A Pawn's Passage

After the Zhongyuan Festival passed, another torrential rain came pouring down.

Little Yin and Lin Yuanmiao sat beneath the covered corridor, watching the rain.

The rain was heavy, so much so that the raindrops became indistinguishable from one another, like a curtain of water.

Countless drops struck the roof tiles, washing them until they shone black. The rivulets that gathered slipped down from the eaves like mini waterfalls.

Neither of them stood on ceremony and simply sat on the threshold.

Lin Yuanmiao patted his knee and recited, “I lament how short life is, without knowing that my own return was a funeral march. I dislike ambitions too small, then end up shackled. In this noisy world, I take the stage when your song ends. How absurd it is for one’s labor to end up benefiting others.”

Little Yin propped her chin with both hands, bored out of her mind. “Old Lin, who are you even talking about in that sarcastic tone?”

“I’m just lamenting from the heart.” Lin Yuanmiao gazed beyond the rain corridor at the crisscrossing flow of Daoists. Some carried uniform yellow oil-paper umbrellas, so they resembled fallen leaves drifting by. Some relied on their cultivation and carried no umbrella.

Lin Yuanmiao sighed again. “The world knows that Immortals are good, yet only fame and rank cannot be forgotten.”

Ke Qingqing walked over and complained. “How is it still pouring? Where did all this rain come from?”

Little Yin leaped to her feet and blocked Ke Qingqing. “Where are those two? Did they sneak off on a secret rendezvous without me?!”

Ke Qingqing stopped in her tracks, not daring to offend Chief Deputy Qi and Second Deputy Zhang’s favorite. Strictly speaking, Little Yin was beloved by everyone. Chief Deputy Qi and Deputy Chief Zhang were hardly approachable, yet both were extremely fond of this little girl. Not only that, the quiet old Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being got along exceedingly well with Little Yin and was rarely seen apart from her. The elusive Madam Qi likewise doted on this child. Rumor had it that the elder was rather stingy, yet Little Yin still managed to receive gifts from her.

Ke Qingqing crouched down and said, “Chief Deputy Qi and Second Deputy Chief Zhang don’t have that kind of time. Second Deputy Zhang is handling some official documents from the Jade Capital and Lingnan Daoist Mansion, and Chief Deputy Qi—”

Ke Qingqing paused instinctively, glanced around, and lowered her voice. “Chief Qi has gone to see Great Sage Jiang.”

Little Yin had not yet realized what this implied, but Lin Yuanmiao had already risen to his feet and murmured, “Where are the generals and ministers of past and present? Nothing but a desolate mound, buried by grass.”

The torrential rain fell unceasingly, washing all the vegetation at the Wood Palace. Water droplets glistened on the leaves, and puddles formed on the bluestone paths.

Qi Xuansu took long strides ahead, while Chen Jianchou followed closely behind, holding a large umbrella in his hand.

The rain hammered wildly against the umbrella’s surface, the droplets running down along the beads at its edge, linking together into bright, gleaming streams of water.

When they reached the gate of the Wood Palace, a squad of Spirit Guards stood there in formation, allowing the rain to fall freely upon their jet-black armor. The leading Spirit Guard stepped forward upon seeing Qi Xuansu and greeted him. “Chief Deputy Qi.”

Qi Xuansu merely nodded in acknowledgment, his pace unbroken as he continued straight ahead.

Two Spirit Guards had already pushed open the gate at precisely the right moment so that Qi Xuansu’s steps did not have to slow by even half a beat.

However, Chen Jianchou was stopped by the Spirit Guards. The leading Spirit Guard spoke politely. “My apologies, Secretary Chen. The Great Sage has ordered that this is a top-secret meeting, so no attendants are allowed. Please wait over here.”

Chen Jianchou kept his umbrella aside and replied with equal courtesy, “Please lead the way.”

Qi Xuansu entered the Wood Palace alone. There were guards posted every five steps. None of these Spirit Guards had any connection to the Poluo Daoist Mansion. They were all special Spirit Guards that Great Sage Jiang brought along from Jade Capital.

However, all of these Spirit Guards recognized Qi Xuansu and made no move to obstruct him.

Qi Xuansu proceeded unimpeded all the way to the meeting hall and pushed open the door.

Inside was a long table, with Great Sage Jiang occupying the main seat, with his back to the north.

Besides Great Sage Jiang, several people were already seated on both sides, including familiar faces such as Spirit Guard Jia Yin and Spirit Guard Ding Chou. Another first-rank Spirit Guard, Jia Wu, who had arrived in Poluo with Great Sage Jiang, was also present.

Among the Six Jia Spirit Guards, Qi Xuansu had already met Jia Shen, Jia Chen, and Jia Yin.

Spirit Guard Jia Wu was a reserved middle-aged man, but he gave a completely different impression from Lin Yuanmiao. The latter always carried a hint of gloom, whereas Spirit Guard Jia Wu came off as reliable and steady.

The Spirit Guards were seated uniformly to Great Sage Jiang’s right, while the Daoist priests were seated neatly to his left.

At this moment, the seat immediately to Great Sage Jiang’s left remained empty, clearly reserved for Qi Xuansu.

Within the Daoist Order, the left side was for honored guests. This signified that Qi Xuansu’s status was second only to Great Sage Jiang. That was because Qi Xuansu was the Chief Deputy Poluo Daoist Mansion Master. So long as Mansion Master Wang Jiaohe was absent, Qi Xuansu ranked second only to the Great Sage. As the local host, he naturally held this advantage.

Qi Xuansu walked toward his seat. Below him sat several Daoist priests of formidable strength. All of them were at the Zaohua stage and were members of the pursuit task force.

They did not attend the earlier Daoist Mansion Council because they were not members of the Daoist Mansion. Normally, they kept a low profile and rarely showed themselves, so Qi Xuansu had not interacted with them very much.

Qi Xuansu exchanged greetings with everyone present.

After Qi Xuansu took his seat, several more people arrived one after another.

Great Sage Jiang glanced around the room. “Everyone is here, so let’s begin the meeting.”

It was obvious what the agenda of this meeting was because Mansion Master Wang Jiaohe was absent. The main topic revolved around Chen Shuhua.

This was also the fundamental reason Great Sage Jiang had come to Poluo.

Although the early arrival of the windstorm introduced some variables to the calculation, Great Sage Jiang finally calculated the trajectory of the Tongzhen Palace.

Thus, they had to discuss ways to encircle and execute Chen Shuhua. After all, both Chen Shuhua’s major rebirth and the recovery of her Five Innate Tais only took 49 days. If they waited until Chen Shuhua fully recovered to peak condition, their pursuit would only become more troublesome.

Time waited for no one. Constrained by various rules and procedures, Great Sage Jiang could not directly take down Wang Jiaohe without sufficient evidence. Since gathering evidence and advancing procedures required time, Great Sage Jiang had not resolved Wang Jiaohe’s issue earlier.

Great Sage Jiang personally formulated the encirclement plan, but Qi Xuansu, Zhang Yuelu, and the others were not included. Asking them to take part in the extermination of an Immortal would be pushing things too far. Although Qi Xuansu had experienced many major confrontations, such as overpowering the eunuch ancestor of the Xuanhui Court, fiercely battling Izanagi, facing off against Sage Qingwei, defeating True Lord Siming, and ambushing Wu Guangbi, he had relied on external forces in all of these. Qi Xuansu was still far from enough if he were to rely solely on his own cultivation.

Some external methods, such as the Scripture of Zuriel, were consumables. Each use reduced the remaining supply, so unless absolutely necessary, there was no need to expend them here.

Qi Xuansu would only get to that level in another 20 years.

Thus, Qi Xuansu merely listened for the general outline without needing to understand the details.

The Three Prodigies did not participate in the meeting at all.

After explaining the plan, Great Sage Jiang said, “The task assigned by the Golden Tower Council must be carried out properly, but at the same time, nothing can go wrong on the Poluo Daoist Mansion’s side. After all, I am also concurrently serving as the Great Sage of the Poluo Daoist Mansion. In this regard, I will have to rely on Chief Deputy Qi to keep things in order while I’m away.”

Qi Xuansu replied in a low, steady voice, “Please rest assured, Great Sage Jiang.”

Great Sage Jiang scanned the room once more. “Everyone present today is one of our own, so I will speak plainly. The key issue lies with our Mansion Master, Wang Jiaohe. Over the years, the various disorders within the Poluo Daoist Mansion are likely inseparable from certain members of the upper management.

“The former Chief Deputy Mansion Master, Chen Shuhua, has already defected. That begs the question of whether Wang Jiaohe, who partnered with her for so many years, is really clean? In my view, it is a serious problem. This time, I will be mobilizing a great deal of Daoist Mansion forces, and several Spirit Guards will accompany me. While I am away, will Mansion Master Wang take any action? We cannot afford to be careless.”

Qi Xuansu said, “I have also considered this point and have made some preparations.”

Great Sage Jiang nodded slightly. “Having some preparations is not enough. We must strive for absolute certainty.”

At this point, Qi Xuansu said humbly, “Please give your guidance, Great Sage.”

Great Sage Jiang said, “It’s hardly guidance. There are just a few points you must pay attention to. First is your personal safety. Although I do not believe Wang Jiaohe to be someone who acts on impulse, no one can be completely certain. If he truly decides to burn his bridges, you will be in great danger.

“Second, we must strictly guard against certain people defecting to the enemy. This is not alarmist talk. Just a few days ago, Lin Tianhe fled to West Shakya. Fortunately, he was captured and brought back. If he had not been, the Poluo Daoist Mansion would have been utterly humiliated.

“Humiliation is a small issue. What is more pressing is our people defecting to the Holy Court. At such a time, if an Omniscient Sage or a Great Sage were to defect to the Holy Court, it would shake the Golden Tower Council and put the Daoist Order in an extremely passive position.”

Qi Xuansu naturally understood this principle. As one of the 36 Omniscient Sages, Wang Jiaohe knew far too many of the Daoist Order’s secrets. If he were to defect to the Holy Court, many of the Daoist Order’s plans would have to be overturned and redone.

Once the Holy Court grasped the Daoist Order’s detailed deployments, there would no longer be any distinction between real and feigned moves. Years of planning would be destroyed in an instant, requiring everything to be dismantled and rebuilt. It might even affect the situation on the New Continent.

With such severe consequences, Wang Jiaohe was absolutely, under no circumstances, allowed to escape.

Qi Xuansu asked softly, “Great Sage, if necessary, may we employ certain unconventional measures against some people?”

Great Sage Jiang glanced at Qi Xuansu and answered, “If someone truly attempts to flee, then on behalf of the Golden Tower Council, I authorize you to execute the relevant individuals directly without trial. Words alone are insufficient, so I will give you a formal written order later.”