Chapter 556: 509 Psychological Shadow

It really came!

A legendary Abyss Envoy, rarely seen!

Hearing this, Tang Zhao was somewhat startled, but also felt a sense of relief: "So that's how it is!"

I did say my luck was bad, always running into something evil. And haven't I just run into one?

Besides, I am currently disguised as Xing Qi, which is even more unremarkable than before in Baiyujing, yet I still manage to stand out.

Thinking of this, he actually felt a small sense of pride.

Remembering Tu Fei's previous warning, he simply stood still and asked politely, "May I ask which Abyss Envoy this is?"

The source of the voice had no physical body, but as the massive shadow stabilized, its outline became easier to see: shorter than a bear, sturdier than a cat, looking like both a fox and a dog.

It seemed to be... a raccoon dog?

The raccoon dog from the saying "raccoons from the same hill."

It was just a raccoon dog.

Tang Zhao had rarely seen a live raccoon dog, never expecting one to be among the envoys of Wangliang.

The raccoon dog's voice was quite crisp, like that of a child, and it said, "I wasn't asking you. Why are you interrupting?"

Tang Zhao was stunned for a moment, followed by a sense of speechless embarrassment.

Suddenly, Tang Zhao felt his heart pounding wildly, a surge of emotion rising up, feeling blocked and quite uncomfortable; he immediately knew he had been hit and hurriedly circulated his Sword Essence to suppress it.

As he calmed himself, he felt shock and anger: this beast actually attacked? Could it have seen through his disguise?

Then he would have to fight with everything he had!

He heard the raccoon dog wonder, "Eh, you are actually quite pious."

Tang Zhao was stunned; was this a compliment?

He was often complimented, but usually with common descriptors like smart, handsome, or kind; he had never been called "pious." What did that mean?

At this moment, he still felt uncomfortable, with a sense of gloom in his chest that was slowly dissipating, so he couldn't speak for a moment.

The raccoon dog muttered to itself, "I intended to stir up the shadow in your heart to make you die of melancholy, but I didn't expect your inner shadow to be so small. It didn't even ripple, and you didn't even faint. This is strange! Slaves like you all have dark hearts with layers of shadows; it's rare to see one so pure. You must have offered your soul to Yingyuan, right? That's good. Those other slaves are clearly fodder for Yingyuan sooner or later, yet they all hide and cover up, refusing to open their hearts, trying to offer as little as possible as if they could live for a long time."

Tang Zhao grew even more furious as he listened: truly worthy of being an envoy of Wangliang, overbearing and vicious, killing at will for some inexplicable reason. It was lucky he happened not to be affected by its technique, otherwise, wouldn't he have died here for no reason?

Also, what did it mean by saying it wasn't asking him?

Could it be asking...

The raccoon dog said casually, "Since you are a rare, pious slave, I will spare you. Hey, who are you?"

When it asked again, Tang Zhao knew that since it wasn't asking him, it could only be asking the white fox.

The white fox was full of caution, but still said calmly, "I am the Sword Image of the Nether Fire Sword."

The raccoon dog wondered, "Nether Fire Sword—who is that?"

The white fox said, "My Sword Guest, Jian Chenglong of Changfa Manor."

The raccoon dog hesitated, "Never heard of this person. Changfa Manor, what kind of messy place is that? I..."

Just as it was about to continue, the shadow suddenly froze, tilting as if listening to a sound.

But Tang Zhao heard nothing at all.

The raccoon dog paused and said, "I have business today, so I won't chat anymore. Changfa Manor, right? I've noted it; I will certainly visit another day." With that, the shadow moved and disappeared into the gray-white lines.

It came inexplicably and left just as strangely.

Tang Zhao could not care about anything else and hurried a few steps toward the exit; for a moment, he seemed to hear a soft "pop" in his ears, like a bubble bursting.

The world suddenly opened up, and Tang Zhao stepped into another world.

Before his eyes was a shadow, with only three colors: black, white, and the gray between black and white.

If one were to examine it closely, there were many kinds of gray between black and white—dark gray, light gray, bright gray, dim gray... these various grays made up the world, barely counting as colorful.

It was like a world in the eyes of someone completely colorblind.

Besides the dull colors, the world itself was monotonous; the scenery, apart from the bridge Tang Zhao was walking on and the bright gray water beneath it, consisted only of hills of various sizes near and far.

These hills were round and smooth, one after another, looking more like sand dunes in a desert than mountain ranges. Or perhaps like grave mounds magnified a hundred times. In the distance, however, one could see rolling mountain ranges that looked like real mountains.

It was indeed an independent world.

This was Tang Zhao's second time entering a world outside the Human World; the first was the Qianxian. The others—Jianzhou, Baiyujing, or Fusang under Yunzhou—all lacked that layer of clearly defined world wall and were not completely separated from the Human World; they were just parts of it and could not be considered other worlds.

"Nothing special."

Compared to Tang Zhao, who was looking around, Ling Baoyu had clearly seen it all, and said disdainfully, "Nothing special! That entrance outside was so flashy, I thought I was entering some immortal world. I didn't expect it to be so incomplete and crude! Look at those sand dunes; they look like they were stolen directly from the desert outside, picking up others' scraps with no originality. To be this lazy, a Sword Immortal would be laughed at for doing this! Ha, and the Qi here is actually drawn in from the outside world; it's practically digging a ditch to connect to the great river of the Human World to channel Qi in. A space that doesn't even have its own origin doesn't deserve to be called Tianwaitian!"

As she spoke, she shook her head repeatedly and said, "This doesn't even reach the level of an ordinary Sword Immortal's blessed land. Which Highness, after forming their own Momentum, doesn't focus on cultivating their own origin? Wangliang even steals Qi directly; it seems it has no future. A Sword Deity is just a Sword Deity; lacking wisdom and even this bit of foresight. No wonder it lingers in the Human World; it turns out it's afraid that if it ran outside, its Momentum would fall apart."

Tang Zhao nodded along with her; after all, she was a Sword Hero under a Sword Immortal, and her evaluation sounded reasonable. He wasn't blindly trusting "authority," but as a Sword Hero, he also had a keen sense of Qi and clearly felt that the Qi here was of the same root and origin as the outside world, or rather, it was exactly the same.

Since it was of the same origin, this place was the Human World, or rather, the Sword Deity had carved out a corner of the Human World.

As for the Sword Deity lacking foresight and having no future, Tang Zhao thought that wasn't necessarily what Wangliang wanted—it probably wanted to be independent, but with the Destruction Sword Intent pressing down on it, it should be unable to move. So it had to maintain the status quo, stealing where it could, covering itself with a gray veil, and getting a bunch of snakes, raccoon dogs, fish, and monkeys to do its bidding, pretending that life could still go on.

Such a status quo was a great benefit to Tang Zhao, especially since the Qi was interconnected, which meant he could set up a teleportation array and move freely. Originally, he had worried that if it were a complete Secret Realm outside the heavens, even a powerful teleportation array would be blocked by the world barrier.

It seemed he had come to the right place; just by entering Wangliang Mountain, he had already solved a problem he had been worried about. This was the very truth of practice leading to knowledge.

He still thought of the raccoon dog from earlier and asked through his senses, "Why was that raccoon dog interested in you just now?"

The white fox said, "Him? He is the same as me."

At this moment, Tang Zhao felt a gaze upon him and looked up to see Xing Cang's aged face wearing a kind smile in front of the Yinglang Bridge. Because of the dim black-and-white tones, he looked even older and more peculiar.

He stood at the head of the bridge like a monster guarding it, eternally sculpted there, performing a mysterious function.

This old fellow was becoming more and more peculiar.

Xing Cang seemed completely unaware of the hostility from the person before him and said with a smile, "How is it? Is everything going smoothly?"

Tang Zhao laughed, "Of course, everything has been smooth along the way."

He thought to himself: I wonder if the old fellow met the envoy? Could it be that only I had a rough time?

Xing Cang beckoned and said, "Come this way."

Tang Zhao took a step forward and immediately felt the bridge sink downward. It was as if he alone weighed a thousand catties, directly dragging the bridge down toward the river water.

That sense of losing control was very similar to the feeling inside the passage. However, Tang Zhao already knew this was an illusion; he steadied his posture and stood on the bridge deck, letting it fall.

Finally, at the very last moment before reaching the water's surface, Yinglang Bridge stabilized. Tang Zhao remained standing steadily on the bridge, neither panicked nor flustered.

A flicker of regret seemed to flash in the eyes of Xing Cang, which were obscured by layers of wrinkles, but his gentle smile remained perfectly intact as he laughed, "Not bad. Your composure is quite good; knowing that the You Water is right beneath your feet yet not afraid at all, you young people are truly impressive. You should know that to lose one's footing and fall into the You Water means returning to Yingyuan ten years ahead of schedule."

Tang Zhao revealed a slightly suppressed look of panic; this panic belonged to Xing Qi. Compared to Tang Zhao, the locals of Wangliang Mountain feared Yingyuan like a tiger.

Yingyuan was the final destination for all Sword Guests of Wangliang Mountain; for these people, regardless of whether life was painful or slightly easier, they would ultimately sink into Yingyuan, their Souls forever becoming a shadow within Yingyuan.

Although it was said that they would return sooner or later, it did not mean the White-haired Swordsmen of Wangliang Mountain were not afraid of Yingze. On the contrary, the more they knew it was inevitable, the more they feared it; the mere mention of the two words "Yingyuan" made them tremble with fear. Just like how everyone knows they will die, yet everyone fears death—how many can truly "regard death as returning home"?

"Haha. Although what is below is Yingze, we are our own people, recognized by Lord Wangliang; as long as you steady your heart while walking on Yinglang Bridge, nothing will happen. All those who fall are those with a guilty conscience."

Before Xing Cang could continue speaking, Tu Fei also entered from behind, assuming the two stewards of Changfa Manor were chatting, and casually interjected. He walked steadily, and the bridge deck did not sway in the slightest.

Tang Zhao also noticed that he had changed his clothes; the garment from which he had just extracted a shadow was now draped over his body—it was a magnificent cloak, and wearing it immediately increased his Momentum by five points.

Tang Zhao turned his head to look at Xing Cang and discovered that the bridge deck beneath his feet was also level, with no depression. Looking again at where he himself stood, there was also no trace at all.

It really was idealism.

Tang Zhao truly hated this kind of idealistic weirdness; for instance, Wangliang Mountain, or that raccoon dog from just before, were all bizarre and unfathomable—could they not just have a match with real blades and guns?

The good news was that, through his careful preparation, he had barely obtained a pass for Wangliang Mountain, and even face-to-face with the Wangliang envoy, he had not given himself away; who else could question him? This first hurdle was the hardest to pass, and once past, things would be much better.

After Tu Fei, the main group entered one after another. Compared to the nonchalance of Tu Fei and Xing Cang/Xing Qi, the Sword Slaves and Sword Guests behind were all cautious, following step by step, not daring to take a single wrong step.

Even so, a Sword Slave in the back row lost his balance and instantly tumbled into the Yinghe; the scream only lasted half a sound before it vanished without a trace. The few Sword Slaves behind him were also startled and clearly began to fall downward. It was Xing Wu, who was behind them, who took action and pulled two people back, but the remaining one still fell in—that was beyond saving.

Tu Fei walked at the very front; he seemed to be able to control the direction of Yinglang Bridge. He took a step, and Yinglang Bridge extended forward three steps; he changed direction with purpose, and Yinglang Bridge stretched and shifted across the river surface.

Finally, the group dragged themselves across Yinglang Bridge, from the You Water to solid ground. Tu Fei said with satisfaction, "Very good, not a single person is missing. We have arrived; this is Sunset Manor."