Chapter 26
After he left the clubhouse, Lin Sheng still went home on the bus as usual .
Although he now had money in his pocket, beating his long-established habit was hard . He only wanted to remain low-profile when he just started out, but over time, it had become a habit .
“To put in bluntly, this is nothing but laziness . ”
Standing in the bone-chilling wind and glancing back at the bus, which slowly disappeared into the distance, Lin Sheng pulled his collar together and gradually moved along the tactile paving in front of a row of shops .
Very few pedestrians and street food were in that part of the town, so the nightlife was pretty much absent there .
While he was on his way home, Lin Sheng thought about his sparring moment with Russell earlier .
“I finished off my opponent almost without having to unsheathe my sword . The close-range riposte that I learned from the mercenary’s memories is absolutely impeccable .
“With accurate judgment, the metal pommel alone is enough to repel an opponent’s attack . It should be a close-quarters combat technique .
“It’s a shame that my physical strength isn’t up to par . Otherwise, I wouldn’t have to redirect my opponent’s momentum of attack to win . ”
He was able to fling Russell away during the sparring session, not because of his own strength but by using Russell’s attack momentum as leverage . It was an instinctive move contained in the mercenary’s memories and a necessary technique to use when one confronted a much stronger opponent .
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“Generally, it uses the solidness of the sword’s material to leverage the opponent’s strength . ”
Theoretically, the stronger the opponent was, the more damage it would cause to the opponent—provided that the sword was strong enough .
The sparring session earlier had given Lin Sheng a more in-depth understanding of such a technique .
While Ravel’s memories did endow him with the basic thrust move, the mercenary’s memories had enriched his other combat experience, albeit not by much . He could not even qualify as a student in Ravel’s world, but dealing with Russell was easy peasy . While the chap claimed that he had undergone training, in reality, he was no more than a novice .
After Lin Sheng entered through the gate of the apartment buildings, he walked all the way to the stairway below his unit . There, he saw advertisement leaflets strewn all over the ground . There was a photo of a beautiful unknown woman with a line of text at the bottom that read “Baby Reward” .
Lin Sheng kicked the leaflets, which fluttered in the wind, away before he climbed up the stairs slowly . The lightbulb in the stairwell was blown again . He quickly ascended the third floor by leaping up three steps at a time .
The security door of his house was wide open as his dad, Lin Zhounian was carrying goods out of the house . Lin Sheng still managed to find a way in even though several bag loads of snacks were almost entirely blocking the entrance .
“Give me a hand in moving these things downstairs,” Lin Zhounian quickly called out when he saw that Lin Sheng was back .
“Mhm,” Lin Sheng replied .
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With an extra pair of hands, the father and son quickly moved the dozen or so bags of goods downstairs and loaded up his trishaw .
“Alright, go to sleep . I need to deliver the goods, it’s urgent,” While he spoke, Lin Zhounian shoved a roll of money into Lin Sheng’s hand .
“Your class teacher called . There’ll be a tuition class for the college entrance exam . This is for your tuition fee as well as pocket money . Don’t ask your sister for money, she’s not having it easy out there too . ”
After he spoke, he waved at Lin Sheng, and before Lin Sheng could say anything, he slowly paddled away on his trishaw .
Lin Sheng looked on . Once his dad began to gradually disappear into the darkness, he then looked down at the roll of money in his hand . The ¥100 note and two ¥20 notes, full of creases, were stained with his dad’s sweat .
Such was life . Aside from running a grocery store, Lin Zhounian would occasionally deliver large orders to customers all by himself . Making deliveries in the evening was normal . He made ¥20, or ¥30 at best each trip . It was hard-earned cash .
A while of silence later, Lin Sheng turned around and went back up to his house on the third floor . He changed into his slippers, cleaned himself up, put on a fresh nightdress, and habitually gulped down a glass of water before he slept .
Lying quietly in bed, his mind started to wander .
“I really need to improve our life . ”
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After a long moment, Lin Sheng sighed and leisurely closed his eyes .
A nip in the air rushed at his forehead the second he opened his eyes . He instinctively rolled to his left to dodge it .
A black sword landed right where he was standing in earlier, and the impact created a rather big pit in the ground .
The wielder of the black sword, a rotten swordsman with a bloated body, pulled the sword out of the ground . He turned around and charged at Lin Sheng again .
“Not again!”
All Lin Sheng could see was an inky shadow in the dark . He quickly rolled to the side and ran as fast as he could . There was still moonlight illuminating the place the last time he cam, but this time, it was pitch-black . He could see nothing around him .
“I’ve got to find some light!”
The thought of bumping into other monsters kept him from stopping . He did not want to die again without knowing what was happening . After all, it would take a few days before he could recover from the neurasthenia after each death .
Lin Sheng did not know how far he had run, but he definitely did not hear any other sound behind him anymore . Out of a sudden, he hit something like a rock under his feet and almost tripped over .
A glow finally appeared in the sky as the moon came out of its hiding place behind the dark clouds .
Lin Sheng stopped and panted while he carefully looked at his surroundings .
He saw a tall gray wall up ahead . Dotted with holes and looking like a piece of decaying cheese, the wall surrounded a city .
Lin Sheng took several steps forward until he was just a few meters away from the city wall .
“I can’t believe that I got here in under one breath . Is this Blackfeather City?” He reached out to touch the city wall . The wall did not feel the way it looked; it was made of super solid material, and its sharp sections had a metallic feel to the touch .
“It’s becoming more and more real . This dream…” Lin Sheng’s heart sank a little . Right then, he began to doubt if he was dreaming . He retracted his hand, grabbed his black sword, and went into the city via the main gate . At three meters tall, the entrance felt cold and quiet . A chilly wind rushed at him from behind as he walked through the gates . Lin Sheng instinctively shrank his neck, trying to avoid losing too much body heat .
Upon passing through the gate, a ruined gray city block appeared before him . There were broken carriages on the streets, while some shredded unknown debris were carried up in the air by the wind . The dilapidated shops and houses creaked in the wind, as though they were about to collapse at any time .
Lin Sheng looked into the distance, and everything he saw was gray . The fog was still shrouding the deepest part of Blackfeather City, and visibility was virtually zero .
“There isn’t even a single living thing here?” Lin Sheng was on his guard the entire time because he did not believe that there were no monsters in that big city . Holding his black sword, he searched around and quickly found a road sign to the right of the city gate . Made of some kind of black metal, the road sign showed the directions to five different places . But the letters of three of the place names had faded and were illegible while the remaining two were barely recognizable .
“Els Square and Blackfeather City Hall?” Nonetheless, Lin Sheng managed to read those two names .