Chapter 167: Chapter 140: Probing for Information

In the early autumn season, the woods were ablaze with colors, and along a small forest path, carriage and pedestrians moved slowly.

A Black Donkey pulled the cart, a black cat jumped onto the top to catch falling leaves, and a girl with long black hair sat on the shaft, swinging her legs while holding snacks, watching the passersby by the road. Her cheeks puffed out, eating like a little squirrel, bobbing her head leisurely.

Wearing a pointed bamboo hat, Qin Ze, dressed as a Corpse Recovery Man, was soaking wet on horseback. Upon seeing him, the passing pedestrians pulled their family and children away.

Qin Ze sighed, spat out the grass leaf from his mouth, and thought of returning to Wangshan City where he’d meet his wife and two little brats, Qin Ze was… conflicted!

It’s not that he didn’t love his wife and kids, but the reality was that in his disguise as a Corpse Recovery Man, he was a bachelor!

Moreover, a bachelor who had lost someone dear. Even though he was merely pretending to be a Corpse Recovery Man, he still felt a sense of guilt as if he was about to cheat, although she was his wife he had married through a proper marriage. What if upon returning home, the Corpse Recovery Man inside him lost control and harmed his wife and two sons?

What to do about this?

Qin Ze craned his neck towards the donkey cart ahead, intending to seek Sang Que’s advice, yet Sang Que was engrossed in conversation with Xiao Liu.

“…Mulan, you wouldn’t know this, but our Colonel is actually a pitiable person…”

Xiao Liu patted his thigh, his face full of pity.

Sang Que actually just asked one question, but Xiao Liu ended up talking all the way.

“Although I don’t know the origin of our Colonel in Shengjing, he ran off to this remote Qinzhou at fifteen, definitely indicating something went wrong with his family. Perhaps it’s as rumored, one of those messes in big wealthy families, like a father favoring a concubine over his wife, mistreating the legitimate son of the main wife and so on.”

Sang Que expressionlessly held the reins, Xiao Liu’s words were all over the place, leaving her unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

Also, how did Xiao Liu even know He Buning was the legitimate son of the main wife when he doesn’t know He Buning’s family situation?

This Xiao Liu had a filter for his Colonel thicker than the corners of the city wall. In Xiao Liu’s eyes, He Buning was a beautifully strong tragic figure.

Xiao Liu continued, “Don’t let the fact our Colonel is good-looking, kind-hearted, and capable fool you. He’s truly pitiful. You’ve also seen our Colonel’s yin fire, others envy it, saying our Colonel’s yin fire isn’t like the yin energy of a typical Yin Walker that backfires, it can be used freely.”

“But no one knows, our Colonel’s yin fire burns at the cost of his life! Every time he uses the yin fire, the yin energy corrodes him, making him extremely weak, requiring him to consume medicine all year round while forcing himself to personally handle matters.”

Upon this topic, Sang Que realized He Buning’s yin fire was indeed unique, not a kind of Evil Spirits, so He Buning wasn’t technically a Yin Walker.

The feel of this yin fire was similar to the kind Summer Cicada, like an Evil People, had. Could it be that He Buning’s yin fire wasn’t innate, but something that entered postnatally, making him not an Evil People, yet possessing abilities similar to one?

Therefore he didn’t share the intellectual deficiencies like Xia Chan, but with constant use of the yin fire, he would face a short life, not escaping the fate of an Evil People’s early demise.

“Sixth Brother,” Sang Que interrupted Xiao Liu’s emotional spiel, “I just casually asked, if you feel it’s not proper to answer, you don’t have to. Your Colonel’s flintlock gun is quite novel, where’s it from? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Leaning against the cart, Xiao Liu said, “Not just you, I bet no one in the Xuan Dynasty has ever seen something like that before. I didn’t know either, until I heard from my Fifth Brother. You wouldn’t know, but my Fifth Brother came from Shengjing with our Colonel.”

“My Fifth Brother has a very tight lip, you couldn’t pry it open with a knife. If it weren’t for a time when he talked excessively due to the backlash of a yin object, I’d never have found out. Fifth Brother said that flintlock gun and the yin fire were gifts from our Colonel’s biological mother.”

Sang Que’s gaze gradually deepened, “Then his mother must have loved him dearly.”

“Humph~” Xiao Liu suddenly snorted coldly, “I don’t think so. My Fifth Brother said, our Colonel’s biological mother abandoned him at the age of five, leaving only with his unborn sister, that’s why I say our Colonel is pitiful. Such a young age without his mother around must be due to his father favoring a concubine over his wife.”

Sang Que pondered briefly; the part about favoring a concubine over a wife likely was Xiao Liu’s own assumption and couldn’t be trusted for now.

But…

“Unborn, how did you know it was a sister?” Sang Que asked.

Xiao Liu’s emotional outpouring came to a sudden halt, he froze for a moment, “Eh? Right, unborn yet, how could they know it’s a sister? Fifth Brother didn’t say either, though I wanted to ask. But once the backlash subsided, he gave me a beating and I never got the chance to ask again.”

Sang Que laughed, she too would have been beaten; extracting information when someone was defenseless against yin object side-effects was too devious. Fortunately, Xiao Liu only asked about He Buning; if it had been about Xiao Wu’s private matters, he’d probably be killed.

What kind of yin object had side-effects that made someone unable to resist answering anything – Sang Que really wanted to know.

Xiao Liu rubbed his knee and finally remembered his mission to extract information.

“By the way, Mulan, you haven’t told me how you and Little Chan met, you guys aren’t biological sisters, not a bit alike.”

Sang Que glanced sideways at Xiao Liu, wondering why he was so intent on finding out about Xia Chan?

Could it be he had a crush on Xia Chan?

Or did He Buning discover Xia Chan was an Evil People and wished to probe her?

“Speaking of which, are you still single? Is your Colonel also unmarried?”

“Of course! Following a Colonel like ours, living through wind and rain, sleeping on horseback – who dares to marry? Marriage would harm the girl.”

“Our Colonel has no such intention, but our Lord Governor in Qinzhou keeps trying to marry his legitimate second daughter to him, but our Colonel is too mischievous. He agreed on the surface but then had me deliver his birth details to the Governor. Upon seeing them, the Governor dropped the idea immediately.”

“Is your Colonel really cursed in his kin?”

“Of course not, our Colonel’s current name is probably not even real, he has another identity in Shengjing.”

“Then why is he determined to come to Qinzhou?”

“According to Fifth Brother, it’s to find his sister.”

“Not his mother?”

“From what I observed, our Colonel seems pretty certain his mother has passed away; only his sister is alive.”

Sang Que’s heart constricted, turning back to Xiao Liu, “His mother left him long ago, unable to even find his sister, how is he certain his mother is gone?”

Xiao Liu shrugged, “How would I know? But our Colonel is really hurt by his mother, just hoping he finds his sister soon. If the father isn’t reliable, at least having a close relative nearby, otherwise, our Colonel is truly too lonely. Seeing him, it seems he fears a short life, hence no intention to marry.”

“What about you, have you set your sights on any girl, planning to marry?” Sang Que asked again.

Xiao Liu smiled bitterly, “Now, even female ghosts look clear and pretty to me; I truly have no thoughts about girls. People like us, dealing with Evil Spirits and Evil Ghosts daily, carry too much yin energy, which would harm family, really shouldn’t hurt people.”

Sang Que understood, so Xiao Liu hadn’t taken a fancy to Xia Chan.

“Whoa—”

Sang Que reined the donkey, “Sixth Brother, we’ve arrived at the relay station.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Liu nearly dropped his jaw, “Huh? We’ve arrived, that fast?”

He hadn’t asked anything yet! Xiao Liu suddenly wanted to slap himself; what had he been doing the whole way?

Feeling Sang Que driving the donkey cart into the relay station, Xiao Liu gritted his teeth, and directly said to Sang Que, “Miss Sang, let me tell you straight, our Colonel actually suspects Little Chan is his lost sister. Could you please answer a few questions for me? Help me out, and also our Colonel.”

Xiao Liu thought if he had the skill to extract information, he wouldn’t have had to wait for Fifth Brother to be under the backlash of a yin object to find out about their Colonel.

The donkey cart abruptly halted, nearly throwing Xiao Liu out of the carriage.

Sang Que suddenly pulled the reins, looking at Xiao Liu in shock, while Little Chan, surprised, turned her crumb-covered face towards Xiao Liu and then at Sang Que, blinking her big round eyes in confusion.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep