Sword Among Us

Panda Novel

At the entrance to the main hall of the first level of the royal mausoleum were corpses of the ninjas and the players. They had not disappeared yet, but the blood on the ground had dried up, and it was an abnormal black. Once the people from the four sects left, the many injured members from Soaring Tiger Sect, Hidden Soul Guild, and Beggar’s Sect occupied one corner each. Once they used Jinchuang Ointment and circulated their qi to heal their wounds, the hall portrayed the horrifying and desolate sight that would always emerge after a war.

No one noticed that one Soaring Tiger Sect member had disappeared from among the Soaring Tiger Sect group. After a while, they returned without alarming anyone.

The Soaring Tiger Sect members were surprised while the people from Beggar’s Sect and Hidden Soul Guild did not notice it.

When the expressions of the people from Soaring Tiger Sect changed upon seeing their companion appear beside them again, a snow white messenger pigeon appeared!

It flapped its wings, and the sound of it leaving broke the dull atmosphere in the hall. The bosses of Hidden Soul and Beggar’s Sect looked up and glanced at the people from Soaring Tiger Sect. Hidden Soul Guild’s boss turned his head around and looked at his arm, and a bitter look appeared on his face.

Losing an arm could be considered as a major thing in the game, but also as something minor.

Fortunately, the arm he lost was his left arm, which meant that he managed to preserve a certain degree of his fighting ability. Also, he did not lose his left arm completely. He had it preserved in his Universe Bag. Once he got out, he could search for a hospital and have the physicians there sew his arm back. He could then use some expensive medicine to restore himself to his peak condition.

However, before he found a physician, his combat ability would be compromised. His hopes of clearing the royal mausoleum were already quite low!

The people from the four sects had went into the depths of the royal mausoleum some time ago and had yet to retreat. The people from the three sects believed that they had managed to handle the situation, and because of it, they considered going deeper into the royal mausoleum once more.

However, if Hidden Soul Guild’s boss had to be truthful, with his abilities and the combat prowess of his remaining brothers, it would be very dangerous if they went in, and Beggar’s Sect as well as Soaring Tiger Sect were in the same situation. They were conflicted for a long period of time over the decision on whether they should take the risk or leave the royal mausoleum.

Right then, Hidden Soul Guild’s boss snapped out of his daze because of Soaring Tiger Sect’s messenger pigeon. He finally realized that it was time for him to make a decision. If he continued to stay there, he would just waste his time and show himself a coward.

“Everyone!”

He placed his fist in his palm and saluted the others with the severed arm. His pale face attracted quite a lot of attention and sympathetic gazes.

“We’ve rested for a long time, and it’s time for us to move. I wonder if you’ve come to a decision yet, my brothers. Should we venture deeper, or leave?”

Right after he finished speaking, the decision makers of Beggar’s Sect and Soaring Tiger Sect stood up from their camps as well.

“Leave?”

Before the person from Beggar’s Sect could speak, the man with the tanned face who stood up from Soaring Tiger Sect’s Camp took over the conversation with a bitter smile. He spoke with a mocking tone. “Where should we go?”

He then began to laugh in a self-deprecating manner.

The leader of Hidden Soul Guild had a puzzled look on his face. “Brother, what do you mean by that?”

“I’ll tell you the truth, I have a companion who logged off once just now. When he logged in again, he was still in this place. He never left the royal mausoleum.” He paused for a moment before he swept his gaze over the entire area, then he looked at the faces with the “excited” expressions. “Everyone, do you understand what this means?”

“What?!”

The boss of Hidden Soul Guild was the first to show astonishment on his face.

“This means that unless we find the correct way to leave this place, we will die trapped here. Of course, if we wait until tomorrow, we might be relocated outside. But there is also another possibility.”

It was clear that the man with the tanned face had thought about it for a long time. He looked around the main hall and said a possibility that made all the people’s hearts tremble in fear.

“There is a possibility that a trap will be activated in the royal mausoleum, and we will all be killed so that it can send us out of the royal mausoleum!”

Boom!

The people in the hall instantly burst into a commotion.

“Impossible!”

A few people did not believe in his words and chose to log off.

But soon, they appeared where they logged off, just as the man with the tanned skin had said they would.

The face of Hidden Soul Guild’s boss turned even paler.

His eyes sparkled for a moment. He trembled as he brought out his pen and paper. He wrote a sentence on it and sent the letter.

In truth, their masters had indeed given them a reminder while they gave them the quest that there were many traps in the royal mausoleum and they were to be careful. They had to quickly kill all the ninjas to be considered to have perfectly completed the quest.

But by then, not a single trap in the royal mausoleum had appeared!

The only things they saw were the ninjas’ ambush.

Hence, the words of the man with the tanned face from Soaring Tiger Sect were justified. At the moment the traps in the royal mausoleum were activated, everyone inside it might die.

However, Hidden Soul Guild still placed their hopes on the diviners in World of Martial Arts, who gave off the feeling that they could predict everything. They asked them to help them solve the question.

*****

A few Hidden Soul Guild members went out onto a street in a hurry and found a diviner who had set up his stall there. Without any hesitation, they brought out a bag of money and slammed it on the counter.

“I have a question.”

“If you are searching for your eight words, your fate with fortune, a person, or seeking the secrets of the universe, I can help you. Do tell me your request.”

The diviner grinned and grabbed the money bag. He watched the three people with an amicable gaze. “My divinations are accurate. As long as it is within the five magnetic forces[1], I will have no problem in figuring it out.”

“Oh? That’s perfect.” The members of Hidden Soul Guild looked at each other. Then, one person said, “Master, do you know of the royal mausoleum?”

“Royal mausoleum? There are plenty of royal mausoleums. There are plenty of emperors and princes who share different names from the royal family. All of them have built royal mausoleums. Could you tell me the details? Which one are you referring to?”

The diviner stroked his graying beard.

The player cast the area around him a wary glance. Then, he leaned over and whispered into the diviner’s ears.

The diviner’s expression changed swiftly, and he stared at the trio in front of him incredulously.

“Yan Dynasty’s royal mausoleum? You actually found the royal mausoleum of the former dynasty, Yan Dynasty?”

Countless people immediately turned their eyes onto them.

Dynasties and royal mausoleums were shocking words. Naturally, it caused the imaginations of many players in the area to run wild, and they quickly surrounded the stall.

‘This damn old man!’

Even though they knew that diviners were not people who could protect secrets, the trio from Hidden Soul Guild still felt gloomy, as if they had been set up by the diviner. Hence, they decided to just admit it. “That’s right, it’s Yan Dynasty’s royal mausoleum. We want to know how we can get out.”

“This is…” The diviner put on a troubled look.

The three people from Hidden Soul Guild clearly knew the trade. They just brought out another bag of money.

The diviner said nothing.

They gave him another bag of money!

The diviner grinned and put away the three money bags into his bosom. This action finally made the trio from Hidden Soul Guild release a sigh of relief.

In truth, they were very worried that three money bags would not be enough to buy the service from the diviner.

The diviner brought out a turtle shell and coin used for divination. He shook them and made them make clear sounds. Then, they fell on the Eight Trigrams diagram.

He frowned.

Then, right under countless players’ attentive gazes, he said slowly, “Nine dies, one lives, one mercy. Hmm… Living Door opens once every twenty-four hours. It is not acceptable to leave at this time… This means that within twenty-four hours, you must find the exit, or else, Living Door will close, and all will die.”

The expressions of the members of Hidden Soul Guild changed swiftly. They quickly sent a messenger pigeon with the divination’s results into the royal mausoleum.

*****

Hidden Soul Guild’s boss crushed the paper while feeling speechless!

“Damn it! We actually ran into this sort of quest that guarantees certain death?!”

Once the guess was proved to be right, the people in the main hall went wild.

“What the heck?!”

“If we sit around, we’re just going to die! Let’s just slaughter our way inside!”

“That’s right!”

“Those from the four sects are still inside. They definitely know more than we do!”

“Let’s go! Come on, we have to go!”

Once some of the people stirred up the others’ motivation and the decision makers agreed to their suggestion tacitly, many people stood up, and the three sects formed groups to surge into the tunnel with a mighty momentum.

Very soon, the main hall in the royal mausoleum became completely empty.