Chapter 408: 382 Going Up the Mountain

Hearing Black Widow's question, Tang Zhao pondered, "I'm afraid not much of it is true, is it?"

Black Widow asked with interest, "What do you mean?"

Tang Zhao said, "He spoke as if it were a serious matter, talking about some secret alliance—the most important thing about a secret alliance is naturally the secrecy, so how can this be a secret place?"

You must know that this is right in front of the stone tablet of Jingzhe Villa, the only path up and down the mountain. Every leader participating in this Gu Battle has passed through here. If even one person had looked over from afar, wouldn't this "secret" have become a joke?

It would have been fine if Beigong Qi hadn't mentioned a secret alliance, but mentioning it only made his hypocrisy more apparent. It would have been better to just openly chop a chicken head and drink blood wine in front of the stone tablet; at least the sense of ritual would have been complete.

Black Widow nodded and said, "Exactly. He said we are forming an alliance to catch others off guard. If he were truly intent on catching others off guard, he should have come to find me in secret days or even months in advance, preferably without letting anyone know, to discuss the details of the alliance and even exchange pledges of loyalty. What just happened is less of an alliance and more of a cover. He is using me as a raft to cover up his real allies. At a critical moment, he will throw me out as a smokescreen."

She suddenly laughed, "However, when the false is treated as true, the true also becomes false. Regardless of whether it is true affection or false intent now, when the time comes that we must join forces, we will join forces, and then the alliance agreement will naturally become real and can be continued. Let's go, let's go meet my enemies."

The group passed the stone tablet and walked up the mountain together.

Tang Zhao's heart stirred: He hadn't been with Black Widow for these past two months; how could he know if someone hadn't secretly approached her and made a hidden alliance with her? Black Widow said Beigong Qi was using her as a cover, but couldn't Black Widow also be using Beigong Qi as a cover?

Although there were only five participants, these leaders of the Five Poisons Society were all people with the dangers of mountain streams in their hearts and the depth of a government office in their chests; the game of truth and falsehood, reality and illusion among them was already more exciting than a grand play on a stage.

"Jiujiu, what do you think of Black Widow?"

On the other side of the mountain path, Beigong Qi also suddenly asked.

Qin Jiujiu said, "Nothing to say. A typical member of the Five Poisons Society, possessing all their traits. Vicious, cunning, hypocritical—disgusting."

Beigong Qi laughed, "You really are direct. But Black Widow actually has a bit of sincerity, though not much, and not towards me. If one were to rank character within the Five Poisons Society, aside from me, she counts as decent."

Qin Jiujiu said, "Worse than you?"

Beigong Qi said, "Am I not good? You have to compare using the standards of the Five Poisons Society. Oh, how do you see that man surnamed Tang?"

Qin Jiujiu said, "Very fake."

Beigong Qi said, "Where is he fake?"

Qin Jiujiu said, "Except for his eyes, nothing about him is real. That smile, that tone, that face—all are extremely affected."

Beigong Qi said, "His eyes are real, which is already quite difficult. There isn't a shred of the Five Poisons Society's aura on him. Just now when I fanned the air, his dodging movements were very sluggish; clearly, he lacks the subconscious reactions of the Five Poisons Society. This means..."

Qin Jiujiu's eyes flickered, and Beigong Qi said, "It means he is very strong. He is the real 'external' aid Black Widow found."

Qin Jiujiu said "Oh," and asked, "A dangerous person, so should we kill him if there is a conflict?"

Beigong Qi laughed, "Wouldn't it be better if there were no conflict?"

Qin Jiujiu drooped her eyelids and said, "No one can predict if there will be a conflict. It's decided, let's kill him."

Following the mountain path of Jingzhe Villa upward, the higher they went, the thicker the aura of thunder in the soil became. The soil gradually turned a faint purple, and stepping on it produced a light "creak, creak" sound, as if stepping on wisps of lightning that numbed the soles of the feet, or as if treading on insect carcasses piled into mountains.

Tang Zhao stepped on the purple soil and saw Jingzhe Villa from afar.

Jingzhe Villa was actually built on a cliff.

The row upon row of manor buildings occupied almost all the flat land on the mountaintop, and the mountain was so steep it was almost vertical, as if split open by a giant axe from the heavens. What Tang Zhao and the others faced directly was a cliff that was almost impossible to climb. The cliff was barren, with only large stretches of reddish-brown rock, resembling congealed blood.

At the foot of the mountain, two people dressed in Disciple robes waited there. Seeing Black Widow arrive, they nodded slightly but did not bow, saying, "Sister Yin, please forgive us, only the candidates and their chosen external aids may go up. Others must wait below."

Black Widow nodded and smiled at Tang Zhao, "Let the children stay, let's go." Tang Zhao looked back, exchanged a glance with Wei Se, and followed.

One of the Disciples led the way, bringing the two to a tall Wooden House, behind which stood a wooden wheel resembling a waterwheel.

Looking closely, this wheel was actually a winch, with thick iron chains hanging from it, connecting to the mountaintop like a cableway, with two hanging baskets suspended on the cableway, each holding at most two or three people.

Black Widow said with a smile, "I'm truly nostalgic; after so many years, the winch is already old. Little Tang, this is the only road to Jingzhe Villa. To go up to the villa, one can only go up by the hanging basket. Those who do not use this cableway to go up and down will suffer the calamity of a lightning strike."

Tang Zhao nodded. He saw that the rocks on the mountain faintly bore traces of an Array, and special soil served as the Array Eye, forming a "Thunder-Striking Cliff." Judging by the strength of the Array, even if a Loose Practitioner had protective Qi, they could at most withstand it for a while; if the time were long, they would likely struggle to avoid the calamity. The hanging basket was an Art Tool, and there was a Talisman Art that could protect the people in the basket from harm.

Once this winch was destroyed, the baskets could not go up, and traffic would be immediately cut off. Jingzhe Villa would then become an isolated island.

He looked up at Jingzhe Villa on the mountaintop, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind: This place is so suitable for a "stormy villa" murder mystery.

That was just a thought, though. Even if a murder happened here, it wouldn't count as a stormy villa, because that is a detective's game. No one here would play at mystery, using tricks or secret room assassinations; all that existed here was straightforward slaughter.

Perhaps "Battle Royale" would be more fitting.

The technical term is called "Gu Battle."

Sitting in the swaying hanging basket, the two finally approached Jingzhe Villa.

The overall layout of Jingzhe Villa was pentagonal, and from the front, it looked like a palace with carved beams and painted rafters. Although it was called a villa, its scale was more than ten times larger than Black Spider Villa, and the architectural style was exquisite and magnificent; clearly, the Manor Master would not deliberately create a themed villa and lower their own comfort just because of the name "Jingzhe."

Black Widow sat in the hanging basket, lightly nudged Tang Zhao, and pointed at Jingzhe Villa.

Tang Zhao was startled, then immediately understood Black Widow's meaning: See that villa? Isn't it handsome?

It will be my home in the future.

Tang Zhao nodded: Having confidence is always good.

However, have you given up on that dream of the Cloud Sword?

Stepping onto the mountaintop, the two officially entered Jingzhe Villa.

There were also a few Disciples welcoming them in front of the villa gate, but they were not young Disciples; they were four middle-aged men in brown robes, who appeared to have considerable status. They exchanged equal greetings with Black Widow, also addressing each other as brother and sister.

One of the tall ones took out a file and looked back and forth at Tang Zhao's face against the drawing, clearly trying to match Tang Zhao with the portrait in the file, but because the portrait was too sloppy, this effort eventually ended in vain.

Tang Zhao had seen from the information that although Jingzhe Villa was only the headquarters in name, its structure was extremely streamlined and it did not manage worldly affairs, but it did have direct subordinates. The highest in status among them were the Four Protectors.

These four Protectors were directly under Jingzhe Villa, had no relationship with the Five Poisons Society, and were only responsible to the Manor Master.

Just looking at the aura of the Protectors, Tang Zhao could feel that their strength was no less than Black Widow's; at the very least, they were all Loose Practitioners who had cultivated Qi. If not for the restrictions of the rules, every one of them would have been qualified to contend for the position of Manor Master.

However... were the rules really that effective?

Especially since Tang Zhao knew that according to the rules, the Manor Master had the power of appointment and removal over these Protectors, meaning if the new Manor Master was dissatisfied with them, they could be kicked out at any time and replaced with their own confidants. Now that the old Manor Master was dying, their status was also precarious. In this situation, what was the stance of the several Protectors?

Black Widow exchanged a few pleasantries and asked, "Has the Young Villa Master arrived yet?"

One of them, who looked older, had the highest status, and was the fattest Protector, said, "Sister Yin, let's not talk about the rest for now; come into the villa to see the old Manor Master."

This was completely unexpected for Black Widow, who said, "What? Can the old Manor Master still see us?"

The fat old Protector said, "It hasn't come to that yet; the old Manor Master is still here, so we must meet at least once. Let's go in first. Once everyone has arrived, the old Manor Master will come out to receive you. Everyone can rest in the guest courtyard for the night; whatever competition there is will start from tomorrow. Today, we only discuss friendship, not disputes."

Black Widow's eyes flickered, and she said, "Oh? Does our Five Poisons Society still have such harmonious scenes? I've never heard of it in the past."

The fat old Protector said, "Sister Yin, the Five Poisons Society is the Five Poisons Society, and Jingzhe Villa is Jingzhe Villa. There are rules here. Surely you don't need me to teach you that?"

He spoke very impolitely, and Black Widow covered her sleeve and laughed: "Understood, Mi Hufa."

Several people entered the villa's main gate, and the first thing that met their eyes was a purple spirit wall, on which a pattern resembled lightning descending from the heavens, with several types of poisonous insects drawn underneath, shivering beneath the lightning.

Tang Zhao was lost in thought; looking at the layout of Jingzhe Villa, it truly did not hold the Five Poisons Society in its eyes, as the lightning towered above the five poisons, and the insects had no choice but to bow their heads.

This was also understandable; as a force that had passed down the Jingzhe Sword for generations, it naturally would not hold any underworld factions of the jianghu in its eyes.

Behind the spirit wall were several fork roads, and Mi Hufa led them along one of the long corridors toward the East, not entering the main hall.

The further they walked inside, the further they were from the main body of the villa, approaching one of the pentagonal sides, and they gradually smelled a faint fragrance in the villa.

Tang Zhao recalled the essentials of defense, immediately holding his breath and circulating his Internal Energy.

Then he heard Black Widow suddenly say: "What kind of incense is being burned in this villa? Why do I smell some scent of mugwort and realgar?"

Mugwort and realgar were both for repelling insects. Within the Five Poisons Society, these were all forbidden medicinal materials. Although Black Widow was full of smiles when mentioning these, there was no smile in her eyes.

That old, fat Protector did not care at all and said: "The Manor Master is unwell; what is strange about burning mugwort to recuperate? Besides, Jingzhe Villa does not allow insects to be kept anyway, so it shouldn't be much of a hindrance, right?"

Black Widow chuckled. Tang Zhao was lost in thought—previously, Black Widow had done a great deal of work, mostly researching opponents and formulating countermeasures, but he did not know what research she had done on Jingzhe Villa itself.

At this time, the group arrived outside a detached courtyard and saw that the gate was thick and heavy, resembling a city gate; now half of it was open, revealing the spacious buildings inside. Walking further in, there was a small Huayuan, dotted with several pavilions and towers.

The Protectors pushed open the door of the tallest building in the center, and they heard someone say: "Black Widow, you are late!"