Lang Huo alone remained on the stage after Yin Long vanished in that flash of light, the corners of her lips curved up gently, a tinge of anticipation at their very edge. She would have to start collecting points from the very start again, but that fact barely registered in her mind due to how thrilled she was. But as she turned away to step down from the stage, a somewhat aged voice echoed out inside her head.

"If your plan was to push him into the limelight and show off his strength so that none would dare make a move against him then you should have also pulled out the Netherworld energy he kept tucked away. That way, the louses clinging to that depraved thing would have scurried out from under their rocks to defend him."

Lang Huo's steps didn't falter despite the sudden appearance of the voice, her expression didn't even change all that much. The only visible change was that the curvature of her lips twisted a little, an almost derisive chuckle slipping from her lips.

"He doesn't need them to protect him, nor does he need that energy to terrify people to the point of not daring to go against him. Didn't you see those moves, the technique and skill? He alone is enough to bring all dissent to its knees, he alone has always been enough."

Yin Long's moves had practically seared themselves into her mind. She had almost gone all-out, only keeping back a few moves, but he had met her head-on every time and negated everything she tried. And who was to say that he hadn't kept a few moves tucked away himself? He had grown at a speed she couldn't comprehend, reached a realm where she couldn't truly see through him and his tricks. He didn't need any help from the Netherworld, the dragon would be able to soar above all even if he was alone.

"You people keep saying that, don't need this, don't need that. But in the end, you always come crawling when the chance shows itself. You beg for power to decimate your enemies, then you beg for salvation when the time to pay the price has come. You just keep asking and asking, and then you grandstand with your chests puffed out whenever you're confronted about it."

The voice in Lang Huo's head snorted somewhat coldly, matching her derision with his own disdain. Normally, Lang Huo wouldn't be above getting into an argument with this geezer, but right now her mood was so good that she only laughed at him.

"You say that, but we never asked, did we? He never asked for the Netherworld to help him, nor has he asked anyone to save him from them. And I didn't ask for you, yet here you are, babbling away. The Netherworld, the Celestial World, neither of us ever asked for anything from you, we don't need you. So you can just wait, he'll head up there eventually, he has a promise to fulfil after all."

She had never forgotten Yin Long's promise to her, or perhaps the promise he made to himself. One day he would drag their parents out from the Celestial World so that they could meet Lang Huo and Tang Fen's children, they would show that they were living well even after their passing.

"Hmph, you speak as if I chose to be here. Had it not been for him then we would never have been here, neither you nor me."

The owner of the voice could tell that Lang Huo was far from receptive to anything at this moment so he just snorted coldly one last time, making sure to choose the parting words that would most dampen Lang Huo's mood. And indeed, her smile cramped slightly after the snort rang out, her steps faltering for a second as her hand unconsciously traced her chest, as if she was trying to affirm the existence of her own soulsea.

--

Lan Yun woke with a startled breath, as if someone had punched her in the stomach. But rather than her stomach, it was her throat that was aching, her every breath was laboured and painful, the air practically grating against the inside of her throat. Her eyes were unfocused, the scenery around her so blurry that she couldn't immediately discern where she was. But she didn't seem to be alone, a familiar voice reaching her ears.

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"You've woken up, good. Calm your breathing, your throat has been roughed up a bit so rushed breaths will only make things worse."

Lan Yun instantly recognized the voice of Lang Ru, the familiar voice providing a bit of comfort in this strange situation. She did as Lang Ru said and calmed her breath, focusing on maintaining a slow and steady rhythm as she blinked several times to focus her eyes.

When her vision finally started to return to normal, she found herself sitting in what appeared to be a wooden room. There was a circular hole in one of the smooth walls, a large forest stretching out beyond the room. They seemed to be quite high up in the air so she guessed that they were either in a house built within one of the trees, or a hole that had been carved directly into one of the large trees.

Lang Ru was sitting a bit away from Lan Yun, her chestnut brown hair was in disarray and dirty, the right half of her face covered by a large bruise that had already turned a dark shade of blue. Lan Yun's memories were a bit muddled, and looking at Lang Ru's state she could guess that she too may have suffered a bit of trauma against her head, resulting in the hazy memories.

"I can't remember much... We were sitting and chatting when someone suddenly intruded, but that's where everything starts going dark..."

She didn't hesitate to tell Lang Ru about her state, right now they only had each other to rely on so it was imperative that both of them knew as much as possible. She could just barely recall that large figure that had barged in, the suffocating pain that his presence had brought with it. She traced her own throat after speaking, and while she couldn't see it, she could feel that a large handprint had embedded itself on her throat. She had been grabbed with such force that the imprint nearly crushed her windpipe.

"Not much more happened after that, he grabbed you by the throat and you went limp, your eyes rolling. He said something about taking what he wanted directly from our memories so he probably scoured your mind. He muttered something about being lied to, and about forcing him out to pay for it, when he was done with you, and he really didn't look too happy about it. He then grabbed my face and that's where things go dark for me, he probably did the same to me. Next thing I know, we're here, but I have no idea how much time has passed."

Lang Ru filled in the blanks in Lan Yun's memories with what little she had seen, gently rubbing the bruise on her face. Whoever had barged in had shown little mercy, she could feel that there were several cracks on her skull, just a bit more force and her head may have imploded.

"So we don't know where we are, don't know how much time has passed, don't know who attacked us. Now isn't that just great."

Lan Yun couldn't help but complain while she rubbed her throat, making sure that nothing inside had broken due to the rough treatment. Lang Ru was also silent for a bit, allowing Lan Yun to regain her bearings completely. The two then locked eyes, both realizing that they had reached the same conclusion.

"Yeah, we don't know where we are, but guessing it is easy, huh. What a shitty situation."

Lan Yun grumbled darkly, her expression dim as she looked out through the hole. She wasn't as closely attuned to space as Yin Long, but she had seen him use his law of space enough times that she was able to tell that space here was a bit strange. Lang Ru didn't have the same sensory affirmation, but she reached the same conclusion all the same.

"We've never really met, that time when we got attacked can really be considered the first time. But we clearly weren't the targets, the attacker was looking for something else, information on someone else. And just who is it that we have in common between us?"

Lang Ru spoke in a gloomy manner, a twinge of helplessness visible in her expression. The two of them really only had one person in common between them, one person that tied them together, Yin Long. So whoever had attacked them had done so because of Yin Long, because they wanted to know something about him. The fact that they had been unable to resist was bad enough, but both of them were smart women, they knew what it meant for them to have been dropped here, knew how bad it was.

"Attacked for information and then dropped into a strange space after that brusque fellow found something that displeased him. He said something about forcing him out, didn't he? That means that this is probably the inside of the Province Championship, how he got us here is beyond me though. We are bait, bait to draw out the sun."