Chapter 128 – Echoes (IV)

Chapter 128

Echoes (IV)

“You want this? It’s really sweet! How about this? Do you want the Big Sis to teach you something?”

Long Tao silently eyed the strange young woman who seemed entirely obsessed with Light–to an unhealthy degree. And yet, it was all a facade. Her eyes and Divine Sense darted over the other kids, trying to figure them out.

Naturally, she saw only what they wanted her to see–there wasn’t anyone alive, at least not in this realm, that could see through his means.

Nonetheless, it peeved him a bit, the false front. And yet… he was annoyed with himself even more.

Of course, it was a false front–it was a de facto state of all cultivators. It was how they lived and how they interacted with the world at large. He himself had been the exact same way all his life. And yet… he found himself annoyed.

It was for a simple reason–that chatty buffoon at the front.

That genuine kindness and concern were like shackles as well as a mirror held up against the rest of the world–and Long Tao found himself trapped between the two ends.

Ignoring all the inane questions, he briefly focused on the story of ‘Hollowers’–a rather far-fetched tale that made no sense, told no doubt to simply cover up the truth behind countless disciple killings.

However, Long Tao knew precisely who’d killed the boy–perhaps not by the name, no, but he did recognize the method. After all, it was a method that was used against him thousands of times before, with each new assassination attempt that the Emperor Swordstar orchestrated.

It was a lesser variant of the art that had a manual for each tier–the one employed against the dead boy was at least of the Sky tier, which likely meant that it wasn’t another disciple who killed him.

He even knew who it probably was–the man who wore the garish emblem of a sword etched into his robes, a sigil so familiar that he nigh exploded in rage the moment he saw it. But… it wasn’t exact.

It was a mimicry of sorts, likely a far-descending branch of the original, the Sword Mountain–one of the nine powers that came together in a bid to destroy him… and had succeeded.

These inane matters, however, had nothing to do with him–but he was gnawingly curious about the sect behind that man. There was no doubt he’d have to visit it at some point in the future and see who they sent down to become an Envoy. It likely wasn’t anyone of importance, probably some random low-level disciple that he wouldn’t even recognize, but even if it was a janitor, he could still ask them some questions.

“You’ve been rather quiet.” She finally turned toward him, stretching out her lips into a smile. “What’s your name?”

Long Tao remained silent for a moment, eyeing her.

He held no grudge against the girl, as it truly did seem she was mostly just curious–not about them, specifically, but by nature. She seemed the type to get distracted with whatever she thought was a puzzle, and, today, the moment Light evaded her hug, they became that puzzle.

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“You can call me Tao,” he said.

“So, it’s Junior Brother Tao! You’re quite cute too, you know?” She fell behind a bit and tossed her arm around his shoulder, pressing her breasts against him.

It had worked on Xi Zhao, after all, as the boy immediately got red in the face and stammered out a few answers.

“Thanks,” he said. “They’re too small.”

“Hm?”