A Pawn's Passage

The dancer in the red dress managed to escape from Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu to a small courtyard of an inn. She did not even have time to change out of her shredded dress, which revealed much of her sexy body. “The Green Phoenix Guard tracked me down this time, so the mission failed. I’m sorry for being careless.”

A delicate and coquettish voice interjected, “Sister, don’t blame it on the Green Phoenix Guard. Your mission would have failed even if they hadn’t intervened. Mage Zhang already saw through your tricks with her Immortal Eye of Providence. She could have caught you on the spot, but she chose to let you go and left a paper crane on you instead. It was clear that she wanted to track down our lair. You almost exposed us all!”

The woman in the torn red dress stared at the coquettish woman in a fox fur cloak who was walking in. The woman in fox fur was just as beautiful as the woman in red.

The two women glared at each other with hostility.

At this moment, the man who had been silent finally spoke in a dull tone. “Boss Hua has told us many times not to alert them, but you still went ahead and provoked them. Are you deliberately disobeying orders?”

The woman in red said aggrievedly, “I didn’t take the initiative to provoke them. It was merely a coincidence.”

The man glanced at her. “Only you know if it was really a coincidence. Save your explanation for Boss Hua.”

The woman in the fox fur fanned the flames. “We’re all taught by the same master. Who are you trying to deceive?”

Frustrated, the woman in red had no choice but to think of how she should answer to Boss Hua.

In fact, the woman in red did not target Zhang Yuelu. She was trying to seduce Qi Xuansu, who seemed like a virgin.

Even though she was shocked that Qi Xuansu was a Martial Arts Practitioner in the Guizhen stage, she was still confident in her plan. Most men had strong desires, resentment, or ignorance, so there was no need to resort to violence when targeting men.

Men of Qi Xuansu’s age were strong and fearless, but the biggest weakness of men at that age was having almost zero resistance toward beautiful women. Thus, the woman in red was confident that she could seduce Qi Xuansu and coerce him into revealing everything he knew. In the meantime, she hoped to convert Qi Xuansu as her spy. That way, she would be informed of Zhang Yuelu’s movements at any time.

By then, she would be able to claim credit in front of Boss Hua. However, she did not expect things to go south. Now, she realized that she had shot herself in the foot.

......

At the same time, Zhang Yuelu wondered what kind of scam needed one to dance on a grass platform in broad daylight. Qi Xuansu was also unaware that the woman in red was actually targeting him.

However, the woman in red underestimated Qi Xuansu’s resilience. Although Qi Xuansu was a virgin and was only familiar with a handful of women, he was an experienced traveler who had seen his fair share of the dangers in the real world. He also knew how honey traps worked, so he would be wary and not easily fooled by beauty.

Moreover, Zhang Yuelu—as his boss and his friend—would not have let Qi Xuansu fall into the honey trap.

At this time, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu had already left the street and continued heading to Huasheng Hall.

Jinguan Prefecture was big, having once been the old capital of the Shu Kingdom. Since they had to maintain a low profile in the city, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu could only walk at a normal speed without the help of the Jiamas.

The duo walked for more than an hour before arriving at the market.

As the Black Robe at the city gate mentioned, Huasheng Hall’s facade was impressive. The main building and its foundation below were two stories high. The main gate was six meters tall. Thirty-six white marble steps led to a platform with a statue of the adult-height Earth Queen Lady that was placed in the center. This statue symbolized nurture, support, and inclusiveness—that all things were born from the Earth.

Qi Xuansu came to the bottom of the steps and looked up at the archway with the golden characters of Huasheng Hall against a black background. He could not help but sigh in admiration. “Wow, this is more extravagant than our Tiangang Hall.”

Zhang Yuelu scoffed. “You clearly haven’t seen the headquarters of Huasheng Hall. All branches of Huasheng Hall were modeled after it.”

Qi Xuansu inquired, “Why doesn’t Tiangang Hall have a branch?”

Zhang Yuelu replied, “Ziwei Hall, Duzhi Hall, and Beichen Hall don’t have branches either. It’ll be strange if these halls have branches.”

Qi Xuansu pondered for a moment and realized that it made sense. “What’s the rationale for this?”

Zhang Yuelu explained, “Ziwei Hall, Duzhi Hall, Tiangang Hall, and Beichen Hall are essentially the ministries of personnel, finance, defense, and justice, respectively. These four departments have representatives in the local Daoist mansions, which are the Deputy Mansion Masters. The Mansion Master presides over the entire Daoist mansion, so we do not need any branches.

“Huasheng Hall and Tianji Hall are exceptions. They also take care of some of the special commercial businesses that the local Daoist mansions can’t oversee. That’s why branches are established and placed under the control of the Ancestral Court.”

“I see.” Qi Xuansu walked up the steps first, followed closely by Zhang Yuelu.

Usually, the main entrance of an ordinary restaurant or shop had two-paneled doors. But the main entrance of Huasheng Hall had eight-paneled doors. At this time, all eight panels were open, so there was ample space for dozens of people to enter and exit simultaneously.

There was an open hall with twelve-paneled screens separating the front and the back. Opposite the doors was a long counter made of black granite that resembled the galaxy. Many red sandalwood tables and chairs were placed against the wall. Although they were small pieces of furniture, they were still quite pricey.

A female Daoist priest was standing behind the counter with a smile. When she saw Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu approaching the counter, she smiled and asked, “May I—”

Qi Xuansu had already taken out his and Zhang Yuelu’s credentials and placed them on the counter.

The receptionist was startled to see their positions. “Please wait a moment, Deputy Hall Master Zhang and Deacon Qi.”

She hurriedly went behind the screen. After a while, a middle-aged man came out, wearing Daoist formal attire. Judging from his clothes, he was a fifth-rank priest.

The man bowed respectfully. “I’m Song Wan, the superintendent here. Nice to meet you, Deputy Hall Master Zhang.”

Zhang Yuelu returned the salute and briefly explained her purpose of visiting.

After hearing this, Song Wan looked troubled. “Deputy Hall Master Zhang, according to the rules of Huasheng Hall, aesthetic procedures and medication are not normally eligible for a discount. But as a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist priest, you are eligible for a price reduction of 10%.”

Zhang Yuelu had already expected this, so she said bluntly, “Please quote a price.”

Song Wan calculated the cost and said, “Based on the amount of medicine required, it will cost slightly more than 3,000 Taiping coins. But I can waive the small change and charge you only 3,000 Taiping coins for the full course of treatment.”

From Song Wan’s perspective, that was not a small amount. But a fourth-rank Daoist priest should be able to afford 3,000 Taiping coins, especially someone as famous as Zhang Yuelu, who was from the prestigious Zhang family and valued by the Earthly Preceptor. She had a bright future, so Song Wan assumed that she was also well-off.

What he did not know was that Zhang Yuelu was not from the main branch of the Zhang family and that she did not have much help from her family. The Earthly Preceptor valued her, but he would not give her money. She was also an honest and self-sufficient priest, unlike Sun Yongfeng, who had his “ways” of earning a side income. Thus, Zhang Yuelu only had a net worth of 1,000 Taiping coins.

Zhang Yuelu mumbled, “Three thousand?”

She had expected it would be expensive. What truly surprised her was how accurate Qi Xuansu’s estimate was.

Before this, Qi Xuansu had estimated that the treasure shield could be sold for at least 4,000 Taiping coins. He planned to use the earnings at Huasheng Hall first, then use the remaining money to buy a Divine Dragon Pistol, which was about 800 Taiping coins on the black market. That meant his estimation for Huasheng Hall’s fees was exactly 3,200 Taiping coins.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu interjected, “Superintendent Song, it’s not easy to carry around large amounts of cash when traveling, so we don’t have much on us now. But we have a treasure shield that we can let go of. Can we use this as collateral?”

Huasheng Hall was not a pawnshop, so collateral was not normally accepted. However, there were exceptions to everything. To outsiders, the rules were fixed, but Zhang Yuelu was no outsider. She was a member of the Daoist Order with a promising future, so Song Wan was willing to bend the rules.

Song Wan pondered for a moment and nodded. “Sure, I’ll do you two a favor.”

Seeing the slight frown on Zhang Yuelu’s face, Qi Xuansu hurriedly agreed on her behalf. “Thank you so much, Superintendent Song.”

Qi Xuansu took out the treasure, which looked like a luminous pearl, and handed it to Song Wan.

Although Song Wan was not a high-ranking priest, he had been working in HuashengHall for a long time, so he was well-informed. He took the bead and examined it, then injected some qi into it to roughly confirm the authenticity of the treasure.

Song Wan remarked, “A good treasure indeed. The market price for this is 4,100 Taiping coins.”

Qi Xuansu cupped his fist in salute. “Thank you, Superintendent Song.”

Song Wan asked the duo to take a seat while someone served them tea. Then he left with the treasure.

About an hour later, Song Wan returned, carrying a box in one hand and a stack of bills in the other.

Qi Xuansu signaled Zhang Yuelu to continue drinking tea while he stood up to greet the superintendent.

Song Wan had noticed how Qi Xuansu was handling everything, so he keenly spoke to him instead. “Deacon Qi, this is Deputy Hall Master Zhang’s ointment.”

As he spoke, he handed the box to Qi Xuansu. It was a medicine box similar to those that doctors carried around.

Qi Xuansu opened the box and scanned it, only to see jade boxes of the same size and specifications arranged neatly inside. There were twelve jade boxes in total, which meant that each box of this medicine cost 250 Taiping coins.

Song Wan handed the stack of bills to Qi Xuansu. “This is the receipt and 11 large cash notes totaling 1,100 Taiping coins. Please verify it, Deacon Qi.”

A receipt was needed if they planned to reimburse the fees for the treatment.

Qi Xuansu closed the box, took the stack of bills, glanced at it, and put it in his bag. He thanked Song Wan again. “Thank you so much, Superintendent Song. Let’s get together for a drink when you return to Jade Capital in the future.”

This was what Song Wan waited to hear, so he naturally responded with a smile.