A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu put away the Divine Dragon Pistol and picked up his two cutlasses before checking Wan Xiuwu’s body.

In addition to a few cash notes, Wan Xiuwu also had some official documents and letters from Wuxu Palace, as well as his insignia and badge to prove his identity.

Qi Xuansu was a little hesitant about whether to take away the cash notes because he wanted his revenge to be more pure, unrelated to money. If he took away the cash notes, it would look like he had killed Wan Xiuwu to rob him.

But in reality, Qi Xuansu was short of money. He only had 600 Taiping coins left, and Wan Xiuwu carried several hundred Taiping coins with him. It was quite a sizable amount of cash for the broke Qi Xuansu.

Thus, Qi Xuansu decided to flip a coin and let fate decide.

He took out a Taiping coin. The front side read “Great Xuan Dynasty Jiushi Era,” while the back had four words, “peace to the world.”

Qi Xuansu flicked the Taiping coin into the air and reached out to catch it.

He decided that he would not take the cash notes if the front side of the coin was facing up. He would take the cash notes if he saw the words, “peace to the world.”

Qi Xuansu slowly removed his palm covering the coin, revealing the words, “Great Xuan Dynasty Jiushi Era.”

Fate had decided for him not to take the cash notes.

“Since this is fate, I won’t take the cash.” Qi Xuansu put away the Taiping coin.

He took out a Grade-B Series Three Dragon Eye Bullet, used Qing Yuan to pry open the bottom shell of the projectile, and sprinkled the gunpowder all over Wan Xiuwu’s body. Then he took out his gun, loaded it with another Grade-B Series Three Dragon Eye Bullet, and aimed it at the body.

Bang!

After Qi Xuansu pressed down the hammer and pulled the trigger, Wan Xiuwu’s body burst into flames.

The reason for this extra step was to prevent the possibility of Wan Xiuwu coming back to life. Secondly, it was to cover up his traces so that it would be impossible for the investigating team to judge who killed Wan Xiuwu from the wounds.

Of course, the traces of firearms could not be concealed, but the Daoist Order did not have serial numbers on every projectile, so these were negligible details.

After that, Qi Xuansu mounted his grade horse and continued riding toward Beimang Mountain.

This was how bold Qi Xuansu was.

An inexperienced killer would have changed their route after encountering this, even if it was a long detour. They would have chosen some remote and uninhabited route. Along the way, they would have felt paranoid with the slightest howling of the wind and rustling of the trees, thinking that someone would arrest them.

However, Qi Xuansu followed his original route and planned to slither past right under the nose of the Daoist Order.

From the beginning to the end, Qi Xuansu was neither overjoyed nor sad. He maintained a relatively calm state of mind, far less content than when he avenged his master.

Some people said that the older one got, the less courageous one became. Some people’s timidity was due to caution, while others were initially timid but became fearless due to their ignorance. But there were also people who were well aware of the risks and dangers involved, yet they became increasingly daring. However, these people usually did not live long due to their recklessness. So it would seem that being timid was the correct way to live.

However, if these daring people could survive the bloody storms, they would most likely become important figures. On the contrary, those who became timid as they grew older would either retire as soon as possible or become a stepping stone for future generations.

......

Half a day after Qi Xuansu left, someone finally discovered Wan Xiuwu’s charred corpse. They first notified the local Daoist temple, which had sent people to check. Then those people reported the incident to the local Daoist mansion. It was already the next day when personnel from the Daoist mansion arrived.

Although Wan Xiuwu’s clothes and documents had been reduced to ashes and his body was burned beyond recognition, his badge remained intact. People from Qinzhou Daoist Mansion quickly determined Wan Xiuwu’s identity and notified the Wuxu Palace.

On the afternoon of the next day after Wan Xiuwu’s death, Wuxu Palace dispatched some personnel to the crime scene. The leader among them was a third-rank Youyi Daoist priest, with sharp eyebrows, thin, upturned eyes, and a snow-white complexion. Although he was handsome, he had an inexplicably evil aura.

This person’s name was Pan Cuiqing. He looked young, but he was already over 40 years old. He was the eldest disciple of the Wuxu Palace Master, which made him Wan Xiuwu’s senior apprentice-brother.

The Wuxu Palace Master had important matters to attend to, so he could not come in person. Moreover, he had so many disciples, so Wan Xiuwu’s death was not important to him. He felt that there was no need to investigate in person, so he asked his close disciples to go in his stead.

Yue Liuli also tagged along. She was standing next to Pan Cuiqing, her face pale. However, no one knew if her pallor was from fear or sorrow. Seeing her like this invoked a sense of pity in others.

They stood near Wan Xiuwu’s body and saw a mass of burnt remains that looked like charcoal. However, the traces of their fight were still clearly visible in the surroundings. In particular, the crack marks on the ground in the outline of a human figure, which were probably caused by Wan Xiuwu’s body, indicated that Wan Xiuwu was defeated by his opponent in a head-on fight, not a sneak attack.

Pan Cuiqing glanced at the traces around him. The scene of two figures fighting each other gradually emerged in his mind. He stated, “If my vision is correct, this is the result of the fight between two Martial Arts Practitioners—one of them is Junior Brother Wan, and the other is his murderer.”

Yue Liuli pursed her lips and said nothing. When she learned the news of Wan Xiuwu’s tragic death, her first reaction was to blame Qi Xuansu. But then she remembered that Qi Xuansu was dead.

Yes, dead.

She still recalled the time when Wan Xiuwu came to her excitedly with the bulletin. They were both so relieved to learn of Qi Xuansu’s death because they were afraid that Qi Xuansu was plotting against them. Thus, they were delighted to hear such news.

If the killer was not Qi Xuansu, who else could it be?

Yue Liuli’s second thought was it could be Zhang Yuelu.

After all, there were rumors that Qi Xuansu sacrificed himself to save Zhang Yuelu. If that rumor was true, then Zhang Yuelu would have fulfilled Qi Xuansu’s last wish to kill his enemies so as to comfort his spirit in heaven.

However, as Yue Liuli considered this, she thought that it was an absurd idea. She had read the bulletins about Jade Capital’s recent politics. Zhang Yuelu had been promoted to the Eighth Deputy Tiangang Hall Master. If so, why would Zhang Yuelu risk her career and image to get revenge for Qi Xuansu? It would also be detrimental to Sage Cihang’s reputation if her successor did something like this, affecting the big picture which was the competition for the Grand Master.

If Zhang Yuelu really wanted to avenge Qi Xuansu, she could have just supported her master, Sage Cihang, to the best of her abilities. That way, when Sage Cihang became the Grand Master, Zhang Yuelu’s position and status would also rise accordingly. By then, Zhang Yuelu would only need to give the Wuxu Palace Master a hint for him to purge these unwanted disciples from his tutelage. This was the simplest and cleanest way to get rid of them.

Then who else could it be? Yue Liuli was at a loss.

Wan Xiuwu and Yue Liuli were from the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, without much influence or wealth. After they left the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, they kept a low profile and did not make any enemies. The few enemies they had were all from their time in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace. That was because they were young and reckless at that time.

If Qi Xuansu heard this, he would have cursed Yue Liuli for being a shameless bitch. She was certainly not reckless when she sent Qi Xuansu into a death trap during the trials. She was meticulous in plotting her schemes. But now that her partner in crime was dead, she blamed her evil deeds on being young and reckless.

Pan Cuiqing beckoned to the Daoist priest responsible for surveying the scene and questioned, “What are your findings?”

A fifth-rank Daoist priest answered, “Our preliminary conclusion is that the deceased was killed by a projectile from Tianji Hall. There was an armor-piercing projectile in the chest and brain. The fatal wound was located between the forehead and the eyebrow. Judging from the wound, the projectile should have been fired at close range.”

Yue Liuli asked, “How close?”

The fifth-rank Daoist priest hesitated for a moment before he replied, “The muzzle of the gun was placed on his forehead.”

Yue Liuli could already imagine the scene at that time—Wan Xiuwu was knocked to the ground before the killer put the gun against his forehead. The color drained from her already pale face, and she stopped talking.

The fifth-rank Daoist priest continued, “We have also found traces of the Grade-B Series Three Dragon Eye Bullet, which was used to burn the corpse. Due to this, it is difficult to distinguish other wounds.”

Pan Cuiqing nodded slightly. “Although these projectiles are produced by Tianji Hall, there is no guarantee that they didn’t end up on the black market. Without solid evidence, it is best not to suspect one of our own.”

“Yes, sir,” the Daoist priest replied solemnly.