A Pawn's Passage

Ecstasy Paradise was a large local municipality, so it was nominally managed by a third-rank Youyi Daoist master. However, this third-rank Youyi Daoist master had not been around for many years, so Liu Futong, the superintendent of Ecstasy Paradise, had become the de facto leader.

However, no matter how powerful Liu Futong was, he was only a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master. He could not compare with a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master like Pei Xiaolou.

That was why Qi Xuansu mentioned Pei Xiaolou’s badge.

Liu Futong frowned slightly. “Which Sage Pei?”

Qi Xuansu replied, “Sage Pei from the Chongyang Palace of Immortality.”

Liu Futong immediately knew who he was referring to—Pei Xiaolou.

Pei Xiaolou’s elder brother was Sage Donghua, who was the Ziwei Hall Master.

He was someone that even Liu Futong’s backer could not afford to provoke.

Liu Futong was silent for a moment before he said with a stern tone, “I don’t care who you are. Please leave immediately.”

Qi Xuansu and Eighth Tianyang looked at each other and walked out.

When they walked past the superintendents, Qi Xuansu paused to look at the woman named Su Ran.

Su Ran smiled slightly, without much hostility.

Qi Xuansu nodded in greeting before following Eighth Tianyang away from this place.

After leaving the morgue, Eighth Tianyang asked, “Did you see anything?”

Qi Xuansu asked back, “What is Liu Futong afraid of? Why is he suppressing this matter?”

Eighth Tianyang hesitated before divulging. “I heard some rumors that someone seemed to be interested in Liu Futong’s position. Perhaps he was afraid that they would use this case as an excuse to transfer him away. That would explain why he suppressed the murders and announced them to the public as deaths from sudden illness. He ordered the matter to be kept secret within the Ecstasy Paradise. No discussion or rumors were allowed.”

Qi Xuansu could not comprehend this. “If the murderer disappeared after committing the crime, I understand if he wants to suppress the case. But now, the murderer is still continuing this killing spree. This case will only get bigger and bigger. How long can he suppress it?”

Eighth Tianyang agreed. “He probably lost his mind. But what’s strange to me is that the superintendent of the Huasheng Hall branch also agreed to let Liu Futong decide on how to handle this matter. Do you think that Liu Futong bribed her?”

Hearing this, Qi Xuansu muttered, “Right. If something like this happens, Liu Futong will bear the responsibility. Why should she side with him? There may be some shady dealings between the two.”

Qi Xuansu, Liu Hu, and Eighth Tianyang left Ecstasy Paradise along the original route. As soon as they returned to Shimen County, a Green Phoenix Guard major came to report that there had been another murder, the 13th one.

Eighth Tianyang’s face turned grim. “Where is the body? Take me there.”

The major led them to the Green Phoenix Guard’s morgue in Shimen County. The deceased was a charming middle-aged woman. She died in the same way, with her heart ripped out.

The major reported, “The deceased was a liquor seller in the town, but she had been a worker in Ecstasy Paradise when she was young. When we found her, she had been dead for a long time. Our initial conclusion is that she died last night.”

Qi Xuansu looked at the corpse. “The deceased was about forty years old. This industry is for young people. It means the deceased worked in Ecstasy Paradise more than ten years ago. How did the murderer know about the deceased’s past? I don’t think anyone would voluntarily tell people about this type of past experience.”

Eighth Tianyang raised a question. “Brother Wei, do you think the murderer is from Ecstasy Paradise?”

Qi Xuansu motioned to the major to give him a pair of gloves. He gently opened the wound in the deceased’s chest and took out the tropical pitcher plant from the heartless chest cavity.

Liu Hu turned her back to the body, her face a little pale from witnessing the gore.

Qi Xuansu carefully examined the plant in his hand.

The tropical pitcher plant had long, oval-shaped leaves with smooth edges. The midrib of the leaf extended into tendrils that ended in a small leaf trap shaped like a pitcher. The rim of the trap was thick, and it had a small lid that opened as the plant matured until it could not close again.

At the bottom of the trap, the plant secreted a sticky fluid that emitted a sweet scent, attracting insects. If an insect fell into the trap, it would struggle to escape due to the slick interior. It would ultimately be digested by the plant. As such, many tropical pitcher plants used as medicine often contained fragments of insects.

Qi Xuansu found that the lid of the tropical pitcher plant was closed, so he gently pried it open.

In it was a small, rolled-up note.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu immediately took out the note and unfolded it. A name was written on the note—Hua Qi.

Standing next to Qi Xuansu, Eighth Tianyang frowned and pondered for a moment when he saw the name. “This seems to be a famous courtesan in Ecstasy Paradise. Is this the murderer’s next target? Is this a provocation?”

Qi Xuansu took off his gloves, looked at his pocket watch, and urged. “This is our only clue. It’s late afternoon now. The wine seller died last night, so the killer will most probably strike again soon. We don’t have much time left.”

Eighth Tianyang was hesitant. “But Hua Qi is inside Ecstasy Paradise. My people can’t get in.”

Qi Xuansu pondered before saying, “Brother Eighth, please take care of my niece. I will go over by myself. It’ll be easier that way.”

“Alright. I suppose that’s the only way for now.” Eighth Tianyang barely took time to consider before agreeing. “I’ll leave everything to you, Brother Wei.”

Qi Xuansu came to Liu Hu and reminded her. “Liu Hu, follow this senior major and don’t wander around. Got it?”

Liu Hu nodded slightly.

Qi Xuansu whispered to Eighth Tianyang, “To be honest, some enemies are eyeing my niece, so please watch out for her, Brother Eighth.”

Eighth Tianyang’s expression turned solemn as he promised. “Don’t worry, Brother Wei. Even though we still can’t solve the murders, I can still protect someone right in front of me. Moreover, my men are all carrying firearms because of this case, so I will be able to guarantee her safety, as long as the enemy is not a Heavenly Being.”

Qi Xuansu nodded and left Shimen County, going back to the entrance of Purple Immortal Mountain. The guards wanted to stop him, but after seeing the badge in Qi Xuansu’s hand, they immediately lost their courage. After all, this was a badge issued by a Sage.

That was how Qi Xuansu managed to get into Ecstasy Paradise unimpeded. He went straight to Jade Tower.

Jade Tower was composed of countless small pavilions, which were stacked on top of each other. It was heavily guarded, so it would be difficult for an outsider to break in. It would be much easier if the murderer was from Ecstasy Paradise.

Qi Xuansu could get in because he was great at pretending to be someone he was not. He held the badge issued by Pei Xiaolou and acted like a Daoist priest sent to investigate the case as he strode toward the Jade Tower.

Many of the guards were frightened by Qi Xuansu’s intimidating aura and dared not stop him. Occasionally, there would be one or two guards who questioned him, but Qi Xuansu would only say, “Are you blind? Don’t you recognize this badge from the Chongyang Palace of Immortality?”

That was how he gained access to the heavily guarded Jade Tower. These guards only earned a dozen Taiping coins a month, so they would not risk their lives unnecessarily.

Madam Qi taught Qi Xuansu to act confident and bold, so that was how he walked up the corridor of Jade Tower.

On the way there, Qi Xuansu saw a woman who looked like a housekeeper, so he immediately stopped her and waved the badge in front of her eyes. He declared, “I am a Daoist priest from the Chongyang Palace of Immortality, ordered to investigate a case. Where is Miss Hua Qi? We just received clues that the murderer’s next target is Miss Hua Qi.”

The woman was startled. She replied, “Miss Hua Qi has not been feeling well recently. She is in her own room now.”

“Take me there. If the investigation is delayed, I will charge you for being an accessory to murder.” Qi Xuansu threatened coldly.

The woman was startled. She pleaded, “Mage, please have mercy on me! I didn’t do anything...”

“Shut up!” Qi Xuansu shouted and pulled out the Divine Dragon Pistol from his waist. “Lead the way.”

The woman stopped wailing and quickly turned around to lead the way.

Soon, they arrived at the door of Hua Qi’s room.

Qi Xuansu motioned to the woman to knock on the door.

The woman obediently stepped forward and did as she was told, but there was no response at all.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu stretched out his hand to push the woman away and kicked the door open with urgency.

There were no lights in the room, so it was pitch black.

Almost at the same time, a black shadow rushed toward Qi Xuansu.

Without thinking, Qi Xuansu raised the Divine Dragon Pistol and pulled the trigger.