Sword Among Us c1-1268

by Black Swordsman Online

  Xu Yao was from the disciplinary committee, which meant that she was from the student council and had a lot of connections. Not only could she obtain information that many normal students could not obtain, she could also get some information with a specific direction in mind. Naturally, that included the appraisal of Chen Kaixin's tutors and lecturers toward him as well as the help of a computing genius from the Computer Engineering Department.

  It was precisely because of it that Xu Yao was able to join the University of South China's Beautiful Robes Faction. It was a childish student organization that did not have a complete set of rules and system and would not be able to fight against a big guild.

  The only person she thought was valuable in that sect was Happy.

  However, Xu Yao did not expect that in just a few days, Beautiful Robes Faction would have more than fifty players with high-tier martial arts. They also used the resources from Happy and the passion the students had toward World of Martial Arts to not only swiftly become one of the great sects in its city, but also monopolized most of the resources in it. They gathered their advantages and developed two pretty good resource pools. They gained a steady source of high-tier martial art manuals, and their number of players with high-tier martial arts reached three digits in one go.

  It was very astonishing in the eyes of some guilds! And somehow, Beautiful Robes Sect had done it!

  With the help of the Faction Contribution Rank and the free trading system that was getting more and more m.a.t.u.r.e in South China Martial Arts Rank, they could exchange anything in World of Martial Arts into RMB at any point they wanted. They could also turn RMB into contribution points to get the high-tier martial art manuals from the storage in the faction.

  The rules of Beautiful Robes Faction were swiftly being perfected, and the faction was quickly developing in terms of strength. It happened so fast that it affected the nearby cities as well, and even some of the famous big guilds had a hard time comparing to them.

  Even though the higher level of management in Beautiful Robes Faction led the faction correctly and contributed to this development, the passion, fervor, determination, and unity was something normal guilds did not possess!

  And Xu Yao had already figured out that most of the ideas that led to Beautiful Robes Faction's swift development had been provided by Happy, who had yet to join Beautiful Robes Faction, and most of the resources and contribution points in the storage that served as the base of the contribution system were provided by Happy as well. It could be said that the sole reason behind why Beautiful Robes Faction was able to rise to power and become strong so quickly was Happy.

  Xu Yao could not imagine how he was capable of handing over the resources that were worth one hundred thousand contribution points so easily and let a group of students take care of them.

  Even though Happy seemed to have succeeded in his plans as of then, Xu Yao could not understand how he had managed to do it!

  When she thought of the answer that the computing genius had told her some time ago, Xu Yao felt her emotions surge, and she found it difficult to calm down.

  It was truly difficult for her to link the "Happy" in the game to "Chen Kaixin" who looked incredibly normal in reality, and she even hated it a little.

  "It's you." Happy scowled when he turned to Xu Yao.

  This time, he did not do anything that was incredibly out of line. There were many people around, and he could already sense the hostile looks on him when Xu Yao paid attention to him.

  Happy was worried that if his attitude was bad, he might make a group of self-righteous guards of women jump out and hit him.

  For the safety of his own life, Happy put away his cold and indifferent attitude.

  "Yeah." The Great Beauty of the disciplinary committee noticed at that moment that she was so nervous that she could not speak when she faced the most mysterious person of the University of South China. "I came to you to interview you last time…"

  "Oh."

  Happy naturally remembered it, but he also remembered the warnings of All-powerful Medicinal Stone. He had said that Class One Hall was prepared to have people search through his background.

  A cold look flashed briefly past his eyes, then he chuckled lightly. "Sure, I'm free right now, so why don't we look for a place to sit down?"

  "Huh? Oh! Okay, you're right. This place isn't suited for talking. Why don't we go to the pavilion in the university?"

  Xu Yao stared at Happy in surprise. She felt that he seemed to have become slightly different from before, but… how should she put it? His cold attitude did not seem to have changed.

  "I haven't eaten yet. Let's go to a stall and sit down there. We can talk while we eat." Happy paused for a moment before he added with an indifferent tone, "Or we can talk on another day. It's too late now—"

  "It's fine. Am I supposed to be afraid that you'll do something to me?"

  Xu Yao s.u.c.k.e.d in a few deep breaths to compose herself before she finally managed to retrieve her original nature of the Great Beauty of the disciplinary committee. She tried to use jokes and her own charisma to control the tempo of the conversation.

  But unfortunately for her, Happy turned around resolutely and walked straight to a stall, leaving her behind. The words to ask him where he usually liked to go were at the tip of her tongue, but she could not find the opportunity to say them.

  Chapter 228 - Computing Genius Li Ning

  Happy chose a random stall among those selling snacks along the road leading to the entrance of the University of South China. He ordered a hot plate of spicy tofu, crystal-skinned mince meat dumplings, and sweet potato noodles. When they were placed in front of him, he did not care about the fact that there was a great beauty staring at him and did not show any intention to treat her to a meal. He picked up a pair of chopsticks and began shoving the food into his mouth at his own pace.

  His actions made Xu Yao feel that she was unnecessary. She stared at Happy while he ate his tofu and dumplings happily and did not know whether she should speak or stand up and leave.

  'It's too irritating!'

  If Happy's horrible attitude last time had made her puzzled, incredibly embarrassed and angry, then this time, he let her experience what was indifference.

  "Hey."

  In the end, Xu Yao could not hold it in anymore. She felt saliva pooling in her mouth, and it was really unbearable.

  But who was Happy?

  No matter what, he had been with Xu Yao for more than two years, and when she used that kind of tone, he did not even need to raise his head to know what she wanted to say. "If you want to eat something, order it yourself. I'm filling up my stomach now."

  He was really hungry. He had been in the game since noon, which meant that it had been around ten hours since he last ate. He felt that his stomach was empty, and even though Xu Yao's presence ruined his appetite, it was not enough to quell his d.e.s.i.r.e to eat.

  "No need."

  Xu Yao's words died in her mouth. Once she spoke, she stared at Happy busy shoving food into his mouth with a vicious glare, but in her heart, she wondered about it in puzzlement. She felt that he was not the type who would treat others as nothing, and he could also sense her disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, so why was it that when he met her, he would have that sort of reaction and attitude?

  Xu Yao could not understand it. Hence, she sat quietly in front of Happy and waited for him to finish eating.

  One of them ate, and the other just sat and waited. Neither of them spoke, and there was an air of great mutual understanding between them. No matter how the outsiders looked at it, the two appeared to be a couple.

  A trendy man dressed in a black suit passed by the entrance of the stall while walking down the street selling snacks at that moment. He looked rather handsome, and his face was very exquisite.

  His hands were in his pockets, and there were pristine white headphones over his head. He swayed it to the beat while he walked down the street, and his style showed quite a bit o
f character. He attracted many girls' attention.

  As luck would have it, when he turned his head around, he noticed the side profile of a familiar person in a stall.

  "Hmm?"

  The trendy man let out a soft gasp and stopped. His first reaction was to pull off his headphones and let them hang around his neck. He looked at the atmosphere at the stall, then observed the pretty figure's side profile. Once he was certain that he did not mistake her for someone else, he frowned and walked over.

  "Xu Yao, what are you doing here alone?"

  The trendy man behaved like an A-list actor. The presence he gave off from deep within his soul, which was one of confidence and the air of a winner, made the other students in the stall look at him. When he walked over, he did not even look at Chen Kaixin, who was busy eating hot plate spicy tofu. He even completely overlooked him.

  "Li Ning?" When Xu Yao heard someone call her, she turned her head around. "Why are you here?" she asked a little stunned.

  "I was just passing by when I saw you daydreaming here. Is he… your friend?" Li Ning finally noticed the situation at the table before him, and he quirked an eyebrow before he put on a faint smile.

  The boy in front of him might have been a little handsome, but the way he ate was simply not flattering. Besides, he was dressed in very normal summer attire and slippers. He fit fell with the stall, which was what made him believe that he was Xu Yao's friend and not her boyfriend.

  "Oh, let me introduce him to you."

  But before Xu Yao could make introductions, Happy finished the last piece of tofu. He pushed away the plate, which looked like it had been ravaged by a typhoon, and spoke in a very calm tone.

  "I know you. You're Li Ning, the genius top student of the Computer Engineering Department. You learned how to hack on your own, and you are currently the maintainer of the university's website. You are also working as a teaching assistant in the Computer Engineering Department for your part time job. I've heard of your name for a long time."

  It was only natural that Happy knew all of that. The person in front of him was a very good friend of Xu Yao's in his previous life. He was exceptional at programming, and he liked Xu Yao a lot. But he regarded himself very highly and liked flirting with many girls.

  When Xu Yao had become Happy's girlfriend, Li Ning had always regarded him with animosity, and he had keyed in Happy's test results during the finals for the Computer Engineering Department wrong several times. In other words, they could not tolerate each other!

  "Heh."

  When Li Ning heard Happy recite his information as if it was a subject he was incredibly familiar with, he smiled. His ego had been stroked.

  "I haven't learned of your name yet."

  "I'm also from the Computer Engineering Department. We're from the same batch. I'm Chen Kaixin from Class 3."

  "You're Chen Kaixin?" Li Ning seemed to have also heard his name before. He was slightly stunned. "You're the one the lecturers and tutors have allowed to not attend classes?"

  The disdainful look on his face faded away. In fact, there were signs that a solemn expression was about to take over.

  "It's him. That's why I wanted to interview him," Xu Yao explained, then did not forget to wink at him.

  "Interview?"

  Li Ning was taken aback. He looked at Xu Yao with curiosity. 'What's so interesting about him that he would warrant an interview?'

  He remembered that when he became the champion in hacking training that held a competition in Hunan, Xu Yao had not interviewed, so why would she do it for something so simple?

  Could it be because of that?

  Li Ning remembered that some time ago Xu Yao had asked him to use his status as a system administrator to get Chen Kaixin's files from the university and Happy's files from South China Martial Arts Ranking Board.

  He knew Happy's fame very well.

  'That's not right…'

  But when he thought about it, he instantly felt doubtful.

  He remembered that Xu Yao had warned him repeatedly when they obtained that secret to keep his mouth shut and not release it, so why was she acting like that now? Could it be that she was interested in him?

  At that moment, Happy spoke up again. "Since you're here as well, why don't we sit down and chat? In truth, I still don't know what to do. Li Ning, you should have been interviewed many times. Why don't you teach me what to do? By the way, Great Beauty Xu, you won't mind if there's someone watching by the side?"

  "Well, of course there's no problem with it."

  Xu Yao might have said that, but she gave Li Ning a signal with her eyes. However, Li Ning did not go along with her wishes. He nodded with a smile and ignored the fierce glare from Xu Yao while sitting down.

  Xu Yao was instantly speechless.

  She had wanted to use the interview to understand Happy, and if she could, shorten the distance between them so they could become close friends, which would make it easier for her to understand him even better in the future. But now, another person had joined them and thrown a wrench into her plans, forcing her to be unable to do anything but conduct a formal interview as a symbolic gesture. She had made some preparations beforehand, but at that moment, she could no longer use any of them. She thus quickly asked a few insignificant questions before she announced the end of the interview.

  The three of them all had their own thoughts while they handled the conversation in a perfunctory manner. Then, they returned to the university with the gradually thinning crowd.

  Happy might have been handling the exchange with Xu Yao in a half-hearted manner, but as time passed and with Li Ning's appearance, he became even more certain that she had already figured out his identity. Otherwise, with his understanding of Li Ning, there was no way he would be of any interest to the great hacker. Li Ning regarded himself very highly, and he would never care about a nameless good student who was sitting in a small stall.

  Class One Hall did have a lot of tricks up their sleeves!

  'Is what happened in my previous life about to repeat itself?"

  Happy might have been a little furious while he was on his way back to the dorm, but he was unable to help himself and looked forward to it. He wondered what sort of methods Class One Hall had used to make a person like Xu Yao go against her own wishes and become his girlfriend.

  Chapter 229 - Exposed? Prepared for all Eventualities

  [Robbed for no reason while hunting for Hoof Shadow! The famous master is nothing more than this!]

  A red headline was pushed to the top of World of Martial Arts' official website. The popularity of the post continued rising as the players were attracted by the two words "Hoof Shadow" and "famous master". Soon, it became the hottest topic of the day.

  The headline was mocking and judgmental, and the pictures and sequence of events that were included as the contents in the post were clear. It was a horrifying scene of Five Venoms controlling their venomous creatures while they fought against Corpse Controller Little North and the passionate Momo. The boy and girl were very extraordinary. The girl's sword techniques were very agile and nimble, and the boy's palm techniques were strange and bizarre, while the zombies were fierce and powerful. They killed the players from Five Venoms with incredibly clean attacks. Their fight was done in a very relaxed manner.

  The sight of Happy appearing at the top of the ancient tomb with a mighty air and killing coldly to establish his authority was clearly shown in the battle replay. Countless players saw it, and soon, the crowd started condemning the trio on the official website!

  For a period of time, countless people replied to the post and criticized Happy's brutality and how indulgent he was of his party members.

  Even though Five Venoms did not seem like a good sect, they were rather innocent from the start to the end. They had their operation of hunting the Hoof Shadow hindered and had ended up with their entire group slaughtered. Even the Hoof Shadow was snatched.

  Many people cursed and criticized Happy.


  [He cast aside his final shred of reservation for benefits. Happy, you're at the top of the Famous People Rank! How can you not know how to protect your own reputation?]

  [If they have the power to do so and want to kill you, it's only natural that you have to grit your teeth and bear with it.]

  [Oh my gosh, he's actually someone like this?]

  [Damn it! He'd best pray that I don't run into him…]

  [If the heavens want him to die, it will surely allow him to run rampant first! Just wait, Happy's good fortune will soon come to an end!]

  [Hmph… this sort of person should never have appeared on the Famous People Rank! It's embarrassing for me to be on the same rank as this person!]

  The replies filled the entire website. The criticisms and denunciations against Happy came like waves. Not only did they push him to the heart of the storm, there were even some people who replied to the post and said that they were willing to ally with Five Venoms, who were the victims this time, to mobilize their manpower in the name of the sects to kill Happy.

  The chain reaction targeted at Happy soon spread to South China Martial Arts Ranking Board, but the people there reacted differently.

  That was not all, however. A group of people from the Computer Engineering department formed a team with the Three Lonely Wolves as the leaders. In less than an hour, they dug out battle replays that had been posted on the official forum that denounced Five Venoms violating other players' rights to build up an even stronger momentum to denounce Five Venoms.

  [Five Venoms, can you even be considered a group at a disadvantage?!]

  [You bully the weak but are afraid of the strong. This sect's methods are a little disgusting.]

  [You walk down the path of evil! Don't even think about using this sort of petty tricks to deceive everyone's eyes!]