Sword Among Us

When Happy was invited by Master Xuan Kong into the inner room to speak about the concepts of Zen meditation, the self-proclaimed Seventeen Swordsmen of Yan Mountains finally found the dilapidated and small temple after wandering about the mountains. They wanted to enter inside it, so they started a small conflict with Master Zhi Heng, who was tasked to maintain the peace and quiet in the temple.

Normally, they would not dare to easily offend NPCs, because in World of Martial Arts, NPCs that were beyond safe zones had differing strengths. Only businessmen with small businesses and farmers were not included in that.

“Master!” Yan Mountain Tiger, who was the leader, used a mild tone and tried his best to appear extremely cordial. His smile made him look harmless. “Do not worry, we do not harbor any ill will. We only want to borrow some light and enter the temple to sit.”

“Amitabha!” Zhi Heng was not a person who was easily convinced. When he heard their words, he placed his palms together and said, “Patrons, our temple is dilapidated and small. We also prefer silence, so I am afraid that we cannot accommodate so many people. Besides, there are many inconveniences when you come and visit us so late at night. Please leave.”

The group was rendered speechless. They cast each other a glance, then, they scowled.

The map had shown them clearly that the brocade box was in the temple that was thirty-two feet away from them. This meant that the person and item were definitely right before them.

Hence, no matter how dangerous the temple was, they absolutely had to enter it.

Yan Mountain Tiger cast his companions a glance. Two people at the back of the group swiftly merged into the darkness and went around the monk toward the temple.

“Why must you do such a thing?”

After releasing a heavy sigh, without a single change in his expression, Zhi Heng flicked his wrist gently, and a powerful gust of wind instantly charged forward. It blew at the grass, and grunts rose from the darkness to the left and right of the temple. Then, the sounds of heavy objects falling on the ground could be heard.

The people who stood in the light did not know what had happened. They sent two people to go and check, only to discover that their two companions who had intended to scale the walls and enter from the sides had a very clear black palm print on their chests. The blood at the corners of their lips had already dried up, since they had died on the spot.

“He killed Sixteenth and Thirteenth!”

When the two returned and reported their findings to Yan Mountain Tiger, the group became enraged. They drew their weapons and got ready to fight. They longed to attack immediately and tear the monk who had killed their companions apart.

“Don’t.”

Yan Mountain Tiger raised his hand and stopped his brothers from acting rashly. He sized up the area with an incredibly grim and cautious look.

Monk Zhi Heng had his eyes shut, and he recited the Rebirth and Release Mantra nonstop. Even if he was surrounded by a group of people armed with weapons, he did not show any signs of panic. His expression made it seem like all that had happened was unrelated to him!

“The monk is good, we can’t butt heads with him.”

Yan Mountain Tiger might have thought that this matter was a little unbelievable, but there were plenty of things in the world of martial artists that were inconceivable, such as striking someone from the distance with a punch, the Throw Spirit Sphere, or even the hidden weapons that were very difficult to detect with the naked eye. All these things could allow someone to kill his brothers in one shot while the attacker did not even bat an eyelid. Of course, the prerequisite for it was that the monk before him was a very powerful fighter who had decided to live in seclusion!

If that was truly the case...

When he thought of this, Yan Mountain Tiger could not help but suck in a breath and take half a step backwards.

Someone behind him swiftly spoke up. “Big brother, are we really just going to let this slide? If we die once, we will have our abilities drop by 20%. Sixteenth and Thirteenth will need around a month before they can fully recover.”

“Third, do you have a better way? Do you want more of our brothers to die? He’s just an NPC. If we have anyone to blame, then we can only blame ourselves for having poor judgment when it comes to gauging someone’s skill level,” Yan Mountain Tiger said with a grave tone.

He then cast a cold and fierce glance at Third, who had been the one to speak. Third froze and did not say any more.

Yan Mountain Tiger’s anger did not fade. His gaze went past Monk Zhi Heng, and he scrutinized the walls of the dilapidated temple. He then let out a cold snort from his nose.

“He only knows how to hide! I refuse to believe that he can hide in this stupid temple for his entire life!”

The group swiftly sank into the darkness in the forest.

The moon was as cool as water, and the area around the temple returned to complete silence again.

“And they call themselves Seventeen Swordsmen of Yan Mountains. Bah.”

The two people who trailed them were in a bush that was even more hidden in the dark. They lowered their heads to look at the red dot on the map while feeling incredibly gloomy.

They had thought that they could successfully become the third party that would benefit, but Seventeen Swordsmen from Yan Mountains showed up to be useless. After they were frightened by the monk protecting the temple, they chose to not take any action.

As time passed, they did not attempt anything, and the sky gradually turned bright. The visibility in the forest slowly became better, and the duo became a little anxious.

“Why don’t we go to the back and see if we can enter the place?”

The eyes of one of them sparkled before he made a suggestion, but his companion soon reject his suggestion.

“Don’t. That monk is not simple. Judging from his ability to injure someone from a distance, his qi realm is extraordinary. The temple is small, if we try to enter like that, we won’t be able to hide from him.”

“Then, what should we do?” The person who made the suggestion frowned. “It won’t be easy to attack when it’s day. There are fifteen people in Yan Mountain Tiger’s group. With just the two of us, we’ll definitely not be able to handle them if we try to go up against them head on.”

He paused for a moment and cast a glance in the direction of the temple before continuing, “Besides, the person who got the tribute should have triggered some sort of quest. If he really wants to hide, he just needs to stay in the temple for a day. Once the emperor’s birthday is over, we can no longer do anything against him! That’s why I’m saying we don’t have any other way besides trying to break in with force.”

“But... forget the Seventeen Swordsmen of Yan Mountains, it’ll already be difficult enough to get past that baldy.” His companion sighed gravely, and a crease appeared between his eyebrows.

“I have an idea.”

“Hmm?”

“My guess is that the person in the temple won’t come out for the time being. Why don’t I go down the mountain now and leak the information?” He stopped speaking after that, but his companion’s eyes brightened.

“We can get all the parties to fight against each other! Great idea! I’m fast, let me go!”

“Come back quickly!”

“Got it.”

A black figure quietly left the temple while the sky was still dark and charged down the mountain.

Naturally, Happy did not know what had happened outside the temple. Once he followed Master Xuan Kong into the inner room, he saw books lined up against the four walls.

Everywhere he looked were the martial art manuals that signified all of Shaolin Temple’s martial arts. They were placed together in a very inconspicuous manner. There were most common ones, like Shaolin Staff Technique, Iron Head, Crossing Skill, Iron Broom, and Eagle Claw as well as the high-tier martial arts that were extremely expensive in the market, Arhat True Qi, Golden Bell Cocoon, Flowing Clouds Sleeve, Strongman’s Finger, Gecko Wall Climb, and Dragon Claw.

When Happy had entered the room in his previous life, he had been awed by the manuals. He had immersed in the atmosphere and longed to put all of them into his Universe Bag and become a martial art manual reseller.

In this life, Happy had prepared himself for the sight, hence, he did not let his eyes linger on them for long.

Master Xuan Kong was by Happy’s side to observe his expression and reaction. When he saw the calm gaze admiring all that was around him, he nodded slightly, and a faint look of praise appeared in his eyes.

“I wonder how your skills with Go are, young patron.”

With a smile, Master Xuan Kong pointed at the square table in the middle of the room. Dozens of black and white pieces had been placed on the board. It was clear that the game was nearing its end, but it had not ended just yet.