Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 555 349, The Elderlyʼs Friend

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This time, the crows had come too early, so early that no one could guess what might happen next.

According to Li Dongze, these high-speed response mechanisms from the Contraindicated Tribunal usually appeared only when an A-Class or above master had died.

Even a B-Class wasnʼt worth such a large-scale mobilization of the crows.

Qing Chen sighed inwardly, as he had probably already guessed who the danger would befall this time.

The countdown read 65:00:00.

Less than three days left until the return.

7 oʼclock in the morning.

Everyone in the camp had packed up their tents and belongings early, the arrival of the Contraindicated Tribunal casting a shadow over everyoneʼs hearts.

The old man planned to get into his off-road vehicle but noticed that Qing Chen was particularly solemn today.

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, ”You go ride in the Freemasonryʼs car, havenʼt you always wanted to tell stories to the female students? Today I wonʼt stop you.”

The old man was extremely clever, having spent a lifetime deducing othersʼ thoughts, how could he not know what Qing Chen was thinking?

He asked with a smile, ”Do you guess that this danger might be aimed at us?”

”Mm,” Qing Chen nodded.

”So, you want to transfer me to the Freemasonry car to avoid risking my life if our own off-road vehicle gets attacked?” the old man said.

After a moment of hesitation, Qing Chen finally nodded, ”Even if someone comes to kill you, for a while they wonʼt be able to confirm which vehicle you are in. Spadeʼs people will try to escort you away, then weʼll meet up at Taboo Land No. 002.”

”What about you?” the old man asked.

”Hu Xiaoniu, Li Ke, and I will drive at full speed; as long as the enemy canʼt stop me before I enter Taboo Land No. 002, then no matter how many people follow us in, they will all die,” Qing Chen said with conviction.

Taboo Land No. 002, that was the Knightʼs own turf.

But the old man also clearly understood that the fear was the enemy might not give Qing Chen the chance to enter Taboo Land No. 002.

The old man cheerfully said, ”If somebody knows Iʼm still alive and plans to use me to change some of Yun Shouʼs decisions, then the people they send must be very powerful. If I get in the studentsʼ car, Iʼll be putting them in danger.”

After thinking, Qing Chen replied, ”I will lead them away.”

The old man laughed and boarded his off-road vehicle, ”You seem to have arranged everything, acting as if itʼs all so heroically sacrificial. An old man like me whoʼs about to enter the grave can be moved by you, it feels nice, but your arrangements are somewhat underestimating me.”

Speaking of which, the old man added, ”Donʼt worry, Iʼve said that I wonʼt die before reaching Taboo Land No. 002, and so it will be.”

The old man who had controlled the Li Familyʼs power for decades no longer spoke with his usual affability.

It was as if the decisions he made were so resolute that even fate itself had to step aside.

Qing Chen inexplicably looked at the skinny and hunched old man, realizing that this was the true appearance of the Li Family Head.

Qing Chen didnʼt respond, ”Maybe the enemy isnʼt coming for us? Maybe the crows have made a mistake?”

However, just then.

He saw that March had arrived by their off-road vehicle without notice and calmly climbed into the back of the car.

The rest of the twelve crows—six of them directly climbed on top of the off-road vehicle, securing themselves to the luggage rack with the red ropes from their sleeves to prevent falling off due to any jolts.

The other six clung to the off-road vehicleʼs side crash bars.

The crows remained calm, as if they were doing something very ordinary.

For a moment, Qing Chen even felt like he was witnessing the sight of people boarding a train.

He was shocked, ”Yesterday when I asked if you knew where the danger was coming from, you all said you didnʼt know! Since you claimed you didnʼt know, why not act more convincingly? All of you climbing on our vehicle, whatʼs the meaning of this? Also, isnʼt this a clear signal to the enemy that the old man is in this car?”

These crows clearly knew the danger was aimed at them!

March thought for a while and waved to the crows outside, signaling them to leave.

All the crows jumped off Qing Chenʼs off-road vehicle and without any hesitation hopped onto the Freemasonryʼs vehicle, appearing completely at home.

At this, Qing Chen turned to look towards the Freemasonry side; the students, seeing the Contraindicated Tribunalʼs actions, realized something too.

The students whispered among themselves.

Yanyan thought for a moment and approached Qing Chen, ”Your car could follow behind ours. In the event of any danger, it would be easier to help out.”

Guo Huchan wanted to say something but in the end remained silent.

The old man laughed and said to Qing Chen, ”Letʼs go, weʼll stick to our plan.”

The convoy set off, with Qing Chenʼs off-road vehicle always staying at the rear.

On the way, Qing Chen looked back at March sitting in the third row, who still appeared very calm.

”Does the Contraindicated Tribunal have the ability to predict who the danger will befall?” Qing Chen asked, curious.

March replied, ”The Contraindicated Tribunal doesnʼt have such precise precognition abilities. Before I came here, I still had doubts. I wondered why a high-intensity battle would break out in this wilderness. Logically, the Federal Groupʼs army should be concentrated in the north—there shouldnʼt be battles of this level here. Until, I saw Mr. Li Xiurui in the camp.”

March continued, ”Probably the entire world didnʼt expect Mr. Li Xiurui to fake his death and leave, but with Mr. Li Xiurui around, even if higher-level battles erupted, it wouldnʼt surprise me.”

”Is it an A-Class battle?” Qing Chen asked.

March frankly replied, ”Yes.”

”No wonder you all came so early,” Qing Chen said. ”But doesnʼt the Contraindicated Tribunal usually just watch from a distance? Why would you accompany us this time?”

March stated flatly, ”Thatʼs because the location of the battle is still far from here. If the little crows had to walk there, they would get very tired.”

Qing Chen was stunned.

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So you brought people here to the campsite in the middle of last night just to hitch a ride today?!

This answer was too surprising!

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The caravan traveled from the early morning till dusk.

The evening clouds spread from the horizon, deep red like blood.

However, just as the sun was about to set on the horizon,

At a three-way fork in the road,

The old man suddenly said to Hu Xiaoniu, ”Turn left, weʼll take another dirt road.”

Hu Xiaoniu glanced at Qing Chen.

Qing Chen hesitated for two seconds and then said, ”Turn left.”

At this moment, the Freemasonryʼs caravan was already heading toward the main road on the right, while Qing Chen and his group were parting ways with them here.

The long caravan and the lone off-road vehicle headed in different directions, one to the left and the other to the right.

The students of the Freemasonry looked out from their windows.

Until the rapidly falling night and the woods obstructed their views of each other.

Suddenly, San Yue in the back seat said, ”Do you remember that Iʼm still in the car, while my little crows are in the other caravan?”

The old man laughed and said, ”It was your own choice to get on this vehicle, what does that have to do with us?”

San Yue stopped talking, seemingly with no intention of leaving the vehicle, evidently resigned to his fate.

The old man looked at Qing Chen with a smile and said, ”Sorry, I took the initiative. I promised to meet an old friend of thirty years up ahead to say goodbye, and it seems Iʼve caused everyone some trouble.”

Qing Chen glanced at the old man, ”You knew he would disclose your whereabouts, didnʼt you?”

The old man thought for a moment and said, ”I had suspected that he might be someone from the Jindai family sent to get close to me not long after I first met him.”

”You guessed he was from the Jindai family and still chose to be his friend,” Qing Chen said, puzzled, ”And you knew he would reveal your location, yet you still wanted to meet him one last time. Why is that?”

Qing Chen did not quite understand what these important figures were thinking.

Friends, enemies, identities intertwined, exceedingly complex.

The old man continued, ”We came clean with each other twenty years ago. He admitted his identity as a Jindai Member, and in return, I provided him with information to please his superiors from time to time. Interesting, isnʼt it? Even enemies can become friends. Humans are complex creatures. This is not a black-and-white world. Even I didnʼt expect that one day I would befriend a member of the Jindai family.”

The old man thought and then added, ”Although he is a person of the Jindai, he has never truly betrayed me in this lifetime. Besides, it was I who asked him to reveal my whereabouts to the Jindai family this time.”

”Why would you want him to reveal your whereabouts this time?” Qing Chen asked.

The old man just smiled and did not answer.

Just then, in the darkness ahead on the dirt road, there stood a solitary figure.

The person was dressed as a samurai, wearing wooden clogs and with hair tied up in a topknot at the back of his head.

Qing Chenʼs heart tensed, here it comes!

As expected, someone from the Jindai family was waiting here.

”Donʼt worry,” the old man said, ”weʼll bypass him.”

Qing Chen paused, ”You think just saying ʼbypassʼ means we can bypass him?”

In an instant, a red glow burst forth from within the woods in the night, like a meteor.

It was another figure, charging towards the Jindai familyʼs samurai with an unstoppable force.

It was Li Yunjing.

This middle-aged man, who had been protecting the old man for twenty years, had indeed followed them.

The old man said, ”You asked why I revealed my itinerary? Since Li Yunjing was promoted to A-Class, he never had the chance to take action. He wanted to kill Jindai Tongshan before leaving the Li Family. Jindai Tongshan has been living in seclusion for years, focused on breaking through to the Demigod realm, hard to find. Iʼve been fishing all my life; I might as well bait the hook one last time before I go. If he doesnʼt die, Yun Shouʼs future wonʼt be secure.”

Qing Chen sighed inwardly. He sort of understood why the old man did not wish to extend his life; with his temperament, even if he lived another twenty years, he would not be able to stop himself from working tirelessly for the Li Family.

Even on the brink of death, the old man was plotting to kill a cultivator from the Jindai family who might break through to the Demigod realm.

The old man laughed, ”Consider it making the most of my last bit of warmth. My life has been like this; a good start and a good ending. Itʼs just that it might be a bit hard on you.”

Li Yunjing had already collided with Jindai Tongshan, their confrontation stirring up winds like a tornado.

The withered leaves and branches were crushed by the invisible force, swirling into the sky.

A battle between A-Classes, as if it could invert the starry heavens!

This kind of fight was not one ordinary people could interfere in.

Qing Chen looked back only to find that San Yue had at some point opened the trunk and left the vehicle.

He said to Hu Xiaoniu, ”Turn right. We only have one task on this wilderness trip, and that is to reach the Taboo Land at site 002.”

No sooner had he spoken than over a dozen off-road vehicles burst out from the woods, bearing down on Qing Chen and his group.

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Thanks to Gao Chang Kai Ge SSS, Wang Buzheng, Wen Zai Fouʼer, Su Zheng, and Bear Bigʼs Keeper for becoming new allies of this book. Generous bosses, may you have hotpot every day!