Sword Among Us c1-1268

by Black Swordsman Online

  Even Happy had a hard time there.

  Bang!

  The ground trembled, and a huge python that was one and a half feet wide flopped on its belly, revealing its fearsome stomach. It crashed on the ground from a branch of a tree with a trunk that would need two a.d.u.l.t men to envelop it.

  The python's smooth and swollen body was full of throwing knives. The beast struggled for a moment to break, but the more it moved, the more the throwing knives injured it. They had a bleeding effect, and the python lost blood even faster.

  In the end, after struggling violently on the ground for a while, the giant green python that was twenty-six feet long finally died. Its eyes went dull and lifeless.

  Whoosh.

  "Thank goodness it's just a normal Giant Python…"

  As he spoke to himself, Happy crouched down beside the carcass. He observed it with a frown before bringing out a lancet knife. He fused his qi into the knife and easily skinned the Giant Python. With familiar movements, he took away skin that was the sturdiest and in perfect condition.

  It was the strongest part of a Giant Python. It was also the most suitable material to create leather armor, gauntlets, and other equipment. From its sturdiness, it should be at least one grade higher than Giant Wolf's pelt.

  That was because the Giant Python had hunted for a long period of time in the depths of the harsh mountain. Its abilities alone were no worse than those of a martial artist in the middle stage of Blessed Realm. With its powerful physical body and nimbleness, it could appear and disappear like a phantom, which made it much harder to handle compared to a Giant Wolf.

  If it were not because Happy's Cloud Treading Steps had reached Grandmaster Realm a long time ago, which allowed him to easily return to the trees and use his lancet knives to continuously damage the Giant Python, he did not know just who would have had the last laugh in their battle.

  Even though Happy swam in money and could be considered a millionaire, it was not a good habit to ignore tens of thousands of taels of silver on the ground. He immediately took the Giant Python's fangs and gall before he cast a glance at the path from which he had come. He then lowered his head and frowned before he continued ahead.

  Less than half a minute after Happy left, a group of people walked out of the forest that had returned to silence.

  It was Li Heng and a dozen sect members from Heaven Descendants Sect.

  They did not say anything. With awestruck expressions, they arrived near the carcass of the Giant Python which had its most valuable parts taken away. They then looked into the direction that had Happy left, and their gazes became complicated.

  Someone beside Li Heng spoke, "Vice sect master, why didn't you attack him just now? With our strength, we could have killed and robbed him just now, and it would have been done without anyone's knowledge."

  Li Heng did not answer. Instead, he tapped the ground and moved around sixty-five feet forward. The forest vanished, and a cold gust of wind blew violently in his face. White fog filled his vision.

  He looked around once, and the grave expression in his eyes became even stronger. He could tell that the forest came to an end and ahead of him was a complicated mountain with rocks scattered all over. The ground was jagged everywhere he turned.

  If the blue-robed young man was so familiar with the place, why did he fight against the Giant Python when he got out of the forest? As long as he left the forest, the Giant Python would never take the risk of the scattered rocks stabbing its body and chasing after him.

  'Could it be?'

  His eyes sparkled, and Li Heng s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath.

  "It's indeed a great place to kill people and bury their corpses."

  When he spoke, the implications contained in his words made the group sense that there was an underlying meaning to what he said. The closest person to him frowned and said, "Vice sect master… The person is now far away. Should we chase after him or wait for a larger group to arrive before we say anything?"

  Right after he finished speaking, someone immediately retorted coldly. "Why should we wait for a larger group? He only has a better lightness skill and a hidden weapon technique. Are you saying we can't actually deal with him? Do you want our people to come here and watch us make a fool of ourselves?"

  He stared in the direction in which Happy had left and spoke again with disdain in his eyes. "Vice Sect Master Li, it's late now. In just a few hours, time will be up. I suggest that we don't waste our time. Let's get rid of him as quickly as possible, take the brocade box, and leave in case any accidents happen."

  When he heard this, not only did Li Heng not react, he even flung his sleeves and sat down on the ground at a languid pace. "Don't be so hasty."

  Everyone in the group looked at one another at a loss.

  "Don't you think it's strange?"

  "Strange?"

  The group was once again baffled by Li Heng's question, which seemed to have come out of nowhere.

  Li Heng ignored the strange looks and just continued speaking at his own pace. "To tell you the truth, when the people from Bloody Blade Sect snatched the brocade box, I found it strange."

  He spoke slowly, but his tone was grave. His stern and serious expression led the group's thoughts to the events that occurred an hour ago.

  "Hmm?" Some of the rash players seemed to have noticed something, and contemplative expressions appeared on their faces.

  "The monk suddenly disappeared. Then, only the brocade box could be found inside the house, not the player who had it. When we chased after the people from Bloody Blade Sect, I guessed that the person would use the chaos to mix into our group."

  The Heaven Descendants Sect's members who had all their attention focused on the brocade box finally discovered the most unexpected and strangest part within the series of events that transpired over the last hour.

  "Ah!" Light gasps and soft intakes of breaths could be heard from the crowd.

  It had to be known that it was extremely dangerous to have a player who could kill a Mystical Realm bandit leader hiding among them!

  At that moment, they finally came to a realization, and when they looked at Li Heng, they could not help but cry out in surprise.

  "Vice sect master, is that why you intentionally fought against the people from Vast Ocean Sword Sect when the vice sect master from Bloody Blade Sect was killed by the fierce tiger? Was your goal to force that person who hid among us to reveal himself?"

  "That's right."

  Li Heng nodded solemnly.

  "That person could only hide among the players who just lingered around the area without anything else to do. His goal was to retrieve the brocade box after we killed each other. He is very strong, and he is very familiar with the area around Shaolin Temple.

  "Once he prevails, it'd be very easy to break free and hide himself, so I decided to have all of you stay and just sent one of ours to follow him in secret. My goal was to learn just who that person was! At the same time, I wanted him to reveal his strength!"

  When they heard this, the people suddenly remembered that they had followed their target into such a remote place. That person's actions clearly fit in to Li Heng's guesses, and one person from the group could not help but say while feeling tense, "Vice sect master, are you saying that he—"

  "If we had attacked rashly just now, I can't say whether he would be the one who would have ended up dead, or us."

  The group was astounded!

  Chapter 138 - Natural Chasm

  When Happy did not make the pursuers behind him reveal themselves, he was slightly disappointed, but he did not care too much about it, and neither did he linger in the area. He moved three hundred and thirty feet away from the forest without stopping and jumped a few times on the jagged mountain rocks. He ignored the white fog that gradually became thicker in front of him, and with familiar ease, he swiftly headed to a cliff at the summit.

  Soon, a dash of blue appeared at the summit. Happy saw five iron chains that were more
than three hundred and thirty feet long extending to the mountain across him from the cliff where he was. While it m.o.a.n.e.d and creaked, it swayed slowly in the violent wind.

  Clang, clang, clang…

  Even though each iron chain was the size of an a.d.u.l.t man's fist and looked very sturdy as well as unbreakable, the loud and grave knocking sound produced by the violent wind terrified people's hearts. Happy felt that if he stepped on the chains, he would fall into the abyss hundreds of thousands of feet below and shatter to pieces.

  When the fog thinned, he could see a mountain that was not very big across from him. It looked like a pillar that extended into the sky and stood tall among the clouds. The mountainside was smooth, without any spots that a person could use to jump or climb up.

  The five iron chains that were the breadth of a fist were the only way to Punishment Mount!

  Happy s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath. He carefully brought out the Giant Wolf Fur Equipment Sect from his Universe Bag and equipped the entire set before he cast a glance at the rather tall Punishment Mount in front of him. He s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath and stepped on the iron chain.

  The swaying of the chain was not too great, but the mountain breeze would make people feel that it was unstable. The great dizziness that came from standing on a bridge also made Happy uneasy.

  He let his weight sink on the swaying chain, and his body landed safely on it.

  During that moment, no matter how great his lightness skill was, it was useless. If he did not know how to change his tactics according to the situation and used his lightness skill to fly across the bridge blindly, he would only end up being pushed into the abyss by the powerful mountain gusts.

  There were plenty of people who could not overcome their acrophobia and lost their composure while in the middle. They were blown off the chains and had their bones crushed by the fall.

  Happy took a few deep breaths at the cliff before he could calm himself from the feeling of falling hundreds of thousands of feet into the abyss. He raised his head slightly and took his first step forward on the chain.

  A mountain gust blew at him, and his body trembled. The chains under his feet swayed along with the wind, twisting between the two mountains.

  Happy's expression changed. The moment he was about to lose his balance, he tapped on the chain, and in a flash, he jumped from the leftmost chain to the rightmost chain, which swayed the most violently.

  Even though the chain had a weight added to it, it did not show clear changes in its swaying.

  Clang!

  A dull thud rose. Happy had used the chain to assist in his jump. His body rose against the wind, and at an extremely quick speed, he returned to the original chain. However, while he jumped back and forth, he had actually managed to move forward by three feet.

  When he stopped, the chains continued swaying.

  Happy did not have time to regain his footing. He had to hold his breathing while he moved by a small margin. He landed on the chain to his right, and with a light tap, his body was brought back to the center of the bridge from the dangerous edge. He would no longer be pushed out of the trajectory of the chain by the mountain breeze.

  One move, one tap.

  The process repeated itself again and again.

  The distance might not have been huge, but he could not give voice to the dangers contained in each jump he made.

  The feeling of the abyss thousands of feet beneath his feet, the strong mountain gust, the swaying and instability when his feet landed on the chains, and the knowledge that the slightest mistake would make him fall to his death forced Happy to be careful, no matter how confident he was. He had to move forward slowly so that he could be sure that he would not lose his life.

  Time moved forward at a snail's pace.

  Happy's figure slowly sank into the white fog.

  As the fog thickened, the grave look on Happy's face became even more prominent!

  His vision grew blurry, and the chains became difficult to see. This caused Happy, who had been very attentive and nervous, to break into cold sweat.

  By then, he had just managed to reach the middle section of Iron Chain Bridge. There was no ground anywhere near him, and everything was white. If anyone else were in his place, they would be so terrified they might die.

  Happy did not dare to be inattentive. With a whoosh, his Hundred-battle Saber landed in his grip. His qi surged into it, and his blade instantly let out an astonishing blue halo.

  Clang!

  Then, sparks formed by metal clashing against metal could be seen. A loud sound quickly traveled outwards from between the two mountains.

  Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

  The sounds rose nonstop and echoed continuously. As the metallic sparks flashed in the white fog, the sounds became even more frequent, and the interval between them grew shorter. If anyone saw it, they would definitely be shocked and think that this was from a deity. It had to be a miracle of Mount Song.

  But the truth was that the person who created that miracle was like a duck on water—while it looked like it swam forward in a relaxed manner, in truth, it was rapidly paddling under the water!

  Cold sweat soaked Happy's clothes.

  He used his Flowering Knights' Song to determine the exact location of the five iron chains and the great rebound to stabilize himself on them.

  With the faint halo shining on his blade courtesy of Flowering Knights' Song, Happy would hurriedly find a landing spot. Then, he would continue to swing his blade in the white fog. He was just like a person feeling his way forward while he crossed a river he had never crossed before.

  However, his river was much higher up. It was basically a river in the sky!

  Happy's experience from his previous life allowed him to not make any mistakes.

  But there was a figure standing at the cliff, and the smile that had just appeared on Happy's face froze. His face went pale, and his heart sank.

  Even though he had just looked over briefly, he had seen an old warrior monk in a light gray kasaya standing with a staff and a smile on his face. But Happy was not fooled. After all, he was not a new disciple of Shaolin Temple.

  The only people who could move about freely in Punishment Mount were the monks who had broken their Buddhist vows.

  They were isolated from the world, locked in Punishment Mount all year long. Most of them had mastered the art of putting up the image of a kindly old monk to deceive unknowing people, but their hearts were as dark as charcoal. If Happy let down his guard even in the slightest, he would definitely be taken advantage of.

  But Happy did not expect that the end of the path to Punishment Mount would be guarded by a monk who had broken his Buddhist vows!

  "Damn it!"

  Happy was extremely shocked when he saw the figure.

  For an instant, he wanted to turn around and walk back.

  In such a dangerous situation, he was actually unfortunate enough to run into a Mystical Realm monk, who had broken his vows, guarding Iron Chain Bridge. It was already difficult for Happy to handle Iron Chain Bridge with just his qi in Blessed Realm, so he had spent most of it on the way. He also did not have the time to replenish it.

  Chapter 139 - Execute Dragon Capture and Dissolve the Danger

  "Amitabha!" The old monk who had broken his Buddhist vows stood at the cliff of Punishment Mount. He called out the name of Buddha like an eminent monk and offered up some space on the cliff for Happy. "Since you have come, then stay and enjoy yourself. Patron, come and rest."

  'Rest, my foot…'

  Even though he cursed in his heart, Happy did not dare to show any of his thoughts on his face.

  He could tell that the old monk who had broken his Buddhist vows wanted to lower his guard by using sweet words. The moment Happy flew to the mountain, the old monk would attack with lethal force and easily push him off the cliff.

  When he thought of this, Happy actually felt like he saw a thread of hope!

  If the old monk who h
ad broken his Buddhist vows showed his true colors before he reached the mountain, he would probably have no chance to survive and would die in Punishment Mount, but since the monk thought to trick him first, Happy might have a chance.

  Hence, he immediately looked behind the monk to ensure that there was no one else nearby.

  'I'll have to give it my all!'

  Happy gritted his teeth. The moment he was sixteen feet away from the cliff, he exerted force with his feet and jumped high into the air with his saber. He was so quick that he almost shot past the monk's head.

  When Happy rushed to the cliff at full speed and was airborne, unable to change his direction or propel himself forward, the monk who had been watching quietly suddenly laughed long and hard.

  "Haha! Patron, stay where you are!"

  He waved the long staff in his hand, and staff shadows filled the air. They were both fierce and violent! And they rushed at Happy, who was airborne, with the force of an avalanche.

  "Even though there is no need for you to take this perilous path, you just had to come, huh?! Did you think that Punishment Mount is a place where an ordinary person like you can come as they please? Give me your life!"

  "You—"

  Happy pretended to be alarmed and cried out in anger, but his body froze miraculously while airborne, and his Hundred-battle Saber left his grip! With a terrifying blue light, it shot into the staff shadows that the monk had created.

  Happy's reaction time to the unexpected situation had been so quick that he had acted at almost the same time as the monk.

  It looked like both of them had chosen to strike at the same time!

  The monk g.r.o.a.n.e.d. Most of the boundless staff shadows vanished, and he staggered, unable to gain a steady footing. Happy did not have a good time as well. In his haste, he had fought head on against a Mystical Realm NPC, and the disparity between their qi realms made things very difficult for him. Besides, Happy had even suffered a blow.

  When the great force surged into his body, he was nearly sent out of Punishment Mount.