Chapter 401: 375 Cloud Song

Tang Zhao was referring to the place for the special performance, which was Teng Liang's home.

He said to change the location, not for any other reason, but simply hoping that by changing the place, Lao Xiazi wouldn't have to be with those disgusting charred remains, and could perform in a more spacious, clean place, so he wouldn't be so afraid, his Spirit would be stable, and he could finish singing that song safely.

In fact, he could have completely stopped Lao Xiazi from singing for this person, or even driven the uninvited guest away. But that would leave future trouble; as long as he didn't kill the man this time, the man would never give up and would look for Lao Xiazi again next time, and perhaps when he came back next time, remembering the frustration he suffered, he would take it out on Lao Xiazi on his way out.

Killing is a choice to end future trouble once and for all, but it is risky and unnecessary. Tang Zhao is not a person of the Jianghu and doesn't have such a strong addiction to killing; furthermore, he would have to risk the opponent acting out of desperation, and protecting two ordinary people from a Dharma Artifact at the same time—unless absolutely necessary, he would not choose the highest-risk option.

After all, they were just chance acquaintances; Tang Zhao could not protect Lao Xiazi forever, let alone create a "witness protection program" for Lao Xiazi to run away. Rather than protecting him for a moment and leaving him in subsequent danger, it was better to take the opportunity while he was here to let Lao Xiazi finish the song and let the man listen and be done with it. And since he left the first time, the possibility of him coming back a second time specifically to silence him was much smaller.

As for the Cloud Song itself, Tang Zhao was slightly interested and didn't mind listening, but it was more about making himself a living witness; as long as he was still alive, killing Lao Xiazi to silence him would be meaningless.

So when it came to the location for the performance, anywhere would do, preferably quiet and with few people, so that if this person turned hostile and made a move, it would be easier for Tang Zhao to end the battle quickly without involving too many people. If possible, Tang Zhao's own home would also work.

Unfortunately, Tang Zhao's home was in the Central City, and the city gates were already locked; to go back, he would need to climb the wall or call for the gates to be opened. Climbing the wall carried the risk of being discovered, and calling for the gates—Tang Zhao would have to be crazy to call for the gates to be opened.

There were really not many safe, quiet, and sparsely populated places in the Outer City, and the only one he could think of nearby was Teng Liang's home. Teng Liang was actually a bit reluctant, but when Tang Zhao asked him, he didn't know why he didn't dare to refuse, so the matter was settled just like that.

Before leaving, Tang Zhao used light flames to burn away that pile of charred remains; the temperature of the Sunlight was enough to vaporize them cleanly without damaging the tattered mat right next to them. Teng Liang watched and only felt it was inexplicably powerful; although the uninvited guest watched from the side, he was silent after watching, and the seemingly substantial killing intent all over his body gradually dissipated.

Teng Liang's home was two streets away from this small alley, in another small alley.

To be honest, this alley was not any more spacious or clean; it was still narrow and dilapidated. Given Teng Liang's current status, he didn't even own a house with a private courtyard in such a small alley, but instead rented a small courtyard with two other thugs.

However, those two thugs were not there at the moment; they were said to have gone out to drink.

This was also common; as thugs, they lived day to day. Someone like Teng Liang who still thought about climbing higher could be considered ambitious, but most thugs didn't consider the future, risking their lives during the day to earn money through bloodshed, and once they got the money, they would spend it all on food and wine, squandering their wealth; except for healing, they rarely came home to sleep.

Consider them lucky.

That man entered first, walked around the courtyard to confirm there was no one else, then entered the main room and stood in the center, saying, "Good, let's do it here."

Teng Liang wanted to say that he actually lived in the side room and that the main room was occupied by a big thug, but he figured the other party wouldn't listen, and even if that big thug came back to protest, it would likely be ineffective. He immediately pulled over a stool, let Lao Xiazi sit down, and said with a hunched head, "You listen to the song, I'll go out and pour you some water." Saying this, he slipped out in a flash.

He really couldn't stay in this room, and he couldn't stay with Tang Zhao either.

Even to say, Tang Zhao was also one of the reasons he couldn't stay.

Previously, when Tang Zhao was with him, he had always kept his Momentum in check, looking no different from the little Scholar from his childhood, and there was no obstacle to them walking with their arms around each other's shoulders, but just now, in order to confront this enemy of unknown origin, Tang Zhao had released a portion of his Momentum.

It was indeed only a portion of his Momentum; the opponent was not a Sword Guest, so there was no need for a confrontation at the level of Sword Essence. Releasing Sword Essence was also a drain on Tang Zhao; he only maintained the minimum level of Momentum, with Internal Energy circulating throughout his body and his protective Qi contained but not released.

Although it was only this much Momentum, it still made Teng Liang's heart race with fear, as if there were a mountain of blades beside him, the chilling cold piercing his scalp; he had wanted to run away several times along the way, but he just didn't dare to.

Only then did he know that the stories of experts killing with a single glance were real.

And Tang Zhao, along with that unknown person, were the experts in the stories, definitely not from the same world as him.

If he were given a few days to calm down, he might have figured out the pros and cons and could have mustered the courage to find Tang Zhao, attempting to get closer to a new world, but now he just wanted to run as far away as possible, so as not to be dragged into dying a miserable death like the little extras in the stories.

As for Zhaozi... he should be fine, right?

He should be stronger, right?

Although Teng Liang didn't understand that level of martial arts at all, he felt that judging by the atmosphere, Tang Zhao should be stronger. As a thug who had been in the business for four years, he was actually very good at reading expressions, so he could tell who was strong and who was weak by the attitudes of both sides. That fierce guy was clearly suppressed.

That's good; Zhaozi was fine, and he could run away with peace of mind.

Teng Liang ran out, and Tang Zhao also felt relieved. He poked the charcoal stove in the corner, got the fire going, and took out a teapot to place on the fire to boil water, as natural as if he were in his own home.

The man didn't sit down either, standing sideways in the room, facing Tang Zhao, watching him work coldly. Seeing Tang Zhao's movements were unhurried, he became a bit impatient, his gaze sweeping back and forth over Tang Zhao, thinking to himself: Is this stalling for time? Or is there some other conspiracy? Could it be that he mixed poison into the charcoal to induce poisonous smoke? If it's poisoning, he has chosen the wrong target.

When the water boiled and the room became warm, Tang Zhao poured tea into several cups, gave one to Lao Xiazi, and said, "Old man, clear your throat before you start singing." He then handed a cup to the man as well.

The man sneered; let alone drinking the tea, he didn't even touch the cup, and didn't even turn around.

Tang Zhao looked at his sideways position thoughtfully, then retracted the cup and took a sip himself.

The old man's body gradually warmed up, and he took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, his mood calming down slightly. After all, he was an old hand in the Jianghu; having traveled the docks for so many years, he wasn't without experience in storms. He finally steadied himself and began to tune the Stringed Instrument, plucking it a few times and making a "Boom—" sound.

"Two masters—" He said "two masters," but he was facing Tang Zhao's direction; Tang Zhao's voice had just come from there, and he felt a sense of security when facing Tang Zhao.

"Today, this little one will sing you a piece called 'Cloud Dream,' which tells the story of a simple young man who accidentally enters a cloud, sees a Cloud City, meets a good girl, lives there for a few years, and then returns to the Human World. This story was something this little one learned from an old gentleman by chance when he was young. I haven't performed it for many years, the lyrics aren't solid, and I've forgotten quite a bit of the melody. If there is anything lacking, I ask you two to please bear with it."

Tang Zhao was stunned, thinking: It really is this!

Isn't this just the song version of the novel "Yunmeng Immortal Capital"?

Tang Zhao immediately thought of the novel that Black Widow had given him. At the time, he had read it and guessed that perhaps the Immortal City described in the book was real and was also a powerful sword, and he also wondered if Black Widow had fantasies about this sword?

Later, Black Widow did not appear, and when she sent people several times, she never mentioned this matter, so Tang Zhao had put it to the back of his mind.

Not to mention not knowing whether it was true or false, even if there really were such a powerful sword waiting for him in the clouds, as a Sword Guest, he wouldn't care. Could that sword be stronger than the "Jinwu Sword" that supported a corner of the Suiyu? Even if someone chased him to force the Jinwu Sword on him, he wouldn't even care for it.

Did this young man chase after him just to hear this story? Like Black Widow, does he also want this sword?

Tang Zhao felt it was highly likely: this person was still young, so naturally he had dreams and the motivation to pursue them; being able to use a Dharma Artifact at the ordinary person stage meant his Spirit Talent wouldn't be low; looking at his attire and temperament, his family was likely wealthy, and such a person probably wouldn't find it difficult to become a Sword Guest. But since he wasn't one, besides not having completed his cultivation, he likely had high aspirations and wanted the best—he looked down on ordinary swords and was single-mindedly pursuing the legendary sword.

Tang Zhao naturally wouldn't criticize someone for chasing their dreams, he just felt it was unreliable—that legendary sword was truly just a legend; either it was a novel printed in the previous dynasty, or it was a song learned by a blind old artist. Could one find any clues from this?

If it were really that easy to find, could it still be a legend?

Boom— Boom— Zeng—

"What I am telling is, outside Xishan, there is a Xishan Village, and in Xishan Village, there is a young gentleman. If you ask what the young gentleman looks like, that li-ge-lang-ge-you... thick eyebrows and big eyes..."

These lyrics are truly watery.

Tang Zhao listened listlessly; although the old man was singing in his native accent and playing the String Song popular in Mu City, he had never been used to this since he was a child, not to mention the old man wasn't singing well. Tang Zhao doubted whether this song could even be sold for money. No wonder it was lost.

The following part just described the appearance of the "young gentleman" for seven or eight lines, each line being watery lyrics.

Listening to this song, Tang Zhao really wanted to apologize to the author of "Yunmeng Immortal Capital"—I'm sorry for saying your writing was bad before.

"That young gentleman... what is his name? He is called that Xu Congsheng..."

Hearing this, Tang Zhao suddenly gave a start: No!

The name has changed!

It's not called this name in the book!

Tang Zhao had already forgotten quite a few plot points of that book, but he wouldn't have forgotten the name of the protagonist; the protagonist of that book was named Meng Yun.

Don't look at it as just changing a name; there is a lot here worth pondering.

By general logic, if a song is adapted from a book, the name shouldn't be changed. Changing the name would lose the selling point, just like a storyteller telling "Seven Heroes and Five Gallants" would never change Zhan Zhao to Zhan Xiao'er.

And if it were to be changed, it should have been changed to something more popular, because the audience for a song performance is closer to the masses, and names that are too obscure or elegant are not easy to spread. The name Meng Yun is easy to remember and common, and it also echoes the title of the book; it is absolutely impossible to have changed it to the more complex Xu Congsheng instead.

Perhaps... it is not the book being adapted into a song, but the other way around?

This song is the original version!

The young man revealed a trace of a smile: "I have finally found it."