Sword Among Us

Chapter 1148: West Region, Dragon Gate Inn

Dragon Gate Inn was quite famous in the plains, because it was coincidentally located at the borders of the country. It was connected to the trading route linking all of the feudal territories in the Chinese plains, and it is a place that local and foreign merchants as well as wanderers had to pass. It was also a very famous place to receive quests.

Here, the players passing by could get some quests from the coquettish and bold female owner of the inn, Jin Xiangyu.

The players in the evil cult could obtain quests telling them to collect materials. They were to kill wanderers passing by the area and sell their corpses to the female owner so that she could turn them into human meat buns.

The players in the righteous sects could obtain quests from Cao Huaian, who came to stay at the inn. They could work to fight against the Embroidered Uniform Guards and even attack the special agent organizations at the borders.

But since yesterday, a new Dragon Gate Inn popped up beside Dragon Gate Inn. The ruins of an inn which had been buried under the sand of the desert showed up in just one night, and the words on its plate could be seen clearly. It showed up out of the blue one-third of a mile away from Dragon Gate Inn. Then, the customers who came from within and outside the country increased by leaps and bounds. All of them fought against each other to observe this strange ruin which had showed up in the sandstorm.

Since yesterday, the information that popped up the most from the merchants who dropped by was the legend behind this new Dragon Gate Inn, along with the legend of a palace in the desert whose existence was practically a miracle.

Silver Wolf brought Knife, Bar, and Thunder and passed by the new Dragon Gate Inn while they braced the rampant sandstorm.

Bar went inside the ruins before he quickly returned to the party. There was uncertainty and shock on his face.

Silver Wolf saw this, and the puzzlement in his heart increased.

“What did you manage to find?”

“There’s nothing special about it.” Bar frowned and answered, “The people inside are all talking about the palace in the desert, and they speak as if it really exists. Also, aside from trap masters, there are also a few rather famous players from the Chinese plains inside. All of them seem to be searching for something in groups, and they’re not saying anything. Big Brother Silver Wolf, I think there’s a complicated reason behind the sudden appearance of Dragon Gate Inn’s ruins, or else, why would it have appeared so coincidentally? It showed up right when the sandstorms in the desert are about to start raging, and it lured over so many curious barbaric merchants.”

“Barbaric merchants?” Silver Wolf was stunned.

Bar nodded and quickly explained, “Most of the people surrounding Dragon Gate Inn are barbaric merchants...”

“What’s the percentage of NPCs?” A thought popped up in Silver Wolf’s mind, and his tone changed. It turned slightly graver.

Bar quirked an eyebrow in the direction of Dragon Gate Inn’s ruins and answered, “NPC? I didn’t see them. But by the looks of it, there should be a lot of them...”

Right after he finished speaking, Knife spoke up by the side, “Big Brother Silver Wolf, Dragon Gate Inn’s legend might be true. There might really be treasures that could allow a person to fight against an entire country in there!”

“That’s right! This time, the sect master sent a message to us, telling us to fight against the imperial court’s army, but something like this appeared. What should we do?” Thunder was a little tempted.

Silver Wolf cast the trio a glance, and he knew exactly what they were thinking about.

They had joined the game for a long period of time. Even though they were offered a lot of quests in the past, most of the time, due to time constraints or the problems brought about by the location of the quest, they could not join the quests in time. It was either this, or they were not strong enough. Right now, after training hard for four days, the levels of their martial arts had increased exponentially. Their skills had also improved. Right now, since they had come ahead of time, they managed to run into this quest at Dragon Gate Inn, and there was a chance that they could obtain the treasures in there.

They did not want to miss it.

“The ruins will not run away. Besides, the sect master told us to gather at Dragon Gate Inn. It’s not too far away from here. Let’s complete the task the sect master told us to do first, and we’ll also pay attention to the palace in the desert. We’ll see if we’re lucky enough to participate in it.” When he said this, Silver Wolf stopped talking for a while, and subconsciously, he said something strange, “But I find it strange. When the sect master told us to come over, Dragon Gate Inn’s ruins appeared. Isn’t it too much of a coincidence?”

Knife, Bar, and Thunder looked at each other, but they did not say anything in response.

To them, while Happy was strong, he probably did not have any sort of connection with the palace in the desert.

“Since that’s the case, we should hurry...”

“The original Dragon Gate Inn is right in front of us!”

“Let’s go!”

The party of four pulled down the veil over their bamboo hats. They clamped their thighs around their horses, and their horses instantly started charging forward to head to the banner flying on a pole in the distance.

At Dragon Gate Inn...

“Whoa!”

Silver Wolf and his group mingled in the crowd moving about the area. They arrived outside Dragon Gate Inn, and soon, they noticed that the atmosphere here was strange. They tugged at the reins to stop their horses.

Jin Xiangyu, the coquettish and bold owner of Dragon Gate Inn, might be dressed in a normal dress, but it could not hide her charms during her youthful years. With great hospitality, she stood at a spot not far away from the entrance and sent away an elegant swordsman who stood tall. She looked as if she was reluctant to see him go, and she leaned against him while she handed the reins of his horse into his hands.

“Huaian...”

“...Thank you, owner.”

Cao Huaian’s expression was calm. There was a certain wildness in his features. He cast the people behind him a glance and said, “I’ll be back soon. Keep a close watch over my things.”

Standing behind Cao Huaian was a handsome and pale swordsman. He was incredibly displeased with Jin Xiangyu’s hospitality, and he had his face turned to the side. His disdain and impatience was incredibly clear.

When he heard Cao Huaian’s instructions, the handsome and pale swordsman turned his head around.

“Don’t worry.”

Cao Huaian cast him a profound look before he jumped on his horse.

“Giddy-up!”

He struck his horse, and they left into the distance.

The handsome and pale swordsman stared at Cao Huaian leaving into the distance before he looked away. His gaze landed briefly on Jin Xiangyu, and he snorted coldly before he walked into the inn.

Jin Xiangyu did not enter immediately. Instead, her eyes landed on the wanderers who walked over to the inn. She sashayed over in the manner of a great host.

“My dear customers, are you staying for the night, or are you just staying for a short while?

“Ah... that brat... Where are you lazing off now, boy?! Come out and serve the customers!

“Hmm? I’m not talking about you. Come quickly. Please go inside. You can just lead your horses into the stable. We’ve prepared top-grade food for them.”

Jin Xiangyu led the group of people into Dragon Gate Inn in a friendly manner.

They were made up of three groups of people. One of them was Silver Wolf’s party, a group of wanderers dressed in black and were armed with sabers, and a group of barbaric merchants.

Silver Wolf and his party acted naturally. They lingered at the back of the group.

But Silver Wolf noticed that the group of black-clad wanderers armed with sabers had a larger group, and their gazes were all sharp. They protected an elderly and a youngster while they looked around warily. While they walked, they seemingly deliberately made sure that the people who tried to get close to them stayed a certain distance away from them.

The other group of people in the crowd that entered the inn was shoved to the side by the black-clad group.

When they saw this, Silver Wolf, Bar, Knife, and Thunder exchanged gazes, because they found this interesting. They did not say anything about it, and once they entered, they chose a rather remote corner and sat down.

There were quite a lot of people in the inn.

There were more than forty tables set up in the large hall on the ground floor, but most of the tables were occupied. The customers drank and ate. Some of them held loud drinking competitions, some of them were polite and quiet, some talked loudly about the trades in the Chinese plains and West Region. In any case, the place was filled with all sorts of people.

When they walked into the inn, the black-clad wanderers armed with sabers remained as wary as ever. They looked at the few empty tables scattered everywhere and searched for the female owner to ask her to let them join the tables together.

“It’s very troublesome if you want to join tables.”

Once she entered her territory, Jin Xiangyu was no longer the feminine, dependent lady outside the inn. Her coquettish and cunning personality appeared. She tilted her head to the side, and in a very charming manner, she waved her hand. She used her other hand to twirl her hair, which had not been washed for who knew how long.

“This is the fee for your service.”

A handful of silver worth one hundred taels was given to her, and it caused Jin Xiangyu to be satisfied and delighted. She calmly put the silver away. She winked at them in a coquettish manner and sashayed away in an extremely alluring manner. “Well, since you’re so polite... We’re short staffed here. If you want to join tables, you’ll have to do it yourself. You can’t let a lady do such hard work, can you?”

Satisfied with the money she obtained, Jin Xiangyu walked away to serve the other guests.

However, the black-clad people with sabers did not seem to be saddened by the loss of their money. They did not show any dissatisfaction either. Without another word, they sent two people to clear out a spot at the center of the inn and joined the tables over there.

While multiple complicated gazes were fixed on them, they sat down while remaining alert as ever.

However, there were still four people who did not sit down. They occupied one corner each and guarded these people while they stared at the customers in the inn in their respective directions. Their gazes were intense while they sized them up.

Knife looked away after he cast them a glance, and he dipped his finger into water before writing three words on the table.

Embroidered Uniform Guards.

“How did you notice?”

“Are you telling me that the plot has already started?”

Bar and Thunder looked surprised. They did not quite believe him.

Even though they had heard about the conflicts between Dragon Gate Inn and the forces of power from the imperial court, what they saw right now in Dragon Gate Inn was clearly much more complicated than what they saw in novels adapted from movies.

Right now, the people of the various religions and sects had sent quite a number of their people to Dragon Gate Inn, and some of them were giving the Embroidered Uniform Guards very hostile glances, and with the rumors of the palace in the desert circulating around, Silver Wolf and his group could not be certain whether the quest would activate at this moment.

“Among the three of you, Knife is indeed the one who has the best observational skills.” Silver Wolf’s comment was an indirect confirmation of Knife’s words.

Knife grinned smugly. Then, as Bar and Thunder asked him about how he figured out their identities, he said, “They might not be wearing their Flying Fish Suits, but their steel sabers are all from the local authorities. Also, the ones who revealed their statuses are the elderly and the young.”

“Oh?”

“I noticed when we came in just now. These people’s presences are similar to the lackeys of the local authorities. The elderly and the young walk in the manner of a government official. They’re very relaxed, and they’re definitely imperial officials with high ranks. They usually live a comfortable life, and they won’t be able to change their habits in such a short time.”

Bar and Thunder were instantly convinced. They were indeed not as meticulous as Knife.

But once Knife offered this explanation through a private message, he frowned and looked around him. “I remember that there is no one who triggers quests in Dragon Gate Inn. Jin Xiangyu and Cao Huaian always give normal quests to the players. Now, a plot-related quest has showed up. Someone must have activated it recently.”

Silver Wolf nodded slowly with a grave expression. “That’s right. The quest has just been activated, and it’s not only different from the plots in those novels adapted from movies, the person who activated the quest might also be in Dragon Gate Inn.”

Once he said this, the three people held their breaths and discreetly looked around.

At the end, Silver Wolf’s gaze was focused on the elderly and the young who occupied a table since a long time ago.

The youngster was only around eighteen. He had an elegant presence about him, and he seemed to be a disciple of an aristocratic family. An old man with an average looking face stood half a step behind him. His qi was great, and his breathing steady. His gaze was sharp.

Knife and the rest noticed this person as well, and they sucked in sharp breaths while shock appeared on their faces.

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