Chapter 395: 369 Childhood Friend

"The twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, isn't that the Little New Year? You're really not going to let me spend a single day of the New Year in peace? You guys are really something, aren't you?"

Facing an old acquaintance from his past, Tang Zhao didn't hold back, complaining directly, "The Manor Master really knows how to pick a date. If things are going to be this chaotic for the New Year, if she isn't celebrating the New Year, then I won't either."

Jiao Feng looked a bit helpless and explained, "The timing is indeed a bit unfortunate. It wasn't the Manor Master who chose it, but the date written on the Five Poisons Order from Jingzhe Villa. Actually, it's not even Jingzhe Villa's intent, but the Old Manor Master... the Old Manor Master's condition suddenly worsened, and he is currently being kept alive with medicine. He probably won't last much longer. Jingzhe Villa is rushing to gather candidates to decide the winner so the Old Manor Master can wake up and bear witness. The final assembly date is the twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month. Five days to travel from here to Jingzhe Villa isn't exactly leisurely, and we have to guard against accidents on the road; it really can't be delayed any further."

Tang Zhao shook his head slightly and said, "To pull off such a major event on one's deathbed, fighting and killing in front of the old man's bed—I wonder if the old man can handle it?"

Jiao Feng said, "It's not that he actually has to witness it; everyone will fight it out outside, and the winner will enter the inner chamber to accept the position of Manor Master. The Old Manor Master won't have any objections. It is said that the host responsible for supervising this time is the Old Manor Master's son. Because he has confirmed he will not compete for the position, everyone has to give him some face and ask him to set the test to determine the result."

Tang Zhao said, "So the test is still unknown?"

Jiao Feng said, "No one knows. It depends on whether that young master is reliable. If he is reliable and the assessment goes smoothly, whoever takes the position in the future will take care of him. If he is unreliable and comes up with some whimsical, strange, and difficult problems that make everyone uncomfortable, everyone will have to go along with him on the surface, but they might settle the score later. The fear is that he is young and doesn't understand the situation, and if he openly favors a certain candidate, he will provoke public anger and risk having the table flipped on him. That could trigger the most intense free-for-all."

He took a booklet from his bosom and said, "These are the four candidates participating in the duel and the helpers they have invited. The collected information is relatively public, so don't believe it entirely. Finally, there is the information on that young master. Although it is said he is only an observer, studying it might help us guess the test?"

Tang Zhao said, "There are only four competitors left?"

Jiao Feng said, "Including us, there are five. Only five passed the preliminary selection."

Tang Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. Just five, then there wouldn't be any preliminary rounds, finals, or first and second stages; it would be a final right from the start, one match to decide the outcome.

This was good; it saved time. He had had enough of the standard routine of going through great trouble to clear stages only for everything to collapse at the end.

A quick battle to settle things—maybe he could even make it back for the New Year.

Wait... he shouldn't set such a flag, or something would go wrong.

"Besides the external helpers who can fight, each faction will bring four attendant Disciples to do chores, who also cannot be over twenty years old. Do you have any candidates? If you don't, the villa will arrange them."

Tang Zhao thought for a moment. It didn't seem appropriate to call his senior brothers and sisters for this kind of thing, and of course, it was even more impossible to find people from the Land Inspection Division. He said, "I'll bring one person. Help me write it down... I'll tell you in a moment."

He thought about it and felt that Weise might not be willing to show himself under his real name, so he decided to discuss it with him before reporting the name. He then asked, "Are you going too?"

Jiao Feng was full of confidence and said, "Of course. Among the Disciples under twenty at Black Spider Villa, I am the strongest."

Tang Zhao let out an "Oh—," but it was a pity he was already a Sword Guest; otherwise, he would have really liked to trade blows with Jiao Feng to weigh the strength of the strongest of the twenty-year-old generation at Black Spider Villa.

Jiao Feng had actually been itching to move for a moment, but thinking of Black Widow's high regard for Tang Zhao, he guessed that the two sides were no longer on the same level. He could only forcibly suppress his desire to compete, stop thinking about it, and said, "I guess your martial arts must be extraordinary now. If it's a head-on fight with blades or spears, you certainly won't be afraid. But you must be careful of hidden weapons and poison. Especially be careful of poison. The people from the Five Poisons Society use poison in devious ways that are impossible to guard against. And once poisoned, some are a hundred times more painful than dying immediately."

He emphasized, "I've been in the villa for seven or eight years, dealing with poison every day, but I wouldn't dare say I can definitely cure the poisons from other branches, let alone you, who haven't touched poison for many years..."

Tang Zhao said, "I don't think I've ever touched it."

Jiao Feng said, "That's why you must be extra careful. Don't even mention eating or drinking anything at Jingzhe Villa; don't touch anything on the surface, don't casually smell any scents, and don't talk directly to strangers..."

Tang Zhao thought to himself: In that case, I should have brought a battle robe to wrap myself up completely.

Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered something and said, "Can I use disguise when I go there?"

After all, he was a proper official now, and getting involved in underworld affairs required caution. Moreover, a Sword Guest acting as an external helper for the Five Poisons Society wasn't exactly a glorious thing. Xing Ji had also told him that if he found it troublesome, he could use a fake identity.

Jiao Feng said, "Of course you can; no one knows you. However, because external helpers are limited to those under twenty, don't change your appearance to look too old. Also..."

He took out a portrait, "This is the image we reported for you; it's best not to look too different. The other competitors have a copy of this information too, so don't reveal any flaws."

Tang Zhao glanced at the image and felt relieved—as long as a person looked like a human, they wouldn't look much different from this drawing.

His sharp eyes caught the name annotated on the side: "Tang Zhao."

This name... it had a bit of an accent.

But that was fine; the name was fake, and the appearance was fake. He only needed to display his real strength.

The two chatted about some more details, and Jiao Feng stood up and said, "In that case, I'll be going first. We'll meet again on the road."

Tang Zhao said, "If you can make it back before the New Year, come visit my place during the holiday."

Jiao Feng rarely joked, "I'll come to pay you a New Year's call? Will there be a red envelope?"

Tang Zhao said, "Why wouldn't there be? If you're willing to acknowledge me as your foster father right now, I'll even give you a meeting fee."

As he spoke, Tang Zhao pushed the door open. Before he could even step out, he heard someone shout loudly, "Zhaozi!"

Tang Zhao froze. A sensation like being paralyzed by lightning surged up his spine and exploded in his mind, leaving it momentarily blank.

Zhaozi—

What a familiar form of address.

What an unfamiliar form of address!

Once upon a time, this was a nickname used exclusively by those close to him, a form of address he was accustomed to hearing.

But later, the people who could call him that left one by one; some walked away, some passed on, and no one called him that anymore.

Now, only Chief Xing and Jiang Shixiong would occasionally call him that, but not often. The elders and friends he met later would call him "Azhao." This was also very affectionate, but it wasn't his first nickname.

Later still, as his age, seniority, and strength gradually grew, the people he met no longer used such informal terms. Older companions would call him "Sword Guest Xiao Tang," and those his own age were already calling him "Instructor" or "Sir."

He had grown up.

In the future, he would probably only have his full name in the mouths of enemies and "honorifics" in the mouths of his own people.

Now, someone was actually calling him by this nickname again.

And the voice was somewhat unfamiliar.

Who was it?

A relative or friend from the past?

He turned his head abruptly and found a young man with a large head standing in front of the door. His face seemed both unfamiliar and familiar, but the scar across his face was something he had never seen before.

He was momentarily stunned, standing there, trying to dig someone out from his memory bit by bit.

"Zhaozi—it's me!" the young man shouted again.

A flash of light crossed Tang Zhao's mind, and he called out, "Liangzi!"

The young man cheered and ran over. Halfway there, he tore off his outer coat and threw it away, then approached in his short shirt and hugged Tang Zhao.

When Tang Zhao called out "Liangzi," his memory finally fully recovered. He hugged him, ecstatic, and said, "It really is you, Liangzi!"

Liangzi replied, "Who else would it be? Zhaozi, where the hell did you run off to? When did you get back? Five years, five whole years and I couldn't find you! I thought you, you brat..."

The others were astonished, not expecting the two of them to be as excited as children. Jiao Feng waited for the two to quiet down slightly before saying, "Tang Zhao, this person... is..."

He couldn't name the kid at all; he only knew he was from the local branch, his rank wasn't high—calling him a "little hoodlum" wouldn't be an exaggeration—but it was said he was a good fighter, daring, and capable, and had already caught the eye of the local branch leader, possibly to be sent to the main villa for training after the New Year. He had come from the main villa in a hurry, had no one with him, and had just pointed at a few young Disciples without asking their names.

Tang Zhao grabbed the young man's shoulder and said, "This is my childhood friend, Teng Liang."

It should be said that Teng Liang was not his neighbor, but a member of the Sui Family Troupe. That's right, the very same Sui Family Troupe as Sui Feng and the others.

Tang Zhao encountered the Sui Family Troupe on the street when he was ten years old. At the time, he was captivated by the Flower Spear, rope-walking, and hard qigong routines the troupe was performing on the street, thinking they were incredible, genuine martial arts. He followed them all the way to their Business Lodging, intending to apprentice under them, and that was where he met Teng Liang.

As the name implies, the Sui Family Troupe were all surnamed Sui; Teng Liang was Sui Uncle's nephew and Sui Feng's cousin.

At the time, Teng Liang was also young. Seeing Tang Zhao admire his skills, he was greatly pleased and boasted wildly to him, claiming his divine arts were peerless in heaven and on earth, and even intending to teach him a few secret moves. Sui Uncle, however, was a worldly-wise veteran of the jianghu who knew this was just a child's momentary folly. He knew Tang Zhao was a child from a good family who studied, and that they were people from two different worlds, so he absolutely refused to mention taking on an apprentice and sent him back home.

Tang Zhao's father was an open-minded man who did not particularly blame the child, nor did he recklessly accuse the jianghu troupe of corrupting his son. Instead, he thanked them sincerely and even arranged a Hall Gathering for the Sui Family Troupe, letting them earn a bit more money.

At the start, the two sides only had this bit of friendship, at most a chance meeting. Later, the Sui Family Troupe performed in Mu City for a few months before leaving; they should have never met again.

Who would have known that two years later, Tang Zhao's parents and relatives passed away one after another. Because he was still holding onto some family property, he immediately fell into a situation surrounded by wolves. With no relatives or friends around, not a single person was willing to help him.

At this time, the Sui Family Troupe happened to pass through Mu City again and learned of the changes in the Tang family. Jianghu people have their own jianghu sense of loyalty; although there was only a small bond of kindness initially, the Sui Family Troupe still did their best to protect Tang Zhao, took him into the troupe, and brought him away from Mu City. This was also a story of "loyalty often found among the humble."

During that time, Tang Zhao drifted through the jianghu with the Sui Family Troupe, having no fixed place to live. There were only three children of similar age in the troupe: Tang Zhao and Teng Liang were boys, and there was also a girl named Sui Yun; the three were little companions who spent every day together.

Although Tang Zhao and Teng Liang had completely different backgrounds, temperaments, and hobbies, children didn't think that much; sharing joys and sorrows naturally led to deep feelings. In the end, Tang Zhao went to Heiyang County to look for relatives, and the three children parted in tears, unable to bear the separation.

In the blink of an eye, nearly five years have passed.

Tang Zhao's emotions fluctuated, and he asked repeatedly, "Why are you here? How have you been? Is the Sui Family Troupe in Mu City? Are Uncle, Big Brother, A Yun, and the others all there?"

Teng Liang scratched his head and said, "I'm doing alright. I don't know where the troupe is either; I left the Sui Family Troupe several years ago."