Chapter 513: 467 Non-Human

A "chang ghost" is said to be the ghost of a servant who was eaten by a tiger and subsequently became the tiger's minion. They are not living people but possess their own consciousness; manipulated by the tiger, they perform the evil deed of luring others to be eaten. This is the origin of the saying, "to act as a minion for a tiger."

Fan Haiyu also knew this legend and hesitated, saying, "It's a bit similar? But it's not quite that tragic, is it? Not counting those who have died, if they are still alive, they are actually considered core disciples of Caiyun Gui and have corresponding status. I have seen some Sun-Holding Envoys; they look like normal people, but I cannot see any changes inside. In my impression, although most Sun-Holding Envoys were coerced or lured into joining, they don't hold that much hostility or hatred toward Caiyun Gui. Although they are bound by the power of the Jinwu, they can therefore use a portion of the Jinwu Sword's power; some envoys have power not inferior to a Sword Hero. Because of the special nature of the 'Sun-Holding Envoys,' we disciples must also respect them. What my master and the others say about 'ascending to heaven in a single step' is actually not wrong."

Tang Zhao felt very skeptical: once one has reached the point where their life and death are in the hands of others, whether it is hostility or hatred, how could it be allowed to show? And once at that stage, perhaps one just gives up and lets things slide. Since they are powerless, have not yet "died," and do not wish to destroy themselves, they can only live in such a wretched manner. Some might even "voluntarily" attach themselves to Caiyun Gui, pretending they still have a foothold; this is not necessarily a way of self-reconciliation.

It is just that... it would be best if Caiyun Gui could continue to control the Jinwu Lingjing and maintain its strength; they must not let these people find an opportunity to break free or even counterattack, for only then would it be clear whether they are truly resentful.

Fan Haiyu continued to recall: "When I had the opportunity to serve my grandmaster, I once vaguely heard her say that the number of Sun-Holding Envoys in the sect does not seem large, but over the long years, the total has actually become quite significant. Most of them are not in Caiyun Gui. They must have gone outside to search for the Jinwu Sword. According to my grandmaster, Sun-Holding Envoys have many advantages in searching for the Jinwu Sword. First, whenever there is the aura of the Jinwu Sword, they can sense it from afar. Second, regardless of what state the Jinwu Sword is in, Sun-Holding Envoys can approach it, touch it, and bring it back to Caiyun Gui."

Tang Zhao and Zhang Rong exchanged a glance. Caiyun Gui mentioning "regardless of what state" was quite profound; could it be that they have some speculation about the current state of the Jinwu Sword? That is to say, can the Sun-Holding Envoys approach the current Sword Deity? Tang Zhao asked, "Then when a Sun-Holding Envoy encounters the Jinwu Sword, can they be transformed into a Sword Guest of the Jinwu Sword?"

Fan Haiyu spread her hands and said, "They tell them it is possible, but actually, it is not. I heard my grandmaster say: 'The sword only recognizes a person as a Sword Guest. If they are no longer human, what kind of Sword Guest would they be?'"

?

So much for the respect their disciples supposedly had for the Sun-Holding Envoys?

Not to mention that her grandmaster's words were clearly disdainful, even when Fan Haiyu mimicked the sentence, her tone and expression carried a sense of contempt; it was unclear whether she was replicating her grandmaster's tone at the time or if she herself looked down upon the Sun-Holding Envoys, letting it show naturally.

Tang Zhao felt somewhat displeased and said, "So, the Sun-Holding Envoys you are scouring everywhere for are just tools used by Caiyun Gui to find the Jinwu Sword? Then who is the real Jinwu Sword to be left for? Is it a candidate already decided upon?"

Fan Haiyu looked confused and said, "I don't know either... I haven't heard of anyone in the sect who is truly waiting to wield the Jinwu Sword. After all, it has been so many years; who could afford to wait?"

Tang Zhao thought that was true; there are age requirements for becoming a Sword Guest, and if one hasn't become a Sword Guest by thirty, there isn't much of a future. Perhaps Caiyun Gui's mission is just to find "Sun-Holding Envoys," not to find a Jinwu Sword Guest?

Sun-Holding Envoy... this character "Hold" (Peng) is very vivid.

At that moment, Tang Zhao and Zhang Rong asked her many questions about the Jinwu Sword, and Fan Haiyu racked her brains to tell them everything she knew. Unfortunately, limited by her status, she did not know much, and precise information was scarce; instead, the details revealed behind some superficial information were worth pondering. Zhang Rong noted them down one by one, waiting to analyze them later.

The three talked for several hours. Fan Haiyu had nothing more to say and asked, "What else do you want to know? Or perhaps I should go back and spy some more, then come back to tell you."

She had previously avoided her senior sister, but this time she actually volunteered to go back and spy. Tang Zhao knew she had no way out. She probably felt that she hadn't provided any valuable information, which was insufficient as a "pledge of loyalty," and felt deeply uneasy, wanting to do something to prove her worth. But if he really let her go back, she probably wouldn't be able to spy out anything and would only increase her danger, so he comforted her: "What you just said has been a great help. How about this: I am too busy recently, so you stay in the camp for now. If you want to help, go find Dong Xingyu; if you don't, then rest for a few days. After I finish my mission in a few days and return, I will take a look at your Sword Casting materials."

Fan Haiyu breathed a sigh of relief. Tang Zhao was busy, so he let her leave first, taking the card issued uniformly in the camp to eat and then settle down. Fan Haiyu needed protection, and this camp was a place one could enter but not leave. Once inside, one could only leave after the results were out.

After she left, Tang Zhao and Zhang Rong looked at each other and said, "Zhang Xiansheng, we are holding two people from Caiyun Gui this time, right?"

Zhang Rong nodded and smiled, "One man and one woman. We were also wondering; we always heard that Caiyun Gui was all women, so where did a young man come from? And his strength is not bad; he could trade blows with a Sword Hero. We originally thought he was an outside helper, but now it seems he might be a Sun-Holding Envoy."

Tang Zhao sighed, "I really hope he isn't a Sun-Holding Envoy. According to Fan, Sun-Holding Envoys can sense the aura of the Jinwu Sword, and Caiyun Gui doesn't often come to the Human World. Coming to the Human World unexpectedly this time, who knows if it's because they sensed something? Are they tracking the Jinwu Sword under Yunzhou? Or did they receive some news? Could it be that something leaked from the Eternal Night Court? Or perhaps the Turtle Bandits' tinkering with the array had some effect; even if it didn't trigger the Jinwu Sword, it damaged the strata and leaked the aura?"

Zhang Rong frowned and said, "If news leaked from the Eternal Night Court, even if it were vague news, then there should be more than just one Sword Guest and one Sun-Holding Envoy coming. A configuration like this, neither high nor low, really looks like the Sun-Holding Envoy smelled the aura himself and came alone."

After all, there is more than one Sun-Holding Envoy, but they all believe that after finding the Jinwu Sword, they can become a Sword Guest. And there is only one Jinwu Sword, so it wouldn't be strange for there to be competition among them, right?

Tang Zhao said, "But the connection between the Sun-Holding Envoy and Caiyun Gui is too close. If we keep him detained, will it draw the focus of the entire Caiyun Gui sect over..."

Zhang Rong said, "Let's go see the people first. Anyway, both of them have been transferred to our custody. Can a Sun-Holding Envoy touch the Jinwu Sword? If so, he would be very suitable as your teammate. Even, if we could control him and let him go down to retrieve the sword alone, wouldn't that be safer?"

Tang Zhao nodded, then shook his head, saying, "Controlling a person, how could it be that simple?"

If there were truly a way to control a Sun-Holding Envoy to carry out the mission, Tang Zhao certainly wouldn't refuse. He had the determination to take risks, but wouldn't it be better to add a few safeguards? Even if the Sun-Holding Envoy could retrieve the Jinwu Sword calmly and without damage, what would it matter if he handed the sword to Caiyun Gui? Would Yunzhou covet a single Jinwu Sword? That way, Caiyun Gui wouldn't have to go crazy everywhere, and they could let Tang Zhao go; wouldn't that be a double blessing?

But things are not that simple. There might be Sword Arts for control, but there is also a matter of precedence and skill levels. The Sun-Holding Envoy has already been controlled by the Jinwu Lingjing; can he be controlled again? Can Yunzhou's methods compare to the power of the Jinwu Sword?

Furthermore, even if he were controlled, the Jinwu Sword is now a Sword Deity. If it sees that the person in front of it is just a puppet, would it question Yunzhou's sincerity? What if it angers the Sword Deity?

If we don't use control? Use enticement, trade, or threats to make the Sun-Holding Envoy do things? That could be tried, but then they wouldn't trust the Sun-Holding Envoy to act alone; they would still need Tang Zhao to watch from the side, which would at most count as finding him a teammate.

Regardless, the Caiyun Gui envoy and the Sun-Holding Envoy are worth seeing, especially after knowing the subtle relationship between the Sun-Holding Envoy and Caiyun Gui; it is even more worth trying to see if there is anything that can be utilized.

After the people from Caiyun Gui were secretly captured, because it involved the Jinwu Sword, it fell under Tang Zhao's jurisdiction, so they were sent to the Training Camp base yesterday. After all, they were disciples of a major sect on the front line, so they weren't thrown into a prison, but they were locked in a secret underground room, isolated from the outside world, with special guards, unable to escape even with wings.

At the time, for the convenience of interrogation, the two were detained separately, so it was convenient to move them around now.

The two went to see the female disciple of Caiyun Gui first, who was Fan Haiyu's senior sister.

This senior sister was a Sword Guest. Seeing the two, her face was as heavy as water, her brows furrowed and eyes glaring, and she said, "Although I don't know who you are, looking at your appearance, you must know who I am. Daring to capture people from Caiyun Gui and delaying our major affairs, is this to be an enemy of the Sun Domain? If you let me go now, we can still go our separate ways; otherwise, even if you hide in the Human World, you will sooner or later end up in ashes."

Tang Zhao didn't believe she didn't know who kidnapped her; this was Yunzhou, and to be able to mobilize so many people to take action, she should have guessed it. If it were truly villains imprisoning her, even if she could hold her ground, her attitude couldn't be this tough. Now that she knew the other party's hesitation, she became even more righteous and awe-inspiring. As for her saying she didn't know who the other party was, it was like being kidnapped and not being allowed to look at the kidnapper's face; they were leaving room for each other, tacitly understanding.

Zhang Rong smiled and said, "Oh, this Sword Guest of Caiyun Gui, you speak of major affairs in every sentence. Did you violate the agreement and come to the Human World privately to do something major?"

That Caiyun Gui Sword Guest glared and said, "You don't need to probe me; I won't say a single word. You won't be able to know anything about Caiyun Gui's affairs."

Zhang Rong asked again, and the Sword Guest really didn't say a word. Her attitude was very tough, but she didn't use foul language to provoke them. She had the attitude of "anyway, I won't say anything, and I won't cause trouble; I'll just wait for you to let me out when the time comes."

Not to mention, it was really inconvenient for Tang Zhao and the others to do anything. When the critical moment came, they would use methods if they had to, but now that they weren't at their wits' end, there was naturally no need to offend Caiyun Gui, so they left.

Zhang Rong was not in a hurry and said, "Attacking the heart is the priority. She is currently at her most stubborn; there is no need to chew on this hard bone; it might be better to wait a few more days."

The two went to the other detention room to meet the "suspected" Sun-Holding Envoy. Compared to the female Sword Guest of Caiyun Gui, he was more important.

At this time, the two were prepared for the first meeting to yield no results; they were going to probe the person's temperament and then go back to formulate a plan to prescribe the right medicine.

Just as they arrived outside the room and pushed open a crack in the door, they heard someone inside say, "I advise you to be polite to me. In a few days, I will be the Jinwu Sword. The Jinwu Sword is Dongjun. Do you know Dongjun? The deity in the temple who manages the peace of the Human World. With a casual wave of my finger, I can make your hometown have favorable weather; if you make me unhappy, I'll make it so it doesn't rain in your village for three months. By then, even if you bring a pig's head to worship me, you won't even be able to find the temple door."