Nightmare’s Call

“Bro! Don’t go just yet. Have you ever thought of joining another club? You’ve got some great skills there. Even the b*tch, Chen Huan, wasn’t a match for you! You’re a master!” The man, who had strong perfume on his body, came up to Lin Sheng. Being a little taller than Lin Sheng, the man was a hunk. His voice was coarse, but his native Xilin accent sounded a little strange to the ear.

Xilin people mainly had yellow skin tone. But these yellow-skinned people were generally much fairer than those in Lin Sheng’s past life. Meanwhile, the blacks and whites there were relatively less socially divided than those in Lin Sheng’s past life. The current whites were only slightly fairer than the ones with yellow skin tones.

Foreigners were common in the port city of Huaisha. They mainly came from the countries in the Riehen region on the other side of the ocean. That was the most developed region in the world.

Lin Sheng turned around and looked the man up and down. He was white and had dark blond hair as well as a golden nose ring. The guy was baring his upper body with a pair of loose gray breeches.

“Hello, my name is Russell. I’m the manager of Steelscale Club. I saw it; you fought well!” the man said.

“Russell?” Lin Sheng was startled; the name sounded pleasant to the ear. “My name is Lin Sheng. Did you just say that you were the manager of Steelscale Club?”

“Let’s not talk here. Come with me!” Russell held Lin Sheng’s hand and ran. Soon, they turned into a street corner and arrived at another sword club. It was one of the other two clubs that Lin Sheng had visited before. It charged an expensive fee.

The clubhouse was renovated like a luxury hotel on the outside with two black lion statues on either side of the entrance. On the inside, everything seemed to be round—the lamps, the hall, the columns, the counter, and even the face of the receptionist was round.

Russell brought Lin Sheng straight to the second floor. There was a beautiful and spacious sparring room where two swordsmen wearing armor and helmets were fighting each other.

“Madillan! Shayeen! Come here, I’ve brought back a master!” Russell yelled as soon as he entered the room. “This guy has just given the long-legged lass in Tengchong a bloody nose!” Russell exaggerated.

“What?” The two swordsmen stopped their sparring and looked in his direction upon hearing what Russell said. One of the swordsmen was a black youth, while the other was a mixed-race girl.

Russell pointed at the black man. “Madillan, the CEO—Chief Executive Officer of the club.” Then, he pointed at the mixed-race girl. “Shayeen, the CEE—Chief Equipment Engineer of the club. Oh, yes, she is a mix of Xilin and Io.” Finally, he pointed at Lin Sheng. “Lin Sheng, the master who beat Chen Huan black and blue!”

Speechless, Lin Sheng’s eyes swept across the classroom, which looked almost like a dance studio with an expensively padded floor. However, the padding material looked like it was made of expensive black marble with patterns. On the left was a large piece of ceiling-to-floor mirror that allowed the swordsmen to correct their posture and movement. Inlaid racks were in the corner where sets of expensive metal armor and helmets were kept. There were also different types of swords on the weapon racks.

“What do you think? The conditions here are much better than next door’s!” Russell guffawed. “Over here, we lack nothing but masters. Are you interested in joining us?”

“What do you mean?” Lin Sheng looked at Russell in bewilderment.

“One thousand yuan a month. You have to teach at least five times; that will be 200¥ per lesson. Any problems? Even Chen Huan wouldn’t get this price,” Russell offered.

Madillan came up with a broad smile on his face, revealing a full row of white teeth. “Hello, friend. The three of us set up this club with our own money to learn Naxi swordsmanship and other ancient martial arts.”

“Madillan, he can take on three of us at once!” Russell said in an exaggerated tone of voice.

“He’s kidding. I’m just a beginner.” Lin Sheng was flattered for a while before he calmed down.

“Beginner? It doesn’t matter. We need a beginner who can beat Chen Huan!” Madillan grinned.

Shayeen took off her helmet and gave Lin Sheng a closer look, but she said nothing.

“What will be my duty if I join the club?” Lin Sheng asked again.

“Five times a month, each time with a tuition fee of 200¥, teach us Naxi swordsmanship,” Russell explained. “We’re different from Tengchong in that we’re not open to the public. Membership is by invitation only.”

“To put it bluntly, we need a tutor,” added Madillan.

“What about your previous tutor?” Lin Sheng was puzzled. The place was beautifully renovated, and it offered high pay. They should have had tons of people coming to apply for the position. But where was everyone?

“Tengchong has beaten them all.” Russell was crestfallen when he talked about the matter. “Well, let’s not talk about that. Let’s start practicing!” He quickly brought Lin Sheng over to put on some protective gear.

Two minutes later, three people were standing opposite Lin Sheng, panting. They were in full sets of armor and were each holding a cross sword in their hands. Yet, their postures were somewhat unnatural. Russell and Madillan were gasping with their hands on their chests, while Shayeen was standing motionless with her hand pressed on her right leg.

“Great!” Shayeen shouted.

“Come on, stay here. We’ll pay you 1,500¥!” Madillan slapped his thigh with his hand.

For a while, Lin Sheng did not know how to respond as he looked at three pairs of earnest eyes before him.

Back at home that night, Lin Sheng still could not make sense of his encounters earlier in the day. He was driven out of Tengchong Swordsmanship Club and immediately invited into Steelscale Club, which only had three official members. It felt like a dream—seriously unreal.

At the dinner table, his dad, Lin Zhounian held a bowl in his hand and looked at Lin Sheng, who was sitting across the table. “How’ve you been doing recently? How are your studies?” He picked a piece of stir-fried meat with tofu and placed it in his bowl, waiting for Lin Sheng to reply.

“Same as usual,” Lin Sheng replied when he snapped out of his thoughts.

“Grandpa’s condition has stabilized, but we still need to take turns taking care of him. You have to take care of yourself.” Lin Zhounian sighed.

“I understand.” Lin Sheng nodded.

“While on the way home downstairs, I heard Aunt Zhang say that the price of beef has gone up sharply.” Lin Sheng’s mom, Gu Wanqiu began to ramble about the sales and subtle changes that happened somewhere in town, which she had heard from her neighbors. What amazed Lin Sheng was that his mom spent most of her time working in the kindergarten and was rarely at home. How did she get all the news?

Lin Zhounian would interrupt his wife to join the discussion from time to time, but Lin Sheng would just sit by and listen on silently.

After the meal, Lin Sheng offered to wash the dishes and clean things up. When everything was done, he took a shower before he hit the sack. He could not wait to enter the dream world again to explore the secrets of the mysterious Blackfeather City. Lin Sheng had inherited some fragmented memories after he killed the corrupted swordsman, and ever since that encounter, Lin Sheng had begun to look forward to the experience.