Chapter 432: 407 White Whale

The white Great Ship, like a patch of Shadow, loomed over everyone's hearts.

Everyone stared blankly at the sky, watching the white speck move away and shrink bit by bit.

Meng Huazhou looked panicked, stamped his feet and said, "How did he manage to hijack it? How did he find it?"

Black Widow heard the tone was off and asked urgently, "What thing? Ah... could it be the White Whale Boat?"

As she mentioned the White Whale Boat, Tang Zhao also remembered; the novels of the Yunmeng Immortal Capital had once described it: when the fairies of the Xiancheng went on outings, they could ride cloud ships that resembled giant kun, cruising through the vast Yunhai, folding rain and snow, chasing the sunset clouds, and fishing for swallows and sparrows in the clouds just like fishing.

He also remembered a scene where the protagonist and a fairy sat at the bow of the White Whale Boat, holding hands and embracing...

Well, that counted as a passable romantic trope in the book, so he remembered it deeply, let alone Black Widow.

At first glance at that massive cloud ship, the words from the book flashed through his mind, and there was truly a sense of dazedness as if a dream had come to reality.

It was just that he remembered the White Whale Boat seemed to be...

Black Widow had already figured it out and said anxiously, "You were going to take us up to the sky in the White Whale Boat? But how did it fly up on its own? Could it be that you hid it nearby, but it was found by someone else?"

Meng Huazhou did not have time to answer and had already taken off running in the direction the airship had drifted. Black Widow and the others hurriedly followed.

Tang Zhao naturally followed as well, muttering to himself, "That's not right, can you really go to the sky using this thing?"

He seemed to be talking to himself, but there was someone listening; the white fox lay on his shoulder and asked suspiciously, "It doesn't look like it. The White Whale Boat..."

It muttered there, but the others could not wait and followed Meng Huazhou in a mad dash. The two valleys were not far apart, and since several of them had outstanding light-body techniques, they arrived before long.

They saw that the adjacent valley was very open and spacious, much larger than the valley where they had gathered, but the valley entrance was very small, making it extremely hidden. The valley floor was covered with a layer of messy dead leaves, and in the middle was a pressed track, as if some behemoth had been parked there. All around were several pieces of gray, earth-colored linen, messily torn on the ground.

Everyone was a shrewd person; one look at this scene and they guessed it was about right: something large must have been hidden in this valley, most likely that cloud-like Great Ship, and those linen cloths were likely camouflage used to cover the ship.

But now the ship had been flown away.

Based on everyone's reactions, the ship must have been hidden by Meng Huazhou, and the person who stole the ship was...

The only person not present, that Shangguan Jianke?

Although it was jaw-dropping that a dignified Sword Guest would actually abandon martial virtue to steal a junior's property and run off with it, the facts were right before their eyes; who could not believe it?

Xu Siyao had the least stake in this, so she just sneered, "Young Villa Master, you hid things right under your own nose? Did you think it was 'darkest under the lamp'? You could have at least taken some measures to make sure it couldn't be flown away. I even suspect that you and your Sword Guest ally were putting on a double act, just not wanting to take us up there."

Black Widow stared at that ship, her eyes grim, and said, "How... how do we get him down?"

Tang Zhao was also staring at the white ship, watching the Great Ship fly higher and higher, becoming smaller and smaller in his field of vision. This had long exceeded the attack range of ordinary Sword Art, but as long as his eyes could see it, it was within the range of his light rays; he could definitely go up, it just depended on whether it was necessary.

But... why did he have an intuition that something was wrong?

The white fox on his shoulder saw it clearly and said, "What is a White Whale Boat? The name is nice, but it looks so crude; how can this thing go to the sky?"

That's right, Tang Zhao remembered: the White Whale Boat was in the book, but it was not in the original songs.

This was very likely a "fan-fiction" invention by the ancestors of the Meng Family. Now that the white fox had confirmed this point, if the White Whale Boat was not an object of the Xiancheng, then this thing was even more bizarre.

"Boom—"

He looked up to observe, and suddenly heard a peal of thunder.

In the clear sky, a thunderbolt struck; a blue Thunder Light appeared out of thin air and exploded on the White Whale Boat, thunder snakes dancing wildly, dazzling and soul-stirring!

Everyone watched helplessly as the massive White Whale Boat was blown to pieces by the Thunder Light, turning into several white Fragments that fell from the sky, like falling white petals.

In an instant, it was a clear sky again, with not a trace of thunder or lightning to be seen.

For a time, there was dead silence.

What the hell?

Tang Zhao also felt his hands and feet go numb watching it; that Thunder Light just now appeared too abruptly and was so awe-inspiring, like the legendary heavenly might of a lightning tribulation. Even though he was only watching from afar, he could not help but feel a sense of reverence.

If that lightning had struck him... he could run, right?

At this moment, the white fox suddenly said, "Did that kid just smile?"

Tang Zhao jolted and turned his head, only to see Meng Huazhou covering his face with both hands, unable to see his expression, but judging by the twitching muscles behind his ears... he should have been smiling, right?

Well, there was something fishy.

He only took one look, and Meng Huazhou had already lowered his hands, revealing a face full of shock and grief, shouting, "Senior Shangguan!"

After shouting, Meng Huazhou rushed toward the wreckage of the White Whale Boat first, as if rushing to a funeral. Everyone else could only follow him and change direction.

The place where the White Whale Boat fell was far away; as the saying goes, "looking at a mountain tires a horse," although the billowing smoke rising in the distance did not seem far, the few of them still had to use their light-body techniques and run for over an hour before they finally arrived.

Tang Zhao saw the crash site and only felt it was too gruesome to look at.

In the air, he had clearly seen the White Whale Boat turn into several large pieces, and perhaps each piece of wreckage was dozens of feet long, but on the ground, it was completely pulverized. Both the shape and the material had been completely disintegrated by the impact from the sky, leaving only a large pit and scattered bits of dust, as well as billowing smoke and a pungent, burnt smell.

At this time, the snow in the mountains had not yet melted, and the ground was white everywhere. On the surface of the bare soil exposed by the impact crater, one could still see white Fragments scattered on the ground, like messy snow marks, while the debris splashed outside the pit was completely submerged in the snow, merging with the earth.

It was broken, completely broken.

A White Whale Boat that large had almost no traces of ever having existed in the world.

If there were people inside the ship, they had probably been smashed to pieces during the fall; let alone organs and limbs, it was the kind of pulverization where even bloodstains would be hard to find.

Seeing this scene, Meng Huazhou covered his mouth with his hand again, took three steps back, and said, "How could it be like this, how could it be like this..."

Tang Zhao watched coldly, feeling that his acting was still not enough; the movements were in place, but the emotions hadn't caught up.

"No, no—"

With each cry, Meng Huazhou's eyes gradually turned red.

... Was this play a bit over the top again?

Meng Huazhou ultimately did not squeeze out any tears, only snorting and saying, "Senior Shangguan, I have failed you..."

Then he heard someone say coldly, "Oh, so you also know you have failed me?"

Meng Huazhou was startled, and saw a person stand up from the snow, covered in snow; the hair that was originally half-black and half-white was completely white from the snow, making him look even more weathered, and his face was like frost. Who else could it be but Shangguan Jianke?

Meng Huazhou was greatly shocked and said, "You..."

Besides shock, he also had fear; although he tried his best to suppress it, he still revealed a terror as if being pursued by a vengeful spirit.

Tang Zhao was also slightly shocked, but immediately felt it was reasonable.

Killing a Sword Guest was not that simple. If it were a Martial Artist falling from such a high altitude, even if they hadn't been injured before, they would surely die; their protective Qi could not withstand such a massive impact.

Sword Guests are different; ordinary Sword Guests all possess Sword Art for controlling swords, as well as various Sword Art for escaping and fleeing. If they were struck dead by lightning on the spot in the sky, that would be that, but if they were not struck dead and their swords were not shattered, they could always escape with their lives.

Meng Huazhou acted a bit too early just now.

That Shangguan Jianke said chillingly, "I would like to hear how you have wronged me?"

As he spoke, he stepped across the accumulated snow, each step crushing the fresh snow, treading the ground into a mess of shattered jade and broken ice.

He approached step by step; although he was not showing anger, his entire body was already revealing a murderous aura.

However, Tang Zhao discovered an inconsistency in his gait—the posture of his walking was subtly different from before, and although he tried his best to conceal it, it was still inadvertently revealed.

It seems he was not unscathed after being struck by lightning on the White Whale Boat.

Seeing Shangguan Jianke approaching, Meng Huazhou felt immense pressure and said, "I... this was originally the ship I prepared, yet I let you encounter an unexpected danger; naturally, it is this junior's fault."

Shangguan Jianke sneered, "Is that so... but it wasn't you who asked me to board the ship. I moved your things without permission and even destroyed your property; it should be me who has wronged you. You should be angry. Furthermore, the only ship that can go to the sky has crashed; you have lost your hope of ascending to the Xiancheng, so you should be anxious and frantic. You are neither anxious nor angry, only concerned with crying for me—could it be that I am your own father?"

Meng Huazhou laughed dryly, "Senior, you speak too seriously. How could I blame you? That you used the ship is an honor to me. Regardless, it is good that you are unharmed."

Shangguan Jianke said, "I was lucky to be unharmed, but it was close, so close..." He stared straight at Meng Huazhou and said, "It was close to me perishing together with this Great Ship of yours that is merely a hollow shell. I just don't understand, how could a ship generate Thunder Light from the Inner parts itself?"

Meng Huazhou was full of astonishment and said, "What? Did the Thunder Light not strike down from the sky?"

Shangguan Jianke sneered, "Whether it came from outside or from inside, could I not know? Could you not know? I just don't understand, is this ship so fragile that it wasn't meant for flying, but born to explode?"

Meng Huazhou laughed even more dryly, "Perhaps there was a malfunction, who knows..."

Swish—

A Sword Light left its sheath; Meng Huazhou did not have time to dodge, and Shangguan Jianke's sword was already pointing at his neck.

"Kid, don't think that you are the only smart person in the world."

The blade touched Meng Huazhou's neck, and without needing to apply force, a red mark had already seeped out. Shangguan Jianke said word by word, "I can choose not to pursue the fact that you intentionally revealed the ship's location to me last night, and I can choose not to pursue your fabricated intelligence that one could go to the sky during the day without time restrictions. I also won't force you to reveal what kind of catalyst you buried in the ship. Do you know why?"

The blade trembled, and blood was seen instantly, "Because you are still useful."

Shangguan Jianke's fierce appearance became even more exposed: "These days, it is this old man who has been too lenient with you. You play these tricks and evade the question, and I have been tolerating you just to make you behave. But you refuse to accept kindness. Now, obediently hand over the clues to the Xiancheng, and I may still spare your little life. Otherwise, you can take your belly full of secrets and die!"