Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 277 220. Without those worldly desires

”The true shadow of the contemporary era,” Nan Gengchen murmured.

For some reason, he always felt that when Li Yinuo uttered these words, a simple phrase seemed fraught with oppression.

Now just the battle for supremacy among the Nine Dragons has already caught the entire Federationʼs attention.

Some discussed Qing Wenʼs prodigious deeds of the past, some the natural martial arts talent of Qing Zhong since childhood, and others the resilience of Qing Wu.

But compared to those who had truly become giants, these individuals were merely budding tigers, just beginning to show their prowess.

For example, Qing Xun, the current Family Head of Qingʼs Family, was the shadow of the previous generation.

The tactics of the Shadow Candidates were nothing compared to his.

”Sister Yinuo, who is the current shadow of Qingʼs Family?” Li Tongyun asked curiously. ”Why is it that he is rarely mentioned, and Iʼve never seen him in the media either?”

”Qing Zhiluo, Qing Chenchen, Qing Huangri—one of the three,” replied Li Yinuo.

”Wait, why is it ʼone of the threeʼ?” Nan Gengchen asked, puzzled. ”Has the shadow of the last generation not yet been decided?”

”Of course, it has been decided, but everyone only knows that the two who lost died, not who died or who survived,” Li Yinuo said.

”Why would that happen?” Nan Gengchen was even more baffled.

”Since itʼs a shadow, it should naturally hide in the dark,” Li Yinuo said with a smile. ”The struggle for being Qingʼs shadow has always been this way, starting with much fanfare but becoming more and more elusive as it progresses. The outside world can hardly discern the truth. For instance, at the end of the last generationʼs shadow contest, the media couldnʼt even find out who finally prevailed, and the three Shadow Candidate finalists all disappeared from the public eye for over a decade without making another appearance.”

Li Tongyun and Nan Gengchen were shocked; there were such things?

”A shadow is a person who hides in the dark, the real executioner under the Family Headʼs command,” Li Yinuo explained with a smile. ”In most cases, it takes a long time for people to realize that Qingʼs shadow has influenced those events. If even this cannot be achieved, how can one be called a shadow?”

”But, I heard someone in the Outer World claim that the contemporary shadow fell ill in the last contest—who were they talking about?” Nan Gengchen recalled.

”Thatʼs because two years ago, Huʼs intelligence organization sold information that someone claimed to have seen Qingʼs shadow. Although they didnʼt see the face clearly, the individual kept coughing up blood. Hence, some speculated that it was an injury from the last contest,” Li Yinuo said. ”When this intelligence was sold, it caused quite a stir.”

”Isnʼt that too cruel? So many excellences within the clan died, and the one who became the shadow still carries an injury,” Li Tongyun mumbled. ”Doesnʼt Qingʼs Family feel itʼs a pity?”

”Cruel? A pity?” Li Yinuo shook her head. ”There are a thousand individuals in just three generations of Qingʼs Family, and from a thousand people, one shadow is chosen. On average, every five generations of shadows produce one Family Head, then ensure the Qingʼs Familyʼs foundations are stable for a century. Indeed, itʼs cruel for ordinary people, but for the entire Qingʼs Family, this is the clan.”

”What about Liʼs Family then?” Nan Gengchen suddenly asked.

”Liʼs Family naturally has its ways,” Li Yinuo said calmly. ”Letʼs go, itʼs time. Weʼll head to the boxing gym to wait for Qing Shi and see what her plan is.”

...

...

Li Yinuoʼs motorcade swiftly left the Pearl Manor, where the second house of Liʼs Family resided, and sped towards the Fourth District.

Recently, everyone knew that the eldest granddaughter of Liʼs Third Generation would go to Begonia Boxing Gym whenever she was free, and Jiang Xiaotang even had people park all of Li Yinuoʼs cars directly in front of the gym, making them a feature of the place.

As soon as Li Yinuo and her party arrived, they discovered that the holographic projections above Begonia Boxing Gym had been switched to a highlight reel from Qing Chenʼs previous ranking matches.

However, these holographic projections seemed to have been edited, showing mostly Qing Chenʼs back, as if purposely creating a mysterious atmosphere.

Li Yinuo looked at the staff member. ”What, does Qing Xiaotu have a match today?”

”Yes,” the staff member said respectfully. ”Today heʼs facing a Tiger Grade Boxer, Xiao Taibao. Itʼs been the main event at our gym recently.”

”Donʼt you usually have your main events on Saturday? Why is his on a Monday?” Li Yinuo frowned. ”Does he not have much of a reputation, or what? I want to see Jiang Xiaotang.”

”You misunderstand,” the staff member explained. ”This was Qing Xiaotuʼs own request. We were surprised too, but if you want to watch the weekend fight, you can still see him then. He might fight twice a week for the next while.”

”Twice a week? Is he not valuing his life?” Li Yinuo raised her voice. ”Did you arrange this, or is it his own request?”

In the past, Li Yinuo specifically told Jiang Xiaotang that if Qing Chen didnʼt want to fight, Begonia Boxing Gym absolutely couldnʼt force him.

But from the looks of it now, Qing Chenʼs match intensity was much higher than expected.

This made Li Yinuo canʼt help but wonder, was Jiang Xiaotang rushing to make money off Qing Chen?

”Itʼs his own request,” the staff member said, sweat appearing on his forehead. ”How could we force him? Heʼs the bossʼs brother now. If you donʼt believe it, you can ask Qing Xiaotu himself.”

”Brother,” Li Yinuo was puzzled. Between the rigorous fight schedule and being the ʼbrotherʼ to a woman like Jiang Xiaotang, what exactly was Qing Chen planning?!

Nan Gengchen and Li Tongyun beside her were already concerned. They didnʼt care about anything else, just whether Qing Chen could withstand the intensity of the competitions.

At that moment, Li Yinuo suddenly sensed something amiss. Right after they entered, several plainclothes individuals gave them almost imperceptible glances.

”Whatʼs the situation,” Li Yinuo wondered aloud. ”Is there something unusual happening today?”

With their minds full of worries, Li Yinuo and her party headed to their private room. But upon pushing the door open, they discovered Qing Shi, with her hair tied in twin ponytails, already sitting on the couch.

She stood up and greeted them with a smile. ”Sister Yinuo, itʼs our first meeting. Please take good care of me.”

Seeing Qing Shi, Li Yinuo finally realized, ”So Qingʼs heiress arrived early. No wonder there were plainclothes outside.”

”Please forgive me, Sister Yino, but when traveling, one must be careful,” Qing Shi said with a smile, ”And since Sister Yino requested confidentiality, I had them all change into casual clothes.”

”Casual clothes are good,” the beautiful young warrior nodded, casually spouting nonsense, ”After all, weʼre about to discuss important matters. Secrecy comes first... No one knows youʼre coming, right?”

”Other than my father and some personal attendants, no one else knows,” Qing Shi earnestly replied, ”I just donʼt know what Sister Yino wants to see me for?”

”Itʼs like this, I learned from other sources that the second round task for you shadow candidates is to find a member of the Li Family to support. Is that right?” Li Yinuo asked.

She didnʼt mention that she had got the information from another candidate...

Qing Shi nodded: ”Thatʼs right.”

”What do you think about me, why donʼt you support me?” Li Yinuo cut to the chase.

She figured she still had to approach five other candidates, and beating around the bush with every one of them was too exhausting. Better to be straightforward.

Qing Shi seemed to not have expected Li Yinuo to be so direct and stared blankly for quite some time: ”Okay.”

Li Tongyun and Nan Gengchen beside her couldnʼt help but laugh and cry at the same time, thinking this so-called secret meeting was too simple.

Everyone thought the meeting would last for hours, but it was over in five minutes.

Now, what to do and talk about with the remaining time, no one had thought that through...

Suddenly, the room fell into an eerie silence...

Li Yinuo suddenly exclaimed, ”Iʼve always heard that Qing Shi of the Qingʼs Family is untainted by mud, with a simple mind, and I used to think it was all rumors. Now I finally believe some of it.”

Qing Shi smiled sweetly, ”Itʼs not like that, I can be quite crafty too!”

Once again, the room fell into an eerie silence...

Just then, the hostʼs voice came from outside the private room: ”Ladies and gentlemen, you must have seen the holographic projection above the boxing gym by now, and you must recognize the youth in the projection. Can you call out his name?”

”Qing Xiaotu!”

”Qing Xiaotu!”

The sudden voices from outside broke the awkward silence in the room, and Li Yinuo quickly looked outside.

At that moment, the host continued, ”Heʼs the challenger who passed the last set of ranking matches, and heʼs tonightʼs home boxer. He is Qing Xiaotu!”

The next instant, a live broadcast video played on the big screen of the boxing gym. In the video, Qing Chen was warming up backstage, expressionless, wearing the loose shorts common to boxers and showing off a perfectly sculpted upper body.

Nan Gengchen and Li Tongyun were glued to the glass window of the private room again.

But even more abrupt was Qing Shiʼs astonished voice: ”Cute and adorable?!”

In an instant, Li Tongyun, Nan Gengchen, and Li Yinuo all simultaneously looked at her silently, their gazes intertwining on Qing Shiʼs face, with a mix of confusion and questioning.

Cute and adorable, was she describing Qing Chen as cute?

But Nan Gengchen felt something was off; he had the feeling that when Qing Shi said ”cute and adorable,” those four words were not an adjective but a noun...

He tentatively asked, ”... Cute and adorable? I get the feeling thatʼs a name youʼre calling someone?”

Still in a daze, Qing Shi pointed at Qing Chen on the big screen and said, ”Thatʼs him, ʼCute and Adorableʼ is his online nickname. We even met up in real life this morning.”

Nan Gengchenʼs gaze suddenly shifted toward the big screen. Seeing the handsome face on the screen, he couldnʼt imagine that person using such a nickname or engaging in online meetups!

What kind of person did Nan Gengchen consider Qing Chen to be?

In his mind, Qing Chen was the lofty academic god of Los Angeles City, intelligence crushing his peers.

In his mind, Qing Chen was pure and free from material desires, an entity that seemed to have abandoned all worldly passions.

And now someone tells him: Qing Chenʼs online nickname is ʼCute and Adorable,ʼ and he even engages in online romances that lead to real-life meetings.

Everything collapsed.

His belief system crumbled.

This ʼCute and Adorableʼ ID doesnʼt even compare to ʼA Little Ducklingʼ!

Nan Gengchen glanced sideways at Li Tongyun, only to discover that the young girlʼs expression was no different.

Even Li Yinuoʼs pupils were contracting!

This matter could shock them for an entire year!

...

Iʼm begging for monthly votes, bosses, have mercy on the child!