Sword Among Us

The sleds the carriages used dragged out long trails on the snow ground while the people braced the dangers of the cold wind. The trails stretched out from the forest to a small gate at the back of Heaven Shaker Fortress.

Since the defense of Heaven Shaker Fortress was tight and the mighty northern clan was famous in the area, they had never run into any accidents when they were ambushed by anyone. Hence, the defense at the back gate was much weaker.

Two Sword Crafting Hall disciples stared at the caravan that returned to the fortress. Some of the other guards leaned closely to each other to avoid the cold wind in a lackadaisical fashion. They laughed and talked about things that only men would talk about.

Whoosh!

While the cold wind blew, the Sword Crafting Hall disciples did not notice that a small crack was formed between the curtain and the window frame of one of the carriages. They also did not notice that the familiar caravan charging toward them did not leave behind tracks that were deep in the snow behind it.

A chilling cold light shot out like the speed of lightning from the first carriage like the snow dancing in the air.

At the same time…

“Go!”

Torn Army’s warning rose in the middle of the caravan and reached Happy’s ears.

The coachman who was curled up in the carriage and seemed to have been scared out of his wits suddenly shook. Like a spring released, he tapped against the carriage and instantly shot out with a thud!

He tapped repeatedly against the ground and moved like lightning. Happy’s speed was something that even the Sword Crafting Hall disciples and Sword Sect disciples could not react to. They only saw a gray figure jump a few times above the carriages before he was already above the Sword Crafting Hall disciples’ heads.

Two Inaction Realm Sword Sect disciples had coincidentally arrived in front of the Sword Crafting Hall disciples at the same time. They moved quickly and ignored Happy, who had suddenly taken action. Their swords moved with an indomitable spirit, and their main goal was to kill the Sword Crafting Hall disciples instantly!

However, the other Inaction Realm Sword Sect disciple in the first carriage did not just stand by and watch.

Whoosh!

Almost at the instant Happy jumped over the top of the carriage at the front of the caravan, that Inaction Realm Sword Sect disciple charged out.

“Attack!”

Torn Army and Stallion Glory shot out from their seats at the same time. Both moved from the left and right, and the whip swords by their waists were immediately straightened. They intersected with each other with chilling light and blocked the man.

The gray figure shot to the entrance like lightning!

Thud! Thud!

Two heads flew into the air.

Everything might have seemed to have happened over a long period of time, but it actually happened in a flash.

As if they rehearsed it beforehand, the people from the three factions practically attacked at the same time. Happy, Torn Army, Stallion Glory, and the three other Inaction Realm Sword Sect disciples instantly crossed swords at the back gate of Heaven Shaker Fortress.

Since the Sword Sect disciples had to kill the mighty northern clansmen before they sounded the alarm and alerted the others, their attacks were very fierce.

Once they killed the guards at the back gate, they immediately set their sights on Happy and the coachmen.

Thud! Thud!

Happy calmly generated two finger-executed gusts of wind while airborne.

Even though he was faced with Inaction Realm martial artists, they were slightly weaker than the famous evil cult elders. Their strength should be at the beginning stages of Inaction Realm, so there were some flaws in their sword technique.

At the moment Happy arrived above two people’s heads, he ingeniously executed two Joined Fingers. Since the attacks were executed at close distance, the Sword Sect disciples looked as if they had been struck by lightning. They grunted and froze for a moment.

The effect did not last long, but it was enough time for Happy to go over their heads. He jumped a few more times without hesitation and vanished into the snow.

When the Sword Sect members noticed that the situation was bad, Happy had already taken a turn and entered Heaven Shaker Fortress. He was so fast that they felt embarrassed, but could not catch up to him.

“This is bad! I didn’t expect that there was an elite in the caravan. He managed to escape.”

One of the disciples had a dark expression, and his tone was grave.

“We don’t have time to worry about him.” The other disciple caught up and stared in the direction in which the person in gray had vanished. “He shouldn’t be a mighty northern clansman, or else, he would have sounded the alarm a long time ago to expose our tracks.”

The eyes of the first person lit up.

“Senior brother, you’re right!” He stopped talking for a moment before he said, “If that’s the case, should we get rid of these people first?”

The two turned around resolutely, and Torn Army as well as Stallion Glory immediately sank into a hopeless situation.

Stallion Glory opened his mouth to release a long cry of alarm, but he was killed by a single slash from Torn Army, and his voice scattered in the wind!

Then, Torn Army’s chest was pierced by a surprised Sword Sect disciple. He stared at him and the other disciples with resentment before falling to the snow with a sigh of relief on his lips.

At the same time, the coachmen behind him were killed by the Sword Sect disciples in the carriages because they did not react in time. When they noticed that the people in front had already taken action, they were already killed.

The Sword Sect members clearly had a well thought out plan. Once they killed everyone, they swiftly moved and hid all the corpses in the carriages. Then, they quickly moved the carriages into Heaven Shaker Fortress.

They had two Sword Sect disciples change into the dead Heaven Shaker Fortress disciples’ clothes and covered the blood on the ground before putting on caps to hide most of their faces. They went to stand at the spots that originally belonged to the Sword Crafting Hall disciples.

Whoosh!

The biting cold wind continued blowing nonstop, but the back gate had returned to calm once more.

However, quite a few abnormal events were happening in the shadows within Heaven Shaker Fortress.

*****

With Nine Yang Divine Skill, not only was Happy completely unaffected by the cold, he was also very perceptive of the area around him. Everything within a circular area of 328 feet—the snowflakes drifting down gently, the howling cold wind, the servants who ran about Heaven Shaker Fortress, and the breathing of the people inside—were clearly shown in his mind.

Once he determined the safest route, he avoided quite a number of ears and eyes within Heaven Shaker Fortress without running into any danger. He moved based on the marks on the map, and with a few twists and turns, he entered a small yard that seemed to be the dwelling place of handymen.

Happy found himself surrounded by people who were dressed like him. They were all handymen who wore normal quilts.

Seven or eight handymen worked hard in the kitchen, while two others broke ice and extracted water in the face of the snow and wind. The entire area was busy with work.

Happy watched from the shadows for a while before he found a man in gray who occasionally looked around him. His eyes sparkled, and he was different from the handymen around him. It was clear that he was a martial artist with extraordinary skills.

‘It’s him! Thousand Destruction!’

While hiding in the shadows, Happy met gazes with Thousand Destruction.

The man’s eyes lit up a little before he looked around in a wary fashion. When he noticed that no one paid any attention to him, he picked up the lunchbox that he seemed to have prepared a long time ago by his side and moved to the shadows where Happy was.

“You’re here.” Thousand Destruction dragged Happy to a remote corner and frowned. “Where’s my brother?”

He finally noticed that the situation was off.

Happy told him about how they were threatened by Sword Sect disciples while on their way inside, and Thousand Destruction’s expression instantly turned incredibly angry and agitated. “Those bastards! I’ll definitely take revenge for Torn Army!”

“Sword Sect definitely came for Heaven Crystal. As long as we steal it, we can shift the blame to Sword Sect, and we’ll have Sword Sect fight against the northern clan and the Nangong Clan as revenge for Brother Torn Army.”

“That’s right.” Thousand Destruction quickly turned his grief into his strength. He gritted his teeth and nodded before he opened the lunchbox in his hands to bring out some small items. “There’s someone from Sword Crafting Hall who will receive you. Ten Thousand Swords will be waiting for you there. This is your new identity.”

When Happy touched a soft object, he was delighted.

A human skin mask!