Sword Among Us

‘Everything that can go wrong will go wrong…’

The system notification rang in his mind.

“Ding!

“Triggered Sword of Heavenly Lake Plate Quest.”

The general gist of the quest was that Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction’s faction leader plate was stolen by a mysterious woman who hid herself in Purple Bamboo Forest. Right now, its whereabouts were unknown.

Happy had been dragged into a bizarre incident!

The quest required Happy to follow the female disciples and meet the Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction’s leader so that he can tell them exactly what happened to prove his own innocence.

Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction was located at the summit of Heaven Mountain. Its building was not as grand as the other sects, but it gave off a lofty presence, making them appear noble, unsullied, and had completely become one with the world.

On the way to meet the faction leader, NPC disciples of Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction will continuously cast curious glances at him.

To avoid the people from seeing his face, Happy put on a Bamboo Hat over his head and covered his real face while he followed the four to hurry into a big hall in the faction.

“Wait here. The faction leader will be here immediately.”

The four female disciples stared at Happy with the gaze that they were wary of thieves. Every one of them occupied one of the four cardinal directions, as if they were afraid that Happy was about to run away, and Happy found himself having nothing to say about this at all.

With his strength, it will be very easy to flee from this place, even if the faction leader of Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction was a Myth Realm Martial artist.

But Happy really wanted to know just what sort of profound secret the master of Purple Bamboo Forest had when she handed the plate to him, and what sort of abstruse secret was contained inside this Sword of Heavenly Faction Plate.

Just when Happy touched the warm plate in his hands, he suddenly sensed that the light behind him had dimmed, and the female disciples around him wrapped their hands around their swords and saluted a person.

“Faction leader!”

Their voices were orderly, and they were very respectful.

When Happy turned his head around to look, he was instantly dumbfounded.

‘Master of Purple Bamboo Forest!

‘But she’s the thief!

‘And now she’s the faction master?!’

“You may leave now.” The master of Purple Bamboo Forest moved about elegantly. With light footsteps, she walked into the hall, and her eyes wandered about Happy’s stunned and bewildered face before a faint smile appeared on her lips. She ordered the disciples in the hall to leave.

The group of disciples quickly answered to her orders.

“Y-you’re Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction’s leader?”

“Indeed.” The master of Purple Bamboo Forest walked past Happy.

Happy turned around in a flabbergasted manner and cried out at her back, “But you’re also the master of Purple Bamboo Forest?”

“That is true as well.” The answer from the master of Purple Bamboo Forest completely threw Happy into a loop.

“But you’re the one who gave me this plate.”

“I know.”

The master of Purple Bamboo Forest finally stopped walking and turned around. “At that time, you’re just a young boy who has not even entered Gate Realm yet, but you managed to receive three attacks from my sword servant. You have great potential, and you are a genius with amazing talent in martial arts. At that time, I did indeed want you to come back with me to Heaven Mountain, but unfortunately, the journey back here was long, and the environment around Heaven Mountain was bad. You are just a child as well…”

“Urk…” Happy had nothing to say about that. When he listened to the master of Purple Bamboo Forest speak freely to him, he felt various emotions churning in his heart.

“But this plate—”

“Is something I created spontaneously. It’s fake.” One single sentence that was spoken lightly by the master of Purple Bamboo Forest was enough to strike Happy dumb again. “If you had come to me at Heaven Mountain after overcoming various difficulties, perhaps I would have given you a chance to inherit Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction’s legacy, but I didn’t expect that in the end, you would still have joined the Murong Clan completely.”

She remained silent for a while. Then, the master of Purple Bamboo Forest changed her tone. “But you still didn’t let me down. In just a short two years, you managed to rise to fame in the world of martial artists, and you have also inherited the entire legacy of the Murong Clan. As expected of the person I chose.”

Happy’s mind was still in a mess, but he still answered humbly, “You praise me too much. But I’m curious. Since you gave me a fake plate, why did you mention that a thief stole your plate?”

This was indeed something that he could not understand, perhaps…

Right when he figured something out, just as he expected, the master of Purple Bamboo Forest sighed. “In truth, when I made the fake plate, it’s because I can no longer retrieve the real plate. It’s true that the real authenticating token for Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction’s leader was stolen by someone two years ago. That’s why I brought my sword servant to chase after the thief into Jiangnan. But unfortunately, that person is very good. Every time we find a clue about him, he will manage to run away.”

Happy finally had a look of understanding appear on his face. He had a vague idea of what was going on now.

The master of Purple Bamboo Forest had been dispirited, and when she was prepared to leave, she casually handed over the fake plate as an authenticating token for Happy.

“I see.” Happy instantly breathed a large sigh of relief.

“By the way, you must have a reason why you came to Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction this time, yes?” The master of Purple Bamboo Forest used a gaze that made her seem as if she could see through everything, and there was a ghost of a smile on her face.

“That is true. I wish to enter Heavenly Lake, and I hope that you will approve of my request.”

“Heavenly Lake?” The master of Purple Bamboo Forest smiled softly. “Heavenly Lake is an important place for Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction. It is the place to understand the essence of Sword of Heavenly Lake Technique, and it can be considered as the sacred ground for the faction. Based on faction rules, all outsiders are not allowed inside.”

“I do indeed have something I need to attend to, and I have no other choice but to complete it in Heavenly Lake. Please allow me to enter, faction leader.” Happy requested earnestly.

“Just what is it that requires you to enter our sacred ground, Heavenly Lake?” The master of Purple Bamboo Forest smiled and asked, “Even I, the faction leader, cannot release anyone I like into that place as I please, unless…”

“Unless?” When he heard the master of Purple Bamboo Forest dropping a hint, Happy quickly asked.

“Unless he or she is a person who has provided great service to the faction or is a person the faction owes a debt of gratitude to. Those are the only outsiders who are allowed to enter my faction’s sacred grounds.” The answer from the master of Purple Bamboo Forest caused Happy’s heart to instantly become heavy.

‘Great service?’

A quest that will let the player provide a great service to a faction was definitely not any normal quest.

But Happy will not miss the chance to nurture Heaven Crystal.

“Please tell me the details, faction leader.”

The master of Purple Bamboo Forest answered, “We don’t have anything that is of great urgency lately, so I cannot help you in that regard as well. Our faction keeps a distance from the Chinese world of martial artists, and we have always held ourselves aloof from worldly conflicts so that we can live freely. Our only regret is that Sword of Heavenly Lake’s plate is currently outside somewhere in the world.”

Happy was stunned silent. His body trembled.

The master of Purple Bamboo Forest had already said her subsequent words. “If you want to help me retrieve the authenticating token for Sword of Heavenly Lake’s leader, and by that, I mean the real Sword of Heavenly Lake Plate, I will not mind letting you enter Heavenly Lake.”

“Ding!”

Right when she finished speaking, the system quickly gave him a notification to ask whether Happy will receive the quest.

Happy instantly smiled wanly.

With his current experience, it was not difficult for him to tell that the master of Purple Bamboo Forest should already be at Myth Realm.

If someone as powerful as the master of Purple Bamboo Forest cannot even retrieve Sword of Heavenly Lake Plate, he can just imagine just how difficult the quest was!

Happy sucked in a breath, and he still braced his courage to agree to this. “I will try my best. Please tell me who stole Sword of Heavenly Lake Plate.”

The master of Purple Bamboo Forest was delighted.

“Sword of Heavenly Lake Plate has left Sword of Heavenly Lake Faction for more than two years, and if you can help me retrieve this item, I promise you, I will let you enter Heavenly Lake as many times as you please!”

“That’s a promise!”

“But this person’s identity is a little tricky. He doesn’t belong to any sect, and he doesn’t have any worries tying him down. He is also very powerful, which is why many people are not willing to provoke him.” The master of Purple Bamboo Forest slowly mentioned a person’s name, and Happy’s pupils shrank.