True Solution of the Sword Dao

Wu Haiyi focused for a moment.

"I didn’t expect this person to come as well, Junxi, Shijie, you two go and test them out."

Inside the room, two masses of evil aura suddenly coalesced into the forms of a man and a woman.

"Sure, leave it to me. You can count on me," the man said with a grin.

"What else can you do besides save your own skin?" the woman said disdainfully. She then seriously said to Wu Haiyi, "Big brother, I will do my best."

"Go ahead," Wu Haiyi said calmly. "Among my Orange Division, you two are the strongest and also the true elites that our Wu Family recruited from outside. I trust in your strength."

"The guests have entered from the front; I will greet them together with Wu Shijie," the woman whispered.

"Be careful."

"Okay."

The two of them turned into countless evil auras and dispersed one after the other.

Wu Haiyi’s left hand caressed the silver ring on his right index finger, where a crystal-clear, colorless diamond slowly bloomed with a faint glimmer.

***********

Capital City Grand Hotel’s Golden Hall

The entire hall resembled an ancient court, with red-carpeted steps, gold columns, and numerous chandelier-like lights hanging upside down from the ceiling, casting the hall in a golden hue.

The Golden Hall derived its name from this very splendor. Gold engravings and patterns adorned the place, making the entire hall appear both majestic and opulent.

The hall was empty and silent.

With a click, the entrance doors were gently pushed open.

A man with long hair, dressed in a fitted black outfit, strode in. A strong-looking man with a wooden expression followed him. Reflections of golden light shone on them, casting a golden layer over their figures.

"No one here? For such a large hotel, does the Wu Family have only a few lackeys left?" the long-haired man said impatiently. His voice echoed through the hall.

"We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. It’s you who’s slow, right?" a man in a white suit emerged from behind a gold column and spoke irritably.

"Having the chance to defeat the legendary ’Crimson Hand’ is not something that comes by often," another woman in a white cheongsam spoke as she slowly stepped out.

"Where’s Wu Haiyi?" The long-haired man, known as the Crimson Hand, grew even more impatient. "Tell him to roll out and see me; I want that Divine Artifact part of your Wu Family. If he’s sensible, he’ll hand it over himself."

"What an arrogant tone! Last time in Germany, you wanted to steal the Adom Family’s part and ended up heavily injured without success. Do you want to repeat that mistake?" the woman chuckled. "Today, I, Wu Junxi, would like to see just how much strength you’ve managed to recover."

The Crimson Hand’s expression darkened immediately. The battle in Germany was a disgrace he carried, the most humiliating fight of his life, and now this woman was audaciously rubbing salt into his wounds.

"Excellent! You’ve succeeded in angering me."

His right hand extended slightly, the front portion suddenly vanished.

At the same time, the missing segment of his hand appeared at a spot behind the woman’s back.

Hissss!

A noise of fabric being torn sounded, and the woman’s cheongsam was slashed open at the back, along with a cut on her skin. However, unlike a normal wound, there was no blood flowing out of the crimson gash; it shone with a dazzling blood-red color. Countless worm-like insects burst from the wound instantly, intertwining and biting down on the man’s hand in the blink of an eye.

With a girlish laugh, countless blood-red insects poured from her back and tightly wrapped around the hand that had appeared there.

The long-haired man grunted, as a wave of transparent ripples spread out from his hand violently, dispersing all the insects. He quickly withdrew his hand, but it was gnawed and badly damaged.

He stared at the still laughing woman with an ugly expression.

"Parasitic Dream Eater?"

"Oh my! Don’t put it so rudely," the woman said as the tear in her cheongsam and the wound quickly healed. "I rather prefer the term ’Insect Keeper’."

"You greedy creatures are still not extinct, it seems the Wu Family is indeed courting destruction," the Crimson Hand said gravely. "Judging by the number of your insects, your daily consumption must require at least two Dream Awakeners. How many more like you are there?" Normally, a Dream Eater wouldn’t have to feed on Dream Awakeners, and only a minority enjoyed hunting and growing stronger in such a way. Most wouldn’t engage in such acts. And generally, if Dream Awakeners did not display their abilities, they wouldn’t be easily discovered.

But as with anything, there are always exceptions. Insect Keepers were one such aberration—if they couldn’t sustain their insect swarms with Dream Awakeners as food, their power would greatly diminish, and for some, especially those with special kinds, it was possible to be consumed by their own cultivated insects. In the past, they had almost been wiped out by the collective efforts of the Dream Eater community. It was surprising to see their existence now.

"Who knows?" the woman shrugged. "But the same goes for this one beside me."

The man in the white suit cooperatively extended his right hand, the entire front part of his arm turning black rapidly, as numerous tiny black beetles crawled on it. It appeared less like insects on his arm and more as if the arm itself was comprised of beetles.

In the Golden Hall, styled like ancient times with mahogany doors and glass windows rather than paper ones, one of the furthest doors slightly ajar permitted a pair of eyes filled with fear and surprise to stealthily witness everything transpiring in the hall.

"Chen Jiaqiang, what’s wrong?" a slightly husky female voice came from behind him.

Chen Jiaqiang jolted, quickly turning around with a pale face, "Nothing, I just feel a bit unwell."

"What are you peeking at inside here, sneaking around?" The woman, dressed in a long black dress, also came over to peek through the crack in the door. Chen Jiaqiang tried to stop her in a panic, but the agile woman dodged with ease, her face reaching the door slit.

"Don’t look," Chen Jiaqiang hurriedly continued to pull her away. But it was already too late.

"It’s empty inside, not even a ghostly shadow. What are you playing at?" the woman asked, lifting her head in resignation.

"Empty?" Chen Jiaqiang was stunned and leaned in to look again. The eerie trio was still talking, the scene was extremely bizarre.

"There are clearly people there!"

"There’s no ’effing people." The woman cursed. "You must’ve had too much to drink."

"Come on, let’s go back to drinking, the guys are waiting for us."

Chen Jiaqiang looked again and discovered that the hall was completely empty; there was nothing. He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

**********

"Alright, now we’re good, I never expected someone could awaken their Dream Ability just by drinking. What a hassle." The man in the white suit gestured, and the swarming black insects swiftly converged onto his arm.

"How do you plan to solve this now? If you run away immediately, perhaps we will spare you," the woman in the cheongsam said with a playful smile, looking at the long-haired man who was now half-kneeling on the ground. "The wounds inflicted by my little darlings are lethal without a countermeasure~~"

The man with the crimson hand was deathly pale, his right hand had turned pitch black.

"That’s why the thing I find most repugnant is you, insect planters," the crimson-handed man said in a deep voice.

"Is that so? I’m flattered by the compliment," Wu Shijie said with a slight smile in his suit.

The crimson-handed man turned towards the muscular man who was still standing in place and said softly, "Milan."

The muscular man suddenly melted away as if he was made of wax, quickly dissolving into a puddle of colorful goo. It spread rapidly; within seconds, it covered the entire golden hall. It was as if a myriad of unevenly mixed dyes blended together, transforming the golden hall into something entirely different.

"What is this?!!" Wu Junxi’s face changed dramatically. Wu Shijie beside her also looked startled. Both of them suddenly turned into countless insects, trying to scatter and flee, but they were quickly stuck by the countless goo-like liquid and couldn’t move.

"Die!" shouted the man with the crimson hand fiercely.

The numerous insects were being stuck relentlessly, with layers of liquid covering them one after another.

Suddenly, an orange ripple swept across in an instant, washing away all the colorful goo in the golden hall like clear water. Wu Shijie and Wu Junxi were revealed inside.

"Trying to save them? Heh heh!" The crimson-handed man stretched out his hand, and two of his fingers disappeared halfway instantly.

Bang bang!!

Consecutive explosions burst forth in an instant.

Just as Wu Junxi and Wu Shijie’s faces showed a glimmer of relief, they instantaneously burst into countless pieces of flesh, spraying everywhere.

Wu Haiyi hastily pushed open a door and rushed in.

"Junxi!!!"

"It’s too late," said the man with the crimson hand, starting to chuckle softly. "Hand over the component, or you can die here as well."

Wu Haiyi’s face darkened, knowing it was already too late. He turned to face the crimson-handed man directly.

"You’ve got guts! Daring to kill a member of the Wu Family in this state. It seems the crimson-handed man is destined to die in Asia today," he said.

"Not such a small talker after all," the crimson-handed man said as he stood up. His palm had completely recovered. He moved his wrist and twisted his neck.

Wu Haiyi raised one hand, and suddenly numerous orange bands of light surged out from behind him. The countless bands of light, dense and innumerable, furiously rushed towards the crimson-handed man. The vast malevolent energy spread outwards, nearly matching the scale of the crimson-handed man’s power.

"Milan!" the crimson-handed man’s face changed slightly, and he shouted loudly.

All the colorful paint-like liquid in the golden hall quickly receded, pooling swiftly into his right hand, solidifying into a giant crimson glove.

"The Crimson Hand!!"

Amidst a roar, a colossal crimson phantom hand abruptly met the countless orange bands of light.

With a thunderous roar,

The entire golden hall seemed to tremble slightly.

Every guest in the Capital City Hotel seemed to sense something was off.

***********

In a room with soft lighting, a man and woman embracing each other on the bed both felt a jolt.

"What happened?" The man suddenly sat up in alarm. "Is it an earthquake?"

"What’s wrong, this is Capital City, earthquakes don’t happen that easily here." A pair of snow-white arms gently wound around him, pulling him back down. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please feel free to vote for it with a recommendation ticket or a monthly ticket at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)