Sword Among Us

The Murong Clan’s fleet continued to travel slowly through the river.

The players at Common Reed Bank’s banks—numbering more than ten thousand—still did not give up. They chased after the fleet on the sides, and their numbers just continued increasing. However, the increase had become marginal by then.

During that period of time, someone incited the crowd to attack the fleet again, but soon, they were all forced back by another round of flying needles. Their attacks came to a pause, and because they were wary, they did not dare to move forward again.

Once they entered an area that seemed like a small lake, they looked ahead and saw that the breadth of the river swiftly narrowed there.

“Haha!”

“This is our chance! The river in front of us is very narrow! The fleet will not be able to move quickly! Let them enter it!” Some of the people who had some degree of understanding toward marine navigation called out to the people to lay an ambush. “We can go in front and wait for them there!”

There were quite a number of people who thought that what they said made sense. They caught up to them and rushed forward together.

Happy could see all of that from the bow of the ship.

Many people swiftly appeared at the sides of the river in the distance—which had become much narrower—and some of them had even switched to bows and arrows. By the looks of it, they intended to wait for the ships to run into the trap and use long-distance weaponry to subdue the Murong Clan’s fleet.

However, their plans soon fell through.

Once the Murong Clan’s fleet entered the lake-like area, the ship in the lead changed direction. It drew a perfect arc with the fleet, and under the countless martial artists’ surprised gazes, the ships swiftly formed a circle formation with the tail connected to the head in the river that was not exactly wide.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Chains as thick as arms were thrown out of the big ships. They landed on nearby decks and were quickly fixed in position by the armed escorts on guard. The twelve ships were quickly connected together and practically filled up the whole area. Sturdy boards were also placed horizontally between the ships to form paths.

*****

The Murong Clan acted swiftly. They quickly fell into the formation and established their defenses. An unshakeable military camp instantly revealed itself before countless players’ eyes.

All ten thousand players were instantly dumbfounded!

Behind the crowd was a group of players with uniform attire. They stood far in the back and were positioned at a slightly higher place to observe the situation from a distance. They could easily see then that the entire fleet took the formation of swimming dragons. Soon, they were ready for battle, and they released an astonishingly murderous presence.

The expressions of the players in the back changed slightly, revealing shock.

“As expected of a group quest that provides a reward of one million taels of silver. The commander of the fleet is pretty outstanding… When did such a strong pirate appear in Changjiang? The imperial court’s navy might not be their opponents.”

“This quest has been strange since the beginning. Logically speaking, it should be the army’s duty to deal with pirates. The imperial court’s navy doesn’t have any other duties. Why then did they decide to reward us with one million taels of silver crumbs out of the blue for serving as militia to handle the situation.” A woman with a white veil over her face in the crowd had a faint, mocking look on her face.

“Even stranger still is that the fleet has the Murong Clan’s flag with them. If the Murong Clan’s goods have been stolen, even the imperial court’s navy would not dare to use the stolen goods as a reward. There are far too many holes in this.”

“Lil’ Sis Shadow, are you saying that they aren’t pirates, but the real Murong Clan’s fleet?!” A man nearby stroked his chin while staring at the fleet in the distance in disbelief.

“Has the imperial court decided to take action against the Murong Clan?”

“It’s not the imperial court. That doesn’t make sense. If my guess is correct, it should be someone with a high rank among the navy. That person doesn’t want to mobilize his army so that he will end up as the subject of ridicule, so he mobilized martial artists.”

“But the announcement can serve as proof as well.”

“He can absolve himself from being responsible over it. As long as he says that the information he obtained was wrong, what can the Murong Clan do about it?” The woman paused for a moment before blinking calmly. “If we succeed in this quest and no one from the Murong Clan survives, who can prove that the people on the salt ship are from the Murong Clan instead of pirates?”

“Whew…” The group sucked in sharp breaths.

“I didn’t expect that the NPCs will have so many complicated stuff going on between them. No matter what it is, the Murong Clan is still an aristocratic family, you know. Looks like these people have all been manipulated by the imperial court’s navy!”

“Far from it.” The veiled woman recomposed herself. She cast a glance at a few groups of people in the distance who had also not taken any action.

“We’re definitely not the only ones who have noticed that something’s strange. There’s probably plenty of people who have noticed it. But the Murong Clan and the navy’s conflict has nothing to do with us. As long as we complete the quest and obtain the benefits we should, it’ll be enough.”

“Lil’ Sis Shadow, you’re right.”

Everyone smiled in a way that said that it was how they expected things should progress. They cast their gazes on the circular formation of ships formed by the Murong Clan while feeling very relaxed. It did not look that they were anxious that the players—numbering to more than ten thousand—impatiently rushing to surround the area would kill all the people and snatch all the rewards.

To them, the Murong Clan was an aristocratic family that had quite a lot of power and strength. If they defended themselves and counterattacked with all their might, they could deal a heavy blow toward the more than ten thousand players.

They did not want to have their blood spilled there and end up as someone else’s stepping stone.

“Let them rush forward. If the circle formation isn’t broken, the Murong Clan’s counterattack will be very terrifying. We just have to watch by the side. If we can’t get any kills, we can just watch from the sidelines.”

The woman with the white veil frowned slightly when she heard the man’s words. She seemed to have a different opinion.

“Big brother, don’t be so certain. Don’t forget that the NPCs are not the entire reason behind why a storyline is triggered. This time, we aren’t the ones who triggered the conflict between the Murong Clan and the imperial court’s navy. It might be triggered by a player who is currently among the ships. The others might be worried about who can get more kills, but in truth, that person is the one who is the deciding factor for this quest.”

“Are you talking about the Murong Clan’s hidden forces?” The man frowned, and his expression grew stern.

The woman with the white veil nodded with certainty. “Over the past half a year since World of Martial Arts has been launched, the quests have always had a unique system to keep them in balance. Each quest has a certain degree of danger accompanying it. The fleet might seem very powerful, but anyone with eyes can tell that its strength is limited, and the momentum behind its attacks is not strong.

“Even the mechanisms have been shut down, which proves that they can’t continue using them. What’s left are just hundreds of people in the circle formation formed by the ships! The disparity in strength is great! So I won’t believe it if someone says there are no hidden forces there.”

The expression of everyone around the woman turned solemn.

Some of the things that she said were things that they saw themselves. Far too many people had taken up the group quest, so the fleet could not compare with them in terms of numbers.

“If that’s the case, are you saying that it’s actually a good thing that we haven’t approached the ships?”

“There is no absolute good or bad in anything. Let’s continue observing the situation. After all, the players are the ones playing the game. The ones who can truly determine the situation are us.”

The veiled woman answered the question from the person beside her with nigh abnormal rationality. But her words were something that her companions could not refute.

When they cast their gazes at the circle formation once more, the power of the numerous players which had been accumulating for a long time finally exploded!

However, at that moment, a commotion burst out in the area in front of them.

Within their field of vision was a man in Yellow Dragon Archer Gear. At some point in time, he had appeared at a high point of the lead ship and was staring straight at them.

His blue hero’s bandana danced with the wind while he held a luxurious and noble-looking sword in its sheath. An enigmatic Bamboo Hat, which he had to have obtained from the royal mausoleum, was in his other hand, and he slowly placed it on his head.