One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Chapter 115 The Calm Before the Storm

Xu Si's reply came the following day at noon.

The phone vibrated on the bedside table, its screen emitting a soft blue light. Nie Lingfeng, who was sitting in a chair by the window with his eyes closed, opened them at the sound and reached for the phone. He unlocked it, opened WeChat, and saw a red "1" in the upper right corner of Xu Si's profile picture.

Clicking it reveals only three words in the dialog box:

"It's arranged, just wait."

There isn't even a punctuation mark; it's typical of Xu Si's style—simple, direct, and without unnecessary words.

Nie Lingfeng looked at the text message, raised an eyebrow, and hovered his fingertip over the screen for a moment. He wanted to ask "How long?", "What are the arrangements?", and "What is the company's attitude?" But in the end, he simply locked his phone and put it back in his pocket.

Asking wouldn't help. Since Xu Si said "wait," then all they could do was wait. Until this North China region manager had everything arranged, any further questions would only increase the risk of exposure.

He stood up, walked to the window, and pulled back a corner of the curtain. The midday sun was blinding, the streets were sparsely populated, a few elderly people sat under the shade of a tree playing chess, and a fruit vendor yawned. Everything seemed so peaceful, so…normal.

But Nie Lingfeng knew that this calm was fake.

Like a thin layer of ice, beneath which turbulent currents surge. The Wang family is conducting a city-wide manhunt for him and Chen Duo, the company's spies are likely also observing in secret, and there are other forces—such as those interested in the "Gu Body Saint Child," those curious about the Qilin blood, and those tempted by the Wang family's bounty—all lurking in the shadows.

The city was like a giant spider web, and he and Chen Duo were like insects trapped in its center. Every tremor of a thread could attract a predator.

We need to find a different place.

He turned and looked at Chen Duo, who was sitting on the other bed. She was looking down, holding a comic book that Nie Lingfeng had bought from the convenience store yesterday—the first volume of "Doraemon." The book was halfway through, but she was clearly not reading it; her fingers were unconsciously tracing the edges of the pages, and her gaze was unfocused.

"Chen Duo," Nie Lingfeng called to her.

Chen Duo raised her head, her emerald green eyes looking at him with a hint of confusion in them, as if she had just surfaced from a very deep place.

"We need to find another place," Nie Lingfeng said, trying to keep his voice calm. "It's not safe here."

Chen Duo nodded, not asking why, but simply closed her comic book, stood up, and began packing her things. Her movements were slow but meticulous—she hugged the panda plush toy to her chest, folded her newly bought clothes one by one and put them into her backpack, carefully pinned the hair clips in her hair, and finally checked the room one last time to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything that belonged to her.

Watching her finish all this, Nie Lingfeng felt a surge of complex emotions. Three months ago, Chen Duo was a girl who didn't even have the concept of "packing her luggage." Her world consisted only of orders and executions; she had nothing that "belonged to her" and no concept of "taking anything with her."

Now, she folds clothes carefully, cherishes her hair clips, and hugs her dolls tightly.

This is progress. Small, but real.

"Let's go." Nie Lingfeng slung his bag over his shoulder and pushed open the door.

---

They moved to a more remote hotel.

Deep within a winding alley in the old town of western Chengdu, the buildings on both sides are old structures from the 1970s and 80s, their exteriors mottled, balconies piled with clutter, and clotheslines haphazardly extending, clothes fluttering in the wind. The air is filled with the aroma of food, the smell of coal smoke, and a faint, fishy odor from the sewers.

The hotel was called "Ping An Hotel," but several characters on the signboard were broken, leaving only "Ping An Hotel" lit up. The storefront was narrow, and the glass door was covered with a layer of grease, making it impossible to see inside.

Nie Lingfeng pushed open the door and went in. The receptionist was a plump woman in her fifties, watching TV while eating a plate of peanuts and knitting a sweater. Seeing someone come in, she lazily looked up and said, "Checking in?"

"Hmm." Nie Lingfeng took out another fake ID card—Xu Si had given him three sets, saying, "You can ask for more when you're done using them."

The plump aunt took the ID card, squinted at it, and then looked up at Nie Lingfeng and Chen Duo following behind. Chen Duo was hugging a doll, her head down, her long hair covering most of her face.

"Husband and wife?" the plump aunt asked, her tone tinged with gossip.

"Brother and sister." Nie Lingfeng said without changing his expression.

"Oh—" the plump auntie drawled, clearly not quite believing it, but she didn't ask any further questions. "How many rooms do you need?"

"One room," Nie Lingfeng said, then paused and added, "a twin room."

The plump auntie curled her lip, wrote a few words on the greasy registration book, took a key out of the drawer and tossed it over: "302, third floor, turn left. Deposit 100, room fee 60 per day, hot water from 7 pm to 10 pm."

Nie Lingfeng paid the money and picked up the key. The key was an old-fashioned brass key with a plastic tag attached, on which the number "302" was written in red paint.

The wooden stairs creaked underfoot, dust swirling in the sunlight. The third-floor corridor was narrow, with a low ceiling and large patches of peeling paint revealing blackened wooden planks underneath. Room 302 was at the far end, its door a dark red, the paint almost completely gone.

Entering the room, I found it even smaller than the previous one. Two single beds were almost touching, separated only by a bedside table. The beds were covered with faded checkered sheets, the blankets were thin, and there was a musty smell. There was a worn-out writing desk, a wardrobe with a missing door, and an old-fashioned television covered with a lace dust cover. The window faced the wall across the alley, less than three meters away, and was dimly lit.

But Nie Lingfeng felt safer here—it was remote, chaotic, and had a complex flow of people, making it less likely to be tracked.

"Stay here for now." He put his backpack on the bed, turned to Chen Duo and said, "Wait for news from Fourth Brother."

Chen Duo nodded, walked to the bedside by the window, and put down the panda plush toy. She didn't sit down immediately, but stood there, looking down at her left hand.

Palms facing up, fingers slightly spread.

The light streaming in through the window was dim, but the black line on her palm was clearly visible. It wasn't ordinary black; it was a deep, almost absorbing black, like a fissure in an abyss beneath her skin. The line was more pronounced than it had been three days ago, its edges blurred like ink spreading in water, but the core remained clear—a twisted pattern, like some kind of ancient rune.

Chen Duo stared at the pattern for a long time, so long that Nie Lingfeng noticed something was wrong.

"Are you feeling unwell?" He walked over, his voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible tension.

Chen Duo didn't answer immediately. She slowly raised her head, her emerald eyes looking at Nie Lingfeng, her gaze filled with confusion and... a suppressed pain.

"A little," she said softly, her voice ethereal, as if coming from a distant place. "My heart... is in turmoil. Like something is pounding inside, trying to... break free."

Nie Lingfeng's heart sank.

He reached out and grasped Chen Duo's left hand. The instant his hand touched hers, he felt it—her skin temperature was lower than usual, but there was an unusual, restless heat surging beneath her skin. His internal energy flowed into her through the point of contact, penetrating her meridians like a probe.

Then, he saw it.

Within Chen Duo's body, the primal Gu poison, originally suppressed by the Qilin Blood, soothed by the medicinal bath, and channeled by internal energy, is awakening. It's not simply becoming active; rather, it's like a swarm of snakes emerging from hibernation, stirring restlessly in the warm spring, intertwining and biting each other, trying to break free of their shackles.

They gathered around Chen Duo's heart, spread between her lungs, and swirled in her dantian. The black, viscous, and destructive "qi" rose and fell like the tide. Each rise impacted the seal set up by Nie Lingfeng, and each fall left behind a deeper layer of corrosion.

It's at least three times more active than it was three days ago.

Nie Lingfeng frowned. He increased the flow of his inner energy, the cool aura of the Ice Heart Technique mixed with the peaceful power of the Seeking Ease Technique, flowing into Chen Duo's body like an icy spring, temporarily suppressing the restless Gu poison. The black tide was forced back, retreating into the depths, but Nie Lingfeng could sense that it had not yielded, but was merely lying dormant, waiting for the next opportunity to erupt.

"Is it because of emotional fluctuations?" he asked in a low voice, more like asking himself, "Or is it because... the Wang family's pursuit made you subconsciously feel threatened, triggering your self-protective instincts?"

Chen Duo shook her head, her fingers slightly curled: "I don't know. It's just... I feel very panicked. It's like there are many voices, shouting, yelling, and speaking..."

She paused, as if searching for the right word: "It's about 'danger'."

Nie Lingfeng remained silent for a moment. He held Chen Duo's hand tightly, his inner energy still slowly flowing in to maintain a temporary balance. He looked at Chen Duo's pale face, her slightly trembling eyelashes, and her tightly pursed lips.

"Will they come back?" Chen Duo suddenly asked, her voice soft but clear.

Nie Lingfeng didn't lie to her: "Yes. The Wang family won't let this go. Those people last night were just testing the waters. What's coming next are even more powerful people, more insidious methods, and more elaborate plans."

He paused, looking into Chen Duo's eyes: "Are you scared?"

Chen Duo thought for a moment. A fleeting look of confusion crossed her eyes, as if she were trying to recall what "fear" felt like. Then, she shook her head.

"I'm not afraid," she said, her voice still soft, but with a hint of determination. "You're here."

Nie Lingfeng smiled. The smile was faint, but there was something warm flowing in his eyes. He gently ruffled Chen Duo's hair—the movement was very light, as if he were touching something precious.

"Yes, I'm here," he said. "So, don't be afraid. Concentrate, follow my inner strength, and suppress those things...."

Chen Duo nodded and closed her eyes. She forced herself to concentrate, feeling the cool, warm internal energy flowing through her body, like a clear stream that soothed, dispersed, and forced the restless darkness back into the corners of darkness wherever it passed.

But the stream was too narrow, and the darkness too deep.