A Pawn's Passage

Li Changge’s words left Qi Xuansu a bit puzzled. He thought, Weren’t the Li family and Prince Liao allies? What could possibly be “interesting” about this?

Did Li Changge truly carry the spirit of the Holy Xuan, biting the hand that fed him? After all, back in the day, the Holy Xuan had not treated the Li family kindly, often suppressing them. Yet his prestige had been so overwhelming that the Lis dared not disown their forebear. No matter how much bitterness they had endured back then, they now strove to uphold the Holy Xuan’s legacy, claiming proudly to be his descendants.

However, there were rumors that internal strife had plagued the Li family back then. The three Li brothers mirrored the current three Daoist sects, with the Holy Xuan taking the role akin to the Taiping Sect. Donghuang and the eldest Li brother had allied against their second brother, the Holy Xuan, who eventually emerged victorious, forcing the Donghuang to concede. Some speculated that the Holy Xuan’s later suppression of the Li family was actually a purge of internal rivals.

Though the Li family had seemed unusually united in recent years, far more so than the fractious Zhang family or the scattered Quanzhen Sect, internal strife could not be ruled out. But Li Changge was securely seated as the Li family’s third-in-command at his young age, so was there still a need to compete? Could his rival be the infamous Li Tianzhen?

Li Changge did not explain what he meant by interesting and simply gestured for Li Qingnu to continue.

“The Buddhist Sect has fallen into decline and corruption ever since the decline of their Eastern Sect and the rise of their Western Sect. Monk Yan Xiu turned out to be nothing more than a lecherous monk, spending his days practicing that so-called Blissful Method, resulting in the death of two of our girls at Sycamore Villa. Everyone here believes in the Daoist faith, where virtue is emphasized. To claim that every life is priceless is hollow at best, because something that is priceless is also often worthless. From a moral standpoint, a life shouldn’t be reduced to a value. But I’m just a person of the lower ranks, so what I care about is compensation. Each of those girls was worth over 5,000 Taiping coins. This incident was a major loss for the Sycamore Villa.”

Madam Qi’s influence was surely great, so much so that Li Qingnu’s words echoed that old miser’s calculative tone.

Qi Xuansu remained silent.

The deaths of the two women had come as a surprise to both Qi Xuansu and Li Qingnu.

Qi Xuansu had not expected Monk Yan Xiu to be so utterly deranged as to fling the two women as human projectiles at him without a moment’s hesitation. Thus, the two women’s deaths were brutal and sudden. Qi Xuansu had even tried to save them and gotten hurt in the process. Compared to his former self, he had grown far softer. Still, he was not soft enough to shoulder the blame for someone else’s crimes.

If he killed someone, he would own up to it. If he did not, he sure as hell would not take the fall. It was as simple as that.

Qi Xuansu had never claimed to be a good person, and he certainly would not let the muzzle of moral judgment be aimed at him.

Li Changge said, “Since the women are already dead, we won’t be stingy with money. Take care of the funeral arrangements and console the families. Their families should be properly compensated.”

“Yes,” Li Qingnu said solemnly. “I’ve already arranged for it to be done.”

Li Changge nodded slightly. “Continue.”

Li Qingnu did as told, recounting the events of that night. “On the night of the incident, someone knocked down one of Sycamore Villa’s sky lanterns, starting a fire. That gave the perpetrator the opportunity to strike.”

“How did the murderer know where Monk Yan Xiu was staying?” Li Changge asked.

Li Qingnu replied, “Sycamore Villa isn’t exactly a secret location. The movements of guests can’t escape the eyes of those who care to look. In a vast and chaotic city like the capital, filled with a mix of people from the Green Phoenix Guard, the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion, the Tianchen Division, the Arrest Office, the Wardens’ Office, the Capital Training Division, the Divine Armory, the Xuanhui Court, the Qingping Society, the Ziguang Society, and The Inn, tracking someone is far too easy.”

Li Changge questioned, “Didn’t you notice anything suspicious beforehand? Like someone spying or lying in wait outside Sycamore Villa?”

Li Qingnu answered, “Monk Yan Xiu was a Guizhen-stage Buddhaputra, yet he was beaten to death without having the chance to flee. Even if he had been careless, no ordinary Xiantian Being could have achieved that. We concluded the killer must have been a Heavenly Being, which Lord Yun concurred. Since the killer was a Heavenly Being, any spying or surveillance on their part would have been nearly impossible to detect.”

Li Changge raised another question. “You said two others died. Counting Monk Yan Xiu, that’s only three people. It’s a large courtyard, so surely, there would be more people. Where were the rest?”

Li Qingnu remained composed. “The others were affected by the Bewitching Technique. They left the courtyard beforehand and have no memories of the event.”

“A Shaman’s technique,” Li Changge murmured thoughtfully.

By now, Qi Xuansu had calmed completely, sitting composed and unafraid. All the witnesses were on his side, so no matter how powerful the detective, they would not be able to convict him of murder. He scoffed inwardly, Yan Xiu, this is what you get for challenging me on my turf!

An hour later, the people Li Changge had dispatched returned, bringing back an image recording stone and a voice retention talisman. The image recording stone replayed the scene, while the voice retention talisman recorded the sounds and conversation recovered by the Earth Qi Recalling Technique. They were perfectly complementary. Both had been screened beforehand to ensure no unsightly images would offend the eyes of the high-ranking Daoists present.

Li Changge signaled for the display to begin.

In the next moment, the scene of Monk Yan Xiu’s death replayed before them.

The higher the cultivation of those involved in a clash, the more disrupted the ambient earth qi became. For Pseudo-Immortals, even the mere aftermath of an attack could distort the ley lines. Since Qi Xuansu was a Heavenly Being, the figure in the replayed scene appeared vague and indistinct, barely identifiable as an old man, with no clear features visible.

The recorded scene began when the old man entered Yan Xiu’s bedroom and ended when he left.

Qi Xuansu had initially been worried there might be flaws in his techniques and had even prepared a cover story for that. But he soon realized he had overestimated the power of the Earth Qi Recalling Technique. Or rather, he had underestimated his current cultivation level. Every time he clashed with Yan Xiu, the resulting shockwaves of energy severely distorted the replay. The images turned blurry, froze, or even went completely black. Even Qi Xuansu, the killer himself, could not make out the details.

The brute force of a Martial Arts Practitioner was invisible and intangible. Without manifesting the body spirit, it could not be distinguished unless someone fought him directly. Instead, with the boost of this brute strength, his Rogue Cultivator’s innate qi appeared far more potent, almost comparable to that of a Heavenly-Being Qi Refiner. Fortunately, his brief moment of golden-body transformation had been obscured by the red glow of Yan Xiu’s Great Solar Self-Destruction Method.

However, the sounds recorded in the voice retention talisman remained clear.

Yan Xiu had bluntly identified the attacker’s origin—the Qingping Society. The word “Xuan Jade” had also come up repeatedly as the old man pressured Yan Xiu to hand it over. Judging from Yan Xiu’s response, he might not have recognized the attacker, but it was clearly not his first time dealing with the Qingping Society. Otherwise, he would not have said that they were haunting him like a ghost.

Yan Xiu had even mentioned Qi Xuansu, claiming the Xuan Jade had fallen into the latter’s hands, which ironically helped clear his killer of suspicion.

Yao Pei spoke. “This case is quite clear now. A Heavenly Being from the Qingping Society sought out Monk Yan Xiu to demand the Xuan Jade, then beat the monk to death after he refused. That killer also mentioned three members, Prince Qin, Xie Qiuniang, and Hua Jianyi, who are likely the true masterminds behind the scenes.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. At this point, the explanation had no obvious flaws.

Even Yun Luo looked hesitant, thinking that she had misjudged the situation. Was Qi Xuansu really not the culprit?

However, Li Changge did not rush to conclude the case. He turned to Qi Xuansu and asked, “What’s your take, Daoist Qi?”

Qi Xuansu replied, “Actually, I do know the full story behind this.”

Li Changge smiled. “Please elaborate.”

Qi Xuansu explained, “In fact, I mentioned this back when I defended myself against the false accusation of being a Lingshan Witch Cult demon. That was last year, when I was still a deacon of the Tiangang Hall under Deputy Hall Master Zhang. The two of us passed by Yishan City on a mission and discovered a group of Lingshan Witch Cult demons secretly scheming to invoke Wu Luo’s divine descent. We crushed them together, and I earned merit for it, which helped promote me to the fifth rank.”

Qi Xuansu recounted the entire sequence of events truthfully. After all, the fact that he possessed the Longevity Stone Heart was no longer a secret, and his past grudge with Yan Xiu had long been clarified. Everyone present, including Li Changge, had reviewed that case before submitting it to the Golden Tower Council.

Qi Xuansu emphasized the part about Xie Qiuniang. “She came seeking the Xuan Jade, so she personally witnessed the descent of Wu Luo’s divine power and saw that Monk Yan Xiu had survived it. Mistakenly believing that Yan Xiu had obtained the jade, she pursued him multiple times. It’s rather ironic because even cult demons didn’t expect this vile monk would stoop so low as to make me his scapegoat. They chased the wrong man, and I happened to benefit from it.”

Zhang Yuelu, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke up. “I can testify to that.”

Qi Xuansu barely managed to stop himself from bursting out in laughter as a fleeting thought passed through his mind.

The Three Noble Houses of Fenglin[1] referred to the three most prestigious branches of the Tokugawa clan—Owari, Kii, and Mito. These families were expected to provide heirs to the shogunate if the ruling shogun did not have an heir. By that comparison, Qi Xuansu had just united the Daoist Order’s own Three Noble Houses—the three families with the best shot at seizing the Grand Master’s position.

Still, Qi Xuansu hoped Zhang Yuelu would become the eighth-generation Grand Master. After all, his relationships with Yao Pei and Li Qingnu were merely friendly and nothing comparable to what he had with Zhang Yuelu.

Keeping a serious face, Qi Xuansu added, “Thinking back, when we passed through Jinxiu, there was a sudden influx of suspicious people who might have been fringe members of the Qingping Society.”

Li Changge did not comment on this. Instead, he asked, “Speaking of the Xuan Jade, how many have you gathered so far, Daoist Qi?”

Qi Xuansu replied modestly, “Merely three pieces, Daoist Li. I haven’t even achieved the Lesser Five Qi Convergence.”

“It seems you have quite the luck, Daoist Qi,” Li Changge said with a smile. “I have the support of my family, but even so, I’ve only secured five pieces. Yet you have managed to collect three. It’s truly impressive for someone with no backing.”

Qi Xuansu was startled.

Li Changge’s words carried a veiled meaning, clearly alluding to Madam Qi.

Still, Qi Xuansu remained composed and continued, “With five pieces of Xuan Jade, you should be able to reach the Wuliang stage so long as you’re not lacking divine power, right?”

Li Changge shook his head. “There’s no benefit in rushing things. If one wishes to surpass the Pseudo-Immortal stage, it’s better to advance slowly.”

It was clear that Li Changge knew more about the secrets of the Longevity Stone Heart. That was why he had not fully infused all of his Xuan Jades with divine power, deliberately slowing down his cultivation.

Qi Xuansu genuinely wanted to exchange insights with Li Changge, but he knew it was a futile thought. He suppressed his curiosity and responded, “I wouldn’t dare compare myself with you, Daoist Li.”

Li Changge remarked, “A Heavenly-Being Qi Refiner who hails from the Qingping Society and knows how to use the Shaman’s Bewitching Technique is searching for the Xuan Jade. I wonder, what does that imply?”

1. Referring to modern-day Japan. ☜