A Pawn's Passage

Three days after Qingping Society’s third revenge operation, just as Qi Xuansu was preparing to clean up the East and West Cities, a completely unfamiliar Daoist delivered him a copy of Annotations on the Holy Xuan, said nothing, and quickly left.

The next day, Qi Xuansu received an unopened cipher book through a courier.

On the third day, Sage Donghua sent word, asking Qi Xuansu for a clear report on the situation at Wuxing Mountain, including his opinions and speculations.

To this end, Qi Xuansu asked Madam Qi if certain pieces of intelligence could be shared, like information about The Inn’s Owner.

Madam Qi’s answer was, “Why can’t it be shared? Tell him everything!”

Her reply was a soothing reassurance. It meant there was a tacit understanding between Sage Donghua and Madam Qi that what mattered was the intelligence, not its source.

Thus, Qi Xuansu compiled a detailed report on Wuxing Mountain for Sage Donghua.

Confirmed experts within Wuxing Mountain included the eunuch ancestor from the Xuanhui Court, The Inn’s Owner, and Prince Liao, who commanded the Divine Central Guards.

Unconfirmed parties included the Cook, Server, Runner, and Innkeeper. They might all be present, or perhaps they could be taking shifts with the Owner. There were also several high-ranking officers from the Divine Central Guards.

Suspected participants included the Tianchen Division Director and Superintendents, as well as the Green Phoenix Guard Lord Commander, Deputy Commander, Commander Adjutant, and some Lieutenant Colonels.

No one within the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion, including Mansion Master Li Ruoshui, appeared to be directly involved. At most, they were passive enablers.

Li Changge had close ties with the royal family and the Green Phoenix Guard. He had directly intervened in the Prince Liao case to clean up the mess. It was unclear whether Li Changge or the Taiping Sect would intervene at the critical moment.

Qi Xuansu also included Lin Yuanmiao’s deduction while hiding the elder’s existence. Using the observed fact that the Owner and the Innkeeper never appeared together, he inferred that the Owner could not easily leave Wuxing Mountain. Based on the mountain being referred to as the Northern Dragon’s Reverse Scale, he further speculated that these Pseudo-Immortals might be needed to maintain some formation within.

After reviewing it carefully, Qi Xuansu prepared to submit the report. However, it was not via the official Golden Tower Council’s or Ziwei Hall’s rapid post talismans. Instead, he sent it to Sage Donghua’s private rapid post talisman without any signature or seal. The message was also encoded.

Referring to the cipher manual, Qi Xuansu translated his report into pages of seemingly random digits and sent them through the rapid post talisman.

Since rapid post talismans were not entirely secure, they could be intercepted by someone with enough magical power. After all, Qi Xuansu did not have a private rapid post talisman, so he had to use the one from the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion, which was overseen by Li Ruoshui from the Taiping Sect. This made the risk of exposure even greater, so using ciphers was necessary.

They did not use mother-child talismans in direct contact either because of the risk of leaks. If Madam Qi could slap Qi Xuansu through the talisman, it showed that the talismans had a security loophole. Thus, blocking and spying on a mother-child talisman communication was entirely possible. For a matter as serious as the fate of the Northern Dragon, where a single loose thread could unravel everything, secrecy was paramount.

Sage Donghua did not respond. However, Qi Xuansu was certain that the Omniscient Sage had received it. Otherwise, Sage Donghua would have sent another urgent request.

The lack of response meant that Sage Donghua approved of the intelligence.

Qi Xuansu had a strong feeling that the time for action was fast approaching.

Sure enough, just as Qi Xuansu was preparing to make a move in the East City three days after submitting his report on Wuxing Mountain, Sage Donghua sent him an encrypted message through the rapid post talisman.

Qi Xuansu brought the encrypted message to his office, activated every formation, and asked Lin Yuanmiao to stay alert. He then pulled out his cipher manual to decode the message. However, it did not match. He frowned, puzzled.

Soon, realization dawned. He set aside the cipher book and instead pulled out another book that had been delivered to him a while back—Annotations on the Holy Xuan.

With Annotations on the Holy Xuan on the left and the encrypted message on the right, Qi Xuansu began decoding the message using the book as a cipher key.

Each sequence of digits had a fixed interval.

The first sequence was 121.

Qi Xuansu immediately turned to page 121 of the book.

The second sequence was 07.

Qi Xuansu moved his right finger to page 121 of the book and located the 7th column, counting from right to left.

The third sequence was 13.

He counted from top to bottom the 13th character in the 7th column.

Moments later, Qi Xuansu translated the first phrase. On a blank page, he wrote four words—Anchor the Monkey.

Qi Xuansu stared at the three words and murmured, “From the Eight Trigrams Furnace, the Great Sage escapes; the Monkey was anchored beneath Wuxing Mountain.”

This line came from one of the greatest tales of all time. It told the tale of a monkey born from a stone. This monkey became an immortal and rebelled against the heavens. In this book’s seventh chapter, the Monkey escapes from the Primordial Daoist Ancestor’s alchemical furnace, only to be suppressed by the Buddha under the Wuxing Mountain, though this mountain was fictional and not the real one near the Imperial Capital.

“Beneath Wuxing Mountain lies a mind cultivator, but this person isn’t truly human and is merely a creation. So that’s the Monkey. But the key lies in the word ‘anchor.’” Qi Xuansu said, half to Lin Yuanmiao, half to himself.

The codename for the mind cultivator was Monkey, and the word ‘anchor’ meant to suppress. If they were suppressing a mind cultivator beneath Wuxing Mountain, it meant they were preparing to strike.

Thus, this operation was called “Anchor the Monkey.”

Qi Xuansu continued translating the rest of the cipher and wrote “Buddha” on a blank sheet. He drew a dash after it and wrote “Daoist Order.”

He kept writing more phrases on the sheet of paper. The more he decoded, the more astonished he became.

In the cipher, Sage Donghua stated that the five-person delegation represented the Buddha’s five fingers. He explicitly ordered the secret reconstruction of a covert five-person team, removing Li Changge and adding Qi Xuansu.

In this brand-new, secret team, Qi Xuansu was the middle finger, Zhang Yuelu the ring finger, and Yao Pei the pinky. The thumb and index finger would appear when needed.

Their mission: to anchor the monkey.

Qi Xuansu now realized the deeper meaning behind the original formation of the five-person delegation from the Golden Tower Council.

What surprised Qi Xuansu most was that Sage Donghua had elevated him to the third position, above Zhang Yuelu and Yao Pei.

Though Madam Qi and the Qingping Society likely played a role, Qi Xuansu’s indirect breakthrough as a wildcard made Sage Donghua realize his value. With Li Ruoshui and Shi Bingyun locked in mutual restraint, neither would step forward personally. Thus, Qi Xuansu also represented Shi Bingyun.

Considering all these factors, Sage Donghua decided to entrust Qi Xuansu with a great responsibility. It had little to do with cultivation level, rank, or bloodline. Everything depended on position and circumstance.

Qi Xuansu had become a convergence point—a hub where many powers intersected. He had deep ties to Zhang Yuelu of the Zhengyi Sect, Yao Pei of the Quanzhen Sect, Madam Qi and Xie Linyuan of the Qingping Society, and Shi Bingyun and Qin Quanyi, who were local powers of the Imperial Capital. It was like countless lines crossed through him, forming a web. This network was what Zhang Yuelu and Yao Pei lacked, and hence why Qi Xuansu now outranked them.

Li Changge had likely sensed this, which was why he tried to get close to Qi Xuansu, only to be blocked by Yao Pei and Zhang Yuelu.

Next came Qi Xuansu’s specific assignment.

He was to serve as a central coordinator, linking together the various factions within the Imperial Capital allied to the Buddha and subduing the monkey with the support of the Buddha’s disciples, Ananda and Kassapa.

Qi Xuansu fell into deep thought.

Lin Yuanmiao had said that the Pseudo-Immortals were likely too preoccupied with suppressing the earth qi to intervene directly. That meant the final outcome would likely be determined at the Heavenly-Being level. In other words, “Buddha’s Five Fingers” likely were not exceptionally powerful. So then, why were Ananda and Kassapa being brought in?

In the original story, the Buddha subdued the Monkey with these two disciples. No other Buddhas or Bodhisattvas were present. Applied to this mission, it suggested that Ananda and Kassapa would participate, but not as the decisive force, and more so as a diversion. Qi Xuansu guessed that these two would pin down figures like Prince Liao, a Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being.

It was entirely possible.

Overall, both sides were maintaining a delicate restraint. No Immortals had taken the field themselves. Only their lackeys were engaged in battle.

Still, the Pseudo-Immortals had entered the fray.

Qi Xuansu could only think about his massive responsibility. No doubt, it was a perilous mission—one misstep could mean a tragic death. But this was also a tremendous opportunity. If Qi Xuansu pulled this off, it would serve as his pledge of allegiance, earning him the qualifications to rise within the Quanzhen Sect’s ranks. If they triumphed and if Sage Donghua became the Grand Master, then Qi Xuansu could easily secure a position as one of the 36 Omniscient Sages.

The exact timing of this operation had not been determined. Further instructions would follow.

This meant the Wuxing Mountain operation was already in its preparatory phase. Like a battlefield campaign, supplies moved first before troops marched. The army was already mobilized. All that was left was the final clash.

Qi Xuansu double-checked the contents, ensured there were no translation errors, and read over everything once more, committing it to memory. He then burned both the original cipher and the decoded sheet into ashes.