Night’s Nomenclature

Chapter 915: Ginkgo Garden

The small town fell into darkness, accompanied by the clang of blacksmithing.

Qing Chen sat on the bed made of branches and withered grass, closed his eyes, listened to the surrounding murmurs, and played with catching lice. At 4 a.m., two shirtless men suddenly rushed in, grabbed him, and dragged him out. Qing Chen's legs dragged on the mud, and he shouted in fear: "What are you doing? Who are you? Let me go!"

At this time, Wang Tou'er came out of the darkness: "Okay, let him go. He's not a master; a master wouldn't have this kind of instinctive reaction." Qing Chen glared at him: "What are you trying to do? Let me go! I won't take this job; I'm leaving!"

Wang Tou'er chuckled: "It's too late to leave now. You can't leave until you find something useful in the 001 Forbidden Zone. There are only two ways to leave this town: the first is to find treasure in the Forbidden Zone, and the second is to die."

At this moment, someone in the darkness came out carrying a black box. Qing Chen recognized it immediately—it was the kind Inner World used to store organs. In the past, these were common; some people even carried them through the streets and alleys of the Lower Third District.

However, after the Guardians' Union emerged and occupied the Lower Third Districts one by one, Little Seven Xiao Wu and others would kill anyone carrying such a box and hang them in front of the buildings as a warning, so gradually, no one dared to be so arrogant. In fact, there's absolutely no such thing as voluntary or involuntary in the organ trade; it breeds too much evil and darkness.

The organ trade is the darkest industry chain in the entire Federation. Some people would rather sell dopamine chips than participate in this industry.

Qing Chen looked at the middle-aged man carrying the black box; he saw the man walk over and hand the black box to a man beside Qing Chen: "Send it to City 19. Remember to avoid the Guardians' Union. Be careful when you come back, make sure no one is following you. If they find out and trace it back, none of us will be safe." "Okay, Doggy," the man replied: "Most Guardians' Union people just meddle in other people's business."

"Don't talk nonsense!" The middle-aged Doggy glared at him. "Remember that misfortunes come out of the mouth. Don't talk about the Guardians' Union in public."

Qing Chen: "The Guardians' Union's reputation is so fierce in this dark place?" The organs in the box should have been taken from the man who just cut people with a knife.

There is a complete industrial chain here. They advertise get-rich-quick schemes, just like Myanmar deliberately promotes how much money can be made there and then deceives people into working there as pigs, those who remain conscious continue to help them explore the Forbidden Zone, and those who lose their minds have their organs removed and sold to various cities. At this time, the middle-aged man named Doggy looked at Qing Chen: "Don't even think about running, or I'll kill you too."

Wang Tou'er shook his head: "Don't always scare the newcomers like that; you'll scare them into being unable to work. The day after tomorrow, you'll lead one team, and Gousheng will lead another. This time, let's see who finds more. Remember, I can't live much longer; I need to go back to the city and enjoy myself for a few years after I've made my money. This year, let's see who between you and Gousheng is more capable, and whoever wins gets this town." Doggy lowered his head: "Understood... but what about Erhu? Haven't you considered him?"

"Erhu is too wild. He's not interested in this." Wang Tou'er smiled at Qing Chen: "Go back to sleep. Get a good night's rest; you have to work in the Forbidden Zone the day after tomorrow." They watched Qing Chen scramble back to his shack and burst into laughter. Suddenly, Doggy said: "Why did the blacksmithing stop?"

"Huh?" Wang Tou'er said, "The 001 Forbidden Zone has opened...but the supplies haven't arrived yet. They'll be delivered tomorrow morning," Doggy said.

Wang Tou'er said: "Then let's go in as soon as the supplies arrive! Let's set off tomorrow! Strange, why did the Forbidden Zone open early this time?"

After Qing Chen entered the shack, the fear on his face disappeared. At this moment, he realized that the sound of blacksmithing didn't come from the town, but from deep within the 001 Forbidden Zone. But that sound of blacksmithing seemed to linger in his ears.

As he pondered, a woman in the shack next door suddenly screamed: "Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" The old men said that this is an amusement park, but this is not a happy amusement park at all; it's clearly a terrifying place.

Qing Chen's mind grew heavy. Shenming Ren Xiaoli and Qing Zhen were both upright people. Why would they design such a strange Forbidden Zone rule? Something must be wrong... What went wrong?

The next morning, the town suddenly became lively. The roar of engines came from outside the town. The prospectors in the shacks rushed out and surrounded the trucks outside the town, taking out the treasures they had hidden from the Forbidden Zone and handing them over.

A young man handed over a few dried leaves: "I have some Yunye here. Give me ten chicken legs, thirty protein bars, four cans of beer! Three packs of cigarettes!" The middle-aged man on the truck happily took the Yunye and shouted to the cargo box behind him: "Brothers, get this Young Master Chen his goods!" Qing Chen watched from afar. He knew about Yunye. This stuff, when brewed into tea, is good for men's health, a favorite of the big shots in the Upper Third District of the city. A small can of Yunye tea can sell for millions. It is said that after drinking one can, even a seventy-year-old man can regain his vitality.

Another woman took out a stone and looked at the middle-aged man eagerly: "Do you think this stone is useful?" The middle-aged man coldly threw the stone away: "Get out of here with your junk!" The woman begged: "Give me something to eat, just a few protein bars." The middle-aged man said coldly: "They'll give you food when you work in the Forbidden Zone." "I don't dare to go in anymore." "Then starve to death in the town." Qing Chen watched one prospector after another, emaciated and sunken-eyed. This is not gold mining; it's clearly like being sucked dry by ghosts.

On the other side, there were two more trucks, and Doggy was leading people to unload goods: protein bars, mineral water, cigarettes and alcohol, and frozen meat. There are no get-rich-quick legends here.

The town's "managers" colluded with the outside world to exchange extremely cheap materials for the treasures from the Forbidden Zone. Wang Tou'er and Doggy didn't grab things from the prospectors; if they did, people wouldn't want to work. They just used this clever method to make the prospectors fall into self-destruction. The prospectors were like pigs they raised.

Just like those black mines, the imprisoned miners would never be able to escape their entire lives.

Taking advantage of the excitement outside, Qing Chen turned around and went into the small shacks one by one. He checked the shack pillars and wooden walls one by one, wanting to see if there were any carvings like those in his shack. In the third shack, he saw a carving on the pillar: "Don't get too close to the trees with human faces! Don't back out of the forest!" "If your body feels numb, close your eyes for 10 seconds!" "Don't give the sign to others!" Qing Chen frowned at the three warnings. The second one was clearly contradictory to the information he received last night.

The previous woman said that you must back out of the forest, but now this person says you must not back out of the forest. Whose words should he listen to? The only similarity is that both warned him never to give the sign to others.

Qing Chen walked out of the shack. Just as he was about to enter the next shack, he saw a middle-aged man playing with a boning knife and smiling coldly at him: "What are you doing?" Qing Chen stammered: "I'm a little hungry, but I don't have anything to trade for food, so I wanted to see if there was any food in other people's shacks."

The middle-aged man sneered: "You're here to look at the warnings, aren't you? Almost every newcomer does the same thing. Don't bother; those carvings are useless; if they were useful, they wouldn't have died." "Then what's useful?" Qing Chen asked.

"Why should I tell a pig that's going to die sooner or later?" the middle-aged man said coldly.

At this time, a young man shouted from afar: "Erhu, Wang Tou'er is calling you. He wants you to lead people into the Forbidden Zone today with Gousheng and Doggy! By the way, these two are with you!" Erhu looked at the two men behind the young man: "I don't recognize them. I haven't seen them in the town before." "Wang Tou'er said they just arrived this morning," the young man whispered: "They're said to be big shots from the northern cities; I don't know what they're doing here." Qing Chen knew that at this critical moment, anyone who suddenly came to this town must be related to him. If they weren't Chen Yu's people, they would be other forces who wanted to kill him.

As they were speaking, another convoy arrived outside the town. More than 20 bald men jumped off the truck, each with ferocious tattoos on their heads. Wang Tou'er trotted over to greet them: "Oh, isn't this Buddha Master? What wind blew you, our big sponsor, here?" The leader of the bald men laughed: "I've always gotten goods from you, and I've never come to see you. Everyone outside says that the 001 Forbidden Zone is weird, so I came to take a look. I've been pretty relaxed recently, and I also came here to have a drink with you."

Erhu sneered: "Relaxed or not, you're probably hiding from the Guardians' Union!" Qing Chen: The Guardians' Union isn't here, but there are legends of the Guardians' Union everywhere.

Qing Chen had seen this Buddha Master in Luo Wanya's report. He trafficked drugs, abducted people, and sold organs—basically, he did whatever made the most money. He originally had his base in City 17, but Xiao Wu took over the Lower Third District there and arrested him, but he escaped. He's quite clever.

However, it's not a good idea to call him Buddha Master in front of a Knight. The last Buddha Master didn't end well.

Qing Chen suddenly realized that a gust of wind had blown all the evil spirits together. These were probably Chen Yu's advance teams looking for his whereabouts? Chen Yu didn't have a Key Gate; it would take several days to sneak over from City 7. As he pondered, Doggy came over carrying a simple backpack and threw it to Qing Chen: "This is your food for three days, a newcomer's gift package. Next time, you'll have to buy your own. Remember, don't give it to others, or you'll deserve to starve to death." "Thank you, Doggy," Qing Chen said.

"Let's go! Take advantage of the open Forbidden Zone and get in quickly! Everyone, remember, keep your mouths shut once you're inside, and don't talk about the rules!" Doggy waved his hand, and more than 40 people followed him towards the Forbidden Zone.

Qing Chen silently followed the team. He suddenly looked up and saw that the Forbidden Zone was pitch-black; nothing inside could be seen from the outside. After entering, he felt a cold wind sweeping over him—he had entered the boundary.

But strangely, this Forbidden Zone didn't seem much different from the 002; at least, the edge was similar.

After silently walking for 20 kilometers in the dim forest, he saw a clearing ahead. There was a large, bare patch of land, with intense sunlight pouring down—no, there was a huge golden ginkgo tree, the ground was covered with golden fan-shaped leaves, glittering under the sun. Coming out from the dim environment, the ginkgo tree seemed brilliant and magnificent. The ginkgo tree, the symbol of the Qing Family.

Only at this moment did Qing Chen find some information related to Qing Town in this Forbidden Zone.

Small wooden signs were hung on the ginkgo tree with red ropes, like Wishing Cards. When the wind blew, the small signs swayed and bumped together, making a clang. The prospectors walked forward and took a wooden sign from the drooping branches.

"Who hung these signs up? How could there be such human-made things here?" a prospector, a newcomer like Qing Chen, asked. Doggy glared: "Shut up!" At this time, a woman whispered to him: "Give me a protein bar from your bag, and I'll tell you."

The newcomer gave her a protein bar, and the woman ate it in one gulp. She whispered: "The blacksmithing will sound in three days. When it sounds for the first time, you must leave immediately. When you leave and come back, you'll find that the signs you took away are back in the exact same place. Every time you see this ginkgo tree, the total number of signs remains the same." Qing Chen also went closer.

The tree was also carved with words: "Welcome to Ginkgo Garden. Please remember every rule on the tree; it will be our last kindness to you." New map, so the pace is a bit slow, I'll try to write more each day. There's another chapter in the morning; everyone can read it when you wake up.