Sword Among Us

Happy stayed for another two days on Punishment Mount.

He practically spent all his time practicing Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm. As the time he could spend fighting against Master of Breaking Vows lengthened, his level also increased by a lot, and he reached the eighth realm.

But it was a pity that accumulative damage of his Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm did not manage to break through the wall of the tenth palm strike. Even though his attack power and speed had increased slightly, it did not bring much of an effect against Master of Breaking Vows.

The monk was always able to suppress Happy’s increasing momentum during critical moments and would forcefully suppress him during his eighth or ninth palm strike, so he would constantly suffer setbacks. Happy was thus unable to continue increasing his fighting prowess to a higher degree.

His Shaolin Temple’s Nine Yang Skill quest was stuck, and he could not gain any progress.

If it were not for the fact that Master of Breaking Vows could help him level up his Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm at an incredibly quick speed, Happy might have long since given up on Shaolin Temple’s Nine Yang Skill and left Punishment Mount.

One day, Happy walked out of Damo Cave as usual.

Flap, flap, flap!

When he sat down cross-legged to circulate his qi, a messenger pigeon suddenly flew to him from the sky.

[My apologies, I need your help in something. If you’re free, please reply me ASAP.]

The person who wrote the letter was Wandering Know-it-all!

Happy was stunned. It was only the second time that Wandering Know-it-all took the initiative to contact him. The first time, he mentioned that he would hide the fact that Happy had fourth-echelon masterpieces and his whereabouts in exchange for Mu Clan helping him take care of his disciple.

Even though the terms he offered were very tempting, Happy did not want to become someone’s babysitter, so he sent Silver Wolf to take care of Wind Chimes.

What surprised Happy was that the disciple of Ghost Valley was not Divine Rod, who wandered about the world of martial artists, but the disciple of the infamous Six-fingered Demonic Zither. She was the famous Demonic Sound Duchess who had extraordinary strength!

Could it be about his disciple again?

Happy pondered it for a moment before he quickly wrote a letter as a reply.

[What is it?]

Even though he was working on the quest for Shaolin Temple’s Nine Yang Skill right then, his progress was not great. Instead of staying in Punishment Mount, it would be better if he descended the mountain for a walk. He could continue practicing martial arts outside, and at the same time, he could pick up the fourth-echelon Golden Fist that Heartless Iron had sent to the bank earlier.

Wandering Know-it-all replied quickly. [This is what happened. My disciple, Wind Chimes, was captured by Divine Arrow Eight Heroes for some reason, and your friend, Silver Wolf, has been locked up in a mansion in Beijing.]

‘How can this be?’

When Happy read the news, he was so shocked that he sucked in a sharp breath. He subconsciously tore apart Wandering Know-it-all’s letter and quickly sent another one to say, [If something happened to Silver Wolf, he would definitely notify me. Why didn’t I receive any news?]

At the same time, he sent a letter to Silver Wolf, but the next moment, he received a notification from the system instead.

“The player is currently in an abnormal situation. You cannot contact him!”

Happy fell silent.

He quickly realized that Wandering Know-it-all might have told him the truth, because only when someone was in an abnormal situation would they have their messenger pigeon function sealed.

Since Wandering Know-it-all was the disciple of Ghost Valley and had Universe Secrets Inkstone in hand, his abilities in divination were matchless. Wind Chimes was his disciple, so it was only natural that he knew how she was doing through some method. That meant that his earlier message was most likely true.

As Happy thought about that, a messenger pigeon flapped its wings and landed in his palm.

Wandering Know-it-all had answered. [They’re in a quest, and they can’t contact anyone outside. I’ve been constantly making readings about my disciple’s fate with fortune, which is why I noticed her abnormal situation. Right now, she’s in a royal mansion in Beijing.]

‘What’s going on?’

Happy believed him, so it was unavoidable that a solemn expression appeared on his face. ‘It’s a good thing to trigger quests, but being detained by NPCs… is not a good thing!’

Those who were detained usually ended up dead. They would either have to carry out highly dangerous quests specially designated for sacrificial pawns in battle or be detained for a period of time as punishment.

Both were equally dangerous.

Perhaps Wandering Know-it-all noticed that the situation was not right, which was why he quickly sent over a request for help.

[I’ve made a reading of the quest. The imperial court is angry that Ruyang Mansion failed in their attack against the six great sects, and they’re prepared to attack it. But Ruyang Mansion seems to want to atone for their crimes, and they’ve cast their gaze on Emei Sect’s Zhou Zhiruo.

[Wind Chimes and Silver Wolf were unlucky. They heard that the royal mansion has a demonic zither, so they wanted to steal it, but they ended up falling into a trap.]

Wandering Know-it-all’s anxiety could be seen clearly through his words.

But the bits of the plot that Wandering Know-it-all revealed allowed Happy to relax slightly. Soon though, he frowned.

As expected, they were in a quest for sacrificial pawns!

What made him the most troubled was that they had to fight against Zhou Zhiruo, a NPC with whom he would absolutely not be enemies.

[Zhou Zhiruo has already mastered Nine Yin Manual, and her lowest qi realm is at the peak of Inaction Realm. Even if you add me into the mix, it’s impossible for us to succeed. What are your plans?]

Happy believed that Wandering Know-it-all would have already predicted Zhou Zhiruo’s strength.

And just as he expected, Wandering Know-it-all quickly replied. [This quest is a scheme by Prince Ruyang. He wants to use Wind Chimes and Silver Wolf to lure out Zhou Zhiruo, then use Xuanming Elders, the three servants, and Divine Arrow Eight Heroes to defeat her. This is a quest for sacrificial pawns. They won’t get any benefits.]

Happy fell into grim silence.

[But when I made a reading of the plot, the system sent me a notification and gave me a chance to save them!]

When Happy read it, he knew that things had progressed in the way he expected.

Predicting the plot had caused Wandering Know-it-all to enter the plot, and new paths developed out of the blue. It also gave Wind Chimes and Silver Wolf a chance of survival.

[What quest is it?]

Even though Happy already had an inkling of what sort of quest it was, he still asked.

[It’s a rescue mission! The guards are Xuanming Elders and Divine Arrow Eight Heroes! For two days, I am allowed to contact anyone I like to rescue the captives… The time limit is two days… and the location is the prison in a royal mansion in Beijing!]

The ellipses Wandering Know-it-all used showed just how conflicted he was and how complicated his emotions were.

Naturally, Happy knew why Wandering Know-it-all felt that way. It was because Beijing was Class One Hall’s central region and where its headquarters was. Taking a quest there was rather dangerous.

If they were careless, they would end up revealing their identity and their tracks, and Class One Hall’s four monsters as well as the other members of Class One Hall might surround them.

Besides, it might bring an end to the cold war between Class One Hall and Mu Clan, and the world of martial artists would descend into a tense situation again.

However, Wandering Know-it-all knew that such a quest was something other people could not hope to complete. Happy was the only one who had fought against Xuanming Elders before and retreated with his life intact.

He had even stolen Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber from Zhao Min, as well as obtained Book of Wumu. He might be able to hide this from others, but he could not hide it from Wandering Know-it-all.

Hence, Wandering Know-it-all knew just how difficult the situation was for Happy, but he hoped that Happy could spare some time to head to Beijing to help him save Wind Chimes and Silver Wolf, who were locked up in the prison within the royal mansion.

But in the end, the choice was still in Happy’s hands!

He pondered it for a while before writing a reply.

[Beijing isn’t some wolf’s den, so there’s no reason for me to not be able to go there! Besides, your disciple and my brother are in there! Help me cover my tracks, and I’ll take action immediately!]

[Got it!]