A Pawn's Passage

Zhang Yuelu was stunned for a while. She discovered that Qi Xuansu usually liked to pretend to be low-key, but he was quite assertive when he wanted to be. She pursed her lips and turned away, not refuting him.

One of the reasons was because of Qi Xuansu’s insistence. Another reason was that she found it hard to convey her emotions without speaking. She was also slow in writing, so she did not want to seem weak.

Qi Xuansu knew not to push it and dropped the subject.

Zhang Yuelu took out some common wound medicine from her magical receptacle, crushed it, and applied it to her throat.

Given her physique and healing abilities, she would be able to speak again in about two hours.

After Zhang Yuelu applied the medicine, she closed her eyes and rested.

Two hours passed quickly. Zhang Yuelu touched her scar and cleared her throat. Although her voice was hoarse, she was finally able to speak.

Zhang Yuelu was about to talk when Qi Xuansu said, “Those assassins are probably from The Inn.”

“The Inn...” Zhang Yuelu muttered. “The Daoist Order has four categories for the secret societies: A, B, C, and D. The Lingshan Witch Sect, Cult of Fates, Ziguang Society, and other associations related to the Ancient Immortals are the most dangerous and are classified as Class A.

“Class B secret societies are powerful but less dangerous than the former, like the Heavenly Court, Qingping Society, and the Eight Tribes. Class C includes the Seven Treasure Pavilion and The Inn, which are mainly engaged in illegal businesses and are relatively less harmful. The smaller secret societies are all classified as Class D. I’m only familiar with Class A and Class B secret associations, so I’m not very familiar with The Inn.”

Qi Xuansu said, “What a coincidence! I happen to be familiar with the Seven Treasure Pavilion and The Inn. As you mentioned, both of these secret associations conduct illegal businesses. The Seven Treasure Pavilion mainly sells various smuggled items, ranging from Imperial Court tributes and Huasheng Hall’s precious materials to firearms from the Divine Armory and Tianji Hall. There is nothing they can’t get their hands on. The mountain city we passed by earlier is one of their businesses.”

Zhang Yuelu raised her eyebrows slightly. She did not know that the black markets were the Seven Treasure Pavilion’s business. It seemed like this was common knowledge for travelers since Qi Xuansu was familiar with it. It was probably also not a secret in the Daoist Order. She merely neglected to pay attention to such news.

Qi Xuansu continued, “The Inn acts as a middleman for people to hire assassins or bodyguards. They rarely took action themselves and usually took commissions as an intermediary between the employer and the hitman.

“They have a special relationship with the Green Phoenix Guard because they would only take on cases related to the Imperial Court at their headquarters. As for where their headquarters are, only those capable enough to find it are qualified to negotiate bounties related to the Imperial Court.”

Zhang Yuelu said, “You’re certainly experienced at The Inn to know so much in detail. Do you know why it’s called The Inn?”

Qi Xuansu shook his head. “I don’t.”

She explained, “Although I’m not familiar with The Inn, I have heard a rumor that the Holy Xuan had once established a secret organization for espionage and named it the Taiping Inn. Many famous figures have served in this organization, such as Liu Jinyi from the Holy Xuan Cards.

“But after the Holy Xuan took office as the Daoist Order’s leader, this organization disappeared, leaving branches of the Taiping Inn everywhere. This secret organization wasn’t written about in any Daoist texts, and its history was passed down by word of mouth. I don’t know whether this rumor is true or not.” Zhang Yuelu told Qi Xuansu everything she knew about The Inn.

Qi Xuansu was stunned. He hesitantly said, “I think I’ve read this before somewhere. Could it be from The Legend of Taiping Inn?”

Zhang Yuelu asked in surprise, “Is that what The Legend of Taiping Inn is about?”

“You haven’t read the novel?” Qi Xuansu was even more shocked by this.

Zhang Yuelu shook her head. “I’ve heard of the book, but since it’s so old, I didn’t read it.”

The two looked at each other.

After a while, Qi Xuansu broke the silence. “Is it possible that the rumors you heard actually come from The Legend of Taiping Inn?”

Zhang Yuelu’s face darkened slightly. “I’m not done with my explanation yet. Besides this secret organization affiliated with the Holy Xuan, there was another secret organization directly affiliated with Emperor Gaozu, who had not yet proclaimed himself emperor at the time.

“That secret society was called the Wandu Sect, mainly responsible for assassinations. After the Great Xuan Dynasty conquered the world, the Wandu Sect disappeared. Many people believed that the Wandu Sect had merged with the Green Phoenix Guard, but I heard that some members of the Wandu Sect were unwilling to join the Imperial Court. They then established an inn with some members of the Taiping Inn, who were forced to be disbanded by the Holy Xuan.”

This was something Qi Xuansu had never heard before. He quipped, “Well, you certainly sound like you’re familiar with The Inn. Where did you hear this from?”

Zhang Yuelu rebutted. “I know how the current Imperial Court conquered the world, but that doesn’t mean I know the various rules of the Imperial Court. The two things are not interconnected. In the same way, I know of the rumors about The Inn’s origins, but that doesn’t mean I understand how The Inn operates.”

She paused for a moment before she continued, “As for where I heard these rumors from, my master told me all these.”

Speaking of this, Zhang Yuelu had an extremely complicated expression. “My master likes telling unfounded histories. The more bizarre they are, the more excited she gets. She’ll even make bold assumptions based on these unfounded histories. That’s why the Heavenly Preceptor often says that she’s fabricating history.

“Based on my master’s inference, she thinks that most of the senior officials in the Taiping Inn became Great Sages and Sages after the Holy Xuan became the Grand Master. The Holy Xuan should have disbanded the Taiping Inn and dispersed most of its members and allocated them to Tiangang Hall and Beichen Hall. However, some members were unwilling to accept this result, so they left the Daoist community.

“This made sense because when the Holy Xuan established the Taiping Inn, these people were used to being free and undisciplined, so they would not want to be restrained by the rules of the Daoist Order.”

When Qi Xuansu heard this, he nodded and added his own conjecture. “The Wandu Sect was also disbanded by Emperor Gaozu and replaced by the Green Phoenix Guard, but some members were unwilling to accept this. As a result, they left the Wandu Sect. These two groups later merged and established The Inn we know today. That’s why they say that The Inn is inextricably related to the Green Phoenix Guard.

“It makes sense because the two used to work together and are basically from the same root. But since many of The Inn’s founders probably come from the Daoist community, does it mean that The Inn also has a relationship with the Daoist Order?”

Zhang Yuelu did not answer directly. “The Daoist Order is the most powerful force in the world, but these secret societies can continue to grow and develop under our suppression. This can only mean that there is a problem within the Daoist Order. Again, everything is muddled together. That’s why they are hard to eradicate.”

Qi Xuansu felt that these secret societies were more or less connected with the Daoist Order. If the Daoist Order was regarded as a person, then these secret societies were like tumors that were connected to too many meridians. If one cut these tumors off hastily, it would be painful, and the bleeding would not stop.

But if these tumors were left alone, the meridians would continue to transfuse blood to the tumor, which would only make the tumors grow bigger and even spread to other places. That was why they had to be cut off. This was probably one of the reasons why the Daoist Order also listed these secret societies as targets of suppression.

Qi Xuansu asked, “If these people accepted the reward from The Inn, then who is their employer?”

The two looked at each other and spoke in unison. “The Jiangnan case.”

Qi Xuansu said, “This case is a double-edged sword. It not only made you famous but also made you a target for revenge. You said that the Ancestral Court executed a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master back then, so they must have determined that this person was the mastermind. The question is, is the person seeking vengeance his subordinate or disciple? Or is there a real mastermind behind that second-rank priest?”

Zhang Yuelu glanced at him. “You sound like you understand the situation well.”

Qi Xuansu smiled modestly. “Only a little.”

Zhang Yuelu said, “I can’t determine the specific identity of the employer yet, but I’m curious about something else. I rarely leave the Jade Capital alone, so this is a rare opportunity to strike. Why didn’t the employer hire someone more powerful? He could have hired a Heavenly Being. That way, I would be dead for sure.”

Qi Xuansu pondered for a while before he suggested, “Actually, it’s a simple explanation. The first reason is the cost. It’s expensive to hire a Heavenly Being, so your enemy may not be able to afford it, or maybe he thinks it’s not worthwhile. The Jiangnan case has been resolved, so killing you is not about silencing you, but more about venting his anger. That’s why he must consider the cost and value.

“The second possibility is just my speculation. The employer may have plans to silence the hitmen after the mission. If he hires a Heavenly Being, it’ll be difficult to kill the hitman afterward. That’s why he hired a group of Xiantian Beings. If they can kill you, he’ll kill them to erase all traces and even get his money back.”