One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Chapter 424 Dawn Squad Assembles

Wang Zhenqiu leaned against the wall, twirling a bunch of keys in his hand, a toothpick dangling from his lips. Today he wore a bright orange light jacket, zipped up, over which he wore a black crew neck shirt. He stood out conspicuously in the gray and white, monotonous corridor, like a moving traffic light.

"Where did you get this information?" Zhang Chulan walked over and patted his arm. "We just finished a meeting, and you've been waiting here?"

"I have a lot of informants." Wang Zhenqiu shifted the toothpick from one corner of his mouth to the other. "I heard Old Zhao is forming some kind of special forces team, and I bet you guys were selected. Came to see what the fuss was about—how's it going, all the names on the list?"

"It's settled, it's settled." Zhang Chulan gave a thumbs up. "The Dawn Squad, led by Brother Nie, has all of us selected. By the way, Brother Qiu, weren't you a temporary worker too? Why weren't you included?"

"Me?" Wang Zhenqiu pointed to the tip of his nose, his smile carrying an obvious sense of entitlement. "I don't want to be tied to a small team, following the rules every day. I prefer to roam around, go wherever I want, do whatever I want. Just give me a call if you need me, and I'll be there anytime."

"Then it's settled!" Zhang Chulan extended his right hand.

Wang Zhenqiu spat the toothpick into the trash can in the corner of the corridor, grasped his hand and shook it: "It's a deal."

The two let go of each other's hands, and Zhang Chulan turned and walked towards the elevator. After taking a couple of steps, he turned back and added, "I'll find you for dinner later!"

"Finish your first mission first, then you can ask me for help." Wang Zhenqiu waved to his retreating figure, then his gaze passed over Zhang Chulan's shoulder and landed on Nie Lingfeng, who was carrying Xiaoyun as they walked over. He slightly suppressed the carefree smile on his lips, a slight but noticeable reduction, and nodded to Nie Lingfeng. Nie Lingfeng also nodded slightly in return. The two remained silent, their communication complete, even though they were separated by a dozen steps in the corridor. Then, Nie Lingfeng, carrying Xiaoyun, turned the corner and headed towards the elevator.

Wang Zhenqiu leaned against the wall, watching the last group of people leave the corridor. The footsteps faded into the distance, and the motion-sensor lights dimmed one by one. He put his hands in the pockets of his bright orange jacket, slowly whistled an off-key tune, and then turned and walked in the opposite direction.

Before the elevator doors closed, Chen Duo took Xiao Yun from Nie Lingfeng's arms and let the child lean on her shoulder. The little girl was still clutching half a strawberry in her hand, with pink juice smeared around her mouth. She had already started to doze off, her long eyelashes drooping, and her breathing gradually becoming long and even.

Nie Lingfeng stood at the very back of the elevator, his lower back against the cold metal wall. His gaze narrowed as he peered through the crack in the door, following the light from the last corridor until it closed completely. The elevator car dipped slightly before descending smoothly, the overhead lights shining evenly down on everyone's faces, some relaxed, some lost in thought.

Zhang Chulan leaned against the armrest, looking down at his phone, his fingertips swiping the screen but his eyes clearly not focused on it. Wang Ye put the covered bowl into his cloth bag, using his fingers to pick off the last bit of tea leaves from the rim. Zhang Lingyu still sat upright, but the lines of her profile were slightly softer than when she was in the meeting. Lu Linglong held the two booklets, her fingertips gently stroking the spines, her lips moving silently as she recited some incantation, her eyes fixed on her blurry reflection in the carriage's overhead light. Feng Baobao, clutching her katana, leaned against the corner of the carriage, her head slightly turned to one side, her breathing long and even, as if she were asleep yet also as if she could wake up at any moment.

Chen Duo looked down at Xiao Yun's peaceful profile as she slept in her arms, gently wiping away a tiny bit of strawberry juice from the tip of the child's nose with the back of her finger. Then she looked up, her gaze passing over Zhang Chulan's shoulder and landing on Nie Lingfeng.

"Once we arrive," she said softly, "Yunyun's nap time is almost up. Should we go back first?"

Nie Lingfeng straightened up from the sedan chair and looked at Chen Duo and Xiao Yun. The little girl seemed to sense something in her sleep, and her little hand moved to grab the corner of Chen Duo's clothes, holding it quite tightly.

"Let's go back first," Nie Lingfeng said, then glanced at Zhang Chulan. "We can talk about it tomorrow."

Zhang Chulan glanced at him, then at Xiaoyun, who was fast asleep in Chen Duo's arms, grinned, gave an "OK" sign, and remained silent.

The elevator reached the first floor, and the doors slid open. Sunlight streamed through the glass doors of the lobby, casting a warm yellow glow on the floor. A few withered leaves, blown in by the wind, swirled on the concrete ground outside. The breakfast stall on the street corner in the distance was still open, and the aroma of steaming scallions wafted all the way to the doorway.

Nie Lingfeng paused at the threshold and looked up at the sky. The October sky in Beijing was a clear, bright blue. A few wisps of clouds were torn into thin strands by the wind high above. An airplane slowly passed beneath the clouds, its contrail leaving a straight, thin line in the clear sky before being slowly dispersed by the wind.

Dawn Squad. New charter. New direction.

In the distance, the sound of wind whistles through the gaps between the buildings, carrying the faint aroma of sesame cakes and soy milk, along with the lingering notes of an old song playing from someone's radio.

Xiaoyun rolled over in Chen Duo's arms, loosened her grip on Chen Duo's clothes, mumbled "Daddy" in her sleep, and then fell back into a deep sleep.

Nie Lingfeng withdrew his gaze, stepped over the threshold, and walked into the sunlight.

When Nie Lingfeng received the encrypted document, it was just dawn outside the window. He sat in his office, his fingertips untying the seal on the kraft paper bag, and pulled out three thin sheets of paper.

The first page contains an abnormal Qi waveform graph issued by the company's monitoring department. The curves on the graph fluctuate back and forth on the horizontal axis, jumping around very irregularly, with the difference between the peak and trough values ​​being almost outrageous.

The second page is the report of the first investigation team. The handwriting is messy, and the writing suddenly stops on the third day. Attached is a hospital diagnosis report - all five team members were diagnosed with "transient total amnesia". There was no organic damage to the cerebral cortex, but the memory of that period of time was as if it had been scooped out of the skull.

The third page contains the second team's account, which also abruptly ends at a certain point, leaving only a handwritten note: "We didn't even go into the mountains. Someone is waiting for us in the town at the foot of the mountains."

Nie Lingfeng laid the three pages of paper flat on the table and read them through again from beginning to end. He reached deep into the drawer and pulled out a pack of cigarettes that he rarely touched, tore it open, took one out, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a lighter. As he inhaled the first puff of smoke, let it swirl in his lungs, and exhaled, he leaned back in his chair, his gaze falling on the edge of the ceiling lampshade, where a thin layer of fuzz had accumulated.

Kunlun Mountain.

The three words remained unspoken on his tongue, but he mentally reviewed them. As a child, he had found a handwritten geographical treatise in the scripture pavilion of Wudang Mountain. The very first sentence read, "Kunlun, the ancestor of all mountains, the source of the dragon vein, the spine of the world." The pages of that book were so brittle they crumbled at the slightest turn, yet the writing remained clear, the ink so deep it seemed to have grown from stone. At the time, he hadn't given it much thought, simply assuming it was an expression of ancient reverence for that majestic mountain range.

But now, the company's detected abnormal fluctuations, the investigation results of the two teams successively losing their memories, coupled with the faint sensation of the Qilin True Body within him—that subtle yet continuous pulse coming from the northwest, like an extremely thin thread tugging at the deepest part of his chest, each beat carrying a familiar feeling that he couldn't quite describe. It was like hearing someone call his name through a thick wall—vague, distant, yet undeniably present.

He stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray, the butt making a soft hissing sound as it touched the porcelain bottom. Then he stood up, folded the three sheets of paper, put them in his coat pocket, and went out the door.

Everyone else in the conference room had arrived. Zhang Chulan was leaning on the conference table, looking at his phone with his head tilted to the side. The light from the screen reflected on his chin, illuminating his newly sprouted dark stubble. Wang Ye was sipping from a thermos, thin white steam rising from the lid. Zhang Lingyu sat upright, her hands clasped on the table, every vertebra aligned perfectly. Lu Linglong sat at the far end, still clutching the sword manual she had spent the night studying; the spine was slightly limp, her fingertips hovering over an illustration on a certain page, her lips silently reciting. Feng Baobao sat in the corner, her head against the wall, eyes closed, her breathing even and shallow, as if asleep—but her eyelids twitched slightly the moment Nie Lingfeng pushed open the door. Chen Duo sat next to her, her baby Xiaoyun drawing circles on the conference table with her finger. After finishing one, Xiaoyun looked up and smiled at Nie Lingfeng, a small crumb of biscuit still clinging to her lips.

Nie Lingfeng walked to the table, put down the documents, and explained the basic situation in a few words.

"Kunlun Mountain." Zhang Chulan turned off his phone, sat up straight, and his eyes brightened. "Isn't that the legendary sacred mountain? The place where the Queen Mother of the West resides? Are we going on an adventure?"

"Investigation." Nie Lingfeng emphasized the word "investigation." "It wasn't an expedition. The previous two teams both perished along the way. One team was ambushed in a small town at the foot of the mountain, before they even saw a glimpse of Kunlun Mountain. All their equipment was destroyed, and they lost all their memories."

"We were set up?" Wang Ye tightened the lid of his thermos and placed it on the table, resting his chin on his hand. "You mean, someone intercepted us at the mountain pass?"

"It's highly likely," Nie Lingfeng said, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. "And if those people in black really are Qu Tong's people, then she arrived at least half a month earlier than us, and her preparations were far more thorough."

"Half a month..." Zhang Lingyu's brows furrowed slightly, her fingertips tapping the edge of the table. "Fifteen days is enough time to do a lot in the Kunlun Mountains. Setting up formations, laying traps, setting up snares... If we follow in her footsteps, every step might have been calculated by her."

"That's why we need to go and see for ourselves." Nie Lingfeng turned to the third page, pointing to the handwritten note, "The second team said they didn't even get into the mountain. This means the town at the foot of that mountain is a sieve. The real journey begins after we get past that town."

Lu Linglong closed the sword manual, placed her hands on the cover, sat up straight, and asked in an barely suppressed eagerness, "Master, when do we set off?"

"Tomorrow morning," Nie Lingfeng said, "I've had the logistics team prepare the equipment list. The Kunlun Mountains are high in altitude, low in temperature, and have complex glacial terrain, so we need a sufficient supply of oxygen cylinders and cold-weather gear. Nobody stays up late tonight; make sure you're well-rested."

"clear."