I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 298 - 262: Encountering Yao Zhen Again
Pu’an County is the nearest county town after entering Jinzhou from the Wangshan City checkpoint. At the moment, there are temporary shanties everywhere outside the county, with hundreds of refugees gathered outside the city, and many more on their way here.
Upon leaving Qinzhou, passage documents were not checked, but here they must be examined thoroughly. Refugees from Qinzhou are temporarily not allowed to enter the city.
After nightfall, the refugees could only get as close to the city walls as possible to fend off the wandering evil spirits outside.
Sang Que saw government constables setting up pot shelters outside the city, distributing porridge. It’s said that they do so once every day.
The court does not completely neglect the refugees, but the current top priority is to suppress the Qinzhou rebellion and rebuild Wangshan City as soon as possible.
When the Zhang Family people were about to enter the city, two fast horses galloped out from inside, almost crashing into their carriage.
The old shopkeeper, who had been cursing bandits all the way, dared not say a word now, because those who just rushed past were people from the Evil Suppression Bureau.
"What life-threatening spectral case has occurred this time? Just heard yesterday about a village where over seventy people had their hearts gouged out overnight, dying completely. It’s terrifying, young lady, you mustn’t wander around anymore."
"So many spectral cases didn’t happen in previous years, truly a stroke of bad luck. But once the spectral cases are resolved, those refugees will have a place to go."
The old shopkeeper’s meaning is that the village where everyone was dead can be used to settle the refugees once the problem is resolved—the houses are ready, and as long as there is land to cultivate, these people can survive.
Sang Que sat silently in the carriage, as she already knew about the situation within the Evil Ghost Bureau in Wangshan City through the Female Zombie this morning.
The final battle between Cui Cheng and the Zhuangyuan Ghost, the escape of Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu, Yu Da accidentally breaking the wall of the Evil Ghost Bureau in his madness, and how the Zhuangyuan Ghost, before escaping, deliberately used his strength to release the other captive ghosts.
All for the purpose of causing chaos so that with more ghosts wandering outside, the Evil Suppression Bureau would be too busy to catch him.
One must admit, this Zhuangyuan Ghost is very cunning.
It’s a pity for Cui Cheng, unnecessarily sacrificed. Thinking of this, Sang Que felt a heavy heart, more determined and driven to change something.
The old shopkeeper drove the carriage into the city; the guards saw the Zhang Family’s flag and did not approach for inspection, waving them through.
Had Sang Que come alone, she wouldn’t even be able to enter the city.
After entering the city and traveling for a while, Sang Que asked the old shopkeeper to stop the carriage to bid farewell to Zhang Junyao.
Zhang Junyao poked her head out of the carriage window, somewhat reluctant to part with Sang Que; the sense of security Sang Que gave her was unmatched by anyone else.
"Well, I’ll be staying in Pu’an County recently, and the matter we talked about, you mustn’t go back on your word; I’ll be waiting for you to come to me."
Sang Que nodded, "Alright, see you later."
Sang Que cupped her hands in farewell, took the two horses she and Zhang Junyao rode down from the mountain from the Zhang Family’s martial master, and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
The old shopkeeper looked at his young lady, who had half her body out of the window, reluctant to part, clicking his tongue in amazement.
"Young lady, those who don’t know might think you’ve lost your heart to that heroine."
Zhang Junyao looked down, dejected, sitting back inside the carriage, "Uncle Ming, what if I want to become a Yin Walker, what should I do?"
The old shopkeeper laughed upon hearing this, "My lady, you must stop talking nonsense. Nine out of ten Yin Walkers in this world are lunatics. Getting involved with Yin Walkers is very unfortunate. We should hurry home to assure your parents of your safety."
Zhang Junyao pursed her lips, and the carriage slowly entered the city.
*
Pu’an County is only one-tenth the size of Wangshan City, serving as the first waystation between Qinzhou and Jinzhou, thus being commercially prosperous.
The mask on her face was somewhat conspicuous, so Sang Que switched it for a bamboo hat, found an inn to temporarily deposit her two horses, and then headed to the place where notices were posted in the city. Recently, the notices were all about the court’s conscription of soldiers, grain, and labor, with no particularly special news.
She then went to various markets to understand the prices, looking for items suitable for trading in the modern times, and checked the prices and styles of various farm tools, bricks, stones, and timber.
The grain prices were indeed fluctuating daily, rising rapidly, leaving many city residents unable to afford it.
When she reached the granary run by the Zhang Family, she encountered a group of armored soldiers loading grain onto a cart. From the onlookers, Sang Que learned that this grain was willingly donated by the Zhang Family to the government, intended to be transported to Qinzhou.
As she was observing, someone quietly approached Sang Que from behind, and she immediately became alert.
"You didn’t die?"
Upon hearing the voice, Sang Que turned around in surprise, seeing a familiar face, the birthmark on half of the face still red as blood.
It was Yao Zhen!
"What are you doing here?" Sang Que asked.
Yao Zhen crossed her arms, looking Sang Que up and down, "I wanted to ask you the same. The notice from the Evil Suppression Bureau was posted for only a day before being taken down, but it clearly said you had died! What, did you fake your death to deceive for incense?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
Yao Zhen’s voice was very low, as people around looked their way, and she quickly pulled Sang Que into an empty alley.
The reason Yao Zhen was in Pu’an County was still her master; the first two divinations didn’t work, and after she returned, her master insisted that the calculations were correct, that she was just blind to not find the person.
Her master was old and must not be upset, so they had to humor him, which led to this third casting of the divination.
Her master said that if she failed to meet the person again, he would cut off his hand and never divine again in his life.
Yao Zhen only arrived in Pu’an County this morning; her impoverished Taoist Temple is located in an unknown valley in East Yue Mountain, not far from here.
"Where’s your donkey?" Yao Zhen asked Sang Que.
"It should be with my sister. After the ghost incident in Wangshan City, I woke up in the mountains here; I only recently learned I was ’dead.’"
"So you’re not planning on returning to the Evil Suppression Bureau?"
Yao Zhen’s eyes brightened slightly. Sang Que was about to reply when Yao Zhen remembered something else.
"By the way, I heard you tamed the Yin Child, is that true?"
Sang Que opened her mouth again only to be interrupted once more by Yao Zhen, who had a flash of insight, clearing the mist.
"Wait!"
The person her master told her to wait for—could it be this person right in front of her?
Her master said this person is her destined person. Missing them would lead to mediocrity in her latter life, unable to build anything, not even a simple hut. But finding them ensures notable achievements—including building a Taoist temple and more.
She pressed her master to tell her who to wait for, but he only said it was someone very special.
Special as in taming a Yin Child? The first female Night Wanderer of the Xuan Dynasty? Alive after dying? All unusual things indeed.
Three divinations, her master still insisted they weren’t wrong, only her blindness was the issue—and among these, she met Sang Que twice. Had it not been for coincidentally seeing Mo Yan Shu the second time, she would’ve surely encountered Sang Que again.
With such logic, she was indeed blind to not notice, truly unusual indeed.
Yao Zhen looked at Sang Que with a peculiar curiosity, suspecting something on her influenced her judgment.
Yao Zhen’s expression kept changing, making Sang Que puzzled.
Nevertheless, a helper coming to the doorstep shouldn’t be missed.
"Kun Dao, you mentioned wanting to build a Taoist temple before. I just happen to know of a place where you can construct one. Want to come take a look?"
"Okay!"
Yao Zhen agreed so readily that Sang Que was stunned, leaving her prepared emotional, logical, and tempting persuasions stuck in her throat.
