A Pawn's Passage

The mountain city was called Yishan City, located at the junction of Qinzhou, Shuzhou, and Liangzhou. In ancient times, it was called the Eastern Woman Kingdom. The Great Xuan Dynasty then established a county here and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Yongzhou Commissioner’s Office. Yishan City also fell under the jurisdiction of the Kunlun Daoist Mansion.

At this time, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were not in a hurry to enter the city.

Zhang Yuelu said, “Although this is a big city, it won’t be difficult to find the victim. All we need to do is ask about any murders that may have occurred in the city recently. But most of these murders will be handled by the local government, which can be a bit troublesome.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “Is there no Daoist temple here?”

Zhang Yuelu explained, “Although this city is under the jurisdiction of Kunlun Daoist Mansion, since it’s located on the Buddha’s Path, the majority of people here are Buddhists. That’s why the Daoist Order only set up a Daoist temple outside Yishan City to serve as a post station and rest stop for Daoist travelers. The Daoist temple here has no responsibility to catch demons. If I remember correctly, there are probably no more than five Daoist priests stationed here.”

Qi Xuansu asked again, “How is the relationship between Tiangang Hall and the Green Phoenix Guards?”

Zhang Yuelu shook her head and sighed. “Not great. Among the three major Daoist sects, the Taiping Sect has the closest relationship with the Imperial Court. After the position of Grand Master became vacant, the Nine Halls—originally directly subordinate to the Grand Master—each had allegiance to different Deputy Grand Masters. From that standpoint, Tiangang Hall supports the Zhengyi Sect. Now, there are political undercurrents among the three major sects.”

Qi Xuansu understood. “In other words, unless it is absolutely necessary, it’s best for us not to interact with the Green Phoenix Guards, right?”

Zhang Yuelu nodded. “Yeah.”

“Are we supposed to knock on every door in the city, then?” Qi Xuansu asked.

Zhang Yuelu pondered and suggested, “Why don’t we try divination?”

Qi Xuansu suddenly remembered that Rogue Cultivators could learn the Divine Calculation Technique. As a superior version of the Rogue Cultivators, Banished Immortals could learn the Purple Star Astrology, which was the best divination technique.

“That’s a good idea!” Qi Xuansu agreed.

Zhang Yuelu asked Qi Xuansu to place the head he carried with him on the ground. She used the victim’s head as a medium and drew hexagrams according to a formula. The reason Purple Star Astrology was considered the best divination technique was because its hexagrams were the simplest and clearest to understand, eliminating the need to guess any deeper meaning.

Suddenly, a mirage appeared in front of them, ethereal and blurry, as countless fleeting images flashed through it. Gradually, the mirage became clearer as the images slowed down.

After a moment, the image settled on a large house with a plain interior and exterior. Although there was no sound coming from the projection, they could see women crying and some monks reciting sutras for salvation.

Qi Xuansu was a little surprised by this. “The murder happened yesterday, but they are already holding a funeral today?”

At this moment, the image became distorted and dissipated like a reflection on the surface of stirred water. When the surface settled again, it showed another blurry scene.

In a dark morgue, three Green Phoenix Guards dressed in green uniforms were talking in a low voice. The three guards covered their mouths and noses with animal-shaped masks, only exposing their eyes. They wore blood-stained aprons and gloves that reached the elbow. Lying on a stone platform not far from the guards was a headless corpse that had been disemboweled.

This was the scene of an autopsy, and that headless corpse was most likely the victim.

Qi Xuansu remarked, “This is strange. There is a funeral going on over there, but the autopsy is happening elsewhere. Are they not burying the body and only burying the victim’s personal belongings?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the scene changed again, showing a large stone hall with a Western-style chandelier hanging above. A human-height Eastern-style candleholder with layers of white candles illuminated a six-armed female statue.

In front of the statue, more than ten people stood in a circle, including Confucian scholars, Daoist priests in hechangs, monks with shaved heads, and officials in court robes. The female Shaman, who had escaped from the ancient temple under Zhang Yuelu’s nose, was also among them. The most eye-catching person, however, was a tall figure wrapped in a cloak.

Many others were standing around these ten people, including Chu Liangwang, You Leifu, and the man who was recently shot dead by Qi Xuansu at the ancient temple.

The identity of this group of people was self-evident. They were members of the Lingshan Witch Cult. However, aside from the four people Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu had met, the faces of the other cult members were blurred. Qi Xuansu wondered if Zhang Yuelu’s Purple Star Astrology was lacking or if something fishy was going on.

Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu were both focused on the image.

Purple Star Astrology was more intuitive than the Diviner’s Earth Qi Recalling Technique. However, there were also disadvantages. The earth’s energy would not lie and would faithfully record everything. Therefore, the only way to prevent Diviners from recalling past events was to completely disrupt the earth’s energy by destroying the terrain.

On the other hand, the mirage from Purple Star Astrology could be tempered if someone at a higher cultivation level wanted to mislead the spellcaster. In other words, Purple Star Astrology could also be deceptive and should not be taken at the surface level.

Soon, the mirage slowly dissipated, leaving only the charred head that was burned beyond recognition on the ground.

Qi Xuansu looked at Zhang Yuelu and asked, “This matter seems more complicated than we expected. What should we do next?”

Zhang Yuelu said thoughtfully, “I have a hunch that this case is probably not an isolated one. For now, we can start with investigating the victim’s family.”

Qi Xuansu disapproved of the plan. “Based on my experience, the Green Phoenix Guards will be keeping an eye on the victim’s family because some murderers like to return to the place they killed to observe the reaction of the authorities. If we appear at their door rashly at this time, carrying the victim’s head with us, I’m afraid we’ll be regarded as members of the Lingshan Witch Cult instead. If that happens, we will either have to fight the Green Phoenix Guard head-on or reveal our identities to explain our purpose.”

Zhang Yuelu did not take this into consideration. She nodded. “What you said makes sense. I didn’t think it through.”

Qi Xuansu added, “One more thing. As you mentioned, this isn’t an isolated case. If so, the local government will probably escalate it to the higher-ups. This case could have already gotten the attention of the Lieutenant Colonel in the region.”

The lower-sixth-rank Assistant Major, upper-sixth-rank Major, lower-fifth-rank Senior Major, and upper-fifth-rank Lieutenant Colonel were all considered high-ranking officials among the Green Phoenix Guards. A Lieutenant Colonel’s status was roughly equivalent to that of a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master like Zhang Yuelu, who held a position of power.

Zhang Yuelu had a headache. She did not want to get involved with the Green Phoenix Guard during her time off, especially not with a Lieutenant Colonel.

On the other hand, Qi Xuansu did not want to deal with any of the Green Phoenix Guards. After all, he had killed numerous guards in Fengtai County just a few months ago.

The two of them looked at each other, both lacking ideas at the moment.

In the end, Zhang Yuelu simply gave up. “Never mind. Let’s just go into the city and take it one step at a time.”

“I guess that’s our only choice.” Qi Xuansu nodded, then turned to look in the direction of Yishan City. He could vaguely see a few connected buildings, which should be the Daoist temple Zhang Yuelu mentioned.

......

Qingbai Temple was located outside Yishan City. Since it was built outside the city, the land was not valuable, so it occupied a large area. It was a large temple in terms of size, but it was a small temple in terms of the number of staff. There were only four official members in this Daoist temple, namely, the abbot, the abbot’s wife, and two disciples. The rest were Daoist believers who maintained the daily operations.

Due to the popularity of Buddhism in Yishan City, there was almost no one offering incense at this Daoist temple. Since this city was located on Buddha’s Path, Daoist believers generally would not pass by this place. Thus, it was deserted.

The master of the Qingbai Temple was called Bai Yongguan, a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master. In his early years, he had offended a Sage in the Ancestral Court. As punishment, he was demoted and sent to this remote temple for the past ten years.

Bai Yongguan saw that there was no hope of returning to Jade Capital, and there was nothing to do around here, so he devoted his love to nature. He would hike the mountains and explore the region whenever he had time, often wandering around for months.

Thus, only the abbot’s wife and his two disciples were left in this huge Daoist temple. After nightfall, the place was pitch black and particularly eerie. Bai Yongguan was in his prime when he was transferred to Qingbai Temple. Ten years passed in the blink of an eye, and he was already in his fifties.

His wife, Li Zhen’er, was in her twenties when she married Bai Yongguan, so she was only in her thirties at the moment. Moreover, the Daoist Order had Anti-Aging Techniques, so she still looked as charming as ever.

The abbot and his wife spent less time together and more time apart. It was evident that they did not have a harmonious marriage.

As for the two disciples, the senior sister was Bai Yue, and the junior brother was Lu Yu. Both of them were in their twenties and were only eighth-rank Daoist priests, the same position as Qi Xuansu in the past.

Bai Yue and Lu Yu had just left the Wanxiang Daoist Palace when they were selected as Bai Yongguan’s disciples. It was supposed to be a good thing to be accepted as a disciple by a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master, but they did not expect Bai Yongguan to be demoted. Thus, as his disciples, they were also implicated and had to leave Jade Capital.

It was not difficult to transfer from the Ancestral Court to a local Daoist mansion or temple, but it was never an easy feat to transfer from the local Daoist offices to the Ancestral Court.

Xu Kou was only able to transfer from the Qizhou Daoist Mansion to Tiangang Hall because of Sage Qingwei’s recommendation. As for Qi Xuansu, it was because of the Qingping Society’s connections. Without their intervention, Qi Xuansu would never have had the opportunity to get into Tiangang Hall. That was why Madam Qi regarded this opportunity as a reward.

As for Mu Jin and the others, they were originally serving in the Ancestral Court and were merely rotating roles between the Nine Halls. That was why Zhang Yuelu regarded them as flowerbed Daoist priests.

The benefits of being transferred to the Ancestral Court were obvious. There were more opportunities, broader prospects, and a completely different league of people to interact with.

Qi Xuansu was promoted from the seventh to the sixth rank in less than half a year, and his income increased significantly. More importantly, he was favored by Zhang Yuelu and even gained the attention of the Hall Master. If Qi Xuansu were working in a local Daoist office, he would never have achieved so much in such a short time.

Most often, one’s starting point would determine their end goal. The seventh-rank Daoist priests in the local Daoist mansions would struggle their whole lives for a fourth-rank position, while most of the seventh-rank Daoist priests in the Nine Halls were guaranteed a fourth-rank position before they grew old. The size of the platform was far more important than one’s capabilities.

Under such circumstances, one could imagine how miserable the staff at Qingbai Temple felt. Their hope of ever returning to Jade Capital was bleak.