Sword Among Us

Panda Novel

“Eldest senior brother!”

Soon after he returned to the game, Happy heard a strange address when he walked through the front yard, but he did not pay any attention to it. He continued walking forward until someone caught up to him from behind.

“Eldest senior brother.”

It was only then that Happy realized that the person had been calling him. With a weirded out expression, he stopped, turned around, and stared at the man who had caught up to him. He was not unfamiliar with his face. He was a disciple who was in charge of chopping wood in the front yard, and he had yet to be taken into the clan as a real disciple.

“Are you calling me?”

“Yes, eldest senior brother. You’re the first disciple in the Murong Clan, so it’s only natural that you’re our eldest senior brother! I’ve also just been taken in as a member of the Murong Clan by the butler. The butler asked me to learn from you, eldest senior brother.”

The excitement on the man’s face could not be hidden. He stared at the boy before him dressed in blue robes with his hand holding onto the Noble Sword and saw in him an elegant martial artist who wandered the lands. He did not care that he was older than the person before him. His eyes sparkled while he explained his reason for intruding upon him.

“Ah… ahaha. You flatter me. And you are?”

“Whirlwind Young Li. Senior brother, you can just call me Young Li Zi.” Young Li spoke as if he was a machine gun, but he also had the boldness and heroism of a wandering martial artist, which left a good first impression on Happy.

He nodded and said, “I’m really not worthy of being known as your senior brother. My name is Happy, you can just call me Hap—”

“Alright, Eldest Senior Brother Happy!”

When he saw that his eldest senior brother did not put on airs, Young Li was even more excited. He addressed him by his name and title very seriously, and his earnest expression made Happy not know whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

Young Li then told him that he had received a quest to go out of the city. Happy nodded and agreed to chat with him while they did so.

“Eldest senior brother, no one can win against your fame in Gusu City!” Young Li’s respectful tone and words stunned Happy.

“Fame? What fame?” Happy asked, curious.

He had been busy practicing his knife throwing technique lately, so he truly did not know that he had already received the title of Blue-robed Noble Sword User and Eldest Senior Brother of the Murong Clan. And those titles were acknowledged by all the players in Gusu City.

“Wow, you really don’t know about it?”

Young Li looked at him with an exaggerated expression and let slip the information he had received over the last couple days. As it was becoming normal, he talked like a machine gun.

“Two Bloody Heroes came to Gusu City for a few days and challenged around a dozen pros. They were really cool, but both lost to your sword. They ran back to wherever they came from crestfallen a few days ago, so don’t tell me that you aren’t the reason for their departure.

“Also! There are very few people who can handle the rascals and ruffians in the taverns outside the city, but every single time you can retreat safely. Some people even said that you’re using them to practice your martial arts. Someone also said that with your current abilities, you could easily complete the mission from the tavern and defeat those rascals.

“Do you want to tell all those are fabricated?”

“Two Bloody Heroes?”

Soon, Happy linked the title to Wu Hou and Luo Xiaotian, whom he had defeated on the road. He reckoned that it was their nickname, but he did not know that they had already challenged around a dozen experts in Gusu City…

But once he thought about it from another angle, he found that those people could actually not be called experts at all. They were all a bunch of greenhorns. Why were they pretending to be experts?

But when he heard Young Li talk about the rascals and ruffians, Happy could not help but be troubled!

He did not think that the other players would notice it so soon. It would seem that he would not be able to have exclusive rights to the rascals and ruffians in the future. When he thought about this, he could not help but find this matter regrettable.

“Haha, Eldest Senior Brother Happy, you’re not disagreeing with my words, so you’re acknowledging them, right? I knew it. The Murong Clan is the strongest in all of Gusu City. Heh heh, by looking at your deeds, I knew I came to the right place, eldest senior brother.”

Young Li’s smile grew brighter, and he began talking even more. “Tsk tsk, eldest senior brother, you already received the beautiful title of Blue-robed Noble Sword User. I wonder whether I, Young Li, will have such a resounding and elegant name in the future too.”

Happy found himself rendered speechless. He had a stupefied and surprised expression on his face again.

Blue-robed Noble Sword User!

Was this going to be his nickname in the future?

Even though it made him sound like an outwardly attractive but worthless person and perhaps even like a wolf in sheep’s clothing… it was still pretty good. It was simple and elegant.

He smiled in a self-deprecating manner. Happy did not say much to Young Li. He only listened quietly to him talk off the top of his head about Gusu City’s situation.

Young Li attracted quite a lot of attention by walking beside the Blue-robed Noble Sword User, and his excitement could not be described with words. It was as if he wanted to achieve all his aspirations within his heart from that moment onwards.

When they reached the city gate, the two of them parted ways.

“Eldest Senior Brother Happy, if you have anything that needs to be done in the future, just give me a holler. I, Whirlwind Young Li, will definitely do a good job with whatever you ask of me, no matter how hard the task is!”

As he watched Young Li place his fist in his palm and step on the government-made road, Happy could not help but smile. He remembered himself when he had just joined World of Martial Arts. At that time, he was also like Young Li and spoke in the tone of the old wanderers who traveled the lands. He was filled with passion and enthusiasm, but later on…

When he remembered the regret he had when he missed the chance to fight against the other fifteen powerful martial artists in the Sword Among Us tournament in Mount Hua and how a certain someone set up that scheme at the foot of Shaoshi Mount, the smile on Happy’s face gradually gained a hint of anguish and dejectedness.

One of those people was the person he had once loved the most.

The other was a person he had trusted.

But they made all the blood, sweat, and tears he paid over the three years end up in vain.

When he thought of this, Happy could not help but tighten his grip around the Noble Sword. His knuckles turned white, and he made an oath in his heart.

‘I will definitely think of a way to reach the height I never managed to reach in my previous life, and I will stand at an even higher place compared to before!

‘The strongest group of people in the legend… just you wait!

‘One emperor!

‘Two empresses!

‘Three kings!

‘Seven dukes!

‘Thirteen aces!

‘No matter who it is among you who set up that ambush at the foot of Shaoshi Mount, no matter who you are, even if you are a blessed child who inherited Nine Yin, Nine Yang, even if you are Dugu Qiubai’s [1] disciple, and even if you are Sweeper Monk’s [2] successor, I, Happy, will find you, regardless of how great your power is…

‘I will fulfill the oath I swore before the Sword Among Us tournament at that time, and I will absolutely defeat all of you! I will make them sort out the ranks on the Heavenly Ranking Board of Ghost Valley Mystery Rank again!’

Translator’s Note:

[1] Dugu Qiubai: a fictional character who is mentioned by name in three wuxia novels by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). He does not appear in any of the novels because he lived in an era long before the events of the novels took place. Nicknamed “Sword Devil” to reflect his prowess and devotion to the practice of swordplay, he attains the philosophical level of “swordsmanship without a sword”, which means that he uses swordplay techniques in combat without the physical existence of a sword.

[2] Sweeper Monk: a nameless monk of unknown origin in charge of maintaining the library of Shaolin. The monk is very, very powerful.