Night’s Nomenclature

The boy turned his head towards the big willow tree in front of him only to see another one of its branches appearing out of nowhere, plucking a milky white fruit from its own crown and handing it to him.

As Qing Chen silently watched, the terrifying tree even shook its branch and pointed at his mouth, as if gesturing for him to eat.

Truth to be told, Qing Chen was quite flabbergasted. He instinctively approached the willow tree thinking that it wouldn't hurt him, but its current action made him feel rather… overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.

To other people, it was an extremely terrifying existence, but it was actually giving him food!

Qing Chen thought for a while, then suddenly laughed, "If you really wanted to kill me, it wouldn't take this much work, right?"

Then, he finished the fruits in a few bites.

The fruit had a light and sweet taste, seemingly not much different from an apple.

Contrary to his expectation, it was neither magically melt-in-your-mouth good, nor did it give him any special sensation.

Qing Chen glanced at the tree with some doubts, but it had already stopped moving.

"Thank you," said the boy before turning to leave.

But just as he turned around, a gust of wind swept through the hinterland. It carried a faint voice in its breeze, as though someone was talking or singing to him. Qing Chen couldn't make out what exactly was uttered, but he knew what the voice was trying to say.

It felt a little quaint, like someone was directly conveying their thoughts into his mind.

The voice was kind and warm.

Qing Chen stared at the depths of the hinterland, his eyes pensive. "You mean, someone has come to kill me, and I won't be able to win against him?"

Another gust of warm wind surrounded him.

Qing Chen mumbled, "I'm still young, it's normal for me to lose…"

Why did he suddenly start consoling himself…

He pondered over it, and then genuinely asked, "Then what do you think I should do?"

As if moving a hand, the willow tree lifted its branch and pointed to the west.

"Are you telling me to climb the mountain?" At this moment, Qing Chen was certain that the one communicating with him was the will of a senior Knight who took eternal rest on this land, caring for the juniors just like what an elder would do.

Facing the hinterland, the boy took a deep, solemn bow. "Thank you."

Then, he ran to the west.

Once, Qing Chen asked Li Shutong about when exactly he was going to climb that mountain. After all, it was the main purpose they made this trip.

Despite bringing Qing Chen around the Forbidden Land, Li Shutong always said that the right time had not yet come.

When Qing Chen asked him why, Li Shutong answered, ‘Although you've already learned the skills, you're still missing the momentum. Ultimately, climbing that mountain depends not on your skills, but on the courage to go on without regrets.'

At that time, Qing Chen asked his teacher to explain what exactly ‘the courage to go on without regrets' meant.

Li Shutong merely smiled, not saying a word.

Now, Qing Chen finally understood. It turned out that what was missing was an enemy chasing after his life.

…

Not long after Qing Chen left, Li Shutong leisurely walked underneath the willow tree with both hands clasped behind his back.

The corpses of those soldiers had been eaten by the ants until only piles of bones remained, and the splattered bloodstains had been absorbed by the weeds and roots, leaving no trace on the ground.

"You guys gave him something to eat just like that. You even alerted him about the incoming danger and pointed out the direction he has to take, isn't it practically cheating?" Li Shutong helplessly complained, "Unlike in novels, there's no such thing like instant power-up elixirs in this world. Otherwise, wouldn't you guys have snatched and given it to him as well?

No one replied to Li Shutong; it was as if he was talking to the air.

But the branches of the big willow tree kept swaying, inexplicably looking rather triumphant.

Li Shutong sighed, "I didn't get this kind of treatment back then. You guys talk about fairness and justice everyday, but now you're helping him to cheat and treating him differently?"

"But… since this is our own home ground, cheating a little doesn't seem to be such a big deal!"

"To be honest, I never thought someone would use Master's ‘no singing along' rule to kill people… It's really unexpected…"

"But all of you have also seen it, right? Someone who can utilise the rules to kill so many enemies even when he's still an ordinary person, I'm sure this is the first time Forbidden Land No. 002 has ever witnessed this kind of disciple."

After talking about Qing Chen's feat, Li Shutong suddenly looked into the far distance and asked with an expression of pride, "Everyone, don't you think that my disciple-picking skill is better than yours?

"No, that's not right," Li Shutong shook his head, "Why does it sound like I'm belittling myself as well, isn't this basically saying that I'm not as good as him…"

"Fine, I'll stop chatting with you guys now. Anyway, I've already found a successor, and I don't think you guys could imagine just what kind of change he will bring to the Knights in the future. In short, it'll definitely be great."

"Next, I'll be doing my own thing."

As before, no one responded to Li Shutong's words.

The entire Forbidden Land No. 002 was the gravesite of the Knights, and he was like a junior from the later generation talking to the tombstone of his elders, rambling about all kinds of things.

The next moment, the whistling of the wind resounded from the hinterland. Li Shutong carefully listened to the voice in the wind, but soon his expression changed. "I'm not helping him, you say? It's him who won't accept my help!"

Another gust of wind came, and the message within it had Li Shutong indignantly grumbling, "How is it my fault that he doesn't own even a single Forbidden Item? Since when did Forbidden Items become the standard equipment for Knights? I've never heard of such a thing, and my Master never gave me any either! Stop jeering, you guys are going to spoil the kid rotten!"

…

Countdown 52:00:00.

8 o'clock at night.

Qing Chen leaned against a tree trunk, slightly panting. He had been running all the way from the afternoon, but until now, he still hadn't seen the shadow of the mountain.

He rummaged through his pockets in hunger, but the only edible thing was the piece of chocolate Qin Yiyi secretly gave to him before they parted.

Before Qing Chen could eat, something seemed to alert him, so he got up and ran to the west.

A few kilometers later, he finally sat down again.

He was so hungry and exhausted that his body began showing mild symptoms of shock.

But whenever he wanted to stop and nibble on something, he could always feel a strong sense of crisis approaching from behind.

The boy tore open the wrapper of the chocolate — it had almost completely melted.

He voraciously ate it, licking up all the melted chocolate sticking to the aluminium foil.

It wasn't until he finished eating the chocolate that he finally felt a little more at ease.

But it still wasn't enough.

He had obviously eaten the white fruit given by the willow tree, but why did it seem like that fruit had no use at all?

Qing Chen took out his dagger, sliced off a piece of bark from the tree trunk, and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing hard.

The bark was very unpalatable. Some parts were soft, but some other parts, no matter how long he chewed for, were still too tough to swallow. He could only spit them out.

The next second, Qing Chen sensed the danger approaching close. He inwardly cursed and continued to run for his life.

Not long after, Cao Wei silently appeared in the place Qing Chen had just left. He looked at the wrapper and the chewed bark that had been spat out on the ground, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

Found you.

Despite the dark night, Cao Wei's eyes were particularly bright. This was the ability bestowed to him by his genetic medicine.

There were many kinds of genetic medicines on the market, each of them used to strengthen the body, but they could only enhance what was already there. For example, the FDE type genetic medicine injected into Liu Dezhu could enhance the strength of the lower limbs, while Cao Wei's genetic medicine could enhance the sensory organs.

It gave him better vision, hearing, sense of smell, taste, and touch.

This was the reason he could find the traces Qing Chen left in this vast Forbidden Land.

Just as he was about to continue the pursuit, Cao Wei discovered a tree trunk from which a piece of bark had been scraped. On that spot, someone had used a sharp tool to write down two extremely tiny letters.

"Wo?"

Cao Wei raised his head and scanned the area. Soon, he found another tree trunk with a similar scrape, with more tiny letters engraved on it: Cao.

He wondered aloud, "Caowo?" 1Wocao is the Chinese equivalent of the curse word "fuck".

Didn't sound right.

Just as he was about to reverse the order of letters and try reading out the word, he clamped his mouth shut.

Cao Wei chuckled coldly. In fact, the number of rules he knew about was greater than what others would have expected.

For this task, he made a special trip to the black market and bought information on two of the rules in Forbidden Land No. 002, which were: no killing, and no swearing.

A trace of doubt arose in Cao Wei's heart. Even at this moment, that boy was still trying to kill him with the rules.

He even had to resort to eating barks, so he was obviously already at the end of his rope, and yet, he still had the mind to set up a trap for his enemy.

Was he really an ordinary person?

Translator: Zee

• 1Wocao is the Chinese equivalent of the curse word "fuck".