AZI Volume 6 Chapter 58

"Hmm."

Towards Long Hua's question, Ye Chen places a hand to his chin, and answers—

"Now that I think about it, he's usually quite insistent on treating me to drinks, so I can't really remember the stuff we talked about in casual settings."

"…"

Averting his face away from the group, Teng Hao can't help but press a hand to his temple, while Long Hua remarks—

"Oh? They do say that lips are looser when a person is drunk."

"There was this one question that really stood out to me. Does the military have especially powerful Sinners that are able to single-handed defeat level five Immortals? If I recall, that's when I told him about the Four Executioners—since they were the first ones to come to mind. Other than that, there was this one time when he asked me—how much Hazard Level is required to perform Partial-Apotheosis; something like that, it should have been common sense on the frontlines after a day. The inconsistency here is, he later told me that he's been on the frontlines for a week after that."

As Ye Chen says all this, sweat rolls down Teng Hao's back, and thinking quickly, the latter says—

"Now wait just a minute, there's an exception to everything. I could very well have just been one of those who were a bit slower on the uptake."

Agreeing with this somewhat, Ye Chen replies—

"True, but then…- Didn't you also ask me some other no-brainer questions? Mostly stuff that we would have learned in a specialized institution? Slow or not, we spent a good number of years in those institutions, you couldn't not have picked up a thing or two."

"I-I…"

"…"

Similarly, a bit of panic can also be seen on Gui Lian's face, as the others begin to surround her and Teng Hao—blocking off their escape routes.

"Why don't we tie them up first?"

Suggesting this, Qing Yue takes out a bundle of ropes.

"Agreed."

Wang Yongning is quick to agree to this, as he also takes out a bundle of ropes.

"…"

"…"

Pressing their backs together, Gui Lian and Teng Hao grit their teeth.

Towards the situation that their captain and vice-captain are facing, Shen Le wanted to do something to prevent a physical conflict, but—

"Shen Le, don't."

Chang Ye is the first to stop her.

Following him, Ling Yi adds—

"So long as they're not Immortals, the others won't be too harsh on them."

"That's…-? Alright…"

Outnumbered and surrounded, Gui Lian eventually heaves a sigh, and says—

"Ai, Teng Hao, seems like the cat is out of the bag."

"Indeed."

"…"

Constricting his eyes, Shao Tianming says—

"So then, you two really do know something about these ruins?"

"…"

Ignoring the question, Gui Lian turns to Long Hua.

From the looks of it, Gui Lian is higher on the pecking order of whatever organization these two are a part of, as she remarks—

"Long-laoban, I'm impressed by your abilities to see us through. And judging by the words that you've said before—about how the people you care for aren't in this world anymore, you're probably no different from the old fogeys of our village."

"…"

Outwardly, Long Hua doesn't show a hint of emotions on his face, but inwardly—

(The hell does that even mean? Village? What village is she even talking about? Do they work for Lao Zhen? …No, that wouldn't make any sense.)

Turning his head quickly, Long Hua replies—

"I suppose."

Towards this vague answer, which is neither a yes or a no, Gui Lian laughs lightly, and says—

"I figured as much. Your skills aren't something that could be obtained by just training for a decade. You must have refined them over the passage of a century, have you not?"

"A century?"

"A person can't possibly live for that long, right?"

"The oldest Sinner was said to be around 104 years old when they passed. Long-laoban doesn't look that old at all…"

In response to Gui Lian's words, the others were quick to begin a conversation among themselves.

(…What kind of situation is this?)

Knowing Long Hua to be a practitioner, Qing Yue turns speechless, whereas Chen Lan thought—

(My god, so ancestor really is an ancestor…)

"…"

Heaving a sigh, Long Hua raises his head upwards, and with a gaze that can seemingly pierce through the fog, he says—

"Ah Heng, Hongchen, Qiuyu, you three… Ai."

Listing off these three names by instinct, Long Hua does his best to put out an air of nostalgia and sorrow—as if he is recalling the early days of his youth, which were spent with precious comrades.

In response to the air that is emanating from Long Hua, the others thought—

(This man has a story.)

(This man must have been through quite a bit.)

(Over a century, the fact that he's still able to recall memories from that long ago… Those three, they must have been very important to him.)

"…"

"…"

Noticing that she is being glanced at by Yao Ying, Tian Cheng shakes her head subtly, to which, Yao Ying thought—

(A-All this is merely him putting on an act?)

Heaving another sigh, one that is heavier than the one from before, Long Hua remarks—

"All ancient history now, what's the point of talking about a past that can never be regained?"

Inwardly, Long Hua thought—

(Ai, these weapon spirits are far too gullible. I only mentioned three completely random names and put on this air—that's all it took for them to think that I'm recalling some old comrade-in-arms… Naïve, far too naïve. Regardless, having this bit of background attached to my name—any bit of unusual physical strength and knowledge that I demonstrate going forward, they could be explained with greater ease.)

Just as Long Hua was thinking of this, his ears picked up on the sound of footsteps drawing closer.