"I'll go back and prepare." Silver Wolf had clearly noticed it as well.
After all, Happy once warned him and Thunderous Battle about Xu Yao. Silver Wolf also knew that if there were Class One Hall's spies in the team who leaked their location to Class One Hall, something will definitely happen.
The leaders of the four sects had all logged off to eat, and there were only thousands of people left on the plains.
If Class One Hall decided to launch an ambush right then, if the people from the four sects logged in one after another, they will be killed in an endless stream. The points the twenty thousand people obtained during the day will be completely lost, and without a doubt, they will be trapped in Aru City again!
Silver noticed the danger in this with his s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e intuition. He handed over his phone to Knife and the other two and said, "Eat first. I'll go back. Once you finish eating, come in and take over for me."
"Got it!"
"Go on."
Once he hung up on the phone, Happy released a breath of relief as if a huge burden had been released from his shoulders. With Silver Wolf serving as the garrison, the situation will be much better.
Silver Wolf will definitely arrange manpower to scout out the area, and he will not readily allow anyone to get close to the region where the army set up camp. He can also notify the others to log in beforehand.
However, just when Happy was prepared to put down his phone, he suddenly noticed that he had a notification telling him that he had one miscall on his phone screen.
"Hmph?"
Happy subconsciously went to look at the caller's name.
There was none, but the phone number was incredibly familiar.
Xu Yao!
He scowled.
Happy's expression immediately turned sour. The feeling that something bad happened became even stronger.
He had been worried that Xu Yao had revealed the army's coordinates to Class One Hall, and he did not expect that Xu Yao will call at this moment. What exactly was she doing?
He pondered over this for a few seconds before Happy resolutely returned the call. At the same time, he made his decision that no matter what Xu Yao said, he must end the call within a short period of time. He will also have to return to the game to check the situation.
Beep!
He did not expect that right after the first ring, Xu Yao picked up the phone.
"Happy!" Xu Yao's voice was very nervous and uneasy. "Did you see the threads on the website—You know what's going on? It's like this, I have a bad feeling that Class One Hall will learn about our location. Think. We have twenty thousand people from the four sects. If anyone leaks news of our whereabouts to them and knows that most of us logged off, the people from Class One Hall will definitely not let go of such a rare chance."
Happy said nothing.
Xu Yao's rapid string of words caught Happy off guard, and his expression changed.
'What's going on?!'
Chapter 846 - Defend Tenaciously
Xu Yao's words caused Happy to be stunned.
He did not even know what Xu Yao said later on. Once he hung up, he scowled and slowly placed his phone on the table. He took a shallow breath before he put his hands away. While his emotions surged, he sank into deep thought.
Xu Xin sat across Happy. She, too, put down her chopsticks and stared at him curiously.
Happy had acted strangely ever since he received Xu Yao's call. His expression was stern and serious, but he also seemed to be immersed in some sort of complicated memory of the past.
"What's wrong?" Xu Xin asked tentatively.
"It's nothing." Happy shook his head while his thoughts were still a mess.
Xu Yao's actions made him puzzled.
This woman betrayed him in his previous life, and at this time in his current life, it was the perfect chance for her to strike a blow at him and help his enemies in attacking him. Did she have a guilty conscience, or did she have an even deeper plot hiding behind her?
Once he s.u.c.k.e.d in a sharp breath, Happy suddenly remembered that Silver Wolf had helped him obtain some information that he never knew about his previous life.
And they were regarding Xu Yao's family.
There were certain things that he did indeed not know in his previous life, such as where her house was and what her family background was like.
Xu Yao had never mentioned it in his previous life, and there were certain holidays where she will never leave the university. She will practically spend it all in the game.
But based on Silver Wolf's understanding, Xu Yao's family lacked the ability to do any sort of labor and could not bring food to the table as well. Xu Yao could only continue with her studies by working part time and by relying on the support from certain kind-hearted people.
Happy naturally understood the situation of her studies, but when it came to work, since Happy had always been together with Xu Yao, he was familiar with her daily life over three years, and it was impossible for her to have the chance of searching for work outside. Hence, by work, it might possibly mean working for Blood Robes and Class One Hall.
Even when he faced the hot food on the table, Happy suddenly found himself having no appetite to eat.
"Xin, eat first. I'll go into the game to take a look."
Happy took a few bites, grabbed his phone, and with a somber expression, returned to his bedroom.
*****
"Go to the highest point to the east. If you find anyone getting close, immediately fire a signal flare as a warning.
"You, go to the west. Search for the highest point there."
When Happy returned to the game, night had already arrived, and Silver Wolf was arranging scouting tasks to various Mu Clan members.
While Happy moved over, he looked around.
There were a few torches scattered around the one-third of a mile from the camp. Those burning torches were spaced out and positioned in such a way that they coincidentally lit up the slopes of several high places, allowing the camp to see everything in the distance.
It had to be said that Silver Wolf was much more experienced in this area compared to him.
Happy approved of this in his heart. At the very least, he will not be able to make such detailed arrangements in such a short amount of time, and definitely not, in succession, form two layers of sentry lines around the place where the army was stationed.
"Happy?" Silver Wolf noticed Happy from the crowd. He immediately gave a few more orders quickly and walked out of the crowd to him. "You're back so soon?"
"I felt uneasy."
The simple conversation between them allowed the people around them to understand how urgent was their situation at hand.
Chivalry Sect, Wind Assault Tower, as well as Wind and Rain Alliance became vigilant.
If Silver Wolf were the only one making such arrangements, they would not think much about it. But now, Happy, who had logged off for only a few minutes, had returned to the game quickly, causing them to instantly sense a grave and tense atmosphere that was mixed with a faint hint of unease.
"Even though there are fifty thousand people who disappeared from Class One Hall, the plains is huge, and it'll be very easy to discover. But based on my understanding toward Dream Clouds, when she has to face more than twenty thousand people, she will definitely mobilize more than three times the number of people to ensure success. It'll be safe to estimate we'll be facing an army of eighty thousand."
A brief silence fell among them.
Silver looked at the sky. "With Class One Hall's strength, they won't have a problem with mobilizing one hundred thousand or eighty thousand people. It's a pity that the plains has been dark and the wind great over the past few nights. We can't even see many stars either. Our vision is limited, and we're exposed while they're hidden. The situation is very bad for us. If divinations were effective now, it'll be good."
Happy nodded quietly.
If they had a diviner on their side, they will d
efinitely gain the absolute advantage.
In fact, they will not even need twenty thousand people to attack. Happy alone can scare away the Class One Hall members on the plains, but that was only if Dream Clouds did not want her own members to be chased around and killed.
"Right now, we can only defend our position."
Happy sighed, and he could not help but ask, "How many of our members are on the plains?"
"We have around three thousand members on our side, and we've already notified the others. They'll try to log in as soon as possible. Along with the people from Chivalry Sect, Wind Assault Tower, as well as Wind and Rain Alliance, we'll have around half of our army here. I'm guessing that we'll have around twelve thousand members, but that's still too few members. If we run into Class One Hall's main force, we won't be able to fight against them at all."
"Have you positioned the remaining cavaliers?" Happy's tone changed.
Silver Wolf nodded. "The cavaliers are protected at the center. Once war breaks out, those with military titles will go up and fight first. There are people at the back who specialize in protecting these cavaliers' safety."
"We can afford to lose the war, but we must make sure to protect those people. The longer we last, the greater the loss Class One Hall will have to suffer." A cold glare shone in Happy's eyes.
"I'll pay attention to that."
When Silver Wolf finished speaking, he noticed that Happy suddenly wore a human skin mask. He was immediately stunned, and he noticed that Happy was watching a girl in green who just returned to the game. She was someone from Mu Clan.
Right when Silver Wolf was prepared to say something, he noticed Happy turning around to cast a glance at Little North, who came over from the distance. He said, "I'll let you be in charge of this place. I'm heading out for a bit.
"Little North, come with me."
"Boss?" Little North was stunned for a while before he managed to recognize Happy's voice. He jogged over.
"When Knife and Thunder log in, have them scout the area ahead on the plains. Instead of waiting around passively for Class One Hall to attack us, it's better for us to take the initiative a little. After all, it's dark now. The Mongolian cavaliers won't readily attack, so we might as well fight to our heart's content against Class One Hall!"
"Got it." Silver nodded and agreed to it. Then, he watched Happy and Little North blend into the crowd before they headed into the darkness in the plains in the distance.
Right when they left, Xu Yao came over hastily while trailing behind Thunderous Battle.
"Silver Wolf, where's Happy?" Thunderous Battle spoke up while he was far away. He seemed to be very tense. "I wonder which bastard leaked our location. Class One Hall might come causing. Tell everyone to log in as soon as possible. We can't stay here for long."
When he heard this, Silver Wolf cast Xu Yao a quiet and discreet glance.
"He already knows. It's fine. Nothing big will happen."
"I know that nothing big will happen, of course. But you saw just how many people we have on our side right now. If Class One Hall surrounds us—"
"Then we fight," Silver Wolf replied indifferently.
"By the way, Miss Yao, since you're here, please help me. Lead another team and protect those cavaliers. When Class One Hall arrives, their first goal will definitely be those cavaliers!"
Chapter 847 - Flames of War Lighting Up at the Slightest Trigger
When they left the place where the group set up camp, Little North followed Happy around for a long while before he suddenly noticed that the direction where they went to was not quite right.
"Boss, where are we going?"
Little North thought that Happy was going to drag him over to cause trouble to Class One Hall, but based on the direction, they seemed to be heading to the enemy camp, and he could not help but be a little puzzled by this.
Happy did not answer Little North's question. Instead, he spoke at his own pace, "Little North, it has been some time since we did a quest and trained together, right?"
Once he spoke, he immediately stirred up Little North's past memories, and Little North could not help but have his tone change. "Of course. Before we set up Mu Clan, Big Brother Thunder, you, and I were a party of three. We could go wherever we wanted to train, and we can kill whoever we found displeasing to the eye. We've been so cool at that time. Now that we set up Mu Clan, we have so much to do. Big Brother Thunder has to stay at the headquarters all day and can't leave, and you're always up and about outside. I'm like a ship who lost its direction, and while I'm still training, it just doesn't feel right. It's not as fun as when I played with you and Big Brother Thunder."
Happy said nothing.
"Also, I can't have fun when we kill anymore either. Last time, when we run into people from Class One Hall, we can just kill them if we wanted to. There's also Fallen Feathers Sect, Perpetual Joy Sect, Assassin Hall… Whatever sect it is, we've killed their people before."
Little North sighed wistfully. "Now that Mu Clan is famous, it's no longer easy for us to kill people. Last time, even though we can fight to our heart's content against Towering Palace, it wasn't fun enough. Now, Class One Hall is wreaking havoc in our faces, but this Emperor's Announcement event showed up out of nowhere…"
"Don't you have a lot of opinions about this?"
"They aren't opinions. I just think that those jerks in Class One Hall are always so lucky and can constantly avoid our attacks. There's always a scapegoat for them, too."
When he listened to Little North's grumbles, Happy, too, cannot help but recall the past.
When Beautiful Robes Faction was destroyed, he was helpless to stop it at that time. In his anger, he destroyed Class One Hall's branch at Vast Martial City, along with the people from Assassin Hall.
When he charged into Beijing alone to save Silver Wolf and Wind Chimes while they were trapped, Class One Hall saw through his identity and chased after him for a long while. In the end, the chase ended with Zhou Yu dying at the foot of Mount Song while Happy shocked all the players in the world with just one move. Class One Hall was forced to retreat to the north of Changjiang and defend that area, and they resolved their conflict with a ceasefire.
Then, Class One Hall set up a diabolical scheme to target Chivalry Sect, but Happy saw through it by accident, causing Class One Hall to face pressure from two top-class sects at the same time, and their territory shrank even further.
They worked together with foreign factions, but someone would always become their scapegoats when they launched their operations.
First, it was Three Dragons Guild who became the scapegoats, followed by Wind and Rain Alliance. Then, it was followed by Towering Palace. Later on, when they entered Beijing, Dragon Sect was the one who had to become a scapegoat. Class One Hall always relied on their powerful influence in the north to stand righteous, but they never thought about the well-being of others.
"Don't worry. After tonight, Class One Hall won't be able to be conceited anymore." Happy suddenly said something that was very thought provoking.
Little North was stunned. "By the way, boss, you still haven't told me where we're going."
"You haven't seen it?' Happy pointed at a black bump on the ground in the distance.
Little North stared at that spot for a few seconds, but he did not manage to see anything.
Happy stepped on the ground louder and took a few steps forward.
Little North instantly widened his eyes.
Right before his eyes, he saw the bump suddenly exploding, and three black figures shot out from the hole like arrows fired from a bow.
Bang!
A dazzling red flame quickly rose to the sky, and it bloomed like a flower in the dark sky above the plains. Everyone within a circular area of dozens of miles could see it clearly.
"Do you want to lure the Mongolian cavaliers over?"
"Yes, and no."
There was an unfathomable but confident smile on Happy's face. When he said thos
e paradoxical words, he just made Little North be extremely confused.
"Boss, didn't you say that Class One Hall might attack our camp tonight?"
"Yup!"
"Then why are we here waiting for Mongolian cavaliers and getting points? Won't the others at the camp be in grave danger?"
"Calm down a little. You'll immediately know what I want to do in a moment."
Happy chuckled lightly and watched the three reconnoiterers run away. He did not show any signs that he wanted to chase after them.
Then, they heard the faint sound of hooves thundering against the ground on the dark plains.
Little North blinked. He cast a glance at Happy, who still remained composed. He continued looking around the area.
Very soon, dim firelight could be seen in the direction of the dark horizon.
"The Mongolian cavaliers are here."
"I know."
Happy's voice was calm, but there was a strange hint of excitement within it as well.
More firelight gradually appeared at the horizon in the distance. Galloping sounds also slowly became clearer.
The puzzlement on Little North's face soon turned into shock!
In the beginning, he only saw one or two lights at the distance, but as time passed, two torches quickly turned to four. Then, more torches appeared far away.
Even though this was the first time Little North went to the enemy rear at night, based on some of the information circulating online, he still knew that usually, one patrolling team will only have one torch, and there will only be five people per team.
Hence, based on the number of torches, they can generally guess the number of soldiers moving at night.
But right now, Little North only saw an increasing number of torches. He s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath, and chills gradually spread through his body.
'There're too many of them!
There were at least one hundred torches in the area ahead. Now that they were spread out, this meant this was basically a large cavalier unit.
"Boss, I thought that once reconnoiterers discover enemies and fire signal flares, the first enemies we'll lure over are patrolling guards? Why… did a large cavalier unit come in one go?"
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