Chapter 41
Night falls, and the moon looms over the skies.
The campsite that Long Hua and Yu Ji had chosen is on top of a hill, as they didn’t want a repeat of the night before.
“Right, let’s do this.”
Placed in front of Long Hua is a sand piranha—that is situated on top of a cutting board, the size of a desk. This oversized cutting board was found inside the storage pouch—that was taken from the Ashen River Hall.
“Surnamed Long, can you even cut this thing?”
Carefully poking the piranha’s sharp scale, Yu Ji finds the task of cutting this creature daunting, especially so since what Long Hua is holding in his hand is an ordinary kitchen knife.
“The fact that this thing hasn’t shown any signs of rotting… Either it’s built differently, or the storage pouch has a state preservation effect.”
Throwing this information out there with a purpose in mind, Long Hua taps the piranha’s scales with the kitchen knife, and adds—
“In any case, start putting the spit together.”
“Un.”
Nodding her head, Yu Ji moves behind Long Hua, and takes out the components for constructing a portable barbecue spit from the storage pouch.
Judging by how the Ashen River Hall’s storage pouch is filled with such odd equipment, it would seem like in the world that they had come from, these tools were a daily necessity.
“…”
While Yu Ji is putting the spit together—along with the campfire, Long Hua shrouds his kitchen knife in sword Qi, and in a single chop, he severs the piranha’s head from its body.
Without pausing, Long Hua places his left hand onto the piranha to prevent it from moving, while stabbing the knife into its abdomen.
In a swift manner, the knife divides the fish’s abdomen, and just as quickly, Long Hua pulls out the fish’s innards.
In a crude manner—that is somewhat similar to shaving off the skin of a fruit, Long Hua shaves off the scales of the fish in a few swings, along with a few centimeters of the meat beneath it.
“Skewer.”
“You really managed to do it?”
Handing Long Hua a large metal skewer, Yu Ji watches him pierce the piranha’s body using it.
After seasoning the fish with salt and pepper, Long Hua brings it over to the spit.
“Take care of cooking it, I’ll clean up the cutting board to use as a plate.”
“Got it.”
As Yu Ji spins the spit, Long Hua takes out a towel, and dabbles it in water to wipe off the cutting board.
In this manner, time passes, and eventually—
“Should be edible now.”
Saying this, Long Hua takes the fish off the spit, and places it onto the cutting board before trimming a slice off.
“…”
As Long Hua brings the slice of meat towards his mouth, Yu Ji looks on with an expression of doubt.
Taking the first bite, Long Hua closes his eyes with a somewhat pleased look on his face, while Yu Ji asks—
“How is it?”
“I didn’t scream in agony or anything, right?”
Trimming a slice off as well, Yu Ji takes a bite.
The grilled surface is crisp, while the meat that is seasoned with salt and pepper is—
“Delicious…”
In a desert environment of this nature, a meal like this could only be considered a luxury.
“But… Having to use water to clean up the cutting board is a bit…”
Understanding Yu Ji’s concern, Long Hua nods, and replies—
“I doubt we’d be able to have this for every meal. Still, it’s important to keep our spirits up. Sacrificing a bit of water for the sake of it, it isn’t a bad trade-off by any means. Any leftover fish can be sold to the market later. Some brave culinarians would probably be willing to pay handsomely to eat this.”
Hearing this, Yu Ji’s eyes gave off a sharp gleam.
“Surnamed Long, you really get me.”
“Can it, let’s just finish the meal quickly. Well, considering how big it is, I doubt we’d be able to eat all of it in one sitting. Also, being on a full stomach would make you sleepier, so don’t stuff yourself silly.”
Recalling what Long Hua had said previously about the storage pouch having a state preservation effect, Yu Ji asks—
“Any leftovers can be preserved in the pouch, right? So, our next meal could be this as well?”
“I suppose?”
Shrugging his shoulders on the outside, Long Hua thought—
(Ai, exchanging words with a smart person makes life much easier.)
Raising his calabash, Long Hua takes a drink, and remarks—
“If there’s an oasis to be found in this desert, having another meal like this wouldn’t be an issue.”
“Having a bath would be nice as well… Ai, I wonder what the others are doing right now?”
“Focus on yourself. Knowing surnamed Ye, he’s not the sort to die easily. As for that little girl, she has the vice-captain with her. They both have a good head on their shoulders; they won’t die easily either.”
“Doesn’t this mean that we kind of ended up with the most ideal combination possible?”
“Maybe?”
Setting the calabash down, a strong gale brushes pass Long Hua, and—
“…”
Staring pass Yu Ji’s right shoulder—
“………”
The expression on Long Hua’s face can only be described as unamused and thoroughly fed-up with all the nonsense.
“Surnamed Long, something happened?”
“Heh… Yeah, something big is happening.”
Noticing how Long Hua is actually looking pass her, Yu Ji suddenly has a feeling of bad premonition—causing her to slowly turn her head around.
Chapter 42
“…”
Seeing a colossal wall of sand—that seems to occupy the entirety of the horizon, coming towards their direction from a distance, Yu Ji’s complexion pales in an instant.
To be buried beneath the sand, and to suffocate till death, as a result of it—that is the only possibility to appear in Yu Ji’s mind.
While Yu Ji is still at a loss, Long Hua is quick to stand up, and begins tossing everything into the storage pouch.
(Goddamn, this stupid place! Even with my current cultivation base, I’d be hard-pressed to deal with something like this!)
By the time Yu Ji had turned around, Long Hua had already finished packing everything—with his bag on his shoulders.
“Wh-What do we do?”
“…”
Tossing Yu Ji her bag, Long Hua shrugs his shoulders in a nonchalant manner, as if to say that the incoming wall of sand is someone else’s business.
Without any hesitation, Long Hua turns to the left, and slides down the hill of sand, while putting his sunglasses on—to prevent anything from getting into his eyes.
Despite being a bit late to follow, Yu Ji manages to catch up to Long Hua’s fleeing figure, and shouts—
“Surnamed Long, say something to lighten up the mood!”
Glancing at Yu Ji with a frown, Long Hua says—
“Foul god in heaven, provide us with your blessings to survive this bullshit. Amitābha, Buddha, clear us a path with your almighty wisdom, and guide us to safety like you’re supposed to. King Yama, cross our names off your book of death, you prick.”
“…”
As all sorts of nonsense spews out of Long Hua’s mouth, Yu Ji twitches her lips, and turns her head to the side—only to face forward just as quickly.
The brief glance that she had taken is something that terrifies her greatly, for a massive amount of sand is currently floating about in the air.
Seeing the same image as Yu Ji, via divine senses, Long Hua clicks his tongue, and says—
“In any case, run! Run as far and fast as possible! People say that if you die in the desert, your soul gets trapped here forever!”
“Way to keep things positive!”
“Deal with it, this is just the way I tend to keep a positive mindset!”
*Guuuuuuuu!!!* as the two continue to run, the sand beneath them gives off a familiar tremor—causing both Long Hua and Yu Ji to pale.
“Tch!”
“Now of all times?!”
*Pah! Pah! Pah!* simultaneously, numerous piranhas leap out of the sand—reminiscent of a dolphin pack; however, instead of attacking Long Hua and Yu Ji, they ignored the two, and continued to leap forward.
“This is…?”
Although he doesn’t have any proof of this, Long Hua feels like the sand piranhas are just as fearful of the approaching sand wall.
Raising his fishing rod, Long Hua tosses the oversized cutting board out with his left hand.
“Jump!”
Saying this, Long Hua leaps into the air, and lands on top of the oversized cutting board. In the same instance, he pulls out the skewer—a component of the barbecue spit from before, and impales the cutting board with it.
Understanding Long Hua’s intention, Yu Ji also leaps onto the oversized cutting board.
As soon as the cutting board lands—with them on top of it, Long Hua casts his line out.
Having shrouded the hook with his sword Qi, it easily pierces through the sand, and latches onto the body of a piranha.
Covering her hands in thick gloves, Yu Ji receives the line—that is connected to the piranha from Long Hua, and works quickly to tie it onto the metal skewer.
In a rapid manner, Long Hua replaces his hook, and casts his line outwards to latch them onto more piranhas. Rather quickly, he manages to capture enough piranhas to get the cutting board—that acts as a sledge, moving.
But in the same instance, he also runs out of hooks to use.
(Hopefully, he doesn’t see this. Otherwise… I’ll beat him into an amnesic.)
Manipulating the ends of the line—through his sword Qi, Long Hua manages to form a makeshift hook, and casts the line out once more.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Eventually, more than a hundred piranhas were captured—dragging the cutting board forward at a speed that allowed both Long Hua and Yu Ji to feel a hint of relief.
Heaving a heavy sigh, Yu Ji asks—
“Surnamed Long, do you consider ourselves lucky?”
“Lucky, my ass…”
“These things, they are running away from something, right?”
“…”
Seeing as how Yu Ji had come to the same conclusion as him, Long Hua nods, and collapses the fishing rod to store it away, while replying—
“Probably. But that also meant that something had caused that wall of sand behind us.”
“…”
Glancing backwards at the same time, the two see the colossal wall of sand continuing to approach them.
“…”
Despite wanting to ask if whatever the thing that had caused that sand wall would come, and chase after them as well, Yu Ji felt safer to not run her mouth, whereas Long Hua remarks—
“…Surnamed Yu, in this world, there’s no such thing as a coincidence. Everything that happens to people, happens for a reason. What’s meant to happen will happen—regardless of an individual’s wishes. Or at least that’s what my mentor used to say all the time.”
“…Why are you saying this now?”
The moment Yu Ji asks this—
“Because-”
*Boom!!!!!* a colossal pillar bursts out of the sand—in the far distance, in the direction that they are facing.
“We’re very unfortunate.”
Chapter 43
Due to it still being in the middle of the night—along with how far away the object is, it’s unclear as to what that pillar actually is.
However, since it’s currently swaying towards the right, it might be safe to assume that it belongs to an animal of some kind. Still, the possibility of it being a manmade structure of some kind is also there.
As the pillar’s bend gradually reaches an angle that would allow it to sweep across the desert fields, Yu Ji asks—
“Surnamed Long, what now?”
“…Surnamed Yu, I’ll give you two options. One, you die from extreme torment from being buried beneath the sands; or two, I knock you out right now—to save you from the pain.”
“Ah?”
Without waiting for Yu Ji to reply, Long Hua is quick to strike with his hand, landing a hit directly onto the back of Yu Ji’s neck—knocking her unconscious.
Emerging from the storage pouch—
“Well then?”
Tian Cheng catches Yu Ji before she can fall off the cutting board.
Shrugging a shoulder, Long Hua replies—
“I’ll put everything into defense, and pray it goes well.”
(Wait, wait, wait! Use up all your resources, and see-)
“Piss off, Qie. I’ll die before I even see what I managed to pull.”
(But-!)
Ignoring the Tai Xuan Emperor—who would rather not have to dig herself out of the sands after taking over Long Hua’s dead body, the latter rotates his cultivation base fiercely.
And just as Long Hua is about to perform an incantation gesture—
“Hm?”
Turning towards Yu Ji, Long Hua widens his eyes—to see her body emanating with a golden radiance.
(This is…? The air of a Nascent Soul re-? No, this is beyond that, but it seems to be limiting itself as much as possible to prevent this vessel of theirs from collapsing…)
Thinking quickly, Long Hua places a hand onto Yu Ji’s left shoulder, and borrowing the energy that is coming off the latter, he constructs a barrier around them—in preparation to receive the full brunt of the pillar’s incoming sweep.
(Just what kind of background does this surnamed Yu have? He’s clearly a Sinner, and not a practitioner… Ah, whatever, I’ll worry about it later.)
Directing his full attention to defending against the incoming attack, Long Hua looked towards the distant pillar, and—
*…!!!* as soon as the pillar sweeps forth—carrying with it a devastating blast of wind, an indescribable sound goes off, and with it, Long Hua’s consciousness darkens!
………
In other parts of the desert—
“Dammit all! What the hell is that thing?!”
Despite being as experienced as they are—with excavating ancient ruins, even those of the Ashen River Hall can’t help but pale at the sight of the distant monstrosity that is a colossal pillar.
“This ruin…”
“Although it doesn’t contain a key factor—to make it a grade five, the mere presence of that thing, it’s enough to rank this ruin under the highest category.”
As the colossal pillar begins to sway, Shao Tianming and Wang Yongning look on with a frown.
Rather quickly, Shao Tianming shouts—
“Take out your shield talismans! And do not be stingy with them!”
Getting this order out, Shao Tianming takes out five talismans, and pastes them onto his body—shrouding himself in a protective bubble.
Similarly, Wang Yongning does the same, and is quickly followed by the other members of the Ashen River Hall.
………
“…”
Staring at the distant pillar that is preparing to move, Ye Chen summons his Relic, and stabs it in front of him.
Closing his eyes, Ye Chen leans his head forward, and presses his forehead against the greatsword’s pommel—assuming a posture that makes it seem as if he is praying to a god of some kind.
Drawing in a deep breath, Ye Chen mutters—
“Àn Yè. (暗夜)”
Following these words, dark radiance emanates from Ye Chen’s body.
………
“What is that?”
Looking at Qing Yue, who is holding onto a yellow-colored talisman, Li Xue raises an eye.
Having teleported them as far away as possible—using her Relic, Li Xue’s face is thoroughly covered in sweat.
Despite having put so much distance between the pillar and themselves, it’s far from enough.
In fact, regardless of the amount of distance that they manage to put, it will probably never be enough to guarantee their own safety.
Raising the talisman, Qing Yue answers—
“Something my mother gave me.”
Just as Nian Tao Tao had ordered, the Long Yue family had sent Qing Yue this talisman in the shortest time possible.
“Stick close to me, vice-captain.”
Blinking her eyes, Li Xue hugs onto Qing Yue, who pastes the talisman onto her own body. Immediately, a protective veil surrounds them like a blanket.
“Will we survive?”
Towards Li Xue’s question, Qing Yue shakes her head with uncertainty.
“I don’t know.”
“I should have offed Ye Chen when I had the chance…”
A look of amazement appears on Qing Yue’s face in response to Li Xue’s remark, as she asks—
“Is that going to be your last words, vice-captain?”
“Who knows?”
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.
Chapter 45
Taking aim at Chen Lan’s back, Long Hua extends his fishing rod, and casts his line out.
As the rock that is tied to the end of the line approaches Chen Lan—
“Ah!”
Woken up by a sharp sense of pain—that originates from his right shoulder blade, Chen Lan snaps his eyes wide open, and leaps off the floor.
“Damn…!”
As Chen Lan grimaces in pain, Yu Ji smirks in seeing Long Hua giving the former the same style of wake-up treatment.
“Hurts, doesn’t it? Good, it means you’re still alive.”
Repeating the words that Long Hua had said to her when she had woken up, Yu Ji’s smirk widens.
“Yu Ji and…? Surnamed Long?”
Raising an eye towards Chen Lan, Long Hua asks—
“Ai, surnamed Chen, why the glare?”
“Why the glare? Surnamed Long, if it weren’t for you and your fishing rod, I wouldn’t have lost four storage pouches, and ended up having my salary cut for the month!”
“Surnamed Long, grudges over a salary aren’t easy to sate.”
Judging by Yu Ji’s solemn tone when she said this, she seems to be speaking from experience.
Shrugging a shoulder, Long Hua replies—
“Your skills were lacking, why look to me as an excuse?”
Ignoring Long Hua’s words, Chen Lan draws out his Relic—which takes on the form of a single-edged saber, sheathed inside of a black scabbard. The entirety of the weapon seems to be about three feet in length.
“…”
Taking a step forward, Chen Lan closes the gap between Long Hua and himself.
With his weapon partially drawn, and with Long Hua within striking distance, Chen Lan is confident in his ability to lop off the enemy’s head, however—
(Emperor, mortal realm’s greatest authority.)
“…!”
As soon as Long Hua takes a step forward with his left hand clenched into a fist, cold sweat flows from Chen Lan’s pores—causing his complexion to pale.
(The hell is this?!)
Facing Long Hua, who had only released the air of his Martial Emperor’s Step, Chen Lan feels as if he is facing a monster that can swallow him whole—making his charge look as if he is willingly delivering himself into a monster’s maw.
(I need to retreat!)
Stomping the ground beneath his feet hard, Chen Lan immediately leaps backwards.
“…!”
Similarly, to Chen Lan, Yu Ji also takes a few steps back in response to Long Hua’s current air.
“Planning to run?”
Swinging his right hand, Long Hua casts his line out.
“…!”
Just as the line begins to run a second coil around him, Chen Lan positions his saber directly in front of his chest; however—
*Chi! Chi! Chi!* contrary to Chen Lan’s expectations—of his saber being able to sever the line, sparks are what flies, as his Relic is made to contend against Long Hua’s sword Qi.
Having been caught off guard, the line manages to run three circles around Chen Lan, and upon it cutting into his clothes, Long Hua dismisses a portion of the sword Qi—to prevent Chen Lan from being cut into pieces.
Pulling the fishing rod back, Long Hua drags Chen Lan towards him, while throwing his left fist out.
“Ah!”
Taking a punch to the gut, Chen Lan raises a miserable shriek.
Drawing in a deep breath, Chen Lan asks—
“S-Surnamed Long, you…? What kind of fishing rod is this?”
“Simply an ordinary fishing rod.”
“My ass! What kind of line could possibly withstand the sharpness of a Relic?”
Heaving a heavy sigh, Long Hua answers—
“…Fine, I’ll be honest with you. This fishing rod is an Immortal’s magic treasure that I brought off the internet.”
“Bullshit!”
“Ahn?”
“…”
Walking over, Tian Cheng silently offers to hold the fishing rod for Long Hua, to which, the latter accepts.
Taking out his unfinished cigar and lighting it, Long Hua sucks in the fume—before exhaling it right to Chen Lan’s face.
Changing the topic, Long Hua says—
“Surnamed Chen, you have information that I want in your head. So, time to cough it up.”
“Heh. You want to know about the inner workings of the Ashen River Hall, do you? Well too bad! You won’t get anything out of me!”
Automatically assuming this to be what Long Hua wishes to know, Chen Lan smirks with confidence in his ability to withstand torment, to which, the former replies—
“Are you certain? If you speak now, we could still be friends.”
“Piss off!”
Heaving a sigh, Long Hua drops his bag, and takes out a pair of paw pad gauntlets, and puts them on.
“Uh…?”
Seeing the odd gauntlets, Chen Lan can’t help but look on in confusion.
“Eat this!”
*Nyan!* as soon as Long Hua’s right fist that is covered by the paw pad gauntlets lands onto Chen Lan’s face, a cat’s cry goes off.
*Nyan! Nyan! Nyan! Nyan! Nyan!* treating Chen Lan as a sandbag, Long Hua throws out a barrage of punches—that are followed by both Chen Lan’s miserable shrieks and a cat’s cry.
“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Aaaahh!”
“Surnamed Chen, you ready to talk or not?”
“Surnamed Long, just kill me! Kill me and be done with it!”
Despite having taken so many hits—that could have killed him more than ten times over, Chen Lan doesn’t know why he still isn’t any closer to death.
“Oh? Still have the galls to call me surnamed Long, do you?”
*Nyan!* landing a heavy hit onto Chen Lan’s abdomen, Long Hua adds—
“Call me lord, grandfather, or ancestor!”
Towards Long Hua’s words, the Tai Xuan Emperor thought—
(The man who made numerous geniuses call him ancestor is back!)
“…”
Watching Chen Lan, who is being pummeled to the point of having his bruises turn purple, Yu Ji’s expression stiffens completely. She’s a bit concerned that at this rate, Chen Lan might just croak before he can even say anything useful.
“Speak, asshole!”
“I… Pui!”
Dodging Chen Lan’s spit, Long Hua glares at the former with winter like coldness.
“………”
“…?!”
As Long Hua gradually lowers his glare—towards a specific part of his body, Chen Lan is quick to notice.
“Surnamed Chen, I have a technique here that anyone can use, and it’s called “Severing Children and Grandchildren Strike,” let’s see how many times you can withstand it.”
“S-Surna…- I’m w-warning you, don’t come any closer!”
Almost as soon as Long Hua had said these words, the colors of purple that are on Chen Lan’s body whiten by a single shade, as he struggles to break out of his bindings with evident desperation.
“What’s wrong?”
Placing a hand onto Chen Lan’s right shoulder, Long Hua asks—
“Weren’t you going to call me surnamed Long again? Weren’t your lips supposed to be difficult to pry open? Weren’t you proud of your abilities to withstand torment? Aren’t you a man, who had undergone specialized training to withstand interrogations? In that case, this shouldn’t be anything difficult to withstand, right?”
“Quit shoving words down my mouth, I-I…-!”
Without waiting for Chen Lan to organize his thoughts, Long Hua takes aim, and strikes with his right fist.
“…!!!”
*Nyan!* immediately, a scream—that is of a far higher pitch than anything before it, comes out of Chen Lan’s mouth.