A Pawn's Passage

This small city had no guards or guides, so anyone could come and go as they pleased. Qi Xuansu put away his Jiamas and entered the town with Qin Xiang, who dismounted from her horse.

Qi Xuansu asked, “Are the people from the Eight Tribes in this city?”

“No.” Qin Xiang shook her head. “They’re outside the city. I stayed in the city for two days before I went to see him.”

Qi Xuansu finally asked, “What’s his name?”

Qin Xiang hesitated before replying, “Wei Guan.”

“I’ve never heard of him. How do you know each other?”

Qin Xiang answered truthfully, “I met him when I went to a Daoist temple to offer incense.”

Qi Xuansu put away his silver fish talisman. “Daoist temples and former Daoists. It seems like all these secret societies are inextricably linked to the Daoist Order.”

Qin Xiang defended herself. “I thought he was a member of the Daoist Order at first, so I spoke to him. If not, I wouldn’t have come here...”

Qi Xuansu laughed. “Apart from Tiangang Hall, I’m afraid no one in the Daoist Order would be willing to come to this place. Even if Tiangang Hall comes here, they are here to carry out the orders of the Ancestral Court to wipe out a secret society, certainly not for sightseeing. I can’t believe that you fell for his lies!”

Qin Xiang was rendered speechless.

All this time, Qi Xuansu never asked about Qin Xiang’s identity. He just assumed that she was from a court official’s family. Since they were getting to know each other, he asked, “What about you? Which family are you from?”

Qin Xiang blinked and said softly, “The Qin family.”

“Qin... Like—” Qi Xuansu’s voice stopped abruptly.

He suddenly remembered something.

The three major families in the world were the descendants of Confucius, the Zhang family of Shangqing Prefecture, and the Qin family of Dragon City. The Qin family referred to the current royal family, which was originally from the Chaoyang Prefecture of Yongzhou, which was called Dragon City in ancient times.

Qi Xuansu asked with a strange expression, “You’re royalty?”

Qin Xiang nodded.

Qi Xuansu was silent for a moment before he asked, “Do you have a title?”

“District Princess.” Qin Xiang answered honestly.

Qi Xuansu was stunned for a moment.

If he remembered correctly, the daughter of the Emperor was granted the title of Imperial Princess, and the daughter of an Imperial Prince was granted the title of Commandery Princess. The daughter of a Commandery Prince was granted the title of District Princess. In other words, Qin Xiang’s father was a Commandery Prince.

Although the feudal system was abolished and the princes no longer had private fiefdoms or military power, they were allowed to participate in politics. The various princes could hold civil and military official positions, so their power should not be underestimated.

The Commandery Princess and the District Princess also did not have their fiefdoms and only held an empty title. But they were still of royal blood. What was most important to the royal family was their image. If Qin Xiang was violated by that group of thugs, the royal family would try to cover it up and silence her. At the same time, they would also wipe out this place in the name of suppressing bandits as an act of revenge.

Qin Xiang whispered, “I sneaked out. If word got out, I might get detained by the court.”

Qi Xuansu snorted. “Now you think of the consequences? And here I thought you weren’t afraid of anything.”

Qin Xiang lowered her head and stopped talking.

Qi Xuansu added, “Then let’s leave this place before people notice.”

Hearing this, Qin Xiang raised her head and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m collecting a debt on behalf of someone else.” He paused and decided to try his luck. “Have you ever heard of the White Jade Hall?”

Qin Xiang shook her head.

Qi Xuansu did not expect the District Princess to know about the White Jade Hall. Even a seasoned traveler like him had never heard of this place. So it must be hidden.

According to Madam Qi, Mountain Ghost was also a member of the Qingping Society. He was most probably a B-rank member with a golden-purple fish talisman like Madam Qi.

Qi Xuansu came across two other B-rank members aside from Madam Qi. One was Xie Qiuniang, who was in a Guizhen-stage Confucian Hermit, evenly matched against Zhang Yuelu. The other B-rank member was Crimson Lips, whose true identity was Li Qingnu. She was groomed by the Li family to be the finest courtesan in the Imperial Capital.

Although Li Qingnu was only in the Yuxu stage, similar to Qi Xuansu, her value was in her identity. Qi Xuansu could not compare to her. Qi Xuansu was also unaware of Madam Qi’s true identity, but she was well-informed and highly connected. She also knew many inside stories of the Daoist Order. So, Qi Xuansu suspected that she was once a high-ranking Daoist priest.

The Qingping Association had a clear ranking for its members. D-rank was for unofficial members; C-rank was for ordinary official members; B-rank was for the elite official members; and A-rank was undoubtedly for the top leaders of the Qingping Society.

All B-rank members had special identities and held enough power and influence. In other words, Qi Xuansu was still far from being qualified as a B-rank member, but Zhang Yuelu would have met the criteria.

In that case, what was the identity of Mountain Ghost? Could he be a city lord?

At this moment, several children ran toward them, seemingly playing.

Qin Xiang warned. “Be careful. These children are pickpockets. When I came here for the first time, they stole my money pouch.”

Qi Xuansu smiled and remained silent.

A ten-year-old looked back from time to time, playing with his friends and “accidentally” bumping into Qi Xuansu. This boy clung to Qi Xuansu’s body and did not move for a long time. Finally, the boy raised his head and looked at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu said calmly, “The strap of this satchel is made of beef tendon and steel wire, so it can’t be cut with a knife. You’ll have to use a saw.”

The kid looked embarrassed, putting the blade away and taking a few steps back.

At the same time, another child brushed past Qi Xuansu and managed to grab something. It was the Divine Dragon Pistol. The child stopped and did not know what to do with this heavy gun.

Qi Xuansu turned around and hooked a finger, signaling the child to return the gun. He never would have imagined that the child would suddenly hold the gun with both hands, point it at him, press the hammer, and hook the trigger. The kid’s movements were smooth, indicating his familiarity with guns.

The kid had a vicious expression that did not match his age as he threatened Qi Xuansu, “Hand over the money!”

The situation changed in an instant, but the surrounding pedestrians were not surprised. They merely watched with interest on the sidelines.

Qi Xuansu was not afraid of the boy. Instead, he mocked, “If you don’t dare to shoot, you would be better off holding a stick instead.”

The boy shouted, “Stop talking nonsense and hand over the money!”

Qin Xiang had witnessed the power of this gun, so she panicked.

However, Qi Xuansu spoke to the boy calmly. “If you put down the gun, I can pretend this never happened.”

After all, a child’s strength was limited. Even with both hands, the boy would not be able to hold the heavy Divine Dragon Pistol for too long. After a while, his arms began to tremble. He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and pulled the trigger.

Everyone heard a gunshot. When the boy opened his eyes, he found that Qi Xuansu had disappeared. But no matter how powerful a gun was, it could not possibly turn someone into ashes with one shot. He was puzzled as he thought, Where did that man go?

The boy looked up and glanced around. That was when he heard a voice coming from behind. “You didn’t cherish the opportunity I gave you.”

Quick to react, the boy immediately got to his knees and raised the gun in surrender. “I was wrong, sir. Please spare me!”

Qi Xuansu reached out and took his gun back. He had seen gangsters who used children to steal. Generally speaking, those gangsters would at most give the children a beating if a mistake was made. Qi Xuansu did not want to offend the local gangsters, so he just slapped the child on the shoulder with a hidden force.

This force would spread gradually, eventually numbing the child’s arm for a month. But it was not fatal. Qi Xuansu only wanted to teach this kid a lesson by breaking his arm for a while. “Don’t let me see you again.”

The children ran away in a hurry, and the spectators gradually dispersed.

Qin Xiang came closer and looked at Qi Xuansu’s gun. “This is the Divine Dragon Pistol. Only generals or those above can own one.”

Qi Xuansu glanced at her. “There are plenty of these on the black market.”

“I’ve been to the black market.” Qin Xiang noted. “The guns sold on the black market have had the serial numbers erased. Yours still has a serial number.”

Qi Xuansu lowered his head and glanced at it. Sure enough, there were some inconspicuous small characters on the handle. This Divine Dragon Pistol was indeed not from the black market. It was bought from a branch of Tianji Hall. Qi Xuansu did not say anything. He just put the gun back into its holster.

Under Qin Xiang’s guidance, they came to the entrance of an inn. Qin Xiang said, “I stayed in this inn before. It should be a legitimate business.”

Qi Xuansu wanted to laugh. As if she’ll know the difference!

After some thought, he decided to keep his snarky remarks to himself. After all, Qin Xiang was a District Princess. There was no harm in maintaining a cordial relationship with her because it might come in handy one day. There was no need to burn this bridge because of some sarcastic words.

As soon as he entered the inn, he had a familiar feeling. This inn did not seem to be an ordinary inn. It was also not the Taiping Inn operated by the Daoist Order. It was The Inn that specialized in shady transactions.

Qi Xuansu’s trip to Fengtai County started at The Inn. He glanced around to find a few fierce-looking people in the lobby with strong killing auras. Then he turned to Qin Xiang and gave her a strange look.

He could not help but imagine what it was like when Qin Xiang asked for a room at The Inn when she first arrived. What surprised him even more was that The Inn actually allowed her to stay for two days.

“What? Is there something on my face?” Qin Xiang subconsciously touched her face, but it felt normal. She looked at him, puzzled, because she did not understand why Qi Xuansu was staring at her as if she were a fool.

Qi Xuansu looked away and stifled a laugh. “Nope. You’re right; this is indeed a legitimate business.”