Sword Among Us c1-1268

by Black Swordsman Online

Instructions from Emei Sect's Mistress Annihilation…

  The seriousness of this could be great, but it could also be insignificant.

  If it were normal instructions, Mistress Annihilation would only need to say a few words to increase Happy's Comprehension by one point or give him a secret manual for a sword technique. But Mistress Annihilation actually suggested for Happy to descend the mountain together with them.

  Happy guessed that it should be a quest.

  'What should I do?'

  His mind raced. Happy could not quite grasp just how valuable would Mistress Annihilation's instructions be, and he hesitated.

  After all, the person who would capture Mistress Annihilation was an elite from Ruyang Mansion. Right then, the Emei Sect disciples were tired after a great battle, and Ruyang Mansion would win with ease against the exhausted women. They could take down all of Emei Sect's members without a single bit of effort.

  Momo and Ancient Wind stared at Happy solemnly as well. They hoped that he would not lose everything just because his emotions overruled his head for a moment.

  "Happy, reject the quest." Momo said quietly. "Don't forget about Ruyang Mansion. Hurry up and get your reward. Then we'll leave."

  "Get my reward?" Happy was stunned.

  "The battle has ended and the points have been acc.u.mulated. You haven't changed it for rewards yet, right? Do you intend to follow her to Emei Sect?" Momo cast him a puzzled glance. "I've already gotten my reward. I got myself one grade one masterpiece and two grade two masterpieces with over nine hundred points."

  "Then why didn't I receive the notification from the system." Happy was stunned on the spot. He stared at Ancient Wind, and when he saw Ancient Wind nodding in agreement, he s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath. "It hasn't totalled up my points yet. The system didn't tell me to get my reward."

  When the duo heard it, they were shocked. They exchanged a glance, and both of them had surprise on their faces.

  It was the sign that the quest had yet to end.

  "Could it be…"

  "That it wants you to continue with the quest?"

  "It's possible."

  "Think about it carefully. If you continue, you'll be doing the quest at Ruyang Mansion. It'll be very dangerous!" the duo reminded him softly.

  Happy thought about it long and hard. In the end, he looked at Mistress Annihilation.

  "Alright, since you regard me highly, it will be best if I show my respect to you by obeying."

  Just then, he had thought about it carefully. In his previous life, he did not remember receiving any word of a player from the six great system-allocated systems falling into any mishap when they descended the mountain. There was also no news of any subsequent quests from the six great system-allocated sects.

  Happy had a bold assumption. Even if similar quests from the six great system-allocated sects appeared, there should only be a handful of people who could master them. Besides, the subsequent quests should be pretty good, or else, there would be some hints about them. Only some of the rarer hidden quests were hidden by players.

  Of course, if he had missed hearing about it, then he could only blame himself for having bad luck.

  Anyway, he did not have to be worried even if he died once. Thunderous Battle had obtained quite a lot of valuable medicinal herbs from the Thousand-year Blood S.u.c.k.i.n.g Wood forest in Shennongjia. Among them were the valuable thousand-year ginseng and thousand-year Lingzhi that could allow a person to return to the peak of their condition.

  Happy could take this risk!

  Mistress Annihilation smiled and nodded.

  "Alright. It's not good for us to stay here. Let's go down the mountain."

  Happy turned to Momo and Ancient Wind.

  "Since Mistress Annihilation has summoned me, let's part ways here. I don't know how much longer I'll need to follow the mistress, so if you have some free time, you can go to Baokang and help me look after Mu Clan for a while. I'll be eternally grateful if you do so."

  "Since you agreed to it, then go at ease and worry about yourself! Until you come back, I'll stay in Baokang." Momo knew that Happy was worried that the quest would require a lot of time, which was why she agreed to it without hesitation.

  Ancient Wind pondered it for a moment before he answered. "I'll go with Momo to Baokang, but Class One Hall isn't an easy opponent. I'll call a few friends to join me."

  He also agreed to it. After all, Happy had taken care of him on the way, and he had also delivered an effective attack once, so he gained 500 points and got himself a valuable grade one masterpiece in exchange.

  "Thank you!"

  Once they finished speaking, Happy turned around resolutely and headed down the mountain with the Emei Sect members.

  Momo felt very uneasy as she stared at the direction in which Happy disappeared.

  Ancient Wind was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, and he could be considered to be someone experienced, so he comforted her by saying, "Don't worry, he'll be fine. Even Zhang Wuji was unable to do anything to him. The power of the top ranked player on the Famous People Rank isn't for show."

  "Let's hope so."

  Even though Momo received Ancient Wind's comforting words, she still did not become completely at ease.

  Emei Sect did not leave quickly. In fact, they were actually quite slow.

  It was only when all players had left Mount Huangshan that they reached the foot of the mountain. On the way, the number of Emei Sect disciples kept decreasing as well. When Happy saw that, he felt incredibly gloomy.

  Suddenly, when they arrived at a rather dense forest that was at the foot of the mountain, Mistress Annihilation came to a stop at the front of the group!

  A strange sound could be heard from every direction.

  "Enemy ambush! Everyone, be careful."

  The person who spoke was Happy.

  Even though he was prepared to be ambushed when he followed Emei Sect down the mountain, when the moment truly arrived, he still could not stand Mistress Annihilation's actions. He shouted and jumped into the air like a bird.

  Ding Minjun, Bei Jinyi, and Zhou Zhiruo tightened their grips over their weapons and put on wary expressions.

  Whoosh!!

  Black smoke began tumbling toward them from all directions out of the blue.

  "Be careful, there's poison in the smoke. Hold your breaths and charge out!"

  Happy gave a command and woke up Mistress Annihilation. She then shouted loudly, "Listen to Young Swordsman Happy! Emei Sect disciples, hold your breaths and charge out with me!"

  Once she finished speaking, Mistress Annihilation took the lead and charged up a tree. She tried to break out of the black smoke by going above it. Happy, Ding Minjun, Zhou Zhiruo, and hundreds of Emei Sect disciples followed closely behind her.

  "Fire!"

  There was Ten Fragrant Tendon Weakening Powder contained within the black smoke. Some Emei Sect disciples occasionally fell prey to it and fell from the air, terrifying the others so much that they did not dare to breathe.

  The group could only brace themselves and charge 328 feet forward by force to get out of the ambush zone. Mistress Annihilation cast a glance at the Yuan Dynasty soldiers who were before her and wanted to turn around to escape, and she instantly flew into a rage.

  "Where do you think you're going?!"

  While Happy sighed in admiration regarding the old nun's extraordinary sword techniques, he frowned as well.

  Mistress Annihilation did indeed have a fiery temper. Once it was triggered, she would not think about leaving a single person alive to look for information.

  In his gloom, the system gave him a piece of good news.

  "Successfully helped Mistress Annihilation avoid a disaster. Obtained 100 points!"

  'As I expected! The quest from the final battle at Light Summit hasn't ended.' Happy felt his heart sink.

  "Mistress, my junior sisters seem to be limp."

  Zhou Zhiruo turned back and looked behind her.
There were hundreds of her junior sisters who had fallen at the back and m.o.a.n.e.d nonstop. There were only around a dozen who managed to escape the disaster, and she instantly felt at a loss.

  "Damn it, just what sort of poison has this sort of effect?" Mistress Annihilation turned her head around to look at the hundreds of disciples who did not manage to escape from the poison smog, but she did not dare approach them carelessly. She was so angry that she gritted her teeth in exasperation. "These dogs of the imperial court, I will definitely have them repay this debt sooner or later!"

  "Mistress, this isn't the time for you to care about this. Since the imperial court decided to set up an ambush here, the other five sects might be their next target, since they were also injured badly after the great battle," Happy reminded her at the perfect moment.

  Mistress Annihilation instantly s.u.c.k.e.d in a sharp breath. "The imperial court intends to defeat us while we are tired. They might have harbored the thought of defeating all the six great sects and Ming Cult in one go. This won't do. We must spread the news. Happy and Zhiruo, I will write a letter now. The two of you go and immediately bring it to Light Summit and hand it to Wudang Sect's Great Swordsman Song, have him tell the news to the heroes of the world!"

  Happy and Zhou Zhiruo's expressions changed.

  "What about you, mistress?" Zhou Zhiruo asked.

  Happy said nothing.

  "These children are still here, so where can I go? I will wait here and see just who wants to destroy Emei Sect." Mistress Annihilation lamented and sat down with her legs crossed. She was very determined. "You mustn't waste time. Hurry up and leave!"

  Chapter 424 - Zhou Yu’s Wariness

  More than half an hour was required to move from the foot of Mount Huangshan to Light Summit, and that was if they went at full speed and Ming Cult did not stop to fend against them.

  "Stay where you are!"

  When the group rushed out of the ravine that was previously a sea of fire, someone finally appeared at the stone steps leading to Light Summit and blocked Happy as well as Zhou Zhiruo. "Sir, how brave you are. How dare you come up to Ming Cult?"

  The person who appeared was Zhou Yu, chief of Phoenix Sun Branch of Ming Cult. Zhou Yu swept his gaze over Zhou Zhiruo's enchanting curves while she moved forward at the opportune moment to provide an explanation.

  Zhou Yu smiled faintly then and his gaze landed on Happy. "I see you received a quest. Congratulations."

  Once he finished speaking, he calmly opened up a path without any intention to stop them.

  Happy did not say anything.

  He admired Zhou Yu in his heart. When he saw Zhou Yu move away elegantly, he immediately wrapped his fist in his palm and nodded at him. He then led Zhou Zhiruo past him to head to Light Summit.

  They left swiftly.

  "Big Brother Zhou, why did you let him leave so easily? Xiao Shan died in his hands, you know?" The sounds of robes fluttering could be heard, and the flautist appeared behind Zhou Yu with a displeased expression.

  Zhou Yu turned around slowly and said, "I know. If it were anyone else, it would have been easier, and I would have fought against them for a while, but he brought with him Zhou Zhiruo. Sigh, she's a woman the quest won't allow us to touch. If we attack her and the cult master learns about this, everything we did today will be in vain."

  He paused for a moment before he continued. "Xiao Shan did not suffer any injustice when he died. Happy lives up to his name as the top ranked player on the Famous People Rank. Besides, even if we worked together today, we might not be able to kill him."

  "Hmph! I can't calm down. When I think about Xiao Shan dying in his hands and how he managed to get a hidden quest to go to Ming Cult's Light Summit, I feel so angry that I want to tear him apart." The flautist was not as magnanimous as Zhou Yu.

  "Then work hard on improving your skills; otherwise, if you just rely on your mouth, you won't be able to kill Happy." After saying that, Zhou Yu leisurely looked up and sighed. "I remember that my little sister warned me to pay attention to Happy in the beginning, but I didn't pay too much attention to her words. If I knew that he would rise to fame during the Emperor's Birthday, I might have stolen his tribute and fought against him."

  "It's not too late now." The flautist's eyes sparkled.

  Zhou Yu cast him a faint glance before he said leisurely, "He has a fourth-echelon Nation Protecting Divine Sword. Do some calculations on how much his attack speed and damage have increased."

  "By the way, why didn't that fourth-echelon grade one masterpiece appear on the Divine Weapon Rank?" Once Zhou Yu gave him a pointer, the flautist felt his heart tremble. The volume of his voice increased from his disbelief. "Why hasn't it been renewed yet? What's going on?"

  "You're asking me? You picked the wrong person." A sparkle appeared in Zhou Yu's eyes. "Wandering Know-it-all is the one who writes that book. Go ask him that question. Right now, I want to know just how many fourth-echelon equipment pieces Happy has aside from that fourth-echelon Nation Protecting Divine Sword."

  The flautist said nothing.

  *****

  While the flautist was astonished by Zhou Yu noticing all those things, Happy had already led Zhou Zhiruo into Ming Cult's headquarters without any obstacles in the way.

  The disciples of the six great sects had already descended Mount Huangshan, which was why their arrival did not stir up a major reaction from the Ming Cult members. When they heard of the reason why they were there, they soon brought Song Yuanqiao over.

  Song Qingshu also came over with an excited expression. He must have heard from the Ming Cult members that someone from Emei Sect had come over with something to tell them. When he learned that it was Zhou Zhiruo, he went through the trouble of coming out and meeting them.

  "Hehe, I see, so it's Young Swordsman Happy." When Song Yuanqiao saw Happy again, there were hints of complicated emotions on his face. After all, Zhang Wuji was his fifth brother's son, and Happy had nearly killed him. However, he still showed a magnanimous attitude.

  "Young swordsman, you came back. Why is that so?"

  Song Qingshu decided to go to Zhou Zhiruo and attend to her. "Junior Sister Zhiruo, why did you come here?"

  Zhou Zhiruo ignored Song Qingshu and went down on one knee, giving Song Yuanqiao and Song Qingshu a shock. "Great Swordsman Song, Emei Sect has been ambushed by the dogs of the imperial court. Right now, hundreds of my sect members are in danger. My mistress is also in a perilous situation. Great Swordsman Song, I hope that you can lend us a hand."

  Happy cast a curious glance at Song Qingshu. He remembered that Song Qingshu should have followed the crowd to return to Wudang Sect, with which he would also be captured. Why was he here?

  "What?!" As expected, Song Yuanqiao's expression changed drastically. "Please, get up. What happened. Tell me in detail."

  Something major had happened, and Song Qinghu did not dare to act rashly. He stood and listened to Zhou Zhiruo narrate the entire matter once she stood up.

  Song Yuanqiao's expression changed repeatedly, and he looked incredibly solemn.

  "This is bad!

  "If the six sects are ambushed at the same time, wouldn't my sixth brother be—"

  "Dad, sixth uncle is in danger!"

  It was only then that Song Qingshu remembered about that matter. Song Yuanqiao had wanted to take care of Zhang Wuji, and so Song Qingshu stayed with his seventh uncle in Ming Cult, but his sixth uncle had led the Wudang Sect disciples to return to the sect and spread the news that Zhang Wuji had not died yet back to Wudang Sect.

  "Let's go and take a look."

  When he heard Song Qingshu's suggestion, Song Yuanqiao shook his head solemnly. "There are many powerful fighters in the imperial court. They must have sent a lot of their elites to fight against the six great sects, so if we go, it'll be too late, and we might even end up dying ourselves."

  "Great Swordsman Song, please save my mistress!" Zhou Zhiruo panicked when she heard that, and she began crying.
r />   "Miss Zhou, please don't panic. If you want to save your mistress, you must seek help from Ming Cult. I'll go talk to Wuji," Song Yuanqiao said solemnly.

  "Isn't Zhang Wuji recovering from his wounds?"

  A flash of regret and worry appeared in Zhou Zhiruo's eyes. She caught up to Song Yuanqiao, but she did not expect that the worry in her voice would displease Song Qingshu. A hint of hate appeared briefly in his eyes.

  "Wuji has Nine Yang Divine Skill, and his physical constitution is incredibly good. He can recover after taking medicine and resting for a while. By the way, I forgot to tell you, but Wuji has been elected as the cult master of Ming Cult."

  Zhou Zhiruo was so shocked by the sudden news that she could not speak.

  Song Qingshu snorted. "Being a cult master of an evil cult means that he'll die sooner or later."

  "Qingshu!" Song Yuanqiao glared at him to reprimand him.

  The group arrived went to the inner hall of Ming Cult's headquarters. When they saw Zhang Wuji, they found that his face was now clean. He was recovering from his wounds with the help of the seven elites from Ming Cult. Even if they were in the distance, they could already sense the hot and pure qi from his body crashing into their faces.

  Happy and Zhou Zhiruo were both people who had injured Zhang Wuji, so their presence immediately brought disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to the seven elites from Ming Cult.

  "Great Swordsman Song, why did you bring those two here?"

  "Miss Zhou."

  Zhang Wuji did not think too deeply about it. He immediately stopped circulating his qi and comforted Yang Xiao as well as the others before he arrived in front of Zhou Zhiruo.

  She bowed beautifully. "I, Zhou Zhiruo, greet Cult Master Zhang. I hope that you can lend a hand and save my mistress."

  "Your mistress? Mistress Annihilation? What's wrong with her?" The delight on Zhang Wuji's face instantly vanished, and he looked at Happy in puzzlement.

  When he noticed that Zhang Wuji's gaze was neither wary nor filled with hate, Happy felt slightly guilty.

  "Cult Master Zhang, you have a kind heart. If we have a hero like you taking care of Ming Cult, it is a blessing for the world of martial artists!" Happy opened up the conversation with such words and repeated Zhou Zhiruo's words.