"Bro! Don't rush off. Have you considered joining another place? You're pretty good with a sword. You even beat that woman Chen Huan. You're a real expert!"
The moment the man came close, Lin Sheng was hit by a strong smell of cologne.
He was a little taller than Lin Sheng and very bulky. His voice was deep and rough, but his authentic Celine accent gave him an odd air.
Most of Celine's population was Asian, but Asians here were generally much fairer than the Asians from Lin Sheng's previous life—and by quite a lot.
The Black and White populations here were also less sharply divided than they had been on Earth in his previous life.
The Whites were only slightly fairer than the Asians.
Huaisha City was a port.
Foreign Whites were a common sight there, most of them from the Lienlie Nations across the sea. That was the most developed region in the world.
Lin Sheng turned around and looked the man who had called out to him up and down.
The man was White, with dark blond hair and a gold ring through his nose. A blue-green tiger was tattooed on his bare upper body, and he wore loose gray breeches.
"Hello, I'm Russell, manager of the Steel Scale Club. I saw your match just now. You fought really well!"
"Russell?" Lin Sheng was taken aback. He liked the name. "I'm Lin Sheng. You said you're the manager of the Steel Scale Club?"
"Let's not talk here. Come with me!" Russell grabbed Lin Sheng and took off running.
They hurried along, turned a street corner, and arrived at another swordsmanship club.
It was one of the other two clubs Lin Sheng had checked out earlier. Both charged steep membership fees.
The club's exterior was decorated like a luxury hotel, all glittering gold. Two black lion statues stood on either side of the entrance.
Everything inside was round: the huge lights, the hall, the pillars, and the front desk.
Even the young woman at reception had a round face.
Russell dragged Lin Sheng straight to the second floor.
Once upstairs, they quickly entered a spacious, lavishly decorated swordsmanship practice room.
Two swordsmen wearing armor and helmets were sparring.
"Madilan! Xiayin, come quick! I brought back an expert!" Russell bellowed as soon as he entered.
"This guy made that long-legged woman from Tengchong next door cry just ten minutes ago!" Russell quickly exaggerated what had happened to make the story sound more impressive.
"What?"
The two swordsmen stopped and turned to look.
One was a young Black man, while the other looked like a mixed-race girl.
Russell pointed to the Black man. "Madilan, the club's head manager."
Then he pointed to the mixed-race girl. "Xiayin, the club's head equipment specialist. Oh, right, she's half Celine and half Aio."
Finally, he pointed to Lin Sheng.
"Here's the expert, Lin Sheng, who made Chen Huan cry!"
Lin Sheng was speechless and glanced around the room.
The room looked much like a dance studio. Thick, high-quality mats covered the floor, though they looked less like mats and more like expensive black marble with a floral pattern.
A wall of full-length mirrors took up the entire left side, giving swordsmen a way to correct their own movements.
Built-in shelves in the corner held sets of metal armor and helmets that looked extremely expensive.
Various swords of different lengths hung on a weapons rack.
"How is it? The facilities here are way better than next door!" Russell chuckled. "We've got everything here. The only thing we're missing is an expert. Interested in joining us?"
Lin Sheng stared at him, bewildered.
"What do you mean?"
"One thousand a month. You'd have to come teach at least five times, so that works out to two hundred each time. Sound good? Chen Huan doesn't even get paid that much," Russell offered.
Madilan, the Black man, approached with a smile, baring a mouthful of pearly white teeth.
"Hello, friend. The three of us pooled our money to set up this little club. We're here to exchange knowledge about Naxi Swordsmanship and other ancient martial arts."
"He's amazing, Madilan. He could take on all three of us at once!" Russell praised him in an extremely exaggerated tone.
"Is all this really necessary? I'm just a beginner." Lin Sheng was surprised, but quickly regained his composure.
"A beginner? Doesn't matter. A beginner who can make Chen Huan cry is someone we should snatch up right away!" Madilan said with a grin.
Xiayin followed suit and took off her helmet, then walked over. She didn't say anything, just studied Lin Sheng.
"If I join, what would I have to do?" Lin Sheng asked again.
"Five times a month, two hundred per session. Just come teach us Naxi Swordsmanship," Russell explained. "We're different from Tengchong. We don't open to the public. We only accept select members."
"To put it simply, the three of us are the only ones who need instruction," Madilan added.
"Then who was teaching you before?" Lin Sheng asked, puzzled.
The place was lavishly decorated, and the pay was generous. Someone should have applied for the job long ago. Why hadn't he seen anyone?
"The people from Tengchong next door chased them off." Russell's expression darkened at the mention of it.
"All right, enough about that. Let's spar!" He hurriedly pulled Lin Sheng over to put on protective gear and a helmet.
Two minutes later
The three of them stood panting heavily across from Lin Sheng.
All three were fully geared up and holding Cross Swords. Their stances, though, were all a little awkward.
Russell and Madilan clutched their chests as they panted, while Xiayin kept one hand pressed against her right thigh.
"Impressive!" Those were Xiayin's first words.
"Come on, stay with us! I'll pay you fifteen hundred!" Madilan slapped his thigh and shouted.
Lin Sheng stared at the three pairs of eager, pleading eyes, feeling a little lost.
Even after he got home that evening, Lin Sheng was still in a daze.
For no apparent reason, he'd been kicked out of the Tengchong Club, then pulled into the Steel Scale Club.
A club with only three official members in total.
It felt like a dream, so unreal that he could hardly believe it.
Sitting at the dinner table, his father, Lin Zhounian, picked up his rice bowl and glanced across at Lin Sheng.
"How have you been doing lately? Are your grades still holding up?" He put some stir-fried pork and dried tofu into his bowl but didn't eat, waiting for Lin Sheng's reply.
"Fine. Same as usual." Lin Sheng came back to himself and answered.
"Your grandfather's condition has stabilized, but we still have to take turns looking after him. You'll have to manage on your own for now. We won't have much time to spare." Lin Zhounian sighed.
"I understand." Lin Sheng nodded.
"On my way upstairs, I heard Auntie Zhang downstairs say beef prices have gone up a lot lately."
His mother, Gu Wanqiu, started talking about the daily necessities again: which places had sales and where something had changed, however slightly. She could hear all about it from the neighbors.
Even though she went to work at a kindergarten every day, she didn't spend much time at home.
Lin Zhounian occasionally chimed in to discuss things with her.
Lin Sheng sat quietly to the side and listened.
After dinner, he volunteered to wash the dishes. Once everything was tidied away, he quickly washed up and returned to his bedroom.
He couldn't wait to enter the dream again and uncover the secrets hidden in the mysterious Black Feather City.
Killing the Rotten Swordsman earlier had earned him fragmented memories, and Lin Sheng was full of anticipation.
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