Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 458: 311, holding a bowl of water steady

At the silent dead end of the corridor.

Qing Chen checked his firearms again, even removing each golden-yellow bullet from the magazine to ensure they hadn’t become damp from being on the rack for too long.

Only after confirming there was no rust did he press the bullets back into the magazine.

This time, he definitely had to change his face before going out. After all, the real ‘Qing Chen’ was still in the Half Mountain Manor at the moment. But whom should he impersonate?

He remembered the face he had seen at Weiyang Lake Park and transformed into Zard’s appearance.

...

If he really did something to offend Jindai or Deer Island, then there would be a clear target for the blame. Let the bigwigs of the consortium deal with Huan Yu and Zard.

Qing Chen walked out.

He stood in the corridor on the first floor, surveying the structure outside the house.

It seemed like an old neighborhood from the Outer World, without even an elevator, and only two households in each corridor.

If it weren’t for the absence of small ads for ointments on the walls, Qing Chen would almost think he had returned to his home in building number 12 on Xingshu Road.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the corridor— a young man with an urgent look on his face hurried inside as if he desperately needed to use the bathroom.

Qing Chen was momentarily stunned when he realized he knew the person!

Jiang Yichen!

The young man in front of him was none other than Jiang Yichen, the star who had transferred to Los Angeles Foreign Language School in the Outer World!

Jiang Yichen was wearing a mask, but just with half of his face visible, Qing Chen recognized him.

However, the other person definitely wouldn’t recognize the current Qing Chen. Qing Chen guessed that Zard must be well-hidden; most Time Travelers from the Outer World had never seen this person.

Qing Chen looked at Jiang Yichen with confusion and asked, “Who are you? I haven’t seen you around before.”

Ironically, it was the first time Qing Chen had stepped out of his room, and he chose to make the first move.

Jiang Yichen was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said, “I am your new neighbor. I just bought the house here and moved in not long ago. And you are?”

Jiang Yichen was very polite in his speech.

It was a typical reaction of a Time Traveler feeling guilty when facing a local resident.

Qing Chen confidently lied, “I am an old resident here, been living for 8 years.”

This time, he was relying entirely on the intelligence gap to overpower the other.

Qing Chen was clear about one thing: Jiang Yichen had just transferred to Los Angeles and hadn’t been to the city before, so his origin was definitely not the 18th city.

So, Jiang Yichen had most likely just come over using a migrant or work visa.

The crux of the matter was that Jiang Yichen couldn’t confirm how long Qing Chen had really lived here. By stating a lengthy duration, Qing Chen naturally removed himself from any suspicion of being a Time Traveler.

In the Inside World Federation, you need a visa to enter and leave each city, like the ancient travel passes in the Outer World— a means for the consortiums to control population registration.

Each city has a resident population of about ten million, and the twin cities numbered 18 and 10, the Gemini Star, have more than twenty million permanent residents.

Tens of thousands of people enter and exit via visas every day, so it’s not uncommon for someone to have just arrived here.

But Jiang Yichen happened to run into Qing Chen, someone who had seen him before.

Qing Chen observed Jiang Yichen seriously. When he previously investigated the latter’s movements, he noticed that the person had attended the Busan Film Festival in Korea, making him suspect that the person might be from Deer Island.

Now, encountering him so close to Half Mountain Manor, Qing Chen felt it wasn’t mere coincidence.

But if Jiang Yichen was controlled by Deer Island, why would they allow him to act alone?

Was it that Deer Island had confirmed his loyalty, or was he not controlled by anyone, still a free man?

Wait, Qing Chen thought, who else had just arrived in Los Angeles and wasn’t controlled, a free agent?

Lu Ya!

He recalled when he tried to snipe Lu Ya from the rooftop of the Kai Lai Hotel— the man had been wrapped up so tightly, it seemed like a habit of a star.

Could this star, Jiang Yichen, actually be Lu Ya?!

Qing Chen decided to observe more in the future.

At the moment, Jiang Yichen was struggling to hold in his urine, rubbing his legs together, eager to return home to take care of his physiological needs.

Qing Chen also noticed this.

He asked deliberately, “You can’t blame me for being cautious, my friend. Since you just moved here, as an old homeowner, I have to ask when I see a new face. Why did you move to the 18th city? It’s very chaotic here recently, why would you choose to come here?”

“To study,” Jiang Yichen replied with a forced smile. “I’m a high school senior. Qinghe University is right here in the 18th city, and there are lots of tutoring classes, so I came early to catch up on classes.”

“So you’re here for studies, huh? Seeing your unfamiliar face, I thought you might be a thief, my apologies,” Qing Chen inwardly scoffed at the lie, knowing that in the Outer World, Jiang Yichen hardly ever attended school due to his filming schedule, pretending to be the big cheese here in the Inside World.

However, his expression remained sincere.

Qing Chen thought for a moment and then asked Jiang Yichen, “I heard Qinghe University is very tough to get into. Since you are going there, you must be very good at studying, right? I was never good at studying, I never understood the problems, so I dropped out. By the way, I still remember a problem I couldn’t solve, if X is…”