In the gloomy room, not knowing how much time had passed, Li Ke suddenly opened his eyes and said softly, "Master."
Qing Chen smiled, a very happy smile, "Congratulations."
This meant that the Knight inheritance of the Inner World had not been severed!
The old man curiously asked, "Does this count as passing the Trial of Conscience?"
"Of course," Qing Chen nodded his head.
"What if one fails to pass?" the old man asked.
"If you don't pass, you die," Qing Chen said; he looked at Li Ke, "What did you experience in the Trial of Conscience? Why did it take you so long?"
Li Ke glanced at his watch, and it had already been 24 hours.
He looked at Qing Chen and asked, "Master, can I keep it to myself?"
"Yes," Qing Chen rubbed his head, "The Trial of Conscience is each Knight's own secret. You can keep it to yourself."
Just as Qing Chen never mentioned to Uncle Li Dong that actually, when he was very little, he had been abandoned by his mother once.
"Let's go," Qing Chen said with a smile, "We're setting off for Taboo Land #002."
Having said that, he changed his appearance and walked outside.
Li Ke stared at the back of Qing Chen, lost in thought. He wondered, if when he was 90 years old, lying on the sickbed, that young man hadn't pushed the door and entered.
Would he truly have died?
Li Ke always felt that it wasn't he himself who had crossed the Trial of Conscience, but rather this exceptionally young master who had helped him across.
In that prolonged dream of the Trial of Conscience, when the other entered the sickroom, he seemed to be wrapped in a layer of light.
At this moment, Qing Chen turned back at the door and asked with a smile, "What are you dazing for? Let's go."
"Oh," Li Ke came back to his senses and ran towards the door.
In the parking lot of the Microcosm Community.
Qing Chen looked at the huge off-road vehicle in front of him, opened the trunk to check: two spare tires, four barrels of diesel, and luggage tied to the roof that seemed to contain tents and emergency supplies for the wilderness.
"You've prepared quite thoroughly," Qing Chen remarked appreciatively.
This was much more prepared than when Uncle Li Dong took him to Taboo Land #002.
However, Qing Chen suddenly spotted a ginkgo leaf emblem on the body of the off-road vehicle.
He said in confusion, "Isn't that the symbol of Qing's Family?"
"That's right," the old man said matter-of-factly.
Qing Chen puzzled, "Why is there a Qing's Family ginkgo leaf emblem on the car of a Master of the Li Family? You're so confident about it, which is clearly not normal! It's as if you're not the one with the issue, but I am!"
The old man patiently explained, "Having a consortium's emblem while traveling abroad makes things much easier, besides, any disgrace would fall on Qing's Family, not us. Is there any issue with that?"
"Aren't you afraid of being exposed?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.
The old man chuckled, "Who would dare to inspect a consortium's vehicle? They don't even need to go through the visa checkpoint when entering or leaving a country."
"You really dare to push the envelope," Qing Chen curled his lip, "If the media exposed it saying 'Master of Li Family impersonates Qing's Family emblem for misdeeds,' that would truly be big news across the Federation."
"What's there to fear? Just don't get caught!" the old man said.
"Alright then," Qing Chen sighed.
But at this time, they suddenly faced a very mysterious question: Who would drive?
Li Ke was too young and hadn't learned either.
The master and disciple both turned their gaze to the old man.
Li Xiurui raised his eyebrows, "You two little rascals, you aren't thinking of making me drive, are you? For an old man at the twilight of his life, I just wanted to have some peaceful and pleasant memories in the last moments of my life. Is this how you treat me?!"
Qing Chen spread his hands: "But we really can't drive. How about this? You drive the car to the Fourth District, and we'll pick up someone there to be the driver."
The old man thought for a moment: "That's more like it."
The huge full-size off-road vehicle drove out of the Microcosm Community, speeding towards the Fourth District.
Hu Xiaoniu had packed his things early, and when the car stopped in front of him, he looked through the car window at the old man in the driver's seat. He felt the face was familiar, perhaps seen in some news report…
But for a moment, he couldn't quite place it.
At that time, the old man had already skillfully glued on a mustache.
And who would have thought the old man who had just died was now so lively, driving a punk-style off-road vehicle blatantly?
Qing Chen waved at Hu Xiaoniu, "Xiao Niu, get in. You drive."
"Alright," Hu Xiaoniu recognized Qing Chen.
Before this trip, Qing Chen had even shown him the disguise he would wear, still Zard.
The old man looked at Hu Xiaoniu and then asked Qing Chen, "Is this the driver you found? Is he reliable?"
Hu Xiaoniu thought to himself how he had become the driver, but he did not object.
Qing Chen replied, "Rest assured. He's reliable."
"Where to, Brother Chen?" Hu Xiaoniu asked.
"Leave City #18 from the southern checkpoint and head to Taboo Land #002," Qing Chen instructed.
Hu Xiaoniu was startled; Qing Chen had not told him before that they were heading to Taboo Land #002!
As the vehicle headed south, passing the checkpoint, Hu Xiaoniu suddenly noticed tens of off-road vehicles parked, waiting for the customs officers to verify their documents.
Hu Xiaoniu asked, "Brother Chen, where are our papers?"
Qing Chen: "We don't have any."
Hu Xiaoniu was stunned, "What?"
The old man said, "Let's take the left lane and drive straight through. The car has Qing's Family ginkgo leaf emblem—though it's fake, surely no one dares to check."
Hu Xiaoniu was a bit nervous, thinking to himself how the old man so blatantly admitted the emblem was fake. Was there really no problem?
Looking at the immigration checkpoint with dozens of armed soldiers standing by, and drones surveilling from the sky, if someone discovered a problem with the emblem, wouldn't they be shot like a sieve?
Nevertheless, Hu Xiaoniu kept his composure, stepped on the gas without hesitation, and didn't slow down.
The checkpoint gate opened, and just like the old man had said, no one checked!
At that moment, Hu Xiaoniu glanced at another lane and then froze: "Brother Chen, I see Qi Duo and Zhang Lanjin in that convoy."
The two members of the Freemasonry from the Outer World.
A 5000-word chapter, another one at 11 pm.
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