AZI Volume 6 Chapter 32

Saying that she wished to be given some time to process their conversation from last night, Tian Cheng had opted to stay back at the yacht, and—

"…Hm?"

Showing up at the office the next day, Long Hua frowns upon entry.

Inside the office, only Qing Yue and Ye Chen are present—both of whom are currently seated down on the same sofa with their eyes glued to their phones.

Seating himself on the opposite sofa, Long Hua asks—

"Surnamed Li is skipping out?"

Towards Long Hua's question, Ye Chen raises his head, and looks to the former with an eye raised.

Does the person who skipped out yesterday have any rights to be asking this?

"Apparently her workplace is very busy today. Something to do with the non-Sinner schools being on vacation. …Actually, now that I think about it, today is her birthday as well."

"Oh?"

Forming an odd smile, Long Hua says—

"Surnamed Ye, know where her workplace is?"

"…Oh?"

Despite being somewhat amused by the idea, Ye Chen still feels the need to remark—

"Surnamed Long, you've been quite proactive in sticking your nose into other people's business lately."

"All for the sake of entertainment. You know for a fact that there isn't much to do in the office. Also, now that we're down a person, I think—it's best to be as tightly knit as possible going forward. And what better occasion to improve our bonds than a birthday party?"

Although he sees Long Hua's point, Ye Chen still thought—

(Not like it matters much when you're someone who just runs off, and does his own thing whenever we're in the ruins. …I guess, Qing Yue is kind of similar in that regard?)

With tightly glued Qing Yue was to the Moon Guards during the previous excavation, Ye Chen sees there to be a connection between her and the Long Yue family.

(Ai, really makes me wonder how Colonel Li managed to keep our squad together the way he did…)

Recalling how tightly knit the squad of Li Qian He had been, Ye Chen heaves a sigh before answering—

"I suppose. How's Yu Ji?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Quit playing dumb. You were the last person to leave the main island, you couldn't have missed her. Also, your relationship with her is actually on the friendlier side of things."

"…"

Blinking his eyes, Long Hua replies—

"And what if my answer is, she's happily reunited with her little sister in heaven?"

Shrugging a shoulder, Ye Chen replies—

"Means she's safe then? Good enough for me."

Taking her eyes off her phone, Qing Yue asks—

"Are we going to Li Xue's workplace?"

"…"

"…"

Being looked at by Ye Chen and Long Hua at the same time, Qing Yue awkwardly clears her throat, and says—

"I'll be honest, captain—you're going to look really awkward at Li Xue's workplace."

Replying to the remark, Ye Chen says—

"I'm more curious as to why you're suddenly on a name basis with her."

"We survived the desert together, that memory was enough to bond ourselves over with."

"I see. Ai, before fun hours, let me go over something."

Raising a frown, Qing Yue asks—

"Another ruin? Hey, captain, when is our vacation?"

Recalling the giant weapon spirit inside of the second ruins, Qing Yue's urge to go off on another excavation so soon isn't very high, to which, Ye Chen answers—

"Calm down. The one we're headed into this time isn't that bad—at least, according to the scouts."

Towards this reply, Qing Yue asks—

"Do you really believe that?"

Tapping out of his mobile game, Ye Chen turns the device towards Long Hua and Qing Yue.

And seeing what is displayed on the phone's screen, Long Hua remarks—

"…Lord Tian She Zi?"

"Oh? You already know about this statue?"

"We have a sculpture of it at the café I work at."

Wearing the same taotie mask as the wooden sculpture and the statue—that he found back at the previous ruins, Long Hua frowns at the sight of this third statue, which is also dressed in a similar nature.

"It's a female this time…"

The thin waist of this statue depicts a more feminine figure, and different from the first two models, the statue doesn't hold a single weapon in its hands, which are held together in a praying posture.

Towards Long Hua's observation, Ye Chen remarks—

"This time? Ah, speaking of which that stone head you gave me…"

"It was also a model of this deity."

Hearing this, Ye Chen frowns, and asks—

"Know anything else?"

"I only know that it's an ancient deity; other than that, nothing else."

One by one, Ye Chen scrolls through the photos that he has—with each one depicting a different model of Lord Tian She Zi.

These models all varied in appearance, some depict a man, others depict a woman; at times the models would even be a child or an elderly figure.

The only commonality between these statues is the taotie masks that they are wearing.

Eventually, Qing Yue asks—

"So, what makes this ruin in particular safe, captain?"

"The scouts were able to return through the original entrance. They didn't have to use a teleportation talisman, or find a teleportation magic array."

Hearing this, Long Hua turns to Ye Chen, and remarks—

"And that's supposed to make it safe? What sort of idiotic logic is that?"

"They spent an entire three days in that ruin, and nothing appeared to attack them. Also, current estimates put that ruin as a grade three, the lowest so far."

Putting on a frown, Long Hua replies—

"…I feel like I've completely stopped caring about what grade a ruin is at this point. Judging by the reactions of the hall, all the ruins in our world blows their standards out the waters."

Chuckling awkwardly, Ye Chen replies—

"Can't argue with that. In any case, you two in or out in five days' time?"

Having been told by Nian Tao Tao to get as much experience as possible in these ruins, Qing Yue's answer is naturally—

"In."

"Ai…"

Taking Long Hua's sigh to be an in as well, Ye Chen rises off the sofa, and announces—

"Right then, let's see what Li Xue's workplace is like."

"Is it really fine for us to just leave the office unattended to?"

Towards Qing Yue's question, Ye Chen replies—

"When you're being worked to the bones this much, the military will only keep one eye open. So long as you're not doing anything too extreme, they won't raise their voice."

"…?"

Blinking her bright pink eyes, Qing Yue finds this idea foreign to her. As a Moon Guard, she has never once thought to disobey Nian Tao Tao's words.

Prior to opening the door—

"Almost forgot…"

Ye Chen turns around, and continues to say—

"…Due to Yu Ji's matter, our office's relationship has turned a bit sour with Dainsfield. Be mindful of the people in it during our next excavation, you hear?"

"Oh?"

Raising an eye, Long Hua slides a hand across his throat, to which, Ye Chen does the same back as his reply.

"…"

Seeing the two reach a mutual agreement in this manner, Qing Yue feels like the odd one out—causing her to make the same gesture.