Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 564 355. Qing Chenʼs Property

Countdown to return 16:00:00.

Eight oʼclock in the morning.

Atop the sheer cliffs of the green mountains, Li Ke personally dug a grave for his grandfather behind the cliff, where he buried the old man.

From then on, the man would forever be accompanied by the rising sun and the wind.

”Donʼt be sad, his wish has been fulfilled, and he has no regrets,” Qing Chen said calmly.

Li Ke wiped his tears with the back of his hand, ”Yes, I understand, itʼs just hard to let go. Grandfather was always very strict, but when I was very little, he would sternly scold my father, and when my father bowed his head in shame, he would secretly slip me candy and wink at me to keep it a secret. He was never a harsh person, it was just the position he held demanded that of him.”

Qing Chen sighed, ”He spent his life playing a role he did not wish to play, but he played it well.”

Li Ke stood up and Qing Chen led him back to the top of the green cliffs, pointing to the words on the ground, ”Forever young, this is what the old man most yearned for in life. But it doesnʼt mean living a long life, rather staying young at heart, eternally sincere, forever with tears in your eyes, always eager to hit the road. Donʼt let yourself be bound by mere benefits, knights are born from sheer bravery, making them the most romantic people in the world.”

Li Ke and Hu Xiaoniu silently looked at the inscription on the ground.

Suddenly, it became clear why Qing Chen said that anyone who embarked on this path could not help but agree with the knightʼs creed.

Indeed, the eight life-or-death challenges are less a path of cultivation and more a way for knights to select their companions under the harshest conditions.

Qing Chen turned his head, looking at the massive tree that blocked out the sun and sighed, ”The longer one walks this path, the more one understands the founderʼs four words ʼforever young,ʼ and the expectations bestowed upon each knight.”

At a certain moment, the young man reflected deeply.

Itʼs better to say that he accompanied the old man for a part of his journey,

rather than saying the old man, with his lifeʼs twilight and all his regrets, took him on a journey.

Last time, Uncle Li Dong took him on a journey, healing the scars of his past 17 years.

This time, the old man took him on a journey, teaching him with his last moments what really matters most to him now.

At that moment, applause erupted from the forest: ”This is a death befitting the head of the Li Clan. Instead of lying in a mansion on mid-hill, itʼs better to watch the evening and morning glows here. I just bowed to the old master. Previously, I had no respect for him, but now I do.”

Qing Chen and the others turned to look and were startled to see a person clad in a black hoodie, wearing a black cap and a black mask, being the Qingʼs shadow, clapping and walking out.

Coughing occasionally.

If not for this familiar cough, Qing Chen might not have been certain that it was Mr. Qingʼs shadow.

Every time they met, it seemed to be under such dark and obscured circumstances.

This was the first time Qingʼs shadow was willing to stand in the sunlight to talk to him.

Gaunt, that was Qing Chenʼs most profound impression.

Qingʼs shadow laughed, ”In oneʼs lifetime, starting from middle age, one starts to worry about their descendants, wishing that they would come to your grave and ask for your blessing even after your death. If the descendants arenʼt doing well, they might even think you were buried in the wrong place and dig you up to move you somewhere with better Feng Shui. So, resting here is rather nice; I would even choose this place for myself after death, if I could banter with the old timers in Taboo Land 002, that would probably be even more joyful.”

Qing Chen looked at Qingʼs shadow, ”At this moment, the civil war within the Federation should have started already, and yet you still have the leisure to come to Taboo Land 002?”

Qingʼs shadow smiled, ”What does the civil war have to do with me?”

”It has nothing to do with you?” Qing Chen wondered.

”I had done everything I needed to do for this war in advance. When the war actually begins, thereʼs nothing for me to do,” Qingʼs shadow laughed.

This was actually a strange kind of confidence.

Itʼs as if after making thirteen moves in a chess game, the remaining part of the game could be left unplayed, and the winners and losers have already been decided.

For some reason, Qing Chen always felt that he and Qingʼs shadow had some similarities; both seemed to prefer getting their preparations done ahead of time, a kind of inherent caution in their characters.

But Qing Chenʼs current perspective and abilities had not yet reached the shadowʼs level.

”Can the Li Clan and Qing Clan win?” Qing Chen asked.

The shadow laughed, ”I donʼt know about the Li Clan, but the Qing Clan can. The essence of strategizing requires that preparations be made in advance so that one can act more freely.”

”Understood,” Qing Chen nodded.

The shadow was the shadow of the Qing Clan, and even if the Li Clan and Qing Clan were allies, the shadowʼs responsibility was only to ensure the Qing Clanʼs victory in this war.

It could even snatch the Li Clanʼs victory.

This is what the corporation stands for.

”Did the Li Clanʼs reverse time-travel plan succeed?” Qing Chen asked.

Last time when returning, the Li Clanʼs Time Traveler even went directly to the Island Country, and Qing Chen knew those Time Travelers must have done more than just burn down a Shrine; there must have been a bigger plan.

The shadow thought for a moment and answered, ”Of the replacement successes currently screened by Jindai and Deer Island, there are eight, and there might be others not yet detected... However, even if they are detected, it doesnʼt matter. The negative impact of replacing eight key positions all at once in the midst of war is far greater than imagined. I must say, the Li Clanʼs Time Travelers in the Outer World are quite impressive; they make me very interested.”