A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu instructed everyone to take good care of Zhang Wuyue and to spare no effort in treating him. Utu had some expertise in matters concerning the soul, so he also promised to do what he could.

Hun Ahau was a Martial Arts Practitioner, so there was little he could do to help. This was one of the limitations of the Martial Arts Practitioner lineage.

After much deliberation, Qi Xuansu decided to contact Zhang Yuelu and inform her of what had happened.

“Qing Xiao, I have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?” Qi Xuansu deliberately adopted a lighthearted tone.

Zhang Yuelu smiled. “The good news.”

Qi Xuansu said, “I’ve found Tian Zhong. Those people from the Taiping Sect have been captured as well.”

Zhang Yuelu’s eyes brightened. She then asked, “What’s the bad news?”

Qi Xuansu fell silent for a moment. “Something happened to Tian Zhong. Those people from the Taiping Sect used some harsh methods on him. He actually held out and didn’t tell them anything. I’ve really underestimated him in the past. It’s just that...”

“Just what?” The smile had already vanished from Zhang Yuelu’s face, and her heart sank little by little.

Qi Xuansu took a deep breath. “Tian Zhong is still unconscious. Utu said that his soul has been injured. Even if he wakes up, his mental faculties may be affected.”

Zhang Yuelu fell silent.

Qi Xuansu remained silent as well.

Neither of them knew what to say.

After a long time, Qi Xuansu finally broke the silence. “It was my fault. I was careless.”

“This isn’t your fault.” Zhang Yuelu’s voice was somewhat subdued but also firm. “It was my failure to properly discipline him that led to today’s bitter consequences. You were only helping me clean up the mess, so how could I blame you? If I had disciplined him properly and kept him from entertaining those crooked ideas, he should be in Wuzhou right now instead of having run off to Lion City. You wouldn’t have needed to take him to the Southern Continent either.”

Qi Xuansu wanted to say something more, but Zhang Yuelu interrupted him. “Perhaps this is simply karma biting back. Tian Zhong did something wrong in Lion City and wasn’t punished for it. Perhaps this ordeal was his due.”

“Don’t think that way.” Qi Xuansu could no longer remain silent. “If good and evil truly receive their due, then where is the retribution for people like Li Tianzhen? I won’t let this matter end here. Whether it was Li Tianzhen, Li Minghuang, or Li Changge, whoever orchestrated this from behind the scenes will pay the price.”

Zhang Yuelu looked at Qi Xuansu. “What are you planning to do?”

Qi Xuansu said, “No matter who orchestrated this, they have only one objective—to ruin your reputation so that Li Minghuang can compete for the position of Chief Deputy Tiangang Hall Master. So I’m going to make damn sure Li Minghuang doesn’t get it. They took down Xie Jiaofeng in Nanyang and abducted Tian Zhong in the Southern Continent. Since they’re attacking on two fronts, I’ll return the favor. They shouldn’t think they can do whatever they want just because Fengxian Hall is in their hands. Ziwei Hall is still on our side. Before anyone can be appointed to a specific position, they have to undergo Ziwei Hall’s assessment. I’d like to see how Li Minghuang gets through that assessment.”

Besides Lu Yujue, Qi Xuansu had another card to play—Gu Ying.

Since Gu Ying had been captured in Jiangnan Daoist Mansion, she was detained there as well. That was Zhang Jucheng and Lei Xiaohuan’s territory.

Zhang Jucheng certainly had not handed Gu Ying over to the Li family to deal with. The matter involving Shi Jiaosan made it clear that Zhang Jucheng liked to keep something in reserve, or rather, to place seemingly idle pieces on the board. They might prove useful, or they might not. Hadn’t Yao Shu just fallen victim to one such move?

Qi Xuansu had indeed promised Sage Qingwei that he would no longer bring up this matter, and he had genuinely intended to keep his promise. But the Li family had broken the rules first, so they could hardly blame Qi Xuansu now.

The Taiping Sect did this to Zhang Wuyue, so they had no right to talk about promises.

Qi Xuansu intended to drag all these sordid affairs back into the light for the entire Daoist Order to see. Li Minghuang would be dreaming if he still wanted to become the Chief Deputy Tiangang Hall Master.

He intended to make sure Li Minghuang could not even become a Chief Deputy Mansion Master.

Even in the Jianghu, sleeping with a friend’s woman was a major taboo, let alone within the Daoist Order, which emphasized morality and principles.

Qi Xuansu said, “You don’t need to concern yourself with exactly how I’m going to do it. Just focus on handling Xie Jiaofeng’s case. Leave everything else to me.”

Zhang Yuelu said nothing more. She also understood that there was no settling matters quietly in a situation like this. They had to fight back.

Qi Xuansu suddenly remembered something else. “Oh, right. Keep an eye on the Heavenly Court. If necessary, contact Madam Qi. She knows how to get in touch with Liu Gui. There’s also Shangguan Ya and the Star Lord Yuheng. You should make use of the people available to you when necessary. Your problem is that you’re too used to handling everything on your own.”

Zhang Yuelu did not argue. “I know. Don’t worry.”

Liu Gui was a member of the Heavenly Court, which was backed by the Taiping Sect. However, Liu Gui aligned himself with Qi Xuansu because he did not want to remain second fiddle forever.

Judging by the Li family’s attitude, Liu Gui could never compete with Wu Guangbi. Despite being a Pseudo-Immortal, Wu Guangbi was willing to work himself to the bone and lower himself, much like Hun Ahau. The only difference was that Hun Ahau was currying favor with Qi Xuansu, while Wu Guangbi was currying favor with Li Changge.

How could Liu Gui possibly compete with Wu Guangbi? His only choice was to seek support elsewhere.

The Golden Patriarch was aware of this. He merely pretended not to know, maintaining an ambiguous stance.

One should never put all eggs in one basket. If Qi Xuansu actually won, Liu Gui would be the one to take charge of the Heavenly Court when the time came. Besides, if the Heavenly Court tied itself too firmly to the Li family too early, it would lose its bargaining power. Only by retaining the ability to swing between sides and having multiple parties bid for its support could it raise its own value.

Qi Xuansu ended his conversation with Zhang Yuelu and headed for the Nether Prison.

On the way there, he considered whether to keep these people alive to use against the Taiping Sect or to just vent his fury on them.

They could spare him the talk about how they were all fellow Daoists. When they were beating Zhang Wuyue until the poor boy was hanging by a thread, they did not seem to remember that they were all fellow Daoists. Now that they had been captured, there was no way they would get this privilege.

From a rational standpoint, Qi Xuansu should keep them alive. But being rational all the time was exhausting and suffocating.

After deliberating for a long while, Qi Xuansu eventually took out a Taiping coin, tossed it high into the air, and caught it—tails.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu no longer hesitated.

The Nether Prison was staffed entirely by members of the Western Daoist Order.

At this time, Huangfu Ji was here.

Qi Xuansu was somewhat surprised. “Brother Li Ming, why aren’t you at Madam Wu’s celebration?”

“I’ve attended and come back here.” Huangfu Ji stood with his hands clasped behind his back. “I’m so sorry about what happened to Tian Zhong.”

Qi Xuansu waved his hand. “It’s not your fault. None of us could have anticipated this.”

Huangfu Ji said, “Come to think of it, I’ve always had a pretty good impression of Tian Zhong. He’s a sharp young man, and even when he makes mistakes, he knows how to correct them. After what happened this time, my opinion of him has only improved. He’s a real man of steel. Men like us enjoy befriending people like that.”

Qi Xuansu fell silent for a moment before asking, “Where are those people?”

Huangfu Ji asked in return, “What do you intend to do with them?”

Qi Xuansu said nothing and merely clenched his fist.

Huangfu Ji smirked. “I support you.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “This won’t cause trouble for you, will it?”

Huangfu Ji replied, “There won’t be any trouble at all. They committed their crimes on the Western Daoist Order’s territory, so naturally, they will be dealt with according to the Western Daoist Order’s rules. The Daoist Order has no right to interfere. Besides, these people are members of the Steam Evangelical Sect. All of them are senior members of the Evangelical Ministry. Under the Western Daoist Order’s laws, spies, secret agents, and infiltrators are stripped of all rights and may be executed immediately without trial.”

Qi Xuansu said softly, “You won’t mind if I’m the executioner, will you?”

Huangfu Ji replied, “Of course not. Rest assured, everyone here is under my service. They’re absolutely reliable. Not a word of this will leak out. We’ll simply treat it as though a few vermin died.”

Qi Xuansu said nothing more and walked deeper into the Nether Prison.

The Spirit Guards stationed at the gates immediately opened them, never once letting Qi Xuansu break his stride.

One gate after another opened before him, while the number of Spirit Guards gradually dwindled. Qi Xuansu simply continued forward until he was alone.

Qi Xuansu finally saw the men who had abducted Zhang Wuyue.

They were all shackled and visibly uneasy.

Qi Xuansu always had a strong killing aura. But usually, he simply suppressed it. Today, he had no intention of doing so.

Qi Xuansu took out the Soul-Hooking Whip and asked, “Whose is this?”

One of the men instinctively looked up.

Without wasting a single word, Qi Xuansu raised the Soul-Hooking Whip and struck that man repeatedly.

While doing so, Qi Xuansu remained expressionless, as if his hand were simply moving mechanically on its own accord.

At first, the man still managed to let out a scream. Soon, he could no longer even scream. His body merely convulsed. Eventually, even the convulsions stopped, and he went completely still.

The others watched in terror. Even the Heavenly Being who led them could not stop his face from twitching.

After beating the man to death, Qi Xuansu turned his gaze toward the others.

One of them shouted, “Chief Deputy Qi, spare me! I didn’t lay a hand on him—”

His voice abruptly stopped as Qi Xuansu thrust the Soul-Hooking Whip in his hand straight into the man’s mouth, piercing through his skull.

“Since you didn’t lay a hand on him, I’ll give you a quick death.” Qi Xuansu’s voice did not fluctuate in the slightest.

With a thud, another man dropped to his knees before Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu did not show the slightest mercy. He placed his hand on top of the man’s head and asked, “What comes after ‘an Immortal touches the crown of my head’?”

Before the man could answer, Qi Xuansu exerted force through his palm and drove the man’s head straight down into his chest cavity.

Anyone could see that Qi Xuansu had never intended to interrogate them. He had come to claim their lives.

Soon, only their leader remained.

Even now, the man’s face remained like that of a corpse, betraying little emotion.

The more Qi Xuansu looked at him, the more irritating he found that face. “What kind of technique do you practice? The Corpse-Face Technique? Let me have a look!”

Qi Xuansu then tore the skin straight off the man’s face.

The man covered his mangled, bloody face with both hands and growled like a wild beast.

Qi Xuansu tossed away the piece of skin, grabbed the man by the back of his neck, and ignited a blaze.

Within the flames, the man’s body began to shrink continuously as dark-red scorch marks spread across his skin. Eventually, he was reduced to a charred corpse, with traces of dark-red light still flickering faintly across it.

A charred black skull now rested in Qi Xuansu’s hand.

Qi Xuansu intended to give it to Li Changge as a gift when the two of them met for their handover.