Countdown: 40: 20: 00.
Qing Chen walked out the metal cell doors like usual. When he stepped into the hallway, the prisoners around him all looked toward him in shock, as if unable to believe how he was able to miraculously disappear for five days and reappear.
However, this time, he didn't walk across the hallway to cut the line but stayed where he was.
He patiently waited for the female broadcast voice to tell the prisoners to head downstairs for breakfast.
This made all the prisoners believe the rumor that they heard: the boy had pissed Li Shutong off and was sentenced to solitary confinement for five days, as well as torture.
Surely, the teen must have lost his privileges in Prison 18 as a result.
Still, the other prisoners didn't dare to provoke him just yet, because they couldn't offend the Qing Family like how Li Shutong could.
During breakfast, Lu Guangyi and Qing Chen sat at a table far away from Li Shutong.
Qing Chen ate very slowly and carefully, making sure that he had thoroughly chewed on the food before swallowing.
He needed to pay extra attention since his stomach was still weak from the days of starvation.
Qing Chen didn't speak a single word while eating.
There seemed to be a clear line drawn between him and Li Shutong.
As if a few days ago they were still buddies, and now, it was as if they were strangers.
The other prisoners started gossiping about what might have happened. Could it be that Li Shutong and the Qing Family ran into some conflicts?
They even started guessing what might the forbidden item that Li Shutong was protecting be. What can be so valuable to let the teenagers be so anxious to see it?
Right now, only Guo Huchan was still unaffected by Qing Chen's appearance.
He got his plate of food and sat down next to Qing Chen while smiling as usual. He asked, "What happened between you and Li Shutong? What made him punish you so badly?"
Qing Chen looked at him and said, "Are you afraid that you will anger Li Shutong as well by sitting next to me?"
Guo Huchan didn't seem to care at all, "We, the Black Spades, aren’t scared of anything, not to mention a tiny Li Shutong."
"Then what are you here for?" Qing Chen seemed to be uninterested in talking to this muscular man, so he didn't even bother to look at Guo Huchan while talking.
"I'm different from those other people. Others might be interested in your family background, but I am impressed by your abilities!" Guo Huchan said, "I'm very serious about this. I want to invite you, a true warrior, to join us."
"Not interested," said Qing Chen as he stood up, tossing his empty plate toward Lu Guangyi to let him wash it. Then, he walked to the reading area alone.
Just after taking two steps, his leg bent over and almost fell onto the floor. He was luckily able to grab onto the table just in time before he fell.
Qing Chen got back on his feet and continued walking.
Somehow, two prisoners soon started following behind him.
The next moment, the "weak" Qing Chen suddenly turned and looked at the two people.
The glance from the teenager came with intense power, seeing through what these two people were planning to do.
The two prisoners stopped, but a second later, they both simultaneously took out a sharpened toothbrush from their pants pocket and charged toward Qing Chen.
Qing Chen could clearly hear the hydraulic machinery in their legs working to their extreme, and he could even see steam coming out from their legs.
It was not natural from mechanical limbs, but they somehow were able to pressurize parts of the mechanical limbs enough that the water droplets in the air were vaporized in an instant.
But just as they leaped toward him, they also felt a sense of drowsiness and closed their eyes.
Qing Chen stood where he was and leaned to one side, letting the two of them slide over past him and rolling more than ten times before stopping.
These two didn't get up, as they were already trapped inside Lin Xiaoxiao's nightmare.
Qing Chen squatted down next to them and observed closely. Lu Guangyi, however, came over and first pulled out the two men's hind molars.
The rest of the prisoners were stunned. Everything happened so quickly that they didn't even realize what was going on.
They didn't know why the two prisoners would randomly start attacking Qing Chen and how they collapsed onto the floor.
Lu Guangyi showed one of the teeth to Qing Chen, and there was a silver poison sack hidden in it.
Qing Chen finally realized that the three dead assassins that he pulled out last time weren't here for Li Shutong… Their target had been him for the whole time.
These two people lying unconsciously on the ground came in five days ago, the same time when Jian Sheng came.
At day, everyone's attention was on Jian Sheng, but even during the chaos, Jian Sheng still noticed something odd with these two prisoners.
At first, he didn't think much, but when he was alone in the room, Qing Chen refreshed everything in his memory.
That was why he gave them an opportunity, a moment when he looked weak and alone.
Then, he would know who these assassins came for.
If they didn't attack him, he would point them out, and if they attacked, the results would be obvious.
The first group of assassins came in with him.
So, if it wasn't because he was able to find Li Shutong on his first day here, he would have been long dead.
All assassins that came here seemed to have gotten strict orders to eliminate him at all costs.
Who would it be? Another Shadow candidate?
Qing Chen was sure, but that was very likely.
Looks like he underestimated the cruelty of the Fight for the Shadow.
The Shadow, Qing Family's professional at dealing with all the dirty work, just be able to use the most obscure tactics.
This was a race of nine at midnight. It wasn't a matter of who was the most skilled, but instead to see who was the most ruthless and cold-blooded.
Soon, four robotic guards marched in.
They walked past Qing Chen and took the two assassins away.
Qing Chen knew that they would have to face the same torture that he experienced.
"Boss, now what?" asked Lu Guangyi.
"Wait for them to open their mouths, " Qing Chen said as he glanced at Lin Xiaoxiao. Then, he continued toward the reading area.
……
That night, Prison 18 returned to its peacefulness.
When Qing Chen was thinking about what happened today, his cell door opened by itself.
He wasn't surprised and went out quietly. Li Shutong, Ye Wan, and Ye Wan were all waiting for him downstairs.
This was what they had planned. Li Shutong didn't want anyone else to know that he would be teaching Qing Chen, so when all other prisoners were forced to go back to their cells after nine, Li Shutong got enough time to learn… how to become an Extraordinary.
Li Shutong looked at Qing Chen and asked, "Do you have any questions for me? We can deal with some things before today's lesson."
"Who will kill me?" asked Qing Chen.
"We don't know yet," answered Lin Xiaoxiao, "They are two stubborn men, who didn't say a thing even inside my nightmare. They are arrested for legitimate reasons, so there's no way to find out who sent them in here. Their mechanical limbs have also been modified to avoid tracing them to their manufactured location. But don't worry, give me seven days, and I'll give you an answer."
"Thank you." Qing Chen nodded.
Li Shutong thought about it and said, "It's probably one of them of the youngest generation competing for the position as Shadow. It'll only get more dangerous, so be prepared mentally"
"Why does everyone want to be the Shadow?" Qing Chen was confused, "Is it worth one's life over it?"
Li Shutong smiled and said, "That's because since a long time ago, only Shadows will be eligible to become family head in the Qing Family"
