Sword Among Us

The girl in the robe as white as snow was like an immortal in a painting. She stood calmly in the depths of the bamboo forest and looked at the scene before her with slightly angry eyes. She was watching the young man who had suddenly left her side to appear between the two unfamiliar men.

She looked puzzled, as if she could not understand why that person called Deities Without Thought would want to behead Happy when they had no grudge against each other. As expected, the murders in the land of wanderers did not follow the rules of logic.

Deities Without Thought said nothing. He had fallen into complete panic.

He was severely wounded because of Night Rain Follows Wind’s slash. Yet an unfamiliar Chinese player whose strength was unfathomable suddenly appeared beside him, and he also seemed to be familiar with One Emperor and Happy. His expression became tense, and he could not help but suck in a deep breath.

“Sorry. I made a wrong comparison.”

While giving his excuse, Deities Without Thought remained in the same position, but he did not dare to act recklessly. He was afraid that his actions would threaten his own life.

Happy did not seem to have noticed Deities Without Thought’s nervousness and anxiety. He took a step forward and cast a glance at Night Rain Follows Wind before he faced Deities Without Thought, who looked completely harmless. He lifted the white veil that covered his face and put on a faint smile. “Say what you just did right in my face again, why don’t you?”

Deities Without Thought remained silent.

He was thinking about how he could avoid the disaster today, but when he saw the mysterious man lift the white veil that covered his face right in front of him, he could not help but observe him a little more.

His breathing instantly quickened, and he trembled. He looked as if he had been struck by lightning!

“H-Happy…”

In an instant, the face of Deities Without Thought turned completely pale. All the blood vanished from his face.

The legendary Chinese martial artist he had just mentioned had appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye!

It was like an explosion had gone off in his mind, and Deities Without Thought was struck dazed.

He could vaguely hear Happy say, “Return to Daiei and never come to China again. If you step on our ground, I will kill you every time you come.”

Then, he found his vision shift because he was sent flying, and his consciousness was swiftly destroyed.

“Thank you for saving me twice, brother.”

Even though Night Rain Follows Wind did not hear what Deities had said clearly, he could recognize that the person who came over was his benefactor who had unsealed his acupressure point in the house.

He wrapped his fist in his palm and was just about to thank him when that person vanished before him like a plume of smoke. When Night Rain Follows Wind registered what had happened, the bamboo forest had returned to silence.

His quest had already been completed.

“Just who is he?”

Night Rain Follows Wind slowly recovered from his injuries. When he ceased meditating, he still did not know who was the person who saved him twice. When he cast a glance at the corpse on the ground, he could not help but feel that his grudge had been settled.

“Hmph, how dare you come and do whatever you please in China even though you only have this bit of strength…”

Once he finished speaking, he headed to the sea because he did not dare to stay for long in the area.

*****

Once Happy returned to the bamboo forest, he led Zhou Zhiruo to the sea after having saved her from another bamboo house.

Beggar’s Sect’s Chen Youliang had already sailed off of Spirit Snake Island with his people!

Happy wanted to take Zhou Zhiruo away from Spirit Snake Island to prevent this pure-hearted beauty from turning into a completely selfish and sinister woman under Jin Yong’s hands, but he did not expect that the people from Beggar’s Sect would intentionally destroy the other ships that remained in Spirit Snake Island before they left.

“That damn Chen Youliang.”

Happy stared at the remains of the ships floating about the surface of the sea, and he knew that in the end, he did not manage to win.

The system still continued to control the progression of the plot, and everything was still moving according to the original work!

*****

“There are no ships here anymore. Why don’t we wait until tomorrow?” Zhou Zhiruo suggested.

Happy could only give her a wan smile. ‘If there’s no ship, we still won’t be able to set sail, you know?’

But there was no way they couldn’t hide Zhou Zhiruo in the large Spirit Snake Island. If they stayed at the beach though, they would definitely be discovered by Golden Flower Granny. They could only enter the depths of Spirit Snake Island and search for a place to stay while they waited for ships to appear.

*****

Happy found a small, dilapidated, and abandoned house. It could temporarily serve as a place for them to stay.

Happy cleaned up the spider webs in the house and swept away the dust. Then, he placed a pelt on a rather wide expanse of empty floor and brought out some fruits.

The two of them quietly ate them without a word. They had nothing to say to each other.

Neither of them knew how much time had passed when Zhou Zhiruo suddenly spoke up to break the unbearable silence in the small house.

“Young Swordsman Happy.” Her clear and pleasant voice appeared incredibly abruptly in the quiet house.

Happy opened his eyes and cast a puzzled gaze at Zhou Zhiruo’s curious eyes. “What is it?”

“Ever since we were at Emei Mountain, I’ve wanted to know why you keep on helping me.”

Zhou Zhiruo turned her face slightly to the side, and she faced the air in front of her while she spoke with a tone that made it seem as if she was absent-minded.

“When my mistress was around, you acted chivalrously and did everything you could to get rid of the evil cult and save the six great sects. But once my mistress died, you never asked for any rewards from me. You also intentionally went up to Emei Mountain to help me. You even came after me from Emei Mountain to Spirit Snake Island, which is somewhere in the sea to save me.”

A faint hint of red appeared on Zhou Zhiruo’s face. “Do you like me?”

Happy was stunned speechless. ‘What’s going on? Can NPCs become couples with players now?’

Just when Happy’s face turned red and his heart picked up in speed, he heard Zhou Zhiruo speak in a tone that made her sound as if she was sleep-talking. Her voice was gentle though. “Did you treat whatever my senior sister and mistress said at Light Summit as something real?”

“Ah…”

Happy had a myriad of thoughts in his mind, but just when he was about to speak up to see whether the system was really that open-minded, he suddenly heard Zhou Zhiruo’s tone change. “In truth, I already have someone I like.”

Happy instantly felt as if cold water had been poured all over him. The fire that had been burning in his heart was completely extinguished.

‘Idiot! How can an NPC be in a relationship with a player?!’

Happy spat on himself for almost cheating on the girl he liked, and he did it repeatedly.

Zhou Zhiruo, in the meantime, mumbled by his side about how she met Zhang Wuji when she was young, about how helpless she had been, and how sick, lonely, and helpless Zhang Wuji had been.

‘Knew it.’

Zhou Zhiruo’s love for Zhang Wuji had blossomed at that time. The black and white handkerchief had caused her, the daughter of a fisherman and who lost her parents while she was young, to become concerned with Zhang Wuji.

Later on, when she met Zhang Wuji again, that slash pushed the pure-hearted Zhou Zhiruo to sink into the swamp of love, and she could not get herself out of it.

As Happy listened to Zhou Zhiruo’s confession, he gradually smoothed out his chaotic thoughts and his wild imagination. He gradually came to understand his position in the story.

“I will not have another man in my heart, but Young Swordsman Happy, you will be my best friend, is that okay?”

When Zhou Zhiruo said it, Happy smiled in understanding. There were hints of clarity in his eyes, and he also looked as if he had been released from a burden.

At that moment… the system suddenly provided him with a notification.

“Ding!

“Answer Zhou Zhiruo. If you nod your head and agree to Zhou Zhiruo, you will get her trust, and she will entrust you with various tasks. If you reject Zhou Zhiruo’s offer, your relationship with her will drop from trust to indifference.”

Even an idiot should know how to choose in this sort of situation.

Happy sucked in a deep breath before he turned around to look at Zhou Zhiruo’s pretty, ethereal, and expectant face.