Chapter 164: Chapter 138: Laying the Cards on the Table

The atmosphere between He Buning and Sang Que was tense, but ultimately, Sang Que took the first step back.

“Colonel, you often deal with Yin Walkers. Are other Yin Walkers willing to reveal all the information about their own evil spirits? As a Yin Walker, will it affect my entry into the Evil Suppression Bureau? Or is there such a rule in the Evil Suppression Bureau that a Yin Walker must reveal their own evil spirit information to join?”

He Buning looked steadily at Sang Que for a moment, while Sang Que faced him calmly, without a trace of guilt or retreat.

Seeing this, He Buning lowered his eyes to avoid Sang Que’s open gaze, thinking that the Evil Mist is unique but not exclusively a Yin Child’s ability. If Sang Que had ill intentions, would he have dived into the lake to save someone?

Moreover, she must treat Xia Chan well; otherwise, with Xia Chan’s innocent and timid nature, how could she treat her like family?

It’s also common for Yin Walkers to hide their own evil spirit traits, as no one wants to expose their weaknesses, providing an opportunity for exploitation.

“So, the person in the Purple Cloud Mountain Bandit Village, was it you?” He Buning asked again.

Sang Que chuckled, “Colonel, if I answer one of your questions, shouldn’t you answer one of mine?”

He Buning glanced at the flintlock gun at his waist, unwilling to elaborate. He casually replied, “This is a new weapon being developed by the Firearms Camp, called a ’flintlock gun,’ and it hasn’t been fully disclosed yet.”

Sang Que laughed inwardly; fine, fine, she doesn’t speak the truth, so he won’t either?

The earliest firearms in Huaxia appeared during the Northern Song Dynasty. Although the Xuan Dynasty is a fictional dynasty of a feudal era, it wouldn’t be surprising to invent a gun if they had gunpowder.

But she’s not blind. She hasn’t written much work, so her vision is particularly good. She can see the patterns on He Buning’s gun that don’t belong to the Huaxia background, and vaguely recognize a few English letters.

She just doesn’t know English well, so she doesn’t understand their meaning.

If the Xuan Dynasty didn’t have foreigners, these patterns only indicate one thing.

This antique flintlock gun indeed came from modern times, and even the Xuan Dynasty’s current Firearms Camp is researching firearms based on this flintlock gun. With ancient industrial standards, it’s normal that they can’t achieve full dissemination in ten to twenty years.

And this gun of He Buning’s was bought from abroad by someone from modern times for him.

The only people Sang Que knows of who can traverse both worlds are herself and the previous owner of the Yansheng coin, her biological mother.

Looking at He Buning, who seems just in his early twenties, his identity is becoming clear.

Sang Que couldn’t describe her feelings at the moment; she felt a little excited, a little thrilled, a bit relieved, and slightly amused. She abandoned the idea of urgently wanting to find her blood relatives, thinking of first slowly improving herself and then going to Shengjing later.

Unexpectedly, she had already met her relative. If fate is left without interference, it is truly marvelous.

He Buning doesn’t seem to be the vile villain that she and her mom worried about. At least, her initial impression of him was good.

Still, Sang Que remembered her mother’s words, for safety’s sake, she didn’t plan to acknowledge him.

Initial impressions can’t tell the whole story. She knew nothing about He Buning’s identity and background here. It was best to observe him for some time.

If given the chance, she’d pluck some of his hair to get a test done later for more assurance.

As the sun set, casting a myriad of colors across the sky, Sang Que suddenly found the scenery of the lake and mountains quite lovely.

She relaxed her entire body, stretched her shoulders and bones, and admitted directly, “The person in the Purple Cloud Mountain was me. At that time, I hadn’t decided whether to join the Evil Suppression Bureau, so as a Yin Walker, hiding my identity is reasonable, right?”

He Buning keenly perceived the change in Sang Que’s attitude. Although her words were evasive, the sense of distance between them diminished significantly.

Despite having guessed before, hearing Sang Que acknowledge it now, He Buning still couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised.

It wasn’t that he underestimated women; it’s just that during their joint effort to combat the Jumping Corpse, that innate sense of tacit understanding was something he had only experienced among comrades in the military camp.

Thus, he instinctively regarded her as a man, a man with strength akin to his, with a matching temperament.

He had suspected Sang Que later on, but without evidence, he internally dismissed the notion.

Reassessing Sang Que, he realized she was just a year older than Xia Chan, yet possessed such formidable martial skills, and was a nearly perfect Yin Walker who could tame evil spirits, with remarkable strength, bravery, and disposition.

Luckily, she wasn’t the sister he was searching for; otherwise, he would have to eliminate her.

Thinking of this, He Buning felt a twinge of conflict and turned his gaze back to Xia Chan, seeing her holding a bun in one hand and jerky in the other, her cheeks puffed as she chewed while remaining wary of her surroundings—that simple look unexpectedly put his mind at ease.

Previously, he hoped Xia Chan wasn’t his sister; now, comparing her with Sang Que, he wished his sister was like Xia Chan.

He Buning withdrew his gaze, thinking that a person like Sang Que, as long as she wasn’t his enemy, concealing a few things wouldn’t matter.

“As for the matter of Pinghu Village, Miss Sang deserves the highest credit. As promised before, once we return to Wangshan City, it will be fulfilled.”

Sang Que nodded slightly; He Buning was referring to her joining the Night Traveler. Once back in Wangshan City, she would receive her Night Traveler mask.

“In addition, whether Day Travel or Night Travel, after resolving strange cases, the Evil Suppression Bureau will reward merits. Once Miss Sang officially becomes a Night Traveler, you can go to the Merit Office to claim 300 merit points. These can be exchanged for weapons, armor, talismans, secret techniques, and yin objects collected by the Evil Suppression Bureau. You can consult the catalog yourself.”

“Inheriting the incense burner of the Night Traveler requires a ceremony. I’ll send someone to inform you of the specific process in due time. After becoming a Night Traveler, you’ll have a month to learn everything related to the Evil Suppression Bureau and Night Travelers. During this period, I hope Miss Sang can report on time daily without absence.”

Sang Que understood—it’s workplace training, which she welcomed. She planned to find time to tell her mom she might have found her brother, then have her mom request a month’s leave from school for her.

He Buning wanted to inquire about Xia Chan’s situation but, as a Captain of the Night Travel, was too reserved to ask about a young girl’s affairs, fearing any misunderstanding with Sang Que.

Reluctantly, He Buning maintained his aloof captain demeanor, mounted his horse, and led the way towards Bailong County.

Qin Ze remained unconscious, while Qiao Ying, who was bound, could only ride a donkey cart. The cart was overloaded with food, and although Sang Que wanted to discard some, Xia Chan pounced to stop her, promising she could finish it.

Unable to sway Xia Chan, Sang Que resorted to riding a horse. Luckily, she had experience with this in the modern world; going slow wasn’t a problem. In the future, as a Night Traveler who would undoubtedly travel a lot, she needed to hone her horseback riding skills.

This trip to Pinghu Village, though risky, turned out fine. Although they hadn’t perfectly dealt with the Fish Woman, the Yin Child seemed to have obtained one of her eyeballs from He Buning.

It’s possible that the other eyeball is in the Evil Suppression Bureau; she might have a chance to exchange for it with merit points from the bureau.

The harvest wasn’t huge, but at least her goal of joining the Evil Suppression Bureau had been achieved, along with other unexpected gains.

With the sky bathed in red, the mountain road traffic brisk, Sang Que looked at the figure riding ahead and smiled slightly.

Drive!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep