Sword Among Us

The moment Chen Kaixin put on the helmet, the sound of hooves across the plains came from the distance. They became clearer and more prominent…

“Ha!”

In the endless darkness, someone opened the chapters to a story speaking of sabers flashing and blood splashing! The whistles of sabers and swords when they sliced through the air sounded as if they were right beside Chen Kaixin. They would awaken a person by swinging their weapons around and clashing against each other. The sounds made it seem like the wielders of the weapons were engaged in a complicated, chaotic fight in the darkness, but also like there was an order to it. The fight was neither fast nor slow. The noise advanced and retreated as if there was someone who handled all the swords, sabers, and hidden weapons that came from everywhere while on retreat!

‘A powerful person!’

Chen Kaixin listened to the sounds carefully and noticed something.

He remembered that he had heard this noise when he had entered the game the previous time as well, but at that time, he had just entered World of Martial Arts and had no idea what those sounds meant. When he heard them, he thought they were sound bites from a major wuxia film. His craving for the world of martial artists had been satisfied for a while before he truly entered the game.

But by the looks of it now…

Chen Kaixin did not need to open his eyes to differentiate the unique skills. From the vibrations when the weapons met, various blurry figures appeared in his mind.

The image of one highly skilled fighter fighting alone against eight people arose in his mind. He saw him being surrounded by different weapons and fists.

There was no need to question Chen Kaixin’s thoughts…

During the three years he had spent in World of Martial Arts, he had fought against countless powerful fighters because he had been set on pursuing the one emperor, two empresses, three kings, seven dukes, and thirteen aces, who were said to be unmatched in their abilities. He learned many martial arts from different factions, and he could remember many of the qi cultivation techniques and skills after he looked at them once. He even had them at the tip of his fingers.

The skills shown during the opening scene of the game were from peerless martial arts, and neither were they from an out-of-the-way technique that was rarely seen in the world. The martial skills the surrounded person used were a little strange and seemed to be a mix of many martial arts, while the eight people who surrounded him used Shaolin’s Arhat Fist, Wudang Sect’s Breeze Sword, Emei Sect’s Falling Leaves on Wind Sword, Kongtong Mountain Sect’s Heaven’s Leg Breaker, Kunlun Sect’s Soft Palm Strike, Mount Hua Sect’s Noble Sword, Beggar Sect’s Dog Beating Staff Technique, and Tang Sect’s Scattered Flowers Palm.

The person using Beggar Sect’s Dog Beating Staff Technique had the highest skill level, while the other people’s skills were only at novice level. However, while their skills were at a low level, their realm of understanding towards the skills was not ordinary. All of them could easily use the skills, and they were always at the tips of their fingers.

They executed the skills, then pulled back. While they advanced to attack and moved back in retreat, they showed the skills of grandmasters!

However… the person who was surrounded was clearly of greater skill. Even though he faced the powerful assault of the eight great sects, he remained composed and moved about with ease. The skills he executed did not have a fixed skill set that Chen Kaixin could use as a reference, and he could find no sources that he could use to trace them. The person seemed to have reached transcendence in his skills, which allowed him to block all attacks perfectly. He gave off a feeling of perfection, and that his defense was impenetrable.

As he listened to it, Chen Kaixin found himself becoming more and more immersed in the sounds!

He did not notice that he could already visualize the fight. He could even clearly see a man in white moving in a relaxed manner, like a breeze blowing through mountains, while he blocked the attacks from the eight people surrounding him.

Just when Chen Kaixin found himself enthralled by the scene in his head, he heard an unexpected clap of thunder, and the image in his head suddenly vanished.

Chen Kaixin was stunned. Then, he noticed that his character stats tab had shown up. The scene changed, and he popped up on a wide street.

“What an intelligent and adorable boy.” A woman who looked like an Non-player Character (NPC) moved past him. When she saw Chen Kaixin suddenly appear, she came to a swift stop and put on an amiable smile towards him. “Many wanderers have shown up in the city lately. Lad, don’t go running off with some random stranger, alright? Where is your house?”

Chen Kaixin raised his tiny head and looked at the woman who was all smiles. He was both surprised and delighted!

What faced him was the most normal of all missions that could be triggered. Only new players who had high Affinity and great Comprehension could trigger it within ten minutes of entering the game.

However, this was strange, since Chen Kaixin remembered that his Affinity was very normal. He should not be able to meet this particular woman!

Could it be that his luck had increased?

Despite being puzzled, he was still felt very excited. He did not intend to miss this rare opportunity to train…

The heartless game gave him the background of a wandering orphan whose parents died. As long as he said the truth, he would be taken away by an NPC who took pity on him. He would then skip the stage of having to search for work through various hardships and do errands.

He could learn normal fighting techniques while he worked for the woman. If he were lucky, he could even be taken in as a disciple and begin learning martial arts immediately.

“My name is Happy. My parents… I don’t know where they are. I can’t go home now…”

“Oh.”

The woman had a kind heart. She let out a long sigh as compassion filled her heart. With pity, she stroked the head of the young boy who was not even four feet and six inches tall. “You must have been separated from your parents during the chaos of war, you poor child. The world as it is now… Ah… you poor lad, if you’re willing, come to the manor with me.

“The mansion has been hiring servants over the past few days. If you go there, you can run some errands and do some housework on usual days. You will face no problems with food and housing. You can even earn a little money at the end of the month. What do you say?”

Happy would naturally not refuse the offer.

The kind woman let him follow her around. Soon, they arrived before the door of a stylish mansion that had two statues of lions standing guard…

When Happy raised his head, he saw two large and beautiful words carved on a huge plate with silver borders.

[Murong Mansion]

When she saw the dazed and surprised look on the child’s face, the kind woman bent down and said with a smile, “Happy, from now on, you will work in Murong Mansion. I will bring you to meet the butler of the mansion first. He will give you some easy work to do.”

What she did not know was that the boy next to her was not surprised by the stylish air of the mansion. Instead, he was surprised that the kind woman had brought him to the famous Murong Clan.

This was THE powerful aristocratic family, Murong Clan, that many players had racked their brains on how to join! They thought of countless ways to enter it so they could learn its martial arts!

What? Someone did not know about this family?

What an international joke! Even some of the foreigners would shake their heads furiously while singing a particular line, “I will deal with you in the same way you deal with me.” Even in their dreams, they wanted to learn Shifting Stars [1]. There was no wuxia fan who was unfamiliar with that ultimate technique.

When the kind woman spoke, Happy felt his brain short circuit. He absolutely could not understand how he managed to get hit by such a stroke of luck.

“You silly boy, don’t stand here in a daze. Come in with me.”

The kind woman took Happy’s hand and walked into the Murong Clan’s mansion.

“These plants are valuable, so be gentle with them. If you damage them, you can pack your bags and leave.”

Murong Clan’s butler stood in the courtyard with a stern face. He was commanding a few maidservants and manservants to trim the flowers and trees.

Despite all of them being dressed in servant clothes, Happy could tell from how their eyes moved that they were the first batch of players who had managed to squeeze their way into the Murong Clan.

“Mister Butler, this is…”

The kind woman dragged Happy over and told him Happy’s situation. This action swiftly caught the attention of the maidservants and manservants by the side. The seven of them had astonished expressions appear on their faces.

It had to be known that they had spent a lot of effort to get in, so it was their first time seeing an NPC bring in a player into Murong Clan on their own.

Happy did not bother with those people. He swept his gaze past Murong Clan’s courtyard and found various valuable plants decorating the field and road. In the distance, there was an elegant woman in white. She sat at the corner of a pavilion with a small, fluffy rabbit in her hands. It created an incredibly beautiful picture.

“The lady of the Murong Clan? And the lady of the Wang family…”

Happy put on a curious expression. The kind woman had already finished explaining his basic situation.

The butler sized him up. Then, he nodded with satisfaction.

“Your name is Happy, right? Very good, I can tell that you are a smart and intelligent boy at first glance. Alright, from today onwards, you are a member of the Murong Clan. Your task is to serve the pets the lady rears in the backyard. Come with me.”

Happy instantly began smiling happily.

Translator’s Note:

[1] Shifting Stars: THE ultimate skill from Demi-gods and Semi-devils.