A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu remained silent, took a step back, bent his knees, and lowered his center of gravity, assuming a seemingly ordinary on-guard posture.

Zhuge Yongming’s gaze fell on the short sword hanging at Qi Xuansu’s waist that had yet to be unsheathed. “You’re finally drawing your sword, huh? I’m curious to see what tricks you have up your sleeve that would allow you to fight outside your—”

Zhuge Yongming was already charging at Qi Xuansu before he uttered the last word of his sentence, “level.”

This sixth-rank Daoist priest from the Quanzhen Sect delivered a fatal blow without waiting for Qi Xuansu to draw his weapon.

Zhuge Yongming was not the kind of courteous Daoist priest who would wait for his opponent to make a move before striking. Regardless of whether Qi Xuansu had a backup plan or was just bluffing, Zhuge Yongming would not allow his opponent to draw that sword.

He charged forward like a raging elephant. When he was about three feet in front of Qi Xuansu, he suddenly stepped out and grounded himself, stopping his forward momentum. At the same time, his body arched like a bow, and his clenched fist recoiled like he was drawing a bowstring. His punch was like an arrow that shot out at a terrifying speed and force. Every movement flowed seamlessly and seemed to be done in an instant.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu chose not to draw his sword. Instead, he used his qi shield to surround his body, which appeared and disappeared like swirling smoke.

During the previous battle at the county government office, Qi Xuansu was able to block the flying sword at the last moment, not only because he could anticipate its trajectory but also because his protective qi shield slowed down the speed of the flying sword. However, Li Sanxin was distracted and did not notice Qi Xuansu’s qi shield due to the heavy rain obstructing his sight.

Zhuge Yongming’s punch landed on the cloud of qi around Qi Xuansu, slowing him down momentarily.

That was the extent of the qi shield’s usage in this scenario. Zhuge Yongming was not a Qi Refiner like Li Sanxin. Regardless of how mystical it was, the qi shield could not withstand such brute force.

After a slight resistance, the qi shield dispersed completely. Zhuge Yongming continued to punch at Qi Xuansu’s head. It was obvious that he would not give up until he crushed his opponent’s skull.

Qi Xuansu was not frightened by the possibility of having his skull crushed. He arched his back like a bridge, narrowly dodging the punch. At the same time, he used his palm to push against the ground, sliding backward.

Zhuge Yongming, who had missed his punch, retracted his fist and launched a heavy kick that missed Qi Xuansu by a hair’s breadth. His foot struck the ground with a resounding force, shaking the trees in the dense forest and dislodging the leaves from their branches.

At this moment, Zhuge Yongming suddenly stopped pursuing his opponent and retreated instead. When he stopped moving, he found blood dripping from his throat. If he had not sensed the danger and retreated in time, he would have had his throat slit by the flying sword that had been waiting for the opportunity to strike.

Qi Xuansu, who slid out of the battle, slowly stood up and took back the Green Snake flying sword, regretting that he had not yet wholly refined the Sword Steering Technique.

When he fell to the ground earlier, he took the opportunity to press the Green Snake into the mud with his sleeve. He waited until Zhuge Yongming charged forward to activate the flying sword. Using Zhuge Yongming’s momentum against him, Qi Xuansu aimed the flying sword diagonally at his throat.

Unfortunately, Zhuge Yongming was not an inexperienced fighter. With his wealth of combat experience, he remained alert at critical moments. He began to retreat as soon as the sword struck, so the outcome of the attack was merely an intimidation technique. For a Martial Arts Practitioner who was used to the gore, the wound was superficial and nothing serious.

Zhuge Yongming ran his fingers over the wound on his throat, his expression darkening. He suppressed his anger and remarked, “You’re quite sly with your schemes!”

Qi Xuansu stepped back without hesitation.

Zhuge Yongming’s face turned crimson as rage rose within him. He was willing to sacrifice some of his qi and blood to forcibly increase his speed. This would make him seem like he was teleporting, instantly appearing in front of Qi Xuansu.

Zhuge Yongming took a step forward with his right foot, followed closely by his left. His back foot did not exceed the front foot, unlike the usual walking step where the back foot would surpass the front foot. It was merely a half-step.

Then he unleashed a shortened fist strike from his midsection that delivered a powerful blow known as the Earth-Shattering Punch.

However, this was a variation called the Half-Step Earth-Shattering Punch.

Usually, one had to hook the opponent with the front hand before delivering the Earth-Shattering Punch with the backhand. However, due to Zhuge Yongming’s advanced cultivation, precise timing, and swift footwork, Qi Xuansu was instantly struck by the Half-Step Earth-Shattering Punch. The force penetrated through his chest and back, throwing him in the air.

The qi shield that Qi Xuansu had concentrated around his body had completely dissipated after being punched. With that impact on his chest and abdomen, Qi Xuansu still got injured, no matter how strong his physique was. He felt his qi and blood turn turbulent, like a rising tide.

An ordinary Rogue Cultivator at the Kunlun stage would be on the verge of death after receiving such a punch from a Martial Arts Practitioner at the Yuxu stage.

However, Qi Xuansu was different. The Qingping Society had altered his body, so he could not be killed by a single punch. After landing on the ground, he staggered backward, finally crashing into the trunk of a large tree. The tree trunk, about one meter in diameter, shook violently. Countless leaves fell around them.

After unleashing the Half-Step Earth-Shattering Punch, Zhuge Yongming stopped to gather his energy in his Dantian and expelled a long, turbid breath. That was when the redness on his face gradually faded away.

Martial Arts Practitioners derived strength from their qi and blood to break spells and nurture the body and spirit. Thus, losing too much qi and blood was equivalent to depleting their cultivation.

If Qi Xuansu had not provoked his opponent to the point of rage, Zhuge Yongming would not have been willing to sacrifice some of his qi and blood to strike this punch. Since he saw that Qi Xuansu had already lost the ability to fight back, there was no need to continue depleting his own qi and blood.

After regulating his qi and blood, Zhuge Yongming looked at Qi Xuansu. Surprised, he asked, “Who the hell are you?”

Qi Xuansu remained silent. He knew his extraordinary physique had caught Zhuge Yongming’s attention. After all, even the sturdiest of Martial Arts Practitioners at the Kunlun stage would have died twice over with Zhuge Yongming’s consecutive punches. There was no explanation as to why he, a Rogue Cultivator at the Kunlun stage, was still standing after taking the Half-Step Earth-Shattering Punch.

Noticing Qi Xuansu’s silence, Zhuge Yongming had no intention of delving deeper. He intended to kill Qi Xuansu, take the Xuan Jade, and complete his mission.

Zhuge Yongming was about to strike again when he found himself unable to move. He slowly lowered his head and saw that a woman’s hand had pierced through his chest.

This unexpected knifehand strike left Zhuge Yongming with no time to react.

This knifehand strike not only pierced through Zhuge Yongming’s heart but also shattered his middle Dantian, which caused the qi inside his body to dissipate rapidly.

Right before Zhuge Yongming died, he heard a woman’s voice coming from behind him. “I intended to give you a way out, but you insisted on walking the path of death. So be it. If you won’t take the road to heaven and insist on barging into hell, I’ll fulfill your wish.”

Qi Xuansu, leaning against the tree trunk, could clearly see the graceful figure standing behind Zhuge Yongming.

The ambusher was a woman who looked to be in her thirties, with a round face, skin as smooth as jade, and a dignified appearance.

She wore a deep green dress and a black gauze robe embroidered with patterns resembling ancient square-hole coins, which was somewhat tacky. An aged small pouch and a long tobacco pipe with a dull golden stummel, an ebony stem, and an emerald lip hung from her waist.

She also wore a pair of sunglasses that covered half of her face.

Sunglasses were no longer a novelty at that time. However, they were different from regular glasses.

Regular glasses, also called aidai, were introduced during the Wei Dynasty through maritime trade. It was made of glass, allowing people with poor eyesight to see clearly. They had been around for about two hundred years.

However, according to the records of the book Returning to Seclusion, sunglasses were already in existence five hundred years ago during the Jin Dynasty.

These sunglasses were not imported from overseas and were not made of glass. Instead, they were made from polished smoky quartz or black crystal. They were generally only worn by officials like the Green Phoenix Guard, not for vision correction or sun protection but rather to conceal one’s gaze. This was to prevent others from detecting the interrogator’s reactions during interrogations.

The woman stood behind Zhuge Yongming and faced Qi Xuansu with a smirk playing on her lips.

Although her eyes were hidden behind the sunglasses, Qi Xuansu could already imagine the derision in them.

She reached out and pushed the already-dead Zhuge Yongming to the ground. His body fell face-first to the ground, splashing up some mud.

The woman shook off the blood on her hand. Her palm seemed as clean as a lotus flower, not stained with even a single drop of blood.

She looked at Qi Xuansu again and extended her index finger. “Tian Yuan, you owe me 100 Taiping coins.”

Li Sanxin had a backer, the fourth-rank Daoist master Jiang Bieyun. Just as Jiang Bieyun had anticipated, Qi Xuansu also had help.

This woman was Qi Xuansu’s contact in the Qingping Society, known by the alias Lady Qi.

As they had a close relationship, Qi Xuansu usually called her Madam Qi, while she referred to him by his courtesy name, Tian Yuan.

After Qi Xuansu’s master died, Madam Qi was the person Qi Xuansu trusted the most. When Qi Xuansu was being hunted down by enemies, Madam Qi saved him and brought him to the Qingping Society.

Later on, Qi Xuansu joined the Qingping Society and became Madam Qi’s one and only subordinate.

The relationship between the two of them was more like that of partners rather than superior and subordinate.

During their time as partners, Madam Qi took great care of Qi Xuansu, like a dependable elder sister. At least in Qi Xuansu’s eyes, aside from being money-minded, stingy, and petty, Madam Qi had no other flaws.

Qi Xuansu, who had narrowly escaped death, heaved a long sigh of relief. He was about to speak when he suddenly felt his chest surge with qi and blood. His vision went dark right before he passed out.