True Solution of the Sword Dao

Chapter 39: 35

Chapter 39: 35

“Everything else is prepared; all you need to do is get your hands on that most important ledger,” said a white-haired man with a solemn expression to Lin Fei.

“The mission wasn’t supposed to be completed by you alone, but the other two candidates for the task—one severely injured and one suddenly occupied—can’t make it, so you’re the only one left.”

Lin Fei carefully flipped through a stack of photos in his hand. “Do they have guns?”

“Most likely,” the man replied. “So you’ll need to avoid direct conflict.”

Lin Fei felt a chill in his heart. “When is the operation?”

“In two hours. The target will complete the transaction within the next two hours, with the majority of the time taken up by their scouting. The slightest disturbance might prompt them to move locations,” the man spoke gravely. “What you need to do is search the ledger from the target’s residence during this time. It records transaction details and some vital evidence.” 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Lin Fei silently browsed the photos and after a moment, replied, “Alright, I understand. What’s the reward for the mission?”

“Whatever you acquire during the mission.”

***********

At 8:42 AM, the weather was clear with a light breeze.

On a bus leaving Ping City center for the suburbs.

A boy with a black, long-shaped bag squeezed onto the bus quietly.

The boy wore a cotton plaid shirt, black jeans, and had clean, short hair. While not particularly handsome, his slender eyes shimmered with a faint blue, giving him a delicate charm that was not immediately noticeable.

Gripping the black long-shaped bag in one hand and the overhead ring with the other, he struggled through the crowd to the window seat, where he finally caught his breath.

Beside him stood a peasant man in worn clothing and green rubber shoes caked with mud, whose strong body odor wafted due to the crowded bus.

The boy edged closer to the window, trying to distance himself from the man.

This boy was Lin Fei.

Yesterday, Lin Fei had just managed to muddle through the conversation about bringing home a longsword with his parents, and this morning, under the guise of attending a free Sword Dao training course, he had slipped out alone.

Since the appearance of the Divine Beast Meng and the blue scales on his body, as well as the inexplicable black space and the Sword Heart Chain Sword Technique secret art that suddenly emerged in his mind at old man Fei’s place…

“It must be the Divine Beast Meng’s ability to trace the history of its previous longsword masters,” Lin Fei recalled asking old man Fei about information on the sword.

“What era was this sword made?”

“Not sure.”

“Any origin?”

“Don’t know.”

“The maker?”

“I’m looking for them.”

“Well, what’s its name?”

“It hasn’t been named yet.”

“So, you don’t know anything. Why do you still think it’s the most valuable piece in your collection?”

“Because it’s very sharp,” old man Fei had said, with an expression of pain.

A fine hair gently fell over the blade.

“Shh!” With an almost imperceptible sound, it was effortlessly split in two.

“I never imagined that the legendary sharpness to the point of slicing hair could be real!” Lin Fei remembered the scene from yesterday and gripped the longsword even tighter.

Undoubtedly, crafting such a sword would be incredibly difficult even with today’s technology. If you also considered the sword’s own era, the value was incalculable. No wonder old man Fei, despite his wealth, appeared so pained.

Moreover, after the Divine Beast Meng appeared yesterday, the Sword Dao Secret Art scenes that were transferred into his mind were all first-person perspectives using this longsword against various opponents and enemies. Clearly, these were the combat scenarios of the sword’s previous Sword Master. And in the Qi Cultivation chapter’s Second Layer, which was also where Divine Beast Meng was depicted, another line of information appeared: “Divine Beast Meng, the fastest Divine Beast between heaven and earth; visualizing its form can enhance one’s own speed. If the compatibility is high, one may acquire the ability to read weapons. The reader of weapons, learning the strongest Spiritual Imprints within, absorbs the best of many masters, making it their own.”

“Reading weapons? Does it mean absorbing the memory of weapons? The strongest Spiritual Imprint could be understood as the strongest among all of the weapon’s past masters. This might be the origin of the Sword Heart Chain,” Lin Fei pondered to himself.

Soon, the bus reached Lin Fei’s destination—the luxurious Moonlight Heights community in the suburbs.

It was also the residence of the target, as indicated by the latest intel—a newly discovered secret hideout. The main evidence had just been transferred here less than two days ago.

Lin Fei walked into a stationery shop opposite the residential area, pretending to select various notebooks and stationery items on the shelves, all the while carefully waiting for the operation to begin. During the wait, he recalled the mission requirements and details once more, making sure he hadn’t made a single mistake before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

He pulled out the dedicated cell phone used for communication and checked the time: 9:15 PM.

“Just right.” To tell the truth, Lin Fei was still somewhat nervous. Infiltrating deep into the enemy’s lair, if discovered, would certainly lead to a fight to the death, and the enemy also had firearms that posed a great threat to him. Any carelessness could mean life-threatening danger. This feeling, akin to walking a tightrope, made Lin Fei, even with the calmness he had after his rebirth, somewhat tense.

He offered an apologetic smile to the stationery shop owner, who looked completely baffled, didn’t buy anything, and walked out of the store. He strode towards the residential area across the street.

Shortly after he had entered the residential area,

a police officer with a buzz cut and a potbelly arrived at the entrance of the residential area, puzzled. On his plump round face, his small eyes scanned around as if looking for someone but found nothing.

The officer, somewhat frustrated, took out his cell phone from his waist and dialed a number.

“Hello! Yaojia, the guy you mentioned isn’t here?”

Several kilometers away from the residential area, inside an apartment building,

a buzz-cut youth with his body wrapped in white bandages was lying on the bed, holding a phone with his good hand and making a call.

“Not there? Impossible! Maybe he went in already. Kun, let me tell you, your captain has been investigating Lin Fei, right? I’ve heard there’s some clues already, but there’s no evidence to act on. This is an opportunity. I got a tip in advance that this kid is going to steal something from a resident in the Yue Ming residential area.”

“How reliable is the information? Why would I lie to you? In the future, I, Chen Yaojia, want to make my way in Ping City, and I’ll still be relying a lot on you, Brother Kun, right?”

“Yes! It’s the top-floor resident of the seventh building inside, the one on the left. Yes, that’s the one!”

“Did Brother Kun apply for a gun? That kid’s pretty ruthless with his hands, so it’s best to shoot him first and disable him before capturing him. That’s a ruthless guy with a life on his hands!… Mm… Mm… Alright! After the job is done, when I’m healed, let’s get together, Brother, and have a good meal! My treat!… Okay! Let’s leave it at that.”

With a snap, he closed the flip phone. The young man’s expression instantly turned sinister.

“Lin Fei, heh heh, you think you can fight? Let’s see if you’re better or the gun is! If you dare to assault a police officer publicly, even if you’re from Shueisha, once you’re exposed, the society will have to abandon you. And if you don’t resist, you’re probably in for an even worse fate!”

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

Yue Ming Residential Area

“Jingjing, there’s a new Korean-style jewelry shop that just opened along Shuijing Road, let’s go check it out. Li Meili and the others said there are lots of things that are both cheap and pretty.”

“Okay, but I need to stop by Beta’s Bookstore first. The book I asked the owner to order for me arrived yesterday.”

“Then let’s take bus nineteen. We can head to Beta’s first, then walk back towards the jewelry store. Along the way, we’ll get to check out what new styles those shops in between have to offer.”

Lin Fei, carrying a longsword on his back, brushed past two cute girls wearing T-shirts and denim shorts. Parts of their conversation naturally drifted into Lin Fei’s ears.

“Isn’t this supposed to be a high-end residential area? Why does it feel no different from a regular neighborhood?” Lin Fei shook his head slightly and looked up at the buildings on either side, counting their numbers.

Walking a bit further, Lin Fei stopped in front of a building set back from the others, observing the residents going up and down the staircases.

“This is the place.” He grabbed his longsword, holding it in his hand.

Lin Fei had carefully considered how to extract the ledger yesterday, coming up with a plan.

From the kidnapping incident some time ago, it was clear that his tracking and anti-tracking abilities were quite poor, and it went without saying that his infiltration skills wouldn’t be any better.

Therefore, a stealthy infiltration plan was dead on arrival. That left only one method. A head-on breakthrough!!

Gently opening the sword bag’s drawstring, he revealed just the tip of the longsword’s handle, which was tied with black silk. Holding the sword like that, Lin Fei headed for the staircase.

The target’s residence was on the top floor of this building, on the left side. There were no partitions in between. Before entering the building, there was an anti-theft door with an electronic lock. One would normally have to use the phone next to it to call the specified resident and have them unlock the electronic lock before gaining entrance. Naturally, those who had keys of their own wouldn’t need to do so.

Lin Fei effortlessly took out a master key and, with a click, opened the electronic lock without any issue, smoothly entering the staircase. Just as he entered, another girl wearing a dusty Mickey Mouse T-shirt, slightly plump, followed him into the staircase. Lin Fei glanced back at her, paused his steps, and let the girl go ahead of him, following behind.

Her hair was a bit messy, her face plain without makeup. She wore a grey T-shirt with oversized grey sweatpants. Clearly, this was a girl who didn’t know how to dress herself. Beneath such attire, what might have been a decent appearance became quite unremarkable. Compared to the two girls Lin Fei had encountered earlier, although both were girls of similar age, if placed side by side, the girl in front could be deemed ugly.

Without a doubt, matching outfits and taste in fashion are important factors that enhance a girl’s appearance. A woman who doesn’t know how to dress, no matter how attractive her features, would find it hard to compare with those fashionable girls who do.

The girl looked at Lin Fei with a hint of confusion at first, probably because she had never seen him in this building before. Then she suddenly became oddly nervous. However, when Lin Fei stepped aside to let her pass, she hurriedly sprinted up the stairs, quickly reaching the second floor. Then her footsteps suddenly stopped.

Lin Fei followed at a leisurely pace, his right hand holding the long sword bag. Though his facial features were quite ordinary, an air of composure and self-confidence exuded from his actions, paired with his narrow eyes that faintly gleamed with a blue luster, giving off a mysteriously noble aura.

As he reached the corner of the first floor, Lin Fei looked up, catching a glimpse of the girl quickly retracting her head and turning around, her steps hurried as she continued upward.

Clearly, the girl had been secretly watching him.

Lin Fei felt inexplicably puzzled; with his ordinary looks, he had never experienced such a situation in either this life or his past one. Thus, he immediately dismissed the possibility that she was watching him because of his appearance. After all, in his memory, girls tended to be quite reserved.