Chapter 493: A Hundred Years

In the coffin lay a white-haired woman, thin and withered, like a dried corpse.

Because they had seen corpses one after another just moments before, Tang Zhao included, everyone first assumed she was dead and was about to follow the previous procedure of covering her with Cloud Silk Satin and moving her aside, but Xiangyangzi was the first to notice something wrong and called out.

Even after it called out, Tang Zhao barely detected any signs of life, but he trusted Xiangyangzi and immediately added a Sword Art technique: "One Day's Plan Lies in the Morning."

After being enveloped by the Sunlight, the white-haired woman's skin seemed to gain some luster, though it might also have just been a reflection from the light.

Xiangyangzi said anxiously, "You can't do it, let me—"

As it spoke, the flower jumped onto the white-haired person, roots and all, its root system wrapping around her body, the flower head raised to face the sun.

Tang Zhao could feel that as it bathed in the Sunlight, its vitality surged continuously, and even the color of the flower head became more beautiful, while that vitality flowed back from Xiangyangzi's root system into the woman.

The other Sword Heroes were not as sensitive to vitality as Tang Zhao, but they could see what it was doing and all showed expressions of gratitude; Ling Baoyu even said repeatedly, "Thank you, Senior."

After a while, Xiangyangzi crawled out of the coffin, and without the flower and leaves covering her, the woman's appearance was revealed. She was completely different; although she still looked old and weak, she now had the appearance of a living person, her chest rising and falling slightly, and because her cheeks were slightly fuller, one could even discern a hint of the delicate beauty she had in her youth.

Ling Baoyu stared at her and suddenly said, "This is A Mu, right?"

The others looked carefully and fell silent for a moment; no one dared to confirm or deny it.

Finally, someone whispered, "Yes. It seems to be her." The others followed with silent nods.

Aqin was incredulous and said, "Sister A Mu, how is that possible? She was only one year older than me..."

A gentle-looking Sword Hero nearby said softly, "It has already been over a hundred years, Aqin."

Aqin suddenly burst into loud sobs.

A hundred years of time had left indelible marks on everyone. Even if these Sword Heroes showed no changes on their faces, how could the imprints in their hearts be easily erased?

Ling Baoyu stepped forward to lift A Mu out horizontally, placed her on a bed that had just been woven, and applied fresh water to her lips. Another Sword Hero came up, intending to pass her a breath of vital energy, but Ling Baoyu said, "Let me do it."

Xiangyangzi said, "No need, no need. I have already replenished everything that needed to be replenished. You all just prepare some soup and water; don't go blindly passing this energy or that energy. If you replenish too much, it will be troublesome if she cannot handle the nourishment."

The crowd respected it greatly and immediately obeyed, stopping their actions. Only Ling Baoyu remained to care for her, while the others returned to the side of the coffins.

Here, Tang Zhao was still opening the coffins one by one, with another male Sword Hero helping him open them besides Hao Jianxia. The entire process was silent. After the incident with A Mu, the group regained some spirit, and whenever they encountered a relatively intact body, they checked it carefully, hoping for another miracle.

The reason a miracle is a miracle is that it does not happen often.

One by one, the coffins were opened, revealing corpses that were either new or old, all of them remains without a trace of life.

Tang Zhao also saw that most of them carried swords, each one already tarnished, like scrap iron.

Clearly, these bones lying silently in the water were all Sword Guests in their lifetimes; the prominent status of a Sword Guest in the mortal world was not enough to let them escape death, even if it was only for a "mere" hundred years.

A Sword Guest, in the face of life and death, really does not count for much.

Although Ling Baoyu was caring for the injured, her gaze persisted in looking into the coffins; although she desperately did not want to see the remains of her companions, she wanted even more to confirm the whereabouts of her eldest and second sisters.

She did not know whether she hoped or did not hope to see their remains.

In the end, Tang Zhao opened the last coffin and gathered the last set of remains.

In the end, there were no more lucky survivors.

All the remains were lined up together, covered with Cloud Silk Satin, like soft blankets.

Almost everyone's identity was quickly confirmed; after all, there were still their clothes and other personal belongings in the coffins.

Actually, if only Ling Baoyu were here, she might not have been able to recognize everyone by their belongings, as a hundred years had passed and many trivial memories had become blurred. But the others' memories had not been updated, so they naturally remembered the partners who had fought side-by-side before falling asleep.

The survivors held a small farewell ceremony. Tang Zhao and Xiangyangzi were outsiders and did not participate, only watching from afar; Tang Zhao did not want to get too close, as it was truly heartbreaking.

Finally, Ling Baoyu and the others cut a piece of cloud and placed all the remains inside, like a cemetery, to remain forever in a corner of Baiyujing. The others collected the swords of the deceased, turning them back into the storage of Baiyujing—even if they hoped their brothers and sisters could leave with dignity, a sword is ultimately a sword and cannot be wasted. These were the capital for future revenge.

Finally, all the Sword Heroes, including Ling Baoyu, expressed their gratitude to Tang Zhao and Xiangyangzi, repeatedly stating that Tang Zhao was the benefactor of Baiyujing, and the remaining people of Baiyujing would repay the kindness like a gushing spring; if there were any orders, no one would refuse.

Tang Zhao declined modestly, and only then did the group begin to use this to release the architecture of Baiyujing stored in the Time Jar, rebuilding the city.

This was a tedious task, not just taking the buildings out of the jar and placing them in the distance, but also putting back various small ornaments one by one, and even the remaining flowers and plants had to be taken care of; furthermore, they had to do a thorough cleaning inside and out to clear away the stubborn Wangliang Fragments that had condensed within. After all, many buildings had been moved directly from the Shadow world into the jar, and many Wangliang Fragments were still hidden in the nooks and crannies, requiring various means to be completely eliminated.

To increase efficiency, these tasks had to be divided among everyone.

Before everyone dispersed, Ling Baoyu asked again, "Does anyone know where His Highness went? And what about news of the eldest and second sisters?"

The crowd shook their heads one after another; their experiences were all similar, with nothing more than the order in which they entered the coffins, while the two eldest sisters had stayed behind for everyone, and His Highness had presided over the coffin-entering process; they knew nothing of what happened afterward.

Ling Baoyu was extremely sad, but she could only suppress her pain and continue to sit in command of Baiyujing.

At the time, she held a high position in Baiyujing, and now she had the merit of expelling the Wangliang and saving the crowd; both in name and in reality, she was the leader of the group and had to take responsibility.

Seeing Ling Baoyu so sad, Tang Zhao wanted to speak but stopped, and in the end, he said nothing.

He was just about to go and place a building when he heard someone behind him say softly, "Young Master Tang."

Tang Zhao turned his head and saw a woman standing behind him, looking about thirty years old, with a moderate build and a gentle expression.

Ling Baoyu had roughly introduced the names of these Sword Heroes to him, and he remembered that this one was surnamed Tan, so he said, "Senior Tan, is there something?"

Sword Hero Tan said hurriedly, "I dare not accept the title of 'Senior'. With your kindness, Young Master, I should call you a benefactor. But calling each other like that is too distant. I am a few years older anyway, so why not just call me Sister Tan?"

If judged by age, this Sword Hero Tan would have been old enough to be Tang Zhao's elder a hundred years ago; acknowledging him as a younger brother was already very self-effacing. Tang Zhao also said a few words of refusal, then called her "Sister Tan," and said, "Just call me Tang Zhao. Sister, what is the matter?"

Sword Hero Tan's voice was soft, with a bit more gentleness than the coquettishness of Black Widow, and she said, "I just saw you wanting to speak but stopping; is there some hidden difficulty? If it is inconvenient to speak clearly in public, you might as well tell me quietly, and I will tactfully remind others. You must not wrong yourself; that would make us all uneasy."

Tang Zhao smiled a little embarrassedly, deeply feeling that this Sister Tan was understanding, and said, "You laugh at me. Actually, I have two things I wanted to say. One is indeed my private matter. The other is because I am just guessing, and I feel that saying it would be irresponsible and would only increase everyone's troubles."

Sword Hero Tan said hurriedly, "What private matter? Please, you must speak. If there is anything we can do to help with your affairs, that would be great. We are only afraid that we cannot help you."

Tang Zhao said, "It's nothing much, I just want to go home as soon as possible. Because I have things to do, but now..."

Sword Hero Tan immediately said, "Naturally, you come first. Managing Baiyujing is our duty, and you have your own duties; isn't it only natural to do one's duty? Gathering here today is fate, and parting temporarily is also fate. Since fate exists, why worry about not having a time to reunite? This Baiyujing is also forever open to you; come whenever you want."

Tang Zhao nodded and said, "That is exactly right. I will tell Miss Ling in a moment."

As he was speaking, he happened to see someone in the distance open a jar, revealing a tall building, and the Plaque on it read:

"Zizai Tower."

This is Zizai Tower?

The place in legends where one can temper the Sword Heart?

Tang Zhao remembered Xiangyangzi's suggestion and looked at it for a few moments. Sword Hero Tan immediately understood and said, "Xiao Tang, are you still one step away from becoming a Sword Hero?"

Tang Zhao was startled, and Sword Hero Tan immediately followed up, "If so, Sister will introduce you to a good place, which is our Zizai Tower. Go and try it, and you will know; it is good for tempering the Sword Heart. This Zizai Tower was rescued by you, so going inside to take a look now, isn't that another turn of fate?"

This happened to align with Tang Zhao's intentions; just as he was about to offer a polite remark before agreeing, Tan Jianxia had already grabbed him and headed straight toward Zizai Tower.

Over here, Zizai Tower was being tidied up by the male Sword Hero other than Hao Jianxia. Seeing Tan Jianxia arrive, he said, "Sister Tan." His tone was also very respectful, clearly indicating that Tan Jianxia's status among the Sword Heroes was not low.

Tan Jianxia nodded and said, "Little Tu, is this Zizai Tower easy to tidy up?"

Sword Hero Tu was a bit puzzled and said, "It's alright. I haven't opened it yet, but it looks like there's no damage..."

Tan Jianxia said, "Shall we take it slow? I find tidying up Chunjun Tower particularly annoying; will you help me?"

Sword Hero Tu readily agreed, "Sure. Since Sister Tan has asked, how could I refuse?" He immediately transferred the corresponding Ruyi Silk to Tan Jianxia and headed to Chunjun Tower himself.

Tang Zhao had assumed Tan Jianxia would explicitly allow him to enter Zizai Tower, but he hadn't expected her to swap tasks with Sword Hero Tu instead, so he said, "Sister Tan..."

Tan Jianxia whispered, "It's no problem; entering Zizai Tower is very simple. You just need to slip in quietly. This is a little game this big sister is introducing to you. A trip takes a few hours, and coming out won't delay you from going home. If we told everyone and they all formally invited you in, it would make a huge fuss, which wouldn't be fun, would it?"

Tang Zhao understood her meaning; the more she downplayed entering Zizai Tower, the less it consumed a favor, and Tang Zhao felt at ease. Making it look like a formal reward provided by Baiyujing would instead be less ideal.

He felt even more grateful for Tan Jianxia's thoughtfulness and whispered, "Thank you, Sister."

Thereupon, Tan Jianxia mentioned a few things to note about Zizai Tower, then opened the door and let him enter the legendary Zizai Tower alone.