Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 11: Farewell

The melody of the harmonica was captivating.

Moreover, there seemed to be an inexplicable rhythm mixed within the harmonica’s sound, surpassing ordinary music.

It was like the feeling the nightmare had given to Qing Chen last night.

But while all the prisoners were immersed in the wonderful music, Qing Chen simply couldn’t suppress his inner shock and astonishment.

Because he had heard this tune before… “Send-off”.

Outside the long pavilion, by the ancient road, the lush grass blends with the sky.

Qing Chen’s pupils gradually contracted. Wasn’t this the world he had traversed into? Why would there also be “Send-off” here?

He once thought, the moment he encountered the mechanical civilization, that it should have no relation to Earth.

But now it seemed he was wrong. Could this be Earth’s future?

Qing Chen began to search his memories, trying to find clues in the books he had read in the reading area yesterday.

But the result disappointed him again; those self-help books and philosophy could not aid him.

The harmonica stopped, and the din returned to Prison 18.

At some point, Qing Chen suddenly felt like this prison was a Beast Battle Arena.

Behind each alloy gate, there lurked steel beasts representing various desires.

When the gates opened, he no longer felt as green and watchful as on the first day, but walked straight past the lined-up prisoners toward the plaza downstairs.

His unilateral action did not attract the drones above him, nor did the robotic guards give him an extra glance.

Just outside the canteen, Lin Xiaoxiao greeted him with a beaming smile, “Good morning… Did you not sleep well?”

At that moment, Qing Chen, with dark circles under his eyes, coldly looked at Lin Xiaoxiao, thinking, don’t you know if I could sleep well or not?

Some say a dream lasts only about eight minutes, which is extremely brief in the span of a lifetime.

However, after Qing Chen awoke from the nightmare yesterday, he checked his countdown and found that the nightmare had trapped him for over two hours; he couldn’t feel the passage of time while in it.

Furthermore, after freeing himself from the nightmare, he had lain in bed pondering many things until he finally fell into a deep sleep around midnight.

Even though Qing Chen had a photographic memory, he was still essentially an ordinary person, unlike Lin Xiaoxiao who belonged to a special group of people. He couldn’t stay up for most of the night and still be as lively the next day.

Uncle Li Dong glanced at Qing Chen’s complexion and said, “Ordinary people come out of nightmares greatly weakened and listless for half a day. But you’re different, you broke free from Xiao Xiao’s control and picked up a dagger in the nightmare. Standing here today is already quite impressive.”

Qing Chen sat down opposite him and directly asked, “How to become someone like him?”

Uncle Li Dong laughed and said, “You are quite frank, but you can’t take his path. Instead, you’re more suited to take mine.”

At that remark, Qing Chen distinctly noticed a change in Ye Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao’s expressions.

For some reason, he suddenly felt the atmosphere grow more solemn, even the napping big cat raised its head to look at him.

He was curious about Uncle Li Dong’s path.

But judging from Lu Guangyi’s attitude towards Uncle Li Dong, this person must be very famous outside, so many people should know what Uncle Li Dong’s path is.

As a transmigrator, babbling some nonsense might still be safe, but asking a question lacking common knowledge could be fatal.

Qing Chen skipped the confusion and asked again, “How can I follow your path?”

“You’ve misunderstood,” Uncle Li Dong said, smiling.

When Uncle Li Dong smiled, the traces of time at the corners of his eyes revealed to Qing Chen that his age might be greater than he had imagined.

Uncle Li Dong continued, “Ye Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao were a bit late when they met me, so they couldn’t follow my path. And even though I appreciate you now, you aren’t there yet.”

“Understood,” Qing Chen nodded.

This only made sense.

He felt that if someone showed immediate kinship and then imparted all they knew to him, that person might be highly questionable.

It might not be an opportunity he was facing, but a danger.

However, for Qing Chen, just being able to touch the edge of that Mysterious World was already enough.

It was something he had daydreamed about before, something that didn’t exist on Earth.

Now, he was very close to those things.

“What do you say, will you play chess today?” Uncle Li Dong looked at Qing Chen, “You don’t seem to be in a good mental state, why don’t we take a day off? The most important thing about playing chess is to have a worthy opponent. It would be meaningless to win while you’re not at your best.”

As the prisoners lined up for their meals, more and more of them began to freely move about the dining room.

Today was different, many prisoners were eating while paying close attention to the commotion over at Qing Chen’s side.

There were even some who stood up with their trays, eyes glued to the chessboard.

In reality, not many prisoners here understood how to play Chinese chess, as it was already an entertainment activity out of its time.

But since Uncle Li Dong liked it, everyone felt it necessary to pay attention.

What if they also had a natural talent for chess and were noticed by Uncle Li Dong?

Of course, this was just wishful thinking, and most people paid attention to the chess game simply because they had too much time on their hands.

Before, when Uncle Li Dong studied endgame problems alone, no one dared to stare over here, but now with Qing Chen playing against him, the atmosphere seemed to have become much more relaxed, and Ye Wan no longer shot sharp looks at people.

Meanwhile, Lu Guangyi, too, watched with great interest, a crowd following him as if he were the center of the universe.

Lu Guangyi quite enjoyed this.

On either side of the chessboard, Uncle Li Dong waited for Qing Chen’s response, while Qing Chen stood up calmly and said, “No need to rest. For the Defiant Emperor Chess Endgame, move the chariot from two to five, advance the chariot from five to seven, slide the cannon from two to eight, move the chariot from five to six, advance the pawn from four by one.”

Chinese chess is about back-and-forth moves, but this time Qing Chen simply announced his moves in one go, as if he had already predicted that Uncle Li Dong would follow along, pushing the game quickly to its conclusion.

Qing Chen’s red chariot enticed the black general in conjunction with the final move of advancing the pawn from four, resulting in a checkmate.

This was an ingenious move seldom conceived by ordinary people.

Others might not understand what Qing Chen was talking about, but Uncle Li Dong certainly did.

There was only this one way to break the Defiant Emperor Chess Endgame!

Uncle Li Dong looked up at Qing Chen and inverted his own black general on the chessboard, “I thought you were not in good shape mentally. I would have won by taking advantage of your condition, but it seems I worried unnecessarily.”

In the crowd, Lu Guangyi’s underlings heard him muttering, “He won again, that’s just too cool. No matter in what aspect, just winning once against a person like Uncle Li Dong would make a lifetime worthwhile, I want to learn chess too!”

The newly recruited underlings didn’t understand why Lu Guangyi would be interested in something like chess.

It was well known that although Lu Guangyi’s combat power stood out in Prison No. 18, his cultural level was definitely at the bottom.

At that moment, Qing Chen looked at Uncle Li Dong and asked, “May I ask you a question?”

…

Thank you to Li Dongze, the Dancing Sword, and students who go by ‘electric’ for becoming leaders of this book. Bosses have such generosity, may your fortune be as vast as the Eastern seas and your lives as enduring as the southern mountains!