Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 339: The Splendor of the Setting Sun

“What did I lie to you about?” Qing Chen lay quietly on the recliner, without any violent emotional fluctuations.

Qing Chen didn't admit to anything; who knew if the other party was trying to trick him.

“I know you're a Time Traveler,” Li Changqing said.

Qing Chen began to play dead and didn't speak.

“I also know that you saved me at the Jinmao Building,” Li Changqing said.

Qing Chen began to play dead and didn't speak.

“Alright, stop pretending,” Li Changqing’s smile deepened. She sat on the stone table beside him, looking down at the young man’s profile with great interest: “The sniper who saved me must have been you. I was too busy the past couple of days to come back and ask you, but you have to explain it to me tonight.”

“It wasn’t me, it was our organization’s Boss,” Qing Chen explained earnestly.

This was tantamount to indirectly admitting his identity as a Time Traveler, but this was indeed something that couldn’t be hidden.

However, he still wanted to struggle a little on the matter of the identity of Daybreak Boss versus Daybreak employee.

But he heard Li Changqing calmly say: “If the sniper on top of the Jinmao Building only shot and killed the opponent’s sniper, then I still can’t be sure it was you, after all, you could also ask someone else to do this.”

At this time, Li Changqing changed the subject, her eyes fixed on Qing Chen: “But after that sniper killed the other snipers, they didn’t move, and were even willing to risk their lives to continue firing warning shots to deter the battlefield for me. From that moment, I was sure it was you.”

Qing Chen sighed: “It really wasn’t me.”

“Stop struggling, even if it wasn’t really you, I’ve decided it was you,” Li Changqing said: “Also, I heard from a Time Traveler report that the sniper from the Outer World was very mysterious, your Boss. But after thinking about it carefully, who is qualified to be your Boss? You’re not the kind of person who is willing to be subservient to others. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

Qing Chen sighed: “So many secrets are leaked after such promises.”

However, Li Changqing became serious: “I’m serious, regardless of our friendship, you are my lifesaver, I, Li Changqing, won’t joke about this kind of thing.”

The woman wasn’t wearing her usual punk-style leather jacket today, but a formal suit, her hair neatly tied up behind her head.

Qing Chen suddenly felt that when this woman wore a suit, she inexplicably had a peculiar aura, very powerful.

Qing Chen curiously asked: “Logically speaking, you should have known I was a Time Traveler long ago, why did you only find out now?”

Li Changqing thought for a moment and said: “Before, 99% of Time Travelers were under Li Yunyi’s control. Now that he has handed over all his power to me, I know a lot of things, including what happened to you guys in the Outer World this time.”

So that’s how it is.

The Conglomerate has a clear division of labor; everyone has their own tasks, and the information may not be shared.

But it’s different now. Li Yunyi has stepped down, and the Li Clan’s intelligence power is entirely in Li Changqing’s hands. Moreover, Daybreak played a role in this battle, and if any Time Traveler knew about it, they would surely report the sniper incident to Li Changqing.

This is how Li Changqing found out about Qing Chen’s Time Traveler identity.

Qing Chen suddenly asked: “Were the people who caused trouble in Japan and Korea in the Outer World your people?”

Although he guessed, he still had to confirm it.

“Yes,” Li Changqing nodded: “This is one of the most important plans of the Li Clan recently, proposed by the Old Master, led by Li Yunshou, and executed by Li Yunyi. The Qing Family also sent some Time Travelers, but the main force is still the Li Clan. In this Federation civil war, the Li Clan and the Qing Family will be allies.”

“The Qing Family only sent some?” Qing Chen curiously asked.

“Yes, they have been conserving their strength, I don’t know what they are planning,” Li Changqing said: “But this is not important, resolving the hidden dangers in Shendai and Koshima is important.”

“Are the Li Clan’s Time Travelers going to complete the Substitution plan?” Qing Chen curiously asked: “Did it succeed?”

“Of course it succeeded, but I can’t tell you the specifics,” Li Changqing said with a smile: “This time, I have to thank you again. According to my subordinates, among those who were stopping the reverse time travel plan in Nine Provinces this time, there was also me from the Outer World among the Substitution candidates, so you’ve saved me twice, how should I repay you?”

Qing Chen looked at the other party: “1.2 times, this time was just a little help, it was mainly the credit of Nine Provinces.”

“1.2 times…” Li Changqing pouted: “You’re quite rigorous.”

At this time, Qing Chen felt something was wrong: “Since the Old Master has the intention of seizing Li Yunyi’s power, how could he still entrust him with such an important matter? So, this is also an act?”

“That’s the Li Clan’s secret, although you’re qualified to be at the meeting table, but the Li Clan members keep their own matters confidential, only reporting to the Patriarch and the Secretariat, and they can’t communicate with each other,” Li Changqing said.

This answer itself was a kind of affirmation.

Li Changqing also suddenly felt something was wrong: “Don’t try to change the subject, I still have something to ask you, are you really a Gene Soldier? Or did you switch out the Gene Medicine last time, and actually injected saline?”

Qing Chen was startled.

The reason why he pretended to be dead before was because he was worried that the other party would mention this topic.

If this were also exposed, it wouldn’t be pretending to be dead, it would be a social death!

After all, he had pretended to endure pain for five hours, and the other party had seen all of this.

Qing Chen calmly said: “Since you have Time Travelers under you, you should know that Time Travelers can only carry things hidden in their bodies.”

“Oh, that’s true,” Li Changqing nodded: “But what if? You’re a Time Traveler, the movements before and after time travel are impossible to detect, other Time Travelers can’t do that. So many incredible things have happened to you, one more wouldn’t matter.”

Qing Chen pondered how to explain.

Social death, if it can be avoided, should be avoided.

It’s just like how he asked Yi to send messages for him in the Outer World Daybreak group.

Qing Chen fooled Yi by saying that it didn’t matter whether everyone knew he was the Boss or not, but in fact, if everyone really knew, they would recall his actions of playing two roles…

Therefore, Qing Chen still paid Yi one hundred yuan.

Just as Qing Chen was racking his brains to clear his suspicion, Old Nineteen’s voice suddenly came from outside the door: “Boss, the Old Master is critically ill, the Secretariat wants you to go to Baopu Building immediately, and Qing Chen has to go too.”

Li Changqing was stunned, and quickly walked out.

At this moment, nothing was as important as this.

The three of them got into the vehicle at the door, Little Eagle driving, Old Nineteen sitting in the passenger seat turned back and said: “This time seems a bit different, even many members of the third generation of the Li Clan received notices from the Secretariat, which didn’t happen before, at most it only notified the second generation.”

Li Changqing’s mood seemed a little low: “It looks like it’s real this time, he has finished what he wanted to do, the civil war in Shendai and Koshima is doomed to fail, he can rest in peace.”

Qing Chen sat calmly in the car looking out the window, recalling the lonely figure sitting on the broken bridge fishing, recalling the smile when the other party first handed him the Dragon Fish.

It was only a short time together, and they had known each other for less than a month, but they seemed to have known each other for a long time.

Qing Chen’s grandfather in the Outer World was still alive, he also had two uncles and two aunts. When he was a child, his grandfather was quite good to him, but later he suffered a stroke and became a vegetative state, and Qing Guozhong borrowed money from all his brothers and sisters, so they had no contact with each other.

Now, the Old Man was like Qing Chen’s grandfather, giving him a lot, and trying to teach Qing Chen some principles with the remaining light of his life.

Only, he didn’t have much time left.

Qing Chen suddenly felt that this murderous winter seemed even colder.

Arriving at the Baopu Building, the middle-aged man who had given Qing Chen the Zhunti Method before stood at the door with a blank expression, and there was a middle-aged woman beside him.

One of them searched men, the other searched women. Everyone entering the Baopu Building had to go through a body search, and those with Cybernetic Limbs had to dismantle them before entering the Baopu Building.

The Baopu Building is very large, but when Qing Chen and Li Changqing arrived, it was already full of people.

“Who were the middle-aged man and woman at the door just now?” Qing Chen curiously asked.

“The woman is the person who takes care of the Old Master’s daily life, the man is a master who has protected the Old Master for many years, called Li Yunjing,” Li Changqing said: “I don’t know what his original name is, Li Yunjing is the name given to him by the Old Master, and he was included in the beneficiary list of the family trust, he is considered a member of the Li Family.”

“What level is he?” Qing Chen curiously asked.

“I don’t know either,” Li Changqing shook her head: “I can’t see his depth.”

The Baopu Building is a square building, in the shape of a ‘return’, which is a typical courtyard-style building.

The middle of the building is hollow, and you can still see the sky when you look up.

The ground is made of bluestone slabs, and if it rains, the rainwater will fall along the eaves, forming a curtain of water in the Baopu Building.

Everyone stood in the open space in the middle of the Baopu Building, some with serious expressions, some covering their faces and weeping, some leaning against pillars, not knowing what they were thinking.

Li Tongyun and Li Yino were also there.

At this time, Li Yunshou came out from a room on the second floor, overlooking the ground floor: “Changqing, the Old Master is calling for you.”

Li Changqing glanced at Qing Chen: “I’ll go up first, see you later.”

Qing Chen, an outsider, stood alone in the courtyard, surrounded by members of the Li Clan. Some people curiously looked at him, thinking that this was the new Martial Arts Hall Instructor, right?

Could it be that the Old Master also wanted to talk to him before he died?

Qing Chen didn’t care about others, he found a chair and sat down, waiting quietly.

After a while, Li Changqing also came out of the room on the second floor, her eyes red, as if she had just been crying.

Li Yunshou said: “Li Tongyun, your grandfather is calling you upstairs.”

The people around were stunned. At this time, many members of the second generation of the Li Clan didn’t even have the qualifications to enter the Baopu Building, but Li Tongyun went in first.

The little girl obediently went upstairs, and when she entered the room, she saw the old man lying weakly on the bed.

Her eyes turned red, and big teardrops fell down.

This cry was sincere, besides Li Yino, it was the Old Master who was the best to her since she traveled.

The old man dismissed the others and said weakly with a smile: “Xiao Tongyun, come to grandpa’s side.”

“Mm,” Li Tongyun obediently went over, putting her little hand into the old man’s cold hand.

The Old Master said: “During this period, you’ve been helping that woman called Jiang Xue, right?”

Xiao Tongyun was stunned, then nodded.

“Why are you helping her?” the Old Master said.

“Because she’s my mother,” Xiao Tongyun said honestly.

“When did you find out that she’s your mother,” the old man asked.

“Not long ago.”

The old man looked at the ceiling and suddenly said: “I’m sorry, Xiao Tongyun, your mother was just a servant of the Li Clan, and then your father fell in love with her and insisted on marrying her, but the rules of the Li Clan couldn’t be broken, otherwise other servants would also have bad ideas, so I could only drive her away.”

The mother and daughter from the Outer World, naturally, also have a mother-daughter genetic relationship in the Inner World.

Li Tongyun seemed to be telling the truth, but actually she had thought of this. Although she wasn’t sure what the truth was, Jiang Xue was definitely her mother in the Inner World, this couldn’t be wrong.

Now she knew, it was a story of a servant and a master falling in love, but in the end, the two of them couldn’t break the class barrier.

This is a world of solidified class, Qing Chen naturally thought the Old Man was kind, but the Old Man couldn’t actually transcend the constraints of this era.

Only a saint can do this, the Old Man naturally couldn’t.

Perhaps, this is also why Li Shutong was so eager to change the world.

The old man sighed: “At first, I thought I didn’t do anything wrong, but until your father died of depression, I realized I was wrong. This is one of the things I regret most in my life.”

Logically speaking, Jiang Xue should know about this herself.

But the old man probably didn’t expect Jiang Xue to become a Time Traveler, so neither the mother nor the daughter knew, two confused people.

Fortunately, Xiao Tongyun was clever and didn’t let anything slip.

The old man then explained some family matters, then let Xiao Tongyun call everyone in.

The second generation members of the Li Clan all came into the room and stood silently by the bed.

The old man thought for a moment and said: “I’ve said what I should say, I hope in the future you brothers and sisters can still be harmonious as you are now. I don’t have much merit in the Li Clan in my life, the only thing worth praising is that I didn’t let you brothers and sisters turn against each other.”

In fact, the old man was being humble.

Everyone will be tempted by power, he could make everyone acknowledge Li Yunshou’s position before he died, and there were no signs of rebellion.

This itself is a very remarkable thing, requiring great wisdom.

Outsiders thought that the Li Clan’s power transition would cause trouble, but in fact, the power transition was extremely smooth, and preparations for war with the outside world had already been made.

At this time, the old man’s voice became smaller and smaller, until finally there was no sound, as if he had fallen asleep.

The next moment, just as many people thought he had passed away, the old man actually opened his eyes again, and said weakly with a smile: “I was teasing you, I just wanted to see who didn’t cry.”

Everyone was stunned, Li Yunshou was silent for a moment before saying: “Dad, your ECG is still fluctuating, you’re not acting well.”

“Really?” The old man was also stunned, and finally said with relief, “I’m old, my acting is not good anymore.”

After saying this, he closed his eyes.

The ECG became completely calm, with no more fluctuations.

Everyone in the room cried, even the usually calm Li Yunshou was no exception.

The people downstairs heard the cries from upstairs, and they also cried.

Qing Chen stood in the midst of this clamor, feeling everything was unreal.

From night to dawn, the people in the Baopu Building finally dispersed.

But Qing Chen didn’t leave, he was waiting.

When Li Yunjing and Li Yunshou sent away the last member of the Li Clan, and confirmed the date of the funeral, the Baopu Building finally became quiet.

Li Yunshou looked at Qing Chen: “I’m leaving too, in an hour, the Li Clan and the Qing Family will fight against Shendai and Koshima, there are still many things to deal with, the remaining matters here are left to you.”

Qing Chen nodded silently.

Li Yunshou, in his prime, was silent for a moment and said: “Although I don’t know why my father trusts you so much, I hope you won’t disappoint him.”

“I won’t,” Qing Chen said.

“Good,” Li Yunshou nodded: “When we meet again, I, Li Yunshou, owe you a favor, the Li Clan will be your forever friend.”

“You make it sound like I’m not coming back,” Qing Chen said with a smile.

After speaking, Li Yunshou nodded to Li Yunjing, then turned and walked into the breaking dawn.

The sky was gradually brightening.

At this time, the Old Man slowly walked out of the room: “They’re all gone?”

Qing Chen looked at the Old Man and smiled: “You played a bit big this time, didn’t you?”

The Old Man smiled: “I haven’t been willful in my whole life, I have to take care of this and that every day, even when I go out to play, I can only stay outside for one night, and the courtesans I like don’t want to wait for an old man like me who is prone to changing plans… ah, I slipped up.”

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said: “Why didn’t you let me teach you the Zhunti Method? It only takes a week, and you can extend your life by 21 years.”

The Old Man waved his hand: “I’ve lived long enough… Do you know why the setting sun is so splendid?”

Qing Chen thought for a moment and replied: “Because of atmospheric refraction…”

“Stop, boring,” the Old Man sighed: “The setting sun, the splendor of the clouds, it’s because it’s short-lived, if you could see that kind of scenery every minute and every second, you wouldn’t think it’s beautiful. The reason why a person’s life has weight is because it is limited. Only the wishes that a person completes in the final moments of their life are the most free from regret.”

Qing Chen nodded, then took the disguised Old Man through the silent Ban Shan Mountain Estate and returned to Autumn Leaf Manor.

Li Yunjing escorted the two of them here, then knelt down and bowed deeply to the Old Man.

The Old Man touched his head: “Yun Jing, you’ve grown up, go out, go find your own freedom.”

Li Yunjing wept uncontrollably.

The Old Man didn’t linger, he took one last deep look at the Ban Shan Mountain Estate behind him, then walked into Autumn Leaf Manor.

At this time, Li Ke was already waiting inside.

The 14-year-old boy looked at the Old Man and his teacher in astonishment: “Grandpa… you didn’t die?”

After speaking, Li Ke turned to Qing Chen: “Sir, what are we going to do?”

Qing Chen smiled: “Go to Forbidden Zone 002, your grandfather wants to take one last look at the big tree and the rising sun.”

This was the agreement between the Old Man and Qing Chen a few days ago.

…

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