True Solution of the Sword Dao

In the night, the hotel building was brightly lit, and the scattered multicolored lights from the surroundings added a colorful glow to the entire street. Although it was late, the stream of people on the street was still unending. Most of those out at this time were night owls and night shift workers.

Lin You cautiously came out of the hotel, holding Feil.

The alley next to the hotel was a snack alley, where rows of food stalls, adorned with overhead lights, attracted mostly young people. The scent of barbecue wafted over. Lin You sniffed the air.

"It smells so good," she inhaled the aroma deeply. But she knew that now was not the time to eat and reluctantly pulled her gaze away. "Feil, wasn’t our goal to rescue Chris? Why are we going after the pursuers now that we’ve gotten him back?"

"Rescuing Chris was just one of the objectives. The second is to give you a real comparison of strength. As a benchmark, this Dolanna should be just right, so it’s an opportunity not to be missed," Feil explained. "While we still have the power to protect you, because as the enemies you face become stronger, a single slip up in the future could cost you your life. By then, making such low-level mistakes in power assessment would be far too late."

"So what do we do now?" Lin You asked. She was carrying the cat, dressed in a light green overcoat and jeans. However, as someone who loved to look good, even though it was winter, she had opted for tight-fitting clothes that highlighted her figure. As a result, she attracted a lot of attention in the nighttime environment, which made her uncomfortable. These looks were not as subtle as those during the day, but rather extraordinarily brazen—as if the night gave people more boldness and courage.

"Now, before you go to contact the pursuers, I need to take you to meet some people."

"Who?"

"Your assistants for this mission."

"Assistants?" Lin You asked, puzzled.

The two of them followed the street toward the city center. Guided by Feil, Lin You came to a residential building, peeking through the iron railing. It was a smaller community with only seven or eight buildings, each over twenty stories tall with elevators—gray in color and looking rather simplistic and crowded.

"This is the place," Feil confirmed.

"Who exactly are these people?" Lin You wondered.

"You’ll know when you see them for yourself."

Lin You walked along the railing for a few steps, finding the entrance.

To the right of the entrance was a guard room, empty except for a television that was still on, displaying nothing but static. Not far away, the noisy sound of card-playing and shouting could be heard faintly—clearly, the security guards had gone off to gamble.

Lin You, pleased by the convenience, entered the compound directly. She followed Feil’s directions, straight into the building they had just passed.

"It’s on the third floor. Don’t bother with the elevator, just walk up," Feil instructed.

Lin You nodded and made her way up the stairs. The stairwell was deserted, with only the sound-activated lights lighting up to the crisp sound of her footsteps, and then extinguishing again after she passed.

"Third floor, on the left. Knock on the door," Feil directed.

Upon reaching the third floor, Lin You walked to the room on the left. The door was a black security door that seemed somewhat different from the others, but she couldn’t quite place what the difference was.

She pressed the doorbell, but there was no response—probably because it was either out of batteries or broken.

"Bang bang bang."

There was not a sound from inside.

"Bang bang bang!" Lin You knocked again.

Click.

The door opened to pitch darkness.

Lin You quickly surmised that it must be a deliberate mystification, similar to her initial meeting with Xilan.

"May I come in?" she called out loudly. She turned to glance at Feil on her shoulder, who wore a mischievous grin but remained silent.

Suddenly, a chilling sensation aimed straight for Lin You’s throat from the darkness, and she couldn’t see anything except for a swiftly approaching flash of silver.

Lin You immediately demonstrated the results of her frequent training, swiftly stepping backward. Her right foot kicked out in the direction of the incoming silver object, only to hit something hard. Lin You was startled, knowing something was wrong, and her ability instantaneously condensed at the tips of her toes.

Crack.

The ice shattered upon violent impact with the object, and Lin You retracted her leg, hopping slightly backwards. However, suddenly a glimmer of cold light flew past her face.

"Don’t move!" A cold shout came from inside the room.

It was only then that Lin You clearly saw what had flown past her neck.

It was a dagger with a metal chain attached. The chain’s edge, as sharp as a blade, was only a few centimeters from her skin. The dagger merely passed slightly over Lin You’s neck before dangling down, resting on her shoulder, but with a single tug, the sharp edge of the chain could instantly slit her throat. In this situation, Lin You naturally knew she had lost.

"For a rookie who has only trained for a little over a month, you’re doing quite well," a deep male voice came from the room.

With a snap, the lights turned on, and the whole living room brightened instantly.

Inside the room stood four people, all clad in black bodysuits, somewhat resembling the combat gear of a special forces unit. Just from her first glance, Lin You could clearly see the assorted gear they possessed. Dagger sheaths of varying lengths were strapped to the outsides of their thighs, and their waists were adorned with fine black belts, on which dangled various small pouches whose contents were unknown. On the outside of their arms were strapped oddly shaped weapons. The arms of one tall man, in particular, was connected to the silver dagger chain around her neck.

"We’re the Night Demon Squad. You can call me Captain Jack," said the tall man with tousled brown hair and eagle-like eyes, prompting Lin You to avert her gaze involuntarily.

"Come on in," a gentle female voice rang out. Just as Lin You looked away from Jack, she felt her arm being grabbed and pulled into the living room.

Only upon entering the living room did she fully take in the members of the self-proclaimed Night Demon Squad.

The four-person team was evenly split between men and women, with Jack being the tallest man. Just standing there, one could feel his bear-like physical strength. Lin You thought that if she went a little closer, she might even hear a drum-like heartbeat. Jack had an ordinary appearance, with brown eyes and exuded a fierce aura constantly.

Another man was sitting in the corner of the living room, with a laptop open on the table before him. Sensing Lin You’s gaze, the man turned his face and smiled at her amiably.

"You can call me Beisman. Responsible for intelligence and reconnaissance," the man said, with scholarly looks but also solidly built, completely different from the stereotype of a frail bookworm glued to his computer.

Her gaze then moved to a woman with blond hair tied in a ponytail, standing behind Jack. She had a sultry figure and attractive looks, exuding a wild charm reminiscent of a leopard.

"I’m Chris, Chris Ailundo. A sniper specialized in long-range shots. Pleased to meet you, adorable Oriental girl," said Chris, who smiled softly.

She was the one who had pulled Lin You into the house just before.

The last one was a woman with a cold expression, man-like in appearance, who appeared to be at least in her forties, which put her significantly older than the others, who seemed to be in their twenties or thirties.

"Anuowa, traps and defense expert. At your service," said Anuowa, her voice devoid of any warmth.

"Don’t mind her, that’s just how Sister Anuowa is," Jack apologized to Lin You with a smile.

"No, it’s nothing," Lin You shook her head.

"They are the special squad I’ve hired to assist us, the Night Demon Squad," Feil’s voice sounded beside her. "Let’s get started with our mission then; time is of the essence."

"No problem, everything is ready," Jack said, grinning, revealing a gleaming set of teeth that left Lin You speechless.

"You’ve seen their strength, right? Although none of them are low-level, their combined power still surpasses yours. With their accumulated experience, even if it’s just Captain Jack alone ambushing you, you would have a hard time winning," Feil’s words were quite straightforward, but they were also true.

Although Lin You was reluctant to admit it, she knew she had to acknowledge the significant combat capabilities of the Night Demon Squad. After all, not everyone was capable of winning against higher levels.

"The Night Demon Squad has a good reputation among the Eastern mercenary circles. If there are no issues, let’s start formulating the battle plan," Feil said in a deep voice.

Jack nodded, gave a signal, and Anuowa immediately took out a small black metal box and attached it directly to the well-secured anti-theft door. As soon as the metal box touched the door, it latched on like a magnet. The red light on the box, which was initially flashing, turned to green.

"Ok," Anuowa murmured softly.

"Alright, there’s no detection equipment signal around us now. Let’s begin formulating the plan," Jack said with a nod and raised voice.