Sword Among Us

“Senior Brother Happy! There’s another group of bandits in front…They’re on horseback this time!”

Orchid Researcher stood on the roof of the carriage and saw blurry black dots as well as dust flying in the horizon. Upon noticing them, she quickly gave a warning to Happy and the others, who rode on their horses in front of the carriage.

Right after she finished speaking, two horses charged at the two sides of the carriage!

“Eldest senior brother! We’ll have to trouble you to hold the line again. Young Worry and I will be going ahead to warm up!” Xu Lang only turned his head to shout after he rushed out of their group. It was a typical case of acting first before reporting to someone else.

“Go. Be careful.”

Happy smiled and did not move.

After drinking yesterday, he still felt that his head was a little dizzy.

The relationship of the six people had become closer. Happy was also sure that with Xu Lang and Ghost’s Worry’s abilities, the nobodies before them would not be their opponents. After all, the two of them had dealt with many groups of bandits while they were on their way.

Eleventh Crane, Orchid Researcher, and Dawn Lotus did not move. They simply allowed the duo to charge forward on their horses to meet the bandits. The four of them continued escorting the carriage while they chatted about nothing with each other.

Dawn Lotus wiped off the sweat on her forehead. She rose next to Happy, either intentionally or unintentionally, and said, “It’s just these bandits? It’s a little boring, senior brother.”

Eleventh Crane watched the boy and girl in front of him with a smile. He then tugged at his reins in a great show of sensibility and lagged a few steps behind them.

“That’s right!”

Orchid Researcher’s ears were sharp. When she heard her friend’s words, she jumped down from the roof of the carriage, summoned her horse, and rose beside Happy too. “Senior brother, I wonder if World of Martial Arts will have anything new and fresh.”

‘New and fresh?’

Happy could do nothing but smile.

Right then, everyone was still too weak, so only a few things were revealed in the game. However, as time passed, the storyline progression would gradually come into light, and it would definitely become more and more interesting, especially when the game launched the storyline quest in all servers later in the year. Its effect would be like the eruption of a volcano. Of course, as a normal player, Happy felt that it would be best if the game did not bring too many surprises.

“How should I know?” he said.

But to his surprise, one of the two guards who were in charge of protecting the items and who had only said “Move!” and “Stop!” since the start of the journey, suddenly took over the conversation.

“We’re still safe for now. Once we get out of the territory of Gusu City and reach places that are not under the governance of the governor, we’ll be very busy. We’ll need to travel dozens of lis[1], and wherever we’ll go, we will face a stronghold in basically every mountain. Each of them would have one or two Blessed Realm fighters guarding them.”

The guard’s words instantly attracted the girls’ attention. They did not expect that anyone would answer their musing.

Even Eleventh Crane was so shocked that he rushed forward from behind them!

“Powerful Blessed Realm fighters?”

“Yes.”

The guard who spoke had a rather strong build and was tall. He sat at the coachman’s seat and wiped his big saber. With a solemn expression on his face, he said, “The Murong Clan’s reputation is rather useful in Gusu City’s territory. No one dares to attack us brazenly in the day. Those with smaller forces do not even dare to provoke you.

“But when we leave this safe zone, the bandits won’t care so much about our reputation. By then, while it’ll be easy for you to handle the smaller strongholds, you’ll find that it’ll be very difficult for the ten of us to get through the big strongholds that have strong men and swift horses. They’ll also have a lot more manpower, unlike what we see right now.”

The group did not say anything after that. They understood what the guards said, and their expressions instantly changed.

Even though Xu Lang and Ghost’s Worry could easily handle a group of bandits on horseback, those enemies did use tricks or strategies to win. They also did not face anyone in Blessed Realm who could suppress the players.

If they truly ran into a large group of mountain bandits who came to steal their items, the guard’s words would come true. If Happy was held back by anyone, the group would definitely be in danger.

Happy’s expression became serious as well.

He had participated in item protection quests in his previous life, and the further the quest progressed, the more difficult it became! The situations would become more and more complicated. In fact, there was even a possibility that powerful enemies in Mystical Realm would appear.

However, at that time, Happy had been very weak, and he was simply tasked to deliver a brocade box on his own. On the way, all the enemies he ran into were in Gate Realm. Even though the numbers varied, it was rare for any powerful enemies in Blessed Realm to appear.

This time, however, it was different!

The mountain bandits appeared in groups. So right after they left Gusu City’s territory, a group of more than one hundred bandits could appear to steal their tribute, and they might even run into bandits who were in Blessed Realm.

When they got closer to Beijing, they would even run into players who would stop them to steal from them. Who knew how complicated that would become?

When he thought about this in depth, Happy rubbed his temples.

Even though he had experience from his previous life, he had only experienced a part of the game. In a way, he was also just a newbie. He wondered what sort of experiences might await him in the future.

Xu Lang and Ghost’s Worry used a total of ten minutes to make the group of bandits in front of them retreat. When they came back, their faces were full of regret. “Um… those mounted bandits’ strength seemed to have grown.”

Orchid Research repeated the guard’s words, and solemn expressions instantly appeared on their faces.

“What should we do? I have to leave for a while later as well.”

Xu Lang became nervous.

Usually, when a player was involved in a long, continuous quest like this, once the player left, his game character would not disappear. The character would continue to be in the team like a normal NPC.

When he heard that NPCs in Blessed Realm might appear later, Xu Lang became incredibly gloomy. He did not know what to do.

“It’s fine. Just change the settings a little later. Follow Big Brother Crane and protect the carriage. We’ll try as much as possible to ensure you’re not harmed.”

Happy did not think that this was much of a problem. Even if one person was missing, the effect would not be great.

But Xu Lang was still worried.

“But… the five of you…”

“It’s fine. We can still handle it for now. When we travel down the road later, try to finish all your tasks offline while we have time so that we can avoid situations where we can’t be around during crucial moments,” Happy said, and the group nodded.

*****

The guards sat on the carriage while the six people rode their horses. Like that, the group soon reached the territories outside of Gusu City, which the guard had mentioned earlier. Lush green mountains were connected to the government-made roads and rivers. They were very quiet, and not a single bit of danger could be detected.

However, Xu Lang had already left by then. His game character had a longsword in hand, and he stayed beside Eleventh Crane, who had chosen to walk on his feet instead of riding on a horse.

Happy swept his gaze over the mountains in the area. He served as the vanguard to clear the path ahead of them.

The carriage slowly drove across the government-made road, which was filled with pits. The wood creaked, and Orchid Researcher, Dawn Lotus, Eleventh Crane, and Ghost’s Worry looked around while in great worry. They did not dare let down their guard.

After they went past the first curve, they officially entered the mountain ranges. The four guards got down from the carriage and began to walk with incredibly grave and vigilant postures! Their gazes swept through the area.

The group could see traces of weapons left on the tree trunks by the sides of the road. They seemed to be marks left behind to remind people of the fights and brutality that had happened there not too long ago.

Eleventh Crane suddenly noticed Happy turn and rush into the forest to the left while three hundred and thirty feet ahead of them. He quickly shouted, “Increase your guard!”

Before he finished speaking, a black light shot out from the forest with a sharp whistle that was piercing to the ears. It stabbed into the ground between Eleventh Crane and Ghost’s Worry.

Buzz!

An arrow sank deep into the ground, its fletching shuddering.

“Archer!”

Great shock appeared on the two’s faces. Before they could react to the situation, the sound of air being sliced increased in frequency by leaps and bounds.

Arrows shot out from the forest like raindrops, and they traveled like locusts at the eight people around the carriage!

This was the first time the players had ran into such a situation. They were immediately so terrified by the aggressive shower of arrows that they retreated behind the carriage to avoid the sharp projectiles.

At that moment, the four guards who had never had the chance to show off their abilities displayed extraordinary courage. They did not retreat, but advanced, and they used their bodies to protect the carriage. They brandished their weapons, and with loud clangs, they either blocked or parried the great number of arrows without a trace of panic. They did not move back a single inch.

There were three more volleys of arrows, and the four guards were hit quite a number of times.

Ghost’s Worry felt greatly ashamed of himself. He gritted his teeth, and with a low roar, he charged out from behind the carriage.

Eleventh Crane also rushed out. With the guards protecting him, he drew his bow, and three arrows shot into the forest like bolts of lightning.