Chapter 606: Serious Business

While Tang Zhao and his group were winning big at the Sword Fighting assembly, the White Fox was feeling very dejected.

She was currently shuttling through the empty Yinglang, surrounded by endless paleness and curling, shifting lines.

At this moment, her true form, the Sword Hero Ling Baoyu, was recruiting soldiers and horses at the Sunrise Camp outside Yulang City, gathering and settling the Sword Guests who had come to defect alongside her fellow disciples from Baiyujing, while her Sword Image, the White Fox, was carrying out the most critical mission in Yinglang—finding the Ruyi Sword Palace.

After some prior clearing, and with Tang Zhao releasing the Sword Technique "Sun Storm" to interfere with the connection between the Abyss Envoys of Wangliang Mountain and Yinglang, even the Abyss Envoys who had been dormant in Yinglang were expelled; now, Yinglang could basically be considered a safe, uninhabited area.

This was a rare opportunity; once the Sword Technique ended and the connection was restored, and the Abyss Envoys logged back in, she would no longer have this chance to search alone.

Tang Zhao said he could buy her one day of time, which she thought should be enough; Yinglang was a vast and flat place, without winding, hidden corners, and was often visible at a glance—if she couldn't find it in a day, she probably wouldn't find it in ten.

However, Yinglang was truly a monotonous, dull, and chaotic place; here, the monotony was numbing, and the chaos was maddening.

Ling Baoyu herself was prone to doubt, her mental state was not as stable as other Sword Heroes, and she placed too much importance on this mission, making her feel increasingly suppressed; she had only been there for half a day and was already feeling irritable.

"Stay calm."

A voice from the side comforted her at the right moment. It was a sunflower.

That is to say, Xiangyangzi.

This time, after Tang Zhao sent the message, many Sword Heroes came to support from Baiyujing, but a place like Yinglang was very special; a human's physical body was a burden, and the most suitable things to travel through it were Abyss Envoys, which were Sword Images.

Other Sword Heroes' Sword Images could also manifest for long periods, but their spirituality was not as rich as Ling Baoyu's; after a hundred years of training, Ling Baoyu's White Fox was almost like a clone, capable of performing high-difficulty missions alone. Moreover, other Sword Heroes had combat missions, and their Sword Images had to stay by their sides in case of emergency, making it difficult to enter and explore steadily.

Fortunately, there was one suitable teammate, which was Xiangyangzi; this fellow had a high enough realm and decent knowledge, but unfortunately, it was not suitable for actual combat, making it just right to accompany the White Fox inside to explore.

As for its originally slow movement speed, that didn't matter; one never walked on foot in Yinglang. As long as one caught a line, even a Pipa could shuttle through Yinglang like flying, which perfectly offset its disadvantage.

Furthermore, Xiangyangzi was the most capable of enduring silence; it had spent a hundred years sealed in a Spirit Hall without a care, and could communicate fluently even when meeting strangers; its Spirit was exceptionally stable.

Xiangyangzi said gently, "If you are uncomfortable, you might as well withdraw first, rest for a while, and then come back."

The White Fox shook her head and said, "No need. I must find the Palace, and I will never take a step back. Let us... follow this line."

Seeing her so stubborn, Xiangyangzi thought for a moment and said, "Why not try a different way of searching?"

The White Fox said, "What?"

Xiangyangzi said, "What if you let her come find you?"

The White Fox was speechless and said, "Not to mention whether the Palace is here, even if she were, she is likely in a deep sleep; how could she come to find me?"

In fact, "deep sleep" was a polite way of putting it; who knew what state the Ruyi Sword was in after a hundred years of imprisonment?

Xiangyangzi pointed to the chaotic lines all around and said, "I am quite familiar with the Ruyi Sword; I know that even the finest, most trivial thread of her lines can eventually be traced back to her. Can you pass a message to her through the lines? Like a vibration or something; if the oscillation is big enough, maybe she would be shaken awake even if she were asleep?"

"This..."

This was not a good idea, but it was an idea nonetheless.

The White Fox said, "With so many lines shaking, my shaking of the line would just be one of many inconspicuous ones; how could she know it was me who came?"

Xiangyangzi said, "That depends on whether you have a rapport. Do you have any memories regarding lines? Memories that correspond to the past, like jumping rope, pulse-taking with strings, and the like..."

The White Fox said speechlessly, "How could there be such strange things? The rapport between me and the Palace..."

She recalled carefully and gave a bitter smile.

She had arrived late, and basically only felt adoration for the Palace; that was a one-sided emotion, and although deep, its foundation was shallow. As for high-level interactions like rapport, only the eldest sister and second sister could have had those.

But the second sister...

Thinking of the Pipa, her heart suddenly stirred, and she blurted out, "The zither?"

That's right!

The sound of the zither, music!

Back then, above the clouds, everyone would listen to the second sister play the zither, and the Palace would also sit together with a gentle smile to appreciate it, while white cranes and wild geese circled her...

She remembered those melodies too; she had even used them to test the Pipa just a few days ago...

She said with some difficulty, "I'm not very good at playing the zither..."

Xiangyangzi said, "Not very good, meaning you know a little, right? Just play one note at a time; don't be afraid of playing poorly. We aren't here to perform. If it's a soulmate, they won't care about technique, only the emotion within the zither sound..."

The White Fox nodded and said, "I understand. The second sister once taught me hand-in-hand, but I didn't learn seriously. Now I only remember that little bit, and these claws aren't very good for playing, so I'll just pluck. I hope I don't let the second sister down..."

Her furry claws rested on the line and plucked gently; she barely managed to make any sound, but she was undoubtedly playing the zither in earnest.

The zither sound, which no one could hear, spread and vibrated along the crisscrossing lines, traveling very, very far...

"This one is okay, this one is not, this one..."

"Xin Ying, what are you doing?"

In the spacious room, Manying looked at Xin Ying in confusion; that raccoon was tinkering with a pile of odds and ends, including fur and some utensils, looking like a colorful mess, and it was seriously dividing these things into two piles.

Hearing Manying's question, the raccoon laughed and said, "Isn't the Deep Shadow Society coming up soon? Everyone participating has to buy and sell things, and I'm just seeing what I have to sell."

Manying was speechless for a moment and said, "You're actually going to seriously participate in the Deep Shadow Society? That Deep Shadow Society is just a bunch of down-and-out, bored guys getting together to mess around; why are we joining in the fun? You'd be better off thinking about serious business than doing this. Besides, these things of yours aren't worth anything."

As it spoke, it pulled out a string and, as if it were an arm, picked and chose among the piles of items: "Where did all this old, leftover junk come from? I didn't even know you had picked up so much trash. And this..."

It picked up a long strand of hair and said, "You're even selling your own fur? What can this thing do? It's not enough to make a scarf, the color isn't good, the texture isn't soft; it's not worth money and it's embarrassing. And this..." It poked at two Shadow Pills and asked, "What is this?"

Xin Ying said, "This is Incense; it can summon me."

Manying said, "You're going to sell your own offering quota?"

Xin Ying laughed and said, "Is this valuable? Didn't you say that once you receive offerings, the manor has money? I have one now, which is the Changfa Manor, but I haven't seen the money yet. Wouldn't it be even richer to collect a few more?"

Manying said irritably, "Even if it's valuable, you can't sell it! Some things, once they can be bought with money, aren't valuable anymore." It knew Xin Ying was hard to enlighten, so it said, "Do you know what an offering means? It means you are high above, and they are humbly begging you and currying favor with you. They give you benefits, and you don't even have to pay any price; any help you give them is a favor, and they have to give you even more in return. The more unattainable you are, the more pious they are, and the more good things they give. Conversely, if you lower your status to be with them, giving whatever they ask, they will look down on you instead and refuse to offer to you."

It said helplessly, "Although I don't want to say it, after Gui Rong caused such a scene, we've been somewhat seen through; we no longer have that invincible feeling, and those manor owners are going to doubt our strength. The more it's like this, the less we can show weakness and act like we've given up. If you lower your value like this, no manor will offer to Abyss Envoys in the future."

Xin Ying said "Oh" as if it half-understood, and said, "Then we just do nothing and wait for them to keep sending money?"

Manying sighed and said, "Of course, we can't just rely on putting on airs. That's why I said don't worry about the Deep Shadow Society; we need to do serious business. It's best to do something big to restore the reputation of the Abyss Envoys and win back our prestige. Furthermore, we need to find a way to return to Yinglang; waiting for Wangliang to save us is easy, but we won't get our reputation back, so we must try to do things ourselves as much as possible."

Xin Ying said, "Then how should we do it?"

Manying said, "These two things can be done together. That old thing Wu Shayu can't move for the time being, and the two leaders of the Long Life Society are dead. Now the only thing we can do is continue to investigate the Long Life Society, so the target is very clear—the Anxing Manor."

Xin Ying suddenly realized and said, "I heard about that; the Sword Guest who shot the arrow first was an outside helper from the Anxing Manor. Are you saying they are also part of the Long Life Society?"

Manying said, "Indeed. Like Gui Rong, they are outsiders with strength not to be underestimated, perhaps even surpassing Sunset Manor. If not for the Long Life Society acting as intermediaries, it would have been impossible for them to come and assist Sunset Manor. Moreover, they possess extraordinary strength and have quite a reputation among manor lords; they are perfect to use as a pretext. We shall hold them accountable in the name of investigating the Long Life Society. If we can extract the secret of Yinglang, that would be best; if that fails, defeating such a powerful manor will also serve to demonstrate our strength."

Xin Ying clapped its claws and said, "Right, good idea. Killing all the people from the Long Life Society is the right thing to do. But... can we win?"

Manying said, "What kind of talk is that? Don't let Gui Rong scare you and cause you to lose confidence. Gui Rong is abnormal; his Sword Technique countered us, and at the time he was in a frenzy, bolstered by both Sword Law and sacrifice. Our focus was scattered, and we were wavering in our hearts having lost the power of Yinglang. With one side rising and the other falling, that situation occurred. In truth, our strength can crush any manor. Even Tang Zhao, while he could defeat Gui Rong, could not possibly overcome us. Even if the two of us aren't enough, if you call upon Huiying and the others, it will naturally be more than sufficient. Now that only a few of us remain, there is no need to distinguish between past friendships; we are all on the same vine and should act in unison. I will go and explain the stakes to them, and they will follow us."

Xin Ying cheered up and said, "I knew it, I think I am very powerful. You are also very powerful. If we act together, who is there to fear? Let's go, let's go make trouble for Anxing Manor!"

Manying paused and said, "Of course—this matter is very important. To ensure nothing goes wrong, we could also find some reinforcements. For instance... since that Tang Zhao accepted employment from Changfa Manor, he could also accept employment from us, right?"