A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu was looking at the Yinglong Warship from a distance. What he did not know was that he had caught the attention of his other future mother-in-law.

In their society, masters were almost as important as parents, especially when many did not marry or bear children of their own. Thus, the relationship between masters and their disciples was comparable to that between biological parents and their children. A disciple betraying his master was worse than being unfilial to his parents. He would be spurned and despised by everyone.

In many cases, the time that masters and disciples spent together was far greater than the time parents spent with their children. So it was also common for children to be closer to their masters than to their parents.

Some children took their parents’ generosity as a matter of course, while they would seek to repay their master’s kindness. In a sense, this was the case for Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu had lived in Jade Capital for a long time with Sage Cihang, so they often met each other. Zhang Yuelu’s relationship with her master was much better than her relationship with her biological mother. In addition, Sage Cihang and Zhang Yuelu were both women, so they seemed like mother and daughter.

If Zhang Yuelu was not from the Zhang family but an orphan like Qi Xuansu, then she would have been much closer to Sage Cihang. However, with the Zhang family around, Sage Cihang had to pay more attention to maintaining an appropriate distance from her disciple so as not to offend Zhang Yuelu’s biological parents.

Qi Xuansu had heard of Sage Cihang, but he never would have imagined that he would be meeting her so soon. After all, in his mind, Sage Cihang was an unreachable big shot, someone that he could only meet after becoming a high-ranking Daoist priest. Moreover, he believed that he would only have the opportunity to meet Sage Cihang due to his relationship with Zhang Yuelu.

In fact, Qi Xuansu hit the nail on the head. Sage Cihang was aware of Qi Xuansu’s existence, but she did not rush to meet him back then because she respected Zhang Yuelu’s wishes. She was not one to interfere with her disciple’s affairs unless it was a character like Li Minghuang. Another reason she did not ask to see Qi Xuansu was that she had been busy, so she had no time to care about such trivial matters.

The three Deputy Grand Masters and their successors each had their own residences. Sage Cihang lived on Putuo Island in Nanhai, originally known as the Buddhist sanctuary of the Guanyin Bodhisattva. It was often referred to as the Buddhist Kingdom of the Sea. After Sage Cihang’s lineage converted to Daoism, Putuo Island became as important as Donghai’s Three Immortal Islands—Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang Islands.

Putuo Island had twelve famous scenic spots, but ordinary people did not get a chance to see them because the entire island was the private property of Sage Cihang. It was akin to how Yunjin Mountain belonged to the Zhang family and the Three Immortal Islands belonged to the Li family. No one was allowed entry without an invitation.

Sage Cihang returned to Putuo Island before the New Year and was expected to return to Jade Capital on January 15th, which was reasonable.

During the time Sage Cihang had returned to Putuo Island, the Daoist Order and the Holy Court had some disputes over maritime trade. It was not a small issue that could be simply dismissed because the Holy Court was the Western Continent’s equivalent of the Daoist Order.

Logically speaking, this matter should be handled by the Hall Master of Shibo Hall, who was in charge of the Daoist Order’s maritime trade. It could also be handled by the Ciji Hall, as it was related to etiquette and foreign affairs. At the worst, the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master could come forward, since it was under their jurisdiction.

However, the Earthly Preceptor arranged for Sage Cihang, the head of Duzhi Hall, to handle this issue. The reason he gave was that Sage Cihang happened to be in the Nanhai region, and she used to work in the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion, so there was no need to bother anyone else.

The Earthly Preceptor’s arrangement made sense, and since it was not a big deal, no one raised any objections. However, they never thought that Sage Cihang, known for her efficiency and strong competence, would delay solving the issue. Thus, she failed to return to Jade Capital by January 15th.

Sage Cihang had only started to embark on her journey back to Jade Capital. At first glance, it seemed like a mere coincidence that she happened to pass by Cuowenbu at this time. However, since the Earthly Preceptor was involved, it might not be a simple coincidence.

Among the three Deputy Grand Masters, the Earthly Preceptor was the best in divination. No one in the Daoist Order or the world could surpass him. At least on the surface, no one would dare challenge the Earthly Preceptor.

The Earthly Preceptor’s seemingly random arrangement at the time finally came into play. Since Sage Cihang was not “trapped” in Jade Capital, she managed to come to the Yinglong Warship’s aid. Although it took a while for her to break through the numerous blockades set by the Ancient Immortal Wu Luo, she still managed to save some Daoist disciples, preventing a worse situation.

Hence, the Taiping Sect’s plan only succeeded half-way.

The Imperial Preceptor did not immediately determine the movements of all the Omniscient Sages after taking office as the Great Sage Lunzhi because he had no time or energy to do so. Moreover, Omniscient Sages had great autonomy. They were not prisoners or low-level Daoist priests who had to stay at their posts or offices all day long. They had the freedom to leave Jade Capital or meditate in seclusion for a period of time.

Even as the Great Sage Lunzhi, the Imperial Preceptor could not inquire about the whereabouts of an Omniscient Sage without a suitable reason, let alone restrict their movements. He could only summon all the Hall Masters for discussion, isolating them from the outside world for a short period of time.

It was even more incredulous to send a subordinate to monitor the movements of the Omniscient Sages. The obvious reason was their cultivation level. The higher up one was in the Daoist Order, the higher their cultivation level. Thus, to monitor a Heavenly Being, one must send another Heavenly Being of comparable strength.

Sage Cihang was not an ordinary Heavenly Being, so not many could compare to her. It would not make sense for Sage Qingwei to monitor Sage Cihang either. Even if that was possible, there would be more Omniscient Sages to be monitored. Thus, it was unrealistic for the Imperial Preceptor to disregard his dignity and stoop so low.

Therefore, Sage Cihang’s absence at the Shangyuan Festival on January 15th did not attract too much attention. At that time, Sage Cihang and the Hall Masters of Huasheng and Ciji Halls were not in Jade Capital. The Huasheng and Ciji Hall Masters only rushed back to Jade Capital after receiving the notice of the meeting.

The Fengxian Hall Master was responsible for conveying the orders of the Imperial Preceptor. That was how he found out about Sage Cihang’s exact whereabouts and that she had not yet settled the so-called dispute. However, it was too late. The things were already set in motion, and there was no way of turning back.

The game involved was not complicated. It was just a matter of countering the opponent’s moves. After all, there were no foolproof schemes in this world. Everything was so interconnected that it was difficult to determine the weakest link. As long as one identified the weak point, the entire scheme would fall apart.

Therefore, the success of one’s schemes required human planning and luck. Even if one was extremely resourceful and wise, people were bound to make mistakes. Thus, those who achieved great things in the world relied mainly on overt strategies while using covert schemes as a supplement.

The Imperial Preceptor had already reduced the number of weak links as much as possible, but he still made a flaw in predicting Sage Cihang’s schedule. If the Imperial Preceptor had designed a more sophisticated plan, there would be no telling how many errors would have been made. Perhaps then his schemes would have been completely exposed.

The Earthly Preceptor predicted all this from the beginning and planned countermeasures. Sage Cihang only found out after the fact, as the Earthly Preceptor did not inform her of anything. She had guessed it herself, while everyone else was still kept in the dark.

Even the dignified Imperial Preceptor had miscalculated. He was the chess player, with insight into the changes on the board. Meanwhile, Qi Xuansu was a clueless pawn. He never would have guessed that Zhang Yuelu’s master, Sage Cihang would appear on Cuowenbu Lake at this time.

Thus, when Qi Xuansu saw the woman in white appearing not far from him following a burst of lotus-shaped ripples, he did not realize the woman’s true identity. He only thought she was an ordinary second-rank Taiyi Daoist priest.