A Pawn's Passage

Since it was a game and not a duel, it was not about comparing fighting abilities but more about testing the mind. For Zhang Yuelu, the advantage was that she would not be crushed by Xuanji’s superior cultivation. The downside was that Xuanji would be setting the rules and posing the challenge, while Zhang Yuelu had to solve it.

Zhang Yuelu pondered for a moment. In the end, she did not turn back. She chose to walk toward the small alley.

Due to the heavy snowfall, the sky was gloomy, which made the alley look even darker. At its end stood a pair of black-lacquered double doors with two door rings that were covered in green patina.

Zhang Yuelu came to the door and pushed it gently, but it did not budge. So, she grabbed the door ring, intending to knock.

A moment later, the door slowly opened by itself, accompanied by the creaking of the hinges, revealing a pitch-black space beyond.

Zhang Yuelu could not see anything, not even when she was using the Divine Observation Technique. She wanted to roll her eyes at their attempt to spook her.

She simply took off her cloak, revealing the Taiyi Cloud Robe, and pulled out her Amorphous Paper before stepping over the threshold.

Once she was beyond the door, she felt like she had stepped into another world.

Instead of a filthy brothel, she saw an open field with a vast lake in the distance. Above her was a sky full of stars. It was a dreamy scene straight out of a poem.

However, Zhang Yuelu was not in the mood to admire the scenery. Her expression was solemn as she carefully observed her surroundings with purple light constantly flickering in her eyes. Yet, her Immortal Eye of Providence yielded nothing.

This greatly surprised her. It was not unusual for the Immortal Eye of Providence to fail in seeing through an illusion, especially when facing someone far superior in cultivation. But this time, there was simply nothing at all to “see.”

This was something she had never encountered before.

At that moment, Xuanji’s ethereal voice echoed from all directions. “High Mage Zhang, since you’ve entered this place, the game officially begins now.”

Zhang Yuelu calmly said, “Please state the rules.”

“The rules are actually simple,” Xuanji’s voice remained audible, but she was nowhere to be seen. “It’s a child’s game—hide and seek. I’ll be hiding somewhere in this small world, and your task is to find me within 2 hours. If you win, the Ziguang Society will honor the agreement and fulfill our duty. If you can’t find me within 2 hours, then you’ll lose. From then on, we’ll call each other sisters and serve the same master.”

Zhang Yuelu pursed her lips and scanned her surroundings once again.

She noticed that after Xuanji announced the rules, a bronze cauldron had appeared in the night sky, clearly visible no matter where she was in this small world. Inside the cauldron was an incense stick as thick as a pillar. Its reddish-blue tip glowed faintly as it emitted purple smoke.

Xuanji continued, “Of course, letting you search blindly in such a large space would be rather unfair. So I will give you some clues. Rest assured, all these clues are genuine. Here comes the first clue.”

Zhang Yuelu did not attempt to use any mystical abilities to locate Xuanji’s position. First, the other party had the advantage of terrain. Second, their levels of cultivation differed too greatly. So she chose to focus and listen carefully.

“Three, four, five—I’m shaped like a bow; fifteen, sixteen—I show my full glory; everyone says I live to thirty, but at twenty-eight or twenty-nine, I pass away,” Xuanji said. “It’s not hard to guess.”

Xuanji made no further sound after that, so it was unclear if she had left or was merely staying silent, continuing to observe Zhang Yuelu from the shadows.

Zhang Yuelu only furrowed her brows in thought for a moment before guessing the answer.

This riddle referred to the moon. At the beginning of the month, the crescent moon was shaped like a curved bow. Mid-month, it would be a full moon. By month’s end, it would disappear.

Zhang Yuelu looked up at the night sky, which had countless stars surrounding the moon.

True Lord Ziguang’s Spiritual Statue was slightly inferior to the Green Emperor or True Lord Siming. However, True Lord Ziguang was still the master of the stars. At first glance, this seemed contradictory because the Green Emperor and True Lord Siming were both Star Lords who respectively governed the Southern and Northern Dippers. Even True Lord Taiyin and True Lord Taiyang could be counted among the Star Lords.

Strictly speaking, True Lord Ziguang was the mother of all stars, also known as Madame Ziguang. By seniority, she was above the other Star Lords. But the achievements of later generations did not necessarily fall short of those before. Besides, True Lord Ziguang fell too early, and after her fall, it was natural for others to surpass her. Even when the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor was a child, Wu Luo was already the exalted Great Witch leading Ancient Wuism alongside other Great Witches, revered by all. The gap between the two was like heaven and earth, yet ultimately, Wu Luo still died by the sword of this young Heavenly Preceptor. Ancient Wuism was also destroyed by the Heavenly Sect (predecessor of the Zhengyi Sect).

This was just the natural progression of life.

True Lord Ziguang was the master of all stars, symbolizing the countless stars in the sky, and the bright full moon represented the True Lord Taiyin.

True Lord Taiyin was no longer in the mortal realm. Did it mean there could still be a remnant cave of the True Lord Taiyin here?

Zhang Yuelu hesitated for a moment, then soared into the air, flying toward the bright moon.

After all, this was not the real world, so perhaps she could try standing on the moon.

Soon, the bright moon was within sight, seemingly close enough to touch. She could faintly make out a pavilion or palace silhouetted against the glowing moon, which she presumed was the legendary Palace of Cold Light.

Draped in her Taiyi Cloud Robe, Zhang Yuelu’s flowing silhouette resembled a goddess flying to the moon.

But soon, Zhang Yuelu realized that after the initial approach, the distance between her and the moon seemed to be fixed. She could never get any closer. The seemingly attainable moon was, in fact, an unreachable illusion.

Realizing this, Zhang Yuelu abruptly snapped back to awareness. This was merely a false image; True Lord Taiyin’s Palace of Cold Light could never appear here. She had been misled by Xuanji’s riddle.

At that moment, Xuanji’s voice sounded in her ear, laced with amusement. “High Mage Zhang, you woke up a little late.”

Zhang Yuelu immediately glanced at the reddish-blue incense tip.

The key to the game was not in solving the riddle but in searching for Xuanji within the timeframe. Xuanji’s misdirection had been designed purely to waste her time.

She had wasted nearly half an hour trying to fly toward the moon. However, at the start of the game, Xuanji had guaranteed that all her clues were real.

If the clue was true but the moon was fake, then there had to be another real moon. Where was this second moon?

Being exceptionally clever, Zhang Yuelu immediately recalled the allegory about the moon reflecting on thousands of rivers. Ultimately, all those countless moons would trace back to one original moon, symbolizing that heavenly principle was the root of all things.

She looked down beneath her feet.

There was a moon in the sky and a moon in the water.

Normally, the moon in the sky was real and the one in the water an illusion. But if the moon in the sky was fake, then naturally, the moon in the water was real.

With this realization, Zhang Yuelu stopped her futile attempt to fly to the moon and plunged straight toward the lake below.

Xuanji’s timely voice rang out. “High Mage Zhang, you truly live up to your name. One guess, and you hit the mark.”

Zhang Yuelu plunged straight into the water, landing squarely in the reflection of the moon.

Without causing a single splash, the entire surface of the lake, along with the reflected moon, shattered into countless fragments in an instant.

Zhang Yuelu sank to the bottom of the lake, as if passing into a second layer of the small world.

For a Heavenly Being, soaring through the sky or diving into the earth was effortless. She could hold her breath and slow her pulse without problems.

The lake water was absolutely clear, without the slightest trace of murkiness, so it did not hinder her vision.

In the water, there were many indistinct figures that resembled drowning souls, floating upward like a buoy. However, they were bound by tangled seaweed below, so they could only drift and sink endlessly in place.

At the center, surrounded by all these drifting forms, stood a dark, sunken boulder, atop which sat a man. Unlike the blurred figures, his features were perfectly clear. However, he was a stranger, not Xuanji.

Sensing Zhang Yuelu’s arrival, the man slowly opened his eyes.

Xuanji’s voice sounded again. “The second clue is: Vowed to wipe out Xiongnu, they gave no thought to their lives; five thousand fur-cloaked warriors perished in dusty frontiers. Pity the bones by the banks of the Wuding River; still they live on in the dreams of their lovers in spring boudoirs.”

Zhang Yuelu frowned. She recognized this famous poem. The opening stanza was, “The Han emperor traveled east to report peace, but none in the Golden Palace discussed frontier wars. Even if they seized the Linhu Pass, barren sands would bear no mulberries or hemp.”

It reminded Zhang Yuelu of her martial aunt, Shi Bingyun’s story. For the sake of a man, Shi Bingyun had voluntarily given up competing for the position of Sage Cihang. However, that man later died on the Western Region battlefields.

The man spoke in a deep voice. “I am the remnant soul of True Lord Gouchen, capable of revealing your future.”

As he finished, he extended a hand and summoned a black shadow, drawing it in. It transformed into a dreamlike vision that enveloped Zhang Yuelu, immersing her completely.

Suddenly, Zhang Yuelu found herself in the Zixiao Palace of Jade Capital.

The hall was crowded with Sages. Countless Daoist priests also gathered outside.

Basking in the thunderous cheers, Zhang Yuelu entered the Zixiao Palace, climbing step by step toward that seat symbolizing the pinnacle of one’s career in the Daoist Order.

Sage Cihang walked at her side, just half a pace behind.

Following them were the three Deputy Grand Masters.

Just then, Zhang Yuelu suddenly felt someone give her shoulder a hearty slap. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed the edge of a sleeve flickering past, which made her halt abruptly in her tracks.

Sage Cihang and the three Deputy Grand Masters also stopped accordingly.

They looked puzzled, not understanding why Zhang Yuelu had stopped.

With effort, Zhang Yuelu slowly turned her head to look behind.

She saw Sage Cihang, the three Deputy Grand Masters, the other Great Sages, the 36 Omniscient Sages, and hundreds of ordinary Sages—all of them gazing at her with deep reverence.

Yet the one figure she longed to see was absent. Was it just an illusion?

“What’s wrong?” Sage Cihang asked in a whisper.

Zhang Yuelu hesitated briefly before shaking her head. “It’s nothing.”

She turned her head back and continued walking toward that supreme, unrivaled seat.