Naming the Night After Daylight

The Nohi Bus, faces the rising sun.

The warm sunlight shone on Jingūji Maki's little face. She would occasionally glance at Qing Chen, but her attention was drawn to the Rubik's Cube that he was spinning in his hands.

The little girl thought that this older brother was really special.

Qing Chen didn't look at the little girl; his gaze remained fixed on the window. He didn't explain why the two of them had to pretend they didn't know each other, nor did he explain why they were sitting so far apart.

Fortunately, Jingūji Maki was sensible enough not to ask any more questions.

This little girl is so sensible, just like Qing Chen himself was when he was a child.

That humble understanding was the first survival skill that life taught them.

That way you won't be disliked...

The bus stopped at Nakatsugawa City, Gifu Prefecture, Qing Chen first accompanied Jingūji Maki to the hospital.

The nurses and doctors at the hospital seemed to know her, and greeted her warmly when they saw her, "Are you here to buy medicine for your grandma again? What a thoughtful little girl."

Being sensible seems to be the label attached to Jingūji Maki, and many people would offer her a somewhat insincere compliment.

But only Qing Chen understood that the little girl probably wished she could be less sensible and occasionally act willfully without being blamed.

The little girl walked ahead, Qing Chen followed about ten meters behind. The little girl bought medicine at the counter, and he waited outside.

He watched as the little girl took out her small wallet and skillfully bought medicine and paid for it.

Next, he went to buy a mountain bike.

The little girl followed silently as floats passed by on the street, suggesting that some grand festival was taking place.

When Qing Chen bought the car, the little girl was waiting outside the store, her nose red from the cold, but she was very happy.

The purchase process was quick. For Qing Chen, the mountain bike had to be of exceptionally high quality, so he simply bought the store's prized possession.

The car costs about 80,000 RMB. When Jingūji Maki heard this price from afar, she stuck out her tongue, thinking to herself, "This is a rich older brother/younger brother..."

Because her family's hot spring inn has outdated facilities and poor service, its prices are the lowest in Shirakawa-go.

At first, Jingūji Maki thought that Qing Chen was not well-off, which was why he chose them.

But now that I think about it, someone who could afford to rent a hot spring inn in Shirakawa-go for a month must not be poor.

Qing Chen pushed his cart out of the shop. At that moment, Jingūji Maki was staring intently at the parade floats and the ramen shops on the roadside.

He unusually approached the little girl and asked in a low voice, "Would you like to stay in Nakatsugawa and play for a while?"

Jingūji Maki looked up at him in disbelief, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Is it okay?"

However, at that moment, several cars sped past on the street and stopped not far away.

The car bore the logo of the Mysterious Affairs Department. Several men in black suits got out and rushed into a shop facing the street.

Qing Chen frowned. He knew this wasn't aimed at him, but he was curious about what the Mysterious Affairs Department was up to.

But then they saw the men grab the owner of a buckwheat noodle shop and drag him out.

Pedestrians on the street watched, some whispering, "They're here to arrest people again!"

Qing Chen had heard online that the Mysterious Affairs Department of the island nation was constantly arresting people.

Moreover, he also knew the reason for the arrest: the Time Walker from the Age of Gods were "creating" Time Walker by comparing the data in the table and the household registration information in the Inner World.

They are bringing people from the overlapping outer and Inner World, who were unable to cross over due to their different locations, to the overlapping locations to actively replace the people from the Inner World.

After the replacement, male Time Walker with combat abilities will be sent to a secret military base for special training, while women and children who cannot become combatants will become "mules" to transport items from the Inner World.

This is to increase the control that the Time Walker of Gods have over the Outer World.

Domestically, Kunlun and Jiuzhou have worked together to protect the Household Registration Database using Data Fortress.

Therefore, the Inner World Foundation has no way of doing this, but the island nation has no one to protect its Household Registration Database, and the same goes for Goryeo.

The island nation and Goryeo even voluntarily opened their Household Registration Database, leading Kunlun to suspect that Time Walker had also appeared among the high-ranking officials of these two countries, and that they had been transported in reverse by the gods and Kashima.

This may be one of the reasons why the Time Walker controlled by the Shindai and Kashima are more numerous than those controlled by Kunlun and Jiuzhou.

Initially, the capture of Outer World was concentrated in the three cities of Osaka, Tokyo, and Kobe, but now it has begun to slowly spread to the surrounding areas.

At this moment, Jingūji Maki was oblivious to all of this. She looked at Qing Chen expectantly and asked, "Can we go play for a while, Onii-chan?"

Qing Chen glanced at the vehicles belonging to the Mysterious Affairs Department, then calmly said, "No, let's go home."

He didn't want to linger in the area where the Mysterious Affairs Department operated.

While in Osaka, it was a strategy to keep the Mysterious Affairs Department on high alert, but now it should keep a low profile.

After saying that, he pushed the cart toward the bus stop. The little girl said "Oh," and although she was a little disappointed, she obediently followed behind with her head down, keeping her distance.

After arriving at the bus stop, Qing Chen let Jingūji Maki board the bus alone, while he rode back alone, wanting to familiarize himself with the vehicle on the flat road first.

The little girl boarded the bus alone, sat in the last row of seats, and peered longingly out the window as Qing Chen rode away.

She lowered her head, waiting for the car to start, and then drove away alone.

Whether or not she saw the floats in Nakatsugawa City was not important; she just didn't want to be alone.

But just then, she heard someone knock on the car window.

Jingūji Maki looked up and saw Qing Chen wearing a baseball cap and a scarf, standing outside the bus.

He calmly waved to the little girl, signaling her to get off the bus.

Jingūji Maki hurriedly ran downstairs. "Onii-chan..."

Qing Chen handed her a new pair of gloves and a new scarf, and said to her, "Want to come back to Shirakawa-go- go with me? It'll be a little cold if you sit on the crossbeam, and the journey back will take a while, about three and a half hours."

Jingūji Maki beamed, "It's alright!"

On the way back, the cold wind whistled against her face, but the little girl didn't care at all.

On both sides of the black highway, in the distance are snow-capped white mountains, and nearby are clear mountain springs and streams that accompany the road.

The little girl's long scarf fluttered happily in the wind.

Qing Chen's life returned to tranquility. Every day, he would ride his mountain bike and set off for the mountains before everyone in Shirakawa-go woke up.

Then he carried the mountain bike all the way to the top of the mountain, and only after all the skiers had returned to their hotels in the evening did he ride his bike back to Shirakawa-go.

Every day, he could see that little girl in the distance, sitting in front of the hotel with her chin resting on her hand, waving at him.

This might be the most peaceful Nine Heavens since Qing Chen's transmigration.

He was calming down from the suffering he had endured in the Inner World.

At this moment, Qing Chen was setting off from the highest peak, Mount Okuhotaka, clearing a path along the ridge bit by bit, sweeping away the snow and throwing away loose rocks.

Because of the steepness of the mountain ridge, and because he also needs to set aside half of his time each day to practice mountain bike handling, Qing Chen can only carry out a few hundred meters of meticulous cleaning work each day.

The winding mountain ridge he needed to clear had a slope length of 3.1 kilometers, with many sections having a gradient of over 45 degrees.

He wasn't in a hurry, and he went out early and returned late every day in a routine manner.

As night fell, Qing Chen braved the cold wind and rode his bicycle towards Shirakawa-go.

But today is a little different.

When he saw the familiar hot spring hotel in the distance, he did not see the familiar little girl.

Qing Chen fell silent.

He left his mountain bike in the snow by the roadside and slowly walked towards the hot spring hotel, listening intently to everything that was happening.

There was no sound of breathing in the hot spring inn.

Qing Chen opened the door and saw Jingūji Maki's grandmother lying on the ground, lifeless.

He turned and left without hesitation, knocked on the door of the neighboring hot spring inn, and calmly asked, "Hello, have you seen the little girl next door?"

The owner of the hot spring inn was a middle-aged woman. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "You mean Maki? She was taken away by the Mysterious Affairs Department, but they haven't left yet."

"Where are they?" Qing Chen asked calmly.

"They went east to Shirakawa-go; it seems there are other people they need to arrest," the shopkeeper said. "You are...?"

Qing Chen did not answer, and turned to leave.

He stood on the black cobblestone road, quietly gazing at the end of the path on the east side of Shirakawa-go.

Reason told him that he shouldn't create any more complications before completing the Life and Death Trial challenge.

He only needs to wait three more days to clear all the ridges and attempt to challenge the Life and Death Trial.

Only when he reaches B-Class will he be qualified to return to A02 Base to try to escape, and only then will he be qualified to return to Osaka and wreak havoc.

No matter how powerful the Time Walker of the Gods in the Outer World is, apart from a very few Chosen One, he is the ceiling of combat power.

If he were to go on a killing spree in Shirakawa-go now, it would surely attract countless Time Walker from the Age of Gods. No matter how decisively Qing Chen kills, news of what happened here would quickly spread back to Osaka.

Therefore, the best option is to wait three more days.

But... can Jingūji Maki wait for him for three days?

Given the despicable humanity of the Time Walker of Gods, Qing Chen had no idea what these people would do to Jingūji Maki over the next three days, nor did he want to know.

All he knew was that if he could really wait these three days, he could let Shindai take the little girl away.

Then he wouldn't need to go through any more Life and Death Trial.

Because at that time, he didn't deserve to eat the protein bars that Wang Yuchao and Zhao Mingke threw to him.

They do not deserve the respect of Li Ke, Qing Yi, Nan Gengchen, Liu Dezhu, and Luo Wanyai.

They are not worthy to accompany Mr. Li Xiurui on his final journey.

He probably doesn't deserve to be a knight.

What else does a knight's faith consist of besides courage?

The boy stood on the dark road, thinking that there should still be eternal sincerity.

Never ask about personal gain, only ask about the sincerity of your heart.

Qing Chen walked eastward towards Shirakawa-go, braving the wind and snow of the dark night.

His expression was as stubborn and resolute as when he built stone walls countless times in the pigsty.

Perhaps he had already decided at that moment in the pigsty that if the long night of this world would not pass by itself, then he would redefine that boundless darkness with daylight.