Very Dangerous
Since his return, Qing Chen has been carrying out his plans.
Therefore, he didn't have time to say a sentimental goodbye to each of the Daylight members, nor did he have time to explain everything clearly.
But he knew that someone would be waiting for him to return, so he would definitely return alive.
The wind was very strong at the top of the mountain.
It blows the snow from the north slope across the ridge and onto the south slope with a soft rustling sound.
When the snowflakes flew over the mountain ridge and fell, it was as spectacular as a waterfall of ice and snow.
Jingūji Maki huddled atop Mount Okuhotaka, watching Qing Chen repeatedly rush down the ridge, fall, and then carry his mountain bike back up again.
She had lost count of how many times Qing Chen had failed.
It even overturned her understanding at one point, showing that a person could be so persistent in pursuing their goals.
However, what she didn't know was that Qing Chen was actually enjoying these repeated failures.
Qing Chen climbed back up a ridge and quietly gazed at the setting sun while carrying his mountain bike.
In the past, his Life and Death Trial training was all conducted in a mysterious world Conquer by Virtue.
This is what makes this time different from the past.
In the past, even if he fell off a cliff, he would not die.
Even if he fell a thousand times, even if the sensation of death felt incredibly real, Qing Chen knew perfectly well that he would not actually die.
So at that time, he gradually lost his reverence for life and death.
A knight who lacks reverence for life and death is no knight.
This time was different; he hadn't even started the Reverse Breathing Technique yet, and the training was already fraught with danger.
If you were to use the Reverse Breathing Technique during a real challenge, you would truly fall. Even if you forcibly reversed the Breathing Technique, you would never be able to make any further progress in this lifetime.
This made Qing Chen cherish every training session.
The problem is that whenever he watches himself rushing down the steep ridge, dancing on the razor-sharp edge, his heart pounds as he looks down into the abyss beside him.
That is the instinctive fear within the human heart. Once entangled in the emotion of fear, one is no longer so decisive.
Qing Chen knew that what he needed to overcome was this emotion.
So he endured the injuries time and time again, feeling the pain as if it were a knife, cutting through his fear piece by piece.
However, something strange happened: the Knight True Qi within his body turned into a liquid state.
Each time he faced a Life and Death Trial challenge, he could feel a surge of power flowing through his body.
No knight has ever encountered this situation.
Just as Ren He pioneered the path of knighthood and Qin Sheng pioneered the Breathing Technique, the paths they took were ones that no one had ever walked before, so there was no precedent to follow.
Qing Chen is the same now.
No knight can possess Knight True Qi after completing the first Life and Death Trial.
No knight knew what would happen after his Knight True Qi liquefied.
As Qing Chen plunged down the mountain ridge time and time again, he felt the liquefied Knight True Qi being pulled, stirred, and surged by some force, like the tides drawn by the moon.
Qing Chen had no idea what would ultimately happen.
But he knew that if he could overcome this Life and Death Trial challenge, he would find the answer.
From dawn to dusk.
Qing Chen carried the mountain bike slowly up Mount Okuhotaka and looked at Jingūji Maki: "Let's go, let's rest at the visitor center."
Seeing that Qing Chen's down jacket was torn open by the rocks, and that his old wounds were reopening, Qing Chen Jingūji Maki was stunned.
Having only returned seven days prior, Qing Chen's injuries from his time in the Inner World had not yet fully healed, making his condition appear exceptionally dire.
She walked over blankly and grabbed Qing Chen's sleeve, watching blood slowly drip from Qing Chen sleeve. "Onii-chan, why don't you put some ointment on yourself?"
Qing Chen said seriously, "I've already applied it all for you, there's nothing left for me to apply."
The little girl, who had held back her tears after being upset that morning, suddenly burst into tears. "What should I do?!"
However, at that moment, Qing Chen looked at the visitor center in the distance and stopped.
The visitor center was completely dark, and the neon signs that should have been lit up at night were all turned off.
Qing Chen didn't approach any closer, but instead took out his phone and sent a message: "What happened?"
A message arrived from the Outer World Division Yi: "The entire population of Shirakawa-go has been captured by the Mysterious Affairs Department. They found no trace of you outside Shirakawa-go, so they gathered their forces to investigate the entire Shirakawa-go. Now, the Mysterious Affairs Department suspects someone is harboring and protecting you, and is preparing to conduct a concentrated interrogation of the villagers of Shirakawa-go."
Qing Chen was taken aback; it turned out that no one had betrayed their clues.
At least those two old men didn't betray them, otherwise the people from the Mysterious Affairs Department would have already gone up the mountain to search for them.
Qing Chen didn't ask anything more, but calmly led the little girl into the visitor center.
When he arrived at the outdoor equipment area, he was taken aback because there were two bento boxes placed where they usually pitched their tents.
There was a note attached to the bento box: There is a microwave in the shopping area, you can heat it up yourself.
It turns out that those old men have worked here for decades and are so familiar with the place that it's like their own home. They can spot anything that's missing immediately.
The other party already knew that Qing Chen and Jingūji Maki were hiding here.
Qing Chen thought for a moment, then calmly took the two bento boxes to the microwave to heat them up. He then sat cross-legged on the floor with Jingūji Maki and ate the bento boxes clean.
He seemed to be thinking about something while eating.
Jingūji Maki glanced at the bento box in his hand. "Onii-chan, why do you always eat so cleanly?"
Qing Chen put down the lunchbox and said, "To help myself remember some things."
"Oh," the little girl lowered her head and followed suit, eating the entire bento box without leaving a single grain of rice.
Looking at the dark visitor center, Qing Chen suddenly remembered what his master, Li Shutong, had said to him in front of the big willow tree in Forbidden Zone No. 002: You still need an opportunity.
He thought of the terrible situation he had been tricked by his master, and the tradition of the Knight Organization tricking their disciples generation after generation, and suddenly couldn't help but chuckle.
Jingūji Maki was stunned; it seemed to be the first time she had ever seen this older brother smile.
Qing Chen stood up and said, "Come on, I'll take you back to Shirakawa-go."
"Huh?" Jingūji Maki paused, taken aback. "Aren't we supposed to be hiding from those bad guys?"
Qing Chen patted her head and smiled, "I won't hide anymore."
"Why?" the little girl asked, extremely curious.
Qing Chen calmly said, "I made you suffer so much on that path, and you'll suffer even more in the future. Since that's the case, as a teacher, I have to tell you where that path leads and what kind of life it means."
"Will it be dangerous?" the little girl asked.
"Yes, they will be in great danger."