A Pawn's Passage

Given the importance of Lion City, the Poluo Daoist Mansion naturally stationed one of its Deputy Mansion Masters here. The Daoist Palace in Lion City was called Tianfu Palace, which was second only to the Sheji Palace in scale. Unlike most Daoist Palaces, it did not worship the Primordial Daoist Ancestor but the Heavenly Empress.

It had been modest at first, but after the Daoist Order entered Nanyang and expanded it repeatedly, Tianfu Palace had now become a state-level palace, situated in Lion City’s central district.

The Deputy Mansion Master overseeing Tianfu Palace was Xie Jiaofeng, fourth in rank among Poluo’s Deputy Mansion Masters, below Qi Xuansu, Xu Jiaorong, and Wang Jiaoying. This was a fitting arrangement given Lion City’s immense strategic importance.

Wang Jiaoying was not the one stationed in Lion City because he served specifically as the Deputy Mansion Master of the Yu Kingdom. Although the Great Sage, Mansion Master, Chief Deputy, and Second Deputy all resided in Thanglong Prefecture of the Yu Kingdom, their responsibility was to oversee the entire Poluo Daoist Mansion. Wang Jiaoying’s position was a highly crucial role focused solely on the affairs of the Yu Kingdom, which was why he took the lead during the attempted coup when Great Sage Lan went into seclusion.

In the recent upheaval in the Yu Kingdom, Wang Jiaoying naturally bore some responsibility. However, Great Sage Lan and Mansion Master Wang, who were his superiors, absorbed the political fallout. After all, the Chief Deputy was technically Wang Jiaoying’s superior. If someone were to be blamed for Chen Shuhua’s defection, it would be the Golden Tower Council or the Poluo Daoist Mansion. A single Deputy Mansion Master could not possibly shoulder that blame.

It was like holding a general accountable for losing a city. One would not blame the junior officers beneath him for failing to supervise their own commander. The responsibility usually fell on those who promoted the general or those who should have restrained him. Since the Golden Tower Council wanted the Wang family to let down their guard, they only reprimanded Wang Jiaoying and did not remove him from office.

Xie Jiaofeng did not side with the Wang family nor with Chen Shuhua. He was a typical fence-sitter, leaning whichever way the wind blew. Before Qi Xuansu’s arrival, he naturally stood with Wang Jiaohe, but during the last Daoist Mansion Council, he sensed the shift in momentum and wisely maintained neutrality.

That said, for him to hold such a critical post meant he was no ordinary figure.

Though he did not side with any faction within the Daoist Mansion, he hailed from the Xie family of Jiangnan, a prominent Confucian family.

Ever since the Daoist Order advocated the unity of the Three Religions, it had absorbed Buddhist and Confucian families. The Zhengyi Sect’s Cihang lineage stemmed from Buddhism, and the Quanzhen Sect’s Pei family had some Confucian origin due to intermarriage with Confucian families like the Xie family. Thus, Xie Jiaofeng was effectively part of the Pei faction.

Sage Donghua had assigned Xie Jiaofeng to Poluo to balance out the complicated situation. At the time, the Golden Tower Council had not fully made up its mind or reached a unified stance on taking down the Wang family. Thus, Xie Jiaofeng only swayed with the winds and ensured that he would not be dragged into the mess of any faction.

Xie Jiaofeng was among those welcoming Qi Xuansu this time. He did not seem scholarly, nor like a flowerbed Daoist. Instead, he seemed more like a court official, which was why Qi Xuansu did not have an impression of him.

Qi Xuansu was arranged to reside in Tianfu Palace during his stay in Lion City. There was still some distance from the flying ship port to the palace, so the Nanting Protectorate had cleared the streets.

A long convoy proceeded down the empty main avenue, with Qi Xuansu’s carriage in the middle of the procession. There were only 3 people inside the carriage—Qi Xuansu, Little Yin, and Chen Jianchou.

Qi Xuansu was flipping through the case files, while Chen Jianchou helped organize the documents he planned to read.

Bored out of her mind, Little Yin slumped in her seat and yawned repeatedly with a drowsy expression.

She truly could not understand what was so interesting about those densely written documents. One glance at them made her drowsy, while two glances would send her straight into a dreamland.

Just then, the carriage suddenly came to a halt.

Qi Xuansu, who had kept his head buried in the documents, finally looked up and asked, “What’s going on?”

Chen Jianchou immediately stood up. “I’ll go check.”

The drowsy Little Yin perked up at once. “I’ll go too!”

Chen Jianchou objected without hesitation. “No, you’re responsible for the Chief Deputy’s safety.”

Little Yin plopped back down, pouting in displeasure.

Chen Jianchou stepped out of the carriage and soon returned, standing below as he reported to Qi Xuansu: “Chief Deputy, someone is blocking the road to report a complaint.”

Qi Xuansu raised a brow. “What are they complaining about?”

Chen Jianchou replied, “I didn’t probe further, but it seems related to the Nanyang United Trading Company. The complainant’s husband was their accountant and died all of a sudden. She believes he was killed by the Company, so she is blocking the road to seek justice.”

Qi Xuansu froze for a moment. He thought, Wow, she’s serving the Nanyang United Trading Company up to me on a silver platter!

Though he came to Lion City officially to resume his previous inspection tour, his real purpose was the Nanyang United Trading Company. He and Zhang Yuelu were acting in tandem—one overt, one covert. Zhang Yuelu could attack from the slave-trade angle, while Qi Xuansu would conduct the direct offensive, such as auditing accounts.

The moment he arrived in Lion City, someone blocked the road to report a case. This was akin to someone delivering a pillow the moment he thought about sleeping.

Qi Xuansu became intrigued, but he was no longer the impulsive young man he once was. He did not leave his carriage to meet this unknown complainant himself. Instead, he instructed, “Bring her along. Whatever she has to say, she can say it at Tianfu Palace.”

Chen Jianchou accepted the order and left.

At that moment, a shrill, piercing sound ripped through the air.

The next instant, a blazing meteor tore through the sky and struck Qi Xuansu’s carriage with perfect precision. The entire carriage erupted into a massive fireball, creating mushroom-shaped plumes.

Inside the carriage, Qi Xuansu was blinded by the flashes of red and white light that filled his entire vision.

Chen Jianchou, who was only a few steps away from the carriage, was thrown back by the massive shockwave, slamming violently into another carriage.

The entire convoy descended into chaos. The Black Robes and Spirit Guards instinctively formed defensive formations, while several Heavenly Beings darted toward the direction from which the flaming projectile had been launched.

Qin Hengjun and Xie Jiaofeng rushed toward Qi Xuansu’s carriage at once.

Xie Jiaofeng’s face turned pale. If the newly appointed Chief Deputy Mansion Master sent by the Golden Tower Council died in Lion City right under his watch, his career would be finished. The best-case scenario was being dismissed from office. But that was still too optimistic. He could already imagine the thunderous wrath that Sage Donghua would unleash upon him and perhaps even the entire Poluo.

Qin Hengjun’s expression was equally grim upon realizing that the caliber of the firearm used in this assassination could never be found on the black market. Such firepower could only originate from either the Daoist Order or the Great Xuan Court.

If it were indeed a Daoist internal feud, Qing Hengjun would be blamed for negligence at most. But if the weapon turned out to have come from the Nanting Protectorate under his command, he dared not imagine the consequences.

Just as the two stood stunned and helpless, the charred remains of the carriage suddenly shifted. A small figure crawled out—completely black from head to toe, with only a row of white teeth showing.

The key was that the small, soot-covered figure seemed completely unharmed. She shook off the layer of ash, then reached into the still-smoldering wreckage and dragged out another person—Qi Xuansu.

Qin Hengjun and Xie Jiaofeng immediately rushed forward, one on each side.

Qi Xuansu was also covered in soot, but since Little Yin had been on top of him when the explosion happened, at least his face was spared from looking like hers. Moreover, with his Martial Arts Practitioner physique, his life was not in danger even though his strength had been greatly reduced.

As for Little Yin, normal logic could not be applied to her.

Qi Xuansu exhaled and said, “I’m fine. Where is the person who stopped the carriage?”

By now, Qi Xuansu had already pieced it together. This so-called complaint was almost certainly a ruse, meant to halt the convoy and draw attention. The assassins correctly predicted that Qi Xuansu would send someone to inquire about the situation, which then allowed them to confirm which carriage he occupied.

With a halted convoy, a confirmed target, and someone delaying the procession, they had ample time for a precise aim, making it a flawless assassination attempt.

Qin Hengjun quickly recovered from the shock and stood up to summon his adjutant, who arrived at Qin Hengjun’s side immediately.

“Where is the person who blocked the road?” Qin Hengjun demanded.

The adjutant spoke in barely a whisper. “It happened too suddenly. She escaped. Two of our men were injured as well.”

Qin Hengjun’s expression darkened, and he said nothing.

The adjutant stood trembling in fear.

At that moment, Qi Xuansu spoke. “It’s fine. They came prepared, and we were caught off guard, so it’s only natural that she has escaped. We’ll investigate this later.”

As he spoke, Qi Xuansu even took a moment to brush the soot off Little Yin.

Only then did Qin Hengjun say, “It was our failure. Once we return, I will report to the Grand Protector at once and investigate this thoroughly.”

In terms of rank, Qin Hengjun was not beneath Qi Xuansu. But since this incident happened right under the Nanting Protectorate’s nose, Qin Hengjun could not shirk responsibility. By default, he was to be blamed for negligence. Thus, he had to give Qi Xuansu an explanation.

Xie Jiaofeng quickly added, “Yes, we must investigate this. How utterly deranged!”

However, Qi Xuansu felt no anger. Most people who survived assassination attempts would grow angry out of fear, a fury born of shock and the terror of having a close brush with death.

Qi Xuansu had no shortage of such near-death experiences. Thus, he felt no fear and could control his emotions easily.

Now, he had no choice but to reorganize his thoughts and shift his focus to this assassination attempt.