Chapter 409: 383 Gathering

As the main door opened, one could see a large round table in the center of the main hall, with four chairs placed around it, each one empty. Instead, six people were scattered around, sitting in pairs, divided into three distinct groups, with clear boundaries between them.

Have the six people from the three factions already arrived?

Tang Zhao swept his gaze across the room, matching each person's face to the information he had memorized.

Sitting in the corner were acquaintances he had just met briefly: Beigong Qi of the Broken Blood Dock and the divine physician Qin Jiujiu.

Sitting almost in the central seat of honor with a commanding presence was the Five Steps Tower Tower Master, Jin Fusheng, along with his invited external aid, Zhang Wenjian, who was a descendant of a very famous hidden weapon family in Yunzhou. At only twenty years old, he had already defeated several long-established experts, his reputation spreading across the surrounding counties, and he was known for his devious mind and ruthless methods.

On the other side, subtly holding his own against Jin Fusheng, was the Eight Steps Hall Hall Master, Cha Feiyan, and his invited external aid, Yue Lai.

Do not be fooled by the similar names of Five Steps Tower and Eight Steps Hall; the poisonous insects they used were completely different. Eight Steps Hall used poisonous powders like those from butterflies and moths, and even ran a scented powder business. Cha Feiyan was even more renowned in the Jianghu for his poisonous powders and Lightness, his reputation on par with the Jin Fusheng who could stop a child from crying at night, and far above the Black Widow of the same generation.

And Yue Lai...

Yue Lai was very similar to Tang Zhao; both were young experts of unknown origin. No information could be found on the outside, and even his portrait was as abstract as Tang Zhao's. Tang Zhao had also locked onto Cha Feiyan first, and only after confirming his target could he examine the others in detail.

Yue Lai was a bit older than Tang Zhao, looking about eighteen or nineteen, definitely under twenty. He was fair-skinned, and his temperament reminded Tang Zhao of that young master from Jingzhe Villa, Meng Huazhou.

If there was any difference between the two, it was that Yue Lai's temperament was more gloomy. In fact, Yue Lai's features were by no means sinister, but there was simply a repressive aura about him.

Not only repressive, but heavy, as if he were carrying an invisible burden on his back.

Tang Zhao now had some experience, and seeing that heaviness, a thought flashed through his mind: there was a very deep story hidden within this.

Perhaps it was hatred?

Besides his aura, Tang Zhao had another judgment.

Without using a Dharma Artifact, Yue Lai was stronger than Meng Huazhou.

Pure intuition, the intuition of an expert.

Interesting. Meng Huazhou was the son of a Sword Guest, his Spirit Talent was powerful, and he had been through a hundred battles, leaving him filled with a murderous aura. To be stronger than Meng Huazhou within the same age group meant his talent, diligence, lineage, and experience were all very strong; he was at least a top-tier young talent in Yunzhou.

Such a person shouldn't be unknown, right? Could he have hidden his identity just like Tang Zhao?

How did Eight Steps Hall find him? Was it also through Cha Feiyan's personal connections?

They were all experts; they would make judgments about each other upon their first impression. What was the other party's background? What were they good at? What were their weaknesses? Were they stronger or weaker than me?

This rapid judgment was not arbitrary; it was because there was only so much time. Jianghu conflicts were like wind and rain in the sky, one never knew when they would arrive; often, a meeting meant a fight to the death. Those who could judge accurately at the first moment were more likely to survive.

Everyone would judge others' information while simultaneously hiding their own to disrupt others' judgments.

For example, Tang Zhao; he was currently hiding his aura. Besides his personality and appearance, he also had to hide his strength to remain unfathomable.

This unfathomability was not the profound, mysterious kind, nor was it being plain and unremarkable.

Having arrived here and become an external aid, how could one still be unremarkable?

If the other party made you unable to see their true depth even after you tried your best, wouldn't that just prove they were unimaginably strong?

Therefore, Tang Zhao had to disguise himself as an expert who wasn't quite high-level enough—he had to be "not enough" to just the right degree.

He was not a person naturally gifted at disguise, so he found it hard to fabricate from thin air and had to forge according to a template. His personality was like this, and his martial arts were too. He had to perform based on the strength of people he was familiar with as a baseline; it was best to be relatively outstanding among his peers, but not too outstanding—someone like Jiang Shenyi was already a bit excessive.

Synthesizing the levels of those around him, the final strength he settled on was between Qin Yongcheng and Wei Se.

This way, everyone wouldn't be too vigilant, nor would they be too dismissive...

Right?

Black Widow smiled and said, "Oh, you brothers have all arrived first. It is indeed my fault for being late. Fortunately, I am not the last one to arrive." She waved her hand, and two chairs flew up in the room, pulling over in front of Tang Zhao and herself.

Tang Zhao stared at the chair. He had originally thought Black Widow was using Qi or projected Internal Energy to pull it, but upon closer inspection, she was using a thin silk thread to drag it over.

This should be Black Widow's signature weapon—the Soul-Startling Silk, made of extremely tough and fine spider silk. It was said that a single strand as thick as a hair could lift a boulder weighing several hundred catties.

In fact, Black Widow could have pulled it directly with Qi, which would have been more impressive, but once Qi—a power of one's own—was used, more information would inevitably be revealed, so she chose a more conventional method.

As the two chairs were pulled over, Black Widow flicked her fingers at one chair, dusting a layer of powder onto it, and then sat down lightly and gracefully.

Guarding against poison was a basic operation for people of the Five Poisons Society.

But Black Widow did not detoxify the chair for Tang Zhao; instead, she pulled the other chair directly in front of him.

Now it was Tang Zhao's turn to choose. He could choose to sit down directly; the chairs from Jingzhe Villa were likely not poisoned. But that would make him look amateurish and crude, out of place with the people of the Five Poisons Society. He could also use methods to disinfect it like Black Widow to show off his skills, or even play a trick by sprinkling some salt or something.

In fact, Black Widow could have just disinfected it for him earlier; that would have saved him from acting and hidden him better, but it also caused him to lose an opportunity to make an impression.

Just like when they first walked in, their appearance, temperament, and aura all went through a process of being scrutinized; their first action and response were also being scrutinized. Almost everyone who came in had the step of wiping their chair; placing the object of the debut on the chair was a safe option.

When Tang Zhao dealt with the hidden dangers of the chair in a formulaic way, the means and temperament he first displayed would guide everyone's preconceived notions.

Black Widow gave this opportunity to Tang Zhao to see how he would handle it. She didn't even rehearse with Tang Zhao; she naturally trusted him: she trusted a Sword Guest, believing that even if he messed up, he could clean it up himself.

Tang Zhao glanced at the chair, seemingly thinking about what to do for a moment, but then he immediately revealed his increasingly practiced "sick" smile and reached out—

He pulled a new chair out of his Space Art Tool pocket, moved it directly, and sat to the side.

???

Everyone looked at each other, and even Black Widow was stunned. She really hadn't expected his method of response—what was the meaning of this?

Although it could be considered clean and efficient, solving the problem from the root, and it was indeed a different path from others, wasn't it a bit too rash?

What kind of impression could this possibly make?

Was he showing off that his family was rich and he could afford a Space Art Tool?

Also, even if you have a Space Art Tool, why would you carry a chair inside the precious space of an Art Tool?

Was he bored out of his mind?

Don't pieces of furniture take up space?

It wasn't until Tang Zhao sat down securely that everyone reluctantly withdrew the various gazes focused on him, each pondering his background: This kid is truly eccentric; his brain works differently from others.

Yue Lai, who had been silent all along, let his gaze linger on Tang Zhao for a moment before turning away, his aura rising slightly.

After the debut of the Black Spider Villa group, the flow of the scene suddenly became unremarkable. Everyone seemed to have become colleagues from ordinary gangs, chatting in a distant yet enthusiastic manner from eight feet away. The four leaders of the Five Poisons Society were all socialites, and none of them would let the conversation go cold, chatting aimlessly. The external aids they invited, however, did not say a word. Just looking at these four, it was as repressive as wild beasts entering an arena; a single room contained two worlds of ice and fire.

Tang Zhao felt this kind of chatting was very strange. Upon closer reflection, he knew where the strangeness lay—so many people were chatting, yet the host didn't entertain them at all, not even bringing out a cup of tea, let alone fruit or snacks.

This was a characteristic of the Five Poisons Society; even if someone offered food or drink, no one would consume it. Throughout the society, this mutual distrust had reached its peak. Jingzhe Villa was no exception.

Seeing the setting sun outside the window sinking bit by bit, the number of times the people in the hall looked toward the window quietly increased.

It was already this hour, yet one person had still not arrived.

The last faction had not yet appeared.

If the sun went down and that person still had not arrived, then they would lose their qualification, and the candidates would change from five to four.

Although that was only theoretically changing from a twenty percent probability to twenty-five percent, since hope increased without having to do anything, why not be happy to see it happen?

Once people have no expectations, naturally nothing happens, but once they have expectations, their emotions inevitably fluctuate. Even Black Widow gradually folded her hands into her sleeves.

Finally, the sun fell behind Xishan, and Jin Fusheng said, "Everyone, I see the dust has settled. That person surnamed Xu cannot come, must we really keep waiting..."

Then someone said, "The one surnamed Xu? Are you talking about me?"

At the main entrance, a figure stood, blocking the last bit of Sunlight, and everyone could only see that the newcomer's features were all in Shadow, with only a head of jet-black hair fluttering in the wind.

She was actually a petite woman, her sparse and long bangs almost covering her eyes, with a small round face and large eyes; she could not be considered a beauty, and while her build was thin, it was powerful, and at five feet tall, she stood before the door with the Momentum of someone eight feet tall.

She had come after all—the last candidate faction of the Five Poisons Society, "Queen Bee" Xu Siyao.

Tang Zhao remembered her file; although Xu Siyao was a "faction" of the Five Poisons Society, most of the time she was a lone wolf, coming and going without a trace, like the wind.

But her reputation was extremely loud, and she had many friends; as long as she wanted to, she could easily organize a large group, and she was known as the Poison Bee Queen.

Among all five factions, only on her file was the "helpers" column written as "unknown."

Beigong Qi said, "Poison Bee Xu, where are your helpers?"

Xu Siyao sneered, sat straight down in the chair in the center, and said, "Do I need them? I come and go alone, when have I ever needed helpers?"

Jin Fusheng said, "Don't try to act tough. You couldn't find anyone, right?"

Xu Siyao said, "Shall I make your face swell up instead? You had better be polite to the future Manor Master, or watch out for me giving you trouble in the future. I am only interested in becoming the Manor Master, not in leading people to their deaths. I have no desire to participate in that kind of insect fight at the foot of the mountain."