someone, who had killed off their entire family. She must have quite a bad history with practitioners.)

Guiding the conversation along, Tian Cheng says—

"Long Yue, Ling Yuan, those two aside, it might be best to learn more about the entirety of the Everlasting Spirit Realm as a whole. Once master is able to escape from the Leng Bing Realm, you would need to know what to look out for in the greater world."

"True. Still, a business relationship with Bai Wen… To even do business, those involved in the dealing need to be able to provide the other with benefits."

"That person asked for a cultivation method that's suited for the realm after the Nascent Soul realm. It shouldn't be too difficult to procure it, so long as master is able to advance into the Foundation Establishment realm—assuming what he said about memory recovery to be true."

Believing this to be the perfect opportunity to raise a question of concern, Tian Cheng asks—

"While we are on this topic, may I ask how much of your memories you've recovered, master?"

"…Not a lot. Aside from trivial knowledge of the practitioners' circle, along with some of the things that I was taught, I don't recall anything from my past life in terms of the places that I've been, and the people that I've encountered outside of shizun."

Receiving this answer, Tian Cheng thought—

(Hmm, from what I'm hearing here, it seems like personal memories are fragmented? Still, with time some of the blanks will be filled. I highly doubt he'll instantly recover all of his memories the moment he hits a specific realm of cultivation. With how difficult it is to raise his cultivation base in the Leng Bing Realm, he might even die a natural death from the shortage of lifespan. That would actually work out in my favor. Hmm…)

Staring into Long Hua's eyes, Tian Cheng attempts to see if there are any hints of deception to be detected, but—

"I see."

In the end, even if Long Hua had indeed lied to her about the current state of his memories, it would be difficult to tell—knowing how quick-witted the former had been in his previous life.

"Other than Bai Wen, there's this one called "Lao Zhen," who is supposed to give me a test."

"A merchant, was it?"

"I wasn't too interested in this New Moon Village before, but now I'm intrigued."