Chapter 453: Qianqiu Tower

Qianqiu Tower is very tall; it is the first time Tang Zhao has seen such a tall building.

When Tang Zhao was young, whenever Chen Zong spoke of his hometown, he often mentioned the term "high-rise buildings." Tang Zhao could, of course, understand what this meant, but he found Chen Zong's description unimaginable—a building with over a hundred floors, rising over a hundred zhang from flat ground; how inconvenient would it be to live there? Even with the kind of straight-up-and-down ladders Chen Zong mentioned, it would be a huge hassle, right? If you wanted to go out to play, you would have to go up and down the floors, tossing and turning; you would lose all interest in going out, wouldn't you?

It is inconvenient for friends and relatives to visit each other, and it is also very inconvenient to keep cats, dogs, chickens, or ducks.

Wouldn't it be better for everyone to have a small courtyard?

Besides, those diagrams of "high-rise buildings" that Chen Zong drew didn't look good either. A pile of rectangles stuck together, solid and dense, just like bricks holding a meeting—where was the beauty in that?

In any case, Tang Zhao could not imagine the grandeur and magnificence of a "modern metropolis."

But today, he truly saw the legendary "high-rise buildings."

Qianqiu Tower probably does not have as many floors as those high-rise buildings, but it is truly nearly a hundred zhang tall. Tang Zhao and the others flew over from a plane in the middle-upper section, and the bright lamps in the sky could not actually reveal its full appearance. Looking up, one could only faintly see an open-air platform at the top of the tower; looking down, the light could not reach the bottom, and a large area of Shadow was still spread out beneath their feet, as if it were a high mountain rising from the horizon.

What Tang Zhao could see was only the majority of its middle floors.

Because the light was sufficient, this part was clearly visible.

Qianqiu Tower does not have that many floors, but it still has several dozen; between each floor, there are step-like indentations. The first floor is the widest, and each subsequent floor gradually narrows, yet it is not as clearly stepped as a pyramid; it is just that each floor reveals a little bit of its own terrace.

Through these terraces, Tang Zhao discovered that the appearance of each floor was almost different.

Some floors were covered with flowers and plants, some floors were entirely made of smooth jade, some floors were filled with various gold and stone ornaments, as if they were rockeries and forests, and some floors even contained a winding stream of living water.

Each floor is different from the others; each floor is a unique landscape, or even scenery.

With so many floors of different styles pieced together, although it was dazzling at first glance, it was not particularly chaotic or disorganized, nor did it make one feel it was abrupt or strange; on the contrary, the overall effect was quite harmonious.

To be so magical is, on one hand, due to the ingenious design that considered the coordination and progressive relationship between the levels; on the other hand, it is due to the brilliant radiance erupting from the sky, which cast a layer of luster onto every floor, draping all things in a dream-like halo, making them seem as if they had descended together from a world of light and illusion.

Tang Zhao was filled with wonder as he looked at this building, thinking: There is a poem that says, "To see a thousand miles further, ascend another level." Essentially, it only speaks of climbing high to look into the distance; the building itself is not necessarily extraordinary. Here, however, a thousand miles of scenery are contained within a single building, and every level one ascends offers even more novel scenery; the building itself is like a long poem, inexhaustible to behold. What kind of miracle is this?

Qianqiu Tower—are a thousand autumns and ten thousand phenomena contained within a single building?

What great ambition, what a grand stroke!

Compared to Tang Zhao's wonder, the white fox did not think so much; it simply piloted the cloud, rushing toward Qianqiu Tower. Seeing it getting closer and closer, the white fox jumped to the head of the cloud, its figure changing, suddenly growing several times larger, making it clear to see even from far away, and shouted aloud: "Aqin, Aqin, I'm back!"

In order to be heard, the white fox jumped out from its hidden corner for the first time, revealing its true appearance, calling out to the Waijie without any restraint.

Black Widow had never known of its existence; seeing a white fox suddenly appear on the cloud within arm's reach, she was stunned and confused.

At this moment, on the sixth floor from the top—the floor just above the window where the purple silk was extended—a face appeared.

From the outside, that floor looked unremarkable, just completely inlaid with a layer of thin, transparent crystal, like a large floor-to-ceiling window. It was dark inside the room and bright outside; the face at the window looked blurry. Tang Zhao only retained the impression that it seemed to be a beautiful woman, but the white fox became even more excited, saying: "Aqin, it really is you. You are still here!"

It looked as if it were about to jump down directly, but Tang Zhao hurriedly stopped her, pressing down on the fur on her back, and said: "Be careful, there may still be enemies around. You must be cautious." As he spoke, he tied a Cloud Silk Lamp to her tail.

In fact, what Tang Zhao wanted to remind her of was: be careful that "Aqin" is a fake, a Shadow or some other fabrication.

Although it was Tang Zhao who suggested that there might be people in the Xiancheng, from a rational perspective, he felt it was too incredible that there were actually people, so he inevitably harbored doubts.

Compared to the survival of the local people of the Xiancheng, the conspiracy of the Wangliang seemed more reasonable.

It was just that seeing the white fox so excited that it could not control itself, Tang Zhao found it difficult to dampen its spirits, and assuming it would not listen, he only offered a side-handed reminder, while he himself prepared to take action from behind.

The cloud head drew closer and closer; the light in the sky could no longer maintain the shape of the white fox, turning it into a round, glowing cake. Fortunately, the brightness did not cease, and Tang Zhao finally saw the woman in front of the window.

Objectively speaking, she was indeed a beauty, with full cheeks, particularly beautiful eyebrows and eyes, and skin as white as snow; she could be called a beauty by any standard.

But Tang Zhao was still taken aback—this girl was truly too young; to call her a young woman would be an understatement. She was at most thirteen or fourteen years old, having just left childhood, with a round face and baby fat that had not yet faded; she was in the green, unripe years of youth.

If this were the Xiancheng of the past, it would be natural for there to be residents of this age; not to mention a girl of ten or so, what would be strange about golden boys and jade girls living on the clouds? However, this is a place of Shadow that has been sealed for over a hundred years; how could there be such a young girl?

Not to mention that facing a disaster, leaving such a young girl to guard the home was already inconceivable; even if that had been the decision back then, she should have grown up over the past hundred years.

A Sword Guest has techniques to maintain their youth, but they do not stop growing. A Sword Guest is also human; not only will they grow up, but they will also age. For instance, Shangguan Jianke clearly already showed signs of old age.

Even if some female Sword Guests who are particularly attentive to their appearance might use some method to fix their looks, they would not fix them at thirteen or fourteen. Firstly, their stature would not be fully grown, and being too short would be very inconvenient for many things; secondly, a woman is generally at her most beautiful when she is a bit older, at least sixteen, or twenty, and some do not reach their peak until twenty-five or older. Thirteen or fourteen is still full of childishness and ultimately lacks a certain grace.

Not to mention that over a hundred years is almost the limit of a Sword Guest's lifespan; if she were just a Sword Guest, she should not only be old, but perhaps even dead.

Dead?

Tang Zhao was startled by this thought. He hurriedly looked more closely and discovered that the girl's complexion was strangely white, and her outline looked ethereal; indeed, something was wrong.

But to say it was a Shadow, it did not seem like it either. Tang Zhao's heart stirred, and he remembered Feng Zhilie—after he killed the main body and reversed the Spirit Image into the main body, she also had the appearance of a girl, and she looked somewhat ethereal.

But come to think of it, this girl was even more ethereal; she was not as stable as the Spirit Image, or Phantom, state. Moreover, the Spirit Image and the person themselves are opposites; if this were a Spirit Image, it would mean that "Aqin" was a rough middle-aged man only slightly younger than Feng Zhilie.

Looking at the white fox's reaction, that was clearly not the case.

The girl looked at the white fox and opened her mouth to call out, but the sound did not come through the crystal. From her lip movements, Tang Zhao saw her shout:

"Aunt Ling!"

She really is just a child.

Tang Zhao tied the Cloud Silk Lamp to the white fox's tail; on the surface, it was to let it carry the lamp to dispel the darkness, but in reality, it was to tie a safety rope to it. In case of any accident, he would be able to pull it back.

The white fox was focused entirely on Aqin and did not notice Tang Zhao's good intentions. Seeing that the distance was about right, it finally jumped down. Tang Zhao took over the position of piloting the cloud, letting the cloud hover in mid-air; he did not stop the white fox, nor did he bring his full assets close to Qianqiu Tower, ultimately leaving some room for maneuver.

Seeing the white fox's figure land on the window, it passed through the window lightly and nimbly. Tang Zhao saw clearly that it was not the person inside who opened the window, but the window cracked open a slit to let it pass through, and then the window automatically closed. The crystal was incomparably smooth, with no sign of cracking at all.

If it were real crystal, this would count as a supernatural event, but this is, after all, an Xiancheng woven from Cloud Silk; that moment just now was merely the formed object dispersing into Cloud Silk and then restoring itself.

Through the transparent window, Tang Zhao saw the white fox go to embrace that "Aqin."

The first embrace was not successful; the white fox passed right through Aqin, as if passing through a phantom.

There is indeed a problem.

But immediately after, the white fox turned its head again, and the two embraced once more.

They held each other tightly.

Hmm...

Seeing this scene through the window, Tang Zhao's mood relaxed slightly. Although he still felt that the state of that "Aqin" was strange, he saw true emotion in this embrace, and both of them had it.

It did not look fake.

Although, with Tang Zhao's shallow experience, there are countless excellent actors in the world who could deceive him, he always felt that sincerity was different; it had infectious power. Therefore, the moment he saw this embrace, he ultimately believed it.

After waiting for a while, once the white fox and Aqin let go, they began to talk incessantly while holding each other. Because of the angle, he could only see half of Aqin's body, and he did not discover anything particularly strange.

The two talked for a long time. The white fox did not think of Tang Zhao outside, only speaking with Aqin, its state completely selfless. This is also human nature; meeting an old friend in a foreign land is considered one of the four great joys of life, let alone meeting the little sister from back then after a hundred years in their scarred and battered hometown.

No matter what they had become, at this moment, they must both be filled with an explosive joy, right?

Both reasonably and emotionally, Tang Zhao could not possibly urge it, only quietly watching the two reminisce; naturally, he could not avoid some curiosity, wondering how this Aqin had managed to stay here for so long? Could she give the white fox a reasonable explanation?

Suddenly, he felt something, and turned his head back.

He saw that Black Widow, who had just been somewhat at a loss, also made a move.

She stood up, pulled out two Hand Lamp cylinders, held one in each hand, thought for a moment, then pulled out another one, turned off the Lamp, tucked it into her waist, came to the edge of the clouds, Looked at Qianqiu Tower, and took a deep breath, her white dress fluttering slightly in the air.

Could it be that she wants to...

He saw Black Widow finish her preparations, holding a Lamp in each hand, her body leaping gracefully off the cloud bank, landing on Qianqiu Tower.