A Pawn's Passage

After settling down, most people chose to get a good sleep. After all, they had been sleeping under the stars for most of their journey, so they were both physically and mentally tired. However, not everyone felt this way.

Bored, Zhang Yuelu went to see Qi Xuansu, who happened to be worrying about the report he was tasked to write, so he was also not sleepy.

Thus, Zhang Yuelu suggested that the two of them play a few rounds of Holy Xuan Cards without using any special means to cheat.

The Holy Xuan Cards were about ten centimeters long and six centimeters wide, each painted with colorful pictures. It was a small game invented by the Holy Xuan in his later years. Anyone could play the game, and it was very popular among the younger generation at the time.

Years passed since then. The younger generation back then either passed away or became what many people consider to be old immortals. However, the Holy Xuan Cards were still popular in the Daoist community.

There were four camps in the game, namely Daoist, Buddhist, Confucian, and Ancient Immortal. After selecting a camp, each player was given a leader card. The main deck of cards consisted of 24 character cards and 12 mystical abilities cards.

Each of the 24 character cards had a certain number of points and was divided into three categories: heaven, earth, and human. Based on the time when the Holy Xuan created the cards, the heaven card was a character who had ascended to heaven, the earth card was a character who had died, and the human card was a character who was still alive.

Mystical abilities cards were divided into three categories: foreign objects, spells, and paradise. At the start of the game, in addition to a guaranteed leader card, ten cards were randomly drawn from the main deck.

The winner was determined in a best-of-three set. The way to decide who played first was by guessing heads or tails. From the second round onward, the winner of the previous round would go first. If both sides were tied in the previous round, the person who ended the previous round would start.

In a round, both players took turns playing cards or activating their leader cards until one side no longer had any cards on hand or if the player actively called the end of the round. Then the points would be counted, and the player with the most points would be the winner.

Qi Xuansu had been exposed to the Holy Xuan Cards as early as when he was in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace. He was considered an expert in the game, so he immediately agreed to play with Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu took out a deck of Holy Xuan Cards from her magical receptacle and chose the Confucian camp with the Sage of Principle as her leader card. Qi Xuansu chose the Daoist camp and the Holy Xuan leader card.

She then took out a Taiping coin, flicked it with her finger, and made it spin rapidly. Then she slapped it down on the table and looked at Qi Xuansu. “It’s your guess.”

Qi Xuansu said, “The word side.”

Zhang Yuelu slowly removed her palm and saw the words Tianxia Taiping on the coin.

Qi Xuansu drew ten cards from the Daoist camp, while Zhang Yuelu drew ten cards from the Confucian camp.

Leader Card: The Holy Xuan

Six human cards:

- Donghuang, Li Taiyi

- Sage Lord, Tantai Yun

- Great Sage, Yan Feiqing

- Sage Feiyuan

- Teacher, Shen Changsheng

- Great Sage, Shangguan Wan

One earth card:

- The Devil Sword, Song Zheng

Two foreign object cards:

- The Heavenly Preceptor Seal

- The Returning Soul Incense

One spell card:

- The Taiyin Sword Formation

Leader Card: The Sage of Principle

Four human cards:

- Hermit, Bai Lu

- Grand Jijiu, Sikong Daoxuan

- Grand Jijiu, Huang Shiyuan

- Grand Jijiu, Xie Heng

Five earth cards:

- Hermit of Ziyan Mountain

- Hermit Dragon

- Grand Jijiu, Yang Song

- Grand Jijiu, Wu Zhenyue

- Grand Jijiu, Wu Fengcheng

One spell card:

- Four Seasons Sword

Qi Xuansu pondered for a while before he played the earth card, Devil Sword Song Zheng. This card had 9 points and no special abilities. On the card was a picture of a sword-wielding man with an arrogant and conceited smile, dressed in black.

Zhang Yuelu also played an earth card, the Hermit of Ziyan Mountain, who was a young Confucian scholar dressed in purple. This card had 9 points and had a special ability to summon another two Hermit earth cards from the deck. Thus, Zhang Yuelu drew two earth cards, Hermit Urial and Hermit Golden Toad. Both of these cards had 8 points each, so Zhang Yuelu had a total of 25 points.

Qi Xuansu laid out a human card, Sage Lord Tantai Yun, a woman wearing a Pingtian crown with a bead curtain that hung down and blocked most of her face. Only her chin was visible. This card was worth 10 points and had the power of longevity, so it wouldn’t be affected by subsequent powers.

Qi Xuansu’s points increased to 19. If Zhang Yuelu wanted to stop the game here, Qi Xuansu would win the first round by adding one more card during his turn.

Thus, Zhang Yuelu played a spell card, the Four Seasons Sword, which could double the Hermits’ points. Her total increased to 50 points.

Qi Xuansu countered with a spell card, the Taiyin Sword Formation, which reduced all earth cards to 1 point each. Zhang Yuelu’s three hermit cards all became 1 point, but because of the doubling effect of the Four Seasons Sword card, she had a total of 6 points.

At the same time, Qi Xuansu’s earth card, Devil Sword Song Zheng, was also affected and reduced to 1 point. His Sage Lord Tantai Yun was a longevity card, so it remained 10 points. Thus, he had a total of 11 points.

Zhang Yuelu put out an earth card, Hermit Dragon, a short old man holding a dragon-headed crutch. This card had 15 points and was a longevity card, so it was not affected by Qi Xuansu’s Taiyin Sword Formation and did not have to be reduced to 1 point. It was also not affected by her Four Seasons Sword card, so her total points rose to 21.

Qi Xuansu then played the human card, Donghuang Li Taiyi, a confident, sword-wielding Daoist. It was a longevity card with 10 points. Thus, Qi Xuansu also had 21 points in total.

Zhang Yuelu fell into deep thought. At this time, Qi Xuansu still had six cards in her hand, and the two hermits she summoned came from the main deck, so she still had seven cards left in her hand. If she folded and Qi Xuansu had to play another card to win, then she would have the advantage of two extra cards in her hand. Even if Qi Xuansu did not play a card and they tied, she would also have one extra card in her hand.

She smiled. “Fold.”

Qi Xuansu played a human card, Sage Feiyuan, a young and handsome Daoist man with sharp eyes, a star crown, and a feathered robe. It was worth 5 points, so Qi Xuansu had 26 points. Then he folded as well.

In the first round, Qi Xuansu won, with five cards left in his hand. Zhang Yuelu lost with seven cards left in her hand. The cards that were played in the first round were sent to the “underworld.”

Since Qi Xuansu won the first round, he went first in the second round.

Qi Xuansu put out the human card, Teacher Shen Changsheng. It had 0 points, but the special effect allowed him to draw another card from the deck. He drew a heaven card, Great Sword Immortal Li Daoxu. The picture showed a sword-wielding majestic old man with white hair and a white beard. He was the father of the Holy Xuan and Donghuang. It had 15 points and was a longevity card.

Zhang Yuelu played the human card, Hermit Bai Lu, who was an old Confucian scholar with white hair and a white beard. It had 7 points, and his special ability was to recall a card from the underworld.

Since the longevity card could not be affected by anything, Zhang Yuelu could not recall the Hermit Dragon. So she could only choose the next best thing and recalled the earth card, Hermit Ziyan Mountain. Since she had no other earth card Hermits, she did not summon any. Her total was 16 points.

Qi Xuansu played the heaven card, Great Sword Immortal Li Daoxu, so he had 15 points. Zhang Yuelu put out the earth card, Grand Jijiu Yang Song, a middle-aged Confucian scholar who was burning the academy. It had nine points and had the special effect of increasing all of Zhang Yuelu’s earth cards by 1 point. Thus, she had 27 points.

Qi Xuansu played the human card, Great Sage Yan Feiqing, a middle-aged Daoist man dressed in plain clothes. It was a longevity card worth 10 points, so he had 25 points at this moment.

Zhang Yuelu observed Qi Xuansu’s expression and hesitated for a moment before playing a human card, Grand Jijiu Sikong Daoxuan. It was 0 points, but its special effect allowed her to draw another card.

Qi Xuansu only had three cards left in his hand, so he played the foreign object card, the Heavenly Preceptor Seal, allowing him to summon all cards with the word “Heavenly Preceptor” from the deck.

One heaven card:

- Old Heavenly Preceptor, Zhang Jingxiu | 15 points

Two human cards:

- Great Heavenly Preceptor, Zhang Luanshan | 9 points

- Junior Heavenly Preceptor, Yan Feiqing | 5 points

One earth card:

- Deposed Heavenly Preceptor, Zhang Jingchen | 9 points

This totaled 38 points. Plus the previous 25 points, Qi Xuansu’s grand total was 63 points. Qi Xuansu only had two cards left, so he folded.

Zhang Yuelu wanted to win this game before entering the third round, so she put out two human cards, Grand Jijiu Huang Shiyuan and Grand Jijiu Xie Heng, worth 9 points each. She also played two earth cards, Grand Jijiu Wu Zhenyue and Grand Jijiu Wu Fengcheng, worth 10 points and 8 points, respectively. These totaled 36 points.

The Grand Jijiu Yang Song’s effect increased the earth card Grand Jijiu Wu Fengcheng by 1 point. The earth card, Grand Jijiu Wu Zhenyue, was a longevity card, so it was not affected. Thus, the total for these four cards was 37 points. Plus her original 27 points, she had exactly 64 points, just 1 point more than Qi Xuansu.

The two entered the decisive round. Qi Xuansu had two cards left in his hand, and Zhang Yuelu only had one card left in hers. Since Zhang Yuelu won the second round, she went first in the third round.

Zhang Yuelu played the last card in her hand, besides her leader card. It was the human card, Xie Yueyin, a handsome young Confucian scholar holding a folding fan. It was 5 points.

Qi Xuansu played the human card, Great Sage Shangguan Wan, which was a stern-looking woman in a black robe holding a sword seal. It had 9 points.

Zhang Yuelu activated the ability of the leader card, Sage of Principle, which allowed her human card, Xie Yueyin, to become a 15-point longevity card with a special ability to send a card to the underworld. She chose to send Qi Xuansu’s human card, Great Sage Shangguan Wan, to the underworld. Since her hand was empty, she was forced to stop playing.

Qi Xuansu used the last foreign object card, Returning Soul Incense, to recall the human card, Great Heavenly Preceptor Zhang Luanshan, from the underworld, which had 9 points. Then he activated the special ability of his leader card, the Holy Xuan, doubling the points of this card to 18 points.

That way, Qi Xuansu won the third round with a 3-point advantage. Since he won two out of three rounds, he won the game.

The point of playing cards was to win something. Zhang Yuelu originally proposed to drink as a penalty, but Qi Xuansu refused because, no matter the result, Zhang Yuelu would not suffer a loss. So he changed it to a Taiping coin.

Zhang Yuelu threw a Taiping coin to Qi Xuansu and said helplessly, “I don’t get the Daoist camp.”

Qi Xuansu put the Taiping coin into his bag with a smile and said, “Back then, I was the best in my class at the Wanxiang Daoist Palace. No one could beat me in the Daoist camp. I wasn’t even trying just now.”

“Show off!” Zhang Yuelu did not believe him. “Let’s try it again. I won’t use the Confucian camp, and you can’t use the Daoist camp.”

Qi Xuansu nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll use the Buddhist camp.”

Zhang Yuelu said, “I will also use the Buddhist camp. Let’s have a civil war.”

The two of them each drew a set of Buddhist camp cards and continued playing. This time, Zhang Yuelu easily defeated Qi Xuansu in two consecutive rounds.

Zhang Yuelu clicked her tongue and said, “It looks like you’re just used to the Daoist camp. You’re not that great after all!”

Since Qi Xuansu lost the second round, he did not want to give up a Taiping coin and decided to accept Zhang Yuelu’s proposal of drinking alcohol as a penalty.

For the whole day, the two of them played cards and drank. It was not until midnight that Zhang Yuelu left Qi Xuansu’s room contentedly, smelling of alcohol.