The Splendor of the Setting Sun's Afterglow

"What did I lie to you about?" Qing Chen lay quietly on the recliner, showing no intense emotional fluctuations.

Qing Chen didn't admit to anything; who knows if the other party was bluffing him?

"I know you are Time Walker," Li Changqing said.

Qing Chen began to play dead and remain silent.

"I also know that you saved me at the Jinmao Building," Li Changqing said.

Qing Chen began to play dead and remain silent.

"Alright, stop pretending," Li Changqing's smile deepened. She sat on the stone table next to him, looking down at the young man's profile with great interest. "The sniper who saved me must have been you. I was suddenly busy the other day and didn't have time to come back and ask you. You have to explain yourself to me tonight."

"It's not me, it's the boss of our organization," Qing Chen explained earnestly.

This is tantamount to indirectly admitting his identity as Time Walker, but it's something that can't really be hidden anymore.

However, he still wanted to struggle with the issue of his identity as both the boss and employee of Daylight...

But then Li Changqing said slowly and deliberately, "If the sniper on the Jinmao Building only shot and killed the other sniper, then I can't be sure it was you. After all, you could have asked someone else to do it."

At this moment, Li Changqing changed the subject, looking intently at Qing Chen: "But after that sniper killed the other snipers, he didn't move. He was willing to risk his life to continue firing blanks to intimidate the battlefield. From that moment on, I knew it was you."

Qing Chen sighed, "It really wasn't me."

"Stop struggling. Even if it really wasn't you, I'm convinced it was you," Li Changqing said. "Besides, I heard from the Time Walker that the sniper from the Outer World is very mysterious and is your boss. But after thinking about it carefully, who is qualified to be your boss? You're not the kind of person who would willingly be subordinate to someone else. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Qing Chen sighed, "So many secrets are revealed after such promises are made."

However, Li Changqing became serious. "I'm serious. Regardless of our friendship, you've already saved my life. I, Li Changqing, wouldn't joke about something like this."

The woman wasn't wearing her punk-style leather jacket today; instead, she was dressed in a formal suit, and her hair was neatly pinned up.

Qing Chen suddenly felt that when this woman put on formal attire, she inexplicably possessed a peculiar and extremely powerful aura.

Qing Chen asked curiously, "Logically speaking, if you knew I was Time Walker, you should have known long ago. Why did you only find out now?"

Li Changqing thought for a moment and said, "In the past, 99% of the Time Walker were in Li Yunyi's hands. Now he has handed over all the power to me, so I know a lot of things, including what happened to you in the Outer World this time."

I see.

The conglomerate has a clear division of labor, with each person having their own tasks, and information may not necessarily be shared among them.

But things are different now. Li Yunyi has stepped down, and Li Changqing has full control over the Li Changqing's intelligence. Moreover, Bai Zhou played a role in the battle this time. If Time Walker knew about it, he would definitely report the sniper's situation to Li Changqing.

That's how Li Changqing learned about Qing Chen's identity Time Walker.

Qing Chen suddenly asked, "Are the people causing trouble in Japan and Goryeo from the Outer World your people?"

Although he had guessed it, he still needed to confirm it.

"Yes," Li Changqing nodded, "This is one of the most important plans the Li family has been working on recently. It was proposed by the old man, led by Li Yunshou, and executed by Li Yunyi. The Qing family also contributed some Time Walker, but the main force is still the Li family. In this civil war in the Federation, the Li family and the Qing family will be allies."

"The Qing family only contributed a portion?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"That's right, they've been maintaining their strength, and we don't know what their plans are," Li Changqing said. "But that's not important. What's important is resolving the hidden dangers on Kamishiro and Kashima's side."

"Was Li's Time Walker sent to complete the substitution plan?" Qing Chen asked curiously, "Did it succeed?"

"Of course it was successful, but I can't tell you the specific details," Li Changqing said with a smile. "I have to thank you this time. According to my subordinates, in the reverse Transmigration Plan that Jiuzhou stopped this time, the substitute was also me from the Outer World. So, you saved me twice. How can I repay you?"

Qing Chen glanced at the other party. "1 or 2 times, I guess. This time it was just a small favor. It was mainly thanks to Jiuzhou."

"1.2 times..." Li Changqing pursed his lips. "You're quite meticulous."

At this moment, Qing Chen sensed something was amiss. "If the old man is so determined to seize power from Li Yunyi, why would he entrust him with such an important matter? So, this is all an act too?"

"This is a secret of the Li family. Although you are qualified to sit at the conference table, each member of the Li family keeps their own affairs confidential and only reports to the head of the family and the Privy Council. They cannot communicate with each other," Li Changqing said.

This kind of answer is itself a form of affirmation.

Li Changqing suddenly sensed something was amiss. "Don't try to change the subject. I have another question for you. Are you really a gene warrior? Or did you switch the gene serum last time and actually administer saline solution?"

Qing Chen was startled.

The reason he pretended to be dead was because he was worried that the other party would bring up this topic.

If this is also exposed, then it's not just faking death, it's a complete social death!

You should know that he had been pretending to be in pain for five hours, and the other party had seen it all.

Qing Chen calmly said, "Since you have Time Walker under your command, you should know that Time Walker can only hide things inside their bodies and carry them away."

"Oh, that's true," Li Changqing nodded. "But what if you're Time Walker? You can't tell anything about your movements before and after time travel and return. Other Time Walker can't do that. So many incredible things have happened to you, one more won't make a difference."

Qing Chen pondered how to explain it.

It's best to avoid things like social death if possible.

It's like he asked Yi to send him a message in the daytime group of the Outer World.

Qing Chen's deceptive statement goes like this: it doesn't really matter whether people know he's the boss or not, but in reality, if people did know, they would remember his actions of playing two roles at once...

So, Qing Chen still paid Yi a price of one hundred yuan.

Just as Qing Chen was racking his brains to clear himself of suspicion, the voice of the Old Nineteen suddenly came from outside the door. "Boss, the old master is critically ill. The Privy Council wants you to go to Baopu Tower immediately, and Qing Chen must go too."

Li Changqing was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly walked outside.

At this moment, nothing is more important than this.

The three got into the car parked at the door. Xiao Ying drove, and Old Nineteen, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and said, "This time it seems a bit different. Even many third-generation members of the Li family have received a notification from the Privy Council. This has never happened before; at most, the second generation would be notified."

Li Changqing seemed somewhat dejected. "It seems this time it's for real. He has done what he needed to do. The civil war between Kamishiro and Kashima is doomed to fail. He can An Xin now."

Qing Chen sat calmly in the car, looking out the window, recalling the lonely figure fishing on the broken bridge, and the smile on the other person's face when they first handed him the Dragon Fish.

Even though it was only a short time, and they had known each other for less than a month, it felt like they had known each other for a long time.

Qing Chen's grandfather in the Outer World is still alive. He also has two uncles and two aunts. His grandfather was very good to him when he was a child, but he later suffered a stroke and became a vegetable. Qing Guozhong borrowed money from all his brothers and sisters, so they lost contact.

Now, the old man is like Qing Chen's grandfather, giving him a lot and trying to use the remaining years of his life to teach Qing Chen some lessons.

However, the other party didn't have time.

Qing Chen suddenly felt that this bleak winter seemed to have grown even colder.

Upon arriving at Baopu Tower, the middle-aged man who had previously handed the Zhunti Method to Qing Chen stood expressionless at the entrance, with a middle-aged woman beside him.

One of the two searched men, and the other searched women. Everyone entering Baopu Tower had to go through a body search. Anyone with mechanical limbs had to have them removed before they could enter Baopu Tower.

Baopu Tower was very large, but when Qing Chen and Li Changqing arrived, it was already full of people.

"Who were that middle-aged man and woman at the door just now?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"The woman is the one who takes care of the old man's daily life, and the man is a master who has protected the old man for many years. His name is Li Yunjing," Li Changqing said. "I don't know what his real name is. Li Yunjing is the name given to him by the old man, and he was also included in the beneficiary list of the family trust, so he is considered a member of the Li family."

"What level?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"I don't know either," Li Changqing shook his head, "I can't tell how deep it is."

Baopu Building is a square building in the shape of a "back", which is a typical patio-style building.

The building is open in the middle, and you can see the sky when you look up.

The ground is paved with bluestone slabs. On rainy days, rainwater will fall down the eaves and form a water curtain inside Baopu Tower.

Everyone stood in the open space in the middle of Baopu Tower. Some looked solemn, some covered their faces and wept, and some leaned against the pillars, seemingly lost in thought.

Li Tongyun and Li Yinuo were also there.

At this moment, Li Yunshou came out of a room on the second floor and looked down at the floor below. "Changqing, the old man is calling you."

Li Changqing glanced at Qing Chen: "I'm going up first, see you later."

Qing Chen, an outsider, stood alone in the courtyard, surrounded by members of the Li family. Some people curiously looked him over, thinking to themselves, "Is this the new instructor of the Martial Lecture Hall?"

Does the old man want to have a talk with him before he passes away?

Qing Chen ignored everyone else, found a chair, sat down, and waited quietly.

A short while later, Li Changqing also came out of the second-floor room. Her eyes were red, as if she had just been crying.

Li Yunshou said, "Li Tongyun, your grandfather wants you to come up."

The people around were stunned. At this time, even many second-generation members of the Li family were not qualified to enter Baopu Tower, but they did not expect Li Tongyun to go in first.

The little girl obediently went upstairs and entered the room to find the old man lying weakly on the bed.

Her eyes reddened, and large tears fell from her eyes.

This cry was genuine; since transmigrating, apart from Li Yinuo, the old man had been the kindest to her.

The old man dismissed the others and said weakly with a smile, "Xiao Tongyun, come to Grandpa's side."

"Okay," Li Tongyun obediently walked over and placed her little hand into the old man's cold hand.

The old man said, "You've been helping that woman named Jiang Xue all this time, haven't you?"

Xiao Tongyun paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Why are you helping her?" the old man asked.

"Because she is my mother," Xiao Tongyun said honestly.

"When did you find out she was your mother?" the old man asked.

Not long ago.

The old man stared at the ceiling and suddenly said, "I'm sorry, Xiao Tongyun. Your mother was just a servant of the Li family. But your father fell in love with her and insisted on marrying her. However, the Li family's rules cannot be broken, otherwise the other servants would also have ulterior motives. So I had no choice but to kick her out."

The mother and daughter in the Outer World are naturally also mother and daughter in the Inner World.

Li Tongyun seemed to be telling the truth just now, but in fact she had thought of this. Although she was not sure what the truth was, Jiang Xue was definitely her mother in the Inner World, there was no mistake about that.

Now she knows that it was a story of a servant and his master falling in love, but in the end, the two could not overcome their class differences.

This is a world with rigid class structures. Although Qing Chen felt a sense of familiarity with the old man, the old man was actually unable to escape the constraints of this era.

What only a saint can do, an old man naturally cannot do.

Perhaps this is why Li Shutong was so eager to change the world.

The old man sighed, "At first I thought I hadn't done anything wrong, but it wasn't until your father died of depression that I realized I was wrong. This is one of the things I regret most in my life."

Logically speaking, Jiang Xue should have known about this.

But the old woman probably didn't expect Jiang Xue to become Time Walker, so neither she nor her daughter knew anything about it; they were both clueless.

Fortunately, Xiao Tongyun was clever and didn't reveal anything.

The old man then told some family matters to Xiao Tongyun, and then asked her to call everyone in.

The second generation of the Li family members entered the room and stood silently by the bed.

The old man thought for a moment and said, "I have said everything I need to say. I hope that you brothers and sisters can continue to live in harmony as you do now. I have not done much for the Li family in my life. The only thing worth praising is that I did not cause you brothers and sisters to turn against each other."

In fact, the old man was being modest.

Everyone is tempted by power, but he managed to ensure that everyone recognized Li Yunshou's position before he left, and there were no signs of him causing trouble.

This is a remarkable thing in itself, and it requires great wisdom.

Outsiders thought that the power transition in the Li family would be chaotic, but in fact the power transfer was exceptionally smooth, and preparations were already made for war with the outside world.

At this point, the old man's voice grew softer and softer until it finally fell silent, as if he had fallen asleep.

The next moment, just when many people thought he had passed away, the old man opened his eyes again and weakly smiled, "Just kidding, I just wanted to see who didn't cry."

Everyone was stunned. After a moment of silence, Li Yunshou said, "Dad, your electrocardiogram is still fluctuating. You're not faking it."

"Really?" The old man was also taken aback, but finally smiled with relief and said, "I'm getting old, my acting skills aren't what they used to be."

After saying that, he closed his eyes.

The electrocardiogram returned to complete calm, with no further fluctuations.

Everyone in the room burst into tears, including Li Yunshou, who was usually as calm as a still lake.

The people downstairs heard the crying upstairs and started crying too.

Standing amidst the clamor, Qing Chen felt as if everything was an illusion.

From late at night until dawn, the people in Baopu Tower finally dispersed.

But Qing Chen didn't leave; he kept waiting.

After Li Yunjing and Li Yunshou saw off the last member of the Li family and set the date for the funeral, Baopu Tower returned to complete tranquility.

Li Yunshou glanced at Qing Chen and said, "I'm leaving too. The Li and Qing families will be going to war with the Kamishiro and Kashima in an hour. There are still many things to take care of. I'll leave the rest of the work to you."

Qing Chen nodded silently.

Li Yunshou, who was middle-aged, was silent for a moment before saying, "Although I don't know why Dad trusts you so much, I hope you won't let him down."

"No, it won't," Qing Chen said.

"Alright," Li Yunshou nodded, "If we meet again someday, I, Li Yunshou, will owe you a favor, and the Li family will be your friend forever."

"It's not like I'm not coming back," Qing Chen laughed.

After saying that, Li Yunshou nodded to Li Yunjing and then turned and walked into Dawn.

As dawn broke.

At this moment, the old man slowly walked out of the house. "Have they all left?"

Qing Chen looked at the old man and laughed, "You've gone a bit too far this time, haven't you?"

The old man chuckled, "I've never been very willful in my life. I'm always busy managing this and that. Even when I go out, I can only stay out for one night. The top courtesans I like don't want to wait for a lazy old man like me who's prone to standing people up... Ah, I let it slip."

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you let me teach you the Zhunti Method? It only takes a week to extend your lifespan by 21 years."

The old man waved his hand. "I've lived enough... Do you know why the sunset is so magnificent?"

Qing Chen thought for a moment and replied, "Because of atmospheric refraction..."

"Stop, this is boring," the old man sighed. "The afterglow of the sunset and the splendor of the clouds are only beautiful because they are fleeting. If we could see such scenery every second, we wouldn't find it beautiful anymore. The reason why a person's life has weight is because it is finite. Only the wishes fulfilled in the last moments of life are truly without regrets."

Qing Chen nodded, then led the disguised old man through the silent Banshan Manor back to the Autumn Leaf Villa.

After escorting the two to this place, Li Yunjing knelt down and bowed deeply to the old man.

The old man patted his head. "Yun Jing, you've grown up. Go out into the world and find your own freedom."

Li Yunjing wept uncontrollably.

The old man didn't linger any longer. He took a deep look at the Banshan Manor behind him and then walked into the Autumn Leaf Villa.

At this moment, Li Ke was already waiting inside.

The 14-year-old boy stared in astonishment at the old man and his teacher. "Grandpa... you're not dead?"

After saying that, Li Ke turned to Qing Chen and asked, "Sir, what are we doing?"

Qing Chen smiled and said, "Let's go to Forbidden Zone No. 002. Your grandfather wants to see the big tree and the rising sun there."

This was the agreement the old man and Qing Chen made a few days ago.

The chapter is 5,000 words long, and 10,000 words have been updated today. This is a bonus chapter for the top monthly ticket reader in August. There will be another chapter tomorrow.

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