Chapter 137: 132 The Agreement

Tang Zhao's heart stirred, and he said, "The gathering begins on the twelfth of the second month and usually ends by the seventeenth. If one performs well, they can stay until the twenty-fourth."

Deputy Envoy Mai pondered, "The twenty-fourth, eh? That's a month from today. Jianzhou is in Kungang, thousands of miles away. If you leave a month early, the return trip will take more than half a month, right? I'm afraid that won't be enough time..."

Tang Zhao said, "We are traveling slowly on the way there for the sake of training. If we want to be faster, not to mention teleportation, just using my Senior Brother..."

Just then, the sound of hooves rang out. A donkey came galloping from the end of the road, its four hooves moving so fast they were like a windmill, blurring into afterimages. In the blink of an eye, it swept past Tang Zhao and the other, kicking up a great cloud of dust, and headed down another path.

On the wind, he heard him laugh, "Junior Brother, have you ever heard of the tortoise and the hare race?"

Tang Zhao: "..."

Of course he had heard of it; he was the one who had told it to his Senior Brother—but that wasn't the point.

There were other people here!

Deputy Envoy Mai smoothed back the bangs blown up by the wind and said, "Your Senior Brother?"

Tang Zhao let out an "uh," unable to deny it, so he had to nod and say, "Yes, he is actually usually..."

Deputy Envoy Mai suddenly laughed, "Still young at heart, I see. At your age, isn't that quite normal? And looking at it this way, you two brothers get along quite well."

Seeing them fooling around, one could tell they definitely enjoyed each other's company; otherwise, the more distant the relationship, the more polite they would be, putting on a show of brotherly affection in front of outsiders. Tang Zhao acting mature in front of Deputy Envoy Mai was also because, after all, they weren't real siblings.

Tang Zhao scratched his head and said, "His temperament is a bit childish, but his strength is very high, especially his speed. Using his Art Tool to travel, one can cover a thousand miles in a day."

Actually, the speed of Sword Art is also very fast, but Sword Art consumes a great deal, especially when controlling an Art Tool; it is almost impossible to travel long distances that way. Jiang Shenyi's wings are more reliable.

Deputy Envoy Mai was very skeptical about how one could cover a thousand miles a day relying on that donkey, but she still said, "If you can return to Yunzhou by the end of the second month, come to Xun City and take a look."

Tang Zhao was secretly delighted and said, "For the Demon Cave? Is there a shortage of manpower? Is there a place where I am needed?"

In fact, the Land Inspection Division was not short of manpower. Previously, when Xing Ji pulled him into the fold, it was more for the Xiezhi Sword itself. Moreover, in recent years, the Gaoyuan Marquis's foundation in Yunzhou had become increasingly stable, and the Training Camp he personally established was producing talent in a steady stream. The Land Inspection Division was flourishing more and more, so there was really no need to invite help from those below the level of Sword Guest.

Deputy Envoy Mai said, "Manpower is sufficient. Xun City is the seat of Riyang Jun and also one of the top cities in Yunzhou. There are more people in the Land Inspection Division there than there were in Yuxia Jun back then. Combat power is not lacking. It's just that this Demon Cave is special; it should be an Empty Type."

Tang Zhao said in surprise, "Empty Type? That's very rare!"

An Empty Type Demon Cave is a Demon Cave that appears directly as a spatial entrance, connecting to another space. Strictly speaking, it might not even be called a Demon Cave, because the space doesn't necessarily contain Heavenly Demons—though, of course, it is possible there is a large group of Heavenly Demons. It is a proper Blind Box.

This kind of Demon Cave is extremely rare; since the founding of the Great Jin, they could be counted on one's fingers, and at least in Yunzhou, one had never been heard of. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to handle. It forms in an instant upon connecting with the outer realms and cannot be interrupted, and thus cannot be eradicated. The best method is...

"Do you have a way to seal the entrance of a Demon Cave?"

Tang Zhao pondered and said, "I don't know how right now. I can ask my Master." He had limited time and hadn't delved into such obscure, useless knowledge. Fortunately, he had the owl with him, so he could let it go back to deliver a message and ask Xue Xianyun if there was any way.

"If Master doesn't know either, I will go to Jianzhou to ask. After all, this is the domain of Talisman Sword Masters, and the Mid-Spring Gathering is a grand event for Talisman Sword Masters across the world. I imagine someone will know."

Deputy Envoy Mai nodded and said, "Then I'll count on you. Most of us in the Land Inspection Division only know how to fight and kill; what we can do is slay the Heavenly Demons inside and keep the common people away from the Demon Cave. But this time it descended near Xun City, and the impact is not small. If the Demon Cave entrance is left there, I fear the lives of the million people in the city will be affected. It might even end up that the original site has to be abandoned. It would be best if it could be solved once and for all." She thought for a moment and added, "When you ask, it's best not to mention the specific information about the Demon Cave."

Tang Zhao nodded in agreement; he understood this point as well. A Demon Cave is a disaster, but it is also a resource. It is said that there are those with ill intentions in other provinces who deliberately leave Demon Caves alone just to constantly harvest the resources inside. Empty Type Demon Caves are especially precious and so rare that there might well be those among the Talisman Sword Masters who harbor evil intentions.

Having set the agreement with Deputy Envoy Mai to return to Xun City at the end of the second month, the two chatted a bit more before Tang Zhao took his leave.

Riding on the donkey, Tang Zhao once again used Raising Rosy Clouds to fly forward, his emotions surging.

Pacifying Demon Caves and restoring peace to the Human World had been a long-cherished wish buried in his heart since he was a child. It was just that he hadn't had the opportunity in several years. Now that he had encountered a Demon Cave again, and it was exactly where his own learning could be put to use, he couldn't help but feel high-spirited. Compared to this, the Jianzhou gathering he had prepared for for three years was secondary. In an instant, he wished he could jump straight to the end of the gathering and return here to pacify this Demon Cave.

Having seen the human tragedy back then, he had never forgotten it for a single day.

After riding for a while, Tang Zhao calculated that he should have caught up to Jiang Shenyi. He was just thinking about what harsh words he should say when he overtook him, but who would have thought that after chasing for a long time, he still hadn't seen Jiang Shenyi's back.

After traveling for another while, the One Yuan Power was already exhausted. Tang Zhao reined in the donkey, thinking: Could it be that I missed him?

Since they had agreed on the One Yuan Power, there was an upper limit to the distance they could travel. Tang Zhao believed his Rune Formula used the Yuan Power more efficiently; it was absolutely impossible for a situation to arise where he had stopped while Jiang Shenyi was still ahead.

This was troublesome.

The two had set out together; once they took the wrong path, it wouldn't be easy to find each other again.

He would have to wait on the road; otherwise, the further he went, the more wrong it would be, and he would only be able to reunite in Jianzhou.

Actually, it wasn't impossible to go to Jianzhou separately. The two had high martial arts, so safety was certainly not a problem, and they weren't afraid of trouble on the road, but this was just too unreliable. Master and Senior Sister still thought he was reliable, which was why they handed the task of persuading Senior Brother to him. Could it be that they had barely set out before they were both going to drop the ball?

Recalling carefully, since they left home, the two had indeed done nothing reliable while flying together.

This wouldn't do—Tang Zhao thought, blowing his whistle, and the thin, long whistle sound traveled far away.

An owl flew over and landed on Tang Zhao's shoulder. Tang Zhao instructed, "Go find Eighth Senior Brother. After you find him, tell him to stay where he is, then come back and tell me, and I will go to meet him."

Watching the owl fly away, Tang Zhao thought: Using an owl to send messages takes time to go back and forth; it's ultimately not convenient enough. It seems I should make an Art Tool for instant communication. What was that thing Chen Zong mentioned that only needed a string of numbers to talk to each other called again?

To make that thing, what Rune Formula would be needed?

While the owl flew away, Tang Zhao pondered the Rune Formula composition of a "mobile phone." He pondered for half a day, even having thought of the arrangement of the buttons, before he saw the owl fly back.

The owl did not land, but instead circled above his head, turning three times.

Enemy situation!

The owl raised by Xue Yeyu was extremely spiritual. Although it could not speak, it could convey messages through its flight posture, cries, and so on. As soon as Tang Zhao saw the way it flew, he knew Jiang Shenyi was in a fight.

Careless!

I didn't expect Jiang Shixiong to have encountered an enemy.

Could it be mountain bandits?

Public security in Yunzhou was quite good. Unless one was in the deep mountains and old forests, one wouldn't easily encounter highway robbers. Even those notorious black-market gangs wouldn't dare to rob carriages on the official road. But this place was already close to the border of Lingzhou, which was a notoriously chaotic place; perhaps there were bandits who had crossed the line to harass travelers.

Wasn't the notorious Baixiong Mountain in Lingzhou? Eldest Senior Brother had offended them; who knew if this wasn't revenge?

Moreover, Jiang Shixiong wasn't carrying heavy luggage and was dressed quite elegantly. If some blind bandit mistook him for a fat sheep...

No, since it was a fight, there was naturally give and take. How could ordinary bandits be a match for Jiang Shixiong? That must be a figure like a bandit leader, at the very least a Loose Practitioner.

Tang Zhao pondered as he followed the owl forward.

The owl flew for a while, then suddenly changed direction and left the official road.

Tang Zhao was startled. Everything was fine, so why leave the official road? The two of them had only felt at ease to compete because there was only one official road and it was hard to get separated. Why would Jiang Shenyi leave the official road on his own?

On both sides of the official road, there was only desolate dense forest, not even a village. What was he going down there for?

It couldn't be to relieve himself, could it?

Could it be that he didn't go down voluntarily, but was forced to?

Did someone stop him on the official road and use some means to force him to leave the official road and enter the dense forest?

Thinking along the way, Tang Zhao followed the owl into the woods.

As soon as he entered the woods, he saw a donkey tied under a tree; it was precisely Jiang Shenyi's donkey.

Tang Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. The donkey was tied up well, which at least proved that Jiang Shenyi's situation was not very urgent; otherwise, he could have just left the donkey outside to wander off, or if he had encountered a vicious criminal, he might even have killed the donkey with a single strike.

After thinking it over, he also tied his own donkey nearby and entered the dense forest alone. Of course, he could not go without taking out his Lihuo Sword; if he saw that the situation was wrong, he would activate his Mimicry, which would at least allow him to hold his own against a Sword Guest. Then, by joining forces with Jiang Shenyi, even if they encountered a wild Sword Guest, they would surely be able to retreat unscathed.

The further he went in, the more Tang Zhao slowed his pace, until finally, human voices reached his ears.

From far away, he heard a familiar voice say: "Watch closely, let us decide the victor in the way of a Talisman Sword Master!"

What on earth?

Tang Zhao was momentarily stunned. That sentence just now was spoken by Jiang Shenyi, and it clearly was not him talking to himself.

Was he saying it to his opponent? Had they started fighting, or had they not?

And what is the way of a Talisman Sword Master? How exactly does one decide a victor? By comparing whose Rune Formula is written better, or whose Art Tool is crafted better?

Does that mean the opponent is a Talisman Sword Master?

Two people flashed through Tang Zhao's mind. Since he knew Jiang Shenyi was unharmed, he simply stopped hiding his footsteps and moved closer, only to hear two voices from the opposite side shout simultaneously: "Who?"

He heard Jiang Shenyi immediately reply: "My junior brother has arrived. He is also a Talisman Sword Master. Perfect, let's make it two-on-two, so neither side has an advantage."

Tang Zhao was taken aback. He walked a few more steps, and the view before him suddenly opened up. It turned out there was a clearing in the woods where three people were standing in a triangle, looking at each other. As soon as he entered, the four of them each occupied a side, completing the four corners.

Just as he stood steady, he heard the sound of wind, and a woman opposite him threw something at him. Tang Zhao instinctively dodged to the side, and Jiang Shenyi said: "Catch it!"