Chapter 466: Chapter 430: Close the Door!
Sang Que thought this in her heart, but the Zuo Jin in front of her was so realistic that she still felt a bit uneasy, afraid that she might be wrong.
At this moment, she could only continue to follow this situation. Assuming the Zuo Jin before her was real and gave her such a choice, what should she do?
The two conditions he proposed were not for himself; on the surface, he was being selfless. But if Sang Que truly accepted and demanded he take his own life, Qiu Wanjun beside her would certainly not agree, and there was also a possibility that the assassin might intervene at a critical moment.
After thinking for a while, Sang Que made her decision.
"Alright, since you are being open and honest with me, I’ll also speak the truth. You have been with my mother for so many years, have you not noticed that she does not have as much power in that so-called Immortal Country as you think? If she and the previous Nine Songs Witches were really capable of saving all people from fire and water, why have they been struggling this whole time?"
Zuo Jin frowned, and Qiu Wanjun, not knowing the full details, could only watch Zuo Jin’s reaction.
Sang Que continued, "The method to elevate the living to the Ghost God Realm and then devour thousands of ghosts was something you and my mother thought of together, wasn’t it? The creation of Nine Songs by generations of witches was to combat the ghosts of the world, to purge ghosts within one’s lifetime. You didn’t need to bring this up for me to do it; it’s my mother’s last wish, the duty of Nine Songs, and what I wish to accomplish now."
"I do not want your life, nor can I lead the people of Da Xuan to the Immortal Country to seek refuge; I am not in charge of such matters. In fact, from beginning to end, there has been no deep-seated hatred between you and me, nor father-daughter kinship. If you truly care about the common people, our goals align, and there is no need for mutual destruction."
"Give me the Yin Child’s heart, hand over the Old Gu Master and the storyteller, and I can promise you that in the future, those under Nine Songs will not oppose the Evil Suppression Bureau. Of course, the premise is that the Evil Suppression Bureau does nothing to harm innocent civilians, and situations like in Qinzhou will not happen again."
The Evil Ghost Bureau fell into silence. Everyone present was deep in thought, and even Qiu Wanjun found Sang Que’s words reasonable.
Since the aim is to clear the world of ghosts, considering Nine Songs’ past actions, there is actually no need for the Evil Suppression Bureau to pursue relentlessly; they could completely turn enemies into friends.
After a moment, Zuo Jin slowly nodded and actually said to Sang Que, "Fine, the items are yours, come and take them."
Zuo Jin raised the red cloth package, indicating for Sang Que to come over and take it.
Qiu Wanjun watched from the side, suddenly unsure of Zuo Jin’s intentions. Was he agreeing with Sang Que, or did he have other plans?
But the Prime Minister has always been like this, his thoughts not easily discerned by others.
Qiu Wanjun was not worried about Sang Que making a sudden move; firstly, she could not harm the Prime Minister, and even if she reclaimed the heart, she couldn’t immediately step into the Sixth Level and advance to the Ghost God Realm.
Sang Que hesitated for a while but finally walked towards Zuo Jin. During this time, Zuo Jin gestured to Qiu Wanjun with his eyes, directing his gaze to Suo Yike.
Qiu Wanjun immediately understood, naturally descending the steps at the entrance, keeping a close watch on Suo Yike to prevent any unexpected incidents.
Sang Que stood in front of Zuo Jin, her body restless with the Yin Child inside her. She raised her hand to take the red cloth package from Zuo Jin’s hand.
At that moment, Zuo Jin’s gaze suddenly swept towards the lower right of Sang Que, causing her to tremble violently.
Immediately following that, White Impermanence appeared on Sang Que’s left side, wearing a tall hat, with a long crimson tongue sticking out from his mouth, and he fiercely swung the Mourning Stick down at Sang Que.
Qiu Wanjun sensed the commotion at the door, turned around just in time to see this scene, and Suo Yike’s shadow on the ground also moved along. Qiu Wanjun’s eyes narrowed, and the Horse-faced Ghost instantly appeared in front of Qiu Wanjun.
Both Qiu Wanjun and Suo Yike had tokens, not subjected to suppression within the Evil Ghost Bureau, allowing them to take action inside.
All these happened in an instant; as White Impermanence’s Mourning Stick came crashing down, Sang Que dove to her right, transforming into the Yin Child on the spot.
The Yin Child bore the brunt of the blow’s impact, bursting into countless snakes and scorpions and geckos.
Meanwhile, Sang Que rolled to the right side, without hesitation triggering a mechanism inside the Evil Ghost Bureau.
Boom!
A giant stone at the entrance of the Evil Ghost Bureau fell with a thunderous crash. Qiu Wanjun and Suo Yike, hearing the sound, looked towards the entrance simultaneously.
Zuo Jin and Sang Que had already vanished without a trace.
Suo Yike wanted to check the situation at the door, but Qiu Wanjun immediately blocked his path, "Stay where you are!"
The two instantly became entangled in a skirmish.
At the same time.
Outside the Evil Ghost Bureau, Sang Que sat on the steps, staring wide-eyed at Zuo Jinye in front of him, and the White Impermanence beside him, using the Ghost Eye of the Yin Child to observe, as real as it could be.
If it weren’t for the sly smile that completely contradicted his persona at the corner of Zuo Jinye’s mouth at this moment, Sang Que could hardly believe this was Hua Qianmian, from start to finish it was her.
Above the steps, daylight shone down, the hour had passed, apart from Hua Qianmian herself, everyone believed she was Zuo Jinye, she deceived everyone, even for a moment, Hua Qianmian herself believed she was Zuo Jinye.
Hua Qianmian successfully advanced, her Painted Skin Ghost could directly disguise as White Impermanence, except it didn’t possess the real power of White Impermanence, appearance and aura, indistinguishable between true and false.
Initially, when Hua Qianmian escorted Sang Que into the Evil Suppression Bureau, the Painted Skin Ghost was disguised as Black Impermanence, now it became White Impermanence, even Qiu Wanjun didn’t suspect.
"Are you trying to screw me over?" Sang Que asked in a low voice.
Hua Qianmian pulled Sang Que up from the ground, handed her the cloth package, "There was a bit of an accident, I had no choice, this isn’t the place to talk, follow me."
Hua Qianmian resumed the state of Zuo Jinye, letting Sang Que conceal herself and follow behind him up the steps.
Outside, many people were still keeping watch, Hua Qianmian calmly instructed, "The Evil Ghost Bureau is temporarily closed, you all continue to keep watch here, report immediately if there are any circumstances."
After speaking, Hua Qianmian left with Sang Que.
The Night Travel Captain of Shengjing Exorcism Bureau, Qiu Siming, was still outside capturing intruders, another Day Travel Captain facing Hua Qianmian playing Zuo Jinye could not perceive any clues, did not dare to question Zuo Jinye’s orders.
Until truly stepping out of the gates of the Evil Suppression Bureau, Sang Que dared to breathe a sigh of relief.
This trip to the Evil Suppression Bureau, although she retrieved the heart of the Yin Child, the rescue was still nowhere in sight, she couldn’t even guess where Zuo Jinye would hide people.
"Let’s go to the Prime Minister’s Mansion!"
On the way to the Prime Minister’s Mansion by carriage, Hua Qianmian explained briefly to Sang Que why she suddenly changed the plan.
Last night Hua Qianmian encountered Nine Songs’ assassin, trembling with fear, almost exposed, perhaps luck was on her side, the assassin unexpectedly asked Hua Qianmian whether the plan continued.
With her shrewdness and cautious probing, Hua Qianmian learned from the assassin’s mouth that before Zuo Jinye left, arrangements were made—if Sang Que appeared, let the assassin pretend to assist, go undercover beside Sang Que, and figure out the way to Immortal Country.
This pretended assistance was to ensure Sang Que failed to save people and was surrounded, with the assassin taking her to break out, rather than succeeding in saving people and then breaking out.
"So this was all his arrangement, which is why Zuo Jinye suddenly came back, causing the assassin to believe the plan changed and asked you?" Sang Que asked Hua Qianmian.
Hua Qianmian frowned, "I find the assassin very peculiar, can’t describe it, the prisoners in the Evil Ghost Bureau are fake, that’s what I deduced from his hints between the lines, realizing this, I knew our plan would fail. So I changed the plan temporarily and let the assassin continue pretending to assist you."
"Zuo Jinye is not in Jingzhou, and the Sixth Level Yin Walking General in the palace won’t leave Empress Dowager Yu’s side, then the ones most threatening to us in Shengjing City are the assassin and Qiu Wanjun. Without the people in the Evil Suppression Bureau, to continue searching, we must first imprison the assassin and Qiu Wanjun, only then we have enough time."
Sang Que nodded, the subsequent situation she then could understand.
Hua Qianmian made Qiu Wanjun think the assassin had truly defected, gathered everyone in the Evil Ghost Bureau, while Hua Qianmian always stood on the steps at the entrance, not truly entering inside the Evil Ghost Bureau, fearing being discovered.
Acting out that scene was to make Qiu Wanjun believe she was really Zuo Jinye, to trick the heart of the Yin Child out from Qiu Wanjun’s hand.
When Sang Que sought to retrieve items from Hua Qianmian, Hua Qianmian signaled to Qiu Wanjun to watch the assassin.
The Painted Skin Ghost disguised as White Impermanence also purposely appeared on Sang Que’s left so Sang Que naturally triggered the mechanism to the right.
Hua Qianmian, puzzled, held her cheek, "I still don’t know if the assassin acted to stop you or to help you hold off Qiu Wanjun, who is he really loyal to? During the confrontation in the Evil Ghost Bureau, had he spoken, Qiu Wanjun wouldn’t have believed me so easily, yet he didn’t say a word from beginning to end, leading Qiu Wanjun to think he betrayed Zuo Jinye."
Sang Que also pondered, indeed, if the assassin hadn’t actively appeared before Hua Qianmian, they probably would have continued with the original scenario after daylight, at that point Sang Que would have taken fake people from the Evil Suppression Bureau, perhaps the moment they were extracted, Hua Qianmian would be exposed, culminating in a fight with Qiu Wanjun.
Those two fake figures were somewhat like Hua Qianmian’s ability, once uncovered they would melt.
The carriage stopped at the front gate of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, Hua Qianmian disembarked in the guise of Zuo Jinye.
How long the Evil Ghost Bureau can hold Qiu Wanjun and the assassin, Sang Que and Hua Qianmian have no assurance, the time afforded to them is limited.
If He Buning also doesn’t know where the real Old Gu Master and storyteller are imprisoned, they can only temporarily abandon this mission, leave Shengjing City first, lest the real Zuo Jinye receives the news and returns, and none of them can escape.
