True Solution of the Sword Dao

Not far from Coastal City lies Pingsong City, which is also a municipal city in the vast Coastal Province. Compared to the hustle and bustle of Coastal City, this place is just an ordinary municipal city within Coastal Province. In contrast, Pingsong’s buildings are mostly older, but there are many high-rises, and the entire city is permeated with a faint sense of sedimentation. It’s as if it’s the twilight after a period of glory.

"Pingsong used to be the number one industrial city in the entire Coastal Province. Unfortunately, now that the policies above have changed, this place isn’t paid the same attention to as it was before."

In the high-floor restaurant of a building, an elderly man with a full head of white short hair held a coffee, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, sighed. The coffee in his hand was still steaming hot. He was dressed in a neatly-tailored white suit, his face and beard groomed meticulously, giving him an exceedingly strict appearance.

Inside the whole restaurant, with its soothing music and soft yellow lighting, every row of seats was empty. Only the table next to where the old man stood was occupied by another elderly man with white hair. The seated elder wore a black Tang suit embroidered with a black dragon pattern. At the same time, a brown cane leaned against his chair.

"Why should you, my elder brother, worry about such ordinary matters?" the seated old man said indifferently. "After all, our Wu Family doesn’t rely on these superficial things."

"This world is full of countless strange and talented people. Although our Wu Family is honored as one of the five major Dream Eater families, if we don’t act humbly and cautiously, the Flying Swallow Clan will become our example from the past."

"You’re overthinking it, brother. Yan Shi, head of the Flying Swallow Clan, was stubborn and arrogant, attempting to dominate the whole Inner World of Hua Nation and even Asia with his own strength. That’s why he met with everyone’s backlash. Besides, our Wu Family is not mixing in the same pond as those Psychic circles. When the sky falls, we have the Divine Artifact to support us. What is there to worry about?" The elder in the Tang suit picked up his coffee and took a determined sip.

"I know that most in the Dream Eater circle share your thoughts these days, brother. Everyone thinks that if the sky falls, we have the Divine Artifact to support us. We just need to adhere to the agreement with the Psychics. But some things, just because we can’t see them, doesn’t mean they won’t happen." The standing elder sighed, "Recently, the Red Boots in Southwest Province have suddenly gone quiet, the Dragon Eye in nearby Coastal City has disappeared, and Manov from Jiangning City has been assassinated, among a spate of events. I always have an uneasy feeling about these things."

"You worry too much, brother. Aren’t there always Dream Eaters dying or getting injured in fights every year? The constant emergence of new faces, old ones retiring, isn’t it the same as before? What’s there to worry about?"

"That’s true, but though we Dream Eaters have a great advantage over Psychics of the same level, we still fall short of Top Level Combat Power. If anything were to happen with the Divine Artifacts..."

"Brother, you always worry too much. The situation with Dragon Eye will be handled by the folks in Sri Lanka. And Red Boots, they were simply left unchecked before. This time we have not returned to the country for such trivial matters."

"Indeed, even though Hua Nation is our motherland, it is a chaotic area beyond the control of Dream Eaters. If we do find that ’Void Child’ this time, perhaps the moment for our Wu Family to return to our motherland will arrive," the standing elder nodded and said. "It all depends on the results this time. Have we pinpointed the exact location of the ’Void Child’?"

"It’s been pinpointed long ago; it’s a scion of a major family in the Capital City. Such a physique is hard to come by in a thousand years, and this time, we absolutely cannot allow other families to disrupt our plans. As long as we take the ’Void Child’ into our system early on, the entire Dream World of Hua Nation can become our Wu Family’s domain. The next several decades, even a hundred years, will be our Wu Family’s glorious era. We must not fail!" declared the elder in the Tang suit with finality. "After that, if the other side also succeeds, it will be the time for our Wu Family to truly unify the entire Inner World of Hua Nation."

"Exactly, this is the true grand enterprise of our Wu Family. The humiliation given to us Dream Eaters by the Psychic world in the past will be completely reversed by me, Wu Duanshan!" a sharp glare flickered in the eyes of the elder with short hair.

"And me, Wu Duanhe!" The seated elder rose hastily to his feet, and the two brothers exchanged glances, bursting into laughter together.

"The great era of our Wu Family is surely coming!" This was their shared, undoubting belief.

**************

"Last night, on a road in the eastern part of the city, a vicious carjacking occurred. The suspects, four in total, two men and two women, are still under further investigation," said a male reporter holding a microphone, speaking fluently in Mandarin in the center of the TV screen.

Behind him was a chaotic crime scene. The ground was covered in dark red bloodstains and cracks. Police officers in uniform and medical staff in white were constantly taking measurements and moving around the area. In the corner, there was a van almost burned to a crisp, reduced to just a skeleton. It was clear from the broadcast that the scene had been thoroughly covered up.

Suddenly, a stretcher carrying a body passed by on the screen.

Lin You sat on the couch, her eyes suddenly narrowing.

The corpse on the screen, its mouth filled with fresh blood, eyes wide open, as if still raging in anger, was Captain Jack, who had been by Lin You’s side the night before.

Lin You stared blankly at the corpse on the TV until it was carried out of the frame. A deep chill spread throughout her body. The vague pain in her back seemed to linger still. Last night, facing off against Dolanna, that moment of defeat, sprawling on the ground, listening to the rampant voices around her, that profound sense of powerlessness...

The morning light poured in through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, the half-open window letting in a cool breeze that caused the curtains to flutter gently.

"Little You?" Lin Fei’s voice came from outside the door.

Knock, knock, knock. The rhythm of knocking followed.

"You should go say goodbye to your aunt today; our train back is at noon."

Lin You, however, seemed to completely ignore the half, her eyes fixated on the television, motionless.

The ponytailed girl, Chris, who had just come out from the restroom, walked out quietly and glanced at Lin You.

"Chris, could you please open the door?" Feil said softly.

The girl nodded, walked to the front door, and unlocked it.

With a click, Lin Fei slowly walked into the room. She gave Chris a brief look but said nothing. They had met the night before. When it came to Chris claiming to be Lin You’s friend, Lin Fei just smiled and didn’t delve into questioning it.

"We should go," Lin Fei said softly, looking at Lin You leaning on the couch.

But Lin You was as if deaf, still quietly staring at the television.

"Xiao You," Lin Fei raised her voice.

Feil watched on the side as Chris and her bracelet focused their attention on the two. For a moment, all was quiet around them, save for the faint sound of car horns coming from outside the hotel.

Lin Fei looked at the stunned Lin You, her gaze slowly turning gentle. Perhaps it was time to truly reveal herself to her, to let such a young girl under eighteen, carry such heavy pressure. Although she couldn’t expose her own information, having learned most of Lin You’s, she could more conveniently help her from hidden channels. Thinking this, Lin Fei glanced at the little cat on the floor, and at Chris beside her.

"Xiao You," he said gently. He closed the door behind him and slowly walked up to the sofa.

"If there’s something you can’t handle, maybe you could try telling me. I think..."

"Get out!" Lin You pointed at the door.

Everyone was stunned. Feil, who was about to jump onto the bench, suddenly froze.

Chris, ready to walk towards the bedroom, also turned around to look at Lin You. Her bracelet emitted a faint purple glow.

"Xiao You, you..." Lin Fei suddenly laughed.

"Get out!!!" Lin You shouted again, pointing at the door.

The smile on Lin Fei’s face disappeared immediately, and he just looked at her silently, saying nothing.

After a moment, he turned and pushed the door to leave.

Lin You bit her lip, her eyes brimming with tears.

"What do you understand?? What do you know?? You know nothing!!" She yelled, "Nothing at all!!" Images of Jack and the others, who had been alive just moments before, replayed in her mind, a fear tinged with confusion invaded her whole being. Involuntarily, Lin You hugged her knees tightly, curling up into a ball. The tears she had been holding back fell down her cheeks in an instant.

"Xiao You..." Feil stood on the side, watching her with worry.

Even though he knew it was an impulsive act during Lin You’s low moments. But... 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The result of his full protection was to be told to get lost. A faint sense of loss welled up inside him, Lin Fei gripped the longsword tightly, standing by the window, quietly watching Coastal City outside. His calm demeanor reflected on the clear glass.

Lin You hugged her knees, her face buried in between them, tears soaking her clothes.

Between the two of them, there was only a pair of doors.

(Follow my WeChat public account by searching "Author Get Lost" or "laogun123456789" to subscribe. I will post all sorts of things that interest me from time to time.)