Chapter 451: 426 Parting Ways

That moment felt very long.

Tang Zhao looked at Yue Lai, and Yue Lai looked at Tang Zhao.

With just one glance, Tang Zhao knew he had been discovered.

Yue Lai's gaze was completely fixed on Tang Zhao, his eyes filled with disbelief.

This is bad.

Seeing Yue Lai's lips move, Tang Zhao turned his head first to say to the White Fox, "Hide him too."

The White Fox raised its head, its pair of greenish eyes staring at Yue Lai.

Yue Lai instinctively felt something was wrong, but he had no way to deal with it because he could not see the White Fox.

He could see Tang Zhao because Tang Zhao had done too many things—lighting the Lamp, releasing the Lamp, and manipulating the clouds—which aroused suspicion. Although protected by the White Fox, things associated with Tang Zhao within a certain range were invisible; Yue Lai could only see the lamp flames rising abruptly from the surroundings, but having seen it so many times, doubts inevitably arose in his heart.

Take the Black Widow, for example; because she had personally persuaded Tang Zhao to leave, she was biased and did not suspect Tang Zhao was still there. Yue Lai did not have this constraint; he was a person with a capable brain and was naturally suspicious. He thought of many possibilities, one of which was the doubt: Could Tang Zhao still be here? Was he and the Black Widow working in the open and in the dark, plotting against their opponent here?

Although the premise was guessed wrong, the result was about the same. Tang Zhao was hiding in the blind spot of everyone's curiosity, and once Yue Lai thought of it, this concealment was broken.

However, while Yue Lai could see Tang Zhao, he absolutely could not see the White Fox. Even if he had ten thousand suspicions, he would not happen to think: Could Tang Zhao still be carrying a fox?

Therefore, he could not defend against it and was easily dragged into the blind spot by a single glance from the White Fox.

He felt the shift in this state vaguely, and for a moment he was stunned. Tang Zhao spoke first: "Since you've come, don't leave."

Yue Lai shuddered—this did not sound like something a good person would say.

Are you going to silence me?

Fortunately, Tang Zhao followed up with an explanation: "I am hiding here secretly and don't want to be discovered. Don't doubt it; even the Black Widow doesn't know, and I'm not here to target you. Since you've discovered me, just hide together..."

Before he finished speaking, the clouds beneath their feet jolted, rushing in another direction like a wild horse breaking free from its reins.

Oh no!

Tang Zhao had been preoccupied with resolving Yue Lai's issue, and the White Fox had also shifted its attention, stopping its struggle with Meng Huazhou for a moment. Whether Meng Huazhou had discovered Tang Zhao or not, he did not miss this opportunity and suddenly exerted force to pull the entire cloud away.

Tang Zhao hurriedly said, "Quickly take back control."

The White Fox turned its head away and continued to fiddle with the Ruyi Thread, while Yue Lai watched him curiously, not knowing who he was talking to.

The White Fox's concealment was quite precise. Even though Tang Zhao was talking to it, if Yue Lai did not specifically suspect the level of a "fox" and only suspected that Tang Zhao had a companion, he would not see the White Fox. Moreover, although he had stumbled upon seeing Tang Zhao, he could not guess where he had triggered the key, and even thought it was Tang Zhao who had voluntarily revealed himself to warn him.

Tang Zhao did not know if the White Fox could succeed, but he appeared very calm on the surface, as if the overall situation was under his control. He said to Yue Lai, "Brother Yue, do not worry. I am hiding here to protect Manor Master Yin and deal with Meng Huazhou; it has nothing to do with you. Brother Yue, just wait with peace of mind, and I will let you leave when the time comes."

Yue Lai nodded calmly and said, "Since it is you, I won't worry. Worrying is useless anyway." He sat down on the ground slowly—whether he was truly not worried or just forcing himself to be calm, it was impossible to tell—and said, "Was that tug-of-war just now you and Meng Huazhou struggling for control?"

Tang Zhao nodded and said steadily, "I happened to obtain a bit of opportunity and am struggling with him for control. He is no match for me."

Yue Lai said, "That goes without saying; how can he compare to you? If you can lure his true self out and let me kill him with one sword, I will owe you a favor."

Tang Zhao felt slightly surprised: the tone of this statement was quite high-minded.

One must know that Tang Zhao and Yue Lai had crossed paths before. That time in the corridor, Yue Lai drew his sword, and Tang Zhao lightly clamped it with his fingers; the difference in skill was immediately apparent. Although it was partly because Yue Lai had hidden his strength, the two had tacitly accepted that Tang Zhao was a level higher.

But for Yue Lai to say he owed a favor, this was at least something people of the same level should say; those of a lower level should speak of "gratitude." It seemed Yue Lai had great confidence; even if he was a step behind now, he was confident he would catch up in the future.

Tang Zhao said, "That is of no concern. If Meng Huazhou shows his face, it will be his death day..."

Before he finished speaking, the clouds turned again.

This turn was very clean and crisp, heading directly toward Qianqiu Tower. The subsequent journey was smooth; although there were occasional jolts, it was far from the stalemate and tugging when Tang Zhao was manipulating the Ruyi Thread. Furthermore, the further they went, the smoother it became; after only a few slight stutters, it moved forward unswervingly.

Won!

As expected of the White Fox, the priority was real.

Tang Zhao gave the White Fox a thumbs-up, and the White Fox lifted its head slightly.

At this moment, Yue Lai shouted, "He moved!"

Tang Zhao hurriedly followed him in looking up at that flower.

He saw the white flower, which had remained the size of a finger, suddenly expand, turning into the size of a kickball. The interwoven threads were no longer so dense, and one could say it revealed a gap for the first time.

It really moved!

It seemed that the situation where Meng Huazhou was secretly controlling the direction from behind the scenes had been blocked by the White Fox, and he must have been at his wit's end, forced to enter the fray himself.

So what was he going to do?

In terms of strength, he was not even as good as Yue Lai. Would he use some trump card left by his family or Xu Congsheng to launch a direct attack?

Regardless of the trump card, as long as he moved, don't forget that Sword Guest Shangguan was still blocking the entrance.

Sword Guest Shangguan was currently holding back because of his fingers and had not acted rashly, but once he saw Meng Huazhou's real person, he would never begrudge a mere limb and would only use all his strength to cripple him in one go.

At this time, Sword Guest Shangguan also looked up at the flower. His sword was already unsheathed, ready to strike; no matter what part Meng Huazhou extended from inside, he would pin it down firmly.

Then he saw a crack open out of thin air on the ball of Cloud Silk, and out stretched a strange-looking long-handled... pair of scissors!

The White Fox exclaimed, "Cloud Silk Shears!"

Tang Zhao did not know what the Cloud Silk Shears were, but judging by the name, he could roughly guess what they were, and thought to himself, "Not good."

But they were quite a distance from Meng Huazhou. The scissors only extended a portion, opened cleanly and crisply, and then slammed shut—

Crack!

These were scissors specifically used to cut Cloud Silk; one could imagine how sharp they were.

With one opening and closing, it was like ordinary scissors cutting window paper, encountering no resistance whatsoever.

The threads were cut in one go.

The white flower, which had been connected to the clouds the entire way and had almost served the role of a guide, was thus separated from the large expanse of clouds.

Only the white flower continued to fly forward. Once the thread broke, the clouds fell behind, and even Sword Guest Shangguan tumbled down.

Tang Zhao even saw a wisp of blood in the air, suspecting that when the Cloud Silk was cut just now, Sword Guest Shangguan's finger might have been cut off along with it.

But Sword Guest Shangguan was a Sword Guest after all. The moment he fell, he let out a roar, performed a carp-leap in mid-air, sprang up, and lunged forward. He did not fear the Cloud Silk Shears, a sharp weapon that had just displayed such great power, and thrust his hand directly into the gap that had not yet had time to heal, followed by his body, which was also about to squeeze in.

The only crack from which the scissors had emerged healed quite quickly, not allowing his whole body to squeeze in. However, his movements were also very fast, and in the end, his head, most of his shoulder, and his entire hand were stuffed into that sphere.

Tang Zhao watched, dumbfounded, as the sphere flew further and further away. Perhaps it was Sword Guest Shangguan's intervention that prevented it from returning to its original small state. The large sphere hung there with half of Sword Guest Shangguan's body, looking like a sand dune carrying an ostrich with its head buried.

Although it was not the time, the scene was somewhat comical, and Tang Zhao still nearly laughed out loud.

Immediately following, another figure also lunged over.

That was Yue Lai!

Just like the decisiveness of Shangguan Jianke, Yue Lai also left the safe and warm Yun Dao without hesitation, lunging toward the two people rushing into the Shadow.

Tang Zhao was startled, but then felt it was not unexpected—what doubt could he still have regarding Yue Lai's determination to keep his eyes locked on Meng Huazhou? He had endured the entire way; if he let Meng Huazhou escape just like this, he did not know if there would be another chance to meet again.

Yue Lai's movement technique was also incredibly fast; he must have used a Sword Art.

The sword he carried with him was a high-quality Art Tool and could also be used for sword control; although the speed was not as good as a true sword weapon, the short-distance burst was quite impressive, actually allowing him to climb onto the white ball controlled by Meng Huazhou from the other side.

"Huh? What the hell is all this? What are these people thinking in their heads?"

The white fox miscalculated and was put in check by Meng Huazhou, inevitably becoming furious and cursing out loud. By comparison, Tang Zhao was calm and composed; these few people had nothing to do with him, and at most he wanted to kill Meng Huazhou, but he was not that obsessed. Anyway, since Yue Lai wanted to make a move, the two enemies could fight to the death, and Tang Zhao would not fight him for it.

Only when he saw Yue Lai about to fly out of the bright zone—of the three, only Shangguan Jianke had a torch, and in the Shadow, it was truly as dangerous as a candle in the wind—Tang Zhao's heart stirred. He picked up a Cloud Silk Lamp he had prepared earlier but had not yet had the chance to release, lit it, and manipulated the Cloud Silk to transform into a Long Bow and a great arrow. He tied the Cloud Silk Lamp to the arrow, drew the bow, nocked the arrow, and shot it out.

Tang Zhao was not originally skilled at archery, but since his strength, eyesight, and control had all reached a certain level, the accuracy of the arrow would not be bad.

At this moment, of the three people in the sky, only Yue Lai's eyes were still outside; he saw the incoming arrow at a glance and caught it perfectly with a light touch.

He had already seen Tang Zhao weaving the Cloud Silk Lamp and roughly understood that this object was miraculous. Upon receiving it in his hand, he immediately understood Tang Zhao's intention: compared to a Hand Lamp tube, a Cloud Silk Lamp protected by Cloud Silk was much safer. This was the final First Layer of protection Tang Zhao sent to Yue Lai.

For a moment, he was filled with mixed emotions and could no longer say anything like "I owe you a favor." He even shifted his attention away from Meng Huazhou for a moment and earnestly bowed to Tang Zhao, who was getting further and further away.

Tang Zhao returned the bow and stopped paying attention to the grievances and entanglements of the three people above. From this moment on, Meng Huazhou, Shangguan Jianke, and Yue Lai were considered to have left the team. Although there might still be a chance to meet again, for now, only he, Black Widow, and the white fox remained as companions traveling together on the cloud.

This was a good thing; without messy interpersonal relationships, how much peace of mind it saved.

At this time, the white fox was still grumbling in dissatisfaction, and Tang Zhao comforted it: "The troublemakers have left, isn't this a good thing? They go their way, I go mine. As long as we occupy several hubs first, even if they have the ability of a Somersault Cloud, they won't be able to escape our grasp."

The white fox finally calmed down and snorted to show its approval, while Tang Zhao's interest increased quite a bit, and he said: "Let's go, target, Thousand Autumn Tower!"