AZI Volume 3 Chapter 44

"…Uh?"

Opening his eyes, Long Hua slowly waits for his vision to adjust.

Since he can still feel pain throughout his body, he is quick to assume that he hasn't died just yet.

As strength gradually returns to his limbs, along with his vision, Long Hua pushes himself off the ground, causing the sand that is sticking onto his clothes to fall.

Pushing his hand against his kneecap, Long Hua slowly rises to a stand.

"…Where the hell is this?"

Looking around the area, Long Hua finds himself surrounded by brick walls.

Mounted onto the walls at set intervals are glowing crystals—that serve as a source of lighting. Behind him, sand pours down from the breached ceiling like an hourglass.

(Start digging around, that doll of yours is somewhere nearby.)

Towards the Tai Xuan Emperor's words, Long Hua is puzzled at first, but then—

"Buried beneath the sands, I'd assume?"

Adjusting his sunglasses, and waving his hand, Long Hua conjures a blast of wind—scattering the sand pile, to reveal the figures of Tian Cheng and Yu Ji.

"Hm?"

Noticing the golden radiance—that is starting to dissipate from Yu Ji's body, Long Hua is reminded of what happened before.

As Long Hua walks over, Tian Cheng regains her motor functions, allowing her to rise to a stand.

Looking to Tian Cheng, Long Hua says—

"When this guy wakes up, our story will be that you lost your squad-mates, and just so happened to appear beside us."

"How shall I address master in this cover story?"

"Wouldn't my name be fine?"

"Long-shao then?"

"…"

Not willing to deal with this nonsense, Long Hua shrugs a shoulder, and walks over to Yu Ji.

Crouching down beside her—

"Wake up, surnamed Yu."

Giving Yu Ji a rough shake, Long Hua attempts to wake her up—only to receive no response.

"Tch."

Clicking his tongue, Long Hua decides to lift Yu Ji by her collar, and slap her face twice.

"Ah!"

In response to the sharp sense of pain, Yu Ji immediately straightens her upper body with a startled scream.

Loosening his grip on Yu Ji's collar, Long Hua says—

"Hurts, doesn't it? Good, it means you're still alive."

"Surnamed Long, y-you…"

Pressing her sand-covered palms against her cheeks, Yu Ji glares at Long Hua with anger, and mutters—

"Ah, it's definitely swollen…"

"Deal with it. Just be glad for the fact that you're still alive and kicking."

"Haven't you heard the phrase—you can hit a person, but don't ever hit their face?"

"Quit acting like a spoiled rich girl that's never been hit in her life."

Reaching his hand out, Long Hua offers to help Yu Ji stand.

Taking Long Hua's hand, Yu Ji, who is a few inches off the ground, says—

"I am a girl, though…"

"Ah?"

Hearing this, Long Hua's expression freezes, while his grip loosens.

"Ah, my tailbone!"

Landing on this bone, Yu Ji screams in pain.

Straightening his back, Long Hua puts some distance between Yu Ji and himself.

"I won't ask why you said you were a man—to the vice-captain when she asked, but from now on, keep at least three feet of distance away from me."

"Surnamed Long, you bastard, don't tell me you have gynophobia?"

Grimacing in pain, Yu Ji manages to stand back up, and begins to brush off the grains of sand, which are still sticking to her clothes, while Long Hua replies—

"I don't feel like wasting my breath on this topic, so let's just go with that."

"Long-shao, there's wind coming from this direction."

Glancing past Long Hua, Yu Ji sees Tian Cheng, who is pointing towards the path forward, causing her to ask—

"Who is she?"

"Someone who just happens to land beside us. Call her… Lady Cheng, I guess?"

"Her eyes…-?"

Shaking her head, Yu Ji thought it to be an offensive question to ask.

"We…?"

Recalling what had happened before this, Yu Ji feels like their luck really isn't too bad—considering how they did manage to survive. Nevertheless, she had to ask—

"In the end, just what did we see?"

"Who knows? At least, we're no longer in the desert, so all's well that ends well?"

Turning around, Long Hua begins to walk in the direction that Tian Cheng had pointed in.

"I guess?"

Following suit, the group of three continues to move in a straight line down this tunnel of bricks.

However, after moving continuously for half an hour, with the tunnel showing no changes in appearance Yu Ji can't help but remark—

"Somehow, I'm starting to feel like this area is even worse than the desert…"

"It's all too easy to lose track of time in this place."

As Yu Ji and Long Hua exchanged a conversation with one another, Tian Cheng says—

"Long-shao, I hear sand moving about—ahead of us."

Pausing his footsteps, Long Hua uses his divine senses to look ahead.

"…"

Seeing an individual with brown hair, and is dressed in a light brown jacket—

(Surnamed Chen?)

Recognizing the individual to be Chen Lan, Long Hua raises an eye.

Judging by the breached wall behind Chen Lan, he also seems to be another victim of the pillar incident.

"Let's go then."

Pulling out his fishing rod, Long Hua moves forward.

Rather quickly, the sight of Chen Lan lying face down on the floor comes into view.

"Chen Lan?"

Realizing the person's identity, Yu Ji widens her eyes, and asks—

"Is he… Dead?"

Despite having a rather favorable impression of Chen Lan, Yu Ji isn't keen on approaching him carelessly.

"Hmm."

Looking around the area, Long Hua finds a random piece of rock that was originally a part of the wall.

Picking this rock up, he ties it to the end of his line.