Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter Lesson 119

Countdown 66:00:00.

Early morning.

Uncle Li Dong greeted Qin Cheng early in the morning and then set off on the mountain path with Qing Chen, alone.

Qing Chen carried a backpack, as if preparing for a long journey about life.

They were not leaving the team to go alone, but Uncle Li Dong was about to teach Qing Chen his second lesson.

No, more accurately, it was the third lesson.

The first lesson was to revere life.

The second was how to face the world.

Itʼs just that the first lesson was completed by Qing Chen in self-study at Laojun Mountain, so Uncle Li Dong felt he did not participate much.

He felt quite regretful.

The two crossed over a mountain head and walked more than ten miles of mountain road, but Uncle Li Dong still could not find the place he wanted.

”Teacher, I always feel that you are rushing this time,” Qing Chen said calmly as he walked the mountain path, ”ever since you found out that Iʼm alive and came back from the Outer World, and then accidentally broke through the bottleneck of the Genetic Lock, you started planning something.”

All this seemed spontaneous, but Uncle Li Dong was not aimless.

Uncle Li Dong, walking steadily, smiled and said, ”A teacher also has his own affairs, you know. Eight years ago, Qin Chengʼs brother, along with many others, fought alongside me, but we failed, so we were trapped in that prison. I could have risked it all, but no one knew what the outcome would be.”

Qing Chen did not know what had happened eight years ago, and he asked, ”What about now? You have no worries anymore, do you?”

”Back then I was scared, the lineage of Knights had suddenly ended with my generation,” Uncle Li Dong said, ”so I waited, and finally, you came. Now that I am sure you are the successor I have been waiting for, I can let myself face that world. Donʼt ask what I am going to do, your life has just begun, and all I have to do is walk with you a little longer.”

”Teacher, what exactly is the life-and-death challenge?” Qing Chen asked.

”The life-and-death challenge is mysterious, but actually very ordinary,” Uncle Li Dong said as he walked towards the dawn, ”itʼs just gambling once, entrusting your life to this world. Climbing a mountain, watching a snowfall, shouting at the place closest to the sky.”

”Teacher,” Qing Chen asked as he walked the rugged mountain path, ”why did you choose this path initially?”

Eventually, the two arrived in front of a cliff several tens of meters high and stopped, Uncle Li Dong turned to look at Qing Chen: ”Because life was boring? Or perhaps because I loved this world? I used to be certain, but now I am not so sure anymore.”

At that moment, a buzzing sound came from the sky, Uncle Li Dong frowned and flicked a leaf beside him at the just-emerged Type-011 drone.

The leaf struck the drone like thunder, piercing through it.

The drone staggered and fell towards the valley.

Qing Chen watched as the drone slowly disappeared from view and suddenly asked, ”Teacher, this is too close to Qin Chengʼs camp, it might make the Autumn Hunting Team suspect that it was them who took down the drone.”

Uncle Li Dong thought for a moment, ”No matter, I will ensure their safety.”

However, Qing Chen shook his head, ”Teacher, you canʼt always protect them, you must know where Zhang Tongdan and their main base are, right?”

”North from here, more than thirty kilometers away,” Uncle Li Dong said.

Qing Chen thought for a moment and carved a few small characters on the cliff with his dagger: ”Waiting for you in the north, dare you come and chop me.”

Uncle Li Dong looked at his student speechlessly: ”I, Uncle Li Dong, have indeed taken on such a sly student.”

Qing Chen responded, ”Youʼre not too bad either, Teacher.”

”Alright, letʼs get to business before those spoiled brats come,” Uncle Li Dong said to Qing Chen, ”Your memory is good so I need only teach you once. All the mountains that follow, you will need to climb by yourself; those mountains will be higher and more perilous than this one.”

Having said that, Uncle Li Dong turned and walked towards the cliff.

At that moment, Qing Chen felt that the teacher before him was radiant amidst the dawn light.

...

In the Zhi Zi Lake camp.

The first officer, sitting in the co-pilotʼs seat operating the drone, suddenly grunted. He realized the connection to the neurons had abruptly cut off.

”One of the drones has been destroyed,” he said softly.

”Did you see what it looked like?” the middle-aged man sitting on the roof asked.

”No, the attacker was too fast,” the first officer explained, ”They might have been armed and shot the drone as soon as it appeared. Their shooting skills were very precise. I couldnʼt determine their identity, but they were definitely targeting us.”

”Alright, Iʼll go tell the young masters and ladies to get ready for the hunt,” the middle-aged man stretched and leaped off the roof.

The young first officer hesitated for a moment: ”They should be able to recognize the Boundary-011 type drone. Seeing such a model of combat drone, they should be able to deduce that we are the Autumn Hunting Team, and possibly even from the Federal Second Group Armyʼs field unit. If thatʼs the case, they might have come prepared.”

”It doesnʼt matter,” the middle-aged man pondered and then said, ”This time we have Li Yinuo with us; itʼs not quite the same as before.”

...

Forty kilometers to the north, a large camp was billowing with cooking smoke.

Hundreds of people gathered around over a dozen bonfires, some filing bullets, others carving crosses on bullets, and some wiping their firearms.

The group waited quietly.

At 7 oʼclock in the morning, an off-road vehicle drove through the mountains.

A robust young man jumped out of the car and shouted, ”Boss, Zhang Tongdan and the others didnʼt return to the rendezvous point as agreed, and we still canʼt reach them on the walkie-talkie.”

A dark-faced man sitting among the crowd didnʼt say a word for a long time, with everyoneʼs gaze fixed on him.

After a long reflection, the dark-faced man, putting down his lamb leg, asked, ”Have you checked near Zhi Zi Lake?”

”There are more than a dozen Boundary-011 type drones blockading Zhi Zi Lake; I didnʼt dare get close, boss. But indeed, there were gunshots coming from that direction, though I couldnʼt confirm if there was a battle,” the robust young man answered, ”That bunch from the Autumn Hunt gets crazy shooting when theyʼre drunk; I didnʼt physically see what exactly happened.”

The dark-faced man sat by the fire deep in thought, ”Normally, Zhang Tongdan shies away from the strong; he wouldnʼt dare provoke the Autumn Hunting Fleet.”

”Could it be Elder Qin who did it?” someone asked.

”Impossible,” the dark-faced man shook his head, ”Elder Qin has always been rule-abiding, and weʼve been doing business smoothly for years with no incidents. Zhang Tongdan, poor and penniless, doesnʼt have anything worth taking.”

”Zhang Tongdan had a bounty of 10,000 bucks on him in City 18, though,” someone mentioned.

”10,000 bucks only flatter him,” the dark-faced man scoffed coldly, ”Elder Qin earns much more than that in a year; he wouldnʼt do something foolish. Besides, Elder Qinʼs family has average combat ability, with only Elder Qin himself having taken the most basic Genetic Potion. Itʼs unlikely they killed Zhang Tongdan quietly, at least a few would have escaped to bring the news.”

”Thatʼs true, Elder Qinʼs family, although old hunters, but Zhang Tongdan took 18 men with him this time; they couldnʼt have been wiped out completely,” someone stated.

The robust young man who had just returned said, ”When I was watching over Zhi Zi Lake this afternoon, Zhang Tongdanʼs group had already come within walkie-talkie range, telling me that they had received the payment for the skins. I think, since Elder Qin had already completed the transaction, thereʼs no reason for him to attack afterwards.”

”Then why didnʼt they just rendezvous with you directly?” the dark-faced man inquired.

”I asked that too, but no one answered when I called them on the walkie-talkie afterwards,” the robust young man replied.

The dark-faced man sighed, ”Itʼs mostly likely that they were intercepted by the Autumn Hunting Team, the only ones around here capable of wiping them out completely.”

”Boss, what do we do? We have to avenge Zhang Tongdan!”

”Avenge? Do you realize the Autumn Hunting Fleet has experts, and their equipment is far superior to ours!” the dark-faced man looked around.

”But we have more people, and weʼre familiar with the terrain. If they continue south, they will enter Mute Ridge, and isnʼt that our domain?” someone argued.