Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 349: The Old Mans Friend

This time, the crows came too early, so early that no one could guess what might happen next.

According to Li Dongze, usually only when an A-class or higher expert dies, will the Forbidden Artifact Tribunal have such a rapid response mechanism.

Even a B-class expert wouldn't warrant such a large-scale mobilization of the crows.

Qing Chen sighed inwardly; he probably already guessed who this danger would befall.

Countdown 65:00:00.

Less than three days until the return.

7 AM.

Everyone in the camp packed up their tents and belongings early. The arrival of the Forbidden Artifact Tribunal had cast a shadow over everyone's hearts.

The old man was about to get into his own off-road vehicle, but he noticed Qing Chen's unusually serious expression.

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, “You should ride in the Masonic Lodge's vehicle. Haven't you always wanted to tell stories to the female students? I won't stop you today.”

The old man was extremely intelligent. He had spent his whole life discerning others' thoughts, so how could he not know what Qing Chen was thinking?

He smiled and asked, “You guessed that this danger might be aimed at us?”

“Mm,” Qing Chen nodded.

“So, you want to transfer me to the Masonic Lodge's car, so that if our own off-road vehicle is attacked, my old life won't be lost?” the old man said.

Qing Chen hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded: “Even if someone comes to kill you, they won't be able to confirm which car you're in for a while. The Black Spade people will try to escort you away. We'll meet up in Forbidden Zone 002 then.”

“What about you?” the old man asked.

“Hu Xiaoniu, Li Ke, and I will drive at full speed. As long as they can't stop me before I enter Forbidden Zone 002, then no matter how many people chase after me, they'll die,” Qing Chen said confidently.

Forbidden Zone 002 was Knight's territory.

But the old man also knew that the fear was that the other party might not give Qing Chen the chance to enter Forbidden Zone 002.

The old man chuckled, “If someone knows I'm still alive and plans to use me as a hostage to change Yun Shou's decisions, then they must be very powerful. If I get on the students' car, I'll be putting them in danger.”

Qing Chen thought for a moment: “I'll draw them away.”

The old man smiled and got into his own off-road vehicle: “You've arranged everything so well, making it seem so heroic and glorious. An old man like me can be moved by you. It feels pretty good, but your arrangements underestimate me a little.”

Then, the old man added, “Don't worry, I said I won't die before reaching Forbidden Zone 002, and I won't.”

When this old man, who had held the power of the Li Clan for decades, spoke, he was no longer as amiable as before.

It was as if even the fate of the world had to yield to his decisions.

Qing Chen looked at the thin, stooped old man inexplicably. This was the true appearance of the Li Clan head.

Qing Chen didn't answer: “Maybe the other party isn't after us. Maybe the crows are mistaken?”

But at that moment,

San Yue had somehow arrived beside their off-road vehicle and calmly got into the back seat.

The other twelve crows, six of them climbed directly onto the top of the off-road vehicle and secured themselves to the luggage rack with the red ropes on their sleeves to avoid being thrown off during bumps.

Another six clung to the side anti-collision frame of the off-road vehicle.

The crows were calm, as if they were doing something very ordinary.

At one point, Qing Chen even felt like he was seeing Indians on a train.

He was shocked: “Yesterday, I asked you if you knew where the danger came from, and you said you didn't! Since you said you didn't know, can you pretend a little better? What's the deal with all of you climbing on our car? Besides, aren't you blatantly telling the enemy that the old man is in this car?”

These crows clearly knew that the danger was aimed at them!

San Yue thought for a moment, waved to the crows outside, and signaled them to leave.

The crows all jumped off Qing Chen's off-road vehicle and then got onto the Masonic Lodge's car without any hesitation.

At this time, Qing Chen turned to look at the Masonic Lodge. Seeing the Forbidden Artifact Tribunal do this, the students also realized something.

The students whispered among themselves.

Yang Yang walked over to Qing Chen and said, “Your vehicle will follow behind us, so we can help if there is any danger.”

Guo Huchan hesitated to speak, but ultimately said nothing.

The old man smiled and said to Qing Chen, “Let's go, according to our plan.”

The convoy set off, with Qing Chen's off-road vehicle at the rear.

On the way, Qing Chen looked back at San Yue sitting in the third row. The latter still looked calm.

“Can the Forbidden Artifact Tribunal determine who the danger will befall?” Qing Chen asked curiously.

San Yue replied, “The Forbidden Artifact Tribunal doesn't have such accurate predictive abilities. I was also puzzled before I came. Why would a high-intensity battle break out in this wilderness? Logically, the Federation army is concentrated in the north, and there shouldn't be this level of battle here. Until, I saw Mr. Li Xiurui in the camp.”

San Yue continued, “Probably the whole world didn't expect Mr. Li Xiurui to fake his death and leave, but wherever Mr. Li Xiurui is, even if a higher-level battle breaks out, I won't be surprised.”

“Is it an A-class battle?” Qing Chen asked.

San Yue answered honestly, “Yes.”

“No wonder you came so early,” Qing Chen said, “But doesn't the Forbidden Artifact Tribunal usually just watch from afar? Why are you traveling with us this time?”

San Yue said frankly, “This is because the battle site should still be far away. If the little crows have to walk there, it will be tiring.”

Qing Chen was stunned.

So you brought your people to the camp in the middle of the night yesterday just to hitch a ride today?!

This answer was too unexpected!

...

...

The convoy traveled from morning to dusk.

The evening clouds stretched across the horizon, crimson like blood.

But just as the sun was about to set below the horizon,

At a three-way intersection,

The old man suddenly said to Hu Xiaoniu, “Turn left, we'll take another dirt road.”

Hu Xiaoniu glanced at Qing Chen.

Qing Chen hesitated for two seconds and said, “Turn left.”

At this moment, the Masonic Lodge convoy had already driven onto the main road on the right, while Qing Chen and his group parted ways with them here.

The long convoy and the solitary off-road vehicle drove in opposite directions, left and right.

The students from Masonic Lodge looked out of the windows.

Until, in the rapidly descending night, they were separated by the trees.

San Yue in the back seat suddenly said, “Do you remember that I'm still in the car, and my little crows are in another convoy?”

The old man laughed, “You're the one who insisted on getting on this car. What does it have to do with us?”

San Yue didn't speak, seemingly unwilling to leave the car, with a kind of casual indifference.

The old man looked at Qing Chen and smiled, “Sorry, I made the decision myself. I made an appointment with an old friend of thirty years to meet ahead and say goodbye, causing trouble for everyone.”

Qing Chen looked at the old man: “Actually, you knew he would reveal your whereabouts, right?”

The old man thought for a moment and said, “Not long after we met, I suspected that he might have been sent by the Shendai Family to approach me.”

“You guessed he was from Shendai, yet you were willing to be friends with him,” Qing Chen was puzzled. “And you knew he would reveal your whereabouts, yet you still wanted to meet him. Why?”

Qing Chen didn't understand what these big shots were thinking.

Friends, enemies, identities intertwined, incredibly complex.

The old man continued, “We had a showdown twenty years ago. He admitted his identity as a member of Shendai, and I was responsible for occasionally giving him some information to deal with his superiors. Isn't that interesting? Even enemies can become friends? People are complex animals. This isn't a black-and-white world. Even I can't imagine that one day I would become friends with a member of the Shendai Family.”

The old man thought for a moment and said, “Although he is from Shendai, he never really betrayed me in his life. Moreover, this time, I asked him to reveal my whereabouts to the Shendai Family.”

“Why did you ask him to reveal your whereabouts this time?” Qing Chen asked.

The old man smiled but didn't speak.

At that moment, in the darkness ahead of the dirt road, there stood a solitary figure.

The person was wearing samurai clothes and wooden clogs, with his hair tied in a bun at the back.

Qing Chen's heart tightened. Here it comes!

Sure enough, it was someone from the Shendai Family waiting there.

“Don't worry,” the old man said, “We'll go around him.”

Qing Chen was stunned: “You mean we can just go around him?”

In an instant, a red light suddenly burst from the forest in the night.

It was another figure, like a meteor, charging towards the Shendai Family warrior with unparalleled momentum.

It was Li Yunjing.

The middle-aged man who had protected the old man for twenty years had indeed followed.

The old man said, “Didn't you ask me why I revealed my itinerary? Because after Li Yunjing was promoted to A-class, he still hadn't had a chance to fight. Before he leaves the Li Clan, he wants to kill Shendai Tongshan. Shendai Tongshan has been reclusive for many years, focusing on breaking through to the Demi-God realm. He is hard to find. I've spent my whole life fishing, so before I leave, let me be bait for the Li Clan one last time. If he doesn't die, Yun Shou's future will be unstable.”

Qing Chen sighed inwardly. He understood why the old man didn't want to prolong his life. With his temperament, even if he lived another twenty years, he would inevitably work for the Li Clan for another twenty years.

Before this old man's death, he was still trying to kill the cultivator in the Shendai Family who had the potential to break through to Demi-God cultivation.

The old man smiled, “It's like using up the last of my energy. Anyway, my life is like this, a good start, a good end. It's just a little hard on you.”

Li Yunjing and Shendai Tongshan collided, and the wind created by their clash was like a tornado.

The withered leaves and branches were shattered by invisible force and swept into the sky.

A-class battles seemed to be able to turn the stars upside down!

This kind of battle was not something ordinary people could interfere with.

Qing Chen looked back and saw that San Yue had somehow opened the trunk and left the car.

He said to Hu Xiaoniu, “Turn right. We only have one thing to do in this wilderness, and that is to reach Forbidden Zone 002.”

As soon as he finished speaking, more than ten off-road vehicles rushed out of the forest and chased after Qing Chen and his group...