True Solution of the Sword Dao
Chapter 130 - 130 124 True Lies I
Chapter 130: Chapter 124: True Lies I Chapter 130: Chapter 124: True Lies I “What? Going to Coastal City?” Lin Jianguo raised his voice, “What for?”
Lin You stood in front of Lin Jianguo and Jiang Feng with his head lowered, saying nothing. A black cat lay lazily at his feet, still showing traces of milk at the corners of its mouth from a recent drink.
Lin Fei carried a bowl of rice and picked at the food from time to time, also occasionally lifting her head to look at Lin You standing by. Her face wore a gentle smile. Jiang Nan silently ate his meal, occasionally using the corner of his eye to steal glances at Lin Fei and then quickly bowed his head in fear of being caught.
The atmosphere around the dinner table was a bit eerie.
Lin Jianguo glanced at his son with some relief and nodded. Since that hospitalization from an injury, his once disobedient son seemed to have suddenly wised up. He became sensible, treating people softly and politely, studying diligently late into the night (actually on consecutive sick leave…). His relationship with his sibling Lin You had also improved a lot.
“Finally, my son has grown up a bit,” Lin Jianguo felt some emotion.
Jiang Feng sat to the side and asked softly, “Lin You, it’s the New Year period, why are you going to Coastal City? Can’t you go play at your aunt’s house a bit later?”
“I…I joined a winter tour group and am going with friends. I’ll stay at my aunt’s house for a while when I get there,” Lin You said softly. He had traveled alone before, and with this precedent, Lin Jianguo wasn’t very opposed, but it had just been New Year’s, making the timing a bit too tight.
“Is it absolutely necessary for you to go?” he asked sternly.
Lin You nodded slightly. Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and hastily pulled out a train ticket to Coastal City from her pocket. “The tickets are already bought… There are several of us going together, Mom and Dad, so you don’t need to worry.”
“It’s just that everything is a bit chaotic just after the New Year,” Jiang Feng said earnestly, “It would have been alright normally, but the timing is a bit special now.”
“Under normal circumstances, we would let you have your way, but not this time! This is a matter of safety, and there is no room for carelessness,” Lin Jianguo said with a serious expression, outright refusing.
“But! The tickets are already bought!” Lin You was somewhat anxious.
“No discussion on this matter! Safety comes first!” Lin Jianguo stated decisively. Now that he had succeeded in his career, he spoke with a certain dignity and confidence.
Lin You clenched her small fist tightly, opened her mouth, but couldn’t voice any objections, and suddenly became anxious. Her gaze moved to Lin Fei who was smiling nearby, and instantly felt an uncontrollable irritation.
“He must be gloating! He definitely is! Finally seeing me embarrassed, he wouldn’t miss this opportunity to enjoy it! Smiling with schadenfreude!” Lin You’s dislike for Lin Fei grew stronger.
“However, there has recently been a New Year crackdown on organized crime in Coastal City, so it shouldn’t be too problematic,” Lin Fei suddenly spoke.
Lin You was startled, as if she had misheard. When did her relationship, contentious with Lin Fei, start to change to the point he would speak up for her? Even if he seemed to have improved a lot since the accident, the animosity over many years of growing up was as vast as the sea, inexplicable! How could there be such a sudden change?
“Is that so?” Lin Jianguo asked doubtfully. When did his son start caring about such things?
“Yes, that’s right,” Lin Fei confirmed, “It’s a bit worrying for Lin You to go to Coastal alone, how about I go with her? It would be reassured in terms of safety.” He looked at Lin You gently.
The latter suddenly felt a wave of goosebumps.
“No… could it be… what was that chilling sensation just now???” Lin You felt her hair stand on end under Lin Fei’s gaze.
Suddenly she recalled a recent conversation about a creepy brother-stalking-sister incident mentioned by a classmate.
“Could it be… this guy finally wants to reach out his evil claws to me?” She became alert when looking at Lin Fei.
Lin Fei also noticed his momentary instability just now. He was close to breaking through to the next level of swordsmanship, the Fourth Layer of the Tracing Shadow Sword Techniques, with the Third Layer posing no significant difficulties, allowing for smooth advancement. However, the Fourth Layer was a critical qualitative change point. It seemed to cause some instability, and just now his body had fluctuated a bit, inadvertently revealing a trace of True Force aura, which Lin You had sensed.
“I need to be careful next time. Not everyone is as easy to fool as Lin You,” Lin Fei warned himself silently.
“You know, Lin You…” Feil’s lazy voice reached Lin You’s ears from below. “Even if Lin Fei were to reach out his evil claws, he surely wouldn’t choose you as his target, right? Jiang Nan, for instance, is consensual. Aren’t you being a bit conceited here…”
Lin You’s face flushed, just about to burst out, but then quickly realized she was in the middle of talking with her parents and hastily swallowed back the words at the tip of her tongue. Nevertheless, she glared fiercely at Feil. The latter, unconcerned, licked its paws and moved to sit by Lin Fei’s feet, looking disdainfully at Lin You.
Lately, Feil’s relationship with Lin Fei seemed to be turning good again. Or rather, Feil seemed to have forgotten the past KTV gender incident. It always felt a faint kinship towards Lin Fei, especially recently, this feeling of kinship had grown stronger.
Lin Fei gently stroked the cat’s head, glanced at the table, and picked up a piece of fish, took a napkin, folded it, and placed it in front of the cat before setting the fish on the napkin.
“Here you go, eat up.”
“Meow~~”
Feil rubbed Jiang Feng’s hand with enjoyment, then began to nibble at the fish.
“You traitor!!” Lin You stared at Feil, furious.
“This is also good,” Lin Jianguo considered for a moment and finally nodded. “Having Lin Fei go with us will indeed be much safer.”
Thus, the final decision was made.
Lin Fei and Lin You were to go to Coastal. Not wanting to play favorites, Jiang Nan was also permitted to come along. After all, their family’s finances had considerably improved. The expense was not a concern anymore.
After dinner, Lin Fei took Jiang Nan to the Swordsmanship Club, left him there to learn, and then went straight to see Shuang’er. The daily treatment for Shuang’er could not be interrupted.
As the treatment progressed, Shuang’er seemed to become more mentally mature. Whether it was from consuming too many people, the improved environment, or some other reason, Shuang’er’s way of speaking became clearer. She did not seem like a child of about ten anymore.
“Good Shuang’er, did you miss your brother?” As soon as Lin Fei entered, a small figure immediately threw herself into his arms.
“Yes~~~” Shuang’er was still dressed in a black corset dress and long black socks, her large hair ties fashioned into twin ponytails adding a playful charm to her cuteness.
“Brother, last night, Shuang’er found a Dream Eater,” she said.
“Can you take brother to see?” Lin Fei asked with a smile. Holding Shuang’er felt very comfortable, like holding a small, fragrant, and warm little animal. It could arouse anyone’s protective instincts. Of course, there were very few who could truly protect her.
“Yes,” Shuang’er nodded. She wriggled out of Lin Fei’s arms. Holding hands, they entered the bedroom and then closed the curtains and the door.
Across from their window, at the window of another residence, a sleazy uncle with glasses was watching them through a telescope. He saw Lin Fei and Shuang’er go into the bedroom and close the door and curtains.
“So this is what heartache feels like…” The sleazy uncle lamented tearfully. “To not even spare such a young girl… what a beast!”
A massive evil aura slowly emanated from Shuang’er. Her smooth twin ponytails gently swayed with the fluctuations.
Lin Fei’s eyes glowed with a faint blue light, clear and transparent like crystal. He let the numerous evil auras surround him. These auras dared not come too close to Lin Fei, and faint blue smoke seemed to roar with desire from within his body. Faced with the massive evil aura, they were like hungry lions encountering a rabbit.
A wave of evil aura enveloped the room, and suddenly, there was no one in the bedroom. Lin Fei and Shuang’er directly entered the Dream World.
“Dream Eaters and Dream Awakeners are different; we always enter the dream as a whole,” Shuang’er explained softly.
Lin Fei nodded in understanding.
The surroundings where they stood resembled a dark cosmic space, but unlike the real starry sky, each star here was someone else’s dream. Varied in color and shape, each person’s dream was distinct. The closest star continuously shifted between different images and sounds, many illogical, and the rate of change was extremely fast, almost flashing several times per second.
“Is this the Dream World?” It was Lin Fei’s first time seeing such a scene. The surreal and strange sight momentarily dazzled him.
“Brother, if you want to enter someone else’s dream, just touching one of these stars will do,” Shuang’er whispered.
“Is there any danger?” Lin Fei directly asked the most crucial question.
“For brother, there is no danger,” Shuang’er simply answered.
“Then, take me to the place you found,” Lin Fei said softly.
In the Dream World, Shuang’er who originally appeared as a gray shadow, now looked like a little girl from reality, curling up in Lin Fei’s arms.
The evil aura from Shuang’er guided them as they continuously traveled through the starry sky. With no external force needed, just by thinking, they could move. This amazing power surprised Lin Fei greatly. After experimenting for a while, he mastered this ability to reach a destination just by thinking. However, he was clear that without Shuang’er’s assistance, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to enter the Dreamer’s world so easily.
“Shuang’er, how can I freely enter the Dream World?”
“Shuang’er doesn’t know. However, the Dream Eater that Shuang’er caught might know,” she replied.
The two quickly arrived around a black spherical star that was devoid of light, enveloped in the same gray-black evil aura as Shuang’er. The evil aura roiled and churned, and a man who appeared to be in his twenties was trapped tightly in the middle, like an insect encased in amber, completely immobile except for his facial expressions.