A Pawn's Passage

Although Utu and Hun Ahau were Pseudo-Immortals, they could not enter the Spirit Realm. That was because the Spirit Realm was sealed off.

Even the Daoist Order had been unable to locate it back then, much less the two of them. The humanoid insects had failed to completely open a passage to the Spirit Realm. Once their divine power was exhausted, the entrance to the Spirit Realm disappeared again. Thus, there was no way for them to rescue Qi Xuansu at this point. All they could do was anxiously wait for reinforcements from Danxiu Mountain.

Naturally, they were uneasy. If anything happened to Qi Xuansu, the powerful figures backing him certainly would not let the matter rest. This had nothing to do with personal feelings but rather with their interests.

Qi Xuansu was like a company with extremely promising prospects. Numerous shareholders had invested heavily in him and were merely waiting to reap their dividends once the company succeeded. If the company suddenly went bankrupt, not only would all future returns and dividends disappear, but all their previous investments would also go down the drain. There was no way they would simply swallow the loss in silence and leave it at that. Those capable of investing in Qi Xuansu were not ordinary, and they were certainly not easy to provoke.

Whether Utu and Hun Ahau counted as full-time employees or outsourced contractors, they would still be implicated in the company’s collapse and would inevitably be held accountable.

Just then, the Green Moon, which had already disappeared, appeared once more.

However, it seemed to have been shattered from within. It exploded with a thunderous crash, after which Qi Xuansu and a group of Spirit Guards were blasted out, all of them plunging into the sea.

The Green Moon then turned back into the Dark Moon, merging into the night sky.

In truth, this was an act staged by Qi Xuansu and the Heluo God.

For various reasons, especially the moral risks involved, Qi Xuansu did not want his cooperation with the Heluo God brought into the open, much less for others to know about the relationship between them. Although Qi Xuansu had essentially been forced into a contract with the Heluo God, those seeking to attack him would not care about that distinction. As far as Qi Xuansu’s enemies were concerned, it would have been better if he had simply died at the Heluo God’s hands.

Moreover, the issue surrounding the Heluo God was rather complicated. She had never specifically instructed the humanoid insects on what they should do, nor had she ordered them to initiate hostilities against the Daoist Order. In essence, the humanoid insects had served as blades wielded by the Buddhist Sect and the Holy Court.

The Heluo God merely sat high upon her divine throne and watched coldly from the sidelines. As long as there were enough humanoid insects for her to feed on, everything else was of minor importance. Yet it was also an objective fact that the Heluo God had allowed the humanoid insects to run unchecked. She had failed to restrain them, ultimately allowing them to cause a great calamity. Thus, classifying the Heluo God as an evil deity was not without reason.

As such, how could Qi Xuansu openly associate himself with the Heluo God? Even the Imperial Preceptor had never openly treated the Golden Patriarch as a brother, despite the fact that their relationship was essentially what was considered sworn brothers in the Jianghu.

For this reason, Qi Xuansu could not simply swagger out of the Spirit Realm in plain sight.

Thus, Qi Xuansu asked the Heluo God to put on an act with him. Qi Xuansu would “fight” his way out of the Spirit Realm. Since they had already signed a contract, the Heluo God was more than happy to play along.

The Heluo God had not done anything to the Spirit Guards, who had been innocently dragged into the Spirit Realm. Since she had initially communicated with Qi Xuansu directly through their minds, these Spirit Guards had no idea what had happened or that Qi Xuansu had struck a deal with the Heluo God. All they saw was a tentacle dragging Qi Xuansu into the Toad Palace. They could not see what happened inside from where they were and assumed that Sage Qi had been swallowed by the terrifying monster.

However, it was not long before a violent explosion erupted from the Toad Palace. Then they saw the invincible Sage Qi reopen the gateway to the Spirit Realm with some method they could not comprehend, allowing the entire group to escape successfully.

There was nothing particularly suspicious about this. In the eyes of ordinary Spirit Guards, and even in the eyes of Hun Ahau, Utu, Tantai Ying, and the others, Qi Xuansu’s status was highly unusual. As such, they assumed he possessed some life-saving trump cards. Even Zhou Mengyao had suffered defeat at Qi Xuansu’s hands, so it was not unreasonable for him to have some means of dealing with the Heluo God. Perhaps Qi Xuansu had summoned the Heavenly Preceptor again. No one could say for certain.

The Heluo God had also made some extremely subtle alterations to the Spirit Guards’ memories, causing them to forget her true form. They remembered only a Green Moon, a Toad Palace, and some tentacles, making it very difficult for them to associate her with a Heluo Fish.

If Qi Xuansu had not seen all ten tentacles, even he would not have thought of the Heluo Fish, which had one head and ten bodies.

Since this tampering was the work of an Immortal, it was extremely difficult to detect. Even if another Immortal examined their memories, it would still be difficult to discover. It was much like the relationship between poisoning and detoxification. The greatest difficulty in treating poison was first determining what poison had been used before prescribing the appropriate antidote. Examining memories worked the same way. A person’s memories were as vast as an ocean. If one knew exactly where the alteration had been made, or if the memories had been substantially modified, then detecting the changes would be relatively easy. But if only some insignificant detail had been altered, or if the memories had not even been erased, concealed, or distorted but merely blurred, much like memories naturally becoming less accurate with the passage of time, then it would be extremely difficult to detect.

As long as they established the preconceived impression that Qi Xuansu had escaped from the Spirit Realm, many things would be much easier to arrange afterward. Qi Xuansu could also explain that there was no Heluo God, only an Insect Queen with tentacles and feelers. The Insect Queen had been trapped for many years without any humanoid insects to feed on and had therefore become extremely weak, allowing him to escape by sheer luck. Alternatively, he could claim that the Insect Queen was still slumbering and had not fully awakened, possessing only a few lingering instincts.

In any case, no one in the Daoist Order had ever seen the Insect Queen’s true form. He was the only one who had. So he was free to say whatever he wanted.

Those who were enemies of Qi Xuansu most likely had no idea what trump cards he possessed or how he might be capable of contending with an Immortal. Meanwhile, those who did know about Qi Xuansu’s hidden trump cards would probably not expose him and would even help cover for him.

With that, he would have successfully passed this hurdle.

Come to think of it, this was not the first time Qi Xuansu had done something like this. Back when he was still a member of the Qingping Society, he had already done his share of keeping both sides in the dark.

Qi Xuansu’s loyalty to the Daoist Order was sincere. His loyalty was much like that of the Li family. While seeking greater power for himself, he was also considering the future of the Daoist Order. Asking him to collude with an external enemy and harm the Daoist Order was absolutely out of the question. Yet his deception of the Daoist Order was equally sincere. He had no choice but to conceal certain things, just as the Li family had done many things behind the Holy Xuan’s back that they simply could not reveal, because failing to conceal them would endanger themselves.

This dilemma of being unable to fulfill both loyalty and filial duty was a dilemma of being unable to satisfy both public and personal interests.

Serving the interests of the state and looking out for oneself were two different matters.

If Qi Xuansu were to fall from power one day, then when he was put on trial, there would most likely be a charge along these lines. Qi Xuansu had been dishonest with the Daoist Order and had refused to restrain himself, forming secret alliances of mutual support with others, resisting investigations by the Daoist Order, and extensively engaging in secret societies’ activities.

After the group plunged into the sea, Hun Ahau heaved a tremendous sigh of relief and immediately ordered, “Hurry, rescue them!”

Before he had even finished speaking, Hun Ahau was already the first to rush down.

However, Qi Xuansu did not need Hun Ahau to rescue him. This had all been an act from the beginning. Qi Xuansu was completely unharmed. Most of the spectacular light and shadow effects had been created by the Heluo God.

Qi Xuansu had already surfaced from the seawater and said loudly, “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Rescue these Spirit Guards first.”

Hun Ahau acknowledged the order and turned to rescue the Spirit Guards who had fallen into the sea.

Qi Xuansu slowly rose into the air and returned to the Horned Dragon flying ship.

Tantai Ying came forward and carefully looked Qi Xuansu over. She asked, “Sage Qi, are you alright?”

Tantai Ying paused briefly before adding, “I have already reported the matter to Danxiu Palace. Great Sage Gong will come here personally. Would you like Great Sage Gong to examine you?”

Qi Xuansu understood the implication behind Tantai Ying’s words. Although he had no visible injuries, it would be a serious matter if the Insect Queen had implanted insect eggs inside him or even possessed his body. Thus, it was better to err on the side of caution.

Since Qi Xuansu had anticipated this possibility, he nodded. “Then I’ll have to trouble Great Sage Gong.”

Tantai Ying relaxed slightly. Since Qi Xuansu had agreed to the examination, that meant there was nothing wrong with his conscious mind. Even if there was a problem later, it could only be something Qi Xuansu himself had failed to notice.

What she feared most was that Qi Xuansu had returned only to have been possessed or parasitized by the Insect Queen. Given what had happened to the humanoid insects, there was a high probability that the Insect Queen possessed such abilities.

The reason Qi Xuansu had considered this possibility was that Zhou Mengyao genuinely possessed the ability to parasitize others. Having Great Sage Gong examine him might actually be worthwhile. What if Zhou Mengyao had planted some hidden contingency in him while beating him?

Great Sage Gong arrived quickly and did not keep Qi Xuansu waiting for long. Or rather, had Qi Xuansu emerged even a little later, the act would have become impossible to maintain. After all, these tricks might deceive Pseudo-Immortals, but they could not fool an Immortal. If Great Sage Gong had followed the gateway and launched a direct assault into the Spirit Realm, then the situation would truly have become impossible to salvage.

Fortunately, Qi Xuansu had acted quickly enough.

Great Sage Gong could not help but feel somewhat puzzled when he saw that Qi Xuansu had already escaped from his predicament.

Qi Xuansu repeated the explanation he had already rehearsed several times in his mind. It was essentially airtight. After all, the Heluo God had helped him ensure everything held up, and she knew exactly what sort of coincidences and methods would be necessary for a Pseudo-Immortal to break out of the Spirit Realm.

The coincidence was that the Insect Queen was still slumbering, had not fully awakened, and was relatively weak. The methods Qi Xuansu had supposedly relied upon were the page from the Scripture of Zuriel, the Buddha’s sarira, and other means that were inconvenient to disclose.

Great Sage Gong suspected nothing and began examining Qi Xuansu.

The old Sage merely raised his hand, and a vast, mighty force descended upon Qi Xuansu. In an instant, Qi Xuansu felt as though both his body and mind had been cleansed, leaving him in a state of complete tranquility. It was as if he had returned to his childhood, soaking his entire body in a hot bath after a busy day and relaxing completely while the rain pattered softly outside the window. The cold, damp bleakness outdoors contrasted sharply with the warmth and comfort inside, bringing a profound sense of inner peace.

A moment later, Great Sage Gong seemed to discover something. He reached out and pulled an insect egg from Qi Xuansu’s body.

Before Great Sage Gong could examine it closely, the insect egg burst apart.

This had also been planted by the Heluo God, with Qi Xuansu’s full knowledge. In the Heluo God’s words, if they were going to put on an act, they had to see it through to the end.

Great Sage Gong declared, “There should be no problem now.”

Qi Xuansu pretended to breathe a sigh of relief and thanked Great Sage Gong.

Great Sage Gong said, “It seems the Insect Queen has suffered greatly over the years. This insect egg could not have done much to you. It was merely an incarnation of the Insect Queen’s thoughts. Perhaps she simply wanted to take a look at the outside world.”

Qi Xuansu tentatively asked, “Should we continue searching for the Spirit Realm?”

Great Sage Gong glanced at Qi Xuansu. “We’ve already defeated Kulkulkan, Itzamna, the old flood dragon, and the humanoid insect elder. That is quite enough.”

Qi Xuansu understood. “As long as we eliminate the humanoid insects, the Insect Queen will be nothing more than a prisoner. We can simply leave her to wither away.”

Great Sage Gong nodded. “Precisely.”