A Pawn's Passage

The Huasheng Hall warehouse was big, so it was easy to find after the deacon gave Qi Xuansu a general direction.

From the outside, the warehouse looked like a two-story building, but once inside, the ceiling was double volume. Wooden crates were placed against the walls and stacked up to the roof.

The vast warehouse felt a little empty.

At this time, there was only one person in the warehouse—Superintendent Su Ran, in her formal attire and her back to Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu entered the warehouse and closed the door. After a while, his nose twitched slightly. He asked, “Superintendent Su, what kind of scented pouch are you using? Or is it a perfume from the Western Continent? This scent is really special, and it makes people dizzy.”

Su Ran did not turn around to face him. She replied, “It’s not a scented pouch or perfume, but the unique incense of Huasheng Hall. It was first used to conceal corpse odor. Later, it was used to cover up various odors. After all, those of us working in Huasheng Hall will inevitably come into contact with all kinds of strange things and be exposed to strange smells. This incense is a bit pungent, but it’s not too unpleasant.”

“I see.” Qi Xuansu nodded. “So, this kind of incense can also cover up the smell of the tropical pitcher plant, huh?”

“Of course.” Su Ran’s tone was still calm as she explained, “There are many tropical pitcher plants in Huasheng Hall. The stems and leaves of the tropical pitcher plants can be used as medicine, especially the sac. The plant is harvested in autumn, cut into sections, and dried in the sun. It has a sweet and refreshing taste.

“It’s great for clearing the lungs, keeping moisture, detoxification, and circulation. It’s used for treating whooping cough, jaundice, stomach pain, dysentery, edema, carbuncle, and insect bites. It can be consumed as an oral decoction or applied externally by crushing it to powder.”

Qi Xuansu clapped and praised. “Superintendent Su, you truly are worthy of your title as the superintendent of Huasheng Hall with all your knowledge of medicinal ingredients.”

For some reason, there was a 7-meter-tall statue of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor in this warehouse facing the entrance, with wooden crates stacked on both sides.

Su Ran still had her back to Qi Xuansu. She looked at the Primordial Daoist Ancestor as she said, “You’re beating around the bush because you want to ask me whether the tropical pitcher plant in the chest cavity of the victims has anything to do with Huasheng Hall, right?”

Qi Xuansu remained silent.

Su Ran continued, “I can answer you. Those tropical pitcher plants stuffed into the chest cavity of those victims came from Huasheng Hall.”

Qi Xuansu took a deep breath and asked, “Why a tropical pitcher plant? Does it have any special meaning?”

“You can think of it as a metaphor of sorts.” Su Ran explained, “The tropical pitcher plant is also known as the pig cage plant because of its shape. In Jiangnan, there is a kind of lynching in which criminals are drowned in pig cages.

“The pig cage looks like a large wicker basket. The criminal will be locked inside and submerged in a river for a fixed time, depending on the severity of the offense. Adultery is the most serious offense, and adulterers will often be drowned to death, regardless of gender.”

Qi Xuansu somewhat understood where this was going. “The victims used to be workers of Ecstasy Paradise, and they were all subjected to a disguised form of this lynching.”

“Yes. I’m sure you’ll figure it out even if I don’t explain it.” Su Ran still had her back turned to Qi Xuansu. “I have to admit that I’ve underestimated you. You almost caught me on the spot, and you saw through my intentions of framing Liu Futong.”

Su Ran paused for a moment before continuing, “But I think you haven’t made a final conclusion yet, nor have you fully speculated on the cause of the matter. If you knew, you wouldn’t have come to see me alone.”

Qi Xuansu’s body gradually tensed up. “Who are you?”

“I am Su Ran, the superintendent of Huasheng Hall.” Su Ran added, “A genuine fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master, not a fake like you.”

Qi Xuansu was startled. He quickly settled his mind and said in a deep voice, “Did you kill so many people just to get rid of Liu Futong? I doubt that Liu Futong is your match, especially with your schemes.”

“You’re flattering me.” Su Ran sounded delighted. “Women always like compliments. In that case, let me share a bit more. After all, it’s quite frustrating not being able to tell others of my brilliance.”

Qi Xuansu probed, “Why did you kill those innocent people in such cruel ways?”

“Are they innocent?” Su Ran’s voice gradually turned colder. “I have just explained that they all deserve lynching. Targeting Liu Futong was just a matter of convenience. He’s not innocent either. The things he did account for enough reason to kill him several times over.”

Qi Xuansu frowned. “If you are killing people for power and gain, I can understand where you are coming from even though I don’t approve of it. That’s because people will use every possible means to keep power. But if you say that targeting Liu Futong is just a matter of convenience and that killing those people is your actual motive, then I can’t understand your true purpose.”

Su Ran explained patiently, “It’s simple. I don’t approve of the existence of Ecstasy Paradise. This so-called Everbright City has nothing bright about it. It’s just a city full of degenerates. Everyone here, from the high-ranking Daoist priests to the common prostitutes, has forgotten what morals and rules are, so I ought to remind them and impose appropriate punishments.

“Worldly pleasures and the sins of desire are the enemies of morality. The corruption of the inner soul always starts from the corruption of the outer body, and the loss of moral discipline always starts from unbridled desire. Look at this city and these people. They are like maggots on a rotting corpse, destroying the foundation of this world. One day, they will destroy this world and devour all living creatures until a new reincarnation cycle begins.

“I know that I can’t change all these people no matter what I do, but I still do it anyway. I want to fight poison with poison. I will slowly use the rest of my life to destroy Ecstasy Paradise and erase this stain left behind on the Holy Xuan’s legacy.

“Think about the targets I have chosen: a courtesan who fucks all kinds of men, an escort who thinks she is noble but hates the Daoist Order, an old prostitute who seduces married men, and Yue Lian, who tempts her boss. Which one of them doesn’t deserve to die?

“They don’t deserve to live, but their deaths can alert and serve as a warning to those who are still living. That way, those people will stay away from this degenerate place and return to the boundaries of moral precepts.”

While speaking, Su Ran opened her arms and looked up at the statue, as if she were bathing in the glory of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor.

Qi Xuansu’s response was very brief. “That’s a load of bullshit.”

Su Ran retracted her arms and laughed. “You don’t care for moral precepts either. Your intense killing aura shows that you are a person who flouts the rules. People like you should die too.”

Qi Xuansu crossed his arms and held the hilts of the two cutlasses at his waist. “There are many people who want to kill me, but most of them are already dead. I have killed countless people, but never indiscriminately, and especially not innocent people. No matter how noble your cause is, it is still not a reason for you to kill.”

Su Ran finally turned around to face Qi Xuansu. For once, her back was facing the statue of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor.

She was wearing that furry white fox mask on her face. The fox’s eyes were narrow, and it had a mocking smile.

The last time Qi Xuansu fought with the person in the white fox mask, they did not get to determine a winner because neither of them gave their all.

“I wasn’t trying to impress you.” There was no emotion or anger in the white fox’s face, only contempt. “This is just my idea. I don’t care whether people agree with me because that’s just too troublesome. Instead of changing people’s minds, I’d rather eliminate all those who have dissent.”

“You’re a lost cause.” Qi Xuansu slowly pulled out his two cutlasses.

He injected some innate qi into the cutlasses, igniting the raging flames on the blades and illuminating the dim warehouse.

The Daoist Order was a large institution that revered the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, so it was inevitable that there would be some fanatics among them. Even if the Primordial Daoist Ancestor’s doctrine was unrelated to fanaticism, some people would inevitably read the scriptures incorrectly and interpret them according to their own imagination.

Instead of debating scriptures, the most direct way to protect their ideals was by silencing the opponent. In this regard, Qi Xuansu and Su Ran had similar views.