Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 524: The Palace that Suppresses Shikigami

Shendai Yunwu is dead.

A generation's chosen one, the Yin-Yang Master prodigy the Shendai Family placed high hopes on, has fallen in the Outer World.

The Joker, stained crimson with blood, from the playing card piercing his chest, silently mocks his demise.

However, his death is less shocking than the word "Kneel."

For over a thousand years, the Yin-Yang Master has been the authority in Shendai Family's rituals.

Every spring, the chief priest Yin-Yang Master of the shrine would perform a Shikigami dance to worship the gods under the cherry blossoms.

Although the Yin-Yang Masters have rarely participated in the Federation's wars, everyone knows their strength; they are the very foundation of the Shendai Family.

However, this mysterious and ancient lineage,

these secretive and powerful Shikigami,

have actually knelt down in a dogeza, a prostration of utmost reverence, at the command of a mere mortal's "Kneel."

Humble.

Respectful.

Not far away, Shendai Yunjue stood rooted to the spot, his shock even greater than when his blade had been snapped with a flick of a finger.

He felt a dark tide pounding his heart, the organ rigid as a rock.

Shendai Yunye watched in a daze, not even feeling the pain from the arm sliced in two by the playing card.

He felt something within him crumbling, no longer sacred.

Something sacred had knelt along with them.

How could there be someone in this world who is inherently capable of subduing Shikigami?!

On the rooftop, Shendai Kongyu murmured, "Brother Yunluo, what's going on?"

Shendai Yunluo calmly looked down, "Shendai Yunyi reported that someone could overawe Shikigami. I wondered if it was an excuse for his defeat, but it seems it was true. Such a person cannot be left alive. He will destroy the foundation of the Yin-Yang Masters, the very source."

Shendai Kongyu's expression hardened, "Brother Yunluo, let me handle it."

Shendai Yunluo shook his head, "Don't worry, someone will take care of it. Not now, though. This sword is still useful."

In fact, everything Qing Chen did was extremely risky.

Shinguji Maki's blood only had a ten-meter range of effect, and under the influence of the mirage building, he couldn't see where Shendai Yunwu and the Shikigami were.

He could only rely on his hearing.

So, he charged forward recklessly, risking his life to cover the hundred-meter distance between them, only uttering "Kneel" within ten meters.

Everything was seamless. Everyone believed that the word "Kneel" made the Shikigami kneel, but it wasn't.

In the end, it was little Maki's blood that made them kneel.

However, Qing Chen made everyone believe that his command was the reason, his purpose thus achieved.

From now on, he would be a thorn in the Shendai Family's side, while Shinguji Maki could live peacefully.

Enough.

That's the role of a master, huh?

However, at this moment, a sudden change occurred.

After Shendai Yunwu's death, the three ownerless Shikigami, as if smelling something, turned into wisps of red smoke and entered Qing Chen's wrist.

The unseen crimson on Qing Chen's wrist held an irresistible allure for the Shikigami.

They followed the bloodstains on his wrist into Qing Chen's body, heading towards his brain, searching for the Spiritual Bridge that should be there.

The true Spiritual Bridge.

Seeing this,

Shendai Yunluo in the sky frowned, no longer as calm as before.

He stared at Qing Chen, "An ordinary person's mind has no place for them; they can't withstand the Shikigami's backlash! Forcibly absorbing Shikigami will only result in death!"

After the three Shikigami entered Qing Chen's mind, they found no place for themselves!

There was no refuge!

The mirage building began to shake violently. The Shadow Woman wailed in Qing Chen's mind, while the Snow Woman tried to freeze all consciousness with a wave of her hand.

Shikigami are the spiritual manifestations of the dead, and these three were vengeful spirits.

As they lost their reason, their resentment threatened to destroy everything.

Qing Chen felt his mind was in chaos, his body lost balance, and he half-knelt on the ground.

Under the neon lights of the street, Shendai Yunjue sensed something amiss, "Attack!"

His body bent, sheathing his sword.

He was like a statue, his strength and spirit all contained within the scabbard.

Drawing the sword, cultivating the spirit!

"Kill!" Shendai Yunjue roared, launching himself at Qing Chen like a cannonball. The hilt of his tightly gripped sword sprang from its scabbard, a silver streak erupting and cascading.

When the katana was drawn, the broken blade had been seamlessly repaired by a silver glow!

Meanwhile, Qing Chen's consciousness was still entangled by the three Shikigami.

Hearing the sound of the wind, he instinctively dodged, but the dullness in his head prevented him from giving his all.

Shendai Yunjue's first strike left another deep cut on his chest. The intense pain made him instinctively step back, but his unbalanced body stumbled and he half-knelt.

But the attack didn't stop.

Drawing, sheathing, Iitō-ryū, a technique for consecutive kills.

In ordinary Japanese swordsmanship, Iitō-ryū is about drawing the sword, but in the Shendai Family's swordsmanship, Iitō-ryū is about sheathing it.

Drawing the sword is about speed, precision, and ruthlessness, cutting down the enemy with the unmatched momentum of the unsheathed blade.

Sheathing the sword is about decisiveness; when the sword is sheathed, the person must die.

Now, the bright katana was swinging back, but Qing Chen was still unconscious.

If this continued, he would die.

Qing Chen felt the Shikigami's raging energy in his mind.

He couldn't die yet.

No one knows how much a Knight would sacrifice for his student!

Qing Chen not only had to clear Shinguji Maki's name,

not only had to kill Shendai for his revenge,

but also had to go back alive.

On the Ferris wheel, under the fireworks, the little girl, with tears in her eyes, said that her grandmother told her that there were things to look forward to in her life.

The little girl had been waiting since then, staring out the winter window, through the thick and distant snow, hoping to see when those things would come.

Now she has finally waited for something worth looking forward to in her life. This nine-year longing for happiness cannot be so short.

At the critical moment, a resounding roar echoed in his mind, "Enough! Get in there!"

The Shadow Woman was wailing, but she suddenly saw a magnificent palace descending.

The palace suddenly opened three doors, and an immense suction from the dark interiors pulled all three Shikigami in.

Boom.

The three doors closed, and Qing Chen's mind returned to calm.

The three Shikigami were actually suppressed by the memory palace!

The katana arrived.

Shendai Yunjue was close, swinging his sword, but in an instant, he found the previously groggy man who was half-kneeling on the ground had somehow produced a black sniper rifle.

Rage!

Roaring!

A 12.7mm caliber bullet spun in the barrel, the precise rifling driving it into a frenzy!

Shendai Yunjue, who thought he'd get an easy kill, had his heart blown out at such close range.

With his speed, if it wasn't for the full-powered draw-and-slash, he would have had time to dodge the bullet.

He didn't expect Qing Chen to bring out a sniper rifle, nor did he expect Qing Chen to use this ultra-long-range anti-materiel sniper rifle as a close-range cannon!

Tonight was supposed to be a massacre, but it ended with two of the chosen ones dead and one injured.

No.

It wasn't over yet.

The truly patient are always the most patient.

With Shendai Yunjue's death, the one who used him as a tool wanted to destroy the weapon.

Just as Shendai Yunjue died, a blade flashed behind the kneeling Qing Chen!

The blade's momentum was like a reversed galaxy, a waterfall pouring down from the celestial riverbed.

Iitō-ryū!

But facing the silver waterfall was not Qing Chen's body, but a several-meter-high earthen wall suddenly rising from the sand.

Blade light!

Dust!

A deadly collision.

Shendai Yunxiu's ten-meter silver blade, like a glimpse of autumn's swiftness, hung upside down, splitting the earthen wall.

It struck Qing Chen.

Fortunately, the wall was solid, and the strike only sent Qing Chen flying several meters away, without destroying his life force.

Qing Chen looked up and saw words on the earthen wall.

"Token of allegiance, 1!"

For a moment, Qing Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Zard was so unserious, even at this moment.

As he pondered, the earth wall grew again, firmly locking Shendai Yunxiu, a tall man in a black suit, inside.

Qing Chen turned and ran, this time truly leaving.

Although he successfully suppressed the Shikigami, the impact of their rampage left him somewhat dazed.

He was no longer at his peak, and the twenty-centimeter-long wound on his chest was starting to hurt.

"Just let him go like that?"

This time, Shendai Kongyu watched Qing Chen's swiftly retreating figure, unable to remain calm.

If you count Shendai Yunyi's Red Leaf Hunt, Foxfire, and Mountain Child, plus the current Shadow Woman, Snow Woman, and the Mirage Building, six Shikigami of the Yin-Yang Master lineage have disappeared.

This is an unacceptable loss for the Yin-Yang Masters, because the number of Shikigami hasn't increased since a thousand years ago!

Shendai Kongyu looked at Shendai Yunluo, "Brother Yunluo, what do we do?"

Shendai Yunluo said, "I'll personally handle it. I'll stop that Awakened One, and Yunxiu can free himself to kill the Master of Daybreak."

All the plans for tonight had gone as planned, but now, an unexpected event had occurred.

He had wanted to use a knife to kill someone, but the knife injured himself.

The Horse-faced Rakshasa and Bone Woman had already materialized behind him, but as Shendai Yunluo was about to dispatch the two Shikigami, he suddenly looked at the adjacent rooftop, the location where he was supposed to assassinate Si Nianhua.

On the rooftop under the night sky, a young man in a gray suit, holding a black cane, smiled at Shendai Yunluo and Shendai Kongyu.