Sword Among Us

They might be able to flee for a time, but they cannot run forever.

Even though Dream Clouds managed to escape due to her subordinates’ protection, as Happy continued chasing after her from Mount Song, blood dyed the ground red for several miles, and at least two thousand Class One Hall members laid dead.

These two thousand people were all high-grade Class One Hall elites who were mobilized from more than ten cities, and they took up more than seventy to eighty percent of the group that came to attack Happy this time.

Once they died, a very clear break in the supply of elites to the other areas of Class One Hall’s territory instantly appeared.

A large group of elites lost their original fighting power.

*****

Happy only stopped chasing after them when he reached the foot of Mount Song.

Behind him were a dense wave of Shaolin Temple disciples who chased after him to watch the fun.

The Class One Hall members who managed to survive through sheer luck did not dare stay in the area. All of them used the chaos to leave quietly.

Happy watched Class One Hall flee like a scattered army in all directions. He slowly lowered his Dragon Saber, and his saber glare, now blood red, gradually faded away before it returned to its original hue. His gaze also slowly broke free from the cruel, cold look it was previously in.

Happy turned his head around and cast a glance at the slaughter he caused before he looked skyward and mumbled, “We’re not too far off now.”

*****

“What are the number of casualties?”

“We lost more than two thousand and one hundred people. That’s about three quarters of the people we brought over.”

After they escaped to safety, Dream Clouds quickly obtained the list of dead. When she read it, her expression grew darker.

There were only a few Class One Hall members who managed to escape with her.

She rode on her horse to enter the city quickly, and during that time, Dream Clouds did not stop giving orders loudly.

“Damn it. Have someone keep a close eye on Happy’s actions, along with that woman beside him. Also, contact the Prophet and ask him about the coordinates of the other groups of people from Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect. We must absolutely take revenge on Mu Clan!”

If they only lost two thousand normal members, Dream Clouds will not bother too much about them. Class One Hall’s great wealth and power can help them recover to their original strength soon, but those two thousand one hundred elites were the pillars of Class One Hall mid-level management. If they died at this moment, it will be the same as them suffering a huge blow to the core of their strength.

If they cannot win against Happy, then they will have to regain their dignity and make the situation balanced again through Mu Clan’s elites!

At that moment, a messenger pigeon landed gently on Monk With Thick Eyebrows’ shoulders.

Once he read the letter, he stated the only news that day that allowed Dream Clouds to not scowl.

“Hall master, we succeeded in our attack at that side. All of the four hundred or so people led by Thunderous Battle and Silver Wolf died. They’re currently trapped in the Guanlin Temple near Barbican, and they do not dare get out of the place.”

“Wonderful.” Dream Clouds was overjoyed.

The pain of losing more than two thousand elites instantly faded away by a large margin.

Even though Mu Clan did not lose a lot of people, Silver Wolf and Thunderous Battle both had great statuses in Mu Clan.

Silver Wolf was publicly acknowledged as the second strongest in Mu Clan, and he was ranked among the top fighters in the Chinese server. There was not even a need to mention how important Thunderous Battle was. He was Mu Clan’s master in name, and he currently took care of many operations in Mu Clan. He was the other spiritual pillar in Mu Clan.

The weight in the deaths of these two people was even more practical than the deaths of hundreds of Mu Clan elites.

“Keep a close eye on them.”

Even though they lost to Happy in the battle in Mount Song, when it came to the battle among their subordinates, Dream Clouds felt that she still had an advantage over Happy. This place was her backyard, and a large group of Class One Hall had managed to find a few groups of people after they searched through every nook and cranny in the place. Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect were busy running everywhere to hide, and she believed that after the day was over, she will not only be able to return all the losses she suffered at Mount Song back at Happy, she might even be able to gain a certain advantage.

“Um… Understood!” Monk With Thick Eyebrows sounded a little hesitant.

Dream Clouds swiftly noticed this. Her gaze focused, and she noticed that Monk With Thick Eyebrows did not look too good. “What is it? Is there a problem?”

Monk With Thick Eyebrows hesitated for a moment before he answered, “Yes… While we surrounded Silver Wolf and Thunderous Battle, they hid in the ore mines, and while our members stormed the place, we lost quite a number of people as well. We might not have enough people in Barbican to monitor them.”

“How many people did we lose?”

Dream Clouds’ heart sank, and she suddenly noticed that the situation was not good.

Monk With Thick Eyebrows sucked in a breath before he stated a number. “Around two thousand and three hundred. That’s about half of the reinforcements sent to Barbican.”

Right when he finished speaking, Dream Clouds’ face looked as if it was covered in frost. Her voice was also as cold as ice. “We lost six times the number of people compared to Mu Clan? Who took command?”

Mon With Thick Eyebrows looked hesitant again. In the end, under Dream Clouds’ sharp gaze, he braced his courage and explained. “The report I made just now is just the number of casualties against Silver Wolf and his group. The ratio of their deaths compared to ours is about 1:10. The number of casualties we have against Thunderous Battle is slightly smaller. We lost only about one thousand five hundred people.”

When he said this, Monk With Thick Eyebrows could already sense the waves of heat rolling off Dream Clouds’ body. “The letter states the main reason for the number of deaths is that the environment Silver Wolf and Thunderous Battle chose for their defensive war is not suited for others to attack, and we also gave orders to fight to the death, so…”

“I got it.”

“…Hall master.”

“I’m fine. Maintain our usual contact with the Prophet. Once we get their precise location, you will personally handle the situation with Blood Robes and Barren Murderer. If we continue losing people like this, the number of people we lose will soon surpass the acceptable range.” Dream Clouds stated coldly.

“Understood.”

Monk With Thick Eyebrows finally released a breath of relief.

In truth, he was indeed a little worried that the continuous shocks will cause the hall master to fly into a rage and punish their members, and this was not the right time for it, because they were in a hurry to utilize their talents.

However, things were not that simple.

“What else is there?” Dream Clouds noticed that Monk With Thick Eyebrows seemed to have something else to say, and a chill filled her heart. “What other bad news is there? Say it all in one go, don’t dilly dally.”

“It’s not a terribly bad news… but the people from Barbican and Kuo Ma City sent news stating that they don’t have enough people.”

“What do you mean?”

“Right now, we are keeping watch over more than seven hundred Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect members, but our members in Barbican and Kuo Ma City are basically under the injured status. They haven’t recovered just yet, and it’s not suitable for them to monitor those people. The remaining people have all been mobilized to search for the enemies outside the city, and it’s very difficult for the ones who remained to monitor more than seven hundred people.”

“They’re just monitoring them. Have those injured people do it. We’re already at this point of time, and we can’t bring out more people to do this sort of thing.” She stopped talking for a moment before she gave further instructions. “Of course, we’ll need to pay extra attention to monitor Silver Wolf, Thunderous Battle, and those important figures. Choose a group of elites from the uninjured members and pay extra care to them.

“…By the way, where is Do Jin?”

It was only then that Dream Clouds noticed that she never saw Do Jin when she fled here. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

“I didn’t pay attention to him.” Monk With Thick Eyebrows looked around him before he shook his head. “I reckon after he lost to Happy, he had his confidence dashed, and he has already left.”

Dream Clouds can understand that.

Do Jin was a very cunning person, but right now, Happy won over him easily in front of so many people with Wandering Universal Eight Trigrams Souls Palm, and his pride will not allow him to accept it. He must have definitely snuck away during the chaos.

Even though she felt that it was a pity that she lost a lending hand, Dream Clouds knew clearly that it was not practical to have Do Jin stay and help her fight against Happy. He had already fulfilled his goal of challenging Happy, and he lost. As of now, he will certainly go back to his country to train hard instead of staying to endure through this hardship with Class One Hall.

“What about Hanago?”

“After he killed Silver Wolf, he chose to stay in Barbican.”

“It’s good that he stayed.” Dream Clouds released a sigh of relief.

In truth, she knew very well that Silver Wolf was the one who fought against Three Dragons Guild with the most gusto in the past, and even Towering Palace was destroyed because of him.

Since Hanago came from Fuso, when he heard about Silver Wolf’s precise location, he had automatically asked to help fight against Mu Clan.

Since they obtained help from a top-class swordsman, they were finally able to get a few cards that they can bring to the table.

“Send word to have the branches be ready for war. Have the members remain online for as long as possible, and tell them to be ready to surround and attack those from Mu Clan and Chivalry Sect at any moment!”

“Understood!”

*****

Xuancheng was a city at the forefront of the territory where Mu Clan and Class One Hall’s forces of power intersected. Class One Hall’s branch was stationed right at the front of this line separating Mu Clan and Class One Hall’s territory, and it was the branch where the most Class One Hall members were gathered.

There were more than five thousand people gathered there, and they were active in various training grounds. At the same time they trained in those places, they were also in charge of all sorts of sentry duties.

Ever since what happened that night, the Class One Hall members at Xuancheng were already cursed multiple times by the members who were located deep in the territory.

There was no other reason for it. Nearly two thousand Mu Clan members had successfully snuck into the north while they remained unseen by the tens of thousands of people at the borders. This was something that was far too unbelievable.

Hence, once the higher ups released their orders, Xuancheng immediately went into high alert. Thousands of people took action. They kept close watch over the government-made roads and alleys, and they looked as if they will not let even a single fly from the south of Changjiang pass through the river!

*****

A squad of fourteen people were located in a forest. They were right outside the entrance to Hundred Flowers Palace while they calmly exchanged blows against the female disciples from Hundred Flowers Palace.

Suddenly, a female player who had long since suppressed her opponent stopped attacking, and with a puzzled gaze, she cast a glance in the direction of the area beyond the palace.

“What’s wrong?”

The people beside her swiftly noticed that their companion’s gaze when she stared at the Hundred Flowers Enchantment Matrix behind her was slightly strange, and they asked her nonchalantly.

She frowned. “I think I heard something from inside.”

Her tone was serious, and she sounded a little grave.

Her companions beside her were not concerned. “Maybe Scholar’s group has entered.”

The female player shook her head. “Doesn’t seem likely. I heard someone screaming, along with a thud—”

“Screaming?”

The people beside her stated that they heard nothing.

“Maybe you were mistaken.”

“There’s no one inside Hundred Flowers Enchantment Matrix.”

The female player did not lower her guard in the slightest. She continued staring at the Hundred Flowers Enchantment Matrix in front of her, which was filled with flowers and looked as if eternal spring was in it.

“Enough with it. Since yesterday, you’ve been paranoid.”

“That’s right. There’re a few parties outside who are training. If anything really happened, someone will send messenger pigeons over to tell us.”

“That’s right. We have to seize time to train. I heard that a few of the top elites in Mu Clan already have their qi reach the 550 qi points target. Before long, they’ll reach Moksha Realm. If we don’t seize time to train, Class One Hall’s territory in the north will be replaced by Mu Clan.”

“That’s true, too. I envy Mu Clan quite a lot now… Last time, I thought that Class One Hall is very powerful and can dominate World of Martial Arts while Mu Clan was at most a nouveau riche organization who only has Happy who is presentable. Now, their plan for their branch ranking board is getting more and more mature with each passing day, and the elites in the branches are increasing. When I think about it everyday, I’ll just feel scared.”

The party subconsciously had their topic move to Mu Clan, and they did not notice that the female player who was previously on guard had the solemn look in her eyes become even stronger.

“Why don’t you come out, people hiding in the matrix?”

Her sudden shout scared the people around her.

When they looked around, they saw not a single human soul.

But right when they were about to complain a little, an admiring chuckle suddenly came out from Hundred Flowers Enchantment Matrix. “I didn’t expect that I will run into someone who is good with matrices among the remnants of Class One Hall.”

The group of people had their expressions change drastically. They quickly subjugated their own opponents and stared at the spot where the voice came from.

The scenery in the matrix became distorted. Ripples formed on it. Then, more than ten men and women with the word “Mu” sewn on their chests appeared as if they walked out of a painting, and they stood neatly in front of the Class One Hall members.