Chapter 626: Borrowing Eyes

"Dazai..."

As an Abyss Envoy isolated from the world, Manying certainly had never heard of this person or this position, but upon hearing it, she felt these three words carried an astonishing momentum, and it seemed to be something quite extraordinary.

It was just as she had thought; although that person was not a Sword Immortal, she was only a single step away.

Although it is said that there is a distinction between immortal and mortal, no matter how top-tier a Sword Hero is, the gap of one step from a Sword Immortal is still vast. A true Sword Immortal can easily annihilate any Sword Hero, but Wangliang cannot be considered a true Sword Immortal. Although Manying did not know of the entanglement between Wangliang and Destruction, Wangliang's state had always been poor, and it was going from bad to worse; all Abyss Envoys had noticed this.

And with Wangliang suppressed by Destruction, its strength was far from what it once was, and the Gu Kou side certainly knew this. Since that Dazai had arrived, she must have been harboring the thought of "taking advantage of your illness to take your life."

Compared to helping Wangliang lift the influence of Destruction and then signing a contract to restrain it, possessing the strength to attack and kill Wangliang head-on as a trump card, and having the confidence to flip the table, was clearly more important.

The Dazai not only possessed outstanding strength, but also had an exiled Imperial Court as her foundation, along with various external means, and with the assistance of others, there should be hope for victory.

"Chao Qianfan coming here should be for Wangliang." At this moment, the old woman's voice was also explaining in Manying's ear, "You and the Abyss Envoy raided Anxing Manor, making Anxing Manor realize that it and Wangliang Mountain were still in a state of hostility, so they adjusted their strategy—of course, it is also possible that they intended this from the beginning; it is best if they can control Wangliang Mountain, otherwise they will destroy it so as not to leave behind potential enemies."

Manying sighed: although she tried her best to empty her mind this night, quite a few memory Fragments still emerged on their own, replaying in her mind like a play.

Those were all memories of Baiyujing, countless beautiful and tragic memories flashing back incessantly, making the events of a hundred years ago as fresh as if they had happened yesterday.

As the sound of the horn rang out, the Gu Kou team set off. In addition to the large group of people, there were also litters of offerings behind the team; those were all Sacrifices for Wangliang. A rough count showed there were even more than what Huanri Manor had prepared.

"Since Chao Qianfan is here, those backup plans of Azhao's must be handled with caution. At the very least, they should not be triggered while Chao Qianfan is present. It will only be effective if triggered after she leaves."

This confirmed Manying's guess, and she said: "You can share my vision?"

Ah, this plan...

"If they cannot detect Azhao's methods, we will eliminate a few more of their reinforcements. When those vanguard troops in the front see that the reinforcements are not coming, they will inevitably become suspicious. If we can provoke the Dazai to leave early, that would be even better. As soon as she leaves, we will detonate all the Thunder Methods and blow the base to the sky to send her off."

What just happened?

The old woman's voice came from the Art Tool, saying: "Ah, I see it, the view is quite good. This camp is built really well; the Gu Kou's handiwork is not small."

"Woo—"

Thinking of this, Manying felt a bit frustrated. Although there was no reward even if this mission was completed, she had spent a lot of effort and stayed up for several days, but in the end, it came to nothing, which put her in a very bad mood.

These memories influenced her, and of course, caused her personality to gradually shift toward that Mange of Baiyujing, gradually losing her good feelings for Wangliang Mountain, and especially becoming increasingly disgusted with the Wangliang entity itself, having only some lingering sentiment for old friends like Xin Ying.

That requires grasping the timing perfectly.

"Tang Zhao?"

How interesting!

Manying also recognized a cold, stern woman who seemed to be a powerful Sword Hero of the Pillar of State level, currently dressed in casual clothes and mixed into the team. It seemed the Gu Kou were very cautious; they had sent two great experts to hold the line in the first batch, enough to suppress all the manors; they wanted to seize the initiative.

As for the other experts, An Wang Taifei and the Pillar of State Qiu were guarding the main camp. Naturally, that extremely mysterious Dazai had not set off either; she had not even left the main tent, remaining quiet as if she did not exist.

Manying's heart sank, and thinking about it carefully, this made sense. Compared to her status, this Dazai did not arrive in a flashy way; she could almost be said to have descended as an attendant to that Pillar of State. With such a low profile, she probably did not need to announce her appearance on the stage in advance.

It is best to know the timing of both sides simultaneously to be able to act with ease. What the situation is at the altar for the first wave of vanguards, when to call for reinforcements, how the base sends out troops, and then one must observe the expressions and demeanor of the Dazai and other decision-makers to judge their psychological state, so as to strike at the appropriate time.

However, since the Dazai has come, the Gu Kou probably won't be defeated, right? If even the Dazai fails, do the remaining small fry need any retreat path? I'm afraid there won't be many left.

However, she remained silent at this time, not saying a word, only listening to what the old woman said.

Manying felt slightly surprised; this should be a Sword Technique. Compared to being strange, her Sword Intent should be something like "observation."

The sky grew brighter, and the earth was a shade of gray-white.

Manying felt extremely uncomfortable; not only was the Highness missing, but even Ling Baoyu, whom she cared about, was missing, causing her double the worry. She then used the string to write two characters:

But the old woman continued: "However, she certainly won't be the first to leave tomorrow. Judging by how she snuck in, perhaps she will stay in the base as a reserve and the final trump card. She will wait until those subordinates in the front attract attention, and only then will she make her final appearance as a secret weapon. By the time she arrives, this base will be empty."

Manying was startled, not understanding what she meant, but thinking that this should not mean "borrowing your head for a use," she gave a light "en," indicating agreement.

At this time, the old woman's voice on the other side still came through clearly and steadily: "However, triggering the Thunder Method does not necessarily require a specific effect, and killing the enemy is not necessarily the most useful goal. It can be said that sometimes, the act of triggering it itself has meaning."

However, since the other party could see, Manying had more opportunities to communicate with her. She used the string as a hand and wrote two characters on the ground:

"Highness?"

But...

That is to say, it was useless for Manying to guard here. At most, after the Dazai left, she could destroy the base, partly for the satisfaction, and partly to clear their retreat path.

Although Manying had made contact with Tang Zhao's organization, the people she cared about were nowhere to be found, and her mood was low. She could only remain silent, waiting like this, and finally waited until dawn.

Manying's eyes lit up: seize the opportunity to act, interfere with their judgment?

But she could not speak, so the other party continued: "It is to interfere with their fighting will and confidence. That Dazai has a special status; her sudden arrival naturally puts the Gu Kou's morale at its peak when they are full of ambition. She sits in the rear and must be concurrently responsible for deploying troops; I fear she already has a plan in mind. But when the first batch sets off tomorrow and calls for reinforcements, we will trigger the Thunder Method and destroy one or two batches of their reinforcements. This will naturally make her suspicious, and she may even suspect that the secrets discussed in the main tent have been stolen, forcing her to change her plans temporarily and become flustered."

The old woman immediately understood her meaning and sighed: "We don't know either. Azhao speculates that the Highness is sleeping in Yinglang, and Miss Ling took another Sword Deity to search for her. However, she lost contact ever since she entered Yinglang. Now Yinglang is completely disconnected; something clearly happened inside."

"Sigh." The old woman let out a long sigh. Manying cared about people they also cared about but whose current status was unknown; she could only explain that Tang Zhao had gone to do something very important. As for how important... that was not something to be told to outsiders.

But she knew it was different now, because she could feel that her eyes had an extra burden; it seemed that two clusters of Sword Essence were condensed there, causing some soreness.

And the one in charge among them was An Wang, who had already turned into a Spirit Image. Although this royal family member had died once, he did not forget to lead by example, which was a commendable spirit.

In a single thought, Manying had already approved of this plan, and she could not help but admire it in her heart: in a situation where they could not fight head-on, this method was the best one she could think of.

Manying and the old woman who was borrowing her eyes looked together; the number of people gathered in the first batch was not large, only about a hundred, not even one-seventh or one-eighth of the main camp. Among them, a small half were Sword Guests, and the rest were shrewd, capable, and ugly-looking Spirit Officials.

But the fact that a force like the Gu Kou wanted to inexplicably oppose and even destroy Wangliang Mountain still made her very unhappy, feeling that Wangliang should not be destroyed by such petty people.

The old woman said: "Yes. My eyesight is better. Miss Manying doesn't mind, right?"

Manying had thirty percent confidence in the latter condition, but she could not grasp the overall situation. She needed someone to notify her in time and also needed them to feed back the situation they observed in time; there might be a delay in the back-and-forth, which would inevitably lead to missing the opportunity for battle.

However, just like before, the other party took the initiative and said: "Therefore, I need to observe the situation on your side more clearly. May I borrow your eyes for a moment?"

In an instant, her eyes blurred, and it seemed that double images appeared before her, but immediately after, her vision became clear again, as if nothing had happened.

In the Gu Kou's main camp, soldiers and Sword Guests walked out one after another. Other wisps of cooking smoke rose as they were burning fires to cook. Clearly, they were preparing to set off.

Ever since Ling Baoyu disappeared, Tang Zhao had once closed the "Sun Storm" for a moment. At that time, Yinglang did not reconnect, which meant that Yinglang had been completely cut off, and Wangliang Mountain was officially "out of order." That indicated that there had been a huge change in Yinglang. But this change was inside a black box; before it was opened, no one could say for sure what had happened. And when it could be opened was also a mystery.

Manying agreed. She could stay here the whole time, and as soon as Chao Qianfan stepped out, she would trigger it, offering a grand gift to the Gu Kou.

And on every litter of offerings, there was actually a person sitting. Those people were dressed in white mourning clothes, all sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed, like clay statues or wooden puppets.

Sacrifice?

The Gu Kou really do "follow the customs when arriving in a place"!

At this moment, the old woman's voice turned cold for the first time:

"As expected of the Turtle Bandits. To think they would sacrifice my men to consecrate their banners for the Wangliang!"