A Pawn's Passage

After leaving the Ghost Pass and entering Zhongzhou, not far away was the summer palace built by Empress Mingkong, where the Zhongzhou Daoist Palace was located.

The Ghost Kingdom and the Ghost Pass were actually located between Qinzhou Daoist Mansion and Zhongzhou Daoist Mansion. Further extending the distance, the Ghost Kingdom and the Ghost Pass were also located between the Chongyang Palace of Immortality in Difei Mountain and the Wanxiang Daoist Palace in Longmen Prefecture.

This was located within the core territory of the Daoist Order. That was why Feng Bo felt desperate and chose to kill Qi Xuansu in Xijing Prefecture. After all, that was his best option. In Xijing Prefecture, Feng Bo only had to face the Qinzhou Daoist Mansion and the Wuxu Palace, as opposed to Beimang Mountain, where Feng Bo would have to face countless forces from the Daoist Order.

For Qi Xuansu, Zhongzhou was regarded as his second hometown because this was where the Wanxiang Daoist Palace was located, where he spent his childhood and youth.

Qi Xuansu was an orphan, so he did not know where his original hometown was. Perhaps the Wanxiang Daoist Palace would have records of his birth, but he wondered if these files were kept after so many years. Even if the Wanxiang Daoist Palace had this information, not just anyone had the clearance to retrieve it.

In fact, Qi Xuansu was not obsessed with his origins because of the environment in which he grew up.

If Qi Xuansu had grown up on the streets and seen families walking around, he would have been an outlier without parents. If so, he would have asked himself who gave birth to and abandoned him.

However, Qi Xuansu was adopted by the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, where the children were all orphans. They were all the same kind, so no one would ask about another person’s origins. They regarded the Wanxiang Daoist Palace as their home, the strict Daoist teachers as their fathers, and the Daoist nuns taking care of their daily lives as their mothers. Everything seemed natural.

The Daoist master and apprentice relationship was akin to that of a parent and child. So those from the Wanxiang Daoist Palace who were lucky to be chosen by their masters would convert to their master’s sect. Otherwise, most would choose to go to the Quanzhen Sect, as it was one of the three sects that did not focus on family background and had the most ordained monks.

If Qi Xuansu had not followed his master Qi Haoran to join the Zhengyi sect, he would probably have joined the Quanzhen Sect.

Many people’s obsessions were actually rooted in their childhood. Qi Xuansu’s real obsession was to return to the Daoist Order, not just because of Zhang Yuelu but also because he felt a sense of belonging there. The Daoist Order was his home.

In the past, even though Qi Xuansu was a lone traveler, he still had his identity as a seventh-rank Daoist priest. No matter where he went, he could openly take out his Daoist certificate. He was more like a wanderer who traveled far away from home. With his seventh-rank Daoist priest identity, Qi Xuansu could still go back to the Daoist Order whenever he wanted to.

Now that Qi Xuansu was supposedly dead, he could not use his Daoist identity anymore. He felt like an orphan who had been kicked out. These were two completely different situations and feelings.

This type of situation was alarming for the Imperial Court because there were so many Daoist disciples who were born and raised in the Daoist community. Most also died as Daoists. Thus, they only recognized the Daoist Order as their authority because that was where they found a sense of belonging.

Although the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court cooperated seamlessly and were sometimes considered one integrated entity, there were inevitable conflicts that arose. These two behemoths were like a married couple—one of them was bound to call the shots. That was why the Imperial Court would inevitably take the opportunity to intervene in the competition for the Daoist Grand Master.

Qi Xuansu did not delve so deeply into politics. All he wanted to do was arrive in Longmen Prefecture as soon as possible and glance at the Wanxiang Daoist Palace that held the memories of his childhood and youth.

He came to the gate of the Summer Palace and saw many Daoist priests coming in and out, with formidable Spirit Guards in full armor and holding sharp weapons lined up on both sides of the main entrance.

Qi Xuansu got off his horse and stood there, reminiscing about the Wanxiang Daoist Palace that he had not stepped foot in for many years.

Strictly speaking, the predecessor of the Wanxiang Daoist Palace was the Wanxiang Divine Palace. It was built in the same period as the Summer Palace, during Empress Mingkong’s reign. Therefore, the architectural styles were very similar, with strong characteristics popular in the Qi Dynasty.

The Wanxiang Daoist Palace occupied a huge area, covering the entire Ziwei City. Longmen Prefecture was once the Eastern Capital of the Qi Dynasty, while Xijing Prefecture was its Western Capital.

Ziwei City was the palace city of the Eastern Capital. Among them, the main palace was called the Hall of Enlightenment, which was also known as the Upper Palace of the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, where countless Daoist priests studied to get promoted to the fourth rank.

Besides the Upper Palace, most of Ziwei City consisted of the Lower Palace. Including the Daoist teachers and nuns, there were at least tens of thousands of people residing in the Lower Palace. However, only a thousand or so Daoist attendants could successfully pass the two assessments. The rest would become ordinary Daoist believers.

Although Daoist believers could eventually become Daoist priests, the extent of their promotion was to the seventh rank. Among the thousand people who passed, only less than 100 people could go from the ninth rank to the fourth rank, and only a handful of people could reach the second rank.

Qi Xuansu was only at the sixth rank with the help of Madam Qi and Zhang Yuelu. Yue Liuli and Wan Xiuwu were the best among Qi Xuansu’s batch, and they were only at the fifth rank. As a result, Wan Xiuwu died at the hands of Qi Xuansu. On paper, Qi Xuansu had also died at the hands of the Lingshan Witch Cult.

Looking back on the past, Qi Xuansu felt sentimental and emotional.

Not far away was a lookout point, where many young couples would hike up. Thus, he could hear laughter and chatter from time to time.

Qi Xuansu led his horse and followed the flow of people. It turned out that one could overlook the entire Longmen Prefecture from here. At this time, the sun was setting, and the lanterns from thousands of houses lit up like stars in the sky. From a distance, he could see the two famous Yi and Luo Rivers.

It was thanks to the Daoist Order that people could enjoy such beautiful scenery. Just 200 years ago, this place was so eerie that no one dared to come here even in broad daylight, when the yang energy was the strongest.

Qi Xuansu stood alone in a deserted corner, filled with emotion.

He gently stroked the grade horse’s mane, and the horse responded by shaking its head and snorting.

After following Qi Xuansu through the Ghost Kingdom, this grade horse seemed a little different. It no longer looked frail, and it could run 150 kilometers in one breath without panting. Its hooves were also intact. Moreover, it exuded a faint yin energy, and its coat became darker, almost black.

More importantly, Qi Xuansu felt that this horse could understand what he was saying.

Qi Xuansu suddenly asked, “Why don’t I give you a name?”

The horse seemed to understand what Qi Xuansu said and stamped its front hooves in response.

“What should I call you?” Qi Xuansu pondered. “I will never name you based on the color of your fur. That’s just tacky and too common.”

The grade horse nodded and flashed its teeth, as if it were smiling in agreement.

“What about Wei Wugui?” Qi Xuansu said, “You can have the same name as me.”

The horse shook its head, clearly disapproving of it.

Qi Xuansu thought to himself and muttered, “My other name is Xuansu. But it doesn’t seem appropriate for a horse, because the character, Xuan, holds too much meaning for the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court.”

Hearing this, the horse scratched the ground slowly with its front hoof, feeling a little uneasy. This horse was indeed smart and shrewd, probably due to its past experiences since it was old.

“Hmm, what about Radish?” Qi Xuansu was throwing out random names he could think of.

The grade horse stamped its hooves three times in protest, expressing its dissatisfaction.

Qi Xuansu tried again. “Grape?”

The horse shook its head again. He did not want to be named after fruit or vegetables!

Qi Xuansu still did not give up. “Oh, I have a friend from the Western Continent who taught me some of his language. Do you want a Western name? I think Arthur mentioned an interesting name called Torrent.”

The horse rolled its eyes. It would have reared up if Qi Xuansu had been riding on its back so that Qi Xuansu would fall off.

This was the first time Qi Xuansu saw such a human-like expression on a horse.

“Fine. A horse from the Great Xuan Dynasty doesn’t need a Western name.” Qi Xuansu had to appease his horse and continued racking his brain for suitable names.

Qi Xuansu suddenly thought of his own pseudonym from the Qingping Society, Gold-Plated Knife. It was meant to remind him of his huge debt.

Qi Xuansu tested the waters. “Let’s try some of the names from ancient poems, then. Ba Gui, Ding Er, San Tai, Tian Xiang, Liu Chou, Jiu Ri, Chu Sai, Ta Yue, Bu Yue, Jin Yan...I didn’t make these up. What do you think?”

The horse did not object this time and nodded repeatedly.

Qi Xuansu smiled. “You really are picky. Alright, I’ll choose one among them. I think Bu Yue is most suitable since you’ve walked with me through the Ghost Kingdom. After all, Bu means walk, and Yue means the moon, which is the symbol of yin energy. What do you think?”

The horse nickered as if to say, “Finally, a name that I like!”