NOVEL NEXT AZI Volume 6 Chapter 45
Continuing to chase after Long Hua and Tian Cheng’s back, the group eventually sees a pathway down.
And judging by the pathway’s zigzagging structure—that is pressed onto the mountain’s side, it seems to be manmade.
“Found you!”
Rushing out of the forest, Qing Ming Yang has an expression of excitement on his face; however—
“…?!”
“…”
Facing Long Hua—who is smiling at him with amusement, Qing Ming Yang nearly drops his weapon.
“…?!”
Similarly, Lin Yu Heng also has a look of horror and shock on his face, as he finds Long Hua standing in front of him the moment he emerges out of the forest.
“Surnamed-”
Just as Lin Yu Heng is about to ask what’s the meaning of this misfortunate encounter, those who were following them also emerge from the forest.
“…”
Unable to voice his question aloud, Lin Yu Heng grits his teeth, whereas the Ling Yuan family’s practitioners remark—
“Qing-xiong, there’s quite a few here. Aren’t we lucky?”
“Hahaha, this is great.”
Towards the words that were said by their clansmen, both Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng had the urge to throw up blood, as they respectively thought—
(Great? How is this situation great?)
(This is utter misfortune!)
If they had encountered Long Hua with their full force, this would have surely been a great situation; however, the number of people who had followed them here is less than ten.
The others—who had allowed blood to get to their heads, had separated from the group to chase after weapon spirits of interest, despite being told repeatedly not to do so.
In response to this encounter, the weapon spirits behind Long Hua remarks—
“Immortals?”
“Tch, the hell are they doing here?”
“Does it matter? Kill them.”
Drawing out their Relics, or triggering their Weapon Spirit True Body states, the weapon spirits prepared themselves for combat.
“…”
“…”
Meeting eyes with Lin Yu Heng, Qing Ming Yang gestures with his eyes for the former to go first, to which, the latter gestures the opposite.
Being put in an awkward position, Qing Ming Yang clears his throat, and says—
“You all… Can go first. Lin-xiong and I, we’ll guard the perimeter. Remember, conserve your spirit Qi—unless it’s an emergency.”
Deciding to toss this pot of trouble over to their clansmen, Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng step aside.
“…”
Maintaining his gaze on Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng, Long Hua raises an eye; and faster than anyone can hope to react, he and Tian Cheng charge at the two.
“This speed…?!”
“How fast…?!”
Exaggerating their expression of shock, and even going as far as to borrow the momentum of the two’s strike to their advantage, the four enter the forest, and distance themselves from the others.
In the same instance—
“Attack!”
“Kill them!”
Ye Chen and the others begin to exchange blows with the practitioners of the Ling Yuan family.
Amidst the swing of her spear, Li Xue frowns, and thought—
(That Immortal in the black robes, his weapon seemed somewhat familiar…?)
Regrettably, Li Xue doesn’t have the leisure to think about the appearance of Qing Ming Yang’s weapon, as she turns her full focus onto the practitioner in front of her.
………
“…”
“…”
Having distanced themselves from the masses by a considerable amount, Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng exchanged a glance—prior to halting their movements at the same time.
Following this, Long Hua and Tian Cheng also ceased to give chase.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
With a few meters of distance between them, tension fills the air, as the two parties stare each other down.
“…”
Amidst the pouring rain, the expression of amusement on Long Hua’s face—as he looks to Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng, it feels much more sinister.
Eventually—
*Thud!* Qing Ming Yang drops his weapon and kneels, while clasping his hands together.
“Junior greets senior.”
“…Junior greets senior.”
Following Qing Ming Yang, Lin Yu Heng does the same.
Placing his hands behind his back, Long Hua replies—
“Mm, rise.”
Simultaneously, Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng rise off the muddy ground—without bothering to cleanse away the dirty waters that have stained the lower portion of their robes.
Turning to Qing Ming Yang, Long Hua remarks—
“Surnamed Qing, you want to ask why, correct?”
Nodding his head, Qing Ming Yang replies—
“Indeed, why? Why is it that my marker is with senior, instead of that Chen Shi family’s little girl?”
“Well, I needed a way to make you come to me—if you were to bring a large group of stuffed practitioners with you, don’t I?”
Twitching his lips subtly, Qing Ming Yang replies—
“I…- Ai, junior didn’t think things through enough. I should have left senior with an actual object that can-”
Cutting Qing Ming Yang off, Long Hua goes on to remark—
“I figured that the Ling Yuan family’s management would have assigned you to lead another investigation, do you know why?”
“I…- Senior, why?”
“Because the enmity between you and I are rooted into the bones, I made sure of that when I crippled you.”
“…”
Facing Long Hua, the expression on Qing Ming Yang’s face can only be described with the word despairing.
This feeling that Qing Ming Yang is currently experiencing, it’s akin to playing a game of Go with a master, who is always ten moves ahead of him at every turn.
Satisfied with Qing Ming Yang’s current state of mind, Long Hua explains—
“When surnamed Xia died, you were destined to make a report that puts emphasis on urgency, or at the very least, hint at it. That way the Ling Yuan family would have been quick to make arrangements to resume investigations. And as you were the one to have stayed the longest during the previous investigation, you would have been the ideal person to lead this one as well—because you’re already deeply involved in this situation as it is. No doubt, the elder you were reporting to, they must’ve also felt it to be convenient to pick you, since you just so happened to be right in front of him when you made such a report. Piling all these circumstances together, and with your marker in my hand… Inevitably, you would have appeared in front of me again—the moment you re-entered the Leng Bing Realm.”