Naming Technique of the Night

The campfire flickered in the campsite.

The students of Freemasonry curiously sized up Li Situ and Yangyang, wondering about their identities.

Guo Huchan introduced them enthusiastically, "This one's called Li Situ, and the other girl's called Yangyang."

The students of Freemasonry swept their gazes over Li Situ, then they rested on Yangyang.

The girl was still wearing a grey hoodie with the hood up.

Then, Li Situ said, "I've brought Yangyang here, I'll leave the rest to you, I need to rush to City 18 as soon as possible."

Guo Huchan asked with confusion, "Why are you heading to City 18 at this time? The Lee family and the Federation are both arresting Spade Members, and you're a publicly known Spade Member, it's going to be very dangerous to go there now."

"To mourn," Li Situ responded calmly.

Guo Huchan was taken aback for a moment, "Sorry, I almost forgot you were part of the Lee family."

Li Situ shook his head, "I severed ties with the Lee family a long time ago, but since my father has passed away, I, as his son, should still make the trip back, even though I haven't been back for eighteen years."

Qing Chen heard this and silently glanced at the older man with the corner of his eye.

He felt an inexplicable shock in his heart, the Lee family was like a towering tree within the Federation, influencing all kinds of organizations under their extensive branches and leaves.

Qing Chen truly hadn't expected that this Li Situ was actually the old man's son.

No wonder the other's face bore a sorrowful look, showing compassion for the world - it turned out he had just received the bad news of his own father's passing.

But the thing is, Li Situ probably couldn't imagine that his father not only hadn't died but was also right beside him.

Considering that Li Situ hadn't returned to the Lee family for eighteen years, it was normal that he couldn't recognize the old man after his disguise.

"Aren't you going to acknowledge him?" Qing Chen asked curiously and quietly, "He's your son."

"No need to recognize each other," the old man said calmly, "At a time like this, just being able to see him from a distance and knowing he's doing alright is enough for me. Back then, he claimed that the powerful family was a tumor of the Federation and scorned being associated with them, so he ran away to the Southwest Snow Mountain. Later, when I wanted to find out about him, I could only learn from intelligence reports."

"Don't you want to give him a chance to say goodbye face to face?" Qing Chen asked.

"There's nothing to say for goodbyes. Birth, aging, sickness, death - it's the destiny of life, no need for pretense," the old man said, "He still has father-son affection, and that makes me very happy. I think funerals should be held while one is alive, so you can really see people's hearts. And you know, faking death is quite interesting. I did a much better job than your master; nobody believed his death."

The old man was self-satisfied with his comment.

This expression contrasted starkly against the mournful face of Li Situ on the other side.

Seeing this, Guo Huchan and the Freemasonry students even went as far as to offer their condolences to Li Situ one by one.

"What's Li Situ's ranking among the Lee family's second generation?" Qing Chen asked.

"Seventeenth," the old man replied, "I don't know why, but even though I haven't seen him for eighteen years, being able to see his distress with my own eyes makes me quite happy. And hearing so many people say 'condolences' to him, I even feel like saying it to him too."

Qing Chen: "..."

Imagining that scenario, he suddenly found it quite theatrical.

It indeed seemed like the kind of thing the old man would do!

Li Situ had left, heading off in a great hurry as if racing against time.

Guo Huchan returned to the Freemasonry's campfire and called out to Yangyang, "Yangyang, come warm yourself by the fire and rest."

Some of the students in Freemasonry silently observed Yangyang, pondering whether she was easy to get along with and what kind of personality she had.

The old man said in a low voice, "This girl, the Lee family still doesn't have any information related to her; looks like she's a new member of Spade."

Qing Chen thought, Yangyang was mysterious both in the Outer World and the Inner World.

Even the old man didn't know her identity yet.

Right, most of the members of Freemasonry were students from Luo Yi High School, and they hadn't seen Yangyang either. Presumably, they didn't know yet that Yangyang was also a Time Traveler.

Just then, Yangyang didn't head over to where Guo Huchan was but instead made her way straight towards Qing Chen and the others.

The old man was momentarily stunned.

The girl sat down beside their campfire and asked with a smile, "Is there anything to eat? I've been on the road all day and only had a piece of cake in the morning."

The old man chuckled, nudging Qing Chen with his elbow, "Aren't you going to get the girl something to eat? We have supplies and snacks in the car, plenty of them."

Hu Xiaoniu watched the campfire, acting as if she didn't recognize Yangyang, confused about what she was planning to do.

Qing Chen quietly went to get some food, leaving the Freemasonry students completely baffled. Nangong Yuanyu looked towards Guo Huchan, "Do you have a conflict with her? Why did she sit over there instead?"

Guo Huchan rubbed his bald head, "No, I don't."

Qing Chen handed Yangyang two pieces of chocolate, a compressed biscuit, and a bottle of water.

Yangyang didn't hold back, accepting and eating them without ceremony, not minding her manners at all.

The old man appreciated the girl's straightforward way and pointed at Qing Chen, saying, "Do you have a boyfriend, girl? What do you think of this young man beside me?"

Here it comes!

Qing Chen thought to himself, could you at least lay some groundwork first?

Asking a girl such a question outright, is that appropriate?

Yangyang smiled, "I think he's pretty good."

The old man's eyes lit up, "Why don't you consider spending some time together?"

Yangyang nodded, "Sure."

The campsite suddenly fell silent; the conversation between the elder and the sprightly girl had been loud enough that most of the campsite had heard them.

What a daredevil.

And another who dared to agree.

However, it wasn't just the Freemasonry students who were stunned; even the elder was taken aback.

In truth, he was just playful at heart, wanting to tease Qing Chen.

After all, Qing Chen was always so serious, managing this, managing that, not even allowing him to tell stories to the female students. The elder found Qing Chen's calm expression unamusing.

But now things had become interesting.

The girl had actually agreed!

This turn of events made the elder hesitate. He asked the sprightly girl, "Don't you need to observe a bit more?"

The girl, with a smile in her eyes, looked at Qing Chen, "Isn't this perfect? No need for observation."

The elder felt as though something had gone wrong somewhere...

Qing Chen sighed. In front of this girl, any disguise was impossible to hide from her perception.

According to what the girl once said, within 200 meters, all force fields were laid bare in her mind. Others might be fooled by the Taboo item ACE-005 on his face, but she certainly wouldn't be.

So, the girl knew he was here even before she got off the vehicle.

However, the girl was equally playful. She pretended not to recognize Qing Chen at all, not even acknowledging Hu Xiaoniu.

Then the girl looked at Qing Chen and said, "My name is Yan Yan, I'm 17 years old, and you?"

Qing Chen: "I'm called Qing Zade, 27 years old."

The elder, seeing the two hitting it off, immediately said, "You two have quite an age gap, it might not be appropriate."

Yan Yan laughed, "I think it's quite suitable."

Qing Chen: "Yeah, I also feel it's quite suitable."

Among everyone present, only Hu Xiaoniu knew the truth.

He had realized that Qing Chen and Yan Yan were very much in sync, choosing to turn the tables and tease the elder.

The elder said, "My grandson here is really boring, lacks hobbies, and is not at all romantic. Plus, he works at the PCE Security Management Committee, which is at odds with you Spade members. Girl, you should think it over carefully, I'm worried you might be wasting your time."

Yan Yan's eyes lit up as she said, "There was nobody to take care of Spade within the PCE, but now we have someone, don't we?"

The elder added, "My grandson is a Federation man, he definitely won't join you in the wilderness. You'll be worlds apart, with no chance of being together."

Yan Yan chuckled, "Spade is having me return to the city soon to continue organizing protests, so there's no need for him to come to the wilderness."

The elder sighed; what in the world was this—things had spun out of control.

He stood up with his hands behind his back and strode towards his own tent in a huff.

Soon after the elder returned to his tent, he realized that these two had probably known each other for a long time and had joined forces to tease him.

Otherwise, why would the girl make a beeline for Qing Chen?

This girl named Yan Yan, was also likely a Time Traveler, who might be well-acquainted with Qing Chen in the Outer World!

As a former Family Head of the Li family, the elder was quick to understand the secrets at play after only a little contemplation.

Now, as the elder had left the bonfire, the Freemasonry students also lost interest in this side of the camp.

"Li Ke, go lay out the moisture-proof mat in the old man's tent so he doesn't catch a cold," Qing Chen instructed.

Li Ke dutifully left.

Qing Chen, Yan Yan, and Hu Xiaoniu sat beside the bonfire, the firelight casting a red glow on their faces.

Qing Chen turned to Yan Yan and said, "I didn't expect to meet you here."

Yan Yan smiled and replied, "I didn't expect it either. Are you with these Freemasonry students?"

"No, I just happened to meet them," Qing Chen responded.

Yan Yan willingly shared her recent activities, "I went back to Haicheng recently, organized some college and high school students to come to the wilderness. I led those Time Travelers who were struggling to live in the city, trying to rebuild homes in places neglected by the corporations. Now we have built a small town in the southern wilderness, inhabited by Time Travelers and relatively friendly wilderness folk."

Qing Chen chuckled, "Why are you telling me this?"

Yan Yan looked at Hu Xiaoniu with a smile and then asked Qing Chen, "Does he know?"

"It's okay, no need to hide it from him anymore," Qing Chen said.

Hu Xiaoniu was flabbergasted, as the two in front of him conversed in riddles. It seemed like he understood, but not completely.

At that moment, Yan Yan laughed, "After all, I'm a member of Daylight, it's only right to report my recent activities to the boss."

Qing Chen glanced at Hu Xiaoniu, who was now in a state of shock.

Hu Xiaoniu looked at Qing Chen with an incredulous expression, "You're the boss?"

He then turned to Yan Yan, "So, on the night Liu Dezhu was retaliated against by the Wang family, you were the girl that fell from the sky?"

...

There will be another chapter at 11 PM.