A Pawn's Passage

The old beggar gritted his teeth. By now, he understood that the little girl before him was far from ordinary, so he no longer dared to casually talk about taking her as a disciple. Still, he could not lose face, so he forced himself to ask, “Little girl, how much of your strength did you use?”

Little Yin widened her eyes and replied matter-of-factly, “Of course, I only used 30%. How could I take advantage of you?”

The old beggar, who had already used all his strength, nearly fainted from anger. Overcome with rage, he roared, “You little brat, how dare you toy with me?! I’ll kill you!”

“You’re completely unreasonable! First, you wanted to send my parents to the afterlife, and now you want to kill me. I’ll have to teach you a lesson!” Little Yin still considered herself quite reasonable. After such a long detour, she could finally discipline this old rascal. “Take this move—Star Plucker!”

Though she shouted this made-up name, the palm technique she used was the Zhang family’s Thunder Palm, which Zhang Yuelu had forced her to practice as punishment.

This palm technique was comparable to the Li family’s Wanhua Divine Sword Palm. Both had low entry barriers and were easy to learn, yet their power increased as one’s cultivation improved.

The difference was that the Li family concealed sword qi within the palm strike. The higher one’s cultivation, the deeper one’s mastery of the Wanhua Divine Sword Palm. However, the Zhang family concealed thunder within the palm strike. The stronger one’s thunder techniques, the deeper one’s mastery of Thunder Palm.

Little Yin had not practiced it diligently, but she had a high cultivation level. Thus, her palm strike produced a thunderous roar.

The old beggar recognized the origin of the technique at once. “You’re from the Zhang family? No wonder you have such high cultivation at such a young age. But you shouldn’t have fooled me and claimed that your last name was Yin!”

As he spoke, the old beggar dodged Little Yin’s attack and returned a palm strike of his own, equally heavy and powerful.

Little Yin’s physique was strong enough to block cannon fire for Qi Xuansu. She could still bounce around after being stabbed by the Pseudo-Immortal Sun Heyu, which was proof of her unbelievable resilience. She did not dodge at all and merely raised her left arm to block the strike.

The old beggar immediately followed with a left punch, its trajectory strange and unpredictable. With a thud, it struck Little Yin’s right shoulder.

Little Yin giggled. “That didn’t hurt at all. You’re so weak. Did you not eat today?”

The old beggar snapped angrily, “Fine. If it doesn’t hurt, take another punch!”

Little Yin parried the next punch with her hand, but the old beggar threw several punches in succession. Lacking experience, Little Yin finally failed to block the last one, which struck her squarely in the face.

The old beggar was also a Heavenly Being, which was why he thought he could take in a disciple. This punch was delivered with full force, and it was not entirely ineffective. It knocked Little Yin out of her disguise. She was no longer the teenage boy with Qi Xuansu’s youthful face. Instead, she reverted to her true form as the little girl with short arms and short legs.

Little Yin shook her head. “Grandpa, I’m not that tree. You’ll have to show some real skill.”

The two fought faster and faster. Due to her shorter limbs and lack of experience, Little Yin could block only a small portion of the old beggar’s punches and kicks. More than half landed on her body. Yet after more than a dozen palm strikes and punches, Little Yin merely swayed slightly and endured them as if nothing had happened.

The old beggar was both shocked and furious. He had exerted every bit of strength, yet strangely, no matter how much power he used, he still could not knock her down.

That infuriating little girl’s techniques were nothing special, but she relied entirely on overwhelming brute strength.

The old beggar struck Little Yin again with a punch but suddenly felt intense pain in his palm. Only then did he notice that his hand had swelled and turned dark. Parts of the flesh had turned to pulp, and some had even split open under the pressure.

After a moment of shock, he finally understood how formidable this little girl was. Dozens of his punches and palms had struck her, yet every strike felt like hitting a mountain. She remained uninjured, while his own hands could not withstand it. Soon, he also felt a faint pain in his feet, like countless tiny needles piercing them. He realized that after kicking her more than a dozen times, the recoil had injured his legs as well.

Seeing that he had stopped attacking, Little Yin leaped up and knocked him on the head three times in a row, muttering as she did so, “That’s for hitting my head with chicken bones!”

In truth, the old beggar’s behavior was eccentric. Throwing chicken bones at people was not malicious. It was simply the sort of test that masters sometimes used while wandering the world in disguise. If a young person without strong backing encountered this, remained calm, treated him politely, and even bought him food and wine as requested, they would pass the test. The old beggar would then teach them some martial techniques. It was an opportunity in disguise.

Unfortunately, the old beggar had misjudged badly and ended up provoking Little Yin.

This little devil was not one to be provoked? She was a troublemaker who would wreak havoc anywhere she went. Even Yushi from the Heavenly Court had been tormented by her. She also dared to tamper with Qi Xuansu’s Guizang Lantern and doodled on books while Zhang Yuelu lectured her.

This old beggar was simply asking for it.

Luckily for the old man, Zhang Yuelu had taught Little Yin restraint, so the little imp did not go all out.

The old beggar was not truly injured by the three knocks, but he was so furious that he nearly lost his breath.

To make matters worse, Little Yin said with a perfectly innocent expression, “Grandpa, you’re actually quite nice, but your skills are a bit lacking. You should go home and practice more. So I can’t become your disciple this time!”

The old beggar trembled with anger, yet he could not utter a single word.

In the past, he had disguised himself as a beggar and wandered the world to fool people. How was that any different from what Little Yin had done? The only difference was that this time, he had misjudged and walked into a brick wall, only to be toyed with in return.

When roaming the martial world, one must keep one’s eyes wide open.

......

Night had fallen, yet the Baron’s study was still bright.

Qi Xuansu stood by the window of the Baron’s study, watching a bat collide with an invisible barrier. It wobbled as it fell to the ground and transformed back into the old butler.

By now, Qi Xuansu had already sealed the entire mansion, allowing entry but not exit.

Such techniques were simple for a Pseudo-Immortal.

Sensing something, the old butler turned around and met Qi Xuansu’s gaze directly.

Although the butler was also a vampire, his face still paled slightly.

Qi Xuansu smiled faintly, not bothering to pursue the matter of the butler’s attempted escape. He then turned away from the window.

Madam Wu was sitting on the desk. She asked, “Do you think what that guy said is believable?”

“About 80%,” Qi Xuansu replied. He had already learned the truth from the butler.

The reason was simple. The Baron needed a double because he intended to excavate a tomb.

The exact entrance to that tomb was known only to the Baron. All others who had known about it had already been executed. But ever since rumors began circulating, many people had been closely watching the Baron’s movements. If he went to the tomb himself, its location would easily be exposed. So, the Baron devised a strategy by using a double to attract attention while he secretly headed to the tomb.

Only the Baron and the old butler knew about this. Everyone else, including the Baron’s mistress and his trusted subordinates, remained unaware.

But despite all their calculations, the Baron and the butler had not accounted for the variable that was Qi Xuansu. In the face of overwhelming power, all their schemes collapsed completely.

At that moment, Qi Xuansu sensed a force attempting to infiltrate the Baron’s mansion.

Qi Xuansu pondered briefly. Instead of alerting the intruder, he allowed him to enter. Besides, the restriction he had set already allowed entry but not exit.

“A rat has slipped in,” Madam Wu said with a sly chuckle.

Qi Xuansu said, “Don’t alert him. Let’s see what he intends to do.”

Soon after, a vague figure appeared before Qi Xuansu.

Under normal circumstances, the Baron would have been unable to see the figure’s true appearance. But the one standing here now was not the real Baron. It was Madam Wu and Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu saw through the disguise at a glance. It was a middle-aged man dressed in a priest’s robe, looking like someone from the Steam Evangelical Sect.

Qi Xuansu was not surprised. People from the Holy Court were bound to interfere.

If something like this had happened in Poluo, the Poluo Daoist Mansion would likewise intervene.

Whether it was a divine artifact, an immortal object, or even a semi-immortal object, it would all have to be handed over.

The priest wasted no time and got straight to the point. “Ramon, what exactly is inside that tomb?”

Although Qi Xuansu had already guessed the man’s background, he still asked in return, “Who are you?”

The priest replied, “You don’t need to know who I am. You only need to know who the true master of this land is.”

The implication was extremely obvious. Even without seeing his real face, it was not difficult to guess his identity.

That raised two questions.

If he truly represented the Holy Court, the supposed true master of the city, why did he have to hide his identity? If he wanted to conceal his identity and avoid attention, why deliberately hint at his Holy Court affiliation to apply pressure?

Qi Xuansu understood after a moment’s thought.

This man was indeed from the Holy Court, but he did not necessarily represent it. More likely, he acted only for himself, coveting whatever the Baron had found and wanting to claim it personally. Thus, he used the Holy Court’s name to pressure the Baron.

That explained why he dared not show his true face while still hinting at his Holy Court identity.

Qi Xuansu said, “The native people are the true masters of this land. Are you from the Tawantin Empire? It seems I’ll have to report this matter to the Holy Court. An ill-intentioned Tawantin spy has infiltrated the Lower District and is openly threatening a gentleman.”

The priest clearly had not expected Qi Xuansu to answer like that. For a moment, he did not know how to respond.

The Baron was not following the usual script at all.

Qi Xuansu continued, “I don’t care who you are. Leave this place immediately.”

The priest finally reacted and shouted angrily, “Do you know who you’re talking to?!”

Qi Xuansu said, “Fine, then don’t leave.”

A sudden sense of danger rose in the priest’s heart, and he spun around abruptly.

He saw a phoenix slowly spreading its wings of flames.

This was not Qi Xuansu’s power, but the power of the Seven Feather Five Fires Fan.

Then his vision went dark.