Chapter 277: 220. Without those worldly desires

“The true shadow of the contemporary era,” Nan Gengchen murmured.

For some reason, he always felt that when Li Yinuo uttered these words, a simple phrase seemed fraught with oppression.

Now just the battle for supremacy among the Nine Dragons has already caught the entire Federation’s attention.

Some discussed Qing Wen’s prodigious deeds of the past, some the natural martial arts talent of Qing Zhong since childhood, and others the resilience of Qing Wu.

But compared to those who had truly become giants, these individuals were merely budding tigers, just beginning to show their prowess.

For example, Qing Xun, the current Family Head of Qing’s Family, was the shadow of the previous generation.

The tactics of the Shadow Candidates were nothing compared to his.

“Sister Yinuo, who is the current shadow of Qing’s Family?” Li Tongyun asked curiously. “Why is it that he is rarely mentioned, and I’ve never seen him in the media either?”

“Qing Zhiluo, Qing Chenchen, Qing Huangri—one of the three,” replied Li Yinuo.

“Wait, why is it ‘one of the three’?” Nan Gengchen asked, puzzled. “Has the shadow of the last generation not yet been decided?”

“Of course, it has been decided, but everyone only knows that the two who lost died, not who died or who survived,” Li Yinuo said.

“Why would that happen?” Nan Gengchen was even more baffled.

“Since it’s a shadow, it should naturally hide in the dark,” Li Yinuo said with a smile. “The struggle for being Qing’s shadow has always been this way, starting with much fanfare but becoming more and more elusive as it progresses. The outside world can hardly discern the truth. For instance, at the end of the last generation’s shadow contest, the media couldn’t even find out who finally prevailed, and the three Shadow Candidate finalists all disappeared from the public eye for over a decade without making another appearance.”

Li Tongyun and Nan Gengchen were shocked; there were such things?

“A shadow is a person who hides in the dark, the real executioner under the Family Head’s command,” Li Yinuo explained with a smile. “In most cases, it takes a long time for people to realize that Qing’s shadow has influenced those events. If even this cannot be achieved, how can one be called a shadow?”

“But, I heard someone in the Outer World claim that the contemporary shadow fell ill in the last contest—who were they talking about?” Nan Gengchen recalled.

“That’s because two years ago, Hu’s intelligence organization sold information that someone claimed to have seen Qing’s shadow. Although they didn’t see the face clearly, the individual kept coughing up blood. Hence, some speculated that it was an injury from the last contest,” Li Yinuo said. “When this intelligence was sold, it caused quite a stir.”

“Isn’t that too cruel? So many excellences within the clan died, and the one who became the shadow still carries an injury,” Li Tongyun mumbled. “Doesn’t Qing’s Family feel it’s a pity?”

“Cruel? A pity?” Li Yinuo shook her head. “There are a thousand individuals in just three generations of Qing’s Family, and from a thousand people, one shadow is chosen. On average, every five generations of shadows produce one Family Head, then ensure the Qing’s Family’s foundations are stable for a century. Indeed, it’s cruel for ordinary people, but for the entire Qing’s Family, this is the clan.”

“What about Li’s Family then?” Nan Gengchen suddenly asked.

“Li’s Family naturally has its ways,” Li Yinuo said calmly. “Let’s go, it’s time. We’ll head to the boxing gym to wait for Qing Shi and see what her plan is.”

…

…

Li Yinuo’s motorcade swiftly left the Pearl Manor, where the second house of Li’s Family resided, and sped towards the Fourth District.

Recently, everyone knew that the eldest granddaughter of Li’s Third Generation would go to Begonia Boxing Gym whenever she was free, and Jiang Xiaotang even had people park all of Li Yinuo’s cars directly in front of the gym, making them a feature of the place.

As soon as Li Yinuo and her party arrived, they discovered that the holographic projections above Begonia Boxing Gym had been switched to a highlight reel from Qing Chen’s previous ranking matches.

However, these holographic projections seemed to have been edited, showing mostly Qing Chen’s back, as if purposely creating a mysterious atmosphere.

Li Yinuo looked at the staff member. “What, does Qing Xiaotu have a match today?”

“Yes,” the staff member said respectfully. “Today he’s facing a Tiger Grade Boxer, Xiao Taibao. It’s been the main event at our gym recently.”

“Don’t you usually have your main events on Saturday? Why is his on a Monday?” Li Yinuo frowned. “Does he not have much of a reputation, or what? I want to see Jiang Xiaotang.”

“You misunderstand,” the staff member explained. “This was Qing Xiaotu’s own request. We were surprised too, but if you want to watch the weekend fight, you can still see him then. He might fight twice a week for the next while.”

“Twice a week? Is he not valuing his life?” Li Yinuo raised her voice. “Did you arrange this, or is it his own request?”

In the past, Li Yinuo specifically told Jiang Xiaotang that if Qing Chen didn’t want to fight, Begonia Boxing Gym absolutely couldn’t force him.

But from the looks of it now, Qing Chen’s match intensity was much higher than expected.

This made Li Yinuo can’t help but wonder, was Jiang Xiaotang rushing to make money off Qing Chen?

“It’s his own request,” the staff member said, sweat appearing on his forehead. “How could we force him? He’s the boss’s brother now. If you don’t believe it, you can ask Qing Xiaotu himself.”

“Brother,” Li Yinuo was puzzled. Between the rigorous fight schedule and being the ‘brother’ to a woman like Jiang Xiaotang, what exactly was Qing Chen planning?!

Nan Gengchen and Li Tongyun beside her were already concerned. They didn’t care about anything else, just whether Qing Chen could withstand the intensity of the competitions.

At that moment, Li Yinuo suddenly sensed something amiss. Right after they entered, several plainclothes individuals gave them almost imperceptible glances.

“What’s the situation,” Li Yinuo wondered aloud. “Is there something unusual happening today?”

With their minds full of worries, Li Yinuo and her party headed to their private room. But upon pushing the door open, they discovered Qing Shi, with her hair tied in twin ponytails, already sitting on the couch.

She stood up and greeted them with a smile. “Sister Yinuo, it’s our first meeting. Please take good care of me.”

Seeing Qing Shi, Li Yinuo finally realized, “So Qing’s heiress arrived early. No wonder there were plainclothes outside.”

“Please forgive me, Sister Yino, but when traveling, one must be careful,” Qing Shi said with a smile, “And since Sister Yino requested confidentiality, I had them all change into casual clothes.”

“Casual clothes are good,” the beautiful young warrior nodded, casually spouting nonsense, “After all, we’re about to discuss important matters. Secrecy comes first… No one knows you’re coming, right?”

“Other than my father and some personal attendants, no one else knows,” Qing Shi earnestly replied, “I just don’t know what Sister Yino wants to see me for?”

“It’s like this, I learned from other sources that the second round task for you shadow candidates is to find a member of the Li Family to support. Is that right?” Li Yinuo asked.

She didn’t mention that she had got the information from another candidate…

Qing Shi nodded: “That’s right.”

“What do you think about me, why don’t you support me?” Li Yinuo cut to the chase.

She figured she still had to approach five other candidates, and beating around the bush with every one of them was too exhausting. Better to be straightforward.

Qing Shi seemed to not have expected Li Yinuo to be so direct and stared blankly for quite some time: “Okay.”

Li Tongyun and Nan Gengchen beside her couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time, thinking this so-called secret meeting was too simple.

Everyone thought the meeting would last for hours, but it was over in five minutes.

Now, what to do and talk about with the remaining time, no one had thought that through…

Suddenly, the room fell into an eerie silence…

Li Yinuo suddenly exclaimed, “I’ve always heard that Qing Shi of the Qing’s Family is untainted by mud, with a simple mind, and I used to think it was all rumors. Now I finally believe some of it.”

Qing Shi smiled sweetly, “It’s not like that, I can be quite crafty too!”

Once again, the room fell into an eerie silence…

Just then, the host’s voice came from outside the private room: “Ladies and gentlemen, you must have seen the holographic projection above the boxing gym by now, and you must recognize the youth in the projection. Can you call out his name?”

“Qing Xiaotu!”

“Qing Xiaotu!”

The sudden voices from outside broke the awkward silence in the room, and Li Yinuo quickly looked outside.

At that moment, the host continued, “He’s the challenger who passed the last set of ranking matches, and he’s tonight’s home boxer. He is Qing Xiaotu!”

The next instant, a live broadcast video played on the big screen of the boxing gym. In the video, Qing Chen was warming up backstage, expressionless, wearing the loose shorts common to boxers and showing off a perfectly sculpted upper body.

Nan Gengchen and Li Tongyun were glued to the glass window of the private room again.

But even more abrupt was Qing Shi’s astonished voice: “Cute and adorable?!”

In an instant, Li Tongyun, Nan Gengchen, and Li Yinuo all simultaneously looked at her silently, their gazes intertwining on Qing Shi’s face, with a mix of confusion and questioning.

Cute and adorable, was she describing Qing Chen as cute?

But Nan Gengchen felt something was off; he had the feeling that when Qing Shi said “cute and adorable,” those four words were not an adjective but a noun…

He tentatively asked, “… Cute and adorable? I get the feeling that’s a name you’re calling someone?”

Still in a daze, Qing Shi pointed at Qing Chen on the big screen and said, “That’s him, ‘Cute and Adorable’ is his online nickname. We even met up in real life this morning.”

Nan Gengchen’s gaze suddenly shifted toward the big screen. Seeing the handsome face on the screen, he couldn’t imagine that person using such a nickname or engaging in online meetups!

What kind of person did Nan Gengchen consider Qing Chen to be?

In his mind, Qing Chen was the lofty academic god of Los Angeles City, intelligence crushing his peers.

In his mind, Qing Chen was pure and free from material desires, an entity that seemed to have abandoned all worldly passions.

And now someone tells him: Qing Chen’s online nickname is ‘Cute and Adorable,’ and he even engages in online romances that lead to real-life meetings.

Everything collapsed.

His belief system crumbled.

This ‘Cute and Adorable’ ID doesn’t even compare to ‘A Little Duckling’!

Nan Gengchen glanced sideways at Li Tongyun, only to discover that the young girl’s expression was no different.

Even Li Yinuo’s pupils were contracting!

This matter could shock them for an entire year!

…

I’m begging for monthly votes, bosses, have mercy on the child!

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