Sword Among Us Novel - Chapter 97

Chapter 97: Collecting a Debt from Mountain Range Sect
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

For three days, the world of martial artists was filled with battles, and blood drenched the land…
There was an atmosphere that filled the government-made roads, forests, mountains, and rivers, and it could be described as murderous. Usually, when one or a few players moved down an unknown alley, they would attract a dense rain of arrows or all sorts of weapons or players descending from the sky. Corpses would be strewn all over the ground, and they dyed the quiet, peaceful, and remote alleys in crimson, just like hell.
As time passed, not only did the trend to snatch the tributes in the game did not die down, as the emperor’s birthday drew nearer, more players began to search for and chase tributes even more madly than before!
And the people with tributes on them became incredibly eye-catching because of the bounties placed on them by the government officials. Their location would be announced once in a while, making it so that the players felt like they had timebombs strapped on them. They would attract “guests” who came to reap benefits at irregular intervals.
The tributes constantly moved from player to player!
Even the powerful players in Blessed Realm did not have great confidence to have a stable foothold in such a troublesome situation. They might be able to move about at ease when they faced one or a couple Gate Realm players, but once they faced a huge group of players, they would not be able to last, since they would quickly use up their qi. No matter how great they were, they would still end up dying dejectedly.
The sect master of the greatest sect in Xuzhou, which was ninety-three miles away from Yangzhou, made a shocking act at that moment!
He ordered the leaders and chiefs, who were in Blessed Realm, of his sect—they numbered to nearly thirty—to take with them hundreds of Gate Realm sect members from Mountain Range Sect to escort a large number of tributes. While facing incredible numbers of players who came to steal their tributes, they had to enter a stronghold that once belonging to a group of mountain bandits, and they did so in a very grand fashion.
“Damn it.”
“So many?!”
The players saw that Mountain Range Sect had at least ten carriages with them, but they also saw the armed formation they adopted, and the players watching by the side could only be filled with envy and jealousy.
With so many tributes, once the emperor’s birthday passed, Mountain Range Sect would have treasures and amazing martial art manuals that were worth cities!
“Tsk tsk…”
There were quite a lot of people in the crowd who were tempted.
However, it was difficult to predict human behavior in the world of wanderers.
All of the players in the area came because of the benefits offered by the tributes, but who would dare to lead the charge? Who would dare to rush before the Blessed Realm fighters who numbered to nearly thirty and the hundreds of Gate Realm fighters from Mountain Range Sect?
They could only watch the people from Mountain Range Sect station themselves in the mountain stronghold and shut the gates. Most of the players lingered around the area for a while before they left dispiritedly one after another.
If they wanted to attack a stronghold defended by multiple powerful players, they would need to gather an incredibly large force or have astonishing abilities!
All the players in the area clearly did not possess either of the two.
“Big brother!”
“Sect master! Brothers, were we imposing enough today? Weren’t all of the heroes who came from everywhere in the game intimidated by the spectacle we put up? They did not dare to act rashly when they saw our carriages… Hahahaha… It feels good!”
Two people strode into the stronghold’s hall, which was named Justice Gathering Hall. One of them was speaking at the top of his lungs in a heroic manner. His voice traveled among the other Blessed Realm players who had gathered in the hall. Their faces were flushed red, and they were incredibly excited.
“Sect master, you’re wise! If it weren’t for your spontaneous decision to merge with Yellow Emperor Faction and Cold Wind Valley, and use the thirty Blessed Realm fighters from the three sects to gather this many tributes, there would have been no way for these tributes to land in our hands so easily.”
“That’s right! That’s right!”
“Come! Let’s all give the sect master a toast!”
All the people lifted their cups toward the inner part of the hall.
There was a middle-aged man sitting at the seat of honor there. When he saw what the others were doing, he smiled and stood up. He had a scholar’s robe, and it made him look very graceful and elegant.
“The reason why Mountain Range Sect has its current glory and power is entirely because of your support and how you bolstered up the sect. I don’t have any talents, so I used your talents to make this sect strong. I am willing to toast to all of you…”
“Cheers!”
The clear sounds of cups knocking against each other could be heard in the hall.
Right when numerous sect members celebrated the rewards they reaped and the successes they gained, noise suddenly traveled from outside.
“Who is it?!”
“You’re just asking for death! How dare you invade Mountain Range Sect’s territory?!”
“Stand back! That place is— Ah!”
The cries of the Mountain Range Sect’s members were accompanied by short grunts as well as the sound of people falling to the ground. It swiftly attracted the leaders and chiefs’ attention in Justice Gathering Hall, and all of them stopped drinking. They frowned, turned around, and craned their necks to look outside.
“What happened?”
The gaze of sect master of Mountain Range Sect, Heartless Man, turned cold and focused.
“Hall Chief Wind, go and take a look.”
“Yes!”
The man who entered the last was the Hall Chief of Mountain Range Sect’s Fighting Spirit Hall, Candle Wind. Once he voiced his consent to carry out the order, he put down his winecup, turned around, and left the hall to run toward the gate of the stronghold.
The sect members who had gathered outside Justice Gathering Hall to defend it followed closely behind him.
“Let’s continue.”
Heartless Man looked away and raised his winecup. But before he could continue speaking, he was cut off by a cold shout from outside.
“Deer Swordsman, come out and meet your doom!”
The people in the hall cast their gazes at a man who had frozen in the act of lifting his winecup.
He had a puzzled and baffled expression on his face. He scowled, and in the end, he put down his winecup.
At that moment, the Heartless Man realized that the intruder had come with ill will. He flung his sleeves, making them puff up, and his expression darkened.
“Come! Let’s see what happened.”
“Who exactly has the guts to come to our sect and raise a clamor by demanding a person?!”
Everyone had their mood to celebrate spoiled, and they followed behind their sect master in an aggressive manner. They walked out of Justice Gathering Hall with the momentum of a tidal wave.
When they walked out the door, the sight before them made their pupils shrink!
Outside the hall was a large, empty space. On its other side was a man dressed in a short-sleeved gray shirt and holding a shortsword. He was fighting against dozens of Gate Realm players. The man had cold eyes, and he moved forward slowly. His gaze swept past the Gate Realm players and landed on the people who had swarmed out of the hall like bees. He looked over them without any hurry.
What the group from Mountain Range Sect found difficult to believe was that their dozens of sect members were clearly at a disadvantage. Every time the man took a step forward, they would take one step backward. It looked like they did not dare to block his path.
If that was all he saw, the sect master of Mountain Range Sect would have firmly chased all these disciples out of the sect without allowing any objection. However, what shocked him was that there were dozens of corpses sprawled all over the long corridor behind the man leading straight up to the gate of the stronghold. The distance was almost one hundred and sixty four feet, which was a terrifying sight to behold. 1
Even Hall Chief Candle Wind, who had left moments ago, laid lifeless on the stairs in the long corridor. He had once killed groups of people alone and forcefully seized three tributes, which had made him famous, but at that moment, his eyes were lifeless as he stared at the blue sky and white clouds above him. The fear and disbelief on his face were forever frozen there.
When they saw this, everyone instantly sucked in a sharp breath.
“Back down!” Heartless Man stopped at the top of the stairs and shouted an order for his sect members to retreat. Then, he asked with a deep growl, “Who are you?!”
As if he sensed Heartless Man’s status and reputation in Mountain Range Sect, the young man with the cold expression finally stopped attacking. “I’m here to collect a debt,” he answered.
But his gaze did not remain on Heartless Man’s face for long. “Where is Deer Swordsman? Tell him to come out,” he said coldly.
Even though his tone was flat, there was a cold chill in his voice, and it carried an order in it that did not allow anyone to refuse.
“Who are you?! I don’t seem to have met you before.”
Deer Swordsman had watched him for a while, and the more he looked, the more certain he became that he did not know this person. Hence, he took the initiative to step out.
The cold man narrowed his eyes.
“So, you lived until now.” The cold chill in his voice became even more prominent!
When he saw the person move again, Heartless Man’s face darkened.
“Wait!”