Sword Among Us

Panda Novel

The people in the world of martial artists all walked their own paths, and they had their own personal set of principles and moral limits. They were their Daos…

The most inconspicuous thing in the game was the market deals. The rarer an item was, the more expensive it was and the higher returns the seller could obtain. It was the same for the other professions too. The more dangerous a job was, the more likely a person was to run into an item that was usually hidden. Relative dangers would provide better benefits!

It was a manifestation of Dao.

Even the diviners on the streets who performed divinations for others had to uphold their moral values and Daos! They had to be careful and cautious in all their acts!

For example, when they analyzed the eight characters of birth and a person’s fate toward riches, the price they charged was low, but when they searched for a person’s location, it would take time and effort, and the price for that was rather high.

When the divination was linked to certain secrets and treasures, the price would increase by leaps and bounds. They might gain a huge profit from it, the type that would stuff their wallets with loads of money the moment someone bought their services!

Of course, diviners had to face dangers too.

If they only searched for a normal person, the diviners could charge their customers some divination fees without worry. But if they knew that the target was strong and had killed many people, they would be wary, just like any other normal person. They would struggle between the money they could receive and their personal safety.

If they were offered a normal price, the diviners would definitely not be willing to perform the divination. Why should they risk their safety in exchange for some money that was not essential for them? How could they not increase the price for their services if they had to take risks?

Hence, the fees to search for dangerous people would increase by leaps and bounds.

Happy had chosen to avoid everyone by engaging in a few battles to spill more than one hundred people’s blood. His name became linked to infamy from that, and when diviners discovered this during their divination, they would get frightened by his bad reputation. They would be worried about their future and their fate.

Of course, this was just a small technique to handle diviners.

It was what many powerful players in the early stages of the game in Happy’s previous life had used to handle people coming after their life!

If they killed ten, they would get a bad reputation; if they killed fifty people, they would become notorious; if they killed more than a hundred people, they would become known as a demon; if they killed two hundred people, they would become known as people whom no one could stop, and diviners would avoid them.

Those who killed ten people were villains, and the fees to search for them were slightly higher.

Those who killed fifty people were brutal people, and the fees to search for them would increase by leaps and bounds.

Those who were known as demons had divination fees that normal people would not be able to handle. Each divination would require thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver crumbs.

However, it was because everyone’s qi realms were low and fame small during the early stages of the game that the starting price for each divination was not high and everyone could afford it. Once they reached Mystical Realm or Life and Death Realm during the later stages of the game, the diviners would say that every single time they performed divination their lives were in danger, so the fees would always be high and never low.

Every single time they performed their services, everyone would feel a great pain in their hearts for the money they lost!

As for the last type of people, the one which diviners would avoid since they had killed two hundred people, these sort of people were classified as people whom no one could stop, and the diviners would not be willing to offend them. No matter how much money was offered to them, they would not foolishly bring karma onto themselves and invite the disaster with their own heads!

As time passed, the divination fees for Happy changed because of his actions, and an increasing number of people noticed this. The forces of power chasing after him also sped up in their search for him.

*****

Next to the government-made road that led to Luoyang was a greenish river with two rows of willows with lush green leaves on its sides. The leaves swayed gently in the breeze and gave off a cooling air.

Many of the players in Luoyang loved that scenery!

When they went level-grinding, couples would go there to rest a little. The boys would be dressed in scholarly attire, and the girls in red dresses that made them look like charming ladies. They would either sit or stand around while on their dates, acting as the background for wandering martial artists who hurried down the road. Such a sight gave off a pure feeling of the world of martial artists.

But on that day, Luoyang was not at peace.

A man could be seen on the empty ground not far from the government-made road. He had a coronet on his head, and in his hands he held a pair of skull-shaped metallic nunchucks.

He jumped down from a large black horse. His footsteps were slow, and he appeared relaxed. If it were not for the hooked nose and small eyes that shone with the light of a schemer, he might actually appear to be somewhat elegant and graceful.

Unfortunately for him, his facial expression took away some of his elegant air.

It was especially so when he was set in contrast to the young man in blue robes in front of him. He looked like an example of how a person was NOT supposed to dress and behave as a martial artist.

“I finally caught up to you.”

The man with the coronet’s voice was rather shrill, and his smug tone was very clear. He did not put away his horse, however. While holding his skull-shaped nunchucks, which shone with a silvery-white metallic shine under the sun, he walked toward Happy.

Happy simply scowled with a solemn look on his face.

He did not even look at the man with the coronet, however. He simply stood his ground with a relaxed visage while looking into another direction and calculating the time quietly.

The man with the coronet was stunned speechless. When he noticed that his opening speech had not received the reaction he anticipated, and had in fact not even caught Happy’s attention, his face turned red. A hint of anger flashed in his eyes as he watched Happy stand quietly with an absent-minded look on his face.

No matter what, he was the famous God of Nunchucks in Zhengzhou. With his Ghost Biter Nunchucks and Seventy-three Ghost Slayer Skills, he had defeated plenty of powerful fighters in Zhengzhou. Yet the person before him not only did not show any respect, he did not even look him in the eye!

Even though his leader had repeatedly reminded him to be careful and not engage in a fight with their target when he saw how carried away and arrogant this person was, a fire lit up in his chest.

“Some Blue-robed Noble Sword User you are! Take this!” he roared.

The man with the coronet moved like a snake and kicked up a lot of dust into the air before he shot out!

At the same time, his nunchucks let out a silvery-white halo. With a loud clang, a shrill sound of a ghost wailing rang out in the air.

“AAAHHH!”

Under the protection of numerous afterimages, he executed his techniques repeatedly in a manner that showed that he really possessed skill before attacking Happy, who was a few feet away from him.

“Ghost Slayer Art!”

Happy was obviously stunned. He tapped on the ground hastily, and his gaze focused on the man with the coronet, who had arrived before him with his weapon. The dozens of silvery white skull-shaped halos combined together made Happy feel as if he was looking at a savage and ferocious ghost, since they were packed densely together.

They came at him in a continuous stream! With the effect of the soundwaves that also served as an attack, which was a unique feature of Ghost Biter Nunchucks, the howls of ghosts charged forward with an astonishing momentum! Their speed was even above Happy’s.

Happy said nothing. He focused his attention and instantly formed his left hand into the shape of a dragon’s claw.

When he was about to attack with Dragon Capture, a tremor that was accompanied by a thunderous boom came from the distance. Happy’s heart trembled. His hand relaxed, and he turned to slap his waist.

Whoosh!

His Hundred-battle Saber came out of its sheath with a hoarse whine.

Happy’s actions were incredibly quick. He turned around in one beautiful motion, and his fingers moved like lightning when he seized the hilt of the Hundred-battle Saber in the air.

Boom!

His actions were relaxed and elegant. However, his momentum was both explosive and fierce! His qi surged into his saber, and the dark blue saber glow increased to two feet. Happy then slashed violently at the nunchucks that came charging at his face.

“AAAHHH!”

The savage and ferocious ghost faces that came charging at Happy were instantly torn by the blue saber glare as if they were paper.

The countless ghost faces behind them also vanished, as if they were fierce-looking beings that were not actually harmful.

Clang!

When the dull sound of metal clashing against metal rose, the man with the coronet was knocked thirty-two feet away. He violently crashed into the ground and could not help but cough up blood. His face was pale, and there was disbelief on it.

“How can this be?”

He was completely defeated!!