Chapter 505: 479 Clearing Clouds to See the Sun

Tang Zhao was startled, then immediately understood her meaning; this young lady was, of course, referring to Ling Baoyu.

Ling Baoyu existed in the form of a white fox and was hidden in a blind spot of curiosity; ordinary people, and even ordinary Sword Heroes, could not detect her presence. However, the Gaoyuan Marquis not only saw through her concealment at a glance but also perceived her essence directly, and perhaps even saw through her appearance by looking past her Sword Image.

Tang Zhao knew that the Gaoyuan Marquis was named for her "far-sightedness," and her Sword Intent was likely similar to insight; her eyesight was rare in the world, and she could even see through time, so seeing through Ling Baoyu at a glance was nothing.

It could even be said that Ling Baoyu had gained one more natural enemy.

Ling Baoyu, however, was greatly shocked. Although she represented Baiyujing to make contact with Yunzhou, she had always taken pride in her status as a direct subordinate under a Sword Immortal, feeling a sense of an "Immortal descending to the mortal world."

They had returned from the Suiyu; although the Suiyu protected the Human World, the development of its strength had long since surpassed the Human World, especially since its upper limits were several levels higher, making the Human World a "fish pond" by comparison.

She had heard Tang Zhao speak of the Gaoyuan Marquis before and knew that Tang Zhao held this Marquis in high regard, but she had assumed this respect stemmed from order and seniority, merely honoring the other party's age and status. Since she was not within the order of Yunzhou, she naturally did not share this reverence, at most maintaining the respect due to the leader of a faction.

However, the moment they met, the Gaoyuan Marquis's understated remark saw right through her, giving her a jolt and dispelling much of her arrogance. She thought: *As expected of a high official of the Human World, she has true talent and learning. Looking at her bearing, she must have been a great beauty in her youth; it is a pity I did not see it, what a regret! *

Since she had been seen through, she no longer hid and walked out from the blind spot. But she maintained the appearance of a white fox; after all, this was a Sword Image, not a fox spirit, and she could not just "whoosh" and turn into a human.

In her white fox form, she bowed and said, "Ling Baoyu of Baiyujing, greets the Gaoyuan Marquis of the Human World."

Tang Zhao hurriedly stepped forward to introduce her: "Marquis, this is Miss Ling, a Sword Hero under the seat of Her Highness, the Ruyi Sword."

It was inconvenient to speak too much in the outside world, so Tang Zhao did not explain in detail, but by mentioning the title "Her Highness," he indicated that the Ruyi Sword was a Sword Immortal. Any Sword Immortal could be respectfully addressed as "Her Highness"; this form of address was rare in the Human World, but those who had been to the Suiyu would understand.

The Gaoyuan Marquis also turned solemn; the Human World had not heard news of a Sword Immortal for many years. It was not that the Human World lacked beings of that level, but the few who existed were transcendent and aloof, never walking in the secular world, and had even severed contact with the Waijie. The Gaoyuan Marquis knew there was only one being of that level who still held a vital position in the mortal world.

Since she was an envoy of a Sword Immortal, the Gaoyuan Marquis had to hold her in high regard, and she also placed increasing importance on the news Tang Zhao was about to bring.

In fact, according to standard etiquette, when an envoy of this level visited, Tang Zhao should have reported it in advance, and Yunzhou would have been required to welcome her with great ceremony. Even for a secret visit, he should have notified them privately so the Gaoyuan Marquis could make proper arrangements; otherwise, it was truly impolite—how could he just bring someone to the door?

However, in order to keep the secret, Tang Zhao had revealed almost nothing, instead asking the Gaoyuan Marquis to wait for him in Yunzhou. It was only because the Gaoyuan Marquis had a broad mind and Xing Ji was willing to help smooth things over that he was able to do this; otherwise, let alone seeing the Gaoyuan Marquis, he would have been suspected of harboring ulterior motives.

The Gaoyuan Marquis entered the cabin, but the Commander and Xing Ji did not follow; instead, they stood at opposite corners of the deck, monitoring like door gods. Two Sword Heroes standing guard—such a display was unique in Yunzhou.

The Gaoyuan Marquis said, "Zhang Xiansheng is also in the room on the east side, and there is no one else. Which side are you going to?"

Zhang Xiansheng could only be Zhang Rong, who was now the Gaoyuan Marquis's trusted advisor. She was asking if Zhang Rong could be present for such a confidential matter.

Tang Zhao hesitated for a moment, but the Gaoyuan Marquis had already pushed open the cabin door on the west side. Tang Zhao hurriedly said, "It is fine for Zhang Xiansheng to be there."

The Gaoyuan Marquis nodded, and Tang Zhao pushed open the cabin door on the east side. Inside was a simple cabin, not even prepared with chairs. Zhang Rong stood in the cabin, smiling and nodding at him.

Tang Zhao bowed and said, "Zhang Xiansheng."

Zhang Rong nodded and smiled: "Xiao Tang... Sword Hero? In the blink of an eye, you are already a Sword Hero. It has only been a year, right? A Chick Phoenix Cry, resounding through the clouds."

Tang Zhao hurriedly declined the praise, feeling secretly pleased—he was not someone who couldn't handle praise, but praise depended on who was giving it; the praise of a rare genius like Zhang Xiansheng was the top tier of high-quality praise.

The Gaoyuan Marquis said to Tang Zhao, "I did not return for your sake. One hour from now, there is a military meeting regarding the Turtle Bandits at the headquarters of the Land Inspection Division, and all the Inspectors of the Land Inspection Division will attend. We will take the waterway into the water gate, straight to the Land Inspection Division."

Tang Zhao understood her meaning and said, "One hour is enough, I will certainly not delay your work arrangements. And... I think this matter also involves the Turtle Bandits, so I can inform the Inspectors at the military meeting."

He felt that part of this meeting might have been called for him; if he brought useful intelligence, they could formulate targeted strategies and mobilize the Inspectors to take action.

Of course, if the news he brought was useless, or useful but not relevant to this military meeting, the meeting would surely have other agendas and would not be dismissed on the spot. It was just that if Tang Zhao had called the Gaoyuan Marquis back from afar, had the Commander keep watch, and had the Inspectors from various regions wait, only to have nothing serious to report, there would certainly be no good outcome.

Tang Zhao thought for a moment and said, "I heard that the Turtle Bandits have a massive conspiracy in Yunzhou, and the various offices have been busy with this for months, but the rumors have only grown more intense. Is it that they haven't been cleared out yet?"

He did not state his own intelligence, but instead asked about the Turtle Bandits first.

The Gaoyuan Marquis glanced at Zhang Rong, and Zhang Rong said, "As for clearing them out, we naturally have. That Zhou Chengzhi you brought back was very cooperative and provided a lot of intelligence. The two Pillar of State officials who were in charge are gone, and the rest are leaderless, doing nothing but fleeing in panic. We have already captured all the Turtle Bandits who were out in the open or not deeply hidden; even if there are some deeply hidden bandits, they are not worth worrying about. With the Marquis in Yunzhou, it is impossible for anyone at the Sword Hero level to infiltrate. Even a Sword Guest would find it difficult. To take a step back, even if ten or eight Sword Guests joined forces to cause trouble, what kind of waves could they make? Logically speaking, the bandit suppression should be considered a success."

Tang Zhao said, "But the Marquis and you both know that this is only a superficial peace; there must be another conspiracy within."

Zhang Rong said, "Correct. The Turtle Bandits have a grand scheme; it is definitely not to seize Yunzhou as a base for rebellion, but a plot that transcends military force and geographical advantage. Zhou Chengzhi vaguely knows a little, but not everything. After all, he is not an old official from the former Wei dynasty and is not qualified to know too much. He only knows that he came to Yunzhou under the orders of the Turtle Bandits: first, to develop subordinates and persuade people to join the rebellion; second, to survey nodes according to a certain Array Diagram and set up a Great Array. It is said that when the Array is fully set up, their grand plan can be launched—the so-called 'Great Matter can be accomplished'."

Tang Zhao said, "Since there is an Array Diagram, the content naturally cannot be hidden from Zhang Xiansheng."

Zhang Rong smiled bitterly: "What kind of Immortal do you take me for? I only slightly understand the Eight Trigrams and military arrays; I truly cannot understand that Array Diagram. We suspect it is related to Rune Formulas and asked your master to look at it, but he didn't understand it either. This should be a secret transmission of the former Wei. After all, the former Wei had a century of prosperity and its own system of Spirit Officials; it is not strange that they had their own system of Arrays. I would like to crack it, but it is truly difficult to start with just one diagram."

He then said to Tang Zhao, "Do you remember that you also captured a rebel king at the time?"

Tang Zhao said, "I think so? Was it the one who ran all the way from Kungang to Yunzhou? I remember he was quite cooperative and admitted his guilt without much resistance?"

Zhang Rong said, "He is a member of the former Wei royal family and must know more. We intend to break through using him. This person was very cooperative at first, likely having suffered some blow and lost his spirit. But there is one thing: he says nothing when the Array Diagram is mentioned, and remains silent when the 'Great Matter' in Yunzhou is mentioned. Even under torture, he can hold out; he has a bit of a backbone."

Tang Zhao wondered, "If interrogation doesn't work, you can use Sword Art; many Sword Arts point directly at the Spirit..."

Immediately after, he realized that the king or whatever... the man was a Spirit Official.

When it comes to playing with Souls and Spirits, can a Sword Guest outplay a Spirit Official? Moreover, he was royalty; various Secret Arts should have long since made his Soul airtight. It is extremely difficult for others to extract secrets from his Soul. If interrogation and torture don't work, there really aren't many methods.

Zhang Rong said, "We used many tactics and even had Zhou Chengzhi try to get information out of him. In the end, after all that talk, he only revealed the four words 'Clearing Clouds to See the Sun,' and we couldn't get anything else out of him."

Tang Zhao took a deep breath. Zhang Rong had said these four words plainly, but to his ears, they sounded like a thunderclap.

At this moment, he had no more doubts; the secret of the Turtle Bandits was indeed highly related to the news he knew.

He calmed himself down and asked, "Have you thought about the meaning of these four words?"

Zhang Rong said, "It's not just me. Everyone is thinking about it. The original meaning of these four words is to break through the dark clouds and see the light again. From their perspective, the dark clouds are naturally the Imperial Court, and the light is themselves. It could also be said that it is just a description without practical meaning. But if you look at this phrase as a riddle, this 'Cloud' character might refer to Yunzhou."

"'Clearing Clouds' means to subvert Yunzhou and see the 'Sun' again. Only this 'Sun' we cannot guess; perhaps it is one of their inherited secret treasures? Or perhaps an important figure of the Turtle Bandits? Like the legendary Dazai? Could it be that they want to subvert Yunzhou and rescue this important figure?"

Tang Zhao sighed inwardly; as expected of Zhang Rong, his direction in guessing out of thin air was also correct. The reason he couldn't guess it was only a matter of information; he truly could not understand things on another level. He said, "Clearing Clouds to See the Sun, I have a different view."

Zhang Rong and the Gaoyuan Marquis looked at him, their expressions clearly saying, "We were waiting for your view."

Tang Zhao said, "This 'Cloud' undoubtedly refers to Yunzhou. But this Yunzhou might not be the Yunzhou government or the Yunzhou Imperial Court; it might be the physical Yunzhou."

Zhang Rong's eyes widened, and he said, "Wait, you mean..."

Tang Zhao said, "Clearing Clouds means to shatter the land of Yunzhou and let the existence hidden beneath Yunzhou come out."

The Gaoyuan Marquis had originally only been listening to Zhang Rong's narration, but at this moment, she also said urgently, "What is the thing underneath? What is the 'Sun'?"

Tang Zhao said, "The Sun should refer to the Jinwu Sword. If I am not mistaken, the Jinwu Sword sank deep into Yunzhou, and it is very likely that it has already become a 'Sword Deity'."