Night’s Nomenclature

Chapter 225: Adding Stakes to the Game

“Mr. Shadow, your secrets are tempting, but I don’t like putting my life on the line,” Qing Chen said in the darkness.

In this small house, Qing’s current Shadow and the Shadow candidate Qing Chen sat in front of each other in the living room. There was no light, and their faces were hidden in the darkness.

Both sat in a way that seemed somewhat confrontational.

It was as if two kings were sitting in front of each other on their thrones, silently examining each other.

Shadow suddenly laughed, “That’s strange. You are obviously rejecting me, but I am not angry at all. Over the years, not many people have dared to reject my offers.”

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, “Mr. Shadow, you seem to have killed many people, so you don’t have much reverence for life. A life in exchange for a secret may not be a big deal in your eyes, but in my opinion, it is unnecessary.”

“Killing people is part of my job as the Shadow,” Shadow said with a smile, “Otherwise, what do you think the Shadow is?”

Qing Chen calmly explained, “To everyone else, I have successfully faked my death. Now I can just hide in the dark and wait for the other candidates to kill each other, before reaping the benefits, right?”

Shadow smiled and said, “Yes.”

“But you seem to be unwilling to see me living my life in peace, so you came here in person to add more stakes to this Fight for the Shadow,” said Qing Chen.

Before this, even if Qing Chen planned to exonerate Liu Dezhu, it was to increase his bargaining chips…

In case an opportunity to pick up a bargain arises, having a C-level by his side will also allow him to complete the harvest.

However, he did not intend to set up a trap for the Shadow candidates because it was too dangerous and not necessary.

“Not necessary” was the key factor.

And now, Shadow seemed to have noticed this problem, so he came here specially to solve it.

“Since you have killed Qing Huai, I will tell you the first secret. Without external interference, a Shadow war can easily last for several years,” Shadow said slowly, “During these years, the various factions will constantly test each other and then choose the most cautious time to take action. But I can’t wait that long, because I’m running out of time.”

After saying that, Shadow started coughing violently again in the darkness.

In the darkness, Qing Chen vaguely saw the other party take out a handkerchief and cover his mouth.

Qing Chen suddenly realized what the other party meant by running out of time.

“Mr. Shadow,” Qing Chen said, “Is it worth it to be so badly injured because of the Fight for the Shadow? Is power really that important?”

“Power?” Shadow paused for a long time before saying, “The foundation of the Qing family is like a mountain. You and I will be the foundation of this mountain. Only when you truly stand in front of this mountain will you understand that personal honor and disgrace are no longer issues worth thinking about? Power is just a byproduct of shouldering a mission.”

Qing Chen shook his head, “I don’t have as strong a sense of mission as you, so I can’t understand it.”

“It’s okay. You will understand one day.” Shadow thought for a moment and said, “I don’t have time to wait for years. I can’t bear to see those people slowly fight for a champion, so I naturally hope that someone can speed up the process. At present, you are the most suitable one.”

“Mr. Shadow, am I the only person that is offered this game, or are you offering this to all the other candidates as well?” Qing Chen asked.

Shadow laughed, “That’s another secret. If you want to learn the truth, go kill a candidate. This world is cruel. If you don’t kill, you will be killed. To be the Shadow of the Qing family, you have to get used to life and death. You have courage in you, but just courage alone is not enough”

Qing Chen did not ask any more questions. Given that he barely knows anything compared to the Shadow, asking one more question would only increase the other party’s sense of superiority.

The Shadow stood up and said with a smile, “The game is valid forever, I’ll keep my word.”

A shadow door appeared out of thin air in front of him.

Qing Chen’s pupils suddenly narrowed. He realized that it might be a secret Forbidden Item that could allow the Shadow of the Qing family to travel freely in space.

This surprised him a little because the ability to travel through space freely was more shocking to him than Marionette Strings.

The Forbidden Items were more mysterious than he had imagined.

Moreover, by appearing out of nowhere with that, almost no one can defend against it!

However, this Forbidden Item should only be able to travel to a place “known” by the owner, otherwise, why would Shadow come in through the front door?

Shadow seemed to have noticed Qing Chen’s reaction, “How about adding another prize? If you become Shadow one day, I will give you this Forbidden Item… No, I can’t give you this one, but I can give you something else.”

Before Shadow walked through the door, Qing Chen asked, “Mr. Shadow, you’re worried that I will side with the Knights, right? Are you worried that I will leave the Qing family?”

“I’m just worried that you’ll get too close to Li Shutong and forget that you are still a member of the Qing family,” Shadow smiled.

Qing Chen was silent for two seconds and said, “Li Shutong has already given me a Forbidden Item, but you haven’t yet.”

“…” Shadow laughed, “It’s getting fun.”

After saying that, he turned around and disappeared into the shadow door.

…

…

Qing Chen still sat quietly on the sofa and only breathed a sigh of relief after the shadow door completely vanished in the darkness.

The sense of oppression the Shadow gave him was far beyond his imagination.

It was a simple meeting, but he felt like he was talking to a tiger. The energy in the room seemed to be pulled by some force, causing Qing Chen’s spirit to be tense the entire time.

The next second, the room was lit up with a warm orange light.

Qing Chen asked curiously, “Why didn’t you turn on the light just now so that I could see his face?”

ONE said, “I don’t want to provoke people like him without a good reason.”

Qing Chen was stunned for a moment. What kind of person would make ONE not want to offend them so easily? He said unhappily, “Why didn’t you warn me in advance and tell me that there was someone in the room?”

“He won’t kill you,” ONE said slowly, “Your master asked me to warn you in advance if you will be in danger, but you are not in danger, right?”

“So, he is the one who made the deal with my master?” Qing Chen thought for a while and asked.

“I don’t know. I’m not the one that can answer that question,” ONE replied, “But… I’m curious, will you kill the other candidates as he offered?”

Qing Chen pondered for a moment: “No, I don’t even believe what he said at the moment.”

“Huh.” ONE seemed relieved. “If your master knew you thought this way, he would be very happy.”

“Why?” Qing Chen asked curiously.

“Because the Shadow never speaks the truth,” ONE said in a relaxed tone, “What he said about letting you participate in the Fight for the Shadow might be complete nonsense, and the promise to give you the Forbidden Item might also be a clue. I even suspected that he has never been seriously injured, and his frequent coughing is just the containment condition of a certain Forbidden Item!”

“Then why does he want me to kill other Shadow candidates? What benefits will this bring to the Qing family?” Qing Chen wondered.

“He only cares about what he thinks is fun and interesting!” ONE said, “He often achieves his goals while seemingly playing around like that.”

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, “If he had given me a Forbidden Item before he left, I might have trusted him a little more.”

ONE was silent for a few seconds, “You are such a realistic human being.”

Qing Chen was not very interested in Shadow’s secrets.

Because he had already thought through many things in the two minutes he stood outside the door.

First, on the day when the divine scepter fell from space, Qing Chen knew that Li Shutong must have made some kind of deal with the Qing family, otherwise, his master would never have known the exact time when the tungsten rod would fall.

Secondly, his master’s friends were detained by both the Chen and Qing families. Li Shutong had been searching for so many years but could not find the place where his friends were secretly detained. However, as long as the deal with the Qing family was completed, the secret would no longer be a secret.

Thirdly, Forbidden Item ACE-002 was extracted from an ancestor of the Qing family. That ancestor was an ordinary person, not a supernatural being, so no one expected that he could produce a Forbidden Item.

This must be top secret among top secrets. If someone from the Qing family had not told him, Li Shutong would have no reason to know this information, let alone know the containment conditions for the Forbidden Item.

Qing Chen pondered: When was the deal made?

He believed the deal must have started a long time ago, even before he entered Prison 18.

Before Li Shutong entered Prison No. 18, he had already started “collecting” prisoners who deserved to be put to death. This was the condition for containing ACE-002.

At this time, he was then assigned a task to go to Prison No. 18.

Qing Chen couldn’t help but suspect that he was a part of the deal.

…