A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu originally thought that he could earn another merit by solving a murder case in Baidi City, but that opportunity flew away when it was concluded to be a coital death.

When those merchants saw the Fourth Lady of the Governor’s Mansion and a Chief Military Officer getting involved in the case, they knew that things were not so simple. Even the two Tiangang Hall Daoist priests investigating the case almost died, so naturally, the merchants were smart enough not to question the outcome.

There was a natural check and balance system in place in the Jade Capital with too many influential figures, so no individual held control over everything. However, the situation in the local Daoist mansion was more complicated.

There were various forces involved in a local Daoist mansion, including the Imperial Court, the gentry, and the secret societies. The relationships between all parties were so intricate that it was difficult for outsiders to distinguish who was supporting which side.

Taking the case of Baidi City as an example, Wang Ruyi certainly had no power to command a dignified Chief Military Officer of Shuzhong like Zhao Fu’an. Only Zhao Fu’an’s direct superior, the Chief Admiral of Shuzhou, and Wang Chuanzun, the Governor of Shuzhou, could give orders to Zhao Fu’an. Since this was not official business, Wang Chuanzun had called in a personal favor to Zhao Fu’an, who used to be his direct subordinate, before he was promoted to Governor.

In other words, Wang Chuanzun was somehow connected to the cultists in Baidi City. However, there was no guarantee that the Governor of Shuzhou was a member of the secret society.

The Governor was a high-ranking official of the Imperial Court, so most people at that level would not risk their position to join a secret society. At most, they would have some kind of cooperative relationship with some secret societies or would secretly support these societies.

As Zhang Yuelu mentioned, the reason these secret associations still existed was because they had strong backing from the high-ranking members of the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court.

Thinking of this, Qi Xuansu finally understood why Zhang Yuelu always said that capturing cultists was just a surface treatment. If they did not pull out the roots, these secret societies would continue to sprout like mushrooms after the rain.

One of these so-called ”roots” was an Ancient Immortal, the leader of the secret society, or a powerful supporter like Wang Chuanzun.

That was why it was impossible for Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu to thoroughly investigate the case in Baidi City. Even before Wang Chuanzun showed up, his lackey had already defeated the two of them. From what happened, they also knew that the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion had a vague stance regarding this.

It was different from the Jiangnan case. Zhang Yuelu could only become the number one contributor to the Jiangnan case because Shibo Hall, Beichen Hall, and Duzhi Hall had decided to thoroughly investigate the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion’s deficit. That was the reason Zhang Yuelu and her colleagues were sent to Jiangnan.

Needless to say, their journey to Jiangnan was dangerous. To this day, some lingering effects remain. Another key person involved in this was Zhang Yuelu’s master, Sage Cihang, who was also the former Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master.

Sage Cihang had been managing the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion for many years, so she had deep roots there. Later, she was promoted to be the Huasheng Hall Master and subsequently the Duzhi Hall Master. Although Sage Cihang had left the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion a long time ago, she still had many old subordinates there. Without Sage Cihang’s help, Zhang Yuelu would have probably ended up dead, like her other colleagues from Beichen Hall.

At the moment, Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu were not acting on the orders of the Ancestral Court or a powerful Sage, so they were helpless in this investigation.

After some discussion, they decided not to stay in Baidi City for long. They would take the second-fastest route, heading to Huzhou by boat. The waterway was second only to taking a flying ship.

Before leaving, Qi Xuansu hoped to thank the Daoist Ji, whom he had met by chance, in person. However, this person was mysterious and never showed up again, so Qi Xuansu had no choice but to give up on that thought.

When they left, Tang Yongde specially came to see them off. Besides apologizing repeatedly, he even offered them 1,000 Taiping coins as compensation and took the initiative to arrange a ride for them on Shibo Hall’s ship.

Zhang Yuelu did not vent her anger on Tang Yongde for what happened. She refused to take the 1,000 Taiping coins and boarded Shibo Hall’s ship that was sailing south with Qi Xuansu.

Shibo Hall had both cargo ships and passenger ships. Since Tang Yongde wanted to make amends, he arranged for them to take a first-class passenger ship. This passenger ship was managed by a female deacon from Shibo Hall. She was an average-looking, elegant, and calm Kunlun-stage disciple.

One of the characteristics of Shibo Hall was that its personnel did not require a high level of cultivation as Tiangang Hall did. After all, Shibo Hall’s focus was doing business with ordinary people. No matter how high one’s cultivation level was, it would be useless if one did not understand the principles of operating a business.

Tiangang Hall was just the opposite. Since its focus was to fight against the cult demons, one would die without a high level of cultivation. Therefore, it was rare to see deacons in Tiangang Hall at the Kunlun stage. Qi Xuansu was a special case, as he was handpicked by Zhang Yuelu.

It was evident that each of the Nine Halls hired talents according to their own needs.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were assigned a first-class cabin, which was a suite with a bedroom on each side and a small living room in the middle. It was located on the third floor of the ship, where they could enjoy the surrounding scenery from a higher vantage point.

At this time, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were sitting in the living room, looking out at the scenery outside the window.

The ship sailed down the river, leaving Shuzhou and entering Huzhou. The junction of Shuzhou and Huzhou was the famous Badong Three Gorges, which included the Wu Gorge.

The Wu Gorge stretched from the Daning River in the east of Wushan County to Guandukou in Badong County, spanning 45 kilometers. It was also known as the Great Gorge.

The Wu Gorge was long and deep. It was known for its picturesque beauty, with rugged peaks, layers of mountains, misty clouds, and bending rivers. As the boat traveled through the gorge, one would see continuous green mountains on both sides. Sometimes, it would seem as if there was a towering mountain or rock blocking the river in front, but a sudden bend would reveal a whole new scenery.

There was a saying that the Twelve Peaks of Wu Mountain was the most spectacular view, lining the north and south banks of the Wu Gorge. Among the twelve peaks, the Goddess Peak stood out as the most majestic.

Zhang Yuelu pointed to the Goddess Peak visible in the distance and asked, “Tian Yuan, do you know who the Goddess is?”

Qi Xuansu thought about it and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Zhang Yuelu hinted. “Think carefully. Why are the Twelve Peaks called Wu Mountain, and why is this place called the Wu Gorge?”

Qi Xuansu was startled and guessed hesitantly. “Could it be related to the Lingshan Witch Cult?”

Zhang Yuelu replied, “It is indeed related to witches, but not the Lingshan Witch Cult that emerged later. To be precise, it’s related to ancient Wuism. Before the rise of the Three Religions, Wuism was the orthodox belief in the world, and the Eleven Great Witches were revered as Goddesses.

“Later, Wuism declined due to civil strife and the rise of the Three Religions. Xuan City and the Purple Mansion were the places where the Primordial Daoist Ancestor propagated the teachings of Daoism. The first Heavenly Preceptor inherited the teachings of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor and established the Zhengyi Heavenly Sect.

“Following the decree of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, the Heavenly Preceptor eliminated Wuism, which was already in decline. The remaining forces of Wuism gathered in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. That was how the Wu Gorge and the Goddess Peak were named after Wu Yang.”

Qi Xuansu suddenly remembered his recurring dream. On the dark mountain, ten tall figures were standing behind a huge bonfire, hidden in the shadows. He could only see a blurry outline and two blood-red lights emitting from their eyes.

Out of nowhere, a relatively smaller figure appeared in front of the ten giant figures. That small figure kicked over the fire and laughed with her hands on her hips.

There were eleven figures in total.

Now, Qi Xuansu was roughly certain that the eleven figures he saw were the Eleven Great Witches of ancient Wuism, and the small figure that appeared was Wu Yang. Her kicking over the fire probably signified the rebellion of the Six Enlightened Witches, breaking off from the Ten Great Witches of Lingshan.

As for that dark mountain, it was, naturally, the legendary Lingshan.

If the Wu Gorge was named after Wu Yang, did it mean that this place was Wu Yang’s spiritual site?

Qi Xuansu took the opportunity to ask, “What is the relationship between Wu Yang and the Ancient Immortal Wu Luo?”

Zhang Yuelu was a member of the Zhang family, which had exterminated Wuism. In addition, she had been dealing with the Lingshan Witch Cult for many years, so she knew the story behind the ancient Wuism.

She explained, “Strictly speaking, they’re comrades. According to legend, the Ten Great Witches of Lingshan and Wu Yang were all subordinates of the Emperor of Heaven.”

Qi Xuansu inquired, “Then what is the relationship between the Primordial Daoist Ancestor and the Emperor of Heaven?”

Zhang Yuelu thought about it for a while before she replied, “It’s somewhat similar to the relationship between our Daoist Grand Master and the Emperor of the Imperial Court.”

“Oh, this analogy is simple enough to understand.” Qi Xuan continued, “The first Heavenly Preceptor was a Sage from the Daoist Order. The Ten Great Witches were the frontier officials in the mortal realm, working for the Emperor of Heaven. Then this Sage killed the frontier officials—”

“Watch your words!” Zhang Yuelu glared at Qi Xuansu. “It was the Ten Great Witches who killed each other first, causing turmoil in the world. The first Heavenly Preceptor restored order later. The decline of Wuism and the rise of Daoism were inevitable.”

Qi Xuansu also felt that his remark was a bit outrageous, so he dared not spout nonsense again.

Zhang Yuelu elaborated, “The Six Enlightened Witches were Wu Peng, Wu Di, Wu Yang, Wu Li, Wu Fan, and Wu Xiang. Wu Yang was the only one among them not from the Ten Great Witches of Lingshan.

“According to legend, Wu Yang once respected the order of the Emperor of Heaven to summon the soul of the King of the Chu Kingdom. Our Daoist Soul Recall Technique came from this Great Witch.

“Yao Yu was the ancient god Zhulong’s son who was killed by his subordinates. The Emperor of Heaven couldn’t bear the pain of Zhulong losing his son, so he ordered that Yao Yu’s body be sent to Lingshan for the Ten Great Witches to rescue him.

“The Ten Great Witches of Lingshan used the potion of immortality to resurrect Yao Yu, but since then, Yao Yu’s temperament changed drastically. Yao Yu became a monster with a dragon head and a cat body, going around eating people. Eventually, the Emperor of Heaven ordered Yao Yu to be shot to death.

“This shows that the Ten Great Witches of Lingshan and Wu Yang were all subordinates of the Emperor of Heaven. My master once said that the Holy Xuan and Emperor Gaozu had received blessings from Wu Yang, so this Great Witch’s reputation was completely different from that of Wu Luo. That’s why the names of the Wu Gorge and the Goddess Peak were retained. It is said that there are still statues and temples of Wu Yang on Goddess Peak that are not labeled as heretic.”

Qi Xuansu felt a little regretful. If he were alone, he would like to climb the Goddess Peak. Maybe then he would discover something about his recurring dream.