The caravan had stopped in the forest sparse with trees. More than twenty Sword Sect disciples dressed in white stood on the snow and surrounded it. Each of them had an amazing presence, or at the very least, they were all powerful existences against whom the coachmen of the mighty northern clan could not hope to fight against.
When Stallion Glory, the only Moksha Realm martial artist in the caravan, noticed the strength of the Sword Sect disciples, he forced himself to squeeze out an obsequious smile.
“I see, so it’s our brothers from Sword Sect. I’ve heard of your name for a long time.”
“Enough with the nonsense,” the Sword Sect disciples in the lead ordered impatiently. “Move now! Bring out all the logs in the carriage!”
“Huh?”
The mighty northern coachmen were stunned. They did not understand the meaning behind Sword Sect’s actions.
“Why are you still daydreaming?! Hurry up and act! Or else, don’t blame me for not showing mercy!”
With a loud clang, the disciple in the lead drew his longsword, which shone with a cold glare. In an instant, it caused the temperature around them, which was already very cold to begin with, to go down by a lot.
The other Sword Sect disciples drew their swords as well, and killing intent shone in their eyes.
When the coachmen sensed how serious were the Sword Sect disciples about killing them, they were so terrified that their faces turned pale. They did not dare to be idle and quickly got down from their carriages in a flurry of motion.
“You, and you, why are you still dawdling about?”
A person pointed a sword at Happy. He had to lower his hat and force down the cold light shining in his eyes. He got off the carriage with fake alarm on his face and began to bring out the logs in the carriages.
Whoosh!
The group of Sword Sect disciples did not remain idle. They quickly dug out a huge pit in the snow and threw the logs the coachmen took out inside it.
They did not dare to raise any protest and just did whatever the Sword Sect disciples told them to do.
The logs in the six carriages were soon taken out and buried with the snow around them. The series of actions allowed Happy to understand certain things.
The Sword Sect disciples most likely wanted to ride in the carriages and get closer to the mighty northern clan’s sphere of influence.
And just as he expected, once they finished with their tasks, the Sword Sect disciples who gave the order arrived in front of the trembling northern coachmen and, with a sharp gaze, looked over them. “Don’t worry. As long as you listen to us, we won’t kill you.”
At that moment, even the stupidest idiot would know that the Sword Sect disciples’ sneaky actions meant that they were about to do something that would not warrant friendship with the mighty northern clan.
But the coachmen’s lives were in their hands, and they could only nod obediently to show their willingness to cooperate!
“Get in the carriage!”
The Sword Sect disciple nodded in satisfaction.
When he finished speaking, the group of coachmen were shoved up onto their carriages. Then, the Sword Sect disciples got in—a few of them entering each carriage. The caravan then returned to how it originally looked.
It was as if nothing had ever happened!
But there was a heavy weight in each person’s heart…
The logs in the carriages had turned into people from Sword Sect, and there was a sharp longsword directed at the back of each coachman. Anyone else in their position would find it hard to be relaxed.
“Drive the horses. Pretend that nothing ever happened.”
Under the Sword Sect disciples’ coercion, the coachmen flung their whips with pale faces. With cracking sounds in the air, the caravan began to move in a stiff and slow manner. They dragged out marks that were not too deep on the snow as it headed to the mighty clan in the north.
*****
The mighty northern clan had Heaven Shaker Fortress.
As the biggest aristocratic family in the north, the mighty northern clan placed a high value on Heaven Shaker Fortress. Along the way to the fortress, quite a number of mighty northern clan disciples could be seen. When a person was within a circular area of dozens of miles away, they would see some huge men with built bodies who displayed their sturdy as well as red chests to the world walking on the road.
Those people had sparkling eyes, and their qi was pretty extraordinary. Despite standing in the ice and snow, they could maintain an even breathing and a calm spirit. At first glance, they looked incredibly powerful!
They were all swordsmiths of the mighty northern clan’s Sword Crafting Hall. All of them had grown up in Sword Crafting Hall, and each of them had rather extraordinary qi realms.
What was the rarest thing about them was their sincerity. They understood the importance of Sword Crafting Hall, which was why they took turns and served as sentries every day around Heaven Shaker Fortress to prevent any martial artist from getting close.
However, no matter how sincere the disciples were, if it had to happen every day, it was inevitable that some oversight would occur.
Sword Crafting Hall required a large supply of wood and ores every day to make sure that the fire in the furnace did not die. Hence, there was a large number of carriages which headed into forests in different directions daily to collect materials before going back to Heaven Shaker Fortress.
All carriages with the secret emblem of the mighty northern clan were driven by disciples from inside the fortress, and the sentries did not check them.
The Sword Sect disciples caught that oversight by the mighty northern clan and had the coachmen bring them over Heaven Shaker Fortress’ sentry line.
Heaven Shaker Fortress was a huge snow-white fortress. It was incredibly large and majestic, and it was like paradise had decided to set itself in this place. Everyone longed to enter it.
The carriages continued getting closer.
Since they had already gotten through the first and second sentry lines, the Sword Crafting Hall disciples nearby also grew fewer. By the looks of it, they were about to get close to Heaven Shaker Fortress’ gate.
At that moment, Torn Army’s voice reached Happy’s ears again.
“Happy, listen carefully. Don’t make a sound.” His voice was very faint, and his words sounded very vague. It was only thanks to Happy’s high spiritual senses that he did not miss a word.
“These Sword Sect members are definitely here for Heaven Crystal. They’re thinking about serving as the force inside and coordinating with the ones who will definitely break in later.
“We’re heading to the back gate of Heaven Shaker Fortress now. There are few guards there, and it’ll be very easy for Sword Sect disciples to control it. Once they succeed, we’ll definitely be killed.
“I’ve already spoken to Captain Stallion Glory. We can’t let the Sword Sect disciples enter Heaven Shaker Fortress as they please.”
Happy scowled.
That was not something easy. They had already entered the territory of Heaven Shaker Fortress.
Torn Army did not stop yet.
“Stallion Glory intends to break free. It’ll be of no good for Sword Sect if he does that, but it’s also not good for us. When Stallion Glory takes action later, I’ll provide cover, so you can leave.
“I’ve already given you a copy of a map with a trail leading to Sword Crafting Hall. Once you break free, be careful. You have to locate my three brothers. They’ll tell you about your next move.”
Happy said nothing.
The system notification came.
“Ding!
“Wait for the right timing. Once Torn Army and Stallion Glory take action, immediately break free and run away from the Sword Sect disciples’ sight. Find a place to hide and not be found by Sword Sect disciples.
“Don’t be discovered by the mighty northern clansmen and do not run into the Nangong Clan. You are to find abandoned Sword Sect disciple Thousand Destruction within ten minutes.”
When the system notification ended, a bead of cold sweat rolled down Happy’s forehead without him noticing.
It was only at that moment that he understood why Torn Army gave him the map for Sword Crafting Hall from the beginning. The quest was not just hard, it was insanely hard!
Happy was actually tasked to look for a chance to flee while the mighty northern clan and the Sword Sect disciples fought against each other, and he was to avoid being caught by the members of the three factions for ten minutes while searching for the second abandoned Sword Sect disciple, Thousand Destruction, in Heaven Shaker Fortress.
If he was discovered, he would be surrounded by the people from the three factions immediately.
The quest was just crazy!
