Chapter 604: Aftermath

After Wu Shayu was dragged out, the final battlefield also reached a clear conclusion, and this Sword Fighting completely subsided.

In a short while, Tang Zhao returned with Xing Cang's head, which served as a declaration that the conspiracy of the Sword Fighting and the Long Life Society had been officially thwarted.

Of the three main culprits, Tang Zhao killed two himself, and the YoungMaster of Changfa Manor captured one. The remaining ones were nothing more than small fry; upon seeing the Great Sage's head, they collapsed in spirit, kneeling on the ground without even the strength to surrender.

Occasionally, there were those who still wanted to run, but catching and sweeping them up was about enough. Even if there were important figures who slipped through the net and might have disguised themselves as nobodies to blend into the ranks of the survivors, there was no way to know who they were now, so they naturally could not be caught, and there was no need to mention them.

Now, all that remained was to clean up the mess.

Wu Shayu was bound and stuffed into a jar resembling a prison, which Jin Wu took and put away, keeping him under lock as a trophy for the time being.

The Original Sword Guests of Sunset Manor wanted to speak but hesitated; Xing Qing, Wu Shayu's closest confidant, seemed to want to beg for mercy, but was stopped by Jin Wu a step ahead, and with the persuasion of his former colleagues, he ultimately did not speak out.

The remaining people, including the surviving Sword Guests and sword slaves, were all driven to the ruins of the spectator stands to dig for remains and survivors. Although this work was dirty and tiring, the Sword Guests of Sunset Manor could not say anything—as losers, especially having just fought the victors, now that there was no more killing, what was wrong with letting them do some work?

The Sword Guests of the original Changfa Manor went to round up the Manor Lords who had luckily escaped, waking those who had been scared unconscious, comforting those who were shocked, and finding those hiding in nooks and crannies, finally settling everyone in the guest rooms of the manor to rest for the time being.

Some wanted to leave at this time, but Sunset Manor used the excuse that the Abyss Envoy still needed to interrogate matters regarding the Long Life Society, and kept them all detained.

This mess was cleaned up until evening; surprisingly, they really did dig out some survivors. They were all young and strong Sword Guests at the time they went in, but they came out as elderly men and women in the twilight of their years, and they were weak from the inside out, with no telling if they could ever recover.

Even these weak lucky ones were few; most of those dug out not only lacked vitality but also had appearances that were not very pleasant, making it difficult to distinguish their original identities, so they could only guess from clothing and accessories. Tang Zhao suggested putting each set of remains into a jar and labeling them, corresponding one-to-one with their personal effects, to see if there would be a chance for family members to claim them later.

They busied themselves with organizing until late at night; those Sword Guests of Sunset Manor had not finished their work and were working overtime to wrap things up, while the others had left the scene.

Jin Wu called together those among the survivors who still had some standing, brought out wine, food, and hot soup to entertain them, and took the opportunity to review the events of the day.

Once everyone tallied it up, they all felt they had suffered a massive loss.

There was no need to mention the Abyss Envoy; because Yinglang was still blocked and no one could run, the previously fleeing Abyss Envoys were found and brought back. Counting Xin Ying and Manying, there were only seven left in total. If one added the missing Panying, the Fuying that had exploded and was waiting to be reborn from Yingze, and the other Abyss Envoys who hadn't arrived, they couldn't even scrape together a dozen.

Tang Zhao naturally knew that Panying would not be coming back, and the Abyss Envoys staying in Yinglang were also in dire straits. More than half of the most important force of Wangliang had been broken, and he secretly gave Gui Rong a thumbs up.

A good person indeed, capable of taking the blame and clearing the weeds, and that last move was truly powerful.

As for the Manor Lords, they were the ones who died the most miserably. Now, there were no more than ten Manor Lords who could sit and attend the summary meeting, not counting those like the Rice-Pounding Master who had been swapped on Yinglang Bridge. If one counted those lying in bed, they could barely scrape together twenty people. Moreover, even the most intact ones had their lifespans drained, and at a glance, they all looked like old men and women.

It is worth mentioning that the two Manor Heads of Changyi Manor, Tu Fei and Jin Jiu, because they were busy running around like masters of ceremonies and had to mediate disputes between the two sides, were not seated at the spectator stands at all, and thus were preserved, not even having their lifespans absorbed; they were the luckiest of the lucky.

Also attending were the surviving honored guests, about a dozen of them. These people had different statuses; some were merely errand-running slave traders who, after this incident, were distraught and shaking like chaff, while others, like Liu Shusheng, had extraordinary status, and beyond fear, they felt more anger, their faces as dark as the bottom of a pot, wanting only to exert their power and pull the damned Wangliang Mountain up by the roots.

The only one to achieve a complete victory was Changfa Manor.

Xing Cang was not a widely known face, and when Tang Zhao displayed the head, he didn't mention the person's identity at all, only showing everyone the attire. No one could have guessed that Xing Cang's true identity was merely a lowly Manor Steward, and no one knew about the relationship between him and Changfa Manor, so no one suspected Jin Wu's side. Thus, Changfa Manor was able to stay out of it.

"If anyone has any thoughts, feel free to speak your mind," Jin Wu put on the airs of a YoungMaster and Host, saying first: "I'll say this first, although the conspiracy of Sunset Manor is detestable, our Sword Fighting was fair and square, and the result is that we won. From now on, I am the Manor Lord of the Second-tier Manor. Does anyone object?"

The crowd was silent. How could they object? Not to mention that the fact that Changfa Manor won was beyond doubt, even if there were those who questioned it, wasn't Tang Zhao still sitting up there?

That Sword Hero who was even stronger than Gui Rong!

Abyss Envoys are stronger than Manor Lords, Gui Rong is stronger than Abyss Envoys, and Tang Zhao is stronger than Gui Rong. So Tang Zhao is the strongest; does anyone object to this equation?

Actually, some were unhappy, not to support Sunset Manor, but on the contrary, they hated Sunset Manor to the extreme, and incidentally vented their anger on the seemingly innocent Changfa Manor—the two of you had a Sword Fighting, one harmed everyone miserably, and the other made a fortune; were you in on it together?

Even if you weren't in on it, everyone suffered such a huge loss; don't you have any responsibility?

Now that they were all Manor Lords, none of them were people who reasoned.

However, as the saying goes, wasn't Tang Zhao still up there?

Thus, everyone shut their mouths.

Whether they were convinced in their hearts or not, they were at least verbally convinced.

At this time, Manying sent a voice transmission to Xin Ying: "Go and settle the matter once and for all."

Xin Ying asked curiously: "Settle what?"

Manying sighed and said aloud: "Exactly so! With Wangliang above and heaven and earth as witnesses, we hereby announce that the outcome of the Sword Fighting between Sunset Manor and Changfa Manor has been decided—Changfa Manor is the winner!"

Tang Zhao took the lead in applauding, and the crowd followed with a burst of applause.

Manying said to Jin Wu: "Congratulations, Manor Master Jin. From now on, you are a Second-tier Manor Lord. Are you still going to call it Sunset Manor?"

Jin Wu immediately said: "Of course not, how could I keep such an unlucky name? I'll call it... Rising Sun... Day-Sun... let me think about it some more."

Manying didn't care what Sunset Manor changed its name to, but was only concerned with another matter, saying: "Wu Shayu was captured by you? Hand him over to us; we need to interrogate him."

As soon as these words were spoken, the remaining few Abyss Envoys nodded simultaneously.

Jin Wu frowned and said: "Wu Shayu? I need to interrogate him too. I still don't know how he plotted against me."

The few Abyss Envoys were greatly displeased in their hearts. Not to mention several Abyss Envoys demanding it together, usually, even if just one Abyss Envoy gave an order, even a First-tier Manor Lord could not refuse.

But... Tang Zhao... forget it, never mind.

Manying, however, was calm and said: "You can interrogate him about his conspiracy, but we need to ask how he cut off Yinglang. I originally thought that killing Gui Rong and that leader would restore communication in Yinglang, but it still doesn't work now. We must find out the reason, otherwise we won't be able to go back."

If the Abyss Envoys cannot return to Yingze, they cannot receive a replenishment of power, and the consequences are very terrifying.

Of course, the Abyss Envoys could choose to "die back," but unless it was a last resort, no one wanted to do that. Especially since Yinglang was cut off, what if they died and could never come back to life?

Jin Wu thought to himself: If you ask that guy, you won't get an answer; that was likely caused by Azhao. Now that there are changes beneath the mountain, don't think about going back until things are over.

It communicated mentally with Tang Zhao and said: "Fine, then let's interrogate him together."

Although the Abyss Envoys were dissatisfied, they could only accept it.

Jin Wu asked the Manor Lords again: "What about you all?"

The Tiger-Subduing Master was the first to jump up and say: "I want to go back! Hurry up and use Yinglang Bridge to send me back! I have an urgent matter at home, it cannot be delayed!" The Manor Lords nodded one after another; even if they didn't have urgent matters, they didn't want to stay here anymore, having suffered such a great shock and only wanting to rest and recuperate.

At this time, an honored guest from outside the mountain said loudly: "I want to go back too. I want to go back to the Central Plains, and I'm never coming to your Wangliang Mountain again!"

This sentence immediately drew a response from almost all the guests from outside the mountain, who shouted one after another: "Exactly, send us out of the mountain, we want to go home!"

"What kind of shitty Wangliang Mountain, I'm never staying here again!"

"Still staying? This time I lost half my life; next time, even a few lives won't be enough to pay for it! Wealth is an external possession; if your life is gone, everything is gone. I'm not participating in the Deep Shadow Society anymore."

"Still the Deep Shadow Society? Not even a dog would participate!"

These voices were chaotic, basically all speaking ill of Wangliang Mountain, and some were almost cursing loudly.

Among the Manor Lords present, some were dissatisfied in their hearts and glared at them, but for a moment, no one spoke to refute them. Compared to the collective sense of honor in supporting Wangliang Mountain, those people wanted to use group pressure to make the new "Sun" Manor Lord send them down the mountain.

The Abyss Envoys didn't care much either; unless they cursed at Wangliang itself, they had no obligation to maintain the honor of Wangliang Mountain. Xin Ying was even shaking its head as it listened; the indignation of this group was quite interesting to it.

As for Jinwu, he cared even less; he pressed his hand downward and said, "Everyone, I also wish to send you all down as soon as possible. However, I just asked, and Sunset Manor does not have a Yinglang Bridge."

The Tiger-Subduing Master asked anxiously, "How could it not have one? Could it be that you didn't ask the Abyss Envoy..."

He paused, suddenly remembering that Sunset Manor did not enshrine an Abyss Envoy. Moreover, that old fellow Wu Shayu did not live in Yulang City to enjoy himself like an ordinary manor lord; instead, he hid in Wangliang Mountain and almost never stepped out, so naturally, he had no need for a Yinglang Bridge.

Such an eccentric old thing truly had a guilty conscience.

Manying also said, "Now that Yinglang has been severed, even if you all had Yinglang Bridges, you could not leave. Please remain calm and patient."

Jinwu and Tang Zhao had long since agreed on a contingency plan; a major event was currently underway at the foot of the mountain, and they would not easily let these people leave the mountain. He then said, "In the past, Sunset Manor did have Wangliang warriors to escort people, but unfortunately, all the warriors just died today. As for carriages and horses, we do have some here, but not many. We can only send you down one household at a time. Furthermore, the journey from here to Yulang City is not short, and you all have been through quite a lot today; it would be tiring to travel further. How about this—"

He said to the crowd, "It is too late today, so everyone should rest on the mountain for the night. Tomorrow morning, I will send people down the mountain to Yulang City to hire carriages and horses. We will bring back as many carriages as possible and strive to send you all down the mountain at once."

"Of course, this round trip will take about two or three days, so you can rest assured and stay on the mountain. Sunset Manor still has that much in reserve; I guarantee you will feel right at home."

"Oh, that's right, the Deep Shadow Society was originally scheduled for two days from now. But looking at the situation, it probably won't be able to go ahead. Since the remaining people are all here, let's hold a small Deep Shadow Society in the manor tomorrow. Although no one brought physical goods, you are all people who can make decisions and have good reputations, so you might as well negotiate the business on paper first and settle the payment and goods after going down the mountain. That way, you guests who have come from afar won't have made the trip in vain. How about it?"