Sword Among Us

“Dragon Capture, to capture dragons with dexterous hands. Not bad!” When Uncle Rong heard Happy’s answer, he stroked his beard and fell into contemplative silence. He nodded and smiled. “Not bad. While you were away from the clan, your martial arts did not fall into decline. You have not let down the lady’s hopes.”

“With you and the lady teaching me, there is no way I would dare to be negligent.”

Then, Happy’s tone changed. He looked at Uncle Rong with an awkward expression and said, “But there is something for which I will have to ask you and the lady to punish me.”

“Oh? What is it?” Uncle Rong smiled, looking very amiable. His expression left the Murong Clan disciples dumbfounded. They thought that they had to have woken up wrong that day, because the stern, old-fashioned, and old butler was actually being extremely cordial to a player! What exactly was going on?

“Two months ago, the clan asked some of us youngsters to protect the tribute headed to Beijing, but in just a few days, we lost the tribute…”

“Oh, that’s a small matter.” Uncle Rong shook his head and laughed. “They told me about this once they came back. We of the Murong Clan can still afford to lose something as small as that. Besides, the clan did not put too much hope on you during that time. We just wanted to let you brats go through some trials. As for the dignity we lost? Hmph! You will have to earn it back in the future…”

“I understand, Uncle Rong!” With that, one of Happy’s burdens fell off his shoulders.

“Go to the backyard and look for the lady. Once she knows that you’re back, she will be happy.” Uncle Rong waved his hands and turned around without hesitation. He then barked at a few newbies who stood not too far away from him.

“What are you doing? Are you watering the flowers or trying to drown them, you idiots!

“Why are you standing around like fools! Do you think you’re the emperor or something?! Hurry up and go draw water from the well!”

As Uncle Rong rebuked them, the group of newbies instantly wanted to cry. ‘Look at the difference in treatment! Look at this bias! It’s so unfair!’

Happy could not help but laugh as he walked to the backyard in a familiar manner. He drew quite a number of female and male disciples’ gazes on the way, and they discussed him among themselves.

“Who is he?”

“Why have I never seen him before?”

“I don’t know…”

“He might be from the first batch of Murong Clan disciples.”

“Huh? I heard that those people are quite famous now…”

When a few female disciples walked past Happy, their voices reached his ears from behind him, and he paused for a moment.

Speaking of which, ever since he left Gusu City, he had not contacted Eastern Green Gate, Whirlwind Young Li, and the others for some time. There was also Ghost’s Worry, Eleventh Crane, and the others…

‘I wonder, how are they now? Who is in charge of Gusu City now? Is it Heaven Domination Sect or Dragon Tiger Sect?’

With those thoughts lingering faintly in his mind, Happy arrived at the pen in the backyard used to rear rabbits. The environment was still as quiet as ever. However, the person taking care of the rabbits had now become a young girl. She was dressed in a long, white gown while she place a large white radish into the pen. However, the rabbits just huddled together in a corner without acknowledging her. Sometimes, a rabbit would hop about, but none of them spared a glance at the really eye-catching radish that was repeatedly shoved at their side.

The young girl was clearly a newbie. Her hands were numb from how long she had spent holding the radish, but she never managed to even feed one of the rabbits. She felt very wronged, and she pulled a long face while she grumbled under her breath in a young voice.

“Whoever said that rabbits like eating carrots are all liars!”

She tossed the radish to the side and threw a fit at the rabbits.

At that moment, a person crouched down next to the girl and picked up a carrot from the side. He extended it into the rabbit pen with one nimble motion and tapped it at the ground.

The girl turned her head around and stared at the uninvited guest by her side with wide eyes.

The next moment, the furry critters in the rabbit pen moved. Perhaps it was because they had sniffed a familiar scent they loved or because they had not forgotten their previous caretaker. They rushed in and fell over each other to hold the thin red carrots. Their mouths moved swiftly, and they quickly ate the carrots that Happy continuously handed to them in an adorable manner.

“Awesome…”

The girl was stunned.

Happy looked as if he did not know whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

“Who told you that carrots are white? Those are radishes. You have to feed them carrots, and they’re red. If they eat radish, they’ll have upset stomachs. Also…” While Happy spoke, he tugged at the grass beside him, feeling sentimental.

“You can’t feed that any grass or vegetables you find either, especially to little rabbits,” he said in the tone of a person who was very used to it. “They get sick easily once they do. They should eat these and drink plain water. They can’t drink cold water…”

“Whoa! Senior brother, you’re amazing!”

While the girl listened to Happy, the carrots in his hand were completely eaten by the rabbits. The girl was so excited that her eyes sparkled. She practically decided to turn Happy into her idol!

But her next sentence immediately rendered Happy speechless!

“Senior brother, were you often made to feed the rabbits by the butler as punishment too?”

“Punishment?”

Happy could not quite wrap his head around that.

It was a task for inner clan disciples, so when did it turn into a punishment?

The little girl had an expression that said that she understood what was going on. “The old butler is really bad. He always scolds people. I just made a small mistake, and he sent me here straightaway to feed the rabbits. But I never managed to feed them properly, so no one teaches me any martial arts…”

As he listened to the girl’s complaints, Happy felt like laughing and crying at the same time again. It had to be known that being transferred to the inner clan was something countless disciples dreamed of, but never managed to get. The girl had entered the inner clan in the form of a blessing in disguise, but she still had so many complaints? She was really slow in the head.

‘Oh well, since she’s my junior sister, I might as well give her some pointers.’

“Next time, feed the rabbits based on what I did. Once they’re happy, someone will naturally teach you martial arts, understand?” By saying that Happy could be considered to have given her a walkthrough.

The girl nodded repeatedly to show that she had remembered it.

“Got it. Thank you, senior brother. By the way, my name is Fallen Rain. What’s yours?” Once the girl told her name in a sweet voice, she asked for her mysterious senior brother’s name.

At that moment, the third lady of the Murong Clan walked into the corridor across the pen like an immortal who had landed in the land of mortals. Her gaze moved about, and she cast a glance at Fallen Rain before her eyes landed on Happy.

“You’re back.”

“Yes.”

“Come with me.”

The Murong Clan Lady’s words were short and concise, but her voice was sonorous, refreshing, and pleasant to the ears. Anyone who heard it would feel as if they just heard an immortal’s song.

The young Fallen Rain clearly recognized the Murong Clan Lady. She instantly fell silent and looked at Happy before shifting her gaze to the Murong Clan Lady. She felt that she had become a bystander and felt embarrassed. She did not dare to speak.

However, when the Murong Clan Lady walked into the wing across from them and Fallen Rain saw that her mysterious senior brother was about to leave into the distance as well, she suddenly remembered that she still did not know her senior brother’s name. She became anxious and grabbed her gown to chase after him.

“Senior brother, senior brother! What’s your name?”

“Happy.”

Happy turned his head around and smiled. Then, he walked into the Murong Clan Lady’s wing, leaving behind the young Fallen Rain where she was. She frowned and repeated his name.

“Happy? What does that mean? Is he laughing at me because I don’t know how to take care of the rabbits? That’s why he’s happy?”

The little girl’s expression changed as quickly as the weather in summer. She puffed up her cheeks in anger and stomped back to the rabbit pen, where she squatted down with a huff.

“Hmph! That senior brother isn’t anyone good either!” she mumbled under her breath. “I never took care of rabbits before, so how was I supposed to know… What are YOU staring at! Don’t you dare eat his carrots. I’ll give you this…”

A huge radish was pushed in front of an innocent looking rabbit’s face in a mighty manner.