Love letters are not allowed in the exorcism notebook!-Chapter 826 - 73 The Best Thing for You to Discuss is Sword Dao

Being a critic is easy. As the saying goes, "If you want to blame someone, you’ll always find a reason." If you’re determined to nitpick, you’ll always find faults.

But being someone who takes action is far less simple.

Faced with an unforeseen crisis, not only did Li Mingshen not sit idly by and await his fate, but he cleverly countered the situation with a series of seamless strategies. Such courage and audacity left Wang Yunxiao awestruck.

Admiration was one thing, but the undercurrent of tension hidden behind this matter still made Wang Yunxiao wary.

How did the Fusang people catch wind of this so quickly?

What kind of era is this? An era where travel relies mostly on walking, and communication is essentially yelling. News that happened locally last week might not even make it into today’s newspapers.

The Shopkeeper Nong received first-hand news and sent a telegraph to the overseas Revolutionary Party headquarters to seek instructions, but even now, there’s been no reply.

Do the Fusang people have some kind of Thousand-Mile Eye and ears that catch every whisper? How are they acting so swiftly?

As for what Li Mingshen had claimed—that there was a traitor among his students—Wang Yunxiao believed it, though not entirely.

How does one explain this... It’s like running into a leggy beauty at a bar one night, having a whirlwind of passion, then waking up the next morning to find her vomiting by the toilet, only to return from the hospital in the afternoon with a pair of black-and-white twins in tow.

No issues with the process, just the timing was way too fast.

Any matter involving questions of time immediately triggered ominous suspicions in Wang Yunxiao’s mind.

There was no helping it; he had seen enough Evil Spirits and malevolence to make such reactions instinctive.

That very night, Wang Yunxiao dragged Han Bin and Yan Yu’an into a meeting, laying out his concerns.

"Something about this is definitely off."

After listening, Yan Yu’an immediately agreed: "Send a telegraph back home requesting reinforcements, or wait for Cheng Feng to return."

Send a telegraph... Reinforcements? Everyone capable of working was already here, and who knows how many years it would take for support to arrive.

As for Cheng Xuefei’s brother, Cheng Feng, he worked in a department under the Secretary Bureau. No one knew exactly what he did. Truth be told, not even Wang Yunxiao knew where Cheng Feng currently was.

One had to admit, the level of confidentiality they maintained was almost ridiculously thorough.

The only way to contact him was through encrypted communications.

"How about... we capture that Fusang person and interrogate him?"

Han Bin muttered softly.

Both Wang Yunxiao and Yan Yu’an turned their gazes toward him.

"Why are you both looking at me like that? I didn’t mean anything else,"

Han Bin said, spreading his hands defensively. "The leadership says to avoid using force unless necessary. But under these circumstances, I’d argue that it is necessary."

"You just want to use your fists, don’t you?"

"Stop spewing nonsense! Be professional when discussing work—don’t bring in personal biases and emotions!"

The three stared each other down in silence for a moment.

Yan Yu’an coughed and said, "Let’s not stir up trouble. We just fought a battle here, and the Foreigners are on edge. If we lay hands on them, it’s not us who’ll suffer, but the innocent locals afterward."

"I didn’t say we should lay hands on them. And besides, Fusang people can’t really be considered Foreigners, can they?"

Han Bin chuckled and said, "According to the traditions back home, Fusang people without facial tattoos aren’t even counted as human beings."

"You can’t say it like that,"

Wang Yunxiao quickly cut him off. "In my assessment, Fusang poses the greatest threat to us in this era. The interests of the Great Powers in Europe aren’t focused on the Far East—the cost of waging extended campaigns is too high. Their colonial policies elsewhere won’t work here either. Even if they win battles, they can’t hold on afterward."

"But Fusang, having recently modernized and industrialized through their Meiji Restoration, is urgently in need of land and manpower..."

Yan Yu’an suddenly shot him a glare. "What are you trying to say?"

"I’m just analyzing the situation."

"Makes sense!"

Han Bin slapped the table. "Old Wang, you book-smart folks really know your stuff. Your logic is so clear, and you articulate things so well..."

"Enough already, the both of you!"

Yan Yu’an snapped in anger. "What’s the point of putting on airs? Do you guys think international affairs need your analysis? Do you even understand what actually needs to be done?"

"Old Yan, now you’re being unreasonable. Don’t blow things out of proportion. Who’s delaying actual work? We were just talking, and the conversation naturally led to this!"

Han Bin adopted a serious tone and said, "I think Old Wang’s concerns are valid. The Fusang people have already made two moves—who’s to say they won’t try a third? We need to come up with a plan. If they stoop to underhanded methods, are we just supposed to sit back and let them?"

The three exchanged silent glances.

Yan Yu’an pondered for a long time before shaking his head. "We absolutely cannot fire the first shot."

"So let them take the first shot?"

"Bullets don’t discriminate. It might not matter to us, but there are still ordinary people around us."

"Our mission is to protect civilians, isn’t that right?"

"We can’t instigate trouble."

"Nobody suggested instigating trouble. Why are you always doubting your own people? I think we should monitor each other!"

"Exactly, mutual supervision!"

Wang Yunxiao and Han Bin chimed in one after another, their expressions growing increasingly grim.

"The big picture comes first."

"Yes, the big picture comes first!"

Yan Yu’an facepalmed and sighed deeply, his weariness palpable.

"You two, my dear brothers! Can you promise me not to mess things up before Cheng Feng gets back? If everything goes smoothly, I’ll treat you both to a day at the Liusheng Dojo’s hot springs when we return, deal?"

"Liusheng Dojo, huh?" Han Bin’s eyes lit up. "I’ve heard they have plenty of... interesting activities. Care to elaborate?"

"What’s there to elaborate on? It’s the usual stuff."

Yan Yu’an shrugged. "Although brothels have been banned back home, the current legal system isn’t perfect, so there are always loopholes to exploit. On the surface, the Liusheng Dojo operates under the guise of cultivating Sword Dao, with their female disciples offering one-on-one coaching services. If you don’t understand the rules or fail to provide the right passphrase, they won’t engage with you on... a deeper level."

Wang Yunxiao sighed. "Sword Dao... Such a fine art. Fusang martial arts indeed have unique qualities worth studying. Old Han, when the time comes, we’ll have to critique it thoroughly."

"Exactly, let’s study it critically!"

Han Bin leaned toward Yan Yu’an and asked in a low voice, "So, what’s the passphrase?"

Yan Yu’an smirked. "That ties into the basics of Sword Dao. Even if I told you, you might not understand. Are you familiar with the Fusang samurai tradition? When they make grave errors, they perform seppuku, cutting open their stomachs with a small blade..."

"You mean the release valve?"

Yan Yu’an fell silent instantly.

Wang Yunxiao shot Han Bin a look. "Old Han, you always claim to be uneducated, but it seems your knowledge base is rather... eclectic."

Han Bin returned the gaze with equal disdain. "They taught you this in middle school?"

"My father was a Navy engineer."

"Ah, my apologies. Much respect."