Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 340: Li Ke’s Trial of Heart

“I’m puzzled. Your memorial service is in three days, and you’ll be cremated then. If we go to Forbidden Zone 002, it will take at least half a month, or even longer,” Qing Chen said seriously, “You might not be able to make it back for the cremation.”

The old man snorted, “Is that even human speech? Is there some sort of procedure I absolutely must follow?”

Qing Chen said, “At the funeral, everyone will bid farewell to your remains. If you run away now, everyone will be saying goodbye to air? There will definitely be problems.”

“Don’t you worry about it,” the old man waved his hand, “With today’s technology, creating an identical corpse is a piece of cake. We’ll put it in a crystal coffin, who dares to open it for inspection?”

“But, if the ashes aren’t yours, the Li Clan descendants will be kneeling before a fake Li Xiurui during the Qingming Festival? You won’t even receive the paper money,” Qing Chen questioned.

“Can you think about something related to the mortal world?” the old man said, “Stop messing with me, let’s go!”

Li Ke stood weakly beside them, completely clueless about what was happening.

He looked at Qing Chen, then at the old man.

A Face^[-] full of confusion and panic.

His grandfather, who had just passed away, had suddenly resurrected.

They had just cried for four hours, was it all for nothing?

Moreover.

Although he knew that his grandfather and his Instructor were acquainted, and to the extent of being able to give him Dragon Fish, he never imagined that the Instructor could speak to his grandfather so casually.

And, Grandpa seemed like a different person, without his usual majesty. He was like a skinny old man next door, speaking no longer so rigorously and cautiously, as if chatting casually.

Who was Li Ke’s grandfather?

A few hours ago, this old man was still the head of the Li Clan, holding one-fifth of the Federation’s power, able to decide the future of hundreds of millions of people.

Usually, who wouldn’t be trembling and respectful when meeting this old man?

The old man looked at Li Ke with a half-smile, “Never seen a grandfather like this, have you?”

Li Ke nodded, “I feel like you’re a fake.”

“Get used to it,” the old man smiled, “I’ve spent most of my life bound by an identity. Now I can finally be myself, it’s a sadness and a fortune. I hope you don’t follow my path.”

Li Ke was stunned. Everyone envied the head of the family, yet he didn’t like that position.

At this time, Qing Chen said, “Don’t bother lecturing your grandson yet, I still have questions. You can naturally leave through the secret passage, but what about me? What about Li Ke? Our sudden disappearance needs an explanation to the outside world?”

“Stop worrying about unnecessary things. Don’t worry, the Secretariat has already prepared documents to approve your travel, and Li Yunshou will help you forge the entry and exit records,” the old man said.

Qing Chen thought to himself, these entry and exit records are really unreliable, “Then let’s go… To be honest, if you don’t accept the Zhunti Method empowerment, you probably won’t have a chance to come back. So, do you want to take another look at this Ban Shan Mountain Estate?”

The old man waved his hand, “No need. I’ve seen it for most of my life, I’m tired of it.”

After speaking, he walked into the room and opened the secret passage. Li Ke was dumbfounded, he didn’t know that the Autumn Leaf Manor had such a hidden mechanism.

Today was too magical for young Li Ke. In just a few hours, the amount of information was simply astonishing.

The three entered the secret passage, walking through the long 2.7-kilometer passage. Li Ke was like a curious baby, touching this and that.

“Grandpa, did you build this secret passage?” he asked, “Why did you build this secret passage… By the way, every year you came here to commemorate your mentor, was it to leave through this secret passage, to do important things outside, such as meeting with important figures from the Qing Family or Chen Family?”

Qing Chen was about to say something, but heard the old man suddenly cough, “Ahem… Since we’ve already faked our deaths and left, let’s not mention the past!”

He was hinting for Qing Chen to keep some privacy, after all, Li Ke was his most beloved grandson, some things should be kept.

Qing Chen rolled his eyes. The people the old man met outside, whether they were big shots or not, weren’t from the Qing Family and Chen Family Conglomerate.

The three arrived at the end of the passage, the old man chose a key and said, “Let’s open this one, I specifically had Li Yunjing maintain it a few days ago, all the parts that needed replacing were replaced with new ones.”

“Your car, you decide,” Qing Chen hadn’t even seen what these seven cars were. Mainly, he hadn’t found the parking lot of the Microcosm World community!

Qing Chen went to open the closet himself, revealing the wall of firearms in the hidden compartment behind it.

He chose three automatic rifles, three handguns, and three small boxes of ammunition.

The old man frowned, “Are you going to war?”

Qing Chen glanced at him, “I initially thought Li Yunjing would follow to protect you, but you let him go directly, so I have to prepare some life-saving measures? Once someone finds out you’re not dead, do you know how many terrifying people will come after us?”

The old man chuckled, “I’m no longer the head of the family, what’s the point of them killing a dead man? But seeing as you’re so well-prepared, I’ll leave it to you.”

The next moment, Qing Chen looked at Li Ke, “Before we go to Forbidden Zone 002, there’s one more thing to do, Li Ke, sit cross-legged on the ground.”

The old man said from the side, “Are you formally accepting him as a disciple? Li Ke, kowtow to your master.”

Li Ke was stunned, then thudded to his knees, kowtowing three times earnestly. His head hit the floor with a thud-thud-thud sound, it sounded painful.

Qing Chen looked at the old man, “Our Knights don’t have this kind of kowtowing ceremony.”

“It’s fine, he’s already kowtowed to you, if anything happens to him in the future, you definitely have to help,” the old man said.

Qing Chen: “….”

However, Li Ke, hearing this conversation, suddenly raised his head, “Knight?”

His heart was churning, the word Knight seemed to hold a unique charm for the Li Clan’s children!

Li Ke looked at his grandfather, then at Qing Chen.

Before this, the old man only said that he should apprentice, but didn’t explicitly say that Qing Chen was a Knight!

Everything happening now was a pleasant surprise for Li Ke!

“Master, what’s your relationship with my seventh uncle?” Li Ke curiously asked.

Qing Chen looked at Li Ke and patiently explained, “Your seventh uncle, Li Shutong, is my master. From today on, your seventh uncle is your grandmaster…”

The old man listened from the side and raised his eyebrows. What a mess, how did Li Shutong suddenly become the same generation as him?!

Qing Chen looked at the old man, “This is your own chosen grandson, if the generations are messed up, it has nothing to do with me. Logically, you should choose a great-grandson.”

The old man snorted, “Just get started.”

After speaking, Qing Chen took Li Ke’s pulse.

The young Li Ke looked at Qing Chen across from him, suddenly exhaling like an arrow, while he himself fell into endless pain.

The old man held his breath. The last time he saw this scene was decades ago, when Li Shutong was accepted as a disciple by his friend.

The next moment, flame-like patterns bloomed on Li Ke’s cheeks, his brows furrowed into a ‘川’ character.

Qing Chen watched silently, he was worried that Li Ke wouldn’t be able to endure the Trial of Heart.

Hu Xiaoniu couldn’t endure it, then he could take another path, waiting until all Eight Trials of Life and Death were completed before advancing to A-class. But if Li Ke couldn’t endure it, the path of a Knight would be cut off for him.

In the Trial of Heart, Li Ke seemed to return to his childhood.

At 6 years old, he entered the Li Clan academy and became the best student there.

At 18, he was admitted to Ember Military Academy and became the best student there.

At 22, he joined the Federation’s army as a lieutenant.

At 26, he was promoted to captain.

After that, he was called back to the Ban Shan Mountain Estate by the family and entered the Secretariat.

The family arranged a marriage for him, the girl was beautiful, but they had no feelings for each other.

He tried to develop feelings with her, and she also flattered him.

But just when he thought everything was going well, his wife called out another man’s name in her sleep.

Li Ke had the intelligence department check it out, it was his wife’s first love.

At 34, he became a council member of the Secretariat, truly participating in family affairs. The media began to call him the crown prince of the Li Clan.

However, his life was filled only with documents, and in his eyes, there were only the awe-inspiring gazes of others.

Li Ke sat in his midnight office, constantly approving documents and speaking in the official tone he had just mastered.

When there was no one left in the office, he suddenly felt.

Would the remaining decades of his life be spent in such a monotonous way?

At 48, he took over the family head from his father.

From then on, he rarely left the Ban Shan Mountain Estate, and wherever he went, he couldn’t find anyone who would tell him the truth.

At 60, Li Ke began to feel that his body no longer belonged to him, but to pain. The injuries he sustained in the army years ago began to torment his body and soul.

At 80, he had many children and grandchildren.

The children in the family suddenly brought out a birthday cake, asking him to make a wish.

But at that moment, Li Ke thought for a long time, as if he had forgotten what wish he had made but had not fulfilled.

Right, it was to become a Knight.

That was a wish he made every year, but never fulfilled.

At that moment, Li Ke’s spirit suddenly wilted, as if all his strength had been drained, everything seemed uninteresting, and life no longer had meaning.

At 90, he lay in bed, aware that he was about to die.

At a certain moment, Li Ke suddenly realized that when he closed his eyes again, he might really die.

By the bedside, his grandson softly asked, “Do you have any unfulfilled wishes?”

Li Ke was thinking, actually his wishes had never been fulfilled. His whole life, he had only been the ‘person others expected him to be,’ never himself.

Such a long life was really difficult.

But at this moment, a young man walked in from outside the ward, bathed in the sunlight outside the window, standing before him.

That voice belonging to Qing Chen suddenly asked him, would you be willing to exchange everything you once possessed for a chance to become a Knight?

Would you be willing to give up power, to climb a mountain, to see snow, to chase a dream?

Li Ke tearfully said yes.

Only at this moment did he remember that in the Trial of Heart, he had entered there decades ago, forgetting everything outside the Trial of Heart.

Li Ke spent almost a century before finally finding the deepest wish in his heart.

An unknown amount of time passed in the dim room, Li Ke suddenly opened his eyes and softly said, “Master.”

Qing Chen smiled, a happy smile, “Congratulations.”

This meant that the Inner World’s Knight inheritance was not broken!

The old man curiously asked, “Is this the passing of the Trial of Heart?”

“Of course,” Qing Chen nodded.

“What if you fail?” the old man asked.

“If you fail, you die,” Qing Chen said, he looked at Li Ke, “What did you experience in the Trial of Heart? It took so long?”

Li Ke glanced at his watch, it had been 24 hours.

He looked at Qing Chen and asked, “Master, can I not say it?”

“You can,” Qing Chen rubbed his head, “The Trial of Heart is every Knight’s own secret, you don’t have to say it.”

Just as Qing Chen hadn’t mentioned to Li Shutong that he had been abandoned by his mother once when he was very young.

“Let’s go,” Qing Chen smiled, “Let’s go to Forbidden Zone 002.”

After speaking, he changed his appearance and walked out.

Li Ke looked at Qing Chen’s back in a daze. He wondered, if that young man hadn’t walked into the ward when he was 90 years old and lying in bed.

Would he have really died?

Li Ke always felt that it wasn’t himself who passed the Trial of Heart, but this exceptionally young master who helped him pass it.

In the long dream of the Trial of Heart, when the other party entered the ward, he seemed to be covered in a layer of light.

At this time, Qing Chen turned back at the door and smiled, “What are you dawdling for, let’s go.”

“Oh,” Li Ke came to his senses and ran out the door.

…

…

In the Microcosm World parking lot.

Qing Chen looked at the huge off-road vehicle in front of him. He opened the trunk and checked it. Two spare tires, four barrels of diesel, and luggage was tied to the roof, seemingly tents and emergency supplies needed in the wilderness.

“You’re quite prepared,” Qing Chen exclaimed.

This was far more comprehensive than when Li Shutong took him to Forbidden Zone 002.

However, Qing Chen suddenly saw a ginkgo leaf logo on the body of the off-road vehicle.

He questioned, “Isn’t this the Qing Family’s logo?”

“Yes,” the old man said matter-of-factly.

Qing Chen was puzzled, “Why does the car of the head of the Li Clan have the Qing Family’s ginkgo leaf logo? Why are you so confident? This is clearly abnormal! You’re so confident, it’s as if it’s not you who has a problem, but me!”

The old man patiently explained, “Having a Conglomerate logo when going out is much more convenient, and if anything embarrassing happens, it’ll be the Qing Family’s shame. Is there a problem?”

“Aren’t you afraid of being exposed?” Qing Chen didn’t understand.

The old man smiled, “Who dares to check the Conglomerate’s vehicles? The Conglomerate doesn’t even need visas for entry and exit.”

“You’re really bold,” Qing Chen rolled his eyes, “If this were exposed by the media, saying ‘The head of the Li Clan used the Qing Family’s logo to do wrong,’ this would become a major Federation news event.”

“What’s there to fear, as long as it’s not discovered!” the old man said.

“Fine,” Qing Chen sighed.

But at this time, everyone suddenly discovered a very mysterious problem: who would drive?

Qing Chen couldn’t drive.

Li Ke was too young and hadn’t learned.

The master and disciple both looked at the old man.

Li Xiurui raised his eyebrows, “You two brats, you wouldn’t want me to drive, would you? I’m an old man at the end of my life, I just want to have a relaxed and beautiful memory in the last moments of my life, you treat me like this?!”

Qing Chen shrugged, “But we really can’t drive. Let’s do this, you drive the car to District 4, and we’ll pick someone up there to be the driver.”

The old man thought for a moment, “That’s more reasonable.”

The huge full-size off-road vehicle drove out of the Microcosm World community and sped towards District 4.

Hu Xiaoniu had packed his things early. When the car stopped in front of him, he looked at the old man in the driver’s seat through the window, and felt somewhat familiar, as if he had seen him in some news…

But for a moment, he couldn’t match it.

The old man had already glued a beard on himself, very skillfully.

And, who would have thought that the old man who had just died was now alive and kicking, driving a punk-style off-road vehicle, flaunting himself?

Qing Chen beckoned to Hu Xiaoniu, “Little Niu, get in the car, you drive.”

“Okay,” Hu Xiaoniu recognized Qing Chen.

Before this trip, Qing Chen had specifically shown him the disguise he would use, still zard.

The old man looked at Hu Xiaoniu and asked Qing Chen, “Is this the driver you found? Is he reliable?”

Hu Xiaoniu thought to himself how he became the driver, but didn’t refute.

Qing Chen said, “You can rest assured, he’s reliable.”

“Brother Chen, where to?” Hu Xiaoniu asked.

“Leave City 18 from the southern border crossing, to Forbidden Zone 002,” Qing Chen said.

Hu Xiaoniu was stunned. Qing Chen hadn’t told him before that they were going to Forbidden Zone 002!

The vehicle drove south, and when passing through the border crossing, Hu Xiaoniu suddenly found dozens of off-road vehicles parked in front of the crossing, waiting for the border control officers to check their documents.

Hu Xiaoniu asked, “Brother Chen, where are our documents?”

Qing Chen: “None.”

Hu Xiaoniu was stunned, “Ah?”

The old man said, “We’ll take the left lane, and drive straight through. The car has the Qing Family’s ginkgo leaf logo, even though it’s fake, no one will dare to check.”

Hu Xiaoniu was a little nervous. He thought to himself, Old Master, you admit so frankly that the logo is fake, is there really no problem?

Seeing dozens of armed soldiers standing at the border crossing, and drones constantly patrolling in the sky, if someone found out there was a problem with the logo, they might be shot into a sieve?

However, Hu Xiaoniu’s Face^[-] remained calm, and he stepped on the gas pedal without hesitation.

The gate of the border crossing opened, and as the Old Master said, no one checked!

At this moment, Hu Xiaoniu unintentionally glanced at the lane next to him, then froze, “Brother Chen, I saw Qiduo and Zhang Lanjin in that convoy.”

The two members of the Outer World Masonic Lodge.

…