A Pawn's Passage

After Qi Xuansu listened to Pei Xiaolou’s explanation, he did not express an opinion. On the contrary, Zhang Yuelu said, “Sage, your fortune-telling is very accurate. I hope it comes true.”

Pei Xiaolou laughed. “I heard that you don’t praise others easily, even your bosses and elders. It’s truly rare for me to get compliments from you today, Miss Zhang.”

Zhang Yuelu chuckled. “You’re exaggerating.”

Qi Xuansu asked tentatively, “Sage, did you come to Yunjin Mountain this time as a response to the Taiping Sect?”

“Indeed.” Pei Xiaolou did not hide it. “The Taiping Sect, especially the Li family, is very ambitious and wants to have a third Li descendant as the Grand Master of the Daoist Order. This is something that neither the Zhengyi Sect nor the Quanzhen Sect want. Even the Holy Xuan himself won’t want the Daoist Order that he painstakingly built to end up being owned by one family.”

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu looked at each other, but neither of them spoke rashly.

Pei Xiaolou continued, “But don’t worry too much. We’re all just testing the waters and far from an actual war. However, I heard that the Cult of Fates and the Lingshan Witch Cult are making waves again. I’m afraid our peaceful days are numbered. Being in Tiangang Hall, you two will have to deal with them. It’s best if you proceed with caution.”

“Thank you for the reminder, Sage.” Zhang Yuelu said, “I haven’t been in the Jade Capital for a while, so my news isn’t as up-to-date. I think the files on my desk must have piled up like a mountain.”

Pei Xiaolou chuckled. “That’s why the Omniscient Sages have so many deputies and assistants, just to handle all this paperwork.”

Zhang Yuelu was one of the deputies, so she understood. Every time she went to the duty room, the Hall Master would always be leisurely drinking tea or drawing. Most of the things on his desk were for his personal hobbies. He would not be seen reading scrolls either. Anyway, Zhang Yuelu knew that she was certainly busier than the Hall Master.

Qi Xuansu asked, “After the New Year, it will be the Imperial Preceptor’s turn to take on the position of the Great Sage Lunzhi. Sage, do you think that the Imperial Preceptor will make great personnel changes in the Daoist Order?”

Pei Xiaolou replied, “The position of the Grand Master is still vacant. The Nine Halls that are subject to the Grand Master are temporarily under the command of the three Deputy Grand Masters. The Great Sages of the Taiping Sect, the Quanzhen Sect, and the Zhengyi Sect control Beichen Hall, Ziwei Hall, and Tiangang Hall, respectively.

“They act as a check and balance for each other. This is the current situation in the Jade Capital. But you have to understand one thing. The Great Sage Lunzhi has a lot of power, but that power is not as great as that of the Grand Master. The restriction is that the three Great Sages will take turns acting as the Grand Master.

“If there is a big decision, they will have to discuss it. This includes changing the Hall Master. The Great Sage Lunzhi can only change Deputy Hall Masters, which won’t have much impact on the general situation. To put it bluntly, the main role of the Great Sage Lunzhi is to maintain the status quo.

“In the past year, the Heavenly Preceptor and the Earthly Preceptor have each served half a year as the Great Sage Lunzhi. None of them did anything to the people of the Taiping Sect. One of the reasons is that the two preceptors aren’t completely united in their stance. The other reason is that the Great Sage Lunzhi really doesn’t have that much power.”

Qi Xuansu was slightly relieved, but he was still nervous for Zhang Yuelu because she was a Deputy Hall Master. Dismissing her could be done without prior discussion with the other two Deputy Grand Masters or the Golden Tower Council. No one knew if the Great Sage of the Taiping Sect would avenge his grandson and take it out on Zhang Yuelu.

Since Pei Xiaolou had set up a soundproofing barrier, outsiders had no way of knowing the topic of their conversation. On the surface, it looked like the three of them had a lot to talk about.

This made others more perplexed about the relationship between Qi Xuansu and Pei Xiaolou. Looking at the way they talked, they were indeed old friends. But how did Qi Xuansu get acquainted with a Sage?

Tantai Qiong asked softly, “Yuyue, what is this Sage’s name?”

“I think his last name is Pei.” Zhang Yuyue had never bothered to remember names. This was typical of a rich lady, especially with an outstanding brother who pampered her. That was because she did not have to support the family and could afford to be ignorant.

“Pei, huh?” Tantai Qiong muttered to herself.

In the earliest days, Buddhism and Daoism merged to fight against Confucianism. Many Buddhists also converted to Daoism. For example, Sage Cihang’s lineage was from Buddhist disciples. Later, after the split between Buddhism and Daoism, Sage Cihang’s ancestors chose to remain as Daoists.

Many Daoist techniques and systems also had hints of Buddhist influences, such as the Falling Flowers Technique, the Golden Lotus Technique, the Tribulation Glow Technique, and the Guanyin Thousand Swords in the Cihang Sword Sequence that Zhang Yuelu practiced. These moves were obviously in Buddhist style.

Later, the Daoist Order defeated the Confucian School. Confucianism became a vassal of Daoism. During this period, many Confucian disciples converted to Daoism, such as the Tantai family, the Ning family, the Pei family, the Xie family, and so on.

Tantai Qiong’s ancestors were Confucian Savants. There was even a Virtuous Great Sage in the Tantai family. Thus, Tantai Qiong was familiar with these families, who also had a Confucian background.

Among them, the Pei family, whose ancestors were in the Lanling Prefecture of Qizhou, had been Confucian disciples and served as court officials for generations. That was until one of the ancestors met the Holy Xuan and became the Holy Xuan’s disciple.

Then, he followed the Holy Xuan in the great cause of reviving the Daoist Order. After their goal was achieved, this Sage led the Pei family to convert to Daoism.

Although the Pei family could not compare to the Li family, which had seven Sages, or the Zhang family, which was known as the three major families in the world, it should not be underestimated.

Sage Donghua, the second-in-command in the Quanzhen Sect, was also from the Pei family. Sage Donghua was a title that had been passed down from generation to generation. His residence was located on Jin’ao Peak in Qizhou, not far from their ancestral home in Lanling Prefecture. Across the sea was Penglai Island, where Sage Qingwei had lived for generations. The current Great Sage of the Taiping Sect used to be the previous Sage Qingwei.

However, as the situation became tense, Sage Donghua rarely returned to Qizhou and had lived in Jade Capital for a long time.

On the other side of the assembly hall, Wan Xiuwu and Yue Liuli, who were both Quanzhen Sect disciples, knew more about Pei Xiaolou.

Sage Pei was indeed linked to Sage Donghua as the latter’s younger brother. He was just one level below Sage Donghua.

“Did we guess it wrong? Does Qi Xuansu really have a relationship with the Qi family? But the Qi family couldn’t come forward, so they asked Sage Pei to represent them instead?” Wan Xiuwu doubted himself.

Yue Liuli frowned slightly. “That’s possible. But I have a feeling things aren’t as simple as they seem.”

Wan Xiuwu agreed. “It is indeed not that simple. Even if Qi Xuansu is an illegitimate child of the Qi family, there’s no reason to send him to the Wanxiang Daoist Palace. If they had already abandoned him, why ask Sage Pei to come forward now? Why not just acknowledge him as a descendant?”

Yue Liuli shook her head. “You should stop talking. It doesn’t matter if we know the inside story. If these words reach Sage Qi’s ears, it’ll be detrimental to us.”

Wan Xiuwu nodded and said no more. Talking privately about an Omniscient Sage was a crime. If the Omniscient Sage did not mind, they could be reprimanded. But if the Omniscient Sage was offended by it, their career would be over. They would probably be sent to the Requiem Division of Ciji Hall.

As the auction progressed, more Sages and third-rank Youyi Daoist masters started to bid for the items. The penultimate item, which was the Red Fruit, was sold for a whopping 8,000 Taiping coins to a Sage from the Quanzhen Sect. The final item, which was the magical receptacle, was sold to Zhang Jushu for 15,000 Taiping coins.

Pei Xiaolou turned to Zhang Yuelu. “Miss Zhang, I’d like to talk to Tian Yuan in private for about an hour.”

During the auction, Pei Xiaolou and Qi Xuansu became more familiar with each other. Thus, Pei Xiaolou no longer addressed him as Daoist Qi.

Zhang Yuelu retorted. “Sage, you should be asking him. Why ask me? I’m not his mother.”

After that, she bowed to Pei Xiaolou, stood up, and left, giving Pei Xiaolou and Qi Xuansu some privacy.

When they were alone, Pei Xiaolou said, “Tian Yuan, I believe you have a lot of questions for me. But you probably can’t ask them in front of Miss Zhang. You can speak freely now.”

“Indeed, but I dare not bring it up earlier,” Qi Xuansu said.

The two men got up and went to a secluded garden outside the assembly hall. Most people were not allowed to wander around the Shangqing Palace at will, but Pei Xiaolou was a guest and a Sage, so he had extra privileges.

While they were walking on a cobblestone path, Qi Xuansu carefully considered his words and took the initiative to say, “I don’t know if it’s appropriate for me to ask you this...”

“You can ask anything, but it’s up to me to answer.” Pei Xiaolou’s attitude was indifferent.

Qi Xuansu questioned, “The first time we met, was it a chance encounter? Or did you plan it?”

Pei Xiaolou seemed to have expected this question. He answered, “It’s considered a chance encounter. I had to return to the Jade Capital and decided to use the flying ship because I didn’t want to waste unnecessary energy flying all the way back to Kunlun. So it was inevitable for us to meet due to the limited number of trips the flying ship had.”

He paused before continuing, “I could have ignored you after seeing you, but I intentionally decided to talk to you at that time.”

Qi Xuansu keenly noticed something. “Does it mean that you knew about me before we met? But I’m a nobody.”

Pei Xiaolou laughed. “Of course, someone had mentioned your name before. Madam Qi and I are old friends.”