Hua Yao’s words hit everyone in the Night Hunt team like a heavy sledgehammer.
If they hadn’t been prepared to sacrifice themselves at any moment, or if they lacked firm loyalty to the Huafu and the Sword Wielders, they would never have chosen to wear this uniform in the first place.
But…
To the Night Hunt team, the name Chu Qingqian was never as simple as just the Captain of the Night General team appointed by headquarters.
“Take me, for example,” Hua Yao said, her lips pursing as her expression wavered with a rare loss of control.
“I worked at the 702nd Agricultural Research Institute for several years. Every day was just a mechanical repetition of providing nutrients for those experimental seeds. To put it bluntly, I was nothing more than a human fertilizer machine.”
“But the Captain found the 702nd Institute, met with me privately, and invited me to join the selection program for the new tactical team…”
“At first, I didn’t believe I would succeed.”
Hua Yao clenched her fists, her shoulders trembling slightly.
“But the Captain taught me hand-in-hand, watched over my training, and even helped me expand my thinking to develop my Oracle.”
“That’s why I can stand here today as a member of Night Hunt.”
She slowly looked up, her gaze falling on Yu Chan diagonally across from her.
“Yu Chan, too… If it weren’t for the Captain, she would still be just an intern doctor at the Second Military Academy.”
“Shadow.”
“If it weren’t for the Captain, he would still be stuck in the Post-War Psychological Trauma Comprehensive Recovery Center.”
“And you, Qing Luan…” Hua Yao’s gaze shifted again, landing on Qing Luan, who had remained silent with her head bowed.
“A young girl who had just started middle school dared to sneak out of the city alone, delusional enough to think she could kill a few aberrants to prove herself?”
“Just because you were mocked by your classmates at the training camp for being a ‘sandbag’ or a ‘meat cushion,’ you acted so irresponsibly toward yourself, your family, and your teachers.”
“If the Captain hadn’t happened to be out on a mission and saved you…”
“If the Captain hadn’t taken you in, a problem child, after the training camp expelled you…”
“If it weren’t for the Captain helping you develop your Oracle…”
“You might not even be alive today.”
After finishing with Qing Luan, Hua Yao looked toward Mongoose in the corner.
For this cold-natured girl, who was only 3 years older than Qing Luan, Hua Yao felt more pity than concern.
“Mongoose.”
“You don’t need to say it, Sister Hua Yao,” Mongoose said, slowly sheathing her twin blades.
Her face was almost expressionless, and her voice had returned to its usual state of near-emotionless apathy.
“Without Sister Qingqian, I wouldn’t exist.”
Hua Yao had mentioned every member, including herself, except for Blacksmith, who was temporarily filling in as Captain.
However, after Mongoose spoke, Blacksmith took the initiative to speak up.
“I’m a veteran Sword Wielder… five years as an apprentice and ten years as a Copper Sparrow. I’m in my 30s and still couldn’t even touch the threshold of a Silver Eagle.”
As he spoke, his armored left hand unconsciously reached for the specially customized Golden Crow badge embedded directly into his chest plate.
“The Captain said that if practicing one punch, ten punches, or 100 punches is useless, then practice 1,000 punches, 10,000 punches, or 100,000,000 punches.”
“Without her…”
“The me of today wouldn’t exist either.”
Blacksmith slowly lowered his hand, turned slightly toward Hua Yao, and said in a heavy voice, “Hua Yao, I understand the meaning behind your words.”
“We, Night Hunt, have never accepted the Captain’s death.”
“If—and I mean if—it really is her, then the best we can do right now is to ensure she doesn’t get hurt again.”
“Aside from protecting her when necessary,” Blacksmith’s gaze slowly shifted to Qing Luan on the opposite seat, “we should try our best not to disturb her.”
“Especially on this mission. It’s not just our Night Hunt; there’s also Team Twenty-Three from the provincial capital.”
“Qing Luan, I’ve always tried to accommodate you in the past, but this time…”
“You absolutely, absolutely cannot be reckless!”
The Captain of Team Twenty-Three and even some of its members had seen their Captain before.
Qing Luan was young and her mind was not yet fully mature.
Although she usually acted somewhat erratically, she was always able to keep her priorities straight when it came to matters of principle—especially when the Captain was involved.
So, after hearing Blacksmith’s cautionary words, Qing Luan slowly raised her head.
Her tear-filled eyes looked at him, and though her mouth was pouting, she still nodded solemnly.
“I know, Brother Blacksmith…”
In the back row of the lead vehicle, Zhao Dongyuan and Gu Qiancheng sat facing each other.
The scenery outside the window was constantly receding.
Zhao Dongyuan’s fingers unconsciously tapped the edge of the seat, making a faint, rhythmic “tap, tap” sound.
He slowly looked up at Gu Qiancheng, who had been staring out the window since they boarded, seemingly lost in thought.
He suddenly spoke, his voice low but clearly breaking the silence.
“Group Leader Gu, do you think… those people from Night Hunt found something?”
Hearing this, Gu Qiancheng’s body stiffened imperceptibly.
He then slowly turned his head, a perfectly calibrated look of confusion on his face as he looked at Zhao Dongyuan.
“Director Zhao, what do you mean by that? Found what?”
A knowing, faint smile appeared on Zhao Dongyuan’s face, his gaze peaceful yet piercing.
“Group Leader Gu, I understand why you’re on guard against me.”
“However…”
His tone shifted, becoming more sincere.
“I hope you understand that first and foremost, I am a member of the Binhai Branch, a soldier under Minister Lin Mo. At the same time…”
Zhao Dongyuan paused, leaning forward slightly.
He stared straight into Gu Qiancheng’s eyes and lowered his voice, but spoke with exceptional clarity.
“Specialist Chu Youchu is the savior of my wife and daughter, and a benefactor I, Zhao Dongyuan, can never fully repay in this lifetime. Whether for public or private reasons, my stance is the same as yours.”
Gu Qiancheng did not answer immediately.
He simply stared back at Zhao Dongyuan in silence.
Those eyes, which usually held a bit of a rebellious smile, were now as sharp as an eagle’s, trying to catch even the slightest hint of hypocrisy or a flaw in the other man’s gaze.
A long silence filled the carriage, broken only by the continuous noise of the tires rolling over the road.
Ultimately, Gu Qiancheng saw no flicker of unease or instability in Zhao Dongyuan’s eyes—only openness and a deep-seated gratitude.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, his body relaxing a bit as he leaned back into the seat.
“You… know the Junior’s identity?”
“I’ve guessed most of it.”
Seeing Gu Qiancheng’s attitude soften, Zhao Dongyuan leaned back as well.
He answered while casually pointing upward.
“I, Zhao Dongyuan, may have never been to headquarters and might seem like a country bumpkin to elites like you, but who doesn’t have a few old classmates and comrades who’ve done well for themselves? I can always hear whispers about certain less-critical news.”
A look of understanding flashed in Gu Qiancheng’s eyes, followed by a shake of his head and a slight frown.
“I don’t know if they found anything either. It’s just that before the Junior entered the Dead Realm, I happened to notice that the girl from the Night Hunt team—Hua Yao—was looking at her with a very strange expression. And—”
He paused, confirming the soundproofing between the front and back of the carriage before continuing in a low voice, “Did you notice? When we were leaving just now, Blacksmith originally wanted to get into our lead vehicle, but he was stopped by Hua Yao. Then they all got into the vehicle behind us.”
“This suggests they might have discovered something that required an urgent internal discussion. At that point in time, what kind of new situation would they need to avoid us to discuss? There aren’t many options.”
Zhao Dongyuan nodded in agreement, his fingers resuming their habitual tapping.
A mixture of concern and reflection appeared on his face.
Then, he spoke again, his tone slightly persuasive.
“Actually, Group Leader Gu, you don’t need to worry too much…”
He leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping even lower, almost to a whisper.
“Through some private channels, I heard that at headquarters… there was a young girl surnamed Chu. Before Minister Lin Mo’s promotion, she held an incredible record as the youngest Golden Crow level Sword Wielder. With a nearly 100% mission completion rate, she became a near-legendary existence at headquarters.”
“Furthermore, she personally formed and led a tactical team, turning that team into one of the headquarters’ trump cards in just a few short years…”
At this point, Zhao Dongyuan paused to observe Gu Qiancheng’s reaction before continuing in that near-whisper.
“…Rumor has it that the girl surnamed Chu died last year.”
“Supposedly, it was because her hidden monster identity was exposed, and she resisted fiercely during the arrest. In the end… she died at the hands of Minister Lin Mo, who was responsible for the mission at the time.”
He placed a slight emphasis on the keywords: monster identity exposed, resisting arrest, and dying at the hands of Lin Mo.
“When I gathered these fragmented bits of information and combined them with the time Specialist Chu appeared, her relationship with Minister Lin, and her abilities that clearly don’t match an assistant’s status, I had a pretty good idea…” Zhao Dongyuan said slowly.
“And after the Night Hunt team came to Binhai… more and more details matched up.”
“I might not be as strong as you, Group Leader Gu, and I don’t have a foundation at headquarters,” Zhao Dongyuan pointed to his own eyes, showing a bit of a veteran’s slickness and confidence, “but I’ve lived many more years than you. Dealing with all sorts of people locally has given me a sharp eye for people and situations.”
His fingers lightly tapped the edge of the seat again, and he suddenly laughed, a hint of hidden meaning in his smile.
“If you ask me, those people in Night Hunt definitely have a whole set of skills for playing dumb.”
Gu Qiancheng was stunned for a moment before he quickly caught the deep meaning in Zhao Dongyuan’s words.
After a moment of reflection, Gu Qiancheng also quirked the corner of his mouth and nodded.
His usual, slightly roguish smile reappeared.
“Heh, I suppose I was just overthinking out of concern.”
The two men exchanged a look, an unspoken understanding forming between them in the silence.