Chapter 434: 409 Pulling the Strings

Before Tang Zhao could see clearly what was inside its teeth, he heard the Sword Guest Shangguan let out an angry roar and raise his sword.

Just as everyone thought he was about to strike the ground to shake Meng Huazhou and that white flower out, they saw him raise his sword upward instead.

The originally pitch-black blade changed color rapidly; it did not fade back to its original snowy white, but instead turned a faint cyan, and its edges gradually blurred.

Whoosh—

The blade suddenly transformed into cyan mist, scattering in the air like a wisp of smoke; then, even the hilt turned to smoke. The Sword Guest Shangguan grabbed at the Void and clenched his hand into a fist.

The cyan smoke drifted away with the wind. He closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly, as if listening.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and charged in one direction. His speed was like a layer of dust, stepping on the fresh snow in the mountains without leaving almost any footprints, and in the blink of an eye, he had disappeared from everyone's sight.

The group remained in the sinkhole, looking at each other.

After a while, Black Widow said, "The Sword Guest Shangguan has found the direction and gone to chase Meng Huazhou, hasn't he? He is fast. Where are we going? We can't catch up to the Sword Guest, and we don't know where Meng Huazhou has gone. What should we do?"

Xu Siyao looked at the sky; the sun was still high, and there was still half a day until the agreed-upon midnight. She said, "How about... we disperse? If we pick up the pace now, we can still make it back to Xishan County for dinner."

Black Widow looked over with a cold gaze. Xu Siyao shrank back slightly and argued, "We aren't just going home; we are returning to Jingzhe Villa. It's clearly useless here. We should go back to help you ascend to your position; no need to worry about complications arising from delay. As for that Young Master Meng, let him go play in the mud in the mountains."

Black Widow lowered her head, also hesitating for a moment. There was truly no path forward. Just then, she saw Tang Zhao squatting on the ground, as if looking at something in his hand. But from their angle, they felt Tang Zhao's hand was empty.

Black Widow said, "Little... Tang, what are you looking at?"

Tang Zhao opened his hand and said, "Can you see it?"

At this moment, the midday Sunlight shone on his hand, and his already fair skin seemed to reflect light. Black Widow squinted her eyes before she saw a faint glimmer of light on his palm.

"A thread?"

"Yes." Tang Zhao used his fingers to gently pinch the thread he had pulled from the white fox's teeth. "This is the thread from that flower. The other end should be able to connect to Meng Huazhou."

When that flower changed shape earlier, it appeared to be the flower itself shifting, but in the instant of the change, it had actually scattered into countless extremely fine threads before rapidly reassembling. This speed of scattering and re-weaving was so fast that no one present had noticed it, except for the fox, which had been prepared and went up to bite one of the thread ends.

Now that this thread end was in Tang Zhao's hand, he naturally thought of the descriptions in novels and String Songs: it was said that the city of Yuncheng looked magnificent and complete with all things, but in reality, everything was woven from individual threads; a flower or a stone could all turn into threads.

He suddenly realized—was this flower not the same as Yuncheng?

In that case, was the flower truly an object from the clouds?

Once the white fox caught a thread, it was like pulling a loose end from a sweater; the thread could be pulled indefinitely, while the person wearing the sweater might walk far away without even noticing. A sweater could be completely unraveled, but that flower was a hundred or a thousand times more intricate than a sweater. As long as the thread was long enough, Tang Zhao could follow it to the ends of the earth.

Black Widow was overjoyed, suddenly feeling that a new path had opened up. She no longer had any thoughts of returning and said, "Great! Let's chase after him."

Tang Zhao said, "Wait a moment—Manor Master Yin, that side is at its most dangerous right now. The Sword Guest likely used a tracking Sword Art to pursue him; following him now means trailing behind that Sword Guest. It is very easy to trigger a conflict. Let's wait a little longer."

Black Widow nodded. On key choices, that is, at the strategic level, Tang Zhao would fully respect her opinions, but when it involved specific tactics, the confrontation at the Sword Guest level was naturally for Tang Zhao to decide, and she would not interfere.

She looked back at Xu Siyao and said, "You two..."

Xu Siyao stepped forward and said softly, "At this point, we are useless anyway, so let us go. When I go back, I will only clear the way for you and ensure you successfully take over the position of Manor Master. I have already submitted to you and will listen to all your orders; are you still afraid I will rebel against you when I get out?"

Black Widow smiled slightly and said, "Sister Siyao, I didn't expect you to admit you are 'useless'? Do you know what happens to useless people in the Five Poisons Society?"

Xu Siyao was startled. Yu Sichen stepped up from behind and said, "What do you want?"

Black Widow smiled and said, "Naturally, I also value our friendship and am unwilling to be ruthless. How about this: you may leave, but Siyao must take this Soul-Returning Pill of mine." She then took out a pill.

Under the Sunlight, the pill was crystal clear and quite lovely, but there was a tiny black shadow in the very center, resembling a poisonous insect, which made one's skin crawl.

Xu Siyao's expression changed. Yu Sichen did not know what a Soul-Returning Pill was, but seeing Xu Siyao's body stiffen, he immediately rushed forward. Xu Siyao hurriedly stopped him, grabbing him tightly.

Black Widow said with a smile, "Don't be anxious, I don't necessarily mean to control you. It's just that I am adventuring in the deep mountains and don't know when I will return, and the vast Jingzhe Villa is without a master. If it were someone else, that would be fine, but Sister Xu is a capable person. If I am not there and there are no other competitors, wouldn't this position become yours for the taking? If you became the master of Jingzhe Villa and also a wielder of the Jingzhe Sword, with both strength and influence, wouldn't I be at your mercy? I have to take precautions. Sister Xu, if you were in my position, your choice would likely be the same as mine. You might not even be willing to let me take the Soul-Returning Pill; you would probably use your large pestle to crush me to pieces."

Xu Siyao lowered her head and said, "The Soul-Returning Pill... might not be better than a quick death."

Black Widow said, "When I get out and everything is settled, I will naturally give you the antidote and leave no future trouble. By then, I will still need to rely on you as an arm."

Xu Siyao let out a laugh, clearly full of disbelief.

Black Widow lazily rolled the pill in her hand and said, "If it were anyone else, I would only give them one chance: take it or die. Only because you and I are sisters with an extraordinary bond do I not want to see you die. I can even make a vow. Just..."

She raised her head slightly and said, "Swear by the sun. If I return safely and you behave yourself, I will give you the antidote once I successfully inherit the position of Manor Master. Otherwise, may the sun's fire burn me to ashes."

Xu Siyao's heart stirred, and she said, "But what if you cannot return safely?"

Black Widow said, "If I have an accident, Little Tang is still alive; I will have him bring the antidote out to you. You know his abilities; even if I die, he can survive." She did not wait for Xu Siyao to speak again and said directly, "This is enough, isn't it? If both of us are gone, how could I still care about you? By then, you can pray for your own luck. You must know that in our Five Poisons Society, there is no one who harms themselves to benefit others."

She leaned in and said, "I have given you the choice: either have a chance to live, or die right now. Which do you choose?" As she spoke, she brought the pill to Xu Siyao's lips.

Xu Siyao was silent for a moment, then suddenly opened her mouth and swallowed the medicine from her fingertips.

Her movement was very fast; Yu Sichen did not react in time. Seeing her close her eyes and swallow, he could only sigh in the end.

Black Widow then nodded, patted her in passing, and said, "That's good; Sister Xu is a smart person. Then, sister, you go first. I wish you a safe journey."

Xu Siyao gritted her teeth and said, "I also wish you a safe journey." Saying this, she turned and left, and Yu Sichen naturally followed her. The two were far away in a moment.

Black Widow sighed, "I am just too good-natured; otherwise, based on her snide remarks, as a Soul-Puller, I would have had to give her a hard time one way or another."

Tang Zhao did not ask her what a Soul-Returning Pill was; it was mostly a pill to control the human body, similar to things like the "Three-Corpse Brain-Spirit Pill" in the stories he had heard. He was very disgusted by the Five Poisons Society using such things on others, but if they used them on their own people, so be it. Just as Black Widow said, if Xu Siyao had mastered her life and death, the outcome would be the same.

The Gu-fight, one could say, had been going on all along.

She turned her head to look at Yue Lai again and smiled, "Brother Yue, you..."

Yue Lai said, "I will go with you. You know, I have already offended him, so I must see him die."

These words were indeed practical; in the Jianghu, one cannot easily offend people. Once offended, one must cut the weeds and dig up the roots, otherwise, there will be endless trouble. Yue Lai had already offended Meng Huazhou to the point of no return today; if he did not watch the other party die, he would likely be unable to sleep or eat in peace afterward. From this point of view, both sides shared a common enemy and had room for an alliance.

Black Widow had reservations about Yue Lai because he was someone Tang Zhao deemed "very strong." To receive this evaluation, he was likely stronger than her, so she did not have the authority to deal with this person; how to arrange him depended on Tang Zhao's intentions.

At this moment, Tang Zhao suddenly said, "Alright, prepare to set off."

Black Widow's eyes showed doubt, and Tang Zhao said, "Meng Huazhou has stopped. And... he has been stopped for a while now."

It turned out that the thread in his hand had been swaying with the other party's movements, but now it had stopped, indicating that Meng Huazhou had ceased moving.

Originally, Tang Zhao thought that if he stopped and was caught up to, he would likely fight the Sword Guest, and the thread should be swaying violently in place. Tang Zhao could then monitor the situation of the battlefield here through the vibration of the thread, much like "pulse-taking via a suspended thread."

But he did not expect that once the thread end sank, it would never move again. In other words, Meng Huazhou had truly escaped, hiding in a relatively safe place and remaining motionless, without being found by the Sword Guest.

It seemed the sword Momentum of Xiancheng was indeed very strong. At least it made the Sword Guest Shangguan's wind-like tracking method return empty-handed.

If no battle occurred and there was no opportunity to reap the benefits as a third party, there was no point in waiting here, and dragging it out until night would be bad for everyone.

Tang Zhao said, "Let's slowly reel in the thread and head over. We must be careful and cautious. First, be careful not to be discovered by Meng Huazhou. Second, be careful of the Sword Guest Shangguan. Since he hasn't found Meng Huazhou, he is definitely using that Sword Art of his to probe the surrounding anomalies. If he discovers us and follows our tail to find Meng Huazhou, then we will have done the work for someone else's benefit."

He looked up, casting a somewhat meaningful gaze at Yue Lai, and said, "As for you, Brother Yue..."

Yue Lai was quite straightforward, saying, "Since that is the case, I will walk at the very front to scout the path."