Chapter 186: 179 Libationer

Suspecting the Libationer, there is no decisive evidence, it is just analysis.

Before, when the two went upstairs, the people of Longyuan would not let them bring the Spirit Envoy; this was clearly abnormal and had nothing to do with the examination. Ju Tianxuan was not leaking questions or cheating, so could it be to guard against the Spirit Envoy reporting or exposing them?

Combining the fact that Ju herself kept this secret and did not want others to know, it could only be to prevent the Spirit Envoy from passing information to the outside.

To whom could the Spirit Envoy pass information? None other than Longyuan and the Libationer.

Guarding against Longyuan is impossible; if she were guarding against Longyuan due to personal matters, she would never live in Longyuan's house or dispatch Longyuan's Disciples, so it could only be the Libationer.

Moreover, there are not many people who can make a Longyuan Chief hide their head and show their tail on their own turf, and the Libationer counts as one.

Gui Ye was furious upon hearing this and said, "What? That dog-day Libationer actually wants to harm you? I already said those blind, unfilial descendants of Longyuan don't know how to invite people, what kind of dog stuff did they invite? You wait for me to think..." It closed its eyes, shook its head, and thought for a while, then opened its eyes and said, "I've thought of it, it's the one surnamed Tuo, a guy surnamed Tuo. Seems to be called Tuo Yang..."

Tang Zhao immediately thought of the grass-mud horse and shook his head repeatedly. Following the clue given by the turtle, he also recalled and said, "Tuo... Zhu Yang?"

Gui Ye shouted, "Yes, yes, yes, that's the name! Listen to that, pig, sheep, and camel, he's got all the livestock, how greedy and insatiable!"

Tang Zhao said, "No, his name is Zhu Yang, his nickname is just Tuozi. The Tuo of the Tuo dragon."

Gui Ye blinked its eyes and said, "Is that possible? Anyway, people call him Mr. Tuo, it could also be a nickname. Hey, why are you so familiar with this? Do you know him?"

Tang Zhao sighed; he did not know him, he had heard of him.

This was an old debt of his late mentor Xue Xianyun from back in the day.

When he left, Shi Chunqing gave him a long list of people Xue Xianyun had offended back then, with varying statuses and grievances of different sizes; it could only be said that a figure like Zhu Yang did not even rank in the top three.

It is not just that this person's status and reputation did not rank in the top three, but the grudge Xue Xianyun had with him also did not rank in the top three.

It seems Xue Xianyun destroyed this person's hand back then; for a Sword Smith, this counts as a deep-seated, unforgettable grudge, but Xue Xianyun had done other even more excessive things. If those people had formed an "Avengers Alliance," then Zhuoyu Villa, let alone hiding in Jiugao Mountain, would have been dug out even if they hid in the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

Tang Zhao pondered slightly and said, "If it is him, it is not strange that he harbors ill intentions toward our Disciples, however... I haven't heard that his status is very high or his reputation very great? He hasn't joined any sect to this day, he is just a Loose Practitioner, right? What kind of power is Longyuan, why would they choose him as Libationer?"

This Zhu Yang is said to have become a very famous Talisman Sword Master in Jinzhou, but it is said he never succeeded in Sword Casting to become a Sword Smith, being on par with Xue Xianyun. Regardless of what unique methods you have, a Talisman Sword Master is just a Talisman Sword Master, his reputation is lower than a Sword Smith, and it is even publicly acknowledged that a Talisman Sword Master is an apprentice to a Sword Smith; on what grounds could he serve as a Libationer for a Talisman Assembly?

Gui Ye was thoughtful and said, "I don't know about that either. But I heard that the group of people above are using every possible means to regain their fame, so they definitely didn't choose the person according to standard procedures."

Since Gui Ye did not know, Tang Zhao could not guess it by blind guessing; he could only speculate that this Zhu Yang could not be viewed by his appearance, he must have strategies in his chest and hidden profound articles, capable of being a competent Libationer without failing Longyuan's grand ambition in holding the Talisman Assembly.

But no matter how capable you are, you cannot bully me, right?

Since you have bullied your way to me, then I cannot care if you are a Libationer or a Libation-ten, we must have a go at it first.

This "go at it" requires not just his own preparation, but also notifying Jiang Shenyi.

This is not his personal grievance, but a sect grievance. If that Libationer is truly dealing with him because of old grudges, how could he not deal with Jiang Shenyi? Both are in danger, so naturally, they should fight side by side.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Shenyi arrived quite slowly. Tang Zhao waited for two full days, waiting until the day before the decisive battle in Maze City, before this senior brother finally arrived late.

In these two days, the number of people in Maze City gradually increased. Those who passed the barriers smoothly, or those who were particularly unsuccessful and simply stopped trying and came to Maze City to try their luck, had mostly arrived at this final stop.

Maze City became lively as never before.

Although according to the tacit understanding, the final battle should be on the last day, small conflicts were already everywhere. Everyone did not use houses for big battles, but used the ever-changing Art Tool Rune Formulas combined with "trapping, deceiving, tricking, and swindling" methods to steal questions; it could be said that the Eight Immortals crossed the sea, each showing their Supernatural Power, but in the end, it was still small-scale skirmishing, accumulating strength for the final battle.

Tang Zhao focused on stability and did not attack, but he was also continuously targeted by people stealing at his home. The design of Maze City meant that unless the Master left home, the disadvantage for entering someone else's territory was too great; Tang Zhao sat in the house the whole time, without needing to use his own strength, just moving his fingers to sweep the little thieves out the door.

When he was watching the battle from upstairs, he even saw his Yun sister running back and forth several times. However, it was not to fulfill her duties, but to be busy stealing questions. It was truly that although the pie Ju Tianxuan drew was big, it could not be eaten. Maze City did not have that many villains and lunatics; Yi Zhixin was the special one. Even if a group of people had some perverted hobbies, how could they not endure it for a day or two? What was the necessity of committing crimes in such an occasion?

Aside from the one hundred questions from Yi Zhixin, Yun Xiyan did not gain any other rewards, so she had to rely on herself. Her method was also simple and crude: find out who knew more, attack their door directly, grab them by the neck and tell them to hand over the questions. If they used a house to resist, she would also raze their house.

It was just that she also knew not to push people too hard, so every time she only took a few dozen questions and let them go. This slow and steady approach was stable, but the income was slow, especially later on, when she had stolen all the simple questions, but could not find anyone to answer the difficult ones, she could only try one house after another. Fortunately, she was quite particular; several times she passed by Tang Zhao's door, she just did not have designs on her brother.

Tang Zhao also saw the junior brother and sister from Liangzhou and specifically greeted them. The two of them also fought their way through, travel-worn, and had only obtained six or seven hundred questions, needing to make more efforts. Tang Zhao had trouble on his hands and did not want to implicate his allies, so he did not join forces with them.

Finally, Jiang Shenyi arrived.

Tang Zhao specifically went to the city gate to meet him. When Jiang Shenyi saw Tang Zhao, he was extremely excited; before exchanging pleasantries, he grabbed his hand and said, "Junior brother, I have found my own path!"

Tang Zhao was stunned and asked, "What path?"

Jiang Shenyi said, "The path of the Talisman Master."

Tang Zhao said, "The path of the Talisman Sword Master?"

Jiang Shenyi repeated, "Talisman Master! What Talisman Sword Master? Rune Formulas are the existence that expounds the ultimate truths of heaven and earth, the most profound and incomparable; what does it have to do with swords? Must everything good in heaven and earth be crowned with the word 'sword'?"

Tang Zhao felt strange in his heart and said, "Senior brother, who... did you hear something from again?"

Jiang Shenyi hesitated to speak and said, "It's a long story. In short, the path I was confused about before, I have finally found the starting point. Although I still cannot see the end, I have already stepped onto that path."

Tang Zhao heard him speaking excitedly and could not help but whisper, "Senior brother, you haven't joined some evil path, have you?"

Jiang Shenyi said angrily, "You are the one on the evil path. Sigh, I know you are not a fellow traveler of mine, you still like swords. That is not wrong, everyone in the world is like this. But this path of mine has never been walked through by anyone; I will go test the waters first, I am not in a hurry to pull you in. But don't think that only you are the righteous path and everything else is an evil path. I have never been able to out-talk you, but don't be anxious; in another two or three days, someone with better eloquence, deeper knowledge, and who has walked further than me will come to tell you, and will also tell everyone, what the Talisman Dao is!"

Tang Zhao asked curiously, "Who is that person?"

Jiang Shenyi said, "The Libationer of this session!"

Tang Zhao was very confused.

Originally, he had received a warning, and he had also deduced the Libationer from clues, and learned the identity of the Libationer; this should have been a sure thing, right?

Who knew the story Jiang Shenyi brought was even more magical. It is said that he met the new Libationer on the way, and the two unique, talented people hit it off immediately, regarding each other as soulmates, traveling together, chatting more and more congenially, almost becoming teacher and friend. It was just that when they arrived before Maze City, it was inconvenient for the Libationer to interfere in the battle for seats, so he let him enter the city first. But the two agreed that they would contact each other again after the Talisman Assembly to study the Great Dao together, and Jiang Shenyi even planned to go under his tutelage to learn for a period of time.

Jiang Shenyi also solemnly said, "I have a mentor, I cannot join his sect, but after informing my mentor, I should recognize him as a teacher; forming a teacher-student bond is always fine. Does junior brother want to go together?"

Tang Zhao was in a mess and instinctively brushed it off. At this moment, he could not sort out his thoughts, so he could only tell Jiang Shenyi the most original news.

Someone wants to harm us.

Once Jiang Shenyi heard this, he was first startled, then furious, and then full of fighting spirit, saying, "Someone wants to harm us? Then he is muddled and has come to seek death! With our brothers joining forces, who in Maze City can resist? In my opinion, don't wait for him to harm us, let's kill him until not a single piece of armor remains."

Tang Zhao said, "Senior brother has ambition. But you should still choose a good house first."

Jiang Shenyi chose a metal house next to Tang Zhao, which was particularly suited to his methods. However, fellow sect members choosing neighboring houses was useless in Maze City. After one night, they were as far apart as the ends of the earth.

But the two set various strategies to watch and help each other, acting as horns for each other, planning to use them for guarding against attacks and the final day's battle. Then, the two focused on preparing to build their own houses.

During this period, Tang Zhao thought of his speculation again... was that speculation right or wrong?

Perhaps it was his own wild imagination; although that Libationer had a grudge against his master, at least he did not intend to bully the small with the big and lose his own status. Then the enemy was hidden in the fog, and Tang Zhao could not think of a second person.

Or perhaps, it really was the Libationer who wanted to harm him? He pretended to be congenial with his senior brother, or perhaps he was truly congenial with Senior Brother Jiang; does that contradict his intention to harm him? Human hearts are inherently very complex. He might really like Jiang Shenyi, maybe even willing to let him go, but he had no friendship with him, who knows if he would pile the killing intent for both of them onto him alone?

Speaking of this, Jiang Shenyi did provide a useful piece of news. That Libationer and Jiang Shenyi arrived at Maze City at the same time.

Danger is already imminent.