A Pawn's Passage

Lin Qingcheng received a notice that he was to undergo routine questioning by Fengxian Hall. At first, he let his guard down, since many people were being questioned. Aside from several Deputy Mansion Masters, nearly everyone in the Poluo Daoist Mansion had been involved. The stated reason was matters related to the Nanyang United Trading Company.

The Nanyang United Trading Company was rumored to be the Daoist Mansion’s money pouch, and not without basis. Many Daoists had dirty dealings with the Company. Most people were relieved that only minor issues surfaced while Sage Qi was stationed in Lion City. At worst, it meant a demerit.

If things ended here, it would mean Sage Qi and Sage Wang had reached a compromise, not punishing the masses. Though the matter appeared serious, the Daoist Mansion remained calm, and nearly everyone questioned chose to cooperate.

Aside from Wang Jiaohe, Qi Xuansu, Xu Jiaorong, and Xie Jiaofeng, all other Deputy Mansion Masters’ secretaries were placed under review. Lin Qingcheng, being one of them, found this perfectly reasonable. After all, Qi Xuansu could not possibly replace the entire Daoist Mansion’s leadership in one sweep.

Qi Xuansu and Xu Jiaorong were the masterminds behind the investigation, so no one would question them. Mansion Master Wang also could not be touched without hard evidence. Xie Jiaofeng was exempt because that old fox had already aligned himself with Qi Xuansu. He was originally connected to Sage Donghua anyway, so he managed to avoid trouble this round.

Zheng Jiaohe’s secretary was the first to be questioned. The moment he stepped into the room, he sensed something was off. There were Spirit Guards present. Still, he did not overthink it, not until he saw Yao Pei inside. He instantly realized the problem. How could a Daoist prodigy personally intervene in something this trivial?

Moments later, Zheng Jiaohe’s secretary was arrested.

By this point, no one even thought of the Lion City riots. Instead, everyone assumed Qi Xuansu intended to strike at Zheng Jiaohe. It made sense. Zheng Jiaohe had offended Sage Qi back then. Even if Sage Qi and Sage Wang had reached a compromise, someone still had to serve as the scapegoat, and Zheng Jiaohe seemed like the perfect candidate.

Zheng Jiaohe was terrified. He repeatedly went to Wang Jiaohe to report the situation, afraid of becoming an abandoned pawn.

Lin Qingcheng was last to be interrogated. He thought he would pass easily, until the moment he stepped in and saw Yao Pei’s expressionless face.

He had asked his colleagues about what to expect in these situations. Normally, only a few Fengxian Hall officers would conduct the interviews, and the atmosphere was relaxed.

Yao Pei’s presence was like a silent warning.

Only people already determined to be in trouble were questioned by Yao Pei personally.

The moment Yao Pei announced Lin Qingcheng’s arrest, he attempted to resist. But a second-rank Spirit Guard subdued him with ease.

Immediately afterward, Yao Pei led her people, boarded a flying ship in the middle of the night, and departed Thanglong Prefecture for Lion City.

By coincidence, Great Sage Jiang convened another emergency council that very night. All Mansion Masters and Deputy Mansion Masters were required to attend, as it was a meeting to discuss a detailed plan for pursuing Chen Shuhua.

By the time the meeting concluded, Yao Pei had already arrived safely in Lion City.

Qi Xuansu ordered Li Zhuyu to interrogate Lin Qingcheng, while Yao Pei continued her work on the Sun family. Her previously planted seeds were nearly mature.

Under Ruan Fengjue’s manipulation, Zhao Changlao had sunk in too deep to extract himself.

The next step was to use Zhao Changlao to strike at Sun Yaozhen.

Qi Xuansu did not involve himself in these matters. He needed to focus his attention on the Heavenly Court and the Holy Court.

With his internal and external enemies already united and forming a tightening noose around him, Qi Xuansu had no choice but to fight them head-on on multiple fronts.

Fortunately, Great Sage Jiang’s arrival relieved tremendous pressure on him, keeping Wang Jiaohe firmly pinned in Thanglong Prefecture. Most of the time, Wang Jiaohe could only direct matters from afar, which was far less effective.

Between these two Courts, the Holy Court was ultimately hampered by distance, with a limited reach. After the combined blow from Li Zhuyu and Qin Hengjun, it was wounded enough to be unable to stir up trouble again in the short term.

Thus, the next problem to resolve was the Heavenly Court. Qi Xuansu did not wish to go all out due to the enormous pressure. Moreover, the Golden Patriarch’s influence was not something to treat lightly.

But the Heavenly Court had simply gone too far. Setting aside the conflict at the Dragon Palace, they had actually attempted an assassination. Though there was no formal conclusion, the Nanting Protectorate’s investigation pointed clearly toward the Heavenly Court, confirming Qi Xuansu’s suspicion that Li Tianzhen was involved. After all, only a handful of people held such power, and even fewer had motive. Thus, Li Tianzhen remained the biggest suspect.

Besides the assassination attempt, the Heavenly Court had erected massive obstacles for Qi Xuansu, playing a significant role in the recent Lion City riot.

These two factors forced Qi Xuansu to move against the Heavenly Court.

After all, Qi Xuansu did not want them to think that he was a pushover.

In truth, Qi Xuansu had long held enmity toward the Heavenly Court—whether due to Feng Bo or the Jinling Prefecture incident. However, he did not have the spare time to settle old scores until now.

But at this stage, Qi Xuansu still had to show some respect to the Golden Patriarch. After all, the Golden Patriarch was an Immortal, and he had only recently aided the Poluo Daoist Mansion. Moreover, the Heavenly Court was a dominant force in the Nanyang region, and Qi Xuansu did not yet have the strength to take on the entire organization head-on, forcing him to divide and conquer.

This matter was undoubtedly of utmost importance, so Qi Xuansu entrusted it to the person he trusted most—Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu had Star Lord Yuheng reach out to Liu Gui, and they established some initial cooperation.

Even a formal organization like the Daoist Order was riddled with factions. The Three Sects and the Grand Master lineage were constantly locked in internal strife. The Heavenly Court, which was filled with all sorts of unruly characters, would be even more chaotic and harder to unite. Although Wu Guangbi was the Grand Leader of the Heavenly Court, Liu Gui’s power was equally formidable.

In earlier years, the three great maritime merchants were the Wang, Zheng, and Liu families. The Wang family had submitted to the Daoist Order and rooted themselves in the Poluo Daoist Mansion, treating the region as their private backyard. The Zheng family pledged allegiance to the Great Xuan Dynasty, so their descendants later held positions in the Lingnan Navy and Nanhai Navy.

Unlike the Wang and Zheng families, the Liu family never sought to cleanse their name. Instead, they became the backbone of the Heavenly Court. Just as the Zhangs and Lis had joined the Daoist Order with capital, the Lius did the same with the Heavenly Court, making them an immensely powerful faction within the organization.

Compared to the Liu clan, whose roots in the Heavenly Court ran deep, Wu Guangbi was practically an outsider. Without his formidable strength and the Golden Patriarch’s support, he would never have secured the position of Grand Leader. This was also why Wu Guangbi clung to the Li family. His foundation within the Heavenly Court was shallow and unstable, forcing him to seek external reinforcement.

However, the Heavenly Court did have one advantage. Their internal conflicts were far less convoluted than the Daoist Order’s. There were only two clearly defined factions—one led by Wu Guangbi and the other by Liu Gui.

The two had fought openly and covertly for years over dominance of the Heavenly Court, to the point of near irreconcilable hostility.

Liu Gui would naturally welcome the chance to strike down Wu Guangbi. He might even add fuel to the fire.

This was the purpose behind Qi Xuansu’s outreach to Liu Gui, which became the foundation of his divide-and-conquer strategy.

If even some Daoists could betray the Daoist Order for personal gain and conspire with outsiders, why would members of the Heavenly Court have a higher sense of loyalty?

The difficult part was gaining Liu Gui’s trust. That should have been a major challenge, yet this was where the unique strengths of the Ziguang Society came in handy.

This was what Zhang Yuelu had been busy handling lately.

Neither Qi Xuansu nor Zhang Yuelu was a saint. Both were unbothered by the use of shady methods to achieve their goals. This was one of the reasons they were able to gel so well.

Out of respect for the Golden Patriarch, Liu Gui could not act openly—just as Wang Jiaohe could not personally move to intercept and kill Qi Xuansu unless he wished to defect from the Daoist Order like Chen Shuhua.

However, Liu Gui could offer indirect assistance, such as secretly providing Wu Guangbi’s exact whereabouts.

Qi Xuansu had just received word that Wu Guangbi was currently on a small island outside Lion City.

Between Lion City and the Old Port Pacification Commission Office was a cluster of islands. The Heavenly Court had built a villa on one of the islands as a secluded retreat.

To outsiders, this location was extremely hidden. But to Liu Gui, the third-in-command of the Heavenly Court, it was no secret at all. He could easily know Wu Guangbi’s movements, just as Wu Guangbi could easily know his.

Yet Liu Gui had little to fear. He knew his cultivation was inferior to Wu Guangbi’s, so he always traveled with a grand entourage composed of many bodyguards, making hiding his whereabouts difficult anyway.

On the other hand, Wu Guangbi was a Pseudo-Immortal. His extremely high cultivation made him bold and fond of traveling incognito, which became his weakness.

Qi Xuansu believed in reciprocation and liked to hold grudges. Wu Guangbi had clashed with him several times and even attempted to kill him. Since Wu Guangbi had struck at him repeatedly, Qi Xuansu intended to return the favor with a surprise attack of his own.

Ideally, Qi Xuansu hoped Li Tianzhen would be with Wu Guangbi, so he could eliminate both enemies in one go. He would like to catch a Li family member consorting with a cult demon and see what excuses the Li family would come up with. Sage Qingwei might even thank Qi Xuansu for it, since Li Tianzhen was not in his camp.