"I'll give you one more chance. Tell me where your key came from!"
"I-I made it— Bro, it's my fault, okay! Let go of me! It hurts! Just send me to the police station. I won't dare to do this again..."
"When did you make it?"
"A few nights ago. I came over here to make it."
It would have been better if he did not provide this explanation, because once he did, Knife instantly laughed coldly. "Playing tricks with me, are you? This place is under surveillance twenty-four seven. Even if you're a special agent, it would have been impossible for you to get the key under our eyes.
"Looks like you don't intend to say anything… Alright! Happy, let me handle this person. If I don't manage to make him talk in ten minutes and figure out the mastermind, my name won't be Knife."
Once he finished speaking, he knocked the young stranger unconscious and brought him into the apartment across from Happy's.
Thunder walked down from the floor above with a stern face. When he saw how worried Happy looked, he said, "I looked through the area outside just now. There's no one suspicious. Let Knife handle this. He knows where to draw the line."
Chapter 733 - Push Down Towering Palace!
No sound came out from Knife's apartment, but within less than three minutes, he walked out with a look on his face that said he had already had his questions answered.
"How did it go?"
Happy felt that his tone was not calm. He did not want to hear a person's name.
Fortunately, Knife's answer allowed Happy to release a sigh of relief.
"The boy's a local thief. Once he heard about your stuff in the University of South China, he got a key model to your apartment from another man.
"After he duplicated your key, he was prepared to rob your place. But he definitely doesn't know that aside from your laptop that's worth a few more bucks, you have nothing else."
"You're certain?" Happy was still a little worried.
"I am. I went into the Public Security Ministry just now and searched for his case. He is indeed a local thief who is active in the area, so he shouldn't have been sent by anyone. This brat's bones aren't even enough for me to chew."
Knife put on a smile to put Happy at ease before he said, "The boy's terrified of me right now, and I bet he's scared out of his wits. Happy, do you think we should release him or leave him an unforgettable memory by sending him to the hospital?"
Happy cast a glance at the young man through the crack of the door and found that he was shaking like a leaf. Even though he was intact, it seemed like his mind was about to break.
"Since he's not sent by anyone, tell him to stay away from this place from here onwards."
"Got it." Knife nodded.
"By the way, where's Silver Wolf?"
Happy suddenly noticed that something this big had happened in the real world, but Silver Wolf was not around. Could it be that something happened to him in the game and he could not leave?
Thunder's expression turned dark, and he answered. "That man in black from Yangzhou Port showed up to challenge our boss, but when they were halfway through their fight, a group of people showed up out of nowhere to attack the branch. Quite a number of our brothers died.
"Big Brother Silver Wolf, Wind Chimes, Little North, and Feng Zhi only managed to take down seven of them after working together. Right now, they're cleaning up the mess."
He did not expect that even though he had mobilized quite a number of elites from Mu Clan to Yangzhou City, there were still a large number of casualties on their side!
"Who were the people who came?"
"We don't know for certain, but they're definitely not from Class One Hall or Towering Palace." Thunder paused for a moment before he spoke with certainty. "This group was very good. Based on what Big Brother Silver Wolf said, they're all martial artists. If Wind Chimes hadn't been around, they might not have been able to hold the fort."
"Have you taken note of their names? Make a reading on them and go after their lives." Happy might not be as unhesitant with certain matters in the real world when compared to Thunder and Knife, but when it came to the game, his mannerisms immediately changed.
"Since they came to attack Mu Clan, there's no need for us to be nice to them. Don't let those people think that they can look down on us just because they practice martial arts in real life. I'm currently still in Sky Demon Secret Cave and won't be able to come out for the time being. Help me send word to Silver Wolf."
Knife had been like an executioner earlier, but the crazed look on his face faded away in moments.
Thunder nodded. "I'll do it immediately!"
Happy stopped talking for a while before he snorted coldly.
"I've been troubled by the fact that I didn't have an excuse to send more people to Yangzhou. Since Towering Palace didn't take any action, this group of assassins gave us a good reason. Thunder and Knife, you don't need to care about Sky Demon Branch for the time being.
"Take a group of elites from the headquarters and go to Yangzhou. If you don't have enough people, pick some from other branches. Give them fifty thousand contribution points per day.
"Also, keep even closer attention on the people from Towering Palace. If the attackers have any connection with them, we won't need to be polite anymore. We can just push down Towering Palace's headquarters!"
Xu Xin, Xu Yao, Chen Fan, Bai Lang, and Qi Ci had just run up the stairs hastily when they heard Happy make a decision that made their hearts tremble. They were stunned for a period of time.
They blinked, and their gazes moved back and forth between Happy, Thunder, and Knife.
"Happy!"
"Are you okay?"
"Where's the thief?"
The Three Lonely Wolves were still worried about Happy. Even though he didn't reveal much, they could guess it when he mentioned something as s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e as the key. They rushed over because they were worried that something had happened to Happy.
When they saw the two unfamiliar faces at the stairs, they were stunned.
"Who are they?"
"Kindhearted neighbors."
Happy did not expect that anyone would arrive so soon. They even met Thunder and Knife. He was feeling very troubled by the situation while he explained himself with a bashful smile.
The Three Lonely Wolves were rendered speechless, because they understood Happy very well. "And you just told your kindhearted neighbors to push down Towering Palace?"
The five stared at Happy with a gaze that said "Who are you trying to fool?"
Xu Xin, though, had met them once or twice before. "You live next to Happy—"
"That's right!"
"You play World of Martial Arts as well?" Xu Xin's thoughts were simpler.
Xu Yao, who stood next to her, was stunned. Her gaze moved back and forth between Thunder and Knife's faces. Surprise and bewilderment was in her heart.
She had also heard Happy's words.
Push down Towering Palace!
When he saw that the people's expressions were becoming stranger and stranger, Happy knew that he would not be able to hide things anymore. He immediately sighed in resignation and said, "Let's go inside and talk. Thunder, Knife, go back. I'll tell them about your identities."
"Thunder?! Knife?!"
The Three Lonely Wolves might have placed a lot of their attention on South China Martial Arts Ranking Board, but they still knew Mu Clan's elites like the back of their palms, especially the three aces who were stationed at Sky Demon Branch!
Their strength was above that of Rampaging Dragon, and they were known as the Three Demons of Mu Clan—Thunder, Knife, and Bar…
Xu Yao also looked surprised. It was only then that she noticed that the two people were very similar to the two men in the game both in appearance and temperament.
Thunder and Knife rubbed their noses awkwardly before they waved at the group. One of them entered the apartment next to Happy's while the other went upstairs.
Xu Xin, Xu
Yao, and the Three Lonely Wolves brought with them a bag of questions when going inside.
Happy still held that key from the thief in his hands.
He told the general gist of what had happened, and the Three Lonely Wolves were immediately prepared to go and cause trouble for the thief.
Happy did not stop them, but he said. "Knife has already beaten him up quite badly, so if you try to beat him up more, he might really die."
The trio rolled their eyes at the same time. "Just who are they?"
"Silver Wolf's brothers. They're here to take care of me."
"No way… Bodyguards? So awesome? It's no wonder why you didn't ask us to come…" There was excitement on Qi Ci's face, and he gestured wildly. "And it's also no wonder why they're so good in the game. You took care of them so much, so I was wondering…"
"That's where you're wrong. Why did you hide such a big matter from us? Aren't you being too secretive?" Chen Fan's words caused Xu Xin to bite her lower lip.
"Little Xin, you were also kept in the dark? Happy, you did bad this time…"
Happy tensed and quickly explained himself. "I was worried that once you all knew that there's someone here taking care of me, Little Xin will definitely not come here to cook for me every day, you know…"
Xu Xin's expression finally turned happy, and a hint of bashfulness came to her eyes.
"Hmph, at least you're sensible."
Chapter 734 - Yangzhou Under Curfew, Getting Scared By Your Own Shadows
The storm caused by the thief might have calmed down, but the news brought by Thunder as well as Happy's attitude toward it stirred up quite the storm in the game!
Happy had told Silver Wolf to bring a group of people to set up a branch at Yangzhou City. They were ready to become enemies with Towering Palace and fight against them, which was why they gathered quite a number of elites at the branch.
But they did not expect that before Towering Palace even came, a group of people with unknown identities would ambush them at night and cause quite a number of casualties.
Luckily, once the strongest force in the branch came out, they managed to make the mysterious group retreat.
Happy might have gotten the general gist of the situation from Thunder, but he knew that there were only two groups of people who would dare attack Mu Clan right then. One of them was the force of power behind the mysterious man in black, and the other were people from Towering Palace.
Since the accident happened during the time the man in black challenged Silver Wolf and he stopped attacking then, it basically proved that the matter was not related to him.
Towering Palace was a very obvious suspect!
Even if they did not personally launch the attack, it was definitely related to them.
There was no way anyone in Yangzhou City could avoid everyone's eyes and ears and gather together such a powerful group of martial artists.
There was no one who could do this in the Chinese server, so the foreign organizations had to be behind it!
Happy's order hit the mark!
*****
When Yangzhou City descended into a tense situation where even the wind would cause people to enter a state of alarm, Silver Wolf led his people to take control of all tunnels in Yangzhou City.
Even the people from Towering Palace had to remove their Bamboo Hats when they entered or exited the city! There were Mu Clan members who took turns to guard the port as well.
Many of the sects in Yangzhou received a notice from Mu Clan and decided to take the initiative to help Mu Clan pay attention to unfamiliar faces in the area so that no one could easily leave.
There were rumors in the city saying that there were people who saw the people who ambushed Mu Clan's branch enter Towering Palace's headquarters.
There were also people who said that they were still hiding in Towering Palace's headquarters.
Hence, on the next night, Mu Clan members could be seen everywhere around Towering Palace's headquarters. They monitored them from the restaurants, streets, and even the roofs!
*****
"This is too much!"
Frequent shouts of anger could be heard within Towering Palace's headquarters.
"Those bastards from Mu Clan! What do they think Towering Palace is?! Can they monitor us just because they want to?! We have to be stared at for a long time and questioned when we go out! Is Towering Palace the master here, or Mu Clan?!"
"Calm down, calm down. We can't fault them for being incredibly mighty…"
The elders and branch masters of Towering Palace were discussing things among themselves. Some of them were filled with indignation, while others were filled with resignation and persuaded their friends to calm down.
"What choice do we have?"
"Mu Clan's branch lost more than seventy of their people, so they can't be blamed for being angry. I heard that even Little North died. Right now, Mu Clan's branch is fully intent on finding and killing the murderers."
"They're already dead! We didn't do it!"
"That's right! We didn't do it!"
Some of the people who knew what happened instantly found themselves unable to say anything.
The others might not know who attacked, but they knew!
Aside from the Dragon Sect elites who met with them a few days ago, no one could ambush Mu Clan's branch, kill dozens of people in one go, and retreat mostly alive under Demonic Sound Duchess's demonic sounds.
But Towering Palace was indeed not the ones who gave the orders for Dragon Sect to act.
When the people from Dragon Sect attacked, they did not say even a single word to Towering Palace. In fact, when they came back, they only appeared to be slightly dishevelled and cursed the woman with the zither for being difficult to deal with.
Even though the Music sisters felt that they had their hatred vented once they heard that Dragon Sect killed Little North and a group of Mu Clan elites, later on, they realized just how bad the situation was for them.
The people from Mu Clan chased after and arrived outside the Towering Palace's headquarters!
Silver Wolf also declared that Mu Clan would definitely not let those who protected Mu Clan's enemies go no matter who they were, and he said that right in front of the Towering Palace elites. He had looked positively murderous at that time.
Then, he set up a curfew in a circular area of several miles around Towering Palace, and immediately after, he set up a curfew for the entire Yangzhou City.
Musical Note spoke to the middle-aged man who had attacked Mu Clan.
He told her that they had intended to destroy Mu Clan's branch, but unfortunately for them, they did not expect that Demonic Sound Duchess would be of such a great help in the battle. They had also underestimated the number of elites in Mu Clan's branch, or else, Mu Clan would not have sacrificed only Little North and a few of their best fighters.
But since seven of their own died too, Dragon Sect had also suffered quite a bit. If they wanted to launch a similar attack again, it would be very difficult for them to succeed.
However, they stated that as long as Towering Palace continued working with them and let Dragon Sect members continue entering China, they would definitely help Towering Palace stand as equals with Mu Clan.
What caused the Music sisters to hesitate was the question whether they should hand over the people from Dragon Sect to Mu Clan to end their problems, or believe in Dragon Sect and pretend that they did not know what happened. If they continued stalling for time they could work with Dragon Sect and gradually weaken Mu Clan's strength.
This was similar to them walking on a tightrope. The slightest mistake could cause them to fall into the abyss, and they would be burying the advantageous situation Towering Palace had managed to secure for itself!
Hence, regardless of how wildly the branch masters and elders argued with each other, the two women's struggles were in another dimension. They were fighting in their hearts, and they did not know how to choose!
*****
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In the wing at the backyard of Towering Palace was the gentle looking middle-aged man. He sat in front of the table, and there was an incredibly grave and tense expression on his face.
Even though his people had managed to deal a great blow to Mu Clan and killed one of their aces, the strength Mu Clan displayed and Demonic Sound Duchess' power still brought them quite a lot of shock.
Due to Towering Palace's strength, they underestimated Mu Clan.
Demonic Sound Duchess' attacks could ignore her environment and space, so they had unprecedented threat and damage. Seven of their elites died in Silver Wolf's hands because of it!
Silver Wolf's strength was incredible, and the effects of Demonic Sound Duchess' attacks were terrifying!
If the middle-aged man had not given the order to retreat in time, even fewer of their people would have returned.
They had intended to vanish without a trace once they destroyed Mu Clan's branch so that they could gain greater support from Towering Palace and more leverage in their negotiations.
But against their expectations, quite a number of their own people died, and the middle-age man found himself in such a troublesome situation that it was difficult for him to get himself out of it. Hence, he was forced to ask Towering Palace to protect them.
All twenty-nine members of Dragon Sect had to log off to avoid being found by diviners!
Dragon Sect could be considered to be caught in a very passive and dangerous situation.
"Let's hope that Mu Clan won't corner us too much, or else, we'll have to fight head-on against them…" The middle-aged man sighed softly.
Chapter 735 - Barren Murderer Returns to China
Mu Clan never relaxed in their monitoring of Towering Palace.
Silver Wolf even ordered his clan members to continuously search for the position of the twenty-nine people who did not die in the ambush against the branch to prevent them from getting out of Mu Clan's tightly-woven net once they logged in.
The surveillance not only caused the tense and frozen atmosphere in Yangzhou City to continue, Towering Palace felt as if they had a thorn stuck in their throats. They could not breathe with ease, and occasionally, they even had verbal conflicts with each other.
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