Chapter 18

A moment later.

Lin Sheng sat in the kitchen, carefully examining the black sword he had dissected from the Rotten Swordsman.

The black sword was one arm long and one palm wide, its surface coated in a smooth, glass-like layer. The hilt featured a black guard, and like the silver longsword from before, it had a cruciform blade.

In the center of the blade, near the hilt, was an identical vertical pupil mark.

This was exactly the same as the previous silver longsword.

"It seems that Rotten Swordsman must be Ravel." Having seen fragments of memory, Lin Sheng could basically determine the other party's identity.

"What's most unimaginable is that I was actually able to absorb his memories!?" He reached out, gripped the black sword's hilt, and lifted it gently.

The black sword was heavier than the previous silver longsword, weighing about one and a half times as much.

Lin Sheng swung it lightly in his hand; it felt unexpectedly comfortable.

A trace of inexplicable familiarity made him steady himself. As if his muscles were borrowing strength, a series of forces surged continuously—from his legs to his waist and abdomen, then to his shoulders and arms—and he thrust forward fiercely.

Swish!

In an instant, the black sword thrust out a black line, piercing the air in front of him with precision and stability, accompanied by a faint sound of breaking air.

"??!" Lin Sheng stiffened. "What's going on?"

The fluid, effortless way he had just delivered that strike was purely instinctive, without a shred of hesitation.

It was as if he had practiced it countless times before.

After a pause, Lin Sheng swung the sword again, attempting other movements.

But no matter how he swung it, aside from that initial straight thrust, the other movements felt like nothing.

He decided to simply practice the straight thrust.

Continuous practice filled the kitchen with the faint sound of air being sliced.

He felt that this move was definitely powerful.

"Wait! This move feels just like the one that Rotten Swordsman used!"

Lin Sheng had died to that very straight thrust earlier; now, as he practiced it repeatedly, it suddenly felt familiar.

Swish!

He thrust the sword forward again.

Even though it was just a simple, basic move, once coordinated with the power of his entire body, the force was far greater than a basic strike should be.

"The target area is also the same—the left side of the chest, right at the heart."

Recalling the fragmented memory images he had seen earlier, Lin Sheng vaguely sensed that this might be the final muscle memory of that Rotten Swordsman.

"If I could obtain the fragmented memories of the Rotten Swordsman, then obtaining his muscle memory isn't hard to accept. Besides, this is a dream; anything can happen."

Lin Sheng steadied his mind and soon began to enjoy the feeling of becoming much stronger in an instant.

Carrying the black sword, he walked slowly out of the kitchen and went to the hall to check the Rotten Swordsman's corpse again. After confirming there was nothing unusual, he grabbed the corpse's clothes, dragged it out the door, and then closed the door and dropped the latch.

Since there was no water in the manor, Lin Sheng simply used a curtain as a rag to scrub the black blood off his hands.

Only then did he return to the study, sit down, and intend to continue memorizing the sword manual.

However, not long after sitting down, he unexpectedly discovered that he could actually understand the meaning of a small group of words in the manual.

Combining the context with the illustrations, he was even able to guess and deduce the rough gist of some pages.

"It must be because of the fragmented memories of Ravel that I just absorbed!" Lin Sheng was overjoyed. Killing a monster that used to be a human in a dream could actually have such benefits.

He decisively began to scan the book rapidly.

Soon, he had finished scanning the entire sword manual. The parts concerning swordsmanship were indeed as scarce as he had previously judged.

Only the few pages with illustrations mentioned Ravel's signature sword technique—Angry Strike.

Lin Sheng read through the content surrounding those pages.

"Angry Strike isn't so much Ravel's signature technique as it is a common longsword move; it's just that Ravel used it well, which is why he became famous for it."

He flipped the pages, his gaze drifting over some of the content.

"This book claims to be a sword manual, but aside from mentioning a tiny bit about sword technique practice, most of it is just about Ravel's travels, battle stories, and experiences. Most of it is just him boasting and exaggerating."

Lin Sheng shook his head and put the book down. With a bit of Ravel's memory, he could now barely recognize many of the characters in the books he had been studying for so long.

He stood up and scanned the bookshelf again.

Soon, he found another book worth reading.

Unlike the other thick volumes, this book had nothing on its cover. When he opened it, only the first half contained content, and most of it was in scribbled handwriting.

Lin Sheng carefully turned to the first page and began to read closely.

"It seems to be a notebook?"

At the very top of the first page, lines of text were written in a blur.

"The sky has darkened again. Tang En has come again."

"He intends to leave this place to seek help. But everything is already beyond saving. Leaving will only bring about even more terrifying consequences."

Below this was a line of blurred handwriting, the content of which was illegible.

Lin Sheng simply flipped to the second page.

"The nights are growing longer, and the wind is growing colder. Tang En has left, my last and best friend. I hope you stay safe."

The vocabulary and phrases were all simple, making them unexpectedly easy for Lin Sheng to read.

He began to flip through the pages one by one, browsing further ahead.

"I am old, and my physical strength has declined significantly. Baoli has grown up, too; today, she actually knocked my sword away for the first time. I am very gratified."

"The chickens and ducks on the estate have been disappearing more and more lately. I wonder if they died or what happened to them?"

"The wind... it is about to freeze."

"I truly wish everything could return to the way it was in the beginning."

As he flipped through the pages, Lin Sheng discovered that, aside from the parts he could not understand, the notebook mostly recorded daily life.

It was all about the trivial daily matters between Ravel and his granddaughter, Baoli.

However, the external environment seemed to be closing in with some kind of immense danger.

Between the lines of Ravel's writing, a faint sense of despair and oppression seeped through.

Flipping all the way through, Lin Sheng soon reached the last few legible pages.

"Has the Black Feather City patrol also met with disaster? Even the final shield... Everything is hopeless. It seems I must go to LS Bell to retrieve my new sword. The previous longsword is clearly on the verge of giving out."

"Baoli will be fine. With my Sergeant Armor protecting her, she will surely be able to break out safely."

From this point on, the writing became blurred, and nothing could be seen clearly.

Lin Sheng frowned.

From this notebook, he had gathered several important pieces of information.

First, this place was very likely called Black Feather City.

Second, the place where Ravel went to retrieve his sword was a location called LS Bell, which should be a place specializing in the trade of weapons. Perhaps he could find protective gear there.

Having clocked in at the club for a week, Lin Sheng was no longer ignorant about such weapons and equipment.

When he researched information online, he was very clear about how much a complete set of good armor could improve one's survivability during the era of cold weapons.

"Black Feather City, LS Bell." Lin Sheng felt this dream becoming more and more real. And more and more interesting.

He was somewhat impatient to find out what exactly had happened in Black Feather City, and why Ravel had turned from a Level 2 swordsman into the rotting monster he was now.