Sword Among Us

Mistress Annihilation did not manage to escape the tragic fate of dying in Eternal Peace Temple!

Happy jumped down from the tall tower, and when he reached Mistress Annihilation with the crowd, the stubborn grandmaster had already shut her eyes for eternity. The arrows had pierced into her vitals, and it showed just how wary and ruthless Zhao Min was toward Mistress Annihilation.

Happy said nothing.

Even though he did not have a good impression of Mistress Annihilation, when he saw her dying in a foreign land because of a ruthless junior and even forgetting about her own safety before her death to appoint the successor of Emei Sect, he could not help but feel a slight hint of sadness.

Zhou Zhiruo was a daughter of a fisherman, and she treated Mistress Annihilation as her mother. When she saw that her mistress had died and even passed her legacy to her, she could not help but be overcome by sorrow. She fell on Mistress Annihilation’s corpse with tears streaming down her face.

“Amitabha.”

Kong Xiang called out the name of Buddha softly, and a group of Shaolin Temple disciples surrounded them. They sat down cross-legged and began reciting the rebirth mantra.

“Where is Great Swordsman Song?”

“Great Swordsman Song has been taken away by that witch Zhao Min!”

“My father?”

When Song Qingshu staggered out of the tall tower, he heard news that his father had been taken away by Zhao Min, and he instantly panicked. He quickly prepared a group of Wudang Sect disciples to chase after her, but they had just been cured of their poison, and their qi had not recovered. After they took a few steps, they stopped and gasped for breath.

“Ding!”

The sound from the system rose next to Happy’s ears. He was overwhelmed by grief, and because of it, he only then noticed that it was a quest to save Song Yuanqiao. His destination was the forest outside the city.

Happy then spoke up at the perfect moment, “Heroes from Wudang Sect, do not worry. Zhao Min will not dare to do anything to Great Swordsman Song. Since she captured him and left, she should be thinking about using him to exchange for Xuanming Elders, who are in our hands.”

Kong Xiang nodded.

“Young Swordsman Happy is right. But that witch Zhao Min is a crafty woman, and she has a group of elites to help her in her evil deeds. Why don’t we wait for our elites to recover their qi before we send a message to them and set a time and location to exchange the hostages? We will be more likely to save Great Swordsman Song that way.”

The elites in the area nodded, while more elites from the other sects walked out from the tall tower at that moment.

The quest at Eternal Peace Temple finally came to an end.

However, what caused Happy to be slightly disappointed was that Shaolin Temple’s Master Kong Xiang did not hand him Shaolin Temple’s Nine Yang Skill with gratitude. This caused him, who had risked his life to get Nine Yang Divine Skill, to feel rather gloomy.

While his mind was in turmoil, Happy arrived next to Zhou Zhiruo and handed over the jade ring of the sect leader, which had previously belonged to Mistress Annihilation. He then offered a few words of comfort to the woman. When Zhou Zhiruo saw the jade ring, she snapped out of her grief and repeatedly voiced her gratitude.

The system gave a notification.

“Ding!

“Zhou Zhiruo’s affection and trust toward you increased!”

A thought then appeared in Happy’s head.

He did not expect that he would not get any news about receiving Nine Yang Skill, but would instead get affection from an NPC. Getting affection and trust from an NPC was incredibly rare. Could it be that the quest from Emei Sect’s Mistress Annihilation did not actually lead to Nine Yang Divine Skill?

Happy stared at Zhou Zhiruo who had tears streaming down her face as she wept, and he could not help but to be uncertain of it.

He braced his courage and helped Zhou Zhiruo to stand.

“Miss Zhou, I mean, Sect Teacher Zhou, please don’t be overwhelmed by grief. Emei Sect has just gone through a disastrous turn of events. I believe that your mistress wouldn’t wish for you to be so dejected and dispirited. Please arrange your mistress’ funeral soon, and we can plan revenge in great detail after that.”

“That’s right.” Zhou Zhiruo nodded quietly. “Thank you for your concern, Young Swordsman Happy. I will bring my mistress’ body back to Emei Sect.

“I do not dare to think much about revenge, since I am weak, but I will definitely retrieve Emei Sect’s Heavenly Sword, because it is the treasure that has protected our sect for a long time. If I don’t, my mistress will not be able to rest in peace.”

The fisherman’s daughter who had a weak personality finally made plans for the first time in her life.

Ding Minjun and Bei Jinyi stared at Zhou Zhiruo’s side profile with complicated gazes. They had a hard time concealing the indignation and rage, but Mistress Annihilation had personally handed over the position of the sect teacher to their junior sister in front of the teachers of the other sects, so they could do nothing about it.

*****

Once the elites from the six great system-allocated sects recovered their qi, the Emei Sect disciples used the chance provided to them during the time the other five sects exchanged hostages with Zhao Min to bring Mistress Annihilation’s body away from Eternal Peace County in a mighty wave.

*****

The matter of exchanging hostages was managed by the people from the six great system-allocated sects, and Happy was among the crowd. Even though Zhao Min wanted to cause trouble, when she faced the sect teachers and various elites who had recovered their strength, she did not dare to be rash. Once she retrieved her Xuanming Elders, she left with her entourage.

“Young Swordsman Happy, the six sects owe you a favor. Next time, if you have any need for us to help you, please go to Shaolin Temple. I will definitely serve you with the best vegetarian food.”

“Master, you praise me too much,” Happy said. “If Great Swordsman Song hadn’t held back the elites beside Zhao Min, I wouldn’t have had the chance to sneak into the tall tower. I cannot be the one who takes all the credit.”

“Young Swordsman Happy, you don’t have to be humble. If you hadn’t been so meticulous in your planning, I would have destroyed everything. They do say that each new generation will surpass the previous one. I have to take my hat off for you. Wudang Sect will remember your achievements in saving the six great sects.”

The elites from Kunlun Sect, Mount Hua Sect, and Kongtong Sect also came up to offer their thanks. They also gave him a token of their gratitude—one high-tier Life and Death Realm martial art manual.

At least they didn’t make Happy work for them for nothing!

Just like that, the quest to save the elites of the six great system-allocated sects from Eternal Peace Temple came to a perfect end and ended completely.

But while Happy held the five high-tier martial art manuals, his heart was not on the valuable manuals.

He did not manage to get the Nine Yang Skills from Shaolin Temple and Wudang Sect. It would seem like his efforts on those sides were not enough. However, the abbot had sent him an invitation, so if he truly went to Shaolin Temple, he might actually be able to get a quest.

As for Wudang Sect, since he had a relationship with Great Swordsman Song, he would not have trouble getting in and out of it.

‘If there is a possibility, I must get Nine Yang Divine Skill!’

Happy understood the importance of Nine Yang Divine Skill, but there seemed to be signs from Zhou Zhiruo hinting toward a new questline that caught him off guard—Seize Heavenly Sword.

Even so, he did not want to give up on the quest for Nine Yang Divine Skill so easily.

*****

Once the elites from the six great system-allocated sects left, Happy put away the manuals and returned to Eternal Peace County. He was prepared to leave the place to head to Emei Sect.

On his way, when he went past a forest, he suddenly heard the sounds of a trigger rising from the forest.

Whoosh!

Dozens of arrows came charging at him at a great force with shrill and piercing whistles!

“You sure have guts.”

With one glance at the deliberately planned arrows to block his path and that they could pierce through his defense, Happy could tell that the ambush was done by a player. He quirked his eyebrows, and a cold look appeared in his eyes.

He disappeared for a brief moment, just like a specter. The arrows that could pierce through defense missed their target while the others crashed into his Golden Bell Cocoon, which had risen around his body. They fell all over the ground with loud clattering sounds.

Happy avoided the ambush with no problem and cast an indifferent glance at the forest, which had returned to peace once the arrows appeared. He then redirected his eyes forward.

Whoosh!

A wave of pure qi from a palm attack came charging at him.

The wind danced madly, and a layer of dirt shot up from the ground that seemed to have no abnormalities. A dense needle shower came from there. They were everywhere, and quite a number of them were black and poisoned.

“Hmph!”

Happy cast his gaze into the forest again and let out a faint sigh.

“It has been a few months since we met, and you don’t even dare to show up in front of me now, Orochimaru?”

Right after he finished speaking, a cold breeze blew over the government-made road beyond the forest.