Sword Among Us

Panda Novel

In Beijing, there was a sect that was not considered small. The gate to its headquarters was open. The two bronze-colored doors had been pushed open by the force of two palms, and it had been so great that they had cracked slightly. The shattered parts fell on the floor along with a shattered plate. Within the headquarters was a black flag that symbolized the glory of the sect. It had been mercilessly trampled by Embroidered Uniform Guards in Flying Fish Suit who moved about the place.

Thud! Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud…

An endless stream of movement quickly gathered in the headquarters.

Batches of Embroidered Uniform Guards gathered in the empty space outside the hall and the corridors. Their weapons flashed, filled with a murderous air. They surrounded the hall so tightly that not even a fly could escape.

A large group of archers also held their bows and stood on the city walls!

Wherever someone looked, they would find arrows pointed at the gate of the hall!

The archers were ready to shoot at any moment!

“The governor has arrived!”

As a loud and sonorous shout rose, the Embroidered Uniform Guards split to the left and right like a tidal wave starting from the gate.

Immediately after, three Embroidered Uniform Guard leaders dressed in gorgeous clothes strode forward with their swords in hand. One of them moved before the other two. They moved past the corpses littered all over the ground and arrived outside the hall.

The person in the lead was well built. The vein at his temple throbbed visibly, and while he walked forward in a majestic gait, he gave off an extremely oppressive air. Once he stopped, he swept his gaze over the area with a cold gaze. In the end, his sight landed on the inner side of the hall, which had mostly been destroyed, and the doors could no longer hide what was inside the hall.

A large group of men and women in embroidered robes with indignant and terrified expressions stood there. Their weapons were pointed outward, but they did not take even half a step forward, because before them were a large number of their companions’ corpses, which were covered with arrows!

“I am the governor of Beijing. I have come with sacred orders to get rid of all thieves who dare to snatch the tributes!” The man in the embroidered uniform had a stern face. While holding his hands high up, he announced coldly, “Black Rain Sect has rebelled against the throne and stolen the tributes for the emperor. Their crimes cannot be pardoned! On this day, I shall let you know the consequences of going up against the imperial court. Guards!”

The governor took a step backward and swung his arm.

“Kill all those in Black Rain Sect!”

The moment he finished speaking, fierceness entered the eyes of the hundreds of Embroidered Uniform Guards. The men were filled with a murderous aura.

“Attack!”

Whoosh!

Endless arrows shot forth from the city walls. They were fired from powerful bows and could easily take people’s lives. They pierced through the doors and windows that were not exactly sturdy and tore apart Black Rain Sect’s final shelter…

Quite a number of players did not have any space to move or dodge. They could only watch as countless arrows come toward them and pierced bloody holes in their bodies. They fell to the ground in dejectedness.

Bang! Bang!

When the volley of arrows was over, the doors and windows, which had already been torn to shreds, were blown apart by a powerful force. Large groups of Embroidered Uniform Guards tore down the walls like ferocious wolves, and they killed all who did not belong to them!

The Embroidered Uniform Guards, who attacked the headquarters of various sects, were the elite guards among them. They were all in Blessed Realm. With the Embroidered Uniform Guards’ high-level Flying Fish Suit, Heart Protection Mirror[1], and soft armor, their defense was not something a normal player could destroy…

The sect members of Black Rain Sect fought for a few seconds before they realized that they were not the Embroidered Uniform Guards’ opponents. The enemy came at them with a mighty force which made Black Rain Sect seem like a brittle twig that could break with a snap. Their people fell one after another, reduced one by one!

The sect master of Black Rain Sect was protected at the very back.

When he saw that the walls of the sect around him had been torn down and that the people beside him grew less and less, a hint of grief appeared in his eyes when he realized that his sect was about to be destroyed.

“You dogs of the imperial court! Come and kill me!”

With a roar, the sect master of Black Rain Sect lifted the great axe in his hands. Like a train, he forced back two powerful Embroidered Uniform Guards and rushed into the crowd!

“Protect the sect master!”

“Attack together!”

“Damn it! Kill them! If we kill one, we can make things even, but if we kill two, it’ll make all this worth it!”

Under the lead of their sect master, the few remaining sect members of Black Rain Sect exploded with astonishing fighting spirit. They rushed out in a desperate attempt to break the encirclement.

But right when they reached the entrance…

Whoosh!

A volley of arrows filled the sky. The Black Rain Sect master couldn’t even gain a solid footing before the countless archers guarding the city walls turned him into a porcupine. The light in his eyes swiftly disappeared.

Thud!

His knees caved, and he fell. His head, which was proud and filled with indignation and anger, bowed down in an unnatural angle.

The slaughter did not last for long.

A few minutes later, the cornerstone of the headquarters of Black Rain Sect was destroyed. When the Embroidered Uniform Guards left, the sect was completely erased from the world of martial artists!

This stunned all the players in the game.

As the news spread, at least thirty or so sects in Beijing were destroyed by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Western Depot, Eastern Depot, and Six Doors led huge groups of people to annihilate various sects. Wherever they went, no one survived.

When the emperor was furious, the heavens and earth would change!

At the same time he mobilized the Embroidered Uniform Guards and other law enforcement organizations to suppress the sects, the force of his wrath gradually increased! With Beijing as its center, it swiftly spread to the cities around the area.

Soon, the big sects received the news, and all those who brought the tributes to their headquarters were shocked out of their wits and fled with the tributes! The sects in the cities around Beijing did not dare to be neglectful of this issue as well. They quickly moved away.

There were very few sects who thought that they would be fine, because they saw that only the sects in Beijing fell to misfortune. While carefully protecting their tributes, they giggled at the other sects’ misfortune until the soldiers from the imperial court surrounded their stations. Then, what awaited them was destruction.

In just one night, at least one hundred sects were destroyed by the large law-enforcement organizations of the imperial court. It happened because the sects’ information channels were blocked, or because they simply did not have the strength to stand up to the enemy.

During this period of time, the players noticed that as long as they sent the tributes out of the city, the court would not be able to find them, and they would also not place bounties on their sects.

Hence, an increasing number of sects did not dare to be neglectful of the situation. They sent all the tributes out of the city and searched for a safe place to hide them until the emperor’s birthday passed.

However, they did not know that while they had hid from the ferocious tigers in the city, what awaited them outside was an even more terrifying pack of wolves!

*****

Hundreds of people from Purple Sun Sect were in full gear in Xuzhou City. They looked as if they were about to face a great enemy as they sent their tribute carriages out of the city in great waves. The Purple Sun Sect master had a solemn expression while leading Phantom Jade and the other powerful players in his sect to personally guard the tributes’ safety!

However, when they passed by a forest, sudden screams and alarms rose from the dense forest.

“Ah—”

“Enemy attack!”

The scouts in charge of protecting the carriages sent bad news one after another.

“All hands, form your battle formation where you are! Protect the carriages!”

The Purple Sun Sect master reacted extremely quickly while sitting on horseback. He unsheathed his longsword and commanded his men without panicking, which helped his sect members, who were in slight alarm around him, to quickly calm down.

“Sky Shadow! Lead a group of men into the forest and check.”

“Understood!”

A petite man received his order and led ten people into the forest.

Before long, they seemed to have encountered a powerful enemy. Cries of surprise rose into the air, and they were followed by chaotic sounds of weapons clashing, but they did not last long. The noise swiftly approached them while going down. Then, everything was silent.

The battle seemed to have ended at a spot near the mountain track, which was very close to them.

“Prepare for battle!”

The Purple Sun Sect master’s expression finally changed, and he raised his palm high up to give his order! The hundreds of sect members protecting him gathered around the carriages with the tributes. They drew their weapons and stood tall while holding their breaths. Fighting spirit burned in them.

They completed their actions quickly, but suddenly, the sounds of bowstrings being released traveled into their ears from the forest, and there were lots of them…

The expressions of people from Purple Sun Sect changed.

They did not have time to react. The dense volley of arrows came at them in a manner that blotted out the sky from two sides of the forest.

The men at the outermost layer of the group swung their weapons with all their strength to block the arrows, but they could not fend them off when they came without stopping. The players fell to the ground one after another.

When a large number of bandits with powerful presences charged out of the forest like fierce tigers rushing down the mountain, the pupils of Purple Sun Sect’s master shrank. His face turned stark pale, and he quickly shouted while spurring his horse forward.

“Abandon the tributes! Break out of the encirclement!”