Chapter 436: Am I an Outsider or One of Us?
Yang Haoran's answer left sloppy man stunned for a moment. He had expected Yang Haoran to beat around the bush and try to extract more benefits from him, but he didn't expect Yang Haoran to directly ask when they would depart.
The reason Yang Haoran was so straightforward in asking when they would depart was that he felt he had squeezed enough benefits from sloppy man. If he tried to extract more, it would be too greedy, and the deal might even fall through.
Even if sloppy man didn't offer more, Yang Haoran would have eventually agreed. The reason he didn't immediately agree was that he wanted to take another turn to see if sloppy man would voluntarily offer more benefits.
The result was satisfactory. Sloppy man consciously added another great demon-level demonic pill, so Yang Haoran didn't hesitate any further and immediately asked sloppy man when they would depart.
His answer indicated that he had accepted the deal.
Sloppy man was only stunned for a moment before he reacted.
"Time is of the essence. We'll depart right now!" Sloppy man said as he stood up from his seat. However, he had barely stood up when his body was struck by excruciating pain, causing his expression to change.
Yang Haoran witnessed this and took a sip of tea before saying with a smile, "If we depart now, what about your injuries? In your current condition, you won't be much help and might even become a burden. We're going to rescue someone, not to die."
"Time is of the essence. If we don't hurry, I'm afraid we won't make it in time," sloppy man said, gritting his teeth against the pain.
"Tell me the destination and how much time we have left," Yang Haoran asked."The destination is New Yang City. The person might be taken away by tomorrow night, at the latest by the morning after," sloppy man replied in a grave tone, unable to conceal his urgency.
When sloppy man mentioned New Yang City, Yang Haoran couldn't help but think of Boss Huo, whom he had met in the underworld. New Yang City was Boss Huo's territory.
Yang Haoran was wary and averse to Boss Huo, and he didn't want anything to do with him. However, he never expected that their destination would be in Boss Huo's New Yang City.
Although Yang Haoran didn't want to have any dealings with Boss Huo, since he had agreed to sloppy man's request, he wouldn't back out.
Moreover, going to New Yang City didn't necessarily mean they would encounter Boss Huo, as their target was the demon hunter, not the Burial Master of the Yin Division.
Dismissing the image of Boss Huo from his mind, Yang Haoran focused on the time sloppy man had mentioned, as that was the problem he should consider.
"The earliest the person will be taken away is tomorrow night, so we still have some time," Yang Haoran said after some thought.
"But what if their plans change? If we're late, we'll have wasted our efforts," sloppy man said worriedly.
"I understand your urgency to rescue the person, but haste makes waste. In your current condition, rushing there would only lead to death. At best, you might impress the person you want to rescue before you both die, and you might even get me killed. Besides, if nothing unexpected happens, why would they change their plans?"
Sloppy man fell silent after hearing Yang Haoran's words, his expression hesitant. On one hand, he was eager to rescue the person, but on the other hand, he acknowledged that Yang Haoran's words made sense.
"How about this? It's morning now. We'll depart tomorrow noon, giving me time to prepare and you time to recover from your injuries," Yang Haoran suggested.
Sloppy man hesitated, seeming to make a final decision in his mind. After a few breaths, he nodded slightly to Yang Haoran.
"Alright, we'll depart tomorrow noon, as you suggest."
"With a day's time, how much of your injuries can you recover?" Yang Haoran asked.
Sloppy man's injuries were inflicted by Bai Xue earlier that day. Although not life-threatening, they were quite severe.
However, everyone's constitution is different, and their inner power and techniques also vary, so the speed of injury recovery is different for each person. Yang Haoran didn't know how long it would take for sloppy man's injuries to heal, so he needed an understanding to make appropriate arrangements.
"The injuries aren't too severe. A day's time should be enough to recover most of them," sloppy man replied.
"Only most of them?" Yang Haoran considered for a moment and then shook his head. "Recovering most of them isn't enough. If your strength hasn't fully recovered, I won't feel secure."
Given sloppy man's injuries, it was already impressive that he could recover most of them in a day's time. However, no matter how fast he recovered, if he couldn't regain his peak condition, it would be in vain, as he wouldn't be able to unleash his full combat potential.
"A day's time is all I need to recover to this extent. If I had another day, I could recover fully, but time doesn't allow it," sloppy man said regretfully.
Yang Haoran didn't respond immediately. He picked up his tea cup and took a sip, even though the tea had gone cold, he didn't mind.
Seeing Yang Haoran deep in thought, sloppy man didn't interrupt.
After a moment, Yang Haoran put down his cup, seeming to have an idea, and a smile returned to his face.
"I have a solution!"
"What solution?" sloppy man asked eagerly.
Instead of answering sloppy man's question, Yang Haoran turned his gaze to Master Wu, who had remained silent.
"Old Wu, please take him to the Spirit Police headquarters. The treatment conditions there are excellent. With his decent recovery speed, he might be able to recover his peak condition in a day's time."
Master Wu nodded and stood up. Then Yang Haoran instructed sloppy man to tear open a spatial rift, and the two of them left the villa, heading to the Spirit Police headquarters.
After they left, Yang Haoran called Captain Luo. Although he believed Master Wu could handle the matter, he felt it was necessary to inform Captain Luo out of respect for his friend.
When the call connected, Yang Haoran explained the situation to Captain Luo, who didn't object and even asked if they needed support from the Spirit Police.
According to Captain Luo, their mission had been successfully completed. He left some people behind to clean up the battlefield, while he and Deputy Captain Zhou were about to set off to provide support to Yang Haoran's side.
Yang Haoran declined Captain Luo's kind offer and informed him that the problem had already been completely resolved. Additionally, he requested a few days of leave for Bai Xue.
Bai Xue was a special existence within the Spirit Police team. Not only was her identity quite special, but her treatment was also vastly different from the other Spirit Police members. Compared to the others, she had more freedom, and Captain Luo never restrained her. It wasn't just a matter of leaving for a few days; even if she left for dozens of days, Captain Luo wouldn't say much.
After hanging up the phone, Yang Haoran turned his gaze towards Bai Xue and smiled, "How about we do something big this time?"
"Hehe, hasn't the Underworld Envoy big brother already made the decision for me?" Bai Xue smiled coquettishly, her voice regaining its usual allure, without the anger she had shown towards the sloppy man.
"Although I made the decision for you, you can still refuse, can't you?" Yang Haoran responded with a smile.
"No, there's nothing to refuse. Your decision is my decision. Although I don't want to help that guy, since you've agreed to help him, I can't stand aside either," Bai Xue said with a coquettish smile.
Yang Haoran smiled, and suddenly, a green light appeared in his hand, within which was a grape-sized, entirely green demonic pill.
This demonic pill was the deposit paid by the sloppy man earlier.
"Although you weren't injured just now, you did expend a considerable amount of demonic spiritual power. With this demonic pill as an aid, not only will you be able to quickly recover from the consumption, but your strength will also improve further. However, we're short on time, so you shouldn't foolishly swallow the entire demonic pill. We don't have enough time for you to refine the whole pill. It would be better for you to absorb it externally. Absorb as much as you can in the limited time we have, and seal the rest to be absorbed and refined later when you have more time."
Yang Haoran spoke with a smile, and the demonic pill in his hand flew towards Bai Xue, stopping in front of her.
Bai Xue received the demonic pill, and the corners of her mouth curved upwards beneath her mask, indicating her happiness at that moment.
"Thank you, Underworld Envoy big brother. You're so good to me," Bai Xue said with a smile.
"Of course, I have to be good to my own people. As for outsiders, it depends on my mood," Yang Haoran said.
At this point, he seemed to reminisce about something from the past and couldn't help but sigh, "Outsiders are ultimately outsiders. It's fine to put on an act with them, but for me to bare my heart and soul to an outsider, I'm no longer that naive these days. Now, I always believe that if I ever fall into misfortune and someone is still willing to stand by my side, that person must be someone I acknowledge as my own. Either all of them or one of them. As for outsiders I don't acknowledge, it's already good enough if they don't kick me when I'm down."
Seeing Yang Haoran's pensive expression, Bai Xue couldn't help but ask with a smile, "Has the Underworld Envoy big brother been hurt in this regard? Tell me about it."
"It's an old story, nothing worth mentioning. In life, some people become more naive as they live, while others become more realistic. I don't want to make any judgments about the former, because I'm not the type to judge others. But I know I don't belong to that group," Yang Haoran said with a smile.
"You're speaking too profoundly. However, I'm curious to know, in your heart, do you consider me as one of your own or an outsider?" Bai Xue asked with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Yang Haoran looked at Bai Xue and asked with a smile, "That's a good question. Do you really want to know?"
"Of course, otherwise, why would I ask you?" Bai Xue responded.
Yang Haoran's smile didn't fade, but suddenly, an object appeared in his hand – a snow-white scale.
Outsiders might not recognize what this scale was, but Bai Xue naturally did, as it was a scale she had forcibly plucked from her own body.
"Return the demonic pill to me, and I'll give you back the scale," Yang Haoran said with a smile.
Bai Xue was initially stunned but then reacted with a giggle, retrieving the suspended demonic pill and storing it in her separate space.
"Hehe, I have plenty of scales. You might as well keep it!" Bai Xue said.
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