A Pawn's Passage

This theater was called the Miaoling Tower. Although it was slightly smaller than the Tianyin Tower, it was also two stories high and had the same layout. The hall on the first floor led directly to the roof of the second floor. The second floor was divided into many semi-open balconies along the corridor. With such a structure, one would be able to see the stage on the first floor when sitting on the balcony.

The popular plays were mainly in the Kun Opera style, with the main instruments being the end-blown flute and the transverse flute. The tunes were melodious, especially the Shuimo tune, which sounded ethereal.

The Peony Pavilion was a classic piece of Kun Opera. With the world-famous performer, Actor Liu, personally appearing on the stage. It was no wonder that the Tianyin Tower was so lively that night. However, the plays at Miaoling Tower were also quite popular at this time.

When Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu entered the venue, the new play, The Infernal Priest, that they were going to watch had not yet started. Another new play, The Trial of Galileo, was ongoing. It was a story from the Western Continent, so the actors on stage were dressed in Western-style costumes.

They heard an old man in white robes singing, “I am the Archbishop of the Holy Court, ordered by the Cardinal Deacon to try Galileo. Bring out Galileo!”

A man was brought up on stage, wearing a top hat, tie, tuxedo, vest, trousers, and leather boots.

The Archbishop said, “Galileo, how dare you come to the church and not make the sign of the cross?”

Galileo remarked, “There is a goddess in my heart, so I see no need in it.”

The Archbishop shouted, “What a sharp tongue you have! Cease your word play and confess all your heretical deeds!”

Galileo explained, “Archbishop, please hear me out. I have been fond of astronomy since I was a child. I used to observe the sun, moon, and stars, and I have made a living by teaching. I have traveled far and wide, and I have gained a strong academic reputation. I have never shown the slightest disrespect to the Holy Court. Why, then, are you trying me today?”

The chief bishop on the side suggested, “Archbishop, Galileo seems well-prepared. Perhaps it is better to interrogate his daughter, Maria, first.”

The Archbishop questioned, “Young lady, has your father ever made a telescope?”

A young lady in a Western-style dress started singing on stage.

On the balcony, Qi Xuansu did not know whether to laugh or cry. “I finally understand why the Hall Master can’t accept new things. I wouldn’t be able to accept it either.”

Zhang Yuelu liked the play very much. She said, “Do you know why the Confucian School lost to the Daoist Order? That’s because it sticks to the old ways and is stubborn against change. It eventually becomes a pool of stagnant water with no flow of new ideas. The Daoist Order shouldn’t follow the old ways of the Confucian School. We need these new things.”

Qi Xuansu commented, “But it’s too drastic.”

Zhang Yuelu did not force her idea on Qi Xuansu. “Don’t just look at the surface of the story. In fact, the essence is the same. The Western Holy Court tried Galileo, and the Confucian School deposed hundreds of schools of thought. The principle is nothing new, really.”

Reflecting on what she said, Qi Xuansu inquired. “What about the Daoist Order’s suppression of secret societies?”

Zhang Yuelu was startled. She shook her head and explained, “That’s not the same. Galileo and the Schools of Thinkers did nothing wrong, so it was unjust and selfish for the Holy Court to suppress them for no reason. On the other hand, most secret societies have committed serious crimes, so there’s nothing wrong with killing criminals.”

Qi Xuansu continued probing, “In addition to the Qingping Society, the Eight Tribes, The Inn, and Seven Treasure Pavilion, what other secret societies are there? What crimes have they committed?”

Zhang Yuelu did not hide anything and explained it eloquently.

“Ziguang Society believes in the True Lord Ziguang. They are very familiar with the Daoist community and often use various means to lure our disciples to join them. They even forge their identities and preach in various places in the name of the Daoist Order.

“Not to mention ordinary people; even those in the Daoist Order sometimes can’t tell whether they are genuine Daoists. After all, the Daoist community is too big. It’s difficult for people from the Western Region Daoist Mansion to get familiar with people from the Qizhou Daoist Mansion. It’s also difficult for people from the Liaodong Daoist Mansion to get familiar with the people from the Lingnan Daoist Mansion.

“These frauds have done great damage to the reputation of the Daoist Order and are difficult to identify. They are just like the vines that attached themselves to the Daoist Order.

“There is also the Cult of Fates, which did not believe in heavenly fate but in the True Lord Siming, the deity of fates. He’s the Ancient Immortal involved in the events at Fort Cimut. His followers focus on life and death. Unfortunately, they don’t have the ability to reverse life and death. Instead, they go astray, transforming corpses and cultivating ghosts.

“The reason the Daoist Order restricts the techniques of cultivating ghosts has a lot to do with the Cult of Fates. In the beginning, they just dug graves and stole corpses. Later, these acts gradually developed into killing people and presenting their living souls to True Lord Siming.

“There are even more extremists who have transformed living people into zombies, with extremely robust bodies but with some intelligence. These zombies are more powerful than naturally occurring zombies. All these secret societies must be eliminated.”

Qi Xuansu instantly thought of his own body, which had been transformed by the Qingping Society. He was shocked and secretly wondered if he had become a zombie. Then it struck him that he was a member of the Qingping Society, not the Cult of Fates.

As Zhang Yuelu mentioned before, the Qingping Society was supported by influential figures from the Daoist Order. Thus, it involved internal strife within the Daoist Order and was not the same group as the Cult of Fates, which believed in True Lord Siming.

Even if there was a connection between the Qingping Society and the Cult of Fates, Qi Xuansu would have been identified by other masters in Jade Capital if he were really a zombie. He would not be able to enter Xuan City or Tiangang Hall, either. Qi Xuansu was just a little too nervous tonight, so his mind was all over the place.

Zhang Yuelu noticed this. “Tian Yuan, why do you seem so nervous?”

Qi Xuansu came back to his senses and quickly regained his composure. “Actually, I get a little nervous whenever it’s just us.”

Zhang Yuelu spread her palms and quipped. “Are you serious? Are you going to say that I’m as fierce as a tiger or as powerful as a dragon again? If you dare mention one word of that, don’t blame me for being rude to you. I’ll show you what it’s like to be at the hands of a tiger.”

Qi Xuansu quickly apologized. “I am certainly no match for you. I heard that you even kicked Li Tianzhen out of the Jade Capital.”

The smile on Zhang Yuelu’s face gradually faded. She asked softly, “Who told you this? Is someone finding trouble with you?”

“No one is finding trouble with me.” Qi Xuansu shook his head and explained, “Xu Kou told me.”

“Xu Kou?” Zhang Yuelu was a little surprised.

Qi Xuansu recounted his meeting with Xu Kou.

After Zhang Yuelu heard this, she pondered for a while. “No wonder. So, Li Tianzhen was the instigator. I hated him because of his holier-than-thou attitude and his mysterious and deceiving behavior.”

Seeing that Zhang Yuelu’s attention was diverted, Qi Xuansu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he felt a little confused. When he was traveling alone, he never thought about this problem. That was because, for him at that time, he did not care whether he was a seventh-rank Daoist priest.

But as he returned to Jade Capital and joined Tiangang Hall, his dual identities became his shackles. Qi Xuansu wondered, When will I rid myself of this dual identity?

At this moment, the beautiful woman in front of him was treating him so sincerely, yet he had no choice but to deceive her in every possible way for fear of exposing his other identity. This feeling was hard to describe.

Zhang Yuelu stopped thinking about Li Tianzhen and continued to explain to Qi Xuansu the secrets of various secret societies.

To sum up, these secret societies could roughly be divided into three categories.

The first category was the ones that believed in Ancient Immortals, including but not limited to the Ziguang Society, Cult of Fates, Lingshan Witch Cult, and a few others. The conflict between Daoist Order and Ancient Immortals had been around for a long time. These cults often interacted with the Buddhist Sect and Shamanistic Sect, so they would disappear and reappear accordingly, depending on the strength of the Daoist Order.

The second category was the secret societies like the Qingping Society, The Inn, the Eight Tribes, and the Seven Treasure Pavilion. Most of them appeared in the era when the Confucian School and the Daoist Order were competing for power. They were more or less related to the Daoist Order or the Imperial Court.

For example, Madam Qi, who was in Qingping Society, knew very well about various situations in the Daoist Order, and The Inn had close contact with the Green Phoenix Guards. Everything was closely intertwined, so this kind of secret society was difficult to eradicate. On the contrary, it had a tendency to continue expanding.

The third category included some new organizations that had only emerged in the past hundred years, such as the White Lotus Sect, which branched out of Buddhism. They believed in the future Buddha, but they were too extreme in their ways, embarking on a wrong path that was not tolerated by the orthodox Buddhist Sect.

Some of these new organizations were even related to the Western Holy Court. After the Holy Court was introduced to the East, a new association transformed the Holy Court’s doctrines and combined them with Daoism. They called themselves the Heavenly Court. Naturally, this new association was not tolerated by the Daoist Order.

In addition, there were also some small and insignificant secret societies, which had limited influence and presence in selected prefectures and counties.

After Qi Xuansu heard this, he lamented, “It’s definitely a long and arduous task to wipe out all these secret societies.”

“The suppression has been ongoing since the Holy Xuan Era. Six generations of Grand Masters have passed away, but these secret societies have yet to be wiped out. It’s like a wildfire that never burns out but gains traction with the spring breeze.” Zhang Yuelu sighed helplessly.

Qi Xuansu joked, “Back then, the First Emperor annihilated the six kingdoms with such majestic force and established the dynasties by learning the lessons from the previous six generations. Now, we happen to have six generations of Grand Master, so we are waiting for you, the seventh-generation Grand Master, to display the same might and reform the Daoist Order. It’s up to you to get rid of the filth in our world.”

Zhang Yuelu smiled. “Tian Yuan, you’re a real sweet talker. But even if I get lucky and become the Grand Master at the age of 60, does that mean the position of Grand Master will remain vacant for decades?”

Qi Xuansu mused. “That’s hard to say.”

That was when a loud knock came from the stage on the first floor, followed by the beating of a small drum and a melodious flute.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu stopped talking. Soon after, the voice of a Kun Opera actor, who sang in authentic Wu dialect, echoed in the hall.

? The scattered clouds disperse, and the bright moon shines upon the land.

? A perfect reunion and a drunken night.

? The flowers bloom beautifully, the moon becomes full, and the people age.

? Catkins sway as I think of the Qingming Festival that just passed.

? The east wind is unstoppable; another spring goes by.

? Yet one wonders: When will the flowers bloom again? When will the moon become full again? When will people stop aging?

Qi Xuansu was a little surprised. He did not expect this play to start with the opening to The Blooming Flowers and the Full Moon, which was a popular song at the time. However, the final verse in which the actor contemplated those questions set the theme of the eternal loop of life. That beautiful scene before them was nothing but a surreal moment.

Feeling deeply for the lyrics, Qi Xuansu could not help but immerse himself in the play.