Night’s Nomenclature

Liu Dezhu silently curled up in the corner of the quiet confinement room.

Only those who had experienced it could understand the true horror of this cramped, dark room – it was a type of mental torture.

The alloy gate in front of him slowly opened. Liu Dezhu raised his head and glanced lifelessly at the mysterious man wearing the cat-face mask.

“I know it’s impossible for a person not to have his own thoughts,” Qing Chen calmly spoke, “but greed will harm both others and yourself. This time I’m merely letting you understand the cost of betrayal and deception, it won’t be as simple next time. You can yearn for what I give, but you can never steal what I don't give.”

A surge of vitality gradually returned to Liu Dezhu's eyes. “Boss, as long as you don't kill me, I’ll listen to everything you say!”

Before this, Liu Dezhu almost thought that he would die today.

However, his punishment was not yet over. Qing Chen thought it shouldn't end so easily.

He was well aware of the cruelty of the world he was facing, so he had to make Liu Dezhu realize this just as clearly.

Qing Chen flatly said, “In my overview of this whole incident, those two Kun Lun members would probably not have died if you had checked your communication device in time. Therefore, this punishment is still not enough.”

As he talked, Qing Chen waved his hand to let Ye Wan restrain Liu Dezhu. Then he covered Liu Dezhu's face with a towel and poured a basin of cold water over it with his own hands.

Liu Dezhu struggled with all of his might, but no matter how hard he tried, it was utterly useless.

Only when his movements gradually fell powerless did Qing Chen finally lift the towel, allowing him to cough out the water.

“Boss, I know I'm wrong,” Liu Dezhu pleaded tearfully, “I really know.”

Qing Chen's expression remained unchanged.

Before Liu Dezhu could recover his breath, Ye Wan held him down again for another session of waterboarding.

Little by little, Qing Chen kept pouring water on the towel until Liu Dezhu almost lost control of his bladder, and the punishment stopped at last.

This time, Liu Dezhu was truly frightened. He choked for a long time before he could breathe again, loudly sobbing, “Boss, I really really regret it, every time I think of those two Kun Lun heroes, I hate myself for falling short on my task, I really know that I've committed a huge mistake!”

Qing Chen coldly stared at him through the cat-face mask. This was his first time giving out torture, and for a normal person, the action was a kind of torment in itself.

But he was learning. Learning how to be cruel, learning how to be a real beast.

“There’s something I need you to do,” said Qing Chen, “A few more time walkers have come to Prison 18, and I want you to put on an act.”

Liu Dezhu asked timidly, “Boss, what do I have to do?”

“Let them believe that you hold a very high position over here,” Qing Chen replied.

Liu Dezhu pitifully said, “Boss, I can't act.”

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said to Lin Xiaoxiao, “Help me get a portable earphone for him to wear, I'll direct his performance.”

…

Countdown 157:00:00.

At ten in the morning, one-fifth of the prison cells quietly opened.

More than 600 inmates were randomly selected, and once they finished eating and returned to their cells, the next batch of 600 plus random inmates would be released to have their meals.

This was Qing Chen’s newly updated rule.

When Lin Xiaoxiao asked him why he did this, Qing Chen explained, “It’ll take a long time for me and teacher to finish our trip this time, but my background as a person from the big Families is too conspicuous here. If I don’t show up, someone will definitely notice. If we make the prisoners eat in batches, then they’ll have no way to confirm who exactly disappeared.”

In this way, the various outside forces wouldn’t be able to pick out his identity.

They couldn't keep the prisoners locked up all the time, so at present, this method was the best choice.

Currently, Li Shutong was sitting at the dining table as he looked at classical music scores while Ye Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao were eating and chatting, discussing about the outside world’s ongoing affairs – it was said that the old coot from the Kashima Family secretly did yet another life-prolonging procedure; on the other hand, because the old man from the Li Family didn’t plan on stretching his age taut, perhaps his time would be running out soon…

At this table, the only person who seemed out of place was Liu Dezhu.

This guy was sitting opposite Li Shutong, looking around with curiosity written all over his face.

Although he transmigrated into Prison 18, the truth was, he really hadn't had the chance to take a good look at this place…

The prisoners queuing for their meals were all very surprised to see a stranger appearing near Li Shutong.

It was obvious that not just anyone could sit in front of Li Shutong.

An inmate with good memory suddenly recalled something and muttered in a low voice, “We've seen this guy before, it’s the fool who said he was looking for Boss Li to receive a task, and he even told Lin Xiaoxiao he was their own man.”

“So it turns out he really is one of them…” sighed another inmate emotionally.

“Wait a second. During our previous mealtime, we were guessing about the identity of the person who used us as practice dummies.”

“That’s right, I’m sure the one who held us down must be Ye Wan, and the person Ye Wan was teaching should be him!”

Liu Dezhu looked at the people who were furtively pointing at him with a blank stare, feeling totally lost at the situation he found himself in…

He could vaguely grasp that the mysterious boss might have just placed another big black pot on top of his head.

Suddenly, Li Shutong looked up at him and said, “Is the food to your taste?”

Liu Dezhu felt overwhelmingly flattered. “It is.”

Lin Xiaoxiao chirped, “I’ll tell the kitchen staff to prepare some real meat for you tomorrow. You can order whatever you want.”

After another batch of prisoners finished lining up, the three who had previously ignored Liu Dezhu abruptly turned enthusiastic as Qing Chen disappeared.

The next moment, someone excitedly shouted from within the crowd of inmates, “Liu Dezhu!”

Liu Dezhu dazedly turned his head and happened to see Yu Junyi, a student committee member from the next class who went to Laojun Mountain together with him.

There were four other people walking beside Yu Junyi.

In an instant, Liu Dezhu came to a realization. These were the five time travelers mentioned by the mysterious boss, and his task was to convince them of his status in the Inner World!

“Oh, you’ve also transmigrated?” Liu Dezhu adjusted his sitting posture and spoke with an unperturbed expression, “Sit down and talk.”

Yu Junyi looked at Ye Wan, Li Shutong, and Lin Xiaoxiao, his face a little hesitant. “Can I?”

Liu Dezhu patted Lin Xiaoxiao who was sitting next to him, “Um… you move to the side and make some room for them.”

Lin Xiaoxiao was stunned – the sentence almost gave him an internal injury.

Sitting across from him, Ye Wan, who was usually as stable as a rock, almost laughed out loud.

However, before Ye Wan could laugh, Liu Dezhu suddenly told him, “Uhh… you shift aside as well, thank you.”

Ye Wan: “…”

Lin Xiaoxiao: “…”

Liu Dezhu was about to burst into tears. He kept hinting to the two bosses with his eyes: all of these instructions came from the earphone…

It had nothing to do with him.

Ye Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao looked at each other. They strongly suspected that Qing Chen was purposely using this opportunity to pull their legs.

However, the two still gradually vacated the space. “Talk slowly,” said Lin Xiaoxiao with a superficial smile.

Li Shutong got up and went to the reading area, speaking to Liu Dezhu before leaving, “Since they are your friends, they can be considered our own people. You guys should catch up well.”

Seeing this, Yu Junyi thought that Liu Dezhu really wasn’t bragging!

He took the lead in sitting next to Liu Dezhu and said, “Brother Liu, I didn't expect that what you said before was all true.”

“Hm,” replied Liu Dezhu reservedly.

A middle-aged time traveler asked, “Is the one who just left Li Shutong?”

Liu Dezhu nodded, “Yes, it's him.”

“Wow, that’s amazing, we actually met Li Shutong!” exclaimed another person.

Liu Dezhu kept his expression inscrutable, but a ferocious storm was wrecking havoc inside his heart.

To let these three willingly take part in his performance, just how high of a status did that boss with the cat-face mask actually have?

To a certain extent, he was even more shocked than Yu Junyi and the others!

Liu Dezhu came back to his senses and told Yu Junyi, “That… it’s not necessary to spread the news around, keep a low profile when you go back. But don't worry, with me in this prison, no one will dare to do anything to you.”

Yu Junyi excitedly asked, “Then, do I have a chance to become a superhuman?”

Liu Dezhu calmly answered, “It's not a big problem.”