I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 173 - 146: Yu Da

Cui Cheng hadn’t had a chance to lose his temper before He Buning called Sang Que over, pretending to be the boss, and asked Sang Que to apologize to Cui Cheng.

Sang Que happily complied, bowing deeply.

"I’m sorry, Captain Cui, I shouldn’t have knocked them all out alone. They suddenly rushed at me and surrounded me, I got really scared and overreacted. I should have used my Yin Walker’s Evil Mist to throw them all out. It’s all my fault!"

Cui Cheng: ......

Pfft!

Xiao Wu couldn’t help it again, quickly turned his head and pressed his lips tight. Suddenly, he felt that Sang Mulan was just like his Captain; white on the outside, black on the inside.

Cui Cheng’s face turned dark and he remained silent. He Buning’s peripheral vision caught sight of Yu Da, hiding outside the door, not daring to enter, and he nodded slightly in greeting.

Yu Da was also a well-known figure among Wangshan City’s Day Travelers. He Buning had followed Yu Da to learn exorcism six years ago when he first joined the Wangshan Town Evil Suppression Bureau.

He had no ambition but understood best how to solve eerie cases with the least cost and how to protect his teammates and his own life.

He Buning valued Sang Que and didn’t want her to overuse her Yin Walker powers, accelerating the backlash from her evil spirits. So he needed Sang Que to learn as many ordinary exorcism techniques as possible.

That way, he could have one more long-living helper under him, so more people could stay alive.

He Buning instructed Sang Que, "Seeing the Day Travelers’ condition, they might need a few days to recuperate, so I’m punishing you by having you follow Day Traveler Yu Da this month to help clean up the backlog of cases."

"Yes!"

He Buning flipped his head, and Sang Que quickly walked away.

Once Yu Da and Sang Que had gone far, He Buning approached Cui Cheng and softly asked, "Captain Cui isn’t the kind to take revenge behind your back and bully young ladies, right?"

Cui Cheng turned and glared, "Who do you look down on!"

He Buning nodded and smiled, "Captain Cui is good at managing his subordinates. On the battlefield, the knives should always be pointed at the enemy; don’t let your own people’s hearts grow cold."

"There’s no need for you to teach me, you battlefield-illiterate pretty boy!" Cui Cheng cursed in exasperation.

He Buning said nothing more and quickly left with Xiao Wu.

Cui Cheng watched He Buning walk with such swagger and clenched his teeth. Then he looked at the bruised and battered Day Travelers and erupted in fury.

"What are you staring at? Get to work! Don’t anyone dare leave before ending work today, get to the training grounds now!"

Cui Cheng flung his sleeve and left, leaving the scene filled with cries of agony.

*

The ginkgo trees by the roadside had turned yellow, shining like gold, as a street vendor lifted the steaming lid of a wooden bucket, holding a ceramic bowl, and asked with a chuckle.

"Old Yu, same as usual today?"

Yu Da rubbed his increasingly plump belly, stretching his neck to peer into the wooden bucket.

"Two bowls of tofu pudding, two plates of pickles, skip the pastries." He turned to ask Sang Que, "Like spicy food?"

Sang Que nodded.

"Make them all spicy, here’s the payment."

Yu Da pulled out three copper coins and placed them on the stall’s counter, signaling Sang Que to sit at the side.

"Old Yu, why so late today? I’ve already finished eating, wanted to have a chat with you."

"You should get to work, what is there to chat about? I’m on patrol!"

"Who’s the girl? Your relative?"

"Ah! Don’t inquire so much, hurry up, or you’ll be late and miss your salary, and then you won’t be able to pay this month’s taxes."

Yu Da chatted familiarly with a barefoot, lean man wearing straw sandals, nodding and greeting the people at the surrounding breakfast stalls.

Everyone called him Old Yu, just like they were neighbors in the community.

Previously in Bailong County, when Zhang Yuanzhong saw Mr. Xu San, he always respectfully called him Mr. Xu San.

Yu Da moved the leftover bowls on the small table by the roadside to the side and wiped the table and chairs clean with a cloth, inviting Sang Que to sit down.

"Where do you rank in your family?"

Sang Que was about to say she was an only daughter but then thought of He Buning and said, "Second."

Yu Da nodded, "Then from now on, I’ll call you Sang Er, and you can call me Old Yu."

Sang Que was stunned, why did the name sound so silly? But in the entire Evil Suppression Bureau, everyone called others like this without proactively revealing their full names.

"Sang Er, do you know why I had you wear civilian clothes and put away your badge?" Yu Da asked.

"To be approachable?" Sang Que guessed tentatively.

Yu Da glanced at Sang Que, "You’ve got some sense. Let me put it this way, whether Day Travel or Night Travel, when handling strange cases in the Evil Suppression Bureau, if there’s suspected wrongdoing, killing someone at will is allowed. This rule, of course, was initially intended to dispose of evil spirits promptly before things worsened."

"But this also causes citizens to fear the government’s officers in the Evil Suppression Bureau. Some strange cases could have been easily resolved if the citizens explained the causes and effects, but because they fear being killed, they choose to hide certain key points, potentially risking everyone’s life in the end."

Sang Que nodded, actually she had found this out back in Bailong County.

Xu San sought out Zhang Yuanzhong so many times, but Zhang Yuanzhong never mentioned Qiao Ying’s dreams to Xu San, definitely afraid Xu San would treat Qiao Ying as an evil spirit and slash her.

If only Zhang Yuanzhong and Qiao Ying could have told Xu San about the dreams earlier, perhaps the issues in Pinghu Village would have been solved long ago.

"Here’s the tofu pudding, you two."

The stall owner brought two bowls of tofu pudding and two plates of pickles. Even though Yu Da didn’t ask for pastries, the stall owner still brought two.

"You’re bringing someone to patronize my business today, the pastries are complimentary."

"Thank you." Sang Que received the plate from the stall owner with both hands.

The stall owner smiled at Sang Que, a look of an elder toward a younger, warm and familiar, because the stall owner considered Yu Da as one of their own.

Once the stall owner left, Yu Da took a bite of a golden pastry, "Old Ma’s pastries are the best in town; he’s the main culprit behind me getting this fat."

"Back to the topic, since Captain He asked me to guide you, I hope for the next month you’ll follow my rules. Wear civilian clothes and don’t mention you’re a Night Traveler, and don’t unleash your evil spirits unless it’s a life and death moment. Assume you’re just a regular person, okay?"

Sang Que nodded briskly, "Okay!"

Yu Da chuckled, clearly relieved. He feared Sang Que might be a young, hot-headed, stubborn kind who wouldn’t listen to advice. Surprisingly, just like He Buning back then, although young and talented, she had no bad habits and didn’t look down on him.

"Alright, eat up, I’ll think about where to start explaining."

Sang Que picked up a spoon and lifted her bowl, eating a mouthful of the natural and additive-free tofu pudding from the Deceit Dynasty. While the seasoning was slightly off, the tofu pudding was delicious.

Yu Da observed Sang Que’s bold demeanor and appreciated her lack of the usual shyness seen in young women.

"Regarding the Evil Suppression Bureau’s origins, it’s hard to say clearly now, and it has nothing to do with what we’re going to do, so I won’t delve into it. If you’re interested, you can buy some snacks from ’De Mao Xuan’ in the west of the city and ask Granny Zhuang."

De Mao Xuan’s snacks.

Sang Que quietly noted it down; it’s the key to getting an important character. Granny Zhuang, who manages records, is crucial for her investigation into the Yin Child and the Fengning City cases.

"Currently, the Evil Suppression Bureau is managed by the Prime Minister’s Mansion, the Taoist Sect, and the Buddhist Sect. So within our Bureau, you can see both Taoist and Buddhist elements. However, the unique exorcism technique belonging to the Bureau is indeed the most ancient witchcraft!"

Sang Que stopped her pastry-chewing motion and blurted out, "Was the Evil Suppression Bureau founded by Witch Lady?"

This statement nearly caused Yu Da to knock over his bowl, and he quickly winked.

"Don’t dare say such things if someone hears it, you’ll lose your head! The Bureau now has nothing to do with... that person. Remember! We now only discuss witchcraft and ignore other topics."