A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu entered The Inn, strolled over to the counter, and rested his elbows on the countertop.

The Innkeeper behind the counter raised his eyes and looked at Qi Xuansu. “Sir, what kind of services would you like? Everything is negotiable as long as the price is right.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “I heard that you actually offer high-end accommodation here.”

The Innkeeper chuckled awkwardly. After a long time, the Innkeeper finally said, “Well, there are empty kilns up top. Might as well put them to good use.”

“Kiln” referred to the guest room, and “up top” was the second floor in slang.

Qi Xuansu smirked. “I see.”

“Sir, judging from your tone, you sound like a regular here.” The Innkeeper looked Qi Xuansu up and down.

Qi Xuansu did not hide it. “Yes, I’m a regular, but in the south, not here.”

“Our friend from the south, I see.”

Qi Xuansu nodded. “Certainly.”

Since Qi Xuansu was a regular at The Inn, the Innkeeper saved a lot of time having to probe him or beat around the bush. “What would you like, then?”

Qi Xuansu also got straight to the point. “I’d like to ask about a place called the White Jade Hall. Have you heard of it before?”

The Innkeeper’s eyes flickered. “May I ask why you are looking for the White Jade Hall?”

Qi Xuansu answered, “I’m running an errand.”

The Innkeeper pressed on. “May I ask for your name, sir?”

“Wei Wugui,” Qi Xuansu replied.

“Brother Wei, you should know our rules.” The Innkeeper added, “Everything is negotiable with the right note.”

“Note” was short for cash note.

“Sure thing.” Qi Xuansu tapped his finger on the counter. “But don’t you shake me down.”

Qi Xuansu did not want the Innkeeper to extort him.

“Of course.” The Innkeeper smiled. “But we don’t encourage chaffering.”

The Innkeeper also warned Qi Xuansu not to bargain.

The Innkeeper nodded slightly and stopped talking in slang. “Shall we talk inside?”

Qi Xuansu said, “Wait a minute. I have one more thing to ask.”

“What is it?” The Innkeeper asked.

Qi Xuansu pointed to Qin Xiang beside him. “Do you still have a room available? She’ll need one.”

All this time, Qin Xiang was standing next to Qi Xuansu, puzzled. She heard the conversation between Qi Xuansu and the Innkeeper. However, she could not understand what they were saying. She only understood the last part when Qi Xuansu asked for a room for her.

The Innkeeper turned his attention to Qin Xiang. Although Qin Xiang covered most of her face with a hood, the Innkeeper still recognized her. He smiled and remarked, “This lady was here a few days ago.”

“Yes.” Qi Xuansu said, “Let her stay for a few more days until I come back.”

“Forgive me, sir, but what if you can’t come back?” The Innkeeper was cautious.

Qi Xuansu thought about it for a while before saying, “The Inn has good relations with the Green Phoenix Guard, right? Inform the Green Phoenix Guard if that happens.”

The Innkeeper’s expression changed. “Sir, what do you mean by this?”

“The literal meaning of it.” Qi Xuansu did not want to get into Qin Xiang’s identity just yet, so he changed the topic. “Let’s talk business then.”

The Innkeeper hesitated for a moment before he summoned a waiter and instructed, “Take this lady to the guest room where she stayed in before.”

Qin Xiang looked at Qi Xuansu for assurance, so Qi Xuansu smiled and said, “Go ahead, it’s very safe here. No one will dare to cause trouble here.”

“Naturally.” The Innkeeper agreed, but as he said this, he suddenly thought of the massacre at the Luzhou branch not long ago.

Qin Xiang followed the waiter to the guest room where she had stayed previously.

The Innkeeper stretched out his hand. “Sir, please come this way.”

The two men came to a separate room, which seemed to be the Innkeeper’s office. In addition to a huge desk with various files piled on top, there were two rows of chairs against the wall. It seemed that this place also served as a meeting room that could be used for discussions with multiple people.

The Innkeeper sat behind the desk, while Qi Xuansu sat on a random chair.

Qi Xuansu cut to the chase. “Name your price.”

The Innkeeper did not rush to give him a quote. Instead, he said, “Since you know of the existence of White Jade Hall, I assume you also understand how special it is.”

Qi Xuansu was in fact clueless about White Jade Hall, but he did not want to seem stupid at this time, so he merely nodded with a stern expression.

The Innkeeper continued, “That’s why the price for this transaction won’t be low. I hope you’ll be mentally prepared for it, sir.”

“How much exactly?” Qi Xuansu had a bad premonition in his heart.

The Innkeeper held out two fingers.

Of course, Qi Xuansu did not think it was merely 200 Taiping coins because of the Innkeeper’s warning. So he frowned and asked, “2000 Taiping coins?”

“Yes, 2000 Taiping coins.” The smile on the Innkeeper’s face remained unchanged.

Qi Xuansu was a little helpless. He failed to return to Jade Capital, but “disembarked” the flying ship halfway. So he missed out on Tiangang Hall’s relocation expenses and salary. Madam Qi withheld his Wuyou coins, so he only had 300 Taiping coins on him, as well as the 500 Taiping coins cash note from Zhao Fu’an, totaling 800 Taiping coins. It was still a long way from 2000 Taiping coins.

Even if he had the money, he doubted that he could recover this capital with the reward Madam Qi promised him. He did not mind running errands for Madam Qi as a favor, but there was no way he would fork out more money. Having spent so many years with Madam Qi, he had also acquired some of her stingy habits.

The Innkeeper was not surprised when he saw Qi Xuansu’s expression. After all, 2000 Taiping coins was certainly not a small sum. He continued, “Sir, if you can’t afford that much, you can pay using other methods, such as work.”

Qi Xuansu understood that the Innkeeper purposely set a high price to bring up this offer. This was just so Qi Xuansu would work for The Inn.

Hearing this, Qi Xuansu did not object immediately. He inquired, “I wonder what kind of job will be worth 2000 Taiping coins.”

The Innkeeper replied, “It’s a big job. Brother Wei, you hang around in the densely populated south. Jobs there are mainly about fighting with people. But it’s different out here in the northwest. The land is vast and sparsely populated. Hence it’s not so much fighting against people, but fighting against nature.”

“Fighting against nature?” Qi Xuansu found this statement rather amusing.

The Innkeeper continued, “There are many unexplored places in Yongzhou, Xizhou, and other places, like ancient relics, man-made wonders, or even collapsed paradises.”

Qi Xuansu said, “I know, but that was 200 years ago. Since the Daoist Order established itself in Kunlun, the Quanzhen Sect has taken the lead in land reclamation.”

“You’re an expert, I see.” The Innkeeper extended his thumb to show he was impressed by Qi Xuansu’s knowledge. “Since you are aware of this, it’ll be easier for me to explain. The Daoist Order’s exploration and land reclamation lasted for nearly a hundred years. The so-called “land reclamation” is to cultivate wasteland. These grounds are categorized according to the identity of the people who reclaimed them. They are divided into military land, civilian land, and merchant land.

“In Yongzhou, the Daoist Order’s and the Imperial Court’s reclaimed grounds are considered military land. The Daoist Order occupies half of all reclaimed lands here, followed by the Imperial Court with 30% of the share. The remaining 20% ??are considered merchant land and civilian land.

“Although these civilian lands belong to the local wealthy families, they are still categorized as civilian. They occupy 10% of the share. It doesn’t seem like much, but in fact, it makes enough to feed their families. Our Inn is categorized under merchant land. We also have 10% of the share, but we only manage to get that much through our solid long-time connections.”

“I see.” This was the first time Qi Xuansu heard this, but he could probably understand what The Inn’s business was.

The Innkeeper continued, “These shares mainly refer to the grounds that have been cultivated. There are still many wastelands that are in the hands of others, but we won’t go into that for the time being. What I’m saying is that since these grounds have been cultivated, they will need regular maintenance, like intensive plowing, fertilizing, pest control, weeding, and so on.”

If a third party overheard their conversation, they would assume the Innkeeper was explaining to Qi Xuansu about regular farming.

Qi Xuansu was doubtful. “This sounds like an errand for Heavenly Beings.”

“Not necessarily. Heavenly Beings are responsible for reclaiming the wasteland. Others are responsible for the subsequent cultivation and maintenance,” the Innkeeper explained.

Qi Xuansu thought about it for a while and asked, “So what is the commission for this?”

The Innkeeper replied, “Although The Inn is labeled as a ‘secret society’ by the Daoist Order, we are still closely related to the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court. We’re completely different from the Ziguang Society, the Cult of Fates, and the Lingshan Witch Cult. The piece of land that I’m referring to is related to the Cult of Fates.”

Qi Xuansu waited patiently for further explanation.

The Innkeeper continued, “This piece of land used to be an important place for the Daoist Order. The Cult of Fates has eyed this piece of land and secretly spread curses, which eventually turned the residents there into zombies, and the zombies continued to infect others. Eventually, everyone living there turned into zombies. This infestation spread in all directions, attacking cities and plundering the land.

“In order to prevent the zombie infestation from expanding further, the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court chose to annihilate the zombies in that area by launching a Phoenix Eye Bomb. After many years, that land is ruined, but there are still some stray zombies wandering around.

“Strangely enough, these zombies were like weeds in a field, popping up sporadically as soon as it’s spring, so The Inn has to weed this land every year. This year, our branch has a shortage of manpower, so we need to recruit outsiders to help with this task.”

Qi Xuansu understood and inquired, “What’s the specific situation?”

The Innkeeper replied, “The headquarters will send nine Guizhen-stage masters for this weeding exercise. They will be the main leaders. Our branch is in charge of recruiting helpers. After the event is completed, everyone will receive 2000 Taiping coins each.

“Sir, if you agree to join this weeding exercise and decide not to inquire about White Jade Hall anymore, our branch will offer you a reward of 2000 Taiping coins.”