A Pawn's Passage

After Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu left Jinguan Prefecture, they decided to speed up their journey. Since they were taking the wide main road and Qi Xuansu did not want to waste the spiritual energy of the Jiama, he spent 10 Taiping coins to buy two horses, which he planned to sell at a discount after they arrived in Baidi City. By then, he would probably lose one or two Taiping coins.

However, Qi Xuansu just had a windfall of money, with a savings of 400 Taiping coins, so he did not care about the loose change.

The two of them rode along the main road without any incidents and had a smooth journey. At dusk, they diverged from the main road and found shelter for the night in the forest.

After all, they were not Heavenly Beings, so they still needed sleep. The horses also needed rest. Qi Xuansu took an Army pill to satisfy his hunger and fed the horses some hay.

Zhang Yuelu went to collect some firewood, preparing to light a fire. It would be uncomfortable to spend the night in the wilderness without a tent.

After a while, Zhang Yuelu came back with a handful of dry branches and threw them on the ground.

Qi Xuansu said, “Why so little? It won’t be enough for a fire.”

“There’s some movement over there. Keep your voice down.” Zhang Yuelu motioned for Qi Xuansu to follow her.

Qi Xuansu reigned in his aura and walked with light steps behind Zhang Yuelu, heading south. After walking for about one kilometer, they came to the bottom of a stone cliff that was about 25 meters high. Standing at the bottom, they could see a few people at the top. However, those people could not spot the duo without deliberately looking down.

Zhang Yuelu gestured for Qi Xuansu to keep quiet and pointed upward. That was when Qi Xuansu looked up and saw a young couple on the cliff. The man was handsome, and the woman was beautiful. They seemed like a perfect match, standing next to each other.

If Qi Xuansu were to be honest, the man and woman on the cliff were certainly much better looking than him and Zhang Yuelu. Although Zhang Yuelu was pretty, she was not the kind of stunning beauty. Zhang Yuelu’s beauty was also supplemented by her righteous aura and calm temperament.

The young couple on the cliff were in formal Daoist attire, which billowed in the wind. They looked like characters from a painting who would be blown away by the wind the next moment.

Not far from the striking couple was another dignified-looking man in a Daoist robe. He was sitting on a large and smooth bluestone, drinking wine.

The three people on the cliff were talking. To be precise, the young couple was trying to persuade the middle-aged Daoist man, whom they addressed as Uncle-Master, to visit their master.

However, the middle-aged Daoist man neither agreed nor refused. He just continued drinking while the couple continued persuading him. But when the couple saw how indifferent their uncle was, they were both a little discouraged.

As the bright moon rose in the west, the middle-aged Daoist man finished the bottle of wine and casually tossed the bottle, which happened to fall on Qi Xuansu’s head. The middle-aged Daoist man stood up slowly and mumbled, “I’m drunk and sleepy...”

As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, he took one step off the cliff’s edge. However, he did not fall. Instead, he looked like he was stepping on the clouds and ascending toward the moon.

Qi Xuansu covered the part of his head that was struck by the wine bottle and muttered in awe. “A Heavenly Being!”

At this moment, the middle-aged man looked back at Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu below, smiled slightly, and continued to “walk” upward, ascending higher into the sky.

The young couple on the high cliff gazed up at their uncle’s distant figure, sighing helplessly. After their uncle disappeared completely, the young couple turned around and left the cliff. From the beginning, the couple did not notice Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu’s presence because they did not look downward.

After the couple walked away, Qi Xuansu exclaimed, “That Heavenly Being saw us. I can tell that he threw the wine bottle at me on purpose!”

“I think so too.” Zhang Yuelu nodded in agreement.

Qi Xuansu pouted. “Why didn’t he hit you instead?”

“I guess I’m just lucky.” Zhang Yuelu smirked.

Qi Xuansu changed the topic. “Who is that young couple? They look more like Banished Immortals than you do.”

Zhang Yuelu remarked, “Not all young talents in the Daoist Order reside in the Jade Capital. Some powerful figures are based in the local Daoist mansions. Besides, the Ancestral Court is so big. You only know of one Banished Immortal, which is me, right?”

Qi Xuansu quipped, “Well, you’re the famous one.”

“My fame is not because of my lineage, but because of the Jiangnan case. Most people mistakenly think that I am as talented as Donghuang.” Zhang Yuelu shook her head and said, “There are probably a dozen other people like me in Jade Capital, but they’re not in Tiangang Hall.”

“Then where are they?” Qi Xuansu asked with curiosity.

Zhang Yuelu explained, “Ziwei Hall, of course. It’s the top among the Nine Halls. The second best is Beichen Hall because it has the authority to maintain order. Since it usually involves high-ranking priests, most people want to enter Beichen Hall as well. Although Tiangang Hall allows one to get promoted quickly, it’s a high-risk job.

“Generally speaking, few people want to train at Tiangang Hall. The Ancestral Court also won’t place outstanding young talents in Tiangang Hall for fear of casualties. Instead, they recruit experienced talents from the local Daoist mansions, like Xu Kou. Moreover, most of Tiangang Hall’s manpower doesn’t consist of Daoist priests, but Spirit Guards. Tiangang Hall has command over one-third of the Spirit Guards in the Ancestral Court.”

Qi Xuansu recalled, “You were originally from Beichen Hall but was later transferred to Tiangang Hall. But this can’t be considered training since you’ve been promoted to Deputy Hall Master.”

Zhang Yuelu did not deny it. “Most people like me are currently fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist masters, but I am the only Deputy Hall Master for now. All I can say is that I’m quite lucky.”

Qi Xuansu picked up the wine bottle and examined it. After confirming that it was not some kind of treasure, he chucked it aside and muttered, “I will never eavesdrop again. This time, the Heavenly Being just hit me with a wine bottle. If he had a bad temper, we would have been doomed.”

Zhang Yuelu did not refute this. “I was just curious earlier. It won’t happen again.”

They picked up some more sticks and firewood along the way and returned to their spot, where they would spend the night. They lit a fire and sat across from each other.

Zhang Yuelu proposed, “This time, it’s your turn to keep watch for the first half of the night. I’ll stay up for the second half.”

The first watch was better because they could have undisrupted sleep in the second half of the night. The second watch was more tiring because they had to wake up halfway, which was torture. Zhang Yuelu was a fair person and would not push all the hard work on others.

After going through so much with her for so long, Qi Xuansu understood Zhang Yuelu’s temperament and did not object to her arrangement. “Go to sleep then.”

Zhang Yuelu gathered her cloak, hugged her knees, and rested her forehead on her knees, falling asleep in this posture.

Qi Xuansu was fiddling with the bonfire in boredom while thinking about the Heavenly Being who flew toward the moon.

This was the first time he had seen a Heavenly Being. According to legends, Heavenly Beings could fly as they pleased, which proved to be true.

Qi Xuansu just wondered when or if he would ever reach that level of cultivation. If he continued with his pace of cultivation, it would take him decades in the best-case scenario. However, most people would get stuck at a certain threshold and could no longer proceed.

He knew that his qualifications were not as good as Zhang Yuelu’s. The further they climbed up the ladder, the harder it would be for him to bridge the gap between them. In his twenties, he could barely match Zhang Yuelu. However, in another twenty years, he might not be able to keep up with her.

As the two of them drifted apart, they would also not be as close as they were now. By then, Qi Xuansu would probably become an old friend in Zhang Yuelu’s memory. He would also think of her occasionally and sigh with lament. This was human nature.

Fortunately, Qi Xuansu was transformed by the Xuan Jade, which improved his cultivation significantly. He also had various supernatural powers. If he could obtain another piece of Xuan Jade, would he be able to jump to the Guizhen stage? If he accumulated enough Xuan Jades, could he proceed one step further as a Heavenly Being?

By then, no one could look down on him anymore. He would be able to rise to the top and perhaps develop his relationship with Zhang Yuelu into something more.

Qi Xuansu then thought of another problem. Since he knew of the benefits of the Xuan Jade, the Taiping Sect and Qingping Society were naturally aware of it as well. The Taiping Sect even went as far as to wipe out a county magistrate’s family for the Xuan Jade, proving just how much they wanted the stone.

The Qingping Society was also aware of the benefits of the Xuan Jade, so they would know if Qi Xuansu kept it for his personal use. If Qi Xuansu wanted to take something from these two parties, he would have to proceed with caution.

The Xuan Jade that he picked up last time at the Yulan Temple was pure luck. Thinking of this, Qi Xuansu could not help but sigh.

“Why are you sighing, kid?” A voice suddenly interrupted Qi Xuansu’s thoughts.

Startled, Qi Xuansu looked around vigilantly, only to see that middle-aged Daoist man sitting on a tree stump not far away from him. At this time, the middle-aged man was holding a gourd and drinking from it slowly.

Moreover, Zhang Yuelu did not seem to notice the man’s presence, as she was still sleeping lightly.

In other words, there was an invisible barrier between the two men and Zhang Yuelu, indicating how powerful this middle-aged man was.

Qi Xuansu thought to himself, ‘Well, speak of the Devil.’

There was nothing Qi Xuansu could do but calm his thoughts. He held his breath and concentrated his qi to prepare for any eventuality.

The middle-aged Daoist man took a sip of wine and said nonchalantly, “I don’t mean any harm.”

Qi Xuansu forced a smile and asked, “How may I help you, sir?”

The middle-aged Daoist chuckled. “Relax. I’m just bored at this hour. My nephew and niece were too talkative, so I thought of chatting with you instead.”

Qi Xuansu calmed down and introduced himself. “My name is Qi Xuansu. May I ask for your name, sir?”

The middle-aged Daoist man replied, “The name’s Ji. I am also a member of the Daoist Order, currently employed in the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion.”

Qi Xuansu pondered for a moment. This man was a Heavenly Being who claimed to be working in the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion, so he was probably one of the many Deputy Mansion Masters.

The local Daoist mansion had a similar structure to the Nine Halls, with only one Mansion Master and multiple Deputy Mansion Masters. The number of Deputy Mansion Masters could range from two to more than a dozen people.

Some Deputy Mansion Masters were powerful, like the ones in the Western Region Daoist Mansion, Liaodong Daoist Mansion, and Jiangnan Daoist Mansion. Some Deputy Mansion Masters had empty titles and no real power.

The person in front of Qi Xuansu looked like a carefree person, so he probably belonged to the latter type.