A Pawn's Passage

A single round of arrests revealed the full spectrum of human behavior.

Some burned themselves to death as a final attempt at dignity. Some remained composed even at the moment of death, ending their own lives with a pistol to the mouth, using their deaths to protect others.

Some refused to be captured, scheming meticulously as they fled.

Of course, some were dragged straight out of bed, completely unprepared and utterly disheveled.

Wang Jiaoyan chose to flee to Wang Jiaohe’s estate, betting that Zhang Yuelu would not dare storm the residence to arrest her.

This was, to some extent, an act of a turtle retreating into its shell.

But Wang Jiaohe was not at home. He was at the Sheji Palace attending an emergency council discussing Lin Tianhe’s escape. Qi Xuansu was participating remotely via a projection.

This was not a formal Daoist Mansion Council, so in addition to the Deputy Mansion Masters, some Spirit Guards and several superintendents were also present.

Great Sage Jiang personally presided over the council. After a brief opening, Xu Jiaorong began her report.

The incident had erupted abruptly, so Xu Jiaorong did not have much information and could only start explaining from the beginning.

Xu Jiaorong began the briefing. “This so-called inspection tour was premeditated. According to our colleagues in Shibo Hall, the plan had been set long ago, but it was originally scheduled for the second half of this year. Lin Tianhe abruptly moved the schedule forward around the time we began investigating relevant parties. So it’s fair to say that certain movements within the Daoist Mansion greatly alarmed him. Some colleagues later reported that after Chen Shuhua defected, Lin Tianhe shut himself inside his office for an entire day.

“So we deduce that Lin Tianhe believed Chen Shuhua’s case would implicate him. Or rather, he sensed the shifting winds through that incident. He anticipated he would soon be investigated and knew that delaying further might leave no chance to flee. Since he had long prepared an escape plan, he judged it better to run early than risk complications later.

“The East Shakya Daoist Mansion has launched an investigation but has yet to locate Lin Tianhe. This is expected because he must have used a false identity to disguise himself. We also cannot rule out the possibility that he has already reached West Shakya.”

After Xu Jiaorong finished, Qi Xuansu did not rush to speak. Instead, he glanced at Wang Jiaohe.

To his surprise, Wang Jiaohe’s expression was perfectly calm.

By all logic, the Mansion Master must bear the primary responsibility of Lin Tianhe’s escape. After all, Lin Tianhe was his protégé whom he had personally selected and promoted. Now that Lin Tianhe had gone astray, Wang Jiaohe could not evade blame.

Not to mention, Lin Tianhe was his brother-in-law, a fact known to everyone in the Poluo Daoist Mansion. It was precisely this close connection that made Lin Tianhe act with such impunity.

Wang Jiaohe should have looked grim, yet his excessive calmness felt abnormal.

Qi Xuansu did not believe Wang Jiaohe had given up completely. On the contrary, he suspected Wang Jiaohe was plotting something, like a desperate final move.

Wang Jiaohe might already believe he would not be able to keep his rank as an Omniscient Sage, so he no longer cared about lesser matters.

Qi Xuansu was not the only one. Everyone’s eyes were now fixed on Wang Jiaohe.

Under the weight of those gazes, Wang Jiaohe finally spoke. “Regarding this matter, I must submit myself for review by the Daoist Mansion. I bear the principal responsibility in employing Lin Tianhe.”

Great Sage Jiang replied, “This is not the time to assign blame. That will be decided in the Golden Tower Council. The urgent task now is to bring the man back, or rather, to minimize the damage and fallout. This matter will severely test our Daoist Mansion’s capabilities.”

Spirit Guard Ding Chou said, “All signs indicate that Lin Tianhe prepared his escape in meticulous detail. He likely secured multiple identities long ago and arranged all necessary connections. His trip to Sangang Prefecture was merely a pretext, enabling him to cross from east to west of Poluo without arousing suspicion. The East Shakya Daoist Mansion is responding hastily, but they still cannot quickly determine which false identity he used.”

Qi Xuansu suggested, “Could we employ some semi-immortal tracking artifacts?”

The Daoist Order had such items. They might be ineffective against true Immortals, but more than sufficient for someone like Lin Tianhe.

There were also divination methods for locating people. But with the end of the era approaching and the world becoming increasingly rigid and resistant to spells, divination had become unreliable and carried severe backlash. One might suffer the Five Afflictions—widowed, bereft, orphaned, solitary, and crippled—or the Three Losses of fortune, life, and authority. To pry into heavenly secrets was to incur heavenly punishment, and as the end of the era approached, the backlash only grew harsher.

It was heaven’s law for everything to have a cause and effect. Thus, few dare to use divination lightly today.

In contrast, during the era when Ancient Wuism thrived, divination was as common as eating or drinking. They relied on divination for almost everything. Due to this, many masters of divination were disabled, most commonly blind. The backlash varied depending on the target. For example, attempting to divine Chen Shuhua’s whereabouts could easily cripple the diviner’s cultivation. Even the Heavenly Preceptor himself had only attempted to see the future once in recent years.

However, True Lord Ziguang was an anomaly. She seemed able to use divine power to avoid backlash entirely, or perhaps minor predictions simply did not affect her. If a mortal divined for an Immortal, the backlash could kill them instantly. But if an Immortal divined for a mortal, the backlash was negligible.

Great Sage Jiang said, “The Daoist Order does have such methods, but they require a medium—hair, fingernails, blood, and so on.”

Xu Jiaorong replied, “I just checked. Our Daoist Mansion does not have such items.”

In this regard, most Daoists were extremely cautious. Xiantian Beings no longer shed hair or dead skin, and they were even more careful never to leave fingernails or blood behind. If such things fell into a Diviner’s hands, they could easily be used for harm.

Lin Tianhe was a flowerbed priest from Shibo Hall with no battle experience, so none of these things could be collected.

Great Sage Jiang said, “Very well. I will consult Sage Cihang. She’s an expert in divination. Let’s see whether she can search for Lin Tianhe’s whereabouts without suffering backlash.”

Wang Jiaohe nodded. “It seems that is our only option now.”

Great Sage Jiang asked, “Do any of you have objections or better proposals?”

He looked around the room. Seeing no objections, he continued, “Good. Then it’s settled. Asking Sage Cihang for aid is one thing. We must not relax our own efforts. The Fengxian Hall has already dispatched people, so we can’t simply sit and wait. Second Deputy Xu, the responsibility rests heavily on you, so you should go in person to coordinate with the Fengxian Hall and the East Shakya Daoist Mansion.”

Xu Jiaorong rose and obliged. “I will settle my current matters and depart immediately.”

Great Sage Jiang concluded. “This matter has placed our Daoist Mansion in a passive position. If we fail to handle the follow-up properly, it will only become worse. What we must do now is turn passivity into initiative. It’s still not too late to patch the pen before all sheep are lost.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Yuelu also began preparing for the arrest of Wang Jiaoyan.

The situation was not ideal. Zheng Jiaohe and Sun Jiaofeng were dead. Lin Tianhe had fled, and whether he could be caught remained unknown. In the end, only Sun Yaozhen had actually been arrested. It would look terrible if the famed Three Prodigies handled a major case only to produce such a mess. They did even worse than Han Yongfeng. Though many objective factors were involved, the optics were undeniably poor.

On the way, Zhang Yuelu reviewed Wang Jiaoyan’s files once more.

Wang Jiaoyan was Wang Jiaohe’s younger sister. Her junior sister was Sun Jiaofeng’s Daoist companion. These were long-known facts. But as the investigation deepened, more details surfaced, making Zhang Yuelu sigh inwardly at just how messy relationships were in Poluo.

From the senior Du Yuhua to the junior Sun Yaozhen, these women were exceptionally promiscuous and flamboyant, with multiple partners.

Such things would never be seen in Jade Capital. They were also uncommon even in the Central Plains.

Jade Capital remained conservative. Sage Cihang never married, and Shi Bingyun never kept multiple men at once. Shi Bingyun had only been affectionate with several men consecutively, but it had already stirred a huge scandal and greatly damaged her prospects. But here, it seemed to count for almost nothing.

Among these women, Wang Jiaoyan was among the most prominent. Unlike Du Yuhua,

Wang Jiaoyan was still in her prime, with greater desires and urges. Compared to younger women like Sun Yaozhen, Wang Jiaoyan undeniably wielded more power and possessed far more resources.

It was said that Wang Jiaoyan had more than five lovers, all of them young enough to be her sons and handsome enough for other girls to fall for them at first sight. Wang Jiaoyan assigned them a schedule, rotating them through her bed.

Xu Youyi was merely one among them, though he was certainly one of the favored few. He was skilled at coaxing her and acting cute, which was why Wang Jiaoyan arranged for him to be sent to Lingnan.

That number reflected only her current lovers. Some older former favorites had already been dismissed because Wang Jiaoyan only liked them young.

Zhang Yuelu, being a conservative, naturally disapproved of such behavior. In her view, this was a grave degradation of morality. Moral collapse always began with physical indulgence and corruption.

However, these lovers became Wang Jiaoyan’s weaknesses. Many male Daoists fell because of women. Likewise, these female Daoists inevitably fell because of men.

Zhang Yuelu had already ordered for all of Wang Jiaoyan’s lovers to be arrested. When Xu Youyi saw his rivals—the other men who had vied for Wang Jiaoyan’s favor—he finally understood the situation was hopeless and confessed everything in full detail.

With conclusive evidence, the next step was to head to the Wang family’s estate and take Wang Jiaoyan into custody.