Chapter 607: Random Plucking

"Hmm?"

In his own small courtyard, Tang Zhao received the two Abyss Envoys who had arrived suddenly. Upon hearing the purpose of their visit from Xin Ying and Manying, he was very surprised.

How... could there be such a good thing?

Going to crusade against Anxing Manor—isn't that a coincidence?

After several investigations, especially after the incident at Yulang City below the mountain yesterday, Tang Zhao basically confirmed that this Anxing Manor was indeed a force of the Gui Kou.

Not to mention the various signs from before, as long as it is a normal manor with normal Sword Slaves and Sword Guests, even if the manor owner were a sage who treated the Sword Slaves like family, leaving not a single Sword Slave wanting to rebel, they would never hold other rioting Sword Slaves in contempt.

Because Wangliang Mountain oppresses every Sword Slave equally.

To stare down the Sword Slaves with such unburdened hearts shows that they are not within the system of Wangliang Mountain at all and must have other motives.

As for the Gui Kou, they naturally have other motives.

Their goal is also to pull off something big during the Sacrifice, yet upon seeing other forces making moves a few days ago, they should have adopted a scrutinizing attitude, secretly guarding against them, but not rashly intervening. Previously, when so many Sword Guests besieged Yulang City, Anxing Manor only held its ground and had no intention of launching an active attack; otherwise, the Sunrise Camp would not have been able to assemble so smoothly.

It was just unexpected that the Gui Kou would actually get involved in the affairs of the Long Life Society.

It said slowly: "That also makes sense. Do you think Anxing Manor is the headquarters of the Long Life Society?"

Manying said: "Yes, Wangliang Mountain has always possessed a force second only to the descent of Wangliang, a power that no disaster can rival. It was just that it was controlled by Fuying and the others before, who would not allow us to intervene. Now that they are dead, we are about to take over that power. With this one battle, we kill two birds with one stone."

And the Gui Kou remain blissfully unaware.

Therefore, Anxing Manor is now being watched by the remaining Abyss Envoys. It is about to face the largest and strongest wave of enemies since they logged into Wangliang Mountain.

Isn't that a bit beneath them?

Aren't you people here to do big things? Why get mixed up with a local cult? On the eve of the Sacrifice, you even split off manpower to support a Sunset Manor?

As for how hard Anxing Manor's support was, it doesn't seem like much. The two Sword Guests they sent to support really wanted to win, but it was only to the extent of fulfilling their duties; it couldn't be called desperate, and their unwillingness to accept defeat was just instinctual. It seems the Long Life Society has nothing to do with the great cause of the Gui Kou.

Yet, Tang Zhao actually feels it's not enough?

Tang Zhao pondered and said: "Actually, I feel that Anxing Manor might not be that simple. Just as the Long Life Society is not that simple. The Long Life Society knocked over all the manor owners in one fell swoop and harmed so many Abyss Envoys, yet their strength on the surface is merely a group of Sword Guests and one Sword Hero. Such a small amount of power is too weak; where did they get such guts? That so-called Great Sage is also too weak in strength. Could it be that they are just puppets at the front, and the real mastermind behind them is someone else?"

According to past experience, the person in charge is mostly a Pillar of State or someone of even higher status. Such a person has been on Wangliang Mountain for years, with territory and manpower; as long as they aren't a fool, they should have grown into an "independent kingdom."

The Gui Kou are watching them, and Tang Zhao is also watching the Gui Kou. He has always wanted to see what actions the Gui Kou would take. After all, time is running short now; if they really want to accomplish something, they should be moving, right?

But so far, no actions have been detected.

Perhaps there are some individual wills involved.

Tang Zhao said: "Who knows? I just suspect there is more to it than meets the eye."

A cult, huh—

But since Yunzhou has moved, even if some information has been exposed, unless the Gui Kou are too stupid or too arrogant, they will definitely investigate the origin of that camp, and how much they can find out depends on their own abilities.

Xin Ying asked: "Is it not possible?"

Tang Zhao has been pondering this for the past two days, and the more he thinks about it, the more incredible he finds it that the Gui Kou are actually mixed up with the Long Life Society.

Tang Zhao and the others also know that such actions will inevitably attract attention, but if they were afraid to move at all just to avoid being investigated, waiting only to improvise on the day of the Sacrifice, relying on brute force to push through? That would be too passive. That would waste the series of fundamental-focused research done by his fellow disciples, and would also waste many lives on their side.

However, it might not be enough to deal with the Gui Kou.

This Sword Fighting is the same; Anxing Manor just came to help out of friendship and collect some money along the way. Whether it succeeds or not is just a matter of collecting more or less money.

Xin Ying said: "Then we aren't going?" The voice was filled with deep disappointment, just like a child hearing they cannot go to an amusement park.

The lifespan of a Sword Hero is only two or three hundred years; haven't those old Sword Heroes reached the age of "knowing the mandate of heaven"? Is it strange for such powerful and wealthy people whose time is running out to want to join a Long Life Society to scrape together some lifespan?

Although both asked "Is it not possible?", the meanings were completely different. Xin Ying's "Is it not possible?" was literal. Manying's "Is it not possible?" was asking if Tang Zhao had any misgivings.

After all, even Manying felt that the remaining Abyss Envoys were enough to crush a manor, even if that Anxing Manor was touted as the "strongest Second-tier Manor."

It can be said that between Yunzhou and the Gui Kou, Yunzhou moved first after all.

Is it that the Gui Kou are too composed, or have they already made preparations and don't need any last-minute adjustments?

Tang Zhao feels the latter is more likely—there's no helping it, who told him to arrive late? They were promoted to a Second-tier Manor three years ago; the three-year head start is too big a gap.

Tang Zhao thinks about this scene and feels like laughing.

This person in charge must collect all information on Wangliang Mountain; if they knew there was an organization like the Long Life Society that gives people lifespan, what would happen?

This actually allowed those two to escape a disaster; otherwise, once the Long Life Society was destroyed, Anxing Manor could declare a reduction of two members.

Xin Ying said: "Borrowing what power? Do we have other outside help?"

Especially after the failure, Xinglao and Xingzi, who came to support, were furious and left with a flick of their sleeves, completely ignoring Wu Shayu's anger, which shows they didn't take the Luorizhuangyuanzhuren seriously, nor did they take the great cause of the Long Life Society to heart. They acted like peripheral figures.

However...

Tang Zhao knows that among the Gui Kou, there is a group of old-school Pillars of State who are true remnants of the previous dynasty, left over from the former Wei. Counting that, they are at least one hundred and seventy or eighty years old, and the older ones should be over two hundred.

Actually, Tang Zhao knows that Xing Cang is the mastermind behind the scenes. The organization known as the Long Life Society can only be established through the combined swords of Xing Cang's "Condensing Years" and Gui Rong's "Life-Death Transformation" to steal the lifespan of others; it is impossible for others to establish such an organization. Anxing Manor is at most an outsider.

This bridgehead of the Gui Kou on Wangliang Mountain is not for dealing with a certain person or a certain manor, but to pry a tooth out of Wangliang's mouth when the time comes.

Manying gave a hum and said: "It's not impossible. That will require long-term planning."

Of course, it's to join it.

Just as it said two words, it suddenly stopped. The pipa's form trembled, and the strings seemed to be plucked by invisible hands, emitting chaotic, messy noises that could no longer coalesce into understandable speech.

To destroy a manor, are six or seven Sword Heroes enough?

Therefore, Tang Zhao formulated a plan that is still "centered on me," steadily pushing forward his own plan while not relaxing his vigilance against the Gui Kou and keeping things as secret as possible.

Manying followed up and asked: "Is it not possible?"

Xin Ying said hurriedly: "Manying, what is wrong with you?"

As for being bold and reckless...

Fortunately, there are only a few days left until the Sacrifice, and there is not much time left for the Gui Kou. Tang Zhao and the others have also hidden their identities and invited the power of Baiyujing to preside on the surface, making it difficult to find clues in a short time; at most, it will just make the Gui Kou stay on guard.

Manying said: "On the contrary, if they are the headquarters of the Long Life Society, then we must go even more. Not only must we go, but we must pull them out by the roots; otherwise, we Abyss Envoys will never be able to hold our heads high. I will formulate a plan first, and then use the most powerful force to annihilate them in one fell swoop."

Tang Zhao's heart stirred, and he remembered the shadow of an ape riding a whale in the sky he saw while standing on a sand dune during the Ghost Disaster a few days ago, thinking: Could it be...

Xin Ying couldn't figure it out and asked: "What exactly is it?"

Manying said: "It's just..."

Why is it unreasonable? A cult of a few people dares to establish its own Imperial Court, dares to launch large-scale attacks, and does all sorts of things to court death; can their way of thinking be the same as a normal person's?

How much power would that require to pile up?

Although in terms of information asymmetry, Yunzhou currently still has the upper hand; Yunzhou knows the Turtle Bandits are Turtle Bandits, but the Turtle Bandits don't know that Yunzhou is Yunzhou.

Originally, this "guest appearance" by the Turtle Bandits would only have resulted in a chance passing with Tang Zhao, who is performing in the next act, but who would have expected Xing Cang to be such a talent, drawing massive hatred for everyone in the Long Life Society.

However, the selfishness of those Turtle Bandit Sword Heroes should only go as far as "doing private work"; they certainly wouldn't delay their grand plan for this, nor would they worship any "Great Sage." The Great Sage hasn't fully accepted them either; perhaps the two sides can barely be considered partners.

The Turtle Bandits are enough to deal with Yunzhou, but not enough to deal with Wangliang Mountain.

Anxing Manor should be full of hidden talents, right?

Tang Zhao didn't care about the casualties of the Abyss Envoys, but firstly, he still wanted to protect Manying, and secondly, he hoped to inflict the greatest damage on Anxing Manor, so he reminded her: "You can go. But you must make a good plan. You can't just charge in like this, can you?"

Regarding this, Tang Zhao had a guess: those participating in the Long Life Society might not be the entire force of the "Turtle Bandits."

Obviously, Manying's way of thinking was the same as a normal person's.

If you treat them as a Jianghu force or a local gang, their courage is of course too great, daring to defy the world; but if you look at them as a cult, isn't it reasonable?

Think about it: the Turtle Bandits have been planning here for at least three years, and Wangliang Mountain is closed off inside and out with inconvenient transportation, so naturally, there needs to be someone in charge to act as the master of Anxing Manor.

For any other manor, it would be more than enough; even if they set up a formation, let alone fight, they would be scared to death.

Every time a Sword Guest is liberated, an enemy unit is converted into a friendly unit; that's a two-fold difference in power, and perhaps one could additionally save a Sword Guest from Yunzhou, increasing the odds of winning by one point—how could one not do such a thing?

Its claws scrambled to grab the strings, but it couldn't stop the vibration of the strings at all; countless zither sounds, like shrieks, like groans, like wailing, intertwined in the ears...

After a long while, Manying gradually calmed down.

Two lines of tears fell from its eyes, which were always unable to express emotion, and the tears fell like beads from a broken string.

The strings vibrated again, the sound trembling as if carrying a sob.

"I... Xin Ying, I felt so terrible just now."