Sword Among Us

When Happy returned to the game, he sent Phoenix Dances the forty or so equipment and masterpieces he gathered from the royal mausoleum. He then rode on Hoof Shadow to a small port town near Gusu City.

Shanhe [1] was an entrepot for Gusu City, and many merchants sent their goods to Changjiang through there. Then, they would transfer those goods to nearby cities or used the sea to send them everywhere in the country. They might even send the goods out of the country. The convenient maritime transport allowed many merchants to gather in one place, making Shanhe into a small city, and the place bustled with activity.

When Happy stood at the port with the wind against his face, he could see a huge transport fleet nearby. The Murong Clan flag tied to the bowsprit was very eye-catching.

He put away his horse and arrived near the transport fleet. Someone immediately came down from the ship with majestic gait. He was a middle-aged man with a brocade robe. There were two martial artists who looked like armed escorts behind him, so they were probably his bodyguards.

“I am Xu Hong. Greetings, Officer Happy.” The presence of a wanderer was thick around Xu Hong, and he was very wary. When he arrived in front of Happy and wrapped his fist in his palm to speak to him, his two subordinates looked around them warily.

“Thank you for waiting for me for so long, Officer Xu.” Happy wrapped his fist in his palm and returned the salute.

Xu Hong laughed boisterously. “Officer Happy, you are far too polite. The wind outside is great, so why don’t we talk on the ship?”

“Alright, please, lead the way!”

“This way, please!”

The group entered a rather large cargo ship.

Happy noticed that every cargo ship was basically the same. The ship bilge was filled with bags of salt. Around them stood thirty or forty strong and capable armed escorts and archers, so the defenses were not weak.

Under Xu Hong’s lead, Happy entered the second level of the cargo ship. It was a quiet and elegant place. His field of vision was also wide while there. A few servant girls brought them tea before stepping away.

“Please, sit down.”

Happy did not put on any acts of courtesy and simply sat down.

After that, they exchanged a few pleasantries before Xu Hong led the topic to the item protection quest.

“Officer Happy, I have to tell the truth. The path we’ll be taking is one that I have traveled for a few years. I have gone through hundreds of battles, both big and small. Even though I have suffered losses before, I can be considered to have greeted the pirates in Changjiang and offered them gifts in exchange for their support. They were also intimidated by the Murong Clan’s fame, and we have enjoyed around a year of peace and quiet.”

Happy nodded without a word.

Xu Hong’s tone changed. “The escort for the salt ship fleet this time might not be small, but I still have confidence that we can arrive at our destination safely. However, when we were prepared to head out a few days ago, a letter came from our clan, and they delayed our departure with a great sense of urgency. We have been held back for a few days without reason.

“I do not understand what the lady is worried about, however. If we delay our journey any longer, these goods might end up going past their expiry date, and the Murong Clan will be considered to have broken their promise.

“The lady said that the moment I reach the fleet, it may set sail,” Happy said calmly.

Xu Hong’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Truly!”

Xu Hong stood up with a whoosh. “Then, I will be at ease. If we set sail immediately and head forward at full speed, we will be able to send the goods on time.”

As he spoke, he gave an order to a person beside him, and the man quickly walked outside the room.

“Boss Xu gave his order! The fleet is to set sail!”

A loud voice spread across the surface of the river.

The people on board the large ship fleet quickly got to work.

Soon, Happy felt the ship begin moving. Wind from the river blew at his face, which was a really refreshing and pleasant feeling. He then immediately stopped talking to Xu Hong so that he could stand up, draw the curtains, and head out.

“Officer Happy, since you were sent by the lady to escort the ship fleet, if you have anything you need from me, please tell me.” Once Xu Hong finished speaking, he wrapped his fist in his palm toward Happy and left to command the ship fleet.

Happy stared at Xu Hong’s back for a while before he redirected his gaze to the rising and falling waves.

The item protection quest he had received was very strange.

The Murong Clan had received information that someone might attack the ship fleet, but the source of the information was of unknown origins.

Xu Hong had also not received any clues.

The contents of the quest were not about escorting anything either. Happy was just to follow the ship fleet and observe. That left him quite puzzled. He had to pay attention to his surroundings to see whether he could gain additional rewards.

While he stood at the second level and watched the ship, the fleet rode through the waves along with the wind. It moved forward steadily. The armed escorts stood in their positions and carried out their duties as well. Everything was calm.

‘I’ll go around and look.’

Since Happy was bored, once he observed the situation for a while, he went downstairs, to the bow of the ship

Xu Hong was at the deck. When he heard the sound of footsteps, he turned his head around and cast Happy a glance, but he did not say anything. He held a map in his hands and stared ahead with a few armed escorts.

Happy was not concerned.

Unless something special happened, NPCs would not acknowledge players.

Once Happy observed the situation at the first level, he turned around and went to the bilge, which was where the salt bags were contained. After all, the salt was the main protected items in his quest. Perhaps he could find some clues there.

But after wandering around the bilge, he found nothing.

When he understood that there was nothing to be found there, he returned to the second level.

The fleet continued to sail forward calmly, and nothing strange happened.

‘What exactly am I supposed to do for this quest?’

Since Happy was on a ship, he had a limited space to move around. He frowned and thought about it while feeling quite bored. He suddenly regretted his decision to accept the quest a little.

‘Could this be just a normal item protection quest? Am I just to kill pirates?’

If it was the latter, that the quest was simply a waste of his time.

Hence, Happy opened his Universe Bag and started sorting out the remaining spoils from his trip to the royal mausoleum.

Aside from equipment and masterpieces, his greatest reward was Nation Protecting Divine Sword and Golden Armor. Even though the former was only semi-completed and the latter was so heavily damaged that he could not equip it, there was a chance for Nation Protecting Divine Sword to enter the ranks of demon vessels as long as the time was right.

As for Golden Armor, once he reached Baokang and found a crystal mine, getting Stone with Water and Unakite would no longer be a dream. Once he repaired it, Golden Armor would be as good as new, and it would become incredibly domineering!

Happy looked forward to that day!

There were also a few other spoils. One of them was the miracle medicine for treating wounds, Small Reversion Pill, which the Murong Clan Lady had rewarded him, and the thousand-year red ginseng which he took in the royal mausoleum and which could stimulate the potential in a human body. Within a short period of time, it could increase a player’s qi realm as well as 10% of their combat abilities.

Happy had also received a few martial art manuals.

One of them was the high-tier throwing knife technique—Shadowless Knife, and Happy observed the requirements to practice it. His qi realm and attributes had surpassed the requirements by a large margin, so he did not hesitate to immediately learn it.

The damage of Lancet Knife Throwing Technique could no longer catch up to Happy’s level. The new throwing knife technique came at the right time, and its damage was pretty good as well. The effect of the knives splitting basically meant that he would deliver three times the damage. However, he would be using a lot more throwing knives in the process, because he had to throw three knives at once. He also had to aim even more accurately than before.

The other manual was for Shadow Sword Technique. However, this technique was something that Happy would never practice. He was prepared to give it to someone with the Black Demon Sword he had deliberately kept instead of selling to Beautiful Robes Faction.

The Three Lonely Wolves’ strength was considered to be below average in Beautiful Robes Faction. Due to the lack of time, many people caught up and surpassed them. But Happy knew that the trio loved the game, so it would not be good if they got too far behind. Hence, Happy had been thinking about finding a special martial art technique for them.

Coincidentally, Shadow Sword Technique fit his requirements.

But right then, he was uncertain as to when he could hand the technique over.