Chapter Fourteen
-Yu Shaohan-
“Okay.” I raised my hand, admitting with a sigh, “I really am lost.”
Xiao Lan's azure eyes had completely lost their passion. "Ah, I guessed it." She listlessly looked up. "In this little corridor, I've gained a new appreciation for your terrible sense of direction. Just how awful must someone's sense of direction be to get lost seven times in ten minutes, find three dead ends, and finally stumble upon the restroom by sheer luck, only to discover they'd accidentally wandered to the second floor... You really, really, I'm speechless."
I can tell you're really speechless. Honestly, even with a limited vocabulary, you can't be this lacking.
"So what do we do now?" I winked at her, feigning innocence. "It's up to you!"
"...What can I do?" Xiao Lan squatted on the ground. "Do I have clairvoyance?"
Do I really have to be so blunt? I said sincerely, "Although Lan doesn't have clairvoyance, you do have a sense of smell that's arguably the best in the world!"
"..."
"Are you secretly calling me a dog-sniffering again?"
"No."
"have."
"No," I finally uttered, and a loud bang came from directly below us. Xiao Lan and I both had strange expressions on our faces at the same time. We looked at each other and instantly understood each other's thoughts.
"It's up to you now." I hummed a song in a good mood, patted Xiao Lan's shoulder, then immediately stepped back several meters. I then cupped my hands into a megaphone shape and shouted at her, word by word, "Okay, you can—start—now—!"
Yes, astute readers have already guessed what we're about to do—we're going to blow up the building.
I swear, I really did hear Maki's muffled groan and Inujima's hoarse voice saying "Stop" after that loud noise downstairs.
"Hurry up!" I urged. "We've already wasted so much time! We still don't know what terrible things the Monkey King has done to them!"
Xiao Lan moved her lips slightly, seemingly muttering something, but I couldn't hear it clearly. However, I guessed it was something like, "It's clearly because of you that we wasted so much time."
This little rant—especially since it came from my old buddy Xiao Lan—is nothing to me; it won't hurt me or anything.
Without me urging him again, Xiao Lan had already drawn his Instant Sword. After a few sword moves that I couldn't understand, the seemingly heavy floor trembled twice and then quickly cracked open.
I:"……"
Although this wasn't the first time I'd witnessed Xiao Lan's terrifying combat prowess, it still left me in awe.
“You go down by yourself…” Xiao Lan raised an eyebrow at me—I reasonably suspect she was getting revenge for me getting lost at the beginning and causing her to walk several extra miles. “Or should I take you down?”
"Forget it." I smiled at her. "What you mean by 'sending me down' is probably just kicking me off the building. In that case, you don't need to bother."
"Okay, you go first."
"...I'll go first, then I'll go first."
Taking a deep breath and mentally preparing myself, I subtly moved to the furthest point from Xiao Lan. One's strength wanes with each step, and eventually, exhaustion follows. I held my breath and leaped down with all my might—
Do you think I'm scared?
No, I was thinking about what pose I should strike after landing!
I landed firmly on my feet, and even while still in the air, I did a somersault and a spin. My movements were absolutely perfect; I give this move a perfect score!
"Hey hey hey! Lady Shaohan has made a dazzling appearance! Where's the applause? Where's the cheers? And where's the Monkey King?"
In short, I got carried away.
The soul floated so high it was oblivious to the world around it, even proudly performing a "Good Luck" square dance in mid-air. Then, it turned its head and saw the Monkey King's gaze towards the monkeys (what kind of gaze was that?), and the soul, still dancing "Good Luck," instantly vanished, finally struggling to return to its body.
"Hey! What kind of monster are you! You audacious demon, I'm not afraid of you!"
“Imitating Sun Wukong won’t give you courage, Shaohan,” Xiao Lan said.
That damned brat Xiao Lan, he made me jump down from up there, but he leisurely rode down on his sword himself... Humph, anyway, he's still not as handsome as me.
Xiao Lan sniffed hard, a hint of doubt in her eyes, but she couldn't ask anything. She glanced around: "Where are Maki, Thorn, Panda, and Yuta?"
"Are you holding a massive military parade for the Khan?" I casually remarked. "But that is indeed a problem."
“We’re here…” Maki struggled to get up from the ground. “Be careful, he’s really strong.”
“He is a rare shikigami user,” Panda added seriously.
Dog-Turtle began to nod; he could barely utter a word now.
"Wow." Xiao Lan was startled and stammered, "Where...where...where did you all come from?"
"We've always been here, you just haven't seen us," Panda retorted.
I quickly pulled out a throat lozenge from my pocket. My throat had been itchy for the past couple of days, so I'd been carrying one with me. Dog-Curl took one out, popped it into his mouth, and finally felt a bit better. I asked, "The three of you are here...where's Youtai?"
"Yuta was just fighting with him... and then suddenly he disappeared." Maki struggled to sit up straight. "Tell me! Where did you hide Yuta?!"
Xia Youjie's expression seemed much stranger: "You shouldn't have asked me that."
"If I don't ask you, who should I ask?" Although I don't usually get along with Maki (only an idiot like Xiao Lan would think we're good friends), since this concerns the safety of my classmate, I put my hands on my hips and chimed in, "Exactly, if I don't ask you, who should I ask? A ghost?"
The Monkey King smirked, seemingly uninterested in continuing our nonsense: "If that's how you want to think, there's nothing I can do about it."
"Let's just start fighting."
Upon hearing the words "start the fight," Xiao Lan's expression instantly turned serious. She flew to my side on her sword (though she hadn't even dismounted yet) and informed me, "Plan P."
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