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墨書 Inktalez
“What?” Lu Fei Fan frowned, looking at the woman with some wariness.
“... Aren't you curious about the contents of the letter?” She sighed and asked Lu Fei Fan.
“What’s there to see? It’s not addressed to me,” Lu Fei Fan replied with a self-deprecating smile, then took another sip from the bottle.
“What is your relationship with the person who wrote the letter?” Xia Qi inquired.
“Let’s say... we’re acquaintances. I’m not really sure,” Lu Fei Fan thought for a moment, realizing that his relationship with Shui Que could only be described that way.
“Are you interested in staying to help...” Xia Qi's words trailed off.
“No,” Lu Fei Fan cut her off decisively.
“Are all men this heartless and cold-blooded?” Xia Qi looked at him with disdain, the little goodwill she had just built up evaporating instantly.
“Hot-blooded and impulsive men usually don’t live long,” Lu Fei Fan replied absently.
“Why shouldn’t a man wield a hook to conquer the fifty states? Please, take a moment atop Lingyan Pavilion, where a scholar can become a noble. How noble and loyal, with aspirations so grand,” Xia Qi recited an ancient verse filled with grandiose rhetoric. “There is too much darkness in this world; if no one stands against the blades and guns that emerge from the shadows, then our world, basked in sunlight, will eventually be swallowed whole.”
“I’ve long been a person living on the edge of darkness,” Lu Fei Fan said with a self-mocking smile. “What great aspirations could I possibly have?”
Xia Qi sighed, “Since our ambitions differ, then there’s no point in discussing it further.”
Her expression was filled with disappointment and regret, which Lu Fei Fan noticed but had no interest in fulfilling what she believed a man should do.
“I’ve already notified your subordinates to come pick you up,” Lu Fei Fan said.
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of a car braking echoed from downstairs, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps—likely the Military Police squad beginning to ascend.
Lu Fei Fan stood up, planning to find his companions from the Fei Hu Battle Team.
“Wait.” Xia Qi called out to him.
“Hmm?” Lu Fei Fan turned around to look at her.
“What’s your name?”
Lu Fei Fan tilted his head and thought for a moment. “You can call me Fei Fan.”
“Fei Fan… Good. I’ll remember that. If you need any help in the future, feel free to come find me…”
“Captain!”
A voice called out from behind her.
She turned around and saw Xiao Chen rushing up the corridor, accompanied by a group of fully armed subordinates, clearly worried about their captain’s safety.
Xia Qi didn’t have time to pay him any mind; she hurriedly turned back to continue her conversation with Lu Fei Fan, only to find that he had already vanished, leaving behind only the open window with white curtains fluttering in the breeze.
Xiao Chen cautiously raised his gun and scanned the room before walking over and lighting a cigarette for her.
“What’s wrong, Captain?” Xiao Chen noticed something was off with his leader.
“Nothing. I just forgot to say ‘thank you’,” Xia Qi took a puff of her cigarette, her right hand elegantly cradling her left arm that held the smoke. She looked around the empty room, feeling a sense of loss and disappointment. “Let’s go.”
She flicked the half-smoked cigarette onto the floor and extinguished it with her high heel before turning and leaving.
Some people prefer to come and go quietly, just as the ancients said: “In ten miles of long pavilions, frost fills the green silk; when will it turn white?”
The crowd flowed continuously, along with the passing cars like dragons.
Lu Fei Fan walked among the crowd like an ordinary person. He made his way along the Port Dock to one of the most inconspicuous streets in the Southern District and approached a small inn.
He arrived at a room at the end of the hallway and raised his hand to knock on the door.
“Hello! Delivery of hot water!” Lu Fei Fan announced using the code phrase.
“There's no water kettle in the room, did you bring one?” came the familiar and warm voice of Jiu Ye from inside.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t bring one,” Lu Fei Fan replied with a smile. They had exchanged this coded phrase countless times in private.
Creak.
The door swung open.
Seeing Lu Fei Fan, Jiu Ye was instantly overjoyed.
“Captain! Look who rolled back in, it’s this rascal!” Jiu Ye shouted to the people inside the room.
Immediately, everyone in the room seemed to come alive, turning their attention to Lu Fei Fan.
As Lu Fei Fan entered, Jia Jia closed the door behind him.
“Nice job, kid, you made it back safe and sound!” Da Biao said happily as he patted Lu Fei Fan on the shoulder.
“Finally, we have someone back with all their limbs intact,” Cai Bi, the team medic, sighed in relief.
“Heh heh, kid, do you know what they say? Surviving a great disaster brings unexpected fortune!” Jiu Ye rubbed his hands together excitedly, like a thrilled animal seeing its family.
“Captain,” Lu Fei Fan approached the horse team leader.
“As long as you’re back, that’s what matters. If you had been two hours later, we wouldn’t have waited for you,” the horse team leader said with a hint of relief as he patted Lu Fei Fan’s shoulder.
“Alright everyone, let’s pack up. We’ll leave here under the cover of night. Jia Jia, you and Da Biao contact Captain Lao Han and prepare for departure,” Da Fu Ge calmly issued orders.
Lu Fei Fan glanced at Qin Qin. She seemed not to notice him and turned away, acting as if nothing had happened while she focused on polishing her two exquisite pistols.
Lu Fei Fan shook his head. Why was this woman acting so indifferent upon his return? After all, he had saved her life; she should at least buy him a drink.
As night fell, the dock was as bright as day, with lights banishing the darkness from the vast area completely.
Several warships were docked, taking a moment to rest. Lu Fei Fan had no desire to engage in the struggles of darkness and light that surrounded this island. Exhausted, he sat in the cabin, gazing at the shimmering sea surface, with only one thought in his mind: he wanted to go home.
Having been away for so long, he yearned to see his frail mother and to check on his father, who was battling illness in a hospital bed.
A civilian transport ship slowly departed from the dock, and laughter from a cavalry team and Lao Han echoed from the deck. Two old friends reunited after a long separation, sharing good wine and merriment was only natural.
The others in the group rarely stayed in the cabin; it seemed they were all familiar with the ship's crew. Only Lu Fei Fan was new to this place and did not know these rough-talking yet kind-hearted sailors, so he remained in the cabin to rest.
Lu Fei Fan buried himself under the covers and began to drift into sleep, fatigue washing over him like a tide.
In the dim cabin, someone entered while Lu Fei Fan slept. As this person reached out a slender hand to touch Lu Fei Fan's cheek, they were interrupted by his murmured dreams. The hand paused.
"Don't kill her, don't kill her... die... you must die..." Lu Fei Fan mumbled incoherently, finally grasping that hand tightly.
The owner of the hand froze for a moment but did not pull away.
After several minutes, when Lu Fei Fan's murmurs quieted down, the person hesitated for a long time before gently withdrawing their hand from his grip. They placed Lu Fei Fan's hand back on the bed and pulled up the blanket to cover this weary man who curled up like a child.
After doing all this, the figure turned to leave but paused at the door, looking back for a moment.
What kind of hellish experiences have you endured to have such restless nightmares and murmurs?
Finally, the figure slowly closed the door, blocking out the light that had streamed in.
The cabin fell into darkness again. Wrapped in blankets, Lu Fei Fan's sleeping posture remained uneasy; he shivered as if caught in a winter chill. Soon, a layer of white mist began to spread from where he lay asleep, silently enveloping the entire resting chamber. Frost began to freeze over the cabin, quickly solidifying into ice, trapping everything beneath its icy layer.
The only exception was Lu Fei Fan's meridians. Frost formed on his skin as blood coursed through his complex network of meridians inside him. The blood turned into frozen white flakes, resembling snow on a desolate plain under an icy assault; their source was Lu Fei Fan's heart.
With each pulse of his heart, powerful ice crystals resonated with his body's pulse energy. They combined to form a new type of pulse energy that began transforming Lu Fei Fan's entire being.
Unbeknownst to him, after this transformation, his pulse breathing technique would no longer be an ordinary method of cultivation.
If he were awake, he would notice that after several hours of practicing his pulse breathing technique, what surged forth was not just ordinary energy but an immense pulse energy akin to that of an elephant. It erupted from his skin like fine mist before retracting again; each surge intensified the frost freezing within the room.
At that moment, in the captain's cabin, the horseman suddenly wrapped his arms around his shoulders and exhaled a breath that appeared misty, as if he were facing a harsh winter.
“Lao Han, why does this damn ship feel so much colder?” He downed another large glass of strong liquor, hoping to warm himself up.
Lao Han, tough and seasoned from years of drifting at sea, rolled his eyes at the horseman, thinking he was just trying to con more drinks for himself.
“Hey, if you want to drink, just drink. Why all the fuss?” Lao Han dismissed the horseman's antics with disdain.
“Haha, I’m not complaining about your old ship being broken; I was just wondering if something changed.” The horseman gazed out at the pitch-black sea, lost in thought.
“Yeah, it’s coming,” Lao Han replied vaguely, picking up a peanut and tossing it into his mouth.
At that moment, Da Fu also squeezed in from outside, wearing a heavy coat.
“Damn it, what’s with this sudden chill? Lao Han, do you have any liquor left? Pour me a couple of shots!” Without waiting for an answer, he sat down and gulped down a freshly filled glass of liquor. He patted his chest and sighed, “That feels good.”
He filled his glass again and continued to drink.
“What did you mean by that earlier?” the horseman asked Lao Han.
“Things haven’t been peaceful at sea lately; there have been a lot of strange occurrences. With my years of experience out here, I feel like something’s off,” Lao Han said as he sniffled and then sneezed. “Damn it, it really is getting cold.”
After his complaint, he stood up and grabbed a microphone. With a booming voice that echoed through the cabin, he shouted into it: “Da Liu! You little sycophant! Did you turn off the heater? Turn it back on right now! Otherwise, I’ll strip you of your First Mate title! I’m about to freeze into a popsicle here! Hurry up!”
“Yes, I understand,” Da Liu replied quickly. Lao Han hung up the communication device in frustration and sat back down to continue chatting with the horseman and Da Fu. This was their usual downtime during the Fei Hu Battle Team's breaks.
Compared to other members of the Fei Hu Battle Team who were gambling in the crew quarters with off-duty sailors, they were simply enjoying their drinks and banter.
As for who won or lost at cards, it all depended on skill. Generally, the horseman would give some benefits to the sailors below deck; otherwise, their cooperative relationship wouldn’t have lasted so long—like old friends or employer and employee.
“Speaking of which, you guys should have made quite a bit this trip, right?” Lao Han probed again.
The horseman exchanged glances with Da Fu before responding with a wry smile. “Ugh, don’t even mention it. We almost lost the entire team at Liushadao. We’re done with that cursed place; I doubt we’ll ever come back.”
Lao Han nodded; this situation was quite common. If a place was unstable, venturing deeper would undoubtedly lead to a bad outcome. Although mercenaries made a living through war, teams like the Fei Hu Battle Team, a Special Operations Team, did not rely on internal conflicts for profit. Instead, they were more inclined towards hunting mutated beasts or treasure hunting.
"Better to earn a living than to poke a hornet's nest," Lao Han remarked, drawing from his own experiences. In his younger days, he had been one of the mercenaries, but after facing too many life-and-death situations, he had no choice but to step back and take up freight transport with the Ferry to make ends meet.
"Alright, let's not dwell on the past. We're no longer in our prime," Lao Ma said with a hint of nostalgia as he raised his glass in invitation.
After the three clinked their glasses together, they downed another shot of strong liquor.
Lao Han let out a belch and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He glanced outside before leaning in closer to the two.
"I actually have a big client looking for a reliable team. I wonder if you guys are interested?"
"Oh?" Ma Duo immediately perked up, tossing a peanut into his mouth.
Da Fu Ge adjusted his glasses and looked curious as well.
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