61 Yearning: Part 1

After he left the club, Lin Sheng paced slowly along the night street.

Through a phone call, he confirmed that his cousin, Wang Yue had already returned home, not his, but her own actual place.

It seemed like the matter was resolved once and for all.

However, the incident gave him a realization in his heart—both clear and blurry—of the idiosyncrasies of human connection, influence, and the strength of a group.

His clear footsteps echoed in the empty streets.

Similarly, a series of thumping rang in his heart.

"The power of mere children with some background… when pooled together, can reach such heights…"

Lin Sheng looked up and swept his gaze across the pedestrians before him.

There were barely any pedestrians out and about as most of the shops had started to lower their shutters.

Vehicles passed by, both fast and slow along the street.

*Tap!*

Lin Sheng suddenly stopped.

"Sadly… this power is just too unpredictable…"

He looked at his hands, the pair of hands that could easily murder everyone in the club but could not resolve Wang Yue's problem.

Lin Sheng could feel a yearning for such power starting to well within him.

"This is the power of a collective, a power that is perfect and cannot be defeated. Face to face, nothing can overpower it. It is…

"It is… really enticing…"

Lin Sheng clutched his fingers and suppressed the feeling in his mind.

"Unfortunately, this power is just too fickle. You may pile up sand into a sandcastle, but it will still be blown apart by wind or waves."

He continued to walk back home as his mind went on overdrive.

"I'm not irreplaceable in the club, and this power is not mine. Perhaps someone may help me out of kindness, but will there be a next time?"

That clear and obvious fickleness of it had Lin Sheng thinking of a solution.

By the time he got home, it was already half-past nine.

Lin Zhounian was standing in the living room and talking on the phone, while Gu Wanqiu was holding a newspaper in her hand. Her face looked worried.

There was not much reaction when Lin Sheng got home.

All this while, Lin Sheng had been coming home around the same time due to his sword practice, and they had gotten used to it, thinking that he had gone for extra classes.

"Chenchen, Yueyue's matter was suddenly resolved, and she's gone home now," Lin Zhounian put down the phone and told Lin Sheng.

"Oh, it's settled? That's good." Lin Sheng nodded, pretending as if he had just found out.

"No idea how that happened. I asked Wang Yue, and even she was unsure. Perhaps some big boss found his conscience under the sofa?" Lin Zhounian queried.

"It could be that. I've heard of things like this before; a big boss running into something and totally changing his ways."

Gu Wanqiu had a "that was probably the case" look on her.

Lin Sheng did not want to dwell on the matter, and he stood in the living room for a bit before he returned to his room.

Turning the desk lamp around, he pulled his notebook out of the drawer and placed it before him as he sat down.

Flipping the book open, he then took his pen and wrote one word on the page: Stability…

"Let me see, in the many pieces of ancient literature that I've translated, of all the great kings in those texts, did anyone manage to have a stable collective power?"

He tried to scan through his memories, but sadly, any king that he recalled had encountered the same problem.

The hearts of men were fickle, changing according to opportunity and surroundings. Even the most loyal of ministers would betray a king with the passing of time.

Then there was faith.

The power of faith was immense, and its ability to coalesce power was stunning as well, yet, like the kings and monarchs, it faced an issue of stability.

"Plus, if I choose the power of a collective, I'd have to spread my strength and training all over. That would slow down my own progress.

Lin Sheng closed the book.

"In the end, only your own strength's loyal to you. But an individual can never cover all bases. The power of a collective is required to fill the gaps. Only then will one be safe on all fronts and be undefeatable.

"Despite that, the power of a collective is undependable. It could get lost, it could turn on the person, or it could leave him for good; however, compared with an individual, it is a much, much more complete form with fewer weaknesses."

Lin Sheng rose and brushed up before he changed into his pajamas. Laying on his bed, he looked up at the light that was hanging from the ceiling.

"Nonetheless, a man's time and energy are limited… He can only choose either one or else he will waste both and end up with nothing."

Lin Sheng pondered further.

Thanks to the vast pieces of translated literature, which he had read, he had gained a boatload of reference materials. That allowed him to refer to every situation and every part of history to refine his thought process.

As time passed by, his eyes grew brighter.

A perfect idea then came to his mind.

He had seemingly found a possibility…

And based on that, Lin Sheng's mind roiled like the violent sea as he mapped out actionable methods with the possibility at its core.

He thought and thought, refined and refined as his brain ran into overdrive until late at night. He did not even realize when he had fallen asleep.

...

He slowly opened his eyes and found himself standing before the Valent Sanctum's iron gate.

It was dead silence all over.

The dim, yellowish street light amplified the emptiness of Blackfeather City's streets.

Looking over, he saw that the long winding street was totally empty as it snaked all the way to the edge of his vision.

"I'm finally here again…" Lin Sheng looked at himself. His black sword was missing.

The only thing he had on was his white pajamas.

"Did my items all drop the last time I died?"

He looked up to the opposite side.

The old noble manor was both mysterious and quiet under the shroud of night.

He could see through the iron gate that the stone plaque before the fountain was still standing there.

Lin Sheng took a deep breath.

He had obtained the sacrificial ritual and the special ability called Sacred Blood from that place.

While the ability had some side effects, from the perspective of growth, it was still a valuable item.

"I need to get to the bottom of that manor. I may find some other good stuff."

Lin Sheng's spirit burned as he thought of the ritual.

From Annie's memory fragments, he had obtained knowledge about the ritual's do's and don'ts, knowledge of what he should keep an eye out for, and also the master of the manor, Kaarman Veste.

Sir Kaarman was one of the top alchemists in Blackfeather City, and it seemed like he had dabbled in the occult as well.

However, compared with the rest, Kaarman had already run into trouble long before the disaster befell Blackfeather City.

From her memory, the old baronet had sensed that his days were numbered, and he was trying to find special ways to extend his life.

That ritual sacrifice was one of the side-products of his research.

Plus, there were memories about Kaarman locking himself in his basement performing several unknown experiments.

Yet, due to Annie's lowly status, or perhaps Lin Sheng's insufficient collection of memory fragments, the information was spotty, and he had no idea what sort of ritual Kaarman was carrying out in his basement.

Regardless, Lin Sheng was determined to find out at all costs.