Naming Technique of the Night

"By the way, you haven't had dinner yet, have you?" Qing Chen asked, "I have a meticulously prepared meal here, still warm; you should eat some while it's hot."

The old man glanced at the thermally insulated lunchbox in Qing Chen's hands and hesitated, "Did you bring this especially for me?"

Qing Chen said matter-of-factly, "Yes, it's cold on this broken bridge, and you're fishing out here. How could you do so without eating something to replenish your energy?"

"At least you're thoughtful," the old man faintly replied as he took the lunchbox, only to see beef inside, and to his surprise, there was even twice-cooked pork in a small compartment. Read exclusive adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

The old man laughed joyfully, "The doctor had removed twice-cooked pork from my menu a long, long time ago; it's rare to have it again, thanks to you, you're thoughtful."

Qing Chen smiled knowingly, thinking to himself that Li Ke, this kid, had prepared quite a lavish meal, and it even looked appealing.

Only, Li Ke didn't know that he only taught a morning class at Zhixin Courtyard and always went straight back to Feiyun Courtyard for lunch, not needing this meal at all.

But Qing Chen didn't let it go to waste; he simply brought it over for the old man.

"Aren't you afraid it could be poisoned?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

"If it were poisoned, you'd be dead by now," the old man stated blandly.

Upon hearing this, Qing Chen instinctively looked toward the lakeside woods, but saw nothing.

Could it be that the old man had an Awakener bodyguard with the ability to detect poison?

"Do you know how many dragon fishes are there in this Dragon Lake?" the old man asked while eating the twice-cooked pork.

"I'm not sure, such a big lake, there must be a few hundred at least," Qing Chen estimated roughly.

The old man sat firmly on the broken bridge and shook his head, "Initially, the Ancestor of Knight brought only 18, and after so many years, it's still 18. These dragon fishes stopped breeding and growing after leaving the Taboo Land. A dragon fish was secretly eaten a few years back, and you ate another yesterday, now only 16 remain."

"Wait," Qing Chen froze, "Does that mean I can only eat 16 more?"

The old man replied irritably, "Is that really what you should be focusing on? The Ancestor of Knight once said eating up to 9 dragon fishes is the limit; eating more won't do you any good."

"Oh," Qing Chen nodded, "Please continue."

The old man continued, "There are many rare and exotic beasts in the Taboo Land, initially we speculated why those powerful creatures never venture out of the Taboo Land, they could easily hunt outside. After raising the dragon fishes, I started to think, perhaps they know that they cannot breed once they leave the Taboo Land."

Of course, this was just a speculative thought.

Qing Chen suddenly said, "Have you ever considered that maybe the Ancestor of Knight, when gifting them to you, specifically chose 18 females, intentionally making it impossible for your dragon fishes to breed?"

This time the old man was taken aback; Qing Chen's deduction had no evidence or basis.

But strangely, he felt that this was indeed something a Knight would do!

Thinking back to the years he spent longing for the days the dragon fishes would spawn, and the possibility of being the butt of a joke, he almost wanted to curse.

Qing Chen consoled, "It's also possible I'm wrong, maybe they're not all females; perhaps they're all males."

The old man sighed, "You're going to be the death of me here, and you'll definitely have to join me in burial."

"Then pretend I never mentioned it," Qing Chen said calmly.

"Speaking of which, aren't you going to ask who I am?" the old man asked slowly.

"If you wanted to tell me, wouldn't you have already?" Qing Chen sat on a small stool nearby, "Besides, who you are isn't that important to me; having a distinguished reputation and a solid backing is enough."

The young man sized up the elder, whose hands were full of calluses, resembling dry tree bark.

He didn't look like someone in a position of power, rather more like an old farmer who worked the fields from dawn till dusk.

"You really don't have the curiosity typical of young people," the old man quipped, "but you're quite adept at borrowing authority."

"Look at how you put it," Qing Chen explained, "As a teacher at Zhixin Courtyard, I'm also considering the future of Li Family's next generation. Look at what they've turned the kids into, they can't handle even the slightest hardship. That's only acceptable in the Li Family; if they weren't descendants of a powerful clan, they'd probably end up dead in the streets sooner or later."

The old man sighed, "A huge clan is like a huge corporation; there are all sorts of issues, and problems can arise if you're not careful. Go-ahead and teach them, I've already made arrangements; the fishbone is hanging there, no one is going to trouble you. But I'm curious about something, why are you willing to go to the trouble of teaching them?"

Qing Chen declared righteously, "For the Li Family's long-lasting foundation, of course!"

The old man: "..."

Actually, Qing Chen had already thought it through; this was ultimately about the battle for the position of Shadow.

Currently, it was said that Qing's Family had issued the second round tasks for the Shadow candidates, precisely to help the future Shadow of Qing's Family find potential political allies early on.

The key was to slowly learn how to build alliances and manage the relationships between different clans.

And Qing Chen? He was also involved in the competition for Shadow, except the difference was...

Of the remaining 7 Shadow candidates, 4 were competing over one Li Yinuo, while he alone had 31 of Li's Third Generation at his disposal.