A Pawn's Passage

The river was calm without any waves or winds for nearly 150 kilometers.

When they disembarked, Zhang Yuelu stretched her body. Seeing this, Qi Xuansu lamented that she was dressed in a thick cloak, so he could not see her curves.

The end of the waterway was the Shu Road, renowned for being perilously high and tough to traverse. Some even said that it was harder than ascending the heavens. The Shu Road included roads leading to and within the state.

The main routes heading north of Jinguan Prefecture and entering Shuzhou through Qinzhou were Chencang Road, Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road, Ziwu Road, Jinniu Road, Micang Road, and Lizhi Road. The path from Liangzhou to Shuzhou was the Yinping Road. Heading west of Jinguan Prefecture was the Chamagu Road, connecting Yongzhou to the Western Region.

South of Jinguan Prefecture was the Wuchi Road, which led to Shuzhou from Yunzhou. From there, one could reach the southwestern Silk Road that led to the Samudra Kingdom. East of Jinguan Prefecture was the waterway leading upstream along the Yangtze River.

The nearest path from the ferry was the Chamagu Road, which was frequented by numerous merchant caravans because it was a direct route to Jinguan Prefecture.

After a brief discussion, Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu decided to use this route to the Jinguan Prefecture.

That was because Zhang Yuelu wanted her journey home to be as slow as possible. Since Qi Xuansu was with her, they might as well travel leisurely.

......

The largest inn in the world was the Taiping Inn, which had branches everywhere, including the Jade Capital, the Imperial Capital, Lingnan to Liaodong, the Western Region, and Donghai. That was because the Taiping Inn was operated by the Daoist Order.

The Taiping Inn was a profitable business of the Daoist Order, unlike the Daoist temples. Daoist disciples still had to pay full price to stay at the Taiping Inn. They did not even get a discount.

There was also a Taiping Inn in Jinguan Prefecture. The main building was a four-story restaurant, behind which were nearly a hundred standalone courtyards. It was the largest inn in Jinguan Prefecture and the entire state of Shuzhou. The inn charged a hefty fee, so most of its clientele were wealthy merchants and the gentry.

Xie Qiuniang and Prince Qin arranged to meet at the Taiping Inn in the Jinguan Prefecture.

Prince Qin was not an actual prince of the Imperial Court. This was his alias for the Qingping Society.

After leaving Yishan City, Xie Qiuniang did not dawdle, like Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu. Just as the duo started their journey on Chamagu Road, Xie Qiuniang had already arrived in Jinguan Prefecture.

Xie Qiuniang arrived at the Taiping Inn and paid ten Taiping coins to reserve a private room on the second floor of the main building.

About an hour later, a man in a green robe and a woman wearing a veiled hat arrived at the lobby of the Taiping Inn and inquired about a guest named Xie. A waiter immediately led the two guests through the bustling lobby to the second floor, where the private rooms were located. Each row of private rooms had a private corridor with double doors at the entrance.

At this moment, the waiter stopped in front of the double doors outside the corridor. It was common practice for the waiter to open the door and let the guests in first. However, this waiter showed no intention to make way. Instead, he grabbed the door handle and leaned half of his body on the door.

The waiter smiled and said, “Please wait a moment while I inform the guest inside.”

Though he said so, the waiter did not step aside.

Having resided in Jinguan Prefecture for more than a year and being a frequent patron of the Taiping Inn, the man in the green robe knew that the waiter wanted to get some tips. He glared at the waiter with disgust, but he still signaled for the lady in the veiled hat to tip the waiter.

The woman took out a Taiping coin from her sleeve and tossed it to the waiter, saying, “Open the door.”

The waiter caught the Taiping coin, but his body was still blocking the doorway. He reached for the other side of the door as if he intended to open it, but he did not. Clearly, he was implying that two doors equaled two tips.

The smile on the woman’s face slowly faded as she uttered, “Get lost.”

Since the Taiping Inn was an establishment of the Daoist Order, these waiters were quite arrogant. They looked down on ordinary guests and even wealthy patrons. The waiter had never been insulted like this before, so he wanted to retort in anger when the man in the green robe interjected. “I know this inn belongs to the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion. Why don’t you ask the Mages from the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion to come over and stand up for you?”

How could the waiter possibly ask the Mages from the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion for help? Seeing how confident the two of them were, the waiter became timid and hurriedly said, “I dare not trouble the Mages, sir.”

The woman sneered. “Oh, really? I was looking forward to seeing which Mage is willing to speak up for you. Now, get lost.”

The waiter hurried to the stairs, almost bumping into several other guests. Then he quickly stepped aside to let the other guests pass.

The man in the green robe pushed open the door and entered the corridor, which cost him one Taiping coin. He walked past the row of doors and arrived at the third door with a red poster stuck to it. The poster was written, ”Xie.” He pushed open the door and walked in with the woman in the veiled hat.

Xie Qiuniang was inside the private room. Seeing the two visitors, she stood up to greet them. “I didn’t expect Miss Hua to be here as well.”

Members of the Qingping Society mostly used three-worded names as their alias.

Miss Hua’s alias was Hua Jianyi.

There were two reasons why Qi Xuansu chose the pseudonym Wei Wugui instead of using his alias, Gold-Plated Knife.

The first reason was to prevent the situation at Fengtai County from happening again. Back then, he did not expect he would later work at the Tiangang Hall, so he did not think that his identity as a seventh-rank Daoist priest was significant and used his real name “Qi Xuansu” at The Inn.

The second reason was that Qi Xuansu wanted to enter the Tiangang Hall, which was the department in charge of suppressing secret societies. Thus, he could not reveal his identity as a member of the Qingping Society. For safety reasons, he needed another layer of disguise.

An alias was used to conceal one’s real name, while a pseudonym was used to conceal one’s alias. Xie Qiuniang and Prince Qin were not a part of the Daoist community, let alone the Nine Halls. So it did not matter to them if others knew that they were members of the Qingping Society. As long as their real names were not exposed, they only needed to use an alias.

Hua Jianyi asked, “How are you, Qiuniang?”

Xie Qiuniang saluted her and replied, “I’m fine. Thanks for your concern, Miss Hua.”

After the three of them sat down, Xie Qiuniang muttered apologetically, “Brother Qin, I’ve let you down this time.”

Prince Qin waved his hand. “I already know about the matter. You need not blame yourself, Qiuniang. I’m at fault for lacking consideration.”

Xie Qiuniang asked, “Will the Xuan Jade be reduced to ashes under the Ancient Immortal’s divine power?”

“Absolutely not.” Prince Qin shook his head confidently. “The Xuan Jade is extremely difficult to destroy. Perhaps Pseudo-Immortals can do it, but ordinary Heavenly Beings and Xiantian Beings can’t achieve that. What we call divine power is not actually from the Ancient Immortals themselves. At most, it’s like the power of a Heavenly Being.”

Xie Qiuniang said, “Then the Xuan Jade must have fallen into the hands of either the Buddhists or the Daoists. I wonder if it’s that monk from Jingchan Temple or that female Daoist priest from the Tiangang Hall.”

Prince Qin pondered for a moment before speaking. “From what you described, it’s more likely to have fallen into the hands of that monk. I have three reasons to believe that. Firstly, when you arrived at the Yulan Temple, that monk was already there, even before the two Daoist priests. This suggests that he might have come for the Xuan Jade.

“Secondly, the two Daoist priests went to the Yulan Temple because of the chaos caused by the Lingshan Witch Cult. It was an opportune moment, and they did not specifically go there for the Xuan Jade.

“Thirdly, when the ancient divine power descended on the temple, only the monk and the male Daoist priest were in the main hall. The female Daoist priest was engaged in a fight with you. That Daoist priest was only at the Kunlun stage, while the monk was a Buddhaputra at the Guizhen stage. Even if that Daoist priest accidentally discovered the Xuan Jade, the monk would surely win in a confrontation.”

Xie Qiuniang said, “In that case, we need to track down this monk.”

Prince Qin looked at Hua Jianyi, who was sitting beside him. “We will have to trouble Miss Hua for this.”

Hua Jianyi nodded. “It’s easy to identify a Buddhaputra at the Guizhen stage who is traveling alone. If this monk has the Xuan Jade, he will surely return to the Jingchan Temple in Zhongzhou. So, we just need to wait for him there. Fortunately, I have some connections in Zhongzhou, so I will know his whereabouts.”

Xie Qiuniang suggested, “I don’t think the few of us will be able to do anything to him on Jingchan Temple’s territory. Why don’t we get a few more people to assist us?”

“Those people must be reliable.” Prince Qin reminded.

Hua Jianyi declared, “I know of a reliable person.”

“Who?” Prince Qin asked immediately.

Hua Jianyi replied, “Madam Qi.”

“The Madam Qi whom people call Pixiu[1] Qi?” Xie Qiuniang was surprised. “I’ve heard of her, but isn’t she a businesswoman? She rarely goes on the field.”

“Madam Qi rarely executes tasks by herself. She’s more of an intermediary,” Hua Jianyi explained. “She does private dealings and pulls strings for people. She can certainly introduce some reliable people to us. As an intermediary, she has an extensive network, far beyond that of ordinary people. The only downside is that her fees are very high, and she refuses to bargain.”

Xie Qiuniang chuckled. “That might be a problem for others. Brother Qin certainly has no shortage of Taiping coins.”

Hua Jianyi nodded. “Exactly. Madam Qi also prefers customers like Brother Qin.”

“Please don’t tease me, ladies.” Prince Qin smiled helplessly, but he did not deny it. “So, where do we meet this Madam Qi?”

Hua Jianyi said, “Madam Qi’s whereabouts are always uncertain. The last time she showed up was in Luzhou, Huainan Prefecture. She has since left Luzhou, but we can meet her at the dream meeting at the end of the month. She never misses it.”

Prince Qin nodded. “That’s settled, then. Please get Madam Qi to introduce us to some capable people. It’s best if they are locals from Zhongzhou so that we can set up a trap there and hunt down that monk.”

He added, “But to be on the safe side, we should also keep watch on that female Daoist priest. I’ve heard of her. She’s a Banished Immortal from the Zhang family and a Jijiu Daoist master of Tiangang Hall, personally appointed by the Earthly Preceptor. With such an extraordinary identity, we shouldn’t provoke her unless absolutely necessary.”

Hua Jianyi nodded in agreement. “Leave this to me.”

1. Chinese mythical creature resembling a winged lion that has a voracious appetite for gold and gems. ☜