True Solution of the Sword Dao

The sky was dark, as if covered by a dense layer of clouds. It was a heavy and oppressive atmosphere.

Countless white flowers blanketed the ground, their color pale and filled with the aura of death—as if they were offerings in front of tombstones.

Lin Fei had never seen a place so desolate yet so beautiful. The sky was a monochrome black and white, while the ground below was covered with ghostly white flowers.

"President!!"

A voice of panic suddenly rang in his ears.

Lin Fei jerked awake, standing bewildered on the edge of a rooftop, with one foot slowly stepping out. It seemed as if with the next step, he would fall into emptiness.

Looking down from the rooftop of a seven-story building, there seemed to be only darkness below.

The midnight breeze carried a trace of coolness, and a chill suddenly rose from the depths of his heart.

Retracting the foot he had stepped out, Lin Fei then realized that if he took one more step forward, he would have fallen without any defense.

He clearly remembered that he had been lying in his own bed, sleeping. Yet when he woke up, he was already standing here. He turned around and surprisingly saw Jiu’er standing right behind him, her long hair lifted by the night wind, her small mouth covered by her hands in shock.

"President..."

"What’s the matter? I just came up to get some fresh air," Lin Fei said, not even believing his own words. He knew his face must be very pale, but that was not important.

Jiu’er took step by step forward and finally pulled Lin Fei away from the rooftop’s edge. Suddenly, she hugged Lin Fei tightly.

Lin Fei tilted his head slightly. The moment he was embraced by Jiu’er, a strange sense of peace and calm flooded his heart. This had been the third time this week. Submerged in self-cultivation by day, but at night, he was defenseless. Jiu’er had pulled him back from the rooftop many times already.

He didn’t know if it was because his movement technique was too good or for some other reason, but his parents and Lin You never discovered it, not even once.

"It’s okay," Lin Fei said softly.

Jiu’er buried her head in his chest, sobbing softly.

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

Lin Fei didn’t know when Jiu’er had moved to live near his home. Although he was certain of his good memory, Yan Shi’s influence had become more and more severe lately. Many times, he wouldn’t hear anything at all, and his eyes would occasionally fade to black. Then, after a few minutes, he would regain his senses.

For some reason, he always felt as if he could hear Jiu’er crying in his heart. The crying was mournful and faint, coming and going. When he tried to discern it carefully, it would disappear immediately, but it would surface again when he relaxed.

"I don’t like to cry," said Jiu’er, her smile bright enough to outshine the sun itself. She was sitting in Lin Fei’s office, supporting her chin with her hands, watching Lin Fei assign tasks to Xiao Ling and other club members, appointing leaders selected from the newcomers. Lin Fei was overhauling the organization with the support of Elder Zhao. He began to reassign staff positions, placing those new members who showed clear loyalty to him in key roles. Those who had opinions or biases against him, he either demoted or assigned difficult tasks—if they completed them, they were allowed to leave, and if not, there was nothing to be said. They would be directly punished according to their original charges.

Following this restructuring, the Ping City Chapter of the club saw a swift and harsh change of personnel. However, the numbers did not decline but increased. A large number of newcomers took over key departments within the club. Lin Fei also appointed Jiu’er to be responsible for collecting and summarizing certain intelligence reports for him. This was just a temporary test, as the National Security Department was also providing intelligence directly to him for comparison. If Jiu’er had any ulterior motives, surely, while wielding so much power, she would not be able to resist exposing herself.

"Why do I always hear you crying?" Lin Fei asked, puzzled.

"You heard wrong," Jiu’er said with a smile.

"Did I?"

"Yes."

Lin Fei fell silent, truly unsure if he had misheard.

"You go handle your tasks first."

Watching Jiu’er obediently leave the office, Lin Fei didn’t know why, but he felt an inexplicable sense of panic. It was as if the further away from Jiu’er he was, the more Yan Shi’s influence would begin to creep in again.

He held tight to the Longsword Ring. Although he once suspected that the ring was aiding Yan Shi, Lin Fei didn’t want to verify it anymore.

"What difference does it make knowing or not knowing?" he asked himself. He knew that, for the time being, he absolutely couldn’t leave the ring behind. Without finding a replacement, the ring was the absolute guarantee of his Combat Power. It was the only guarantee. Without a suitable longsword, his strength would plummet, and at best, he could only reach the lower levels of D rank. With Sis closing in, he couldn’t possibly give up the ring.

"Knock knock knock." The door was knocked on once more.

"Come in."

Lu Jun walked into the room with a serious expression.

"President..."

"Call me Lin Fei, our relationship isn’t like with the others," Lin Fei said with a smile.

Lu Jun hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

"Alright, regarding the investigation into Jiu’er. I’m sorry, but I haven’t found anything. We and the National Security intelligence channels have not found a girl named Jiu’er."

"How is that possible?" Lin Fei was shocked. "What about Yue Sa then?"

"His information is quite clear. But Lin... Fei, is this girl Jiu’er very important to you?"

Lin Fei was about to speak, when a sudden intense headache overwhelmed his entire consciousness. In a haze, a fine cry echoed again in his ears. He clutched his head tightly and closed his eyes.

"I want to rest a while." Lin Fei couldn’t hear his own voice; he was only trying to speak with the usual strength. He didn’t want anyone to detect anything unusual about him. The Sword Dao True Solution and the Yan Shi markings were his biggest secrets. He wouldn’t allow anyone the possibility of coming into contact with them.

"It’s just a dead person, after all." He kept emphasizing to himself over and over.

"Jiu’er...." He unconsciously murmured aloud.

Suddenly, a faint fragrance and a soft sensation entered Lin Fei’s mind. In an instant, the intense pain receded like a tide.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already the afternoon. The blood-red mirror-like sunset coated everything with a layer of red.

Jiu’er was right in front of him, above him, her pretty face flawless, with only worry filling her eyes. Lin Fei felt as if he were leaning in Jiu’er’s embrace.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked gently.

Lin Fei abruptly left her embrace. His eyes coldly fixed on her.

"Who exactly are you?"

"What do you mean, who?" Jiu’er was startled, "I’m Jiu’er? What’s wrong with you?"

"Get out!" Lin Fei felt an unreasonable irritation in his heart. An inexplicable feeling echoed continuously within him.

"President..."

"Get out!" Lin Fei’s right hand touched the hilt of the sword on the ring. Threads of murderous intent began to spread.

All of a sudden, the world spun around wildly. A strong feeling of dizziness kept assaulting his brain. All thoughts and plans, all leads seemed to be abruptly cut off.

The dizziness arrived quickly and left just as fast, but it also seemed to take something with it. Something Lin Fei felt was crucial, yet he couldn’t remember what it was.

Once again, he smelled Jiu’er’s familiar fragrance. His face sank into something soft.

In that moment, everything went silent, only the image of Jiu’er, reappearing before his eyes, so real....

"Don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone about your matters." Jiu’er whispered, her face shimmering with a faint ivory luster. "I’ll always be with you."

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

Lin Fei almost struggled to run out of the office. The evening sun shone on him, which should have been warm, but Lin Fei couldn’t feel the slightest warmth. He had no idea what was happening to him. Slowing his pace, his spirit plunged back into the Sword Dao True Solution, and the Qi Cultivation section’s visualization patterns seemed to let him recover quickly. And they were also very effective against the influence of Yan Shi, but recently, it seemed that merely practicing Sword Dao while working was no longer enough to fend off the influence of Yan Shi; only when fully immersed could Lin Fei feel a rare moment of tranquility. Apart from that, only when Jiu’er was by his side could he feel a long-lost peace.

He didn’t know how he had managed to get home, perhaps by muscle memory, as the road home had been travelled countless times.

In the empty living room, his parents were still not around, only Lin You was holding a black cat, looking at him nervously.

"You..." She seemed to want to say something. But Lin Fei was not in the mood to talk. Without a word, he went straight to his room.

Afterward, Lin Fei recovered some of his spirit, but Jiu’er often appeared in his office for no reason. Other people, such as Xiao Ling or Lu Jun, seemed to selectively ignore her presence.

Lin Fei realized that as long as Jiu’er was by his side, the headaches would dissipate quickly, and the hallucinations would not occur. So, he accepted Jiu’er’s presence. He knew Jiu’er couldn’t possibly be there to kill him.

If she wanted to kill him, she could have done it that afternoon when he had passed out.

"President, there has been an accumulation of intelligence reports recently that no one has dealt with. What do you think..." A head of the intelligence department cautiously reported to Lin Fei.

"An accumulation?" Lin Fei glanced at Jiu’er next to him, whose coquettish smile made it hard for him to get angry. "Assign everything to Lu Jun."

"Sure."

After the head had left, Lin Fei stood up and walked out of the office to the practice room. This was his personal practice room; given that Shueisha’s membership was actually not large, and its background and funding were extremely substantial, having a personal practice room as the president wasn’t surprising.