Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 558 352. Missing an opportunity

”Master, should we tell grandfather about this?” Li Ke asked.

The SUV headed south against the morning sun.

When they had left city 18, they were all alone until they met the Freemasonry. It got lively for a couple of days before they were alone on the road again.

It was like a passage of life, where everyone experiences the noise and splendor, then returns to solitude.

The road is always oneʼs own, and in this world, there is no such thing as an eternal feast.

Qing Chen thought for a moment, ”Letʼs not tell him, the old man doesnʼt have much time left, letʼs not let him know that his friend has died.”

”Hmm,” Li Ke thought it over and responded.

In fact, Qing Chen had no right to decide for the old man, but he was truly worried that the old man wouldnʼt make it to Taboo Land 002 upon hearing the bad news.

By evening, the old man had finally fully awakened.

At this time, Hu Xiaoniu was exhausted, so Qing Chen took over the driving. Although new to driving, he handled it quite skillfully.

The SUV strolled smoothly across the wilderness.

In the distance was an evening glow, and around were plains and wilderness; the whole world seemed to be painted with a layer of orange-red oil, magnificent yet desolate.

Li Ke supported the old man in the rear seat and fed him some warm water from the thermos.

Qing Chen couldnʼt help but ask, ”Grandfather, how did you meet your friend?”

He looked up at the rearview mirror, only to find the old man stunned.

The old man asked, ”Youʼve seen him, havenʼt you?”

Qing Chen was silent for a moment, ”Hmm.”

”Youʼve seen him but donʼt want to tell me, so he must be dead,” the old man stated his guess.

The car fell silent.

The old man thought for a moment and said, ”You donʼt tell me because youʼre afraid that I couldnʼt make it to Taboo Land 002 after hearing the bad news about my old friend, right?”

”Hmm,” Qing Chen nodded.

”Donʼt worry, I am not that fragile,” the old man said, ”Besides, I have seen too many farewells in my life.”

”You seemed to know he would die,” Qing Chen remarked.

”Let me first tell you how we met,” the old man said with a smile, ”At that time, I wasnʼt as old as I am now and often enjoyed sneaking out through the secret passage of Autumn Leaf Courtyard to have fun. Once, I went to a bar I frequently visited, which was hosting a beer-drinking contest.”

”That night, nearly everyone in the bar got drunk, and it was down to just the two of us,” the old man reminisced, looking at the sunset, ”Later, we both got drunk as well and donʼt remember what happened next. According to Li Yunjing, we both ran to the Red Star Boxing Gym and asked to fight a fixed match, and even smashed many of their things. I didnʼt have money in my pocket; it was Li Yunjing who paid a sum to the gym, and thatʼs why we didnʼt get beaten up.”

”After that, I would often call him out for a drink when I sneaked out, and we would do some crazy things. Looking back, those were probably some of the happiest moments of my life.”

”When did you know he was a Jindai Member?” Qing Chen asked.

”Actually, I found out the second year. Li Yunjing had followed him for three months and discovered some clues,” the old man said, ”But I never exposed him, and he never reported my whereabouts to the Jindai family. It seems like as long as everyone pretends a bit, friendship can continue.”

The old man continued, ”In the third year, his mother fell critically ill, but the Jindai family delayed letting him return to the north. During that period, he was very depressed, and I knew why, so I gave him an important piece of information. With that, he gained a position and was able to negotiate terms with his family.”

”He returned to the north to accompany his mother in her last days. When he returned to city 18, he confessed everything to me,” the old man said with a smile, ”At that time, he felt very guilty, and I made him down eight drinks as a penalty. I won that drinking round.”

”It was from that time that he consistently said he wanted me to use him once, so he could ease his conscience a bit.”

”But actually, I knew that he had decided in his heart that as long as I used him once, he could choose to die without any guilt, so he wouldnʼt have to suffer between family loyalty and the code of friendship. Ludou Jun of the Jindai family was different from the others. Sometimes I think, for someone like Ludou Jun to emerge from that filthy family, itʼs quite exceptional.”

”So, you knew that using him this time would definitely lead to his death,” Qing Chen said quietly, ”Then why still use him?”

The old man chuckled, ”You might want to hear a very philosophical response, or one that would make my image shine again, but my answer is quite simple, because I am the head of the Li Family.”

Qing Chen fell silent.

Just because he was the head of the Li Family, he was willing to spend his life ʼimprisonedʼ in the mid-mountain estate.

Just because he was the head of the Li Family, he had to use the best opportunity to eliminate a member of the Jindai family who had the best chance of ascending to demigod status in recent years.

There has never been a perfect solution in this world, not for Ludou Jun of the Jindai, nor for Li Xiurui.

”Qing Chen,” the old man said with a chuckle, ”Itʼs precisely because you knights are never bound by the secular world that I envy you, so, never be like me.”

In a moment of lifting his head, Qing Chen suddenly saw, from the rearview mirror, two lines of tears streaming down the old manʼs face, yet still showing a smile.

”Old master, is this world really so complicated?” Qing Chen asked inexplicably.

”No, if you live simply, the world can be simple,” the old man replied, ”Kid, I donʼt have the ability to make this world change its rules for me, but I hope you do.”

...

...

Countdown to return 31:00:00.

17:00 in the evening.

Inside the SUV, Qing Chen once again saw that majestic giant tree, standing like a sky piercer at the center of Taboo Land 002.

No matter how many times he had seen it, Qing Chen always felt especially awestruck upon seeing it again.

Just then, Hu Xiaoniu suddenly exclaimed, ”Brother Chen, outside that big treeʼs crown, there seems to be a colorful tail streaking down!”

Qing Chen looked over, indeed, a tail about ten meters long was dragging outside the crown, with the body hidden within the treetops.

The old man wrapped in the sleeping bag gazed and thought, ”So everything he said was true.”

This ʼheʼ was Uncle Li Dongʼs master, the old manʼs close friend.

Decades ago, when that friend had described the beauty of the outside world to the old man, he had always believed that the other was deceiving him because even the Federal Group armies hadnʼt captured any photos or found such magical creatures.

All of this had seemed to the old man like a dream he had cherished for decades, which he was finally seeing today.

The old man watched, somewhat entranced.

Next moment, a shadow floated across the sky, perfectly enveloping the off-road vehicle beneath it.

Hu Xiaoniu stuck his head out and was stunned, as a massive Qing Shan Falcon circled above, its wingspan giving the illusion of blocking out the sun.

A cry rang out.

Qing Chen was taken aback.

Because he actually understood what the other was saying, ”You returned so soon? Whereʼs that old guy Li Dong?”

Qing Chen thought for a moment and shouted to the sky, ”My master went to the north, and this time I brought new knights.”

The Qing Shan Falcon cried again, ”Are we going to deal with two more annoying brats, huh? Donʼt bring out so many knights; too many knights tend to cause trouble.”

Qing Chen: ”...”

It seemed that since he had become a knight, he met the conditions for containment by Taboo Land #002, even understanding the messages conveyed by the creatures inside.

The Qing Shan Falcon no longer paid attention to the off-road vehicle and flapped its wings, flying back to Taboo Land #002.

The old man curiously asked, ”Is that the Qing Shan Falcon?”

”Yes,” Qing Chen nodded, ”It gets along quite well with the knights.”

The old man asked again, ”It seemed to be talking to you, could you understand it?”

Qing Chen nodded, ”I could.”

”What did it say?”

”It said ʼwelcome knights back home.ʼ”

The old man felt envious, ”That falcon is quite hospitable then.”

The off-road vehicle headed towards that big tree, but it wasnʼt long before Qing Chen slowed down.

”Whatʼs wrong?” the old man asked.

”Thereʼs a convoy stopped outside Taboo Land #002,” Qing Chen said, ”with Freemasonry vehicles and Federal Group Army vehicles.”

All told, there probably were over a hundred vehicles, making it look like a parking lot had been expanded outside Taboo Land #002.

The Freemasonry vehicles were battered and clearly had been through a brutal battle, likely pushed into Taboo Land #002 by the Federal Group Army.

Qing Chen said to Hu Xiaoniu, ”Look out on the wilderness and see if there are any shell casings.”

”There are,” responded Hu Xiaoniu, ”and they are quite dense, looks like there has been a battle.”

Near where the Federal Group Army vehicles were parked, dozens of people were on guard, and they immediately aimed their weapons as they spotted vehicles approaching.

”I see their unit number, it should be Division 198 of the Federal Second Group Army, the direct troops of the Chen Clan,” the old man said, ”The south has always been Chen Clanʼs stronghold, with Spade helping the wilderness people and Time Traveler rebuilding their homeland here, itʼs bound to provoke them.”

”It seems most of them chased deep into Taboo Land #002,” Qing Chen wondered, ”wasnʼt it said that the Federal Group Army generally wouldnʼt pursue the wilderness people into taboo lands lightly?”

He remembered very clearly, Ding Dongʼs mother was pushed into the taboo land by the Federal Group Army, thereby escaping assassination and ultimately birthing new life in the taboo land.

Back then, the Federal Group Army had stopped at the edge.

If there werenʼt tasks like those of the shadow candidate Qing Huai, no one would bother entering taboo lands without reason.

The old man explained, ”This Taboo Land #002 is originally situated on the Chen Clanʼs territory, they understand it a bit more, and in earlier years the Chen Clan had been using prisoners to test the rules of the taboo land.”

”Wait, can they take prisoners out from the jail?” Qing Chen curiously asked, it shouldnʼt be allowed, right?

”Not those who were already jailed,” the old man clarified, ”they use the PCE Security Committee to catch suspects, then without issuing prosecution, directly detain them in Chen Clanʼs secret prisons for experimentation.”

Qing Chen was dumbfounded, extra-judicial?

Indeed, humanity still had various methods to circumvent artificial intelligence.

If artificial intelligence was so fair, then simply not sending criminals to AI-controlled jails, but to secret prisons instead, solved the issue.

The old man thought for a while and said, ”We have no quarrel with them, and with Qingʼs Family emblem on the car, they should mind their own business, just avoid them.”

However, the old man had just finished speaking when he saw Qing Chen take out ʼWinning People with Virtueʼ and fired at the Federal Group Army convoy.

The direct troops of the Chen Clan immediately gave chase.

The old man was bewildered, ”What are you doing?”

Qing Chen didnʼt answer, he did this just because he recalled what Uncle Li once said during his first climb up the steep Qing Mountain cliffs: youʼre still lacking an opportunity.

Now, both Hu Xiaoniu and Li Ke were missing an opportunity.

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Another chapter at 11 PM