Chapter 689

"So this is a Sword Guest assembly." Tang Zhao already understood as he walked through the long corridor.

Just as a Sword Smith would hold a Sword Casting Conference for their first sword, a Martial Artist becoming a Sword Guest—or rather, a Sword Student with the potential to become a Sword Guest—would also hold a special assembly, inviting guests and friends far and wide to celebrate.

Perhaps in large sects or major factions, it wouldn't be worth a grand celebration, but for a local powerful clan to produce two Sword Guests, such an act of bringing honor to their ancestors, how could it not be worth a grand event?

No wonder they held such a large Hall Gathering when it wasn't a holiday or festival, invited so many performers, and spent so much money.

A Sword Guest...

Just a year ago, this term still carried a heavy weight in Tang Zhao's heart, but now it was as light as a breeze passing by.

The Sword Guests under his command had once numbered in the triple digits.

What was that saying about them walking all over the streets?

Truly, times have changed.

Tang Zhao thought, if the protagonist of this assembly is the YoungMaster, then that is the focus of the play; the Hall Gathering performance is just background noise, and I fear not even the guests care about it. This is good; then there won't be any mistakes. Just put in the effort and sit back waiting for the money.

The only variable is whether that YoungMaster can successfully become a Sword Guest. Although his success rate has nothing to do with the performers, it greatly affects the performers' income. If he succeeds, the host family will naturally be happy, and doubling the reward money is a small matter; if he fails, that is great bad luck, and it would be fortunate if they weren't kicked out.

He should be able to do it, right?

If there wasn't a ninety percent certainty, how could they invite so many people to watch? Even someone as arrogant as Xue Xianyun only had his disciples hold a Sword Casting Conference when he was sure of the Sword Casting. Since such a wealthy family cares about face, they wouldn't want to lose face in public, would they?

The birth of a Sword Guest is also a good thing; with the Heavenly Demons pressing down, the Human World always needs a constant supply of new blood.

Thinking this, Tang Zhao continued to look for the stage for the Hall Gathering.

It must be said that the Che Mansion is quite large; the courtyards and corridors are winding and endless, and with the trees, flowers, and plants, the scenery is quite nice.

But as for management, it is chaotic. Although the Che family has many servants, they clearly lack the experience to handle so many guests. Furthermore, in order to build momentum for his youngest son, Master Che opened the gates to welcome guests, allowing anyone who is a decent person to enter and drink as long as they bring a small gift. Therefore, the hall is full of guests today, and the number of visitors clearly far exceeds their capacity to host. Even if the Town Guardian used his official position for private gain and called many people from the Land Inspection Department to help maintain order, it is still not enough. The most obvious sign is people coming and going in every courtyard, strangers running around wildly, with no one to guide or stop them.

Looking at it like this, it wouldn't be strange at all if something went missing from the Che Mansion after the banquet ends.

Holding an assembly is not that simple.

But the benefit for Tang Zhao is that he can walk around the residence without attracting attention.

Not entirely without attention...

"Ah, Brother Tang..."

Hmm, who recognizes me?

This form of address, not someone from the Sui Family Troupe?

Tang Zhao's thoughts turned in an instant, and when he looked back, he saw a young man with handsome features standing behind him.

Familiar, yet not that familiar.

Fortunately, Tang Zhao's memory is quite good, and he said, "Brother Yue Lai?"

This young man is Yue Lai, who participated in the Jingzhe Villa assembly with him and went to Baiyujing together.

After coming down from Baiyujing, Tang Zhao parted ways with him, remembering that he returned to his own sect in Youzhou...

Oh, this is Youzhou.

Since they are acquaintances, meeting again is a happy event, so Tang Zhao smiled and said, "Brother Yue, have you been well? You also came to witness this YoungMaster becoming a Sword Guest?"

Yue Lai smiled and said, "Just by the way. This YoungMaster Che is a fellow disciple of mine. He had this opportunity, so he sent letters to all of us familiar disciples. I happened to be doing a sect mission nearby, and I thought, what's wrong with getting a free meal? So I came. But what about you? Why did you come to Youzhou?"

He was very respectful toward Tang Zhao; firstly, he had been saved by Tang Zhao, and secondly, he had seen Tang Zhao's strength and was in awe of him. Wanting to get closer, he smiled and said, "Since you came to Youzhou, why didn't you contact me? I can be considered a local expert; I could accompany you around, eat some local snacks, and visit the scenery, which would save you a lot of trouble."

This was purely polite talk; the two didn't even have a way to contact each other, so where would he find him?

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "It was truly a coincidence; I heard that some friends were here, so I came to visit."

Yue Lai said, "Your friends are my friends, and my friends are friends of the Che family. Let's go, let's go find them together."

Since he was so enthusiastic, Tang Zhao couldn't reject his kindness, so he asked, "Where is the stage for the Hall Gathering?"

Yue Lai said, "Which stage? There are six stages set up here; there are grand plays, drum music, and juggling and sleight of hand. You can watch whichever one you want."

Tang Zhao said, "Then the drum music."

The performers of the Sui Family Troupe sing drum music.

Yue Lai said, "When I arrived, the main stage in the front was just hosting someone singing drum music. They sang well and looked handsome, and there was a lot of applause."

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "It's very likely them, so take me there to see."

Although they are all guests and all sit at tables to drink, not every guest is qualified to be in the main hall. Not even the front courtyard is guaranteed.

The main hall of the front courtyard, plus the left and right halls, only had eight tables set up; the banquet was rich and expensive, and the guests were all people of status.

Yue Lai is from the Yanyun Sword Sect and has a good background, so naturally, he could be in the main hall, though not at the main table.

Most of the people at his table were of similar status to him, and the YoungMaster Che Yu was there to accompany them. He introduced them quite cheerfully: "Everyone, let me introduce you; this is from Yunzhou..."

As he was speaking, he saw that Tang Zhao had already turned his head to look at the stage.

Opposite the main hall was the stage, where one could perform a grand play or a musical act. At this moment, a woman was on stage singing big drum storytelling, and an old man was Pulling Strings for her. There was also a young girl of about ten years old playing the clappers for her.

This female drum storyteller had a good voice and clear articulation, and while her appearance wasn't absolutely stunning, she was still quite pretty.

However, in terms of the level of singing, it could only be said that it wasn't bad, and couldn't be called stunning.

Especially the old man Pulling Strings, who was very mediocre; not only could he not support the singing, but he was also dragging her down, making this piece of drum storytelling sound like something that was just barely listenable to the ears of the experienced nobles present, not even worth a special tip, just something to make do as background noise.

What was Tang Zhao so focused on?

It was also because Yue Lai lacked the skill to interpret the fan chart, so he couldn't see the emotion and joy in Tang Zhao's eyes, and didn't even notice that Tang Zhao wasn't staring at the beautiful woman, but at the old man Pulling Strings.

If it were someone else who had zoned out during his introduction, he would have been dissatisfied to some degree, but Tang Zhao was an exception. Seeing Tang Zhao distracted, he immediately turned around to smooth things over: "This friend of mine is no simple person. When I went on an adventure, if it weren't for him saving my life, where would I be today?"

Anyway, I've said it first: he is especially important to me and is my life-saving benefactor. Regardless of his behavior, even if you find him unpleasant, you must give me face and pretend not to see it. Whoever looks for trouble is the same as slapping my face, and I will turn against them. Everyone, please bear with it.

Actually, if he had just said directly that Tang Zhao was a Sword Hero, or even a young Sword Guest, who would still be dissatisfied? But that would have caused too much of a stir, and without Tang Zhao's permission, he wouldn't reveal it. Especially since Tang Zhao is from Yunzhou; in this day and age, with feudal lords carving out territories, it inevitably makes the states more and more divided. States separated from each other are not on good terms, and some might think, what is a master from Yunzhou doing coming to our Youzhou?

Naturally, the fewer troubles, the better.

Sure enough, as he took the responsibility upon himself, and since his status in the sect was not low, everyone naturally had to give him face, saying politely, "So it is Brother Tang, I have long heard of your name."

Of course, it wasn't that there weren't those who were unhappy seeing Tang Zhao zone out; not being rude is one thing, but being unhappy is another.

Even if Yue Lai is a direct descendant in the sect and has always acted aggressively, can he still control whether others are unhappy in their hearts?

At this moment, Tang Zhao finally reacted and laughed, "My apologies, I was just listening, entranced. I hope everyone will forgive me."

Everyone at the table was a young person, and seeing Tang Zhao speak, they let it go. Especially since the YoungMaster Che Yu was present; since he hadn't said anything, the others had even less to say.

After all, Che Yu was about to become a Sword Guest. Although they were currently on equal footing, things would be different after today. Whoever in this generation took this step first would surpass their peers and temporarily attain the position of leader. If the others didn't have the opportunity to catch up quickly, they would likely be beneath him for the rest of their lives.

Honestly, Che Yu couldn't even be considered particularly outstanding; the degree to which he was valued by his sect wasn't even as high as Yue Lai's. If it weren't for his family having money and influence, helping him find a suitable sword, how could he have leaped ahead?

It's really great to be rich!

That YoungMaster Che smiled and said, "No matter. Judging by your accent, you are not a local. Coming from afar specifically to offer congratulations is giving me face. Since you like this young lady—"

Tang Zhao raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, what are you planning to do to my Sui Aunt?

YoungMaster Che continued, "Come, reward her with ten taels of silver, and send a box of snacks and a pot of wine over."

Tang Zhao thought this was actually a good method. If he just stuffed money at them when they met in a moment, it would be too blunt, but if he tipped them now, it was what they deserved, and they would naturally accept it all. He then said, "I will also reward ten taels."

YoungMaster Che thought to himself, is it really for the girl? What have you ever seen? Is a girl of this caliber worth fawning over? But out of consideration for Yue Lai, he still said, "These are all rewards from YoungMaster Tang. In a moment, tell that girl to come down and sit over here for a drink."

Tang Zhao said, "No need for her to come over, I will go to the backstage in a moment."

YoungMaster Che said, "That works too."

Having said that much, the face had been given, so he didn't say anything else and turned his head to talk to others. Tang Zhao also smiled and tasted the banquet dishes of Youzhou; he could only say the flavor leaned salty and the craftsmanship was average.

When the drum ballad finished, the woman took the string player and went down, and Tang Zhao also stood up and said, "I am going to the backstage."

As he left the table, he saw a team of people escorting a flat, long box inlaid with gold and jewels to the main hall; judging by the shape of the box, it was undoubtedly a sword.

The guests all thought the same, stretching their necks and glancing sideways to look. Although they only saw the box, they couldn't help but look a few more times, as if they could form some kind of connection just by seeing it.

Tang Zhao was not interested; he had seen many swords, and he still had quite a few good swords in his possession. Furthermore, if he wanted to, he could forge one to play with at any time. It was more important to go see Sui Uncle and the others.

However, when he brushed past the box, Tang Zhao couldn't help but turn his head and take a look:

Is there really a sword inside this?

The box didn't look like it was made of any insulating material; with his high Inspiration, why hadn't he sensed anything?