Sword Among Us

The strength of those reconnoiterers were not as great as the Mongolian cavaliers. The three reconnoiterers did not even have a place to run to when they faced four powerful martial artists from the Chinese plains, and they died in a pool of their own blood.

The system notification arrived.

“Ding!

“Completed mission to kill enemy reconnoiterers. Current progress of Reconnaissance Quest: 30%.”

But that was not all to the notifications from the system.

“Ding!

“The enemy reconnoiterers have released a signal flare. The patrols are rushing over here, and the main army is prepared to mobilize a large group of cavaliers to surround the area to search for you! Your progress in drawing the map will temporarily come to a stop.

“Quickly leave this troublesome place and avoid catching the army’s attention. You must also avoid entering the patrols’ sights.”

All four people received the warning at the same time, and Xu Jun’s expression changed.

“We’re currently in enemy territory. Where are we supposed to run to in this kind of time?”

As someone in the party spoke, all four of them heard the faint sounds of horse hooves traveling over from afar.

‘This is bad!’

Bloody Lake had even stated that the reconnaissance mission was not difficult at all just now, but right then, his expression turned incredibly sour. Patrols had appeared from the east and north at the same time, and all of them appeared in groups of five.

And the party could clearly sense the group trembling faintly. Their expressions turned pale.

A large group of cavaliers!

If they only had to face a few Mongolian cavaliers, they might be able to handle them, but when a large group of cavaliers rushed over, only Happy alone was confident that he could get out of this unscathed.

“Why are you still daydreaming?! Run!”

Bloody Lake hastily brought out his Horse Plate, but Xu Jun stopped him. “And where do you think we can run? If we summon our steeds at this moment, it’ll basically be the same as telling the enemy our location!”

“Then what should we do?! We can’t just wait here for our deaths!” When he saw the cavaliers drawing closer to them and their figures becoming clearer, Bloody Lake swiftly cast a glance at the area around him, summoned his Hoof Shadow, and jumped on it.

“You—”

They were in grave danger, and there was no way Bloody Lake could care about the other people in his party. He swung his whip and headed to the opposite direction of the enemy camp.

Even though that person was rash, he was not so rash as to not understand his current situation. The direction in which he went to had no patrolling squad, and he also avoided the main cavalier unit from the main camp.

But Happy, Xu Jun, and Young Yu Yan all knew that once he exposed himself like this, Bloody Lake will definitely be targeted by the patrol squad, and with the Mongolian cavaliers’ speed on the plains, he might not be able to run.

It had to be known that even though there were not many of these Mongolian cavaliers, this small party had to be incredibly careful and exploit the element of surprise when they attacked the patrolling squads they ran into on their way here. They ambushed them so that their attacks were effective!

In other words, they had never confronted them head on before…

Under the trio’s gazes, the two patrolling squads who appeared in their sights did indeed have their attention captured by Bloody Lake. They quickly changed their direction and chased after Bloody Lake.

Happy resolutely looked away and said hurriedly, “Since he left, we don’t have to bother about him. Based on the tremors from the ground, the main cavalier unit is still a distance away from us. I intend to risk it and try avoiding them.”

“I agree!”

“But other patrols might appear in other directions. If we move now, we might be discovered by them…” Young Yu Yan reminded them worriedly.

“We don’t need to move.” Happy smiled faintly. He walked to the spot where the three reconnoiterers disguised and hid themselves before he lifted a pelt that was covered in grass and dirt to reveal a huge cave, and it was perfect to hide three people.

“This is a pelt for disguise! Wonderful!” Xu Jun was delighted.

The three reconnoiterers had not revealed a single hint of themselves when they hid themselves in this place. However, Xu Jun and his party had been busy with killing them, and their hearts had become tense because of the patrols, causing them to forget about something so important.

“We can’t afford to delay matters anymore. Let’s hide.”

With Happy’s reminder, the trio quickly put on a camouflage for the pelt before they laid in the hole and spread the pelt over themselves.

Happy used his spiritual senses to examine their disguise. Once he was certain that there were no flaws, he became at ease. They were in a place with a bumpy and complicated terrain, and they will not be stepped over by the main cavalier unit.

“It’s a pity. If Bloody Lake had not left…” Xu Jun sighed softly in the hole.

“If he didn’t leave, we’d have died.” But Happy just threw some words at him aloofly, and Xu Jun was instantly rendered speechless.

What he said was true.

This hole, which had been prepared by the enemy reconnoiterers beforehand, could only hide three people, and if no one had attracted the patrols’ attention, they will still have the danger of having themselves exposed.

When he saw Xu Jun falling silent, Happy continued giving orders softly, “Let’s not talk anymore. It’ll be less than half an hour before night falls. At that time, the patrols’ field of vision will be limited, and it’ll not be difficult for us to deal with them. When it’s dark, we’ll head out and continue with our mission.”

“Okay.”

Xu Jun and Xu Xin blinked to show their understanding.

No other sound came out of the hole. To the world outside, this place was a desolate plain of grassland, and there was nothing abnormal about it.

But during the final half an hour, the main cavalier unit rode past with loud rumbling sounds, and it was very close to the trio’s hiding place. The rumbling sounds practically made the trio faint.

Fortunately, they left just as quickly as they left.

The armored cavaliers rode past without ever stopping.

But since it was not dark just yet, the trio still did not move, and they did not dare to, because they were not certain whether there were still any patrols behind them.

Just as expected, faint sounds of horse hooves rose, and squads of cavaliers rode past them one after another. It was only then that the sky gradually darkened.

*****

Whoosh!

At the moment the pelt was lifted, the trio shot out of the hole at the fastest speed. They formed a triangle, and they quickly looked into different directions with wary gazes.

Stars sparkled above the plains, but it was still difficult for them to look far into the distance.

The faint breeze at night blew through the quiet plains, and it was only then that the trio heaved long sighs. This time, they were truly safe.

The system notification arrived.

“Ding!

“Completed mission to hide your tracks. Current progress of Reconnaissance Quest: 40%.

“Completed mission to disguise yourself and avoid being discovered by patrols. Current progress of Reconnaissance Quest: 50%.

“Completed mission to avoid being captured by the main cavalier unit. Current progress of Reconnaissance Quest: 60%.

“You are now out of danger. Topography function will be activated once more. Current progress of drawing the map of the enemy territory: 20%… 21%…

“Current unfinished missions of the quest, drawing the map and searching for the supply route.”

The continuous stream of system notifications caused the trio to fall silent for a period of time.

Xu Jun approached them and cast Happy and Xu Jun a glance before he said, “The system just told me that I still have two segments left in my quest.”

As he spoke, he tried to control his voice so that his voice will only be transmitted among the party.

“Here’s what I’m thinking. We should be able to complete drawing the map at night, and at that time, we can get more than an 80% completion rate for the quest. This quest can get us one thousand points, and everyone can get at least eight hundred points for an 80% completion rate.”

“Are you saying that you don’t intend to find the food supply route and complete the last segment of the quest?” Happy could tell that he intended to back down.

Xu Jun smiled wanly. “What else would I be implying? The situation right now for us is a little better because it’s nighttime. We won’t have a problem in drawing the map, but you saw what happened just now. Those damn reconnoiterers actually know how to put on a disguise and hide themselves. If we’re discovered, what should we do?”

He stopped talking for a moment, and he continued with a solemn tone, “We’re very close to the enemy camp right now, and that means there’ll be even more reconnoiterers. The risk of us being discovered will be greater as well. As for the supply route, we have absolutely no clue where it is. Instead of taking a risk over here, it’s better to go back and hand in the quest. Eight hundred points is already pretty good.”

“If you want to leave, you can go. I’m not leaving. It took us so much effort to sneak here, and we haven’t even the chance to kill many enemies. It’s too much of a waste to leave right now.” Happy stated his stance calmly, and his gaze landed on Young Yu Yan.

“What do you intend to do?”