Chapter 178: 171 Maze City

After camping out in the wild for another night, relying on the guidance of the Big Dipper and Polaris, as well as a little help from Gui Ye, Tang Zhao finally managed to return to the correct path and saw Maze City on the afternoon of the second day.

He calculated that it had been four days since he set out from White City.

There were three days left until the Rune Gathering began.

There were two and a half days left until Maze City opened the Sword Province Road.

This speed was neither fast nor slow. If everyone had set out at the same time as him, his speed would be considered fast. But he hadn't arrived at White City very early, and by the time he arrived, many people had already set out; even if they took longer on the road than he did, they still arrived at Maze City before him.

Tang Zhao stood in the distance, gazing at Maze City.

What he saw first was a dense forest.

There were forests on Kungang, but most were sparse, consisting more of meadows. This dense forest, however, was extremely lush, with a wide variety of trees, even richer than in Yunzhou, almost like the great mountain forests of the south.

Maze City was hidden within the forest.

In the distance, one could see the city walls of Maze City appearing and disappearing, along with various bizarrely shaped buildings rising above the wall tops.

On Jiugao Mountain, every True Jade Disciple's Sword Hut had its own unique features, but viewed individually, while the styles were eccentric, they were still internally harmonious and could form a complete landscape. However, if one were to crowd these Sword Huts together, gathering them into a town without any transition, it would be extremely disharmonious, even grotesque and comical.

This Maze City was just such a city.

Every building in the city had its own style; some were tall and pointed, some short and fat, some had ends that curled up, and some were top-heavy. There were some that looked like boats, water kettles, or pipes—they didn't look like houses for people to live in at all, but rather like a pile of building blocks stacked together at random.

"This Maze City has been built for twenty years, and a Rune Gathering was held here back then. It was already grotesque to begin with, and later, after Long Yuan renovated it, it went even further in the direction of the bizarre," the turtle pointed out quite professionally. "You can't tell just by looking from the outside; go inside and experience the wonders for yourself."

The gates of Maze City were open, with no one guarding them; one could enter as one pleased. There was a moat outside the city, and the city gate was extremely thick, suspended high in the air; once it dropped, it became a ten-thousand-catty sluice gate that no one could open. When Tang Zhao passed under the gate, he looked up and saw rows of sharp spikes beneath it, as if countless sharp swords were hanging over his head.

Once he entered Maze City, Tang Zhao finally understood what "bizarre" meant.

Outside, he could only see the shapes of the buildings, but only upon entering could he clearly see the materials they were made of.

Ordinary buildings were nothing more than wood and stone, at most supplemented by bricks, tiles, and carved beams and painted rafters. But the buildings here were constructed from all sorts of materials. Raw wood, Blue Stone, metal, and even ceramics were one thing, but there were also priceless materials like crystal and white jade, wild materials like bones and teeth; Tang Zhao even saw houses made of paper and others pieced together from leaves.

A normal paper house could not stand for long, yet this paper house was not only rock-steady, it even had two stories, and the chimney on the attic could still puff out wisps of smoke. This could only be called a miracle of the Rune Formula.

Or rather, Maze City was a Qi Ji Zhi Cheng.

The turtle played coy, saying, "This isn't even the most magical part; the most magical part can only be known at night."

Tang Zhao discovered that although the turtle said it felt sick seeing Long Yuan, it still subtly took pride in the achievements Long Yuan had made.

Following the turtle's instructions, Tang Zhao first had to choose a house to stay in.

The rules of Maze City were that everyone chose a house as their base, then answered questions during the day and went out to steal questions at night. On the final night, everything would be opened up for an unrestricted free-for-all; everyone could eliminate their opponents to their heart's content until the Sword Province Road in the very center opened at dawn.

Although Maze City was not large, there were only ninety-nine young Disciples in total, so one house per person was more than enough, with even quite a few houses left over.

"Should I choose one that is sturdier, or one that is more flexible?"

As Tang Zhao walked along the main street, admiring the houses on both sides, he could occasionally feel prying gazes. Those were the attention of the seniors who had arrived at Maze City first. Tang Zhao observed cautiously and found that most of the early arrivals had moved into sturdy houses, mainly made of earth, stone, and metal. These houses could provide a sense of security.

"Then I will live in..."

Tang Zhao arrived in front of a house that seemed to be a mixture of crystal and metal. This house was not too unconventional; the metal was very sturdy, being some kind of alloy, while the upper part made of crystal offered a good view. The house had two stories, neither too high nor too low, trapezoidal in shape with a wide base and a narrow top, and a rounded roof, looking a bit like an overturned washbasin. Tang Zhao still felt that houses that were too tall were prone to collapsing.

From this point of view, he was still quite conservative, choosing a house that conformed more to mainstream aesthetic tendencies.

Of course, aesthetics were secondary; safety and practicality came first. Tang Zhao only naturally chose the house that matched his own aesthetics when comparing two houses with similar materials.

He even compared the layouts of the houses on both sides; the materials of the surrounding houses were relatively fragile and did not pose a threat. But the turtle reminded him not to pay too much attention to the location or neighbors, as these could change at any time in Maze City.

A sign hung at the entrance of every house; after writing a Rune Formula on it, the door would open automatically. This Rune Formula was the password to enter.

"This secret talisman will last for one day and disappear in the morning. So you have to set a new one every morning to prevent just anyone from entering your house."

In other words, this house recognized the talisman, not the person.

What if the secret talisman was leaked? Then anyone could still enter your house.

The Rune Formula could not be too long, lest one be unable to enter in an emergency, but it could not be too simple either, allowing others to guess it. Tang Zhao chose a unique one, and the main door opened automatically, revealing a spacious hall and a magnificent crystal staircase.

A faint smell drifted over.

Tang Zhao's expression was calm, but his hands changed position.

The turtle poked its head out slightly and whispered, "Something's wrong, this smell is wrong!"

Tang Zhao did not answer; he had smelled it long ago and could identify it.

It was the smell of blood.

This was an ownerless house, otherwise the Rune Formula Tang Zhao had just written would certainly not have opened the door. But having opened the door, there was the smell of blood; it was very likely that the previous owner had met with misfortune.

The house owner could not change the talisman; it only took one night for an occupied house to become ownerless.

The turtle's bean-like eyes widened, and it muttered in a low voice, "Maybe someone was injured? Did a battle happen here? There shouldn't be any loss of life. We Reception Envoys can take the Talisman Sword Masters to transfer into the Sword Province. As long as one admits defeat quickly, there is absolutely no danger to life. But this house is unlucky, shall we change to another one?"

Tang Zhao was noncommittal and said, "This kind of blood smell doesn't seem like just a minor injury. Besides, did you smell any other scents hidden beneath the smell of blood?" Having said that, he walked inside.

The turtle felt a bit creeped out and grumbled, "Hey, hey, there might be enemies here."

Actually, that was not very likely.

Having that kind of scent meant the person had been dead for some time.

Moreover, as Tang Zhao entered the door, he was not just walking; he was also gathering his Momentum.

Tang Zhao walked up the crystal staircase step by step, entered the room on the second floor, and saw the whole scene at a glance.

The turtle opened its mouth wide, threw itself onto Tang Zhao's back, and cried, "What's going on? How is there really a dead person?"

He saw a person lying in the hall, completely naked, their body like a tattered meat sack. Countless amounts of fresh blood had once pooled into a small lake, but it had now dried up, leaving only large, dark red, near-black stains that extended in all directions, as if a black flower were in full bloom.

Tang Zhao gritted his teeth and said, "So much has already happened, does this Rune Gathering... still need to have someone die?"

He took a few more steps forward, and when he looked closely, he saw an even more terrifying fact.

"He... has no bones."

"Woo..." Gui Ye was using its front legs to struggle to cover its eyes, saying, "What does that mean?"

Tang Zhao focused and said, "All the bones in his entire body have been extracted. Only the flesh and blood remain." Having said that, he stood up and looked around.

He stood up to stay alert, and also because he did not want to look at this corpse anymore. Honestly, the state of this corpse was very terrifying. Even Tang Zhao could not help but want to vomit.

Gui Ye trembled and cried, "Which bastard did this? To actually harm a Talisman Sword Master! Does he want to die?!"

No wonder the turtle found it hard to believe; such things are truly rare.

Are there such cruel things in the world? Yes, the martial arts world is not lacking in demons and heretics. Not to mention those evil paths famous for their strangeness, such as the Five Poisons Society, even fights between black-market gangs can be bloody and terrifying, often killing entire families and committing every kind of atrocity.

But Talisman Sword Masters are different; they are all "cultured people" and can be considered "producers" who are beneficial to the world. They usually do not engage in reckless violence, and even those overbearing Martial Artists show them a degree of respect and do not easily act rudely toward them.

Even taking a step back, if a Scholar were to encounter a soldier and some brute acted rashly and killed a Talisman Sword Master, it might be understandable, but this is the Spring Talisman Assembly!

The Spring Talisman Assembly is for everyone to exchange ideas and explore; the attendees are all Talisman Sword Masters. Even if they set up test questions for everyone to compete, they are only competing for a bit of face, so what could be worth killing over? Let alone using such cruel methods?

Except for the special case of Wang Fei, the Talisman Assembly should not have had any incidents. In the past, Mogan Peak never had any major loss of life, yet Long Yuan encountered it all.

Was it done by the evil forces behind the scenes?

Or is it that a phoenix fallen from grace is worse than a chicken, and Long Yuan's face is worthless, so besides those calculated masterminds, even ordinary little demons dare to slap Long Yuan in the face?

The turtle cried out, "Perhaps it is a personal vendetta? I will report this! I want to see who has the guts to do such a disgusting thing." It seems it still cares a little about the responsibilities of a Spirit Envoy, or perhaps it is just blustering to bolster its own courage.

"Heh heh..."

A strange laugh came from outside the window.

Tang Zhao looked up and saw a strange bird perched on the eaves.

Calling it a bird, it was actually a skeleton. The bird had no feathers on its body, only bones; the white bone beak opened and closed, actually emitting a human voice:

"Let me see who discovered my masterpiece? Haha, another excellent bone. You wait, I will choose you next." Having said that, the white bone bird spread its wings and flew toward the sky.

"Pfft—"

A row of golden needles exploded outward, shooting the white bone bird into a pile of broken bones in mid-air. Countless Qi transformed into a large hand, grabbing all the scattered bones and pulling them back into the window.

Tang Zhao expressionlessly collected the bones: "Are you setting the mood? With such a clumsy performance, do you expect me to play along?"

----------Author's Note----------

There is more tonight.