Chapter 459: Chapter 423: Difficult Circumstances
"I’m sorry, I can’t make any decision for any of them."
Sang Que’s refusal was so decisive that it left He Buning puzzled.
This was a difference in mindset caused by their respective upbringings. Sang Que realized this and patiently explained.
"For a long time, everyone in the Nine Songs has been fulfilling the duties given to them by the Nine Songs. But besides being people of the Nine Songs, they are also themselves. They have their own thoughts and things they want to do. They are not vassals of anyone, and I shouldn’t be the one to decide for them like they are servants."
"Starting from me, I don’t want to force anyone to do anything anymore. If they want to assist me in the future, I accept it. If they don’t and want to leave the Nine Songs to live an ordinary and free life, I accept that too."
He Buning was taken aback and suddenly realized that no one had ever asked him what he wanted to do. Everything from his childhood to adulthood had been arranged.
The only time he ever rebelled was leaving Shengjing to go to Qinzhou, but even then, he was doing what his father needed him to do.
"You mean to disband the Nine Songs?"
Sang Que didn’t deny it, "More or less, didn’t you always want to eliminate the Nine Songs? If I dissolve it, that counts as a kind of ’elimination’."
He Buning stared closely at Sang Que, "What about your mission as a Witch? Are you giving that up too?"
Sang Que smiled, "Something I’m willing to do is called a mission; something I’m not willing to do is called a shackle!"
The word "shackle" reverberated in He Buning’s heart. He was indeed shackled. Even though his heart had already leaned in a certain direction, he still hovered in place, wavering.
He Buning suddenly felt some envy towards Sang Que, envying her free and strong heart that would not be bound by anyone or anything.
Even when facing her own biological father, Sang Que dared to defy and rebel directly, never burdened by societal views.
As for him, even though no one could stop him, he was still willing to be ’imprisoned’ in Shengjing City, waiting for rewards he didn’t care about and assisting his father in guarding Shengjing City.
If he left Shengjing City now, it would be defying the emperor, it would be unfilial. If it were Sang Que, she probably wouldn’t care about these things at all.
"Did Immortal Country teach you all this?" He Buning asked.
Sang Que turned her head, "Do you want to go and see it?"
He Buning fell silent again, his eyes complicated, filled with both desire and fear.
Sang Que asked because there had been a two-month-long meeting above, which had already loosened slightly, showing a willingness to accept people from the Deceit Dynasty to conduct limited surveys in the modern world, thus strengthening the close cooperation between the two worlds.
Sang Que first thought of Yao Zhen and Qiao Ling, and had already reported their basic information.
Seeing He Buning’s struggle, Sang Que did not press him.
"Tell me when you’ve made up your mind. Let’s talk about serious matters. I now count as having aligned goals with you, moving to ’eliminate’ the Nine Songs, which doesn’t violate your stance and intentions. I also do need your assistance, so tell me about the assassin and the Shopkeeper."
He Buning replied, "The assassin has already defected to my father. If you rashly go into the Evil Ghost Bureau to carry out a rescue, you will inevitably run into him hiding in the darkness. As for the Shopkeeper, I haven’t seen him in person either. His capabilities and role lie in making money and accumulating various resources; he won’t affect your rescue."
"Where are the Old Gu Master and the storyteller being held?" Sang Que asked.
"Right inside the Evil Ghost Bureau. I advise you not to have any ideas about rescuing people from inside there. It’s easy to get in and hard to get out. After all, it is a prison specifically for detaining Evil Ghosts."
"Understood."
Sang Que had never intended to throw herself into the net by entering the Evil Ghost Bureau. Back in Wangshan City’s Evil Ghost Bureau, the Zhuangyuan Ghost couldn’t have escaped without relying on the fissures caused by the earthquake. That place is indeed one not to enter.
"Is the heart of the Yin Child also inside the Evil Ghost Bureau?"
"It should be. I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, but Qiu Wanjun must know. Additionally, the Evil Suppression Bureau in Shengjing City is established in a Reversed Eight Diagrams pattern. Very few people know that you can freely use Evil Ghost Powers inside the Evil Suppression Bureau..."
He Buning explained in detail to Sang Que the layout inside the Evil Suppression Bureau and the intelligence about the Evil Ghost Bureau. In fact, after his father had half a foot into the Ghost God Realm, He Buning had suggested to him that there was no need to detain the Old Gu Master anymore.
After all, Qinzhou had already become a Death Domain, and even if Yunzhou had rebellious intentions, they couldn’t cross the barrier of Qinzhou. Continuing to detain the Old Gu Master would only anger the Yunzhou people. His father could completely use the Old Gu Master to exchange with Yunzhou for a solution to the Blood Curse.
Unfortunately, his father refused, insisting on keeping the Old Gu Master and the storyteller locked up.
He Buning understood that his father intended to use them as bait to lure Sang Que, the Witch, to the door.
As long as they caught Sang Que, they could obtain the key to the Immortal Country.
He Buning had heard his father mention Immortal Country when he was a child.
His father did not know much about it, but he was very attracted to it, enamored by Sang Que’s attitude of freedom and equality towards people.
His father came from a background as an actor, and even though he had become the current Prime Minister, there were still many who cursed him behind his back as someone of lowly birth.
Empress Dowager Yu often invited people to perform in the palace, to remind his father of his origins.
He Buning knew his father’s childhood had been worse than that of pigs and dogs. It was only after meeting his mother that he began to live like a human being.
In fact, from childhood to adulthood, his father had never treated him harshly. On the contrary, his father had always personally instructed him, teaching him to revere the heavens and earth and to care for the people.
Speaking of his mother, his father never avoided it, telling him about the two of them and telling him that his mother was a person filled with great love.
He Buning felt that his father had never resented his mother, including his father’s decision to abolish the Witch Temple, which was to free his mother from the Witch’s mission, for his father to bear everything, to take risks, to end the strange era.
But his mother saw this as a betrayal, leaving his father in anger and abandoning him as well.
If his father had treated him harshly from a young age, He Buning might not have so much inner turmoil and could rebel without hesitation. But as it happened, he did have some recognition and admiration for his father in certain aspects.
He even thought that if he were in his father’s position, he would not do better than him.
He loathed his father’s actions in Qinzhou on one hand, yet understood his father’s difficulties on the other, caught in this push and pull, like sinking into a quagmire.
After discussing the matter of rescuing the Old Gu Master, He Buning and Sang Que fell silent for a while.
Until Sang Que asked, "Did my mother... stay here for a while?"
He Buning nodded, "Yes, the Prime Minister’s Mansion was expanded later. Originally, this was an ordinary neighborhood, with a small courtyard at the back. When my father and mother first came to Shengjing, they lived there. I was born there too. Even now, when my father comes back to the mansion, he stays there most of the time."
Sang Que’s eyes brightened, looking at He Buning with a gaze full of yearning, "Can I go see it?"
He Buning had no reason to refuse. He recalled that when his mother was first pregnant, she said it was a younger sister, and he had once imagined playing with his sister in the courtyard in the future, giving his wooden horse to her.
"There are many spies in the mansion. If you have a way to conceal yourself, it would be best to do so."
He Buning stood up, noticing that Sang Que was still in a single layer of clothing. He went to the door to get his fox fur cloak and handed it to Sang Que.
"Follow me."
