Sword Among Us

“I’ve basically killed all the normal members of Black Willow Mountain Manor. I reckon that there are only the guards left aside from the three Moksha Realm monsters.”

Happy and Momo leaned against the wall around the courtyard of the manor, which allowed them to see the mess on the roof of the main hall. They also took note of a few unarmed maidservants working hard in cleaning up the tiles.

Once Momo saw the situation in the manor, she turned her covered head to Happy with puzzlement in her eyes. “You did this?” she asked softly.

“What? Those holes?” Happy soon registered what she meant, and he answered dismissively, “They have nothing to do with me. Those three monsters tore through the roof because they were bored. Strange, where did they go?”

‘I’d be an idiot if I believed you!’ Momo thought in her heart, but she did not say it. “Now that you lured away the people from Black Willow Mountain Manor, the defense of the manor should have decreased. They will definitely tighten it inside then, so their men should all be beside the person I want to save. It won’t be easy.”

“It’s fine. We can just lure them over.”

When that sentence entered her ears, Momo did not even have time to turn her head around to give any sort of reaction before Happy slapped the top of the wall and flipped over it to land in the garden as if he was weightless.

“Wait for my signal.”

Momo’s eyes went wide, but she nodded. Then, she stared at Happy as he dashed forward through the shadows in the garden, passing by the maidservant like a phantom.

“Was there something?”

“Wind, I guess.”

The maidservants clearly did not know martial arts. They only felt a slight breeze blow past them. One of them turned their head around in puzzlement, but found that there was nothing. She shook her head and continued to clean up the tiles in the main hall.

*****

In the beginning, Happy’s intention was to act in a flashy manner so that he could lure out the three old Moksha Realms monsters, but he suddenly thought that it was still early and Black Willow Mountain Manor had weak defenses right theen, so it would be better for him to take a stroll around to see whether there was anything he could get.

He was in a nest with three old Moksha Realm monsters serving as its garrison. They should have some valuables aside from using the place to keep watch over a few important hostages.

He had lost a group of practice dummies, so no matter what, he had to find a few items as compensation.

Black Willow Mountain Manor was very big. There were quite a number of lofts, and naturally, there were maidservants in charge of providing service to the people. However, it was not the first time Happy came to Black Willow Mountain Manor. He was very familiar with the layout, and he passed through many corridors. He easily avoided the maidservants who did not know martial arts, and he soon found a loft that was rather grand and luxurious.

“The few of you, go to the main hall and help clean up the place. You must repair the manor before night falls, or else, when the third master returns, we’ll all be scolded.”

A middle-aged woman who seemed like she knew a little bit of martial arts was ordering a few maidservants to head to the main hall.

The maidservants subserviently nodded and left the loft.

But the middle-aged woman did not leave. Instead, she jumped to the top of the loft to observe the situation outside.

‘Nice chance.’ Happy grinned and landed on the floor from the eaves of the veranda.

As a veteran who had played the game for more than three years, while he had never led women astray by flirting with them in the past, he did a lot of sneaking around in other people’s property. He landed without a sound, and with a light tap, he vanished from the spot like a plume of smoke.

Just as he expected, once the maidservants were sent out, the middle-aged woman got busy with watching the area outside the manor. She did not expect that someone had already snuck into the manor, and that they might have made their way into the loft right under her nose.

The bright and luxurious hall was incredibly grand. There was a red carpet, furniture made of sandalwood, a Chinese square table, palace lamps, and all sorts of small items that dazzled people’s eyes. Happy felt as if he had entered the palace.

However, he felt nothing for those items.

The jade items were worth tens of thousands of taels of silver at best. And if he truly touched them, he might trigger some trap. No noble person would want to gain wealth through immoral ways, only the righteous ways, so Happy would not do such a thing where he would ignore what was important for something that was secondary.

Happy looked around, and he quickly examined the items in the hall. He then slipped into the room next to the hall, and he noticed a Mystical Realm high-tier martial art manual placed on the table.

[Seven Section Whip Technique]

It was a different type of high-tier martial art, and there were few people who used such a weapon. However, since the manual itself was rather rare and the technique was unique, it was one of the most beloved manuals of many martial artists who wandered around the game alone. That gave it some valuable.

Happy put the martial art manual into his bag, and without batting an eyelid checked through the box in what looked like a bedroom.

He found two low-tier martial art manuals and one bottle of Lingzhi Liquid, which was a medicinal pill that had great qi recovery properties, under the table. Just when he was about to leave, he suddenly stopped moving, and his gaze landed on the area above the bed which he had overturned. There was an ink wash painting on the wall.

His eyes lit up.

‘I nearly missed this.’

Happy smiled and walked over. He lifted the ink wash painting to reveal a hidden compartment on the wall.

Slap!

Just when he opened the compartment, Happy noticed that the situation was not right. He suddenly heard the sound of a spring, which was very clear in the quiet room.

Happy did not have time to see the item inside. He scooped it up and shoved it into his Universe Bag before charging out the window like a cannonball. What came flying at his back was an incredibly cold gust of wind stirred up by a palm.

“How dare you, you pesky thief!”

The middle-aged woman on the roof of the loft had been alarmed. She shot down to intercept Happy, and her eyes were filled with so much fury that they were as cold as ice. When she attacked, she started straight off with a Dark Blue Freezing Palm.

“Get lost!”

But Happy was not a pushover. The moment he dashed out the window, an even more dazzling dark blue sword glare shot out from his sheath. The middle-aged woman grunted, and it looked as if she had been struck by lightning. She was sent flying horizontally.

However, the middle-aged woman’s Freezing Palm had made half of Happy’s body become numb.

His plan had been to steal some items and leave when he alarmed the three old monsters, but the mysterious middle-aged woman’s Freezing Palm had actually pierced through his Golden Bell Cocoon and damaged him a little with the force of the cold, and it attracted his attention.

He let out a barely audible gasp of surprise, and he swiftly pulled back his leg when he was just about to leave.

“Who dares to bother us of Black Willow Mountain Manor?!”

An enraged roar came from the distance. It originated in the backyard of the mountain manor, and its owner was swiftly closing in. Clearly, the Moksha Realm monsters had been alerted by the sound of the window being torn, and they were quickly rushing over.

Happy did not hesitate. He gritted his teeth and caught up to the middle-aged woman like a phantom.

Clearly, she was a great martial artist who had fought many battles before. Even though she was sent flying, she quickly adjusted herself in the air, and with a shout, she twisted her body, which was not very graceful, like a fried braid dough. She then took a few steps back with firm footsteps on the floor.

Once she gained her footing, an even more fearsome sword glare went charging at her face!

Its speed was even faster, and the killing intent even greater!

“You’re asking for death, brat!”

In haste, a surge of cold qi gushed out of the middle-aged woman’s body. Her arms were like ice blades, and she executed invisible Freezing Claws repeatedly to weaken Happy’s sword glare.

While doing that, she shouted nonstop. “How dare you act as you please in Black Willow Mountain Manor?! Today, I’ll make sure that you can’t return alive!”

Even though her tone was arrogant, Happy had already made his decision to get rid of her before he left. He focused his full attention on it and brought out all his strength. The momentum of his sword was like a surging wave that was caught striking the shores.

In the blink of an eye, blood trickled down the corners of the middle-aged woman’s lips!

But with gritted teeth, she continued to withstand the attacks. She knew that as long as she could last until her three manor masters came over, the assassin in front of her would definitely die.

But at that moment, her opponent suddenly retracted his attack, and the nonstop sword light vanished. The assassin also retreated by a few feet. He put his sword into its sheath and stood still.

“You’re thinking about leaving now?” The middle-aged woman thought that the assassin was scared, and she bared her teeth to sneer at him coldly. “Dream on!”

Just when she wanted to pounce on the assassin to hold him back, she saw him raise his head slowly, and he raised his sword hilt in a strange manner. A faint hint of mockery flashed in his eyes.