A Pawn's Passage

“Are you alright?” Qi Xuansu immediately looked at Zhang Yuelu, ignoring the dead Rogue Cultivator before him.

Zhang Yuelu held the paper sword in one hand, pointed at her own throat with the other, and waved her hand.

Qi Xuansu was stunned at first. That was when he noticed the thin scar on Zhang Yuelu’s throat. Although it was no longer bleeding, the blood had clotted to resemble a faint smile.

Zhang Yuelu wrote on the ground with her paper sword. “I’m fine. They’re just superficial injuries. I just can’t speak for the time being.”

Qi Xuansu understood and asked again, “Will it leave a scar?”

Zhang Yuelu glared at him but shook her head. Daoist medical technology had advanced to include rejuvenation, so simple scar removal was certainly feasible. However, it would cost her money.

Besides the wound on her throat, there were also many wounds on other parts of her body that had healed and stopped bleeding. On a Martial Arts Practitioner, these wounds would have healed without leaving even the slightest trace. But Banished Immortals were not as good as healing.

Zhang Yuelu would not want to leave such scars all over her body, so she planned to get them treated at Huasheng Hall after returning to the Jade Capital.

Each of the Nine Halls had its own responsibilities. Ziwei Hall was in charge of the evaluation, promotion, transfer, rewards, and punishments of Daoist priests. It was also the head of the Nine Halls. Next were Beichen Hall and Tiangang Hall, which were focused on eliminating internal and external threats.

The Tianji Hall was responsible for various construction projects, such as building flying ships and houses in Jade Capital. The Huasheng Hall was responsible for refining elixirs and medicines, tending to medicinal gardens for exotic ingredients, and treating diseases.

The Imitation Blood of the various mystical creatures, Soul-Returning Incense, and other mysterious items were made by Huasheng Hall. Both Tianji and Huasheng Halls were responsible for creating innovations, along with the Quanzhen Sect.

If one was injured on the job, Huasheng Hall would provide free medical treatment. But if the injury was not work-related, Huasheng Hall would charge a fee to cover the material costs so as not to cause a deficit.

At the same time, discounts and exemptions would be provided according to the rank of the Daoist priest. A first-rank Tianzhen Daoist master would have all fees waived, while a second-rank Taiyi Daoist priest would be charged 30% of the medical fees.

There were also additional reductions, especially for more serious and life-threatening injuries. However, there were no discounts for beauty treatments.

Zhang Yuelu was a fourth-rank Daoist master, but since scar removal was classified as a beauty treatment, there was not much of a discount.

Thus, removing these scars would be a considerable expense.

Zhang Yuelu was already worried about her scars, so she was annoyed when Qi Xuansu mentioned them.

Qi Xuansu did not remove his scars in the past to serve as a reminder not to repeat the same mistake. Another reason was that he did not have that much money to burn.

Of course, Qi Xuansu would only mention the first reason if he talked about it.

Even though she was annoyed at him, Zhang Yuelu was still grateful that he had not abandoned her. Otherwise, she would probably be one of the many Banished Immortals who died before accomplishing anything.

Zhang Yuelu was not very good at expressing herself. Since she could not speak at that moment, she could only write “thank you” on the ground with her paper sword.

Qi Xuansu read it and said with a smile, “Although we have only known each other for a short time, we have gone through so many life-and-death situations together. Is there still a need to thank each other? If you want to thank me, you might as well pledge yourself to me.”

Zhang Yuelu had a strange expression on her face. She silently turned the paper sword in her hand into a long and thin stick and smacked Qi Xuansu on the butt without warning.

Qi Xuansu had not expected this reaction, so he did not get to dodge. He was so shocked that he jumped up. “Why are you hitting me? The novels always say that there is no way to repay one’s kindness but to pledge one’s life to one’s savior. Isn’t it?”

Zhang Yuelu could not speak, so she wrote on the ground with the paper stick, “I do know how to repay you, though.”

While he was talking, a gust of night wind blew in with the cold rain, making Zhang Yuelu shiver.

Logically speaking, Zhang Yuelu should be immune to the cold or heat. She was unaffected by the heavy snow in the Western Region, so this bit of coldness should be nothing. However, she was injured, so it made her particularly fragile. As such, it was easier for evil spirits to possess her body. This was also the reason Qi Xuansu refused to travel in the rain after leaving Fengtai County with injuries.

Moreover, the ancient temple was leaking from all sides, as the fierce battle earlier had left it ridden with holes. It was winter, so the night was cold. Qi Xuansu had a stronger physique and surging blood like that of a Martial Arts Practitioner, so he did not realize it. However, Zhang Yuelu felt the chill.

Zhang Yuelu gathered her cloak around her body, but her cloak was already damaged and soaked.

Qi Xuansu stepped forward, helping her to take off her cloak. “My cloak is torn in a few places, but it’s still dry. You should take it out and put it on first. I’ll gather some firewood.”

Having said that, Qi Xuansu did not wait for Zhang Yuelu’s response and started looking around for dry wood in the ancient temple.

Zhang Yuelu looked at Qi Xuansu’s back in silence, took out his cloak from her magical receptacle, and put it on herself.

After a while, Qi Xuansu found an altar table with only two legs left. He split the table into wooden strips with his bare hands, then found a dry place to light a fire.

Zhang Yuelu came to the fire and sat down. She was about to write on the ground when Qi Xuansu interrupted her. “If you want to write ‘thank you,’ then there’s no need for it.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yuelu gave up and put her hands under the cloak.

Qi Xuansu took Zhang Yuelu’s wet cloak and held it up to dry it by the fire.

It was raining heavily outside, yet it was drizzling inside the ancient temple. There were also a few headless corpses scattered about. The environment was far from cozy, but the two of them were used to such surroundings and could turn a blind eye to it.

Qi Xuansu peeked at Zhang Yuelu. The orange firelight illuminated her face, which turned her paleness into a warm color, making her seem all the more adorable. At that moment, she lowered her eyes and stared into the fire, her eyelashes trembling slightly. He wondered what she was thinking about.

After a while, Zhang Yuelu seemed to notice Qi Xuansu’s gaze, so she raised her eyelids and looked at him.

This time, Qi Xuansu did not feel embarrassed. He smiled slightly.

Zhang Yuelu looked away and wrote on the ground with the long stick, “There’s a treasure shield around here. Go and get it.”

Qi Xuansu then remembered that the dead Rogue Cultivator did have a protective shield. However, he did not get up in a hurry. Instead, he waited until Zhang Yuelu’s cloak was completely dry and warm before he stood up and wrapped it around her.

Zhang Yuelu was a little dumbfounded. She wanted to say that she was fine. She was just weak because her energy was depleted, so she felt the chills. She would be back to normal as soon as her energy recovered. In the end, she did not say anything since Qi Xuansu had good intentions.

In fact, women were more mature when it came to relationships because they would gain secondhand experience from hearing stories. On the contrary, men were clumsy and cautious in relationships, as long as they had not experienced it personally. This clumsiness showed their sincerity. When a man had more experience in relationships, he became familiar with women’s reactions and would become more casual.

Qi Xuansu was an experienced traveler, but in terms of relationships with women, he was just a fledgling.

Of course, Zhang Yuelu was the same in this aspect. They were both nestlings, pecking at each other.

Qi Xuansu went to the Rogue Cultivator’s corpse and looked through it. Sure enough, he found a bead that looked like a luminous pearl. When he injected his qi into the bead, a light shield immediately protected him. It was somewhat similar to Zhang Yuelu’s Five Elements Qi Shield.

After Qi Xuansu stopped injecting qi into the bead, the shield stayed up for a few seconds before slowly dissipating. Zhang Yuelu verified that the shield was strong because she could hardly break through it during the previous battle. However, she did not know if this shield was related to the holder’s cultivation level.

Qi Xuansu temporarily put away the bead and looked through several other corpses. In addition to weapons and some common medicines, he only found a portrait of Zhang Yuelu. There was no money or magical receptacle.

This was a reasonable find because most hitmen would not carry a large amount of cash with them. In the past, Qi Xuansu had exchanged all his valuables into Wuyou coins and kept them with Madam Qi. He did not reclaim the money but successively exchanged it for various materials.

Qi Xuansu returned to Zhang Yuelu and handed the bead to her. He slowly unfolded the portrait and compared it with Zhang Yuelu’s face before he praised, “I wonder who painted this. It really looks like you.”

Zhang Yuelu rolled her eyes at him and continued to study the bead.

He pondered for a while, put the portrait away, and put it in his satchel. However, there were too many things in his satchel, so half of the scroll was sticking out.

That was when Zhang Yuelu stretched out her hand without raising her head.

Qi Xuansu immediately understood what she meant and handed the scroll to her.

Zhang Yuelu put the painting into her magical receptacle, then used the stick to write on the ground, “This is a treasure shield, similar to my Five Elements Qi Shield. You can use it for self-defense.”

Qi Xuansu refused it. “Let’s sell it. A treasure like this can be sold for at least 4,000 Taiping coins. You can use the money at Huasheng Hall. I know that the medical fees aren’t cheap. Then let’s use the remaining money to buy a Divine Dragon Pistol.”

Zhang Yuelu was startled. She erased what she had written before and continued writing. “We weren’t killing cult demons. You were helping me fight off my enemies. You deserve—”

Before she finished writing, Qi Xuansu reached out and pressed down on the paper stick in her hand. He smiled and assured her. “Since I deserve this, I should have the final say on how to deal with it. I want to sell it.”

Zhang Yuelu frowned and looked at Qi Xuansu, displeased. She realized that Qi Xuansu was becoming more disobedient and bold.

Qi Xuansu did not give in. He looked at Zhang Yuelu and boldly declared, “Qing Xiao, although you’re my boss, we’re not in Tiangang Hall now. We’re also not performing official duties, so I have the final say in this.”