A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu originally thought that leaving the city would be difficult, so he took Yuan Fengchan as a hostage. However, he did not expect that leaving the city would be much easier than he imagined.

But after some thought, it made sense because Jiangnan was not like the war-ridden northwest, where secret societies were running rampant. The Black Robes and Green Phoenix Guards stationed in the northwest were all elite warriors who had rich combat experience. However, the prosperous Jiangnan had been at peace for a long time, so the gatekeepers here were akin to flowerbed priests in Jade Capital.

As such, Yuan Fengchan became a hot potato that Qi Xuansu wanted to get rid of after exiting the city because the Yuan family and the local government officials would surely come after him.

However, Qi Xuansu could not kill Yuan Fengchan. Otherwise, he would be targeted by the Yuan family, and he would always have to be cautious.

Under normal circumstances, Qi Xuansu did not care about being targeted. However, he was entrusted to protect Liu Hu and escort her to the north. On the one hand, he was already trying to hide from the Daoist Order. On the other hand, he had to guard against The Inn’s assassins. Thus, if he provoked another party, he would be facing enemies on three sides. This would make his mission all the more difficult, and he might not even survive this.

However, Qi Xuansu did not want to just let Yuan Fengchan go so easily.

At this moment, a Daoist priest wearing an eye patch walked toward him with a flag that had the words “Harsh Criticism” written on it. He also had a sword behind his back.

The Daoist priest was humming a tune.

?? Walking around, wandering about,

?? Have no worries about learning naught.

?? Speak not of the truth,

?? Rely on that oily tongue;

?? Kiss that ass till it cramps,

?? Lick that boot till it shines.

?? ‘Tis the way of life in all the land;

?? Kidnapping, swindling, try your hand!

Qi Xuansu suddenly reined in his horse and threw Yuan Fengchan to the ground.

With a leap, the Daoist priest appeared in front of them in the blink of an eye.

Qi Xuansu demanded. “Who are you?”

The Daoist bowed his head in greeting. “I am Thunder Mage.”

As soon as he finished speaking, many figures appeared on both sides of the road, gradually surrounding them.

Qi Xuansu finally realized that he had plunged right into someone’s trap.

He quickly scanned the people around him and spotted two familiar faces—Xu Changwu and Cripple Zhou, who stirred up a fuss at the Taiping Inn in Longmen Prefecture that day.

Qi Xuansu immediately understood that even though his disguise had almost no flaws, Liu Hu was only wearing a simple disguise because she did not have a white fox face mask like him. As long as these people kept an eye on Liu Hu’s movements, the assassins would be able to track them down no matter how clever Qi Xuansu’s disguise was.

However, Qi Xuansu’s original intention was not to deceive these assassins. He only wanted to hide from the Daoist Order. Although he did not know that Zhang Yuelu was actively chasing his tail, he figured that what he did would inevitably attract the attention of the Daoist Order. Thus, he needed to add another layer of disguise to Wei Wugui.

In addition, these assassins had their own network of intelligence, which was widespread. Thus, they were most often better at tracking people than the Green Phoenix Guard and the Daoist Order.

Qi Xuansu used to mingle with these assassins while traveling alone, so he knew how they operated.

In the case of Fengtai County, the Li family of the Taiping Sect and the Qingping Society got the news at the same time. The Qingping Society was aware of the Li family’s movements, but the Li family did not know that the Qingping Society was also tracking down the Xuan Jade. That was how the Qingping Society gained the upper hand and eventually succeeded in obtaining the Xuan Jade.

“So, you’re assassins from The Inn.” Qi Xuansu remarked without a hint of panic.

Thunder Mage smiled and said, “Since you have guessed it, there is no need to waste my breath.”

Before he finished his sentence, there was a gunshot.

Qi Xuansu did not hesitate to pull the trigger. One of the assassins collapsed to the ground, with a Grade-B Series Three Dragon Eye Bullet lodged in his head.

By the time Qi Xuansu put away his Divine Dragon Pistol, he threw out six of the Seven Phoenix Feathers, three from each hand.

Qi Xuansu had taken the Seven Phoenix Feathers from Su Ran because they were spiritual objects that could be used repeatedly. The concealed weapon could be infused with innate qi, and the blades of the feathers could be laced with poison.

The only catch was that this concealed weapon could only be operated by someone in the Guizhen stage, so Qi Xuansu was lucky enough to qualify.

Qi Xuansu fired the gun and shot out the Seven Phoenix Feathers from his sleeve in one fell swoop. By the time these assassins reacted, Qi Xuansu had already incapacitated seven of them.

Although the Seven Phoenix Feathers failed to hit the opponents’ vital points, the feather blades were dipped in poison, so the ones who got hit could not move and were no longer a threat to Qi Xuansu.

Having eliminated seven people, this encirclement was not as tight as before.

Qi Xuansu was not afraid of an ambush, especially if the opponent was weaker than him. That was when he whipped out his two cutlasses from his saddlebag.

Thunder Mage’s face turned solemn as he brandished his long sword. “I have underestimated you. It’s no wonder Scholar Song has suffered at your hands. But it’s strange. Why do you have both the skills of a Diviner and a Qi Refiner? It really doesn’t make sense. Are you a Banished Immortal? But if you were a Banished Immortal, you wouldn’t have been an unknown figure.”

Magic, blood qi, innate qi, and divine power were not connected, but the true essence of Banished Immortals could be transformed into all these sources. Therefore, Banished Immortals were the strongest out of the other four major lineages, as they could practice a wide range of mystical abilities that the other lineages could not.

Qi Xuansu’s situation was not exactly the same as a Banished Immortal. He had magic, blood qi, and innate qi, but they could not transform into one another. They were separate sources of energy, so even when his innate qi was exhausted, he could still use magic. This had its advantages and disadvantages.

Comparing Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu, Zhang Yuelu only had true essence. Whether she was conjuring a spiritual statue or exerting sword qi, she would ultimately consume her true essence, which was used to transform into divine power and innate qi, respectively.

Qi Xuansu was much more complicated. Summoning ghost soldiers would consume his magic; using his fist intention would consume his blood qi; and using the Sword Controlling Technique would consume his innate qi. These came from separate sources of energy, so even if his magic was exhausted, he could still use innate qi to save himself. Hence, he could last longer in a fight compared to most people.

Facing Thunder Mage, Qi Xuansu held the two cutlasses and jumped off Bu Yue’s back. That was because he was not very good at mounted combat. He preferred fighting on foot.

Liu Hu pursed her lips and remained seated on her horse.

The next moment, Qi Xuansu charged forward.

Thunder Mage held a long sword in one hand and his flag in the other. No one would have expected the long sword to be a cover for the real lethal weapon hidden inside the flag.

With a wave of his flag, an emerald green sword light flashed out instantly.

Qi Xuansu had no time to dodge. He only felt a tearing pain on his shoulder, because he had self-healing abilities like a Martial Arts Practitioner, his wound healed almost immediately.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Qi Xuansu closed the gap between them, standing just three meters away from Thunder Mage.

“A Martial Arts Practitioner too? Are you really a Banished Immortal?” Thunder Mage was shocked, but he still had a firm grip on his long sword as he defended himself against Qi Xuansu’s two cutlasses. At the same time, Thunder Mage used his innate qi to summon the flying sword to stab Qi Xuansu from behind.

However, using the flying sword at this time while Qi Xuansu attacked with two cutlasses came at a heavy price.

In the blink of an eye, Qi Xuansu knocked out Thunder Mage’s long sword with his left cutlass and stabbed Thunder Mage’s abdomen with his right cutlass.

Although the flying sword also injured Qi Xuansu, it only managed to graze his shoulder. Once again, the wound healed rapidly, so it did not leave much of an impact.

On the other hand, Thunder Mage’s Qihai acupoint and lower Dantian were damaged from that stab. Thus, he could not circulate his innate qi and could no longer control the flying sword.

At the same time, the rest of the assassins charged at Qi Xuansu.

That was because they could clearly see that if they wanted to capture Liu Hu, they would have to kill Qi Xuansu first. Otherwise, Qi Xuansu would be able to track them down later, and they would most likely die at his hands. However, if they all cooperated with Thunder Mage to kill Qi Xuansu first, capturing Liu Hu would be a piece of cake.

Qi Xuansu’s cutlasses ignited with blazing fire as he injected more innate qi into them. It seemed as if he was not at all affected by the previous wounds. He turned around and fought with the others, the sword qi and flames moving about erratically.

It was horrifying to see two assassins dropping dead on the ground in just one move.

In this industry, an assassin in the Guizhen stage was considered a master. The Inn’s top assassin was also in this stage. That was why Third Master Chang dared to ambush Zhang Yuelu with several Guizhen-stage helpers.

This time, although The Inn’s assassins outnumbered Qi Xuansu, only Thunder Mage was in the Guizhen stage.