Out on the relatively emptied streets, Long Hua turns to Tian Cheng, who is behind him by an arm's length, and asks—
"Well? Anything on that Lan Si Restaurant?"
"Mostly public information of no importance, nothing on the proprietress."
Continuing to move, Long Hua contemplates the matter. The fact that Bai Wen and Zhen Qing Huai were both warning him of the proprietress is rather telling of her being a major issue.
(Considered a Ling Yuan family clansman, but doesn't take orders from them… They should be a practitioner if they're considered a clansman. And if they are, I wonder what realm of cultivation they possess? If it's enough to make Bai Wen wary… Probably higher than the Nascent Soul realm?)
Thinking of this, and deciding to avoid the proprietress, if at all possible, Long Hua asks—
"When will the restaurant receive their next shipment of auction items?"
"Tomorrow. Around ten at night is when the aircrafts that carry those items are expected to land at the airport."
"I see. Any ideas on what items are being carried in?"
"Unfortunately not."
Raising a sigh, Long Hua replies—
"Figured as much. Well, guess we'll find out tomorrow night then. Do you at least have information on which runway those planes will land on?"
"I do."
With their plans for tomorrow night set, Long Hua is just about to draw his bike out of the storage pouch; however—
"Hm?"
Seeing a somewhat familiar figure leaning a hand against a street post, Long Hua tilts his head.
The person is dressed in a light brown jacket with a pair of black jeans and short boots.
Upon getting closer to the individual, Long Hua recognizes them to be—
"Xiao Chen Chen?"
"…!"
Being called by this humiliating nickname, Chen Lan can immediately guess who is behind him.
Turning around, Chen Lan confirms his guess, and says—
"Su-"
"Ahn?"
"…Ancestor."
Facing Long Hua, who is quick to put on a thuggish expression, Chen Lan immediately changes his way of addressing the former.
Relaxing his expression, Long Hua asks—
"So, what's up with the long face, Xiao Chen Chen?"
"Uh…"
Averting his eyes away from Long Hua with a hopeless expression on his face, Chen Lan sighs, and eventually says—
"The doctor said… I… I can't get it up anymore."
"…?"
At first, Long Hua is a bit confused by what Chen Lan had meant, but then—
(Ah, she did hit him down there. But still… He's a weapon spirit; whether he could get it up or not, it hardly matters, does it? Hmm, in their Weapon Spirit True Body state, one of the ways to kill them—is by convincing them that they have truly died. In that case, isn't it basically just an issue of Xiao Chen Chen believing too strongly in the fact that his manhood had been crippled? Well, it's not my issue, so-)
Just as Long Hua thought to say goodbye, he suddenly thought of something else, causing him to change his mind, as he says—
"Xiao Chen Chen, being unable to get it up isn't anything to be ashamed of. Pass a certain age, all human males will eventually be diagnosed with erectile dysfunction. It's just a natural part of life."
"B-But… Ancestor, I still haven't gotten married yet! I still haven't fathered a child yet! I-I want to retire with a wife by my side, and with children to tend to my basic needs as I get older!"
Amidst these words, tears begin to form around the corners of Chen Lan's dark eyes, to which, Long Hua shrugs his shoulders, and replies—
"If you want children, adoption is always an option."
"…But blood related would still be ideal; family bonds would be stronger then."
Purposefully responding to these words with silence, Long Hua waits for a bit before raising a sigh, and replies—
"Truth be told, your disability isn't incurable."
In response to these words, Chen Lan stares at Long Hua with eyes of hope, while thinking—
(Su-… Ancestor is an alpha male; he might really have a way to deal with this.)
Facing Chen Lan's anticipation-filled eyes, Long Hua smiles, and takes out a healing pill, while explaining—
"This pill is something that I found in the ruins. There were two of them, and when I got wounded during my exchange with the two Immortals in black, I swallowed one of them—resulting in all my wounds being cured."
"Th-Then…!"
"Your disability should be cured with this."
Licking his lips, Chen Lan swallows his own spit.
"But…"
Closing his right hand, and hiding the pill away, Long Hua looks to the gear-filled night skies with reluctance, to which, Chen Lan quickly says—
"Ancestor, I know how valuable that pill is! If you wish to know more about the Ashen River Hall, I'm more than willing to divulge a few more secrets!"
Raising an eye, Long Hua asks—
"Oh? Then… What about that device—that the hall used, to bring reinforcements into the ruins?"
"Ah, that's…"
As Chen Lan opens and closes his mouth with clear hesitation in his eyes, Long Hua patiently waits for the former to make up their mind, while thinking—
(For a human male, being unable to get it up at his age is definitely something to be ashamed of. Especially so if he already has a significant other. Ai, imagine heading into the bedroom—ready to do the deed, only for the girl to find out that her partner can't get it up. For a man, such an awkward situation is definitely trauma-inducing.)
(…)
Looking at the situation from within the dreamscape, the Tai Xuan Emperor—who is the culprit behind Chen Lan's disability, shakes her head in a speechless manner.
Eventually—
"Ai…"
Believing his manhood to be more important than one of the hall's secrets, Chen Lan decides to speak, as he says—
"Ancestor, the device they used is called a "Ripper." It's something that was recovered from one of the inner domain ruins."
"Oh? How does it work?"
Taking out a star-shaped ruby from his storage pouch, Chen Lan shows it to Long Hua, and explains—
"This is used as a marker for the Ripper to pinpoint coordinates. However, just one isn't very effective. Basically, the more markers that are gathered in one place, the more accurate the device will be."
"I see. So that's why you had everyone gather on one side back then. Hmm."
Muttering this, Long Hua frowns, while thinking—
(I wonder… If I managed to obtain this device, could I use it to escape from this world? I'm pretty sure, I'd be able to upgrade its functionalities with the Divine Weapon of Tai Xuan. If I could somehow get Zhen-laoban, or Lao Bai to take a storage pouch's worth of markers with them into the Everlasting Spirit Realm…)
Tossing the healing pill over to Chen Lan, Long Hua asks—
"How many of these devices are there?"
Catching the pill, Chen Lan answers—
"There's less than ten, as far as I'm aware of."
"Hmm."
"It's also what was used by the hall to enter the outer domain after numerous trials. I don't think it will be easy to acquire one for yourself, ancestor."
"Indeed. …Whatever, you're free to go. If I think of anything else that I want to ask… Well, shall see then."
Directing a bow at Long Hua, Chen Lan immediately swallows the pill.
Rather quickly, Chen Lan feels his body's temperature rise at an exponential rate, and with a tone of excitement, he reports—
"Ancestor, I feel like I can get it up again!"
"I see. Well, congrats on getting your confidence as a man back."
"I'm going to try and hit up some girls!"
Having said this, Chen Lan turns the other way, and runs off.
"Was giving up a healing pill truly worth it, master?"
Towards Tian Cheng's question, Long Hua shrugs his shoulders, and answers—
"There's value in knowing that there are more methods of escaping from the Leng Bing Realm available. I'd say it's worth it."
Raising a sigh, Long Hua turns his gaze towards the gear-filled skies once more, and mutters—
"A proper human being should live in the real world—under a clear blue sky; that little girl doesn't seem to know that the weapon spirits of this world were once practitioners."
"…Does master still consider yourself to be an object? In that case, where should an object live?"
"As vast as Heaven and Earth is, is it vast enough for there to be a place for me—if I were to become a mindless monster? Should I fail to devour the curse… I at least would want to die like a human, and be buried in a place that I can call my own."
Saying this, Long Hua chokes out a laugh of self-mockery, and adds—
"Shizun's main reason for raising me… It was so that I could kill him. …I do not know the reason why he had wished for his own death, but I can kind of understand his thought process in not wanting to die as something, or someone that he isn't."