Chapter 381: 355 Escape

The Glasses were actually flooding the screen?

Tang Zhao was startled; he hadn't experienced such a commotion in a long time. In the beginning, the Glasses would occasionally make a big scene, but as he and the Glasses gradually became more in tune, and he became able to influence the content displayed on the Glasses, the Glasses had become quite "calm."

He even felt that he had somewhat "tamed" the Glasses. At the very least, the Glasses were now things that belonged entirely to him.

The last time there was such a screen flood was when he opened the Sword Manual...

Could it be that some new function was about to be unlocked this time?

Although that would be nice, could it not be at a time like this? This was a moment where every second counted!

Tang Zhao wanted to open his mouth to shout for it to stop, but mindful that there was a Mirror here, and an old man in the Mirror watching him, he forced himself to stay calm and only kept shouting in his Spirit: "Stop! Stop, stop!"

The Glasses did not stop.

At the same time, a buzzing sound kept coming to his ears.

It was not a continuous vibration from a single sound source, but scattered sounds coming from all directions. Some sounds were right in front of him, some were far away, and others seemed to have crossed the ancient horizon, descending from the void. In the end, one sound followed another, continuous and unending.

It was as if hundreds or thousands of people scattered across different worlds were being summoned at the same time, and each one was answering loudly with the same voice. They might have all answered immediately upon hearing the summons, but because of the vast differences in distance and the limited speed of sound, they could only arrive one by one, eventually forming wave after wave of sound in his ears.

This sound was continuous, as if bubbles were being crushed one by one, or firecrackers were being lit one by one, crackling and popping without end. Even with Tang Zhao's steady Spirit, he could hardly bear it, and the buzzing in his ears even began to echo.

This simultaneous explosion of sound, light, and electricity was truly too much pollution!

Tang Zhao inexplicably felt a palpitation, as if his heartbeat wanted to rhythmically follow these sounds, invading deep into his Spirit, never to be shaken off again.

No longer caring about anything else, Tang Zhao ripped off the Glasses.

After ripping them off, he felt that the continuous sounds were still exploding in his ears; this might still be the phantom echo after being bombarded.

He raised his head and forced a smile, attempting to show that nothing had just happened.

He didn't want people to think he had suddenly developed a mental illness.

However, the moment he raised his head, he still saw a look of panic and confusion appear on the old man inside the Mirror.

Oh no...

Was it discovered after all? His expression when he heard the sounds just now must have been very unstable; he might have even been shaking his head and swaying, looking like he was having a seizure.

Tang Zhao felt his toes curling into the ground in embarrassment.

It looked like he had scared Ou Ye quite a bit; perhaps the old man would think that what he was teaching was too difficult and had driven a perfectly fine young man crazy?

Tang Zhao forced himself to stay calm and managed a smile, intending to make up an excuse to explain, but the old man had already blurted out: "Did you hear it? What were those sounds just now?"

?!

To Tang Zhao, this sentence was a ghost story.

The sounds he could hear while wearing the Glasses—could others actually hear them too?

For a long time, he had been accustomed to putting on the Glasses to see things others couldn't see and hear things others couldn't hear, then taking off the Glasses, and everything would disappear, with no one else knowing what he was doing.

Although this would make him a bit flustered and make others think he was acting strange, he himself was a bit proud—because he possessed a world that belonged only to him.

That secret, smug feeling that only he knew was truly wonderful.

However...

Today he had unexpectedly discovered that others could also hear the sounds in the Glasses; in an instant, he felt as if his world had collapsed.

Besides that shock and sense of loss, there was also a sense of shame.

A thought even flashed through his mind: Could it be that from earlier on, my Glasses were already visible to others, but I didn't notice it, and in fact, everyone saw the scene of me wearing the Glasses, pointing and gesturing, and talking to myself?

Damn it... social death!

While he was letting his imagination run wild, with his emotions almost entirely on his face, he heard that old man Ouye in the Copper Mirror shout: "Kid, did you hear it? What were those sounds just now? One after another, like thunder!"

Tang Zhao opened his mouth, very much wanting to say: "Actually, it's nothing..."

But as he turned his head, he saw the Yunhai.

The Yunhai, which had been like green smoke, began to churn, just like a pot of boiling water, bubbling and churning incessantly. The nearby mountain islands were all trembling slightly, as if experiencing the aftershocks of a tremor. The sprout-soldiers standing behind him had long since fallen to the ground in a heap, truly looking like plates of bean sprouts just pulled from a warehouse.

Various human voices from the island came on the wind—

"What was that sound?"

"Was that an earthquake just now?"

"Yes, the ground is moving!"

The platform where Tang Zhao stood was built separately and suspended above the Yunhai, so he didn't feel the ground shaking, but the Sword Guests all around had felt the earth trembling, not to mention those sprout-soldiers with unstable footing, who were instantly shaken until they were swaying and falling.

Compared to the inexplicable strange noises in their ears, the earthquake seemed more like the root cause; those strange noises could be explained as a chain reaction triggered by the earth shaking and mountains swaying. The crowd was looking around, searching for the source of the tremor.

"What is going on?"

"The Suiyu is not like the Human World; it won't have earthquakes on its own. It means this piece of Suiyu is about to crack completely!"

"That must be... the work of the Heavenly Demons!"

"Indeed, isn't that Xiuluo City in the sky proof enough? The Xiuluo are about to descend to the world, and they first created such a huge commotion. They are ambitious and want to shatter our Suiyu, turning us and the domain into dust!"

The line of thought for the Sword Guests at the Qianxian was very simple: if there were disasters, omens, or unexplainable problems, it must be the work of the Heavenly Demons; the Heavenly Demons were the source of all evil.

Most of the time, this line of thought was correct.

"Look, in the sky!"

Following another shout, Tang Zhao also looked up at the sky along with the crowd.

That Xiuluo City became increasingly solid, the decorative patterns on the walls visible in every detail, shimmering with luster in the morning sun; the crowd could even see that the great gate in the very center had already opened.

"The Xiuluo are coming, form ranks, form ranks!"

"Can that master who is mending the Boundary Gap go any faster? It's going to be too late!"

Although there weren't many voices urging him on, Tang Zhao still felt a sense of urgency, and he couldn't help but wonder whether that huge sound just now was related to the Glasses or the Heavenly Demons?

But there was no point in dwelling on this at this moment.

He grabbed the Copper Mirror and said loudly: "Mr. Ouye, let's not worry about anything else and just do our own work."

Ou Ye had just left the Copper Mirror for a moment, probably to find somewhere to take refuge or to flee. Hearing Tang Zhao's call, he poked half his face out from the side and said: "You refuse to give up? I'm afraid there isn't enough time now. The Xiuluo are right above your head, and they will surely kill you first once they come out. You are a Talisman Sword Master with no one to protect you; it's too dangerous at the Qianxian. Hurry and take cover, won't you?"

Tang Zhao said urgently, "I am fine, I trust my teammates, they will buy me time, and now is not the time to give up. Xiuluo City does not matter, what matters is the rift; once the rift collapses, it will surely be total destruction. At that time, Moyun City will bear the brunt, and can the Ouye Clan really remain unscathed? At this very moment, we should work together. Mr. Ouye, continue, I beg you!"

He spoke urgently and firmly, and that Elder of the Ouye Clan was silent for a moment, then said, "I feel the sound from just now had nothing to do with Xiuluo City, and perhaps nothing to do with the rift either; there might be a deeper reason... Very well, if you are not afraid at the Qianxian, what do I have to fear sitting in the rear? Let us continue."

Tang Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, and he glanced at the Glasses; they were still scrolling incessantly, golden light erupting everywhere, which was something that had never happened before. Usually, if there was any abnormality with the lenses, they would return to normal after he took them off. If any function had been activated, there should have been a clear prompt. Today was truly not right.

However, he was sprinting with all his might here, the Glasses could not help, and putting them away like this seemed like it would interrupt some process, so he left them hanging to the side, letting them scroll on their own.

Ou Ye no longer bickered, slowed his speech, and began to explain the knowledge points with unprecedented patience. Tang Zhao forcibly pulled his attention back, followed him to craft the final Array Eye, pushed his Spirit to the limit, and was able to understand the explanation completely.

He could understand it even without cheating.

At this time, Li Yijian had long since left, and there was only him and those crooked bean sprout soldiers on the platform.

Although the bean sprout soldiers' strength could be called "weak as a reed" and they had almost no use for Body Protection, they were actually more spiritual than puppets, able to understand clear instructions and execute simple actions. Tang Zhao tried it out, then used this group of bean sprout soldiers as assistants to do most of the work of moving materials and Array Foot Talisman Stones.

The bean sprout soldiers would not actively make sounds, so the platform was very quiet, with only the voice of Ou Ye. In the distance, various noisy sounds came, and gradually more sounds of shouting, roaring, and fighting arrived. To Tang Zhao, these were all meaningless sounds. So he tried hard to block them out, leaving only the sound of Ou Ye's explanation and the sound of his own thoughts in his mind.

His task was only to race against time to complete the final item to mend the rift; everything else was left to his comrades, left to the Pixiu Sword and Moyun City. This was what he said, and this was what he did.

However, when he was so focused, he ignored everything in the Waijie, including the things happening just inches behind him.

Behind him, the Glasses were scrolling continuously, almost merging into a sheet of golden light; at this moment, a shadow gradually detached from the Mirror and transformed into a human figure, standing up.

This shadow was initially as illusory as a ball of light, but later it gradually solidified, manifesting golden eyes, long white hair, a suit of Luse armor, and a sword at its waist.

This was a completely bizarre combination; although this shadow had perfect and moving facial features, the colors of its hair and pupils were not something that could exist in the Human World. If anyone else could see this shadow, their first reaction would definitely be to shout loudly:

"Hey, where did this Heavenly Demon come from?"

Unfortunately, they could not see her; in this world, only one person could see her.

If Tang Zhao were to wake up from his tense state and be able to turn his head to look, regardless of whether it was a surprise, he would definitely shout her name in one breath:

"Fairy Sister?"