Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 305: Dragon Fish X

These past few days, Li Ke felt like he was engaged in guerrilla warfare, constantly changing assembly points to avoid those classmates who wanted to rejoin the running group.

Actually, as early as the sixth night, some students’ parents had already visited with gifts.

His father was working overtime at the Secretariat at the time, so his mother and he were the ones who received them.

Not everyone in this grand mansion lived comfortably; some families had committed past mistakes, and as a result, they had been marginalized within the family's power structure.

Therefore, these families knew very well how tempting power was. Because they were marginalized, they hoped that their children could secure an important position within the family in the future.

Only then would their branch have a new hope.

The mother and son visited Li Ke's home, making polite conversation for over an hour before finally stating their purpose: they hoped Li Ke could speak to the Instructor, requesting their child's reinstatement into the running group.

It has to be said that this mother was quite clever. At that time, Li Shu and the others hadn't even returned from the military. She simply heard that Li Yino was also running and keenly sensed something.

However, Qing Chen had specifically told Li Ke that if those who took shortcuts were allowed to participate, it wouldn't have any meaning. It might even lead to the leakage of Cultivation methods in the future.

And Qing Chen’s method of simply screening out those who couldn’t endure hardship was approved by the Old Man.

At this moment, perhaps even Qing Chen himself didn't realize how significant the power to screen was.

Some clever individuals could even foresee that in the next few decades, the prospects of those who fell behind and those who didn't would be vastly different.

A watershed moment had begun.

Li Ke politely refused the mother and son, saying that he couldn't decide on this matter; the Instructor had to give the final word.

On the morning of the seventh day, as soon as Li Ke entered the school, a chubby boy sneered, “Oh, look who’s here. Isn’t this Li Ke, who likes to hog everything for himself?”

“Li Ke, you’re amazing! To avoid us, you even ran to the sniper range in the back mountain?”

“We are all brothers and sisters of the Li Clan. Do you have to do this?”

They didn't care whether this was Qing Chen's instruction; they certainly didn't dare to attack Qing Chen, so they targeted Li Ke, who was responsible for carrying out the orders.

In the school, most of the children had been screened out. That morning, servants were sent to look for Li Ke and the others, but they couldn't find where they were assembling or running.

It turned out that Li Ke had set the assembly point in the sniper range in the back mountain today. Who would have thought that they would go to such a place for a morning run?

Some even went to the door of Li Ke's house at 5:30 AM. This method was indeed well-advised. You are playing guerrilla warfare, so I will block your door. You have to go out eventually, right?

It turned out that Li Ke hadn't slept in Fengluan Manor that night; he had directly gone to Li Yino's Qingshan Manor and slept next to Qing Yi.

Many people didn't expect this move, and some guessed that it was definitely guided by the Instructor.

At this point, other students already knew that something would happen to those who persisted in running, and their jealousy was becoming difficult to conceal.

Even those classmates who ran with him didn't speak up for him.

Everyone allowed the verbal attacks to fly at Li Ke.

However, Li Ke remained impassive in class, as if he was completely unaffected by their taunts.

During the first break in the afternoon, Li Ke went to the toilet and sat down, only to find in surprise that his chair had been splashed with water at some point, so that when he sat down, his pants were soaked in no time.

It was winter, and it's impossible for the body to warm up wet pants, and the icy sensation was like a knife piercing Li Ke.

A chubby boy laughed, “Li Ke peed his pants!”

Li Ke calmly looked at the boy, still without saying a word.

This time, several students who ran with Li Ke couldn't stand it anymore. They stood up and glared angrily at the chubby boy and the group around him, “Whose fault is it that you fell behind? Try touching him again! We are all brothers and sisters of the Li Clan; don't go too far!”

Li Ke stopped one of the classmates, “Forget it.”

Return Countdown, 7:00:00.

Seven hours remaining.

In the evening, he walked towards Autumn Leaf Manor alone.

After entering the courtyard, he found Qing Chen still lying on a recliner, eyes closed and resting.

Li Ke, after some thought, went to the kitchen to cook, to make fish, without saying a word.

Today, he was particularly meticulous in preparing the fish, because the Instructor hadn't gone to Dragon Lake for some reason yesterday, and this was the ninth Dragon Fish.

Li Ke knew that after the Instructor consumed tonight's Dragon Fish, there might be some surprising changes.

However, while cooking, Li Ke didn't know what emotion he had touched, and tears began to fall.

He quickly looked up to prevent the tears from falling into the pot.

After all, he was only a fourteen-year-old child, and being constantly mocked by his classmates was too much to bear, no matter how strong his heart was.

He secretly glanced at Qing Chen in the courtyard.

Qing Chen seemed oblivious to this, lying on the recliner without moving a muscle.

Li Ke quickly wiped away his tears and continued to cook the braised fish.

Today, Qing Chen had moved the target for sniper training to 2100 meters, leaving only the last 500 meters before "graduation'.

However, graduation was not the end. He would add extra training subjects like "altitude'.

After a short while, Li Ke brought the braised fish to the table.

“Go hang up the ‘No Visitors’ sign for me and close the door tightly, or it might get a little lively tonight,” Qing Chen said with his eyes closed.

Li Ke was stunned but still obeyed.

Shortly after hanging up the sign, there was a knock on the door, and someone shouted outside, “Instructor, I’ve brought my child to apologize to you, please open the door.”

Li Ke looked at Qing Chen, only to see the Instructor picking up his chopsticks to eat the fish, ignoring everything happening outside.

The leaders and students outside Autumn Leaf Manor didn't leave. After a short while, more leaders and students came to the door.

Slowly, more than ten students and leaders gathered outside, but Li Ke found that his Instructor was calmly eating the Dragon Fish, as if nothing was happening.

“It’s a bit salty today. Something on your mind?” Qing Chen asked while eating.

Li Ke pondered for a moment, but ultimately didn't express his grievances. He replied, “Instructor, I want to apologize to you. Someone came to my door yesterday, asking me to intercede for them, and I said I couldn’t decide this; you had to make the call.”

“There’s nothing wrong with what you said,” Qing Chen shook his head, “No need to blame yourself.”

Li Ke said seriously, “No, it’s not like that. Later, Mother criticized me, saying that you entrusted me with such an important matter, so I should have taken responsibility for everything, instead of pushing it all to you.”

“Your mother is right,” Qing Chen said, “But you still don't need to blame yourself.”

At this time, Qing Chen thought, no wonder this boy was more likable than other children. He had an excellent mother and good family education.

Qing Chen looked at Li Ke, “Been crying?”

“Yes,” Li Ke replied honestly.

“Your classmates scolded you, huh?” Qing Chen chuckled.

“How did the Instructor know?” Li Ke was curious.

“I could guess. Sit down and eat. After everyone outside leaves, you can go,” Qing Chen said.

He didn't ask how the boy was feeling, as if he didn't care at all.

However, at that moment, there was shouting from outside, “Kneel at the Instructor's door! If the Instructor doesn't come out to see you, you can’t get up!”

It seemed that the leaders planned to use a guilt trip.

At first, only one leader did this, but then everyone followed suit, and a line of students knelt at the entrance of Autumn Leaf Manor, crying loudly.

The originally quiet Autumn Leaf Manor suddenly became noisy.

Qing Chen glanced at Li Ke, “What are you still standing there for? Come eat.”

Li Ke knew that the commotion at the door was his fault, so he shook his head and said, “Instructor, I made a mistake today. I won't eat. I'll go wash your clothes.”

Saying this, Li Ke turned and entered the west wing, silently taking the laundry basket and washing the clothes by hand.

The water was very cold in winter, but he didn't even use a washing machine, as if he was punishing himself.

Qing Chen just smiled at this scene and continued to finish the fish, not leaving a single piece of meat on the bones.

The moment he ate the last piece of fish eye meat, he suddenly felt the warmth from every bite he had taken before surging up from his bones.

It was like a stream finally merging into a torrent, breaking through the mountains and rushing like a river!

Outside, a leader muttered, “Is there anyone inside? The children have been kneeling and crying for half an hour, and this Instructor is so ruthless that he won’t open the door?”

Speaking, the leader pressed his ear against the vermilion door.

As soon as she pressed it, she heard a thunderous roar like an explosion in her ears. The thunder was muffled, as if hidden behind the clouds.

The leader was startled. She looked up at the sky, but the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Where did the clouds and thunder come from?

“It’s the Dragon Fish. He ate the last Dragon Fish,” the father of a student exclaimed, “I heard that after eating nine Dragon Fish, thunder would come from the bones, but I thought it was just a legend…”

“Where did you hear that from?” someone asked curiously.

The male leader whispered, “My seventh brother always wanted to steal fish from Dragon Lake. When people asked him why, he said that.”

At this moment, Li Ke, who was washing clothes in the west wing with cold water, turned to look at his Instructor in astonishment.

In his gaze, Qing Chen showed no unusual expression, but his hair was falling out strand by strand.

The fallen hair turned to dust when it hit the ground, and Qing Chen's head was bald for a moment.

But Li Ke thought, even if the Instructor became a monk, he would still be the most handsome monk.

Qing Chen's bald head didn't last long; new stubble grew back on his head.

In just two seconds, the hair returned to its original state.

The change was so fast that Li Ke was too shocked to open his mouth before it ended.

“Instructor, you’ve grown taller,” Li Ke said blankly.

“Yes,” Qing Chen nodded, “Two centimeters taller. I was 181 before; now I’m 183.”

So, the magical creatures from the Forbidden Zone were so amazing.

In the future, if someone told him that there were things that could save Living Dead in the Forbidden Zone, Qing Chen would believe it.

However, there was a greater chance that those mutated plants and animals from the Forbidden Zone were poisonous and harmful, rather than beneficial.

Eating them randomly could easily result in death.

Qing Chen silently felt the changes in his body. He was certain that no Metahuman of the same level could break his bones, and neither could those of a higher level.

Moreover, the changes brought about by the bones were not merely increased toughness; they also possessed powerful hematopoietic functions.

Qing Chen's ears twitched slightly.

At this time, whispers came from outside, and Qing Chen surprisingly found that he could hear the sounds clearly.

“What happened inside? Is it for sure the effect of eating the Dragon Fish?”

“How long will our children have to kneel? This Instructor is too heartless.”

Qing Chen immediately understood that there were also bones in his ears: the malleus, incus, and stapes!

These three ossicles and ligaments form the ossicular chain. When airborne sound waves reach the end of the external auditory canal, they cause a change in pressure on the tympanic membrane.

As a result, the tympanic membrane vibrates back and forth, replicating the sound source, and the malleus attached to the tympanic membrane also vibrates accordingly. The vibration is then transmitted to the incus and then to the stapes. The stapes is connected to the oval window at the other end, and vibration can cause movement of the inner ear fluid, thereby stimulating the auditory receptors in the inner ear.

After his transformation, these three ossicles were also changed, so that he could hear the conversations outside very clearly.

Moreover, he also heard the sound of leaves rubbing against each other outside Autumn Leaf Manor.

The sound of countless leaves rubbing together was like a wave, sweeping and beating against the cliffs.

“You said, why is this Instructor so overbearing? So many leaders have brought their children to kneel outside the door, and he doesn’t feel any pity…”

“Stop talking. I said that letting the children follow the running was a good idea, but you spoiled the children and said they could skip it, right? Can you blame the Instructor for this?”

“Isn’t this just me wanting my children to sleep a little longer? Now you blame me?”

“This is not the time to say this. Let’s see when we can move the Instructor.”

“Or I’ll have someone bring a life detection device. Let’s see if there’s anyone inside…”

Qing Chen: …

He heard all this but didn’t intend to respond.

Qing Chen looked at Li Ke in the room, “Stop washing clothes. These people won’t leave for a while. Make another Dragon Fish.”

“Huh?” Li Ke was stunned, “Dragon Fish? Didn’t the Instructor already eat nine?”

“Just make it. There’s another one in the bottom of the refrigerator,” Qing Chen said.

“Okay,” Li Ke wiped his hands and went back to the kitchen.

After a short while, a steamed Dragon Fish was served. Li Ke hesitated, “Instructor, try the taste. If not, I will prepare a new sauce.”

However, this time Qing Chen looked at Li Ke, “This one isn't for me. It's for you.”

Li Ke’s eyes suddenly turned red again. He wiped his tears and looked at Qing Chen, but he found that his Instructor had already returned to the recliner and closed his eyes to rest.

The fourteen-year-old boy silently sat at the stone table, picking up the fish piece by piece, wishing he could even chew the fishbones and swallow them.

Qing Chen heard the crunching sound in the mystical world and said without opening his eyes, “Don’t chew the bones; you can’t chew them.”

If he could chew them, he would have swallowed the bones along with the meat.

Unfortunately, the effect of the Dragon Fish was to strengthen bones and muscles, and his own bones were as hard as steel. No matter how hard Qing Chen tried, he couldn’t leave a single tooth mark on them.

But it has to be said that Li Ke’s way of chewing on fish bones had some of his own style.

Qing Chen was even thinking, did his master look the same when he ate that fish?

Perhaps this is what is meant by interesting souls meeting.

Li Ke was stunned and finally gave up chewing on the fishbones, “Instructor, where did you get this fish?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not stolen,” Qing Chen said.

“Oh,” Li Ke nodded and continued eating, no longer crying. He felt that all the grievances he had suffered today were worth it.

The Instructor even got him a Dragon Fish. Many things didn't need to be asked; he already had the answer in his heart.

Li Ke listened to the crying and shouting outside and hesitated before finally asking, “Instructor, are you really not going to let them in?”

Qing Chen, lying on the chair, calmly replied, “If crying, making a fuss, and threatening suicide worked, wouldn’t the grievances you suffered today have been in vain?”

Li Ke was stunned, and he saw his tears flowing uncontrollably again.

So the Instructor knew everything.

Li Ke didn't know what was wrong with him today. He had shed more tears today than in the past ten years.

At this time, Qing Chen was not at all flustered by the protesting leaders, because he understood that the Li Clan had been doing this kind of screening for many years; the Secretariat did it before, and now he, Qing Chen, was doing it casually.

The vast Li Clan never lacked offspring, and they screened out all the flawed ones, letting them be marginalized, and then placing the elite in various important positions.

Including the sudden return of Li Shu and others, they had already gone through several screenings.

From an outsider's perspective, the Li Clan seemed to be on the verge of internal strife, but in Qing Chen's eyes, it couldn't be more stable.

Qing Chen had once asked the Old Man: What exactly does the Secretariat do?

The Old Man's answer was: Actually, the Secretariat only has two most important things to do, one is to manage the business well, and the other is to select talents and place them in the most suitable positions.

The Secretariat is like the brain of this Conglomerate, with all the strategists inside protecting the entire Conglomerate and making the most correct decisions.

The Secretariat has a special advisory group, whose positions are called "national policy advisors'. They are probably among the smartest people in the Inner World.

Qing Chen thought, who are they trying to fool with the chaos they deliberately created in Li Clan?

When the noise outside Autumn Leaf Manor gradually subsided, Qing Chen glanced at Li Ke, who had washed the dishes and chopsticks, “It’s getting late. Go back.”

“Yes, Instructor,” Li Ke said.

The door of Autumn Leaf Manor opened, and the students and leaders outside were gone.

Qing Chen sighed inwardly; they were all opportunists. Without seeing real benefits, these people didn't even have the courage to kneel overnight.

The facts proved that not everyone in the Conglomerate was intelligent.

And there was a reason why some people were gradually marginalized by the Secretariat.

Qing Chen looked at the countdown on his arm and turned back to the house.

Return Countdown 1:00:00.

The time was ripe, and the rules had been established.

He walked through the long corridor. It was time to go see the outside world.

The last hour was enough for him to prepare in the room at the end of the corridor, so he could go to the outside world after the next crossing.

…

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