Naming Technique of the Night

The bus to Gifu Prefecture moves towards the morning sun.

The warm sunlight shines on Zhenji Jinguji's little face. She occasionally sneaks glances at Qing Chen but is captivated by the Rubik's cube in his hands.

The little girl thinks this oniisan is really special.

Qing Chen does not look at the little girl, his gaze throughout is fixed outside the window. He does not explain why the two must pretend not to know each other, nor does he explain why they have to sit so far apart.

Fortunately, Zhenji Jinguji also sensibly does not ask too many questions.

This little girl is too sensible, just like Qing Chen himself when he was a child.

This kind of humble sensibility is the first survival skill life teaches them.

Only then they might not be disliked.

The bus stops at Nakatsugawa Station, Gifu Prefecture. Qing Chen first accompanies Zhenji Jinguji to the hospital.

The nurses and doctors seem to know her, greeting warmly: "Here to buy medicine for your grandmother again, such a diligent little girl."

Sensibility seems to be Zhenji Jinguji's label, many people offer such shallow compliments.

But only Qing Chen understands, the little girl would rather not be so sensible, that she wouldn't be blamed if she acted rebelliously occasionally.

The little girl walks ahead, Qing Chen follows ten meters behind. When the little girl buys medicine at the counter, he waits outside.

He watches the little girl take out a small purse, skillfully buys medicine and pays.

Next, it's his turn to buy a mountain bike.

The little girl follows silently, flower carts pass by on the street, it seems to be a grand festival being held.

When Qing Chen buys the bike, the little girl waits outside the store, her nose frozen red, yet she is excitedly happy.

The purchasing process is quick. For Qing Chen, the quality of the mountain bike must be exceptionally good, so he directly buys the store's treasure.

The bike costs around 80,000 yuan. When Zhenji Jinguji hears the price from afar, she sticks out her tongue, thinking this oniisan is truly rich...

Because her family's hot spring inn has outdated facilities and poor service, the prices are the lowest in Shirakawa Village.

Initially, Zhenji Jinguji thought that Qing Chen's financial condition was not affluent hence he chose them.

But now, thinking about it, someone who rents a hot spring inn for a month in Shirakawa Village can't be poor.

Qing Chen pushes the bike out of the store, Zhenji Jinguji is staring intently at the flower cart parade and the ramen shop by the roadside.

He rarely approaches the little girl and softly asks, "Do you want to stay in Nakatsugawa and play for a while?"

Zhenji Jinguji looks up at him in disbelief, hesitates, and asks, "Can we?"

Yet, at this moment, several cars speed down the street, stopping not far away.

The cars bear the Mysterious Business Department's emblem. Several men in black suits get out and rush into a nearby storefront.

Qing Chen frowns, knowing they are not coming for him but curious about what the Mysterious Business Department is up to.

He sees them grabbing the owner of a soba noodle shop, forcibly dragging him out.

Pedestrians on the street watch on, someone whispers, "They're arresting people again!"

Qing Chen has heard online that the Island Country's Mysterious Business Department constantly arrests people.

Moreover, he knows the reason for the arrests: the Jindai Time Travelers are checking both Outer and Inner World residency records to 'create' Time Travelers.

They are taking people from the Inner and Outer World who have overlapping identities but haven't traversed due to different locations to replace the people in the Inner World actively.

After replacement, male Time Travelers with combat abilities are sent to secret military bases for special training. Women and children who cannot become combatants will be used as 'mules' to transport Inner World items.

This increases Jindai Time Travelers' control over the Outer World.

In China, Kunlun and Kyushu together protect the residency information database with the Data Fortress.

Hence Inner World consortia cannot do such things, but in the Island Country, no one protects the residency information database, the same is in Korea.

The Island Country and Korea even actively opened up the residency information database. Kunlun had suspected that high-ranking officials in these two countries also became Time Travelers and got reverse traversed by Jindai and Deer Island.

Perhaps this is also one of the reasons why Jindai and Deer Island control more Time Travelers than Kunlun and Kyushu.

In the beginning, Jindai's arrests were concentrated in Osaka, Tokyo, and Kobe but have now slowly spread to peripheral areas.

At this moment, Zhenji Jinguji does not focus on this. She eagerly looks at Qing Chen: "Can we go play a while, oniisan?"

Qing Chen glances at the Mysterious Business Department's vehicles, then calmly says: "No, let's go home."

He does not want to linger in the Mysterious Business Department's activity area.

When in Osaka, keeping the Mysterious Business Department tense was strategic, but at this moment, it should be done quietly.

With that, he pushes the bike towards the bus station. The little girl says "Oh" briefly, although a little disappointed, she still obediently follows behind, maintaining distance.

At the bus station, Qing Chen lets Zhenji Jinguji get on the bus alone and rides back by himself to familiarize himself with the bike on flat roads.

The little girl gets on the bus alone, sits at the last row, leans by the window, watching Qing Chen ride away.

She lowers her head, waiting for the bus to start, then returns alone.

Actually, whether she saw the flower carts in Nakatsugawa City or not doesn't matter, she just doesn't want to be alone.

At this moment, she hears someone knock on the window.

Zhenji Jinguji looks up, sees Qing Chen with a baseball cap and a scarf, standing outside the bus.

He calmly waves to the little girl, signaling her to come down.

Zhenji Jinguji hurriedly runs down: "Oniisan..."

Qing Chen hands her a pair of new gloves and a new scarf, saying: "Want to go back to Shirakawa Village with me? Sitting on the crossbar will be a bit cold, and it'll take about three hours."

Zhenji Jinguji beams with joy: "No problem!"

On the way back, cold wind lashes their faces, but the little girl doesn't mind at all.

Black asphalt roads lined with snowy white mountains in the distance and clear mountain springs and streams nearby.

The ends of the little girl's long scarf flutter joyfully in the wind.

...

...

Qing Chen's life returns to tranquility, every day riding his mountain bike, departing as dawn breaks and before everyone in Shirakawa Village wakes up towards the mountains.

Then he carries the mountain bike up the peak on his back, returning at night after all the skiing guests have gone back to the inn.

Every day, he can see the little girl sitting outside the inn, resting her chin on her hands, waving at him.

These are possibly the most peaceful nine days Qing Chen has had since traversing.

Calming the suffering he encountered in Inner World.

Qing Chen starts from the highest peak, Mount Okuhotaka, slowly clearing paths along the ridge, removing snow, throwing away unstable rocks.

Due to the ridge's treacherous nature, and the time he takes to practice mountain bike control each day, Qing Chen only manages to clear a few hundred meters daily.

The winding ridge he needs to clear has a slope length of 3.1 kilometers, with multiple spots exceeding 45 degrees.

He is not in a hurry, following a consistent routine of early departure and late return.

As night falls, Qing Chen endures the cold wind cycling back to Shirakawa Village.

But today is a bit different.

When he sees the familiar hot spring inn from afar, he does not see the familiar little girl.

Qing Chen silently stops.

He throws the mountain bike in the snow beside the road and calmly walks towards the inn, listening carefully to every sound.

No breaths can be heard inside the inn.

Qing Chen opens the door, sees Zhenji Jinguji's grandmother lying on the floor, breathless.

He decisively turns and leaves, knocks on the neighboring inn's door, calmly asks: "Hello, have you seen the little girl next door?"

The neighboring inn's owner, a middle-aged woman, hesitates then says: "You mean Zhenji... She was taken by the people from the Mysterious Business Department, but they haven't left yet."

"Where are they," Qing Chen calmly asks.

"They went east of Shirakawa Village, seems like they have other people to arrest," the owner says: "You are..."

Qing Chen doesn't answer, turns and walks away.

He stands on the black gravel road, quietly watching the end of the small road in the east of Shirakawa Village.

Rationality tells him, he shouldn't create additional complications until he completes the life-and-death challenge.

Just wait three more days; he will clear all the ridges and try to challenge the life-and-death test.

Once he reaches B-Class, he will have the qualifications to attempt to escape from A02 base and return to Osaka to exact revenge.

No matter how formidable Jindai Time Travelers are in the Outer World, aside from very few chosen ones, he is the peak of combat ability.

If he starts a killing spree now in Shirakawa Village, countless Jindai Time Travelers will be drawn, even if he kills decisively, the news will quickly reach Osaka.

So the best choice is to wait three more days.

But... can Zhenji Jinguji wait for him for three days?

Knowing the Jindai Time Travelers' vile nature, Qing Chen doesn't know what they might do to Zhenji Jinguji in these three days, nor does he want to know.

He only knows, if he really can wait these three days, letting Jindai take the little girl away.

Then he doesn't need to complete the life-and-death challenge anymore.

Because by then, he wouldn't deserve that protein bar thrown to him by Wang Yuchao and Zhao Mingke.

He wouldn't deserve the respect of Li Ke, Qing Yi, Nan Gengchen, Liu Dezhu, and Luo Wanya.

He wouldn't deserve to accompany Li Xiurui in his final journey.

Perhaps, he wouldn't even deserve to become a Knight.

What is the belief of a Knight aside from courage?

The boy stands on the black road thinking, perhaps there's also eternal sincerity.

Sincerity that doesn't ask for benefits, only asks for one's true heart.

Qing Chen walks towards the east of Shirakawa Village against the wind and snow in the dark night.

His expression resembles the determination and stubbornness he had when he built stone walls countless times in the pigsty.

Maybe at that moment in the pigsty, he had already decided, if this long night of the world doesn't pass by itself, he will redefine the endless night with daylight.