Night’s Nomenclature

In the dark living room, Lu Yuan sat on the sofa and waited for his team to arrive. He wanted to detain Old Qin with the formal procedure.

After a while, he heard the sound of footsteps outside the door. Lu Yuan opened the door and was surprised to see Zheng Yuandong coming in person. "Boss, why are you here?"

Zheng Yuandong glanced at Old Qin who was lying unconscious on the floor, "You caught the culprit?"

"Yes," answered Lu Yuan in a downcast mood. "Boss, when I first entered this field, I came across a particularly gruesome case. When Old Qin was doing the autopsy, I vomited outside the autopsy room. After he finished, he gave me a glass of warm water and told me that when he first started, he was actually the same as me."

Lu Yuan continued, "He said, although our profession is challenging and the salary is low, but since we've already chosen it, then we just have to stick with it."

To be honest, when he was investigating who the information leaker was, he truly didn't expect it to be Old Qin.

Zheng Yuandong glanced at him. "Old Qin violated the law, so he will be punished according to the law. But you and I understand that it's natural for a person to be afraid when their life is at stake. I don't blame him, and you also don't have to blame him."

Lu Yuan said, "Old Qin's daughter is still in school, his children will be affected by this as well."

Humans were not robots; they were living, breathing creatures with flesh and blood.

They had various characters, and various emotions.

A man with strong ideals like Zheng Yuandong would also eat and drink at roadside stalls to recall the past together with his comrades.

Eagle, who was dubbed ‘Tenacious Third Brother', would also occasionally think about how nice it would be to be taken care of by a rich woman.

Everyone had their own labels, but what lied beneath those labels was an inextricably human essence.

Zheng Yuandong said, "Send out a notice and tell everyone to fill out a form if they have any critically ill family members or serious hereditary disease. If there are medicines or genetic medicines that can cure them in the Inner World, we'll find a way to get them."

Lu Yuan was stunned. "Boss, specialty drugs and genetic repair drugs from the Inner World are not cheap."

Zheng Yuandong silently looked at Old Qin's prone form, and then patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder. "It's okay, I'll figure out a way."

"Oh, that's right," Lu Yuan said, "I followed your instructions and let Old Qin pass on the information before apprehending him."

"Okay," Zheng Yuandong nodded.

"But I don't really get it," Lu Yuan asked, "It wasn't easy for us to get this test result, why give it to others just like that?"

"Because I don't want them to target this high school student named Qing Chen," Zheng Yuandong replied.

Although he failed to find the person behind the scenes, Zheng Yuandong felt that what he did was not for naught because he managed to find Qing Chen, someone who could potentially become a member of their organization.

He said to Lu Yuan, "In addition, gather up people from the counterintelligence, criminal investigation, behavior analysis, and cryptologist departments, and ask the secretary to book them the earliest flight to Luo City. I have a hunch that something big is about to happen. You guys from the secret service department should also be on alert and start sending people to Luo City."

…

The evening self-study class was over. Tian Hailong, the homeroom teacher, came to check on the class.

When he saw Qing Chen sitting in the classroom, he stopped walking for a moment, looking very surprised.

Tian Hailong thought that it was really rare for Qing Chen to stay until the last class of self-study — he even felt a little excited by the sight.

Once school was over, Qing Chen and Nan Gengchen made their way outside.

The rich kids from the next class put their arms around Liu Dezhu's shoulders, inviting him to have a good time at the nightclubs in Luo City, but Liu Dezhu refused without hesitation and rode home alone on his bicycle.

Their spirits dampened, the rich kids dispersed and stepped on the gas.

Amidst the buzzing of luxury cars, Qing Chen even felt that he had been transported to a real cyber world…

But seeing Liu Dezhu in such a hurry to go home, Qing Chen quickly realized something. Did he have something urgent to tell him?

Probably.

Qing Chen looked at Nan Gengchen. "What do you plan on doing next? I think Li Yinuo treats you very well, my master also said that she really loves you."

Nan Gengchen shook his head and said, "She's really good to me, but I still want to learn hacking so that I'll be able to help you out in the Inner World. People say that one is never too old to learn. I also hope that I can quickly become more useful and stop being a burden to you… I can't always rely on Li Yinuo, can I?"

Qing Chen was rather moved. "You really abandoned the gateway to heaven so that you can struggle to sail on the sea of learning."

Nan Gengchen, "???"

At this moment, Qing Chen inadvertently caught something from the corner of his eye. The girl named Yang Yang had actually been following behind them.

He paused for a second and said to Nan Gengchen, "I'm going home first, see you tomorrow."

Bidding his goodbye, Qing Chen mingled into the crowd.

He silently crossed over to Xingshu Road and entered Courtyard 4.

But the faint footsteps were still trailing behind him.

Qing Chen went into a dark alley and suddenly looked back at the girl behind him. "Why are you following me?"

After a few seconds of silence, Yangyang asked, "Can you tell me how to get to Apartment No. 12…"

Qing Chen frowned. Apartment No. 12 was where he lived in.

Qing Chen tentatively asked, "Are you the new tenant of Room 101?"

"Yes," Yangyang took out the key, "I just moved in last night, I'm still unfamiliar with the area."

"Then follow me," Qing Chen said before leading the way.

"Do you live here too?" Yangyang asked curiously.

"Yes," Qing Chen said, "I've been living here for many years."

"That's great, I can just follow you home from now on," Yangyang said.

Hearing this sentence, Qing Chen felt a little puzzled. What did she mean?

Was she someone with a poor sense of direction?

In the morning, Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen greatly boasted about her deeds, saying she was extremely skilled at using firearms and sailed across the Indian Ocean alone. How could such a person have a bad sense of direction?

It didn't make sense.

Qing Chen found it strange, so he tried to probe again, "Are you bad with directions?"

This time, it took a longer stretch of silence for Yangyang to answer. "Yes."

This stirred up an uproar in Qing Chen's mind. Such a talented girl actually had no sense of direction?

He remembered Hu Xiaoniu saying that Yangyang was initially sailing around the offshore area before she suddenly decided to cross the Indian Ocean.

After repelling the pirates, she went off route and lost her way at sea, drifting for a long time before finally docking in Pakistan.

When Qing Chen recalled this, he couldn't help thinking that her so-called impromptu trip to cross the Indian Ocean…

Might actually be a result of her getting lost at sea?!

Then she accidentally created a legend?!

Qing Chen felt that his guess was most probably true.

Upon arriving at the door, he watched Yangyang unlock it with her key before thanking him.

He peered into the room. Although the furniture had been replaced with new ones, the peeling paint remained unattended. It seemed like she had no plans to renovate the house.

Qing Chen couldn't help asking, "Are you not going to do some renovation?"

Yangyang shook her head, "I don't really mind, it's fine as long as I can live in it."

"Then won't it be much better to stay in a hotel? Why do you want to live here," Qing Chen asked again.

Yangyang glanced at him, "It's too far from school."

Qing Chen instantly understood what she meant. Because even the nearest hotel was some distance away, she would easily get lost.

On the other hand, this apartment was only 5 minutes away from school. No matter how horrible her sense of direction was, she would be able to remember the way after a few trips.

Previously, Qing Chen thought the new tenant came here for himself, Jiang Xue, Hu Xiaoniu, and Zhang Tianzhen. Now, it seemed that her reason for choosing this place was more pure and simple: because it was close to the school.

All of a sudden, the communication device in Qing Chen's pocket vibrated. He said goodbye to Yangyang and returned to his unit.

On the dining table, there were dishes prepared for him as well as a note from Jiang Xue saying that she had brought Li Tongyun back to her own house. Her parents from Zheng City were coming to visit for a couple of days, so she had to clean up the house to prepare for their arrival.

Qing Chen sat on the chair and took out his device, reading Liu Dezhu's message.

‘Boss, there's a new letter. That person wrote: I couldn't find you today, so disappointed, hehe.'

Qing Chen frowned. The blood test was done in the afternoon, why did the Devil Stamp Post owner already know about the result?

How on earth did he do it?

But the good news was that the identity he constructed seemed to have successfully misled many people.

This made Qing Chen let out a sigh of relief. He didn't mind others thinking that he was a pawn. The more they underestimated him, the better it was.

Liu Dezhu sent him another message,

‘Boss, the letter appeared next to my pillow this evening. I hadn't returned from school at that time, so my father saw it… Is it okay?'

Qing Chen replied, ‘It's fine. Write back to that person: You didn't find me, but I will find you soon.'

Liu Dezhu gasped when he saw the reply. ‘Boss, you're so awesome! I'll answer him now!'

He thought to himself, if the boss found out who this person was, he could finally stop cutting and bleeding himself.

But Liu Dezhu was too optimistic.

The fact was that Qing Chen didn't have the slightest clue about his identity. He simply thought that since this person had already harassed him several times, it was only right for him to return the favor. Might as well scare him back!

After all, this person doesn't know Qing Chen's real identity, so he certainly wouldn't be able to tell whether or not Qing Chen really had a clue about who he was.

By writing such a reply, Qing Chen could send the enemy into panic and make him waste time to reexamine if he had accidentally revealed something about himself, so why not do it?

Liu Dezhu sent a message, ‘Boss, he wrote another letter: This Qing Chen seems to be much better than Liu Dezhu, I don't know if he'll be interested in working for me, hehe.'

The Devil Post Stamp owner didn't respond to his provocation. He was unwilling to continue talking about this topic, which showed that he was worried about accidentally saying the wrong thing.

However, him revealing his plan of poaching Qing Chen from Qing Chen to Qing Chen was truly shocking.

Of course, the one who was the most shocked was Liu Dezhu.

This was the first time he received such a direct-indirect insult…

Did this person forget that he was the one conveying the messages? How could he trashtalk him right to his face!

Putting that aside, this was also the first time Liu Dezhu heard the name Qing Chen being brought up. Could he be another subordinate of the boss?

The name actually sounded a bit familiar!

Qing Chen's reply came at this time. ‘Reply to him: It won't be that easy to poach Qing Chen.'

Before Qing Chen could start to eat, his communication device buzzed again. ‘Boss, he sent another letter: Don't be so confident, don't you know that I already wrote a letter to Qing Chen? Seems like he's not as loyal as you think, hehe.'

Qing Chen looked up in astonishment — a letter to himself? He hadn't received anything!

Oh fuck.

He was hit by a sudden realization. Lin Xiaoxiao said that to send a letter with the Devil Post Stamp, a recipient address was required.

So once this person found out about Qing Chen, he must've investigated his address and then sent him a letter.

However, he had already moved house!

The current resident of that address was not him, but Yangyang!

Right now, the letter sent by this person was most probably lying beside Yangyang's pillow.

Qing Chen could even picture Yangyang's puzzled expression when she saw the letter.

He felt tangled; should he go over to ask for that letter now? How should he explain it to Yangyang?

This mishap was really troublesome…

Just as Qing Chen was debating with himself, he heard someone knocking on the door. He opened the door and saw that it was Yangyang.

The girl raised her hand to show him the letter. "This should be for you."

Saying so, she handed him the letter and went back to her house without asking a single question or even showing any doubt, which saved Qing Chen from a lot of embarrassment.

Right when Yangyang was about to close the door, she suddenly turned around and said to Qing Chen, "Oh right, there's one more thing I want to say. You still remember Wang Yun, right?"

The question took him aback for a second. "I do."

"She was killed in the Inner World by Li Dongze from Heng Society, and her death was very tragic," Yangyang told him, "Her older brother treasured her a lot, so the Wang family won't let this go so easily. After Bai Wan'er returned to Hai City, she pushed all the blame to Liu Dezhu, Hu Xiaoniu, and Zhang Tianzhen."

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

"The Wang family has no power in the Inner World, so it's impossible for them to seek revenge on Li Dongze or Li Shutong. As for Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen, they also won't risk fighting with the Hu family and Zhang family over this matter," explained Yangyang. "So the only one they can target now is Liu Dezhu. Don't forget, this is the Outer World, the Wang family can exert their full power here. They're coming for revenge."

Qing Chen's eyebrows furrowed. Why did Yang Yang tell him all this?

Qing Chen questioned her, "Wasn't Wang Yun part of your circle? Why aren't you helping the Wang family?"

The girl calmly answered, "There's no room for fake traitors in my circle."

Qing Chen asked again, "Actually, I really want to know why you came to Luo City and transferred into my class. What's your goal?"

"You won't answer my question honestly, so I'll naturally do the same," Yangyang said, "You can ask me again when you decide to be honest with me."

Having said everything she wanted to say, the girl closed the door.

Only then did Qing Chen take a look at the letter in his hand. ‘I have everything you want, hehe.'

He sighed, this was really not enticing at all, you didn't even say what was it that you have!

It had to be said that Qing Chen's mock disguise definitely came at the right time, because this person had obviously shifted his focus onto ‘Qing Chen'.

If he hadn't fooled him with this identity, then this person would start cooking up schemes to corner him.

But now, he had become a mere pawn in their eyes.

In this round, Qing Chen was the one who won.

He had no intention to use his identity as ‘Qing Chen' to respond to the letter.

After all, in order to send a reply, he would have to use his own blood.

It was better to let Liu Dezhu do it.

Soon, Liu Dezhu received another letter. ‘I'm curious, how can you hide yourself well?'

Liu Dezhu asked, ‘Boss, what to reply?'

After a brief silence, Qing Chen typed, ‘Hehe.'

In an unknown location, a thin figure sat in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling window. He stared at the letter in his hand, the word ‘hehe' sprawled across it, his thoughts unravelling.

Given a taste of his own medicine by this haughty ‘hehe', the owner of the Devil Post Stamp was at a loss for words…

Once he sent the message, Qing Chen ignored everything and started the training he had put off for quite some time.

According to what Li Shutong said, although he had unlocked the first layer of his genetic limits, his physical constitution had not reached its full potential. Therefore, doing the training would still be useful to him.

Although this improvement was nothing compared to the uncanny powers of superhumans, Qing Chen had always liked aiming for the ‘peak'.

Furthermore, he always believed that self-discipline was humanity's greatest liberty.

…

Countdown 137:00:00.

7 o'clock in the morning. There was no class on the weekend.

Even so, Liu Dezhu got up early and went to wash up. His father, Liu Youcai, looked at his son with great delight.

Before the transmigration started, on every weekend, Liu Dezhu would either play games or watch movies and dramas until the early hours of the morning. He would then sleep all day long on the next day, completely disregarding any self-discipline.

But it was different now. Liu Dezhu went to bed early last night, and woke up early this morning.

Liu Youcai instantly felt that his son had finally grown up!

At first, he thought that transmigration was a bad thing since his son had been kidnapped because of it.

But now, it seemed that the bad thing had turned into a good thing. Not only did his son became one of the most famous time travelers, he even began to cultivate good habits…

As a father, this made Liu Youcai feel that he should work harder to understand and accommodate his son's ‘opportunity' and ‘career'.

However, Liu Youcai suddenly noticed that his son's face had gotten much paler than before.

There was also a metallic smell coming from his body.

"Zhuzi, did you get up this early because you want to go out? I'll cook for you now, eat first before you go," Liu Youcai told his son as he put on an apron.

"It's fine, Dad." Liu Dezhu said, "After you finish cooking, just put it on the table. I'll eat it when I get back."

After that, Liu Dezhu put on a scarf, a hat, and even fished out the sunglasses he bought to act cool a long time ago.

He wrapped himself up from head to toe, shocking Liu Youcai.

If he saw him like this outside the house, he might not even recognize his own son!

Liu Youcai hesitated for a moment before tentatively asking, "Are you…"

"Don't ask, Dad, it's a secret," Liu Dezhu stopped him and proceeded to walk out of the door.

After he left, Liu Youcai hurriedly went to his wife Wang Shufen and asked, "Honey, don't you think that there's something wrong with our son?"

At this moment, Liu Dezhu was hovering near a blood donation site, silently looking around.

The weird thing was that he kept feeling as though a couple dressed in black trench coats had been secretly observing him.

But when he turned his head to peek at them, he saw that the couple wasn't looking at him. They were engagedly chatting and laughing with each other.

Perhaps he had thought too much.

After a long period of observation, Liu Dezhu quietly walked towards the blood donation van. "Good morning, can I buy blood?"

The nurse was shocked. This was the first time she met a person who came to a blood donation site to purchase blood. "This is a place to donate blood, of course we don't sell blood!"

Liu Dezhu thought and asked again, "Then can you sell me a set of your blood collection equipment?"

The nurse felt helpless. "Those are not for sale either!"

"Then I want to donate blood," said Liu Dezhu.

The nurse looked at him in astonishment. "Okay, I'll give you a test first."

She took a test kit to check Liu Dezhu's blood type, hemoglobin level, and hepatitis B antigen, and then measured his heart rate and blood pressure…

After confirming that everything was fine, the nurse sterilized Liu Dezhu's arm and started drawing his blood.

Liu Dezhu watched his own blood flow into the blood bag, silently waiting.

At the same time, the couple who had been secretly observing Liu Dezhu glanced at each other and began to approach the blood donation van, silently reaching into their trench coats for the guns strapped to their torso. These guns were even equipped with silencers.

But before they could reach the van, a bizarre thing occurred.

Right when the nurse finished drawing Liu Dezhu's blood, the boy actually stood up, snatched the blood bag, and ran away in the blink of an eye.

Some steps away from the van, the couple looked at each other in blank dismay. Their plan was disrupted by this inexplicable development — it was Liu Dezhu who won this round.

This was the first time they saw someone stealing blood from a blood donation site. Even more astounding was, what he just stole was his own blood!

What was up with that!?

With doubtful eyes, the nurse looked at the suspicious couple in front of the van. "Are you… here to donate blood?"

Facing her dubious gaze, the couple answered, "Yes, that's right."

"Alright, come in quickly," the nurse told them.

The couple solemnly stared at Liu Dezhu's vanishing back…

Not only did they fail to kill him, they even had to lose a lot of blood…

What they didn't know was that Liu Dezhu was feeling equally tormented. He had no choice but to steal this blood because he couldn't draw his blood by himself!

What happened last night made him realize a huge problem; the owner of the Devil Post Stamp seemed to be addicted to chatting with his boss!

But his blood was required to facilitate the communication between these two!

Liu Dezhu had secretly tried using pig blood, duck blood, and chicken blood, but none of them worked.

To his dismay, he found out that only human blood — most probably that of the recipient's — was effective.

That he could still accept, but the problem was that his wound would close and heal in the span of a day.

This meant that each time those two started talking, he had to cut open a new wound!

After being tortured several times by the boss and the Devil Post Stamp owner, he learned from the pain and decided to think of another way. If other people's blood didn't work, he would draw more of his blood and store it in the refrigerator to be used whenever needed.

This way, at least he didn't have to give himself a new cut every single day.

Half an hour later, he tiptoed home with the blood bag and quietly hid it in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator while his parents were in the bedroom.

Only then could he finally relax. He returned to his bedroom and took the communication device to type a message to Qing Chen. ‘Boss, I think someone wants to kill me!'

Liu Dezhu was completely unaware that after he closed the door, his parents quietly walked out of their room and opened the refrigerator.

Seeing the blood bag hidden by his son, Liu Youcai stood still for a long time.

With a distressed expression, he weakly said, "Honey, it seems like our guess is right."

Wang Shufen whispered, "Should we put away all the silverware and the Guanyin statue at the front door?"

Liu Youcai hesitantly replied, "A vampire shouldn't be under Guanyin's jurisdiction, right?"

After making up for his lack of sleep, Liu Dezhu woke up at noon, his stomach rumbling from hunger.

When he rummaged through the refrigerator in search of food, he saw something that made him stop in his track. In the drawer where he had hidden the blood bag, there were now two additional blood bags…

Translator: Zee