A Pawn's Passage

The seat next to Qi Xuansu was occupied by an old man in a bamboo hat. He was holding a tobacco pipe and seemed friendly. He introduced himself. “Greetings, my name is Long Wuji.”

Qi Xuansu cupped his fists and responded. “I’m Wei Wugui. Nice to meet you.”

If they were anywhere else, they would probably use slang to be more casual. However, those who frequented Sycamore Villa might not understand slang. They also had to be a bit more elegant because of the setting.

Liu Hu kept silent, so it was easy for people to ignore her presence.

“Brother Wei, are you from out of town?” Long Wuji briefly sized him up.

Qi Xuansu spoke authentic Mandarin, so he was not afraid that his accent would expose his identity. “I’m from Jiangling Prefecture in Huzhou.”

In any case, Pei Xiaolou had pre-empted him that his identity as Wei Wugui had been recognized by the Commandery Prince of Jiangling. As long as the Commandery Prince did not say otherwise, no one would challenge his identity.

“Huzhou is a nice place.” Long Wuji nodded. “Brother Wei, are you also here to meet the Finest Courtesan?”

“I dare not hope for that. I’m just here to watch the fun.” Qi Xuansu responded casually.

Long Wuji was a well-informed person. He even mentioned the recent extermination of the Yuan family.

“The Yuan family always claimed to be powerful as the scholastic counterpart to the Commandery Prince of Jiangling. As a result, they perished in the fire at the Yuan Residence. Everything turned to ashes,” Long Wuji said with emotion.

Qi Xuansu agreed. “The Yuan family was indeed too proud of themselves.”

“Right.” Long Wuji nodded. “The Commandery Prince of Jiangling is known as the leader of the nobility. Although he has retired, the young Commandery Prince has a bright future and will probably join the Imperial Cabinet soon. The Yuan family certainly doesn’t qualify to compare with the Commandery Prince Mansion, but their backer might.”

“Brother Long, you seem to be hinting at something.” Qi Xuansu glanced at Long Wuji.

Long Wuji laughed. “It’s like lice on a monk’s head—painfully obvious!”

Qi Xuansu remarked, “The Yuan family brought this onto themselves. They have enjoyed the benefits of being associated with powerful people, so they ought to be prepared to be cast aside when things go south, isn’t it?”

“Brother Wei, you are indeed from the Jiangling Prefecture to know so many secrets.” Long Wuji sighed.

At this moment, there was a commotion among the audience, and everyone looked toward the entrance.

Two people walked in side by side. One of them was a big, strong man about 2.5 meters tall. The other was a graceful young woman in a yellow robe.

Qi Xuansu and Long Wuji turned their attention to the two people.

Before Qi Xuansu opened his mouth to ask, Long Wuji took the initiative to introduce the duo.

“The man on the left is the leader of the Wind and Thunder Alliance, a well-known gang in Bohai Prefecture. His name is Zhang Feng, a Martial Arts Practitioner who is almost a Heavenly Being. His punches and kicks are extremely powerful.

“The woman in the yellow robe is Huang Ning, also known as the Wind Lotus Fairy. Her reputation is far greater than Zhang Feng’s.”

Qi Xuansu sniggered, somewhat disapprovingly. Although he dabbled in the gray areas of society, he was still a Daoist at heart, so he had a condescending attitude toward Jianghu masters. To him, even the most powerful figure in Jianghu—the Golden Patriarch of the Heavenly Court—could not compare to a first-rank Tianzhen Daoist master.

Long Wuji saw Qi Xuansu’s disapproval and explained, “The title of Wind Lotus Fairy is not just for show. Huang Ning is on the Ruyi Leaderboard too.”

The Ruyi Leaderboard was mainly for Xiantian Beings under the age of 30, with a total of 365 people. Most of them were in the Guizhen stage, and a few were talented people in the Yuxu stage.

Curious, Qi Xuansu asked, “What is Miss Huang’s ranking?”

“20th.” Long Wuji was like a walking encyclopedia.

To be ranked 20th on the Ruyi Leaderboard was not considered low. After all, the prodigy Zhang Yuelu was only ranked 5th. Li Changge, who would be the future head of the Li family, occupied the top position.

Qi Xuansu had sparred with Zhang Yuelu before. When Zhang Yuelu did not use her Amorphous Paper and Cihang Sword Sequence, he could only outwit her by using all the tricks in his book. But he still could not defeat her. Thus, Zhang Yuelu became the benchmark for how Qi Xuansu judged the Ruyi Leaderboard’s ranking.

Wei Wugui was not on the Ruyi Leaderboard because Qi Xuansu kept a low profile when he used that Black Robes identity. Even Zhang Yuelu dared not claim that she knew everything about Wei Wugui.

This was the double life that Qi Xuansu led.

Qi Xuansu was a Daoist disciple with a bright future, while Wei Wugui was an undercover identity that had to stay hidden due to his affiliation with the Qingping Society. His dual identities were perfectly represented by the yin and yang symbol.

“That woman looks like she’s only in her early twenties. She must be extremely talented. Is she a Banished Immortal?” Qi Xuansu probed.

“The Daoist Order won’t let a Banished Immortal slip through the cracks. If she really was a Banished Immortal, she wouldn’t just be the Wind Lotus Fairy. She should be a fifth-rank Daoist priest instead.” Long Wuji added, “But secret societies are an exception.”

Qi Xuansu thought about it carefully. It was true that he had never seen a Banished Immortal who was not a part of the Daoist Order. At most, he had only seen Buddhist Buddhaputras or Confucian Hermits who were the equivalents of Banished Immortals.

However, outsiders did not know that besides gathering all the natural-born Banished Immortals in the world, the Daoist Order could also create them.

Long Wuji continued, “I heard that Miss Huang was very lucky. She met an enemy and fell off a cliff. But instead of dying, she encountered a young dragon and a giant python fighting. In the end, both beasts died, and their demon pills were shattered. So Miss Huang drank the dragon’s blood and obtained a Guizhen-stage cultivation out of thin air. She even gained many mystical powers of a dragon. Some people say that she has scales on her body and horns on her head. There are also rumors that she can fly into the clouds and create rain. These kinds of stories usually appear in novels, but no one expects them to be real.”

Qi Xuansu sighed. “Even if she’s so special, she’s only ranked 20th on the Ruyi Leaderboard.”

“Well, fate can’t prevail against human intervention...” Long Wuji said thoughtfully.

Qi Xuansu did not rebut. That did seem to be the case.

In the past, someone with such bizarre abilities would have been the top figure among their generation.

However, with the rapid development of technology and the strong financial resources and connections of the Daoist Order, Li Changge could firmly sit at the top of the Ruyi Leaderboard without ever having to leave home.

That was due to the power of Taiping coins. Li Changge did not even have to do anything to be a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master because of his powerful family.

After all, most people would bow to that much money and power.

Qi Xuansu did not rely entirely on luck, nor did he rely entirely on himself. Madam Qi was a crucial factor in his advancement. He had obtained the Xuan Jade of Life by chance, while the Xuan Jade of Death was a gift from Madam Qi. Without Madam Qi, Qi Xuansu would not have found the White Jade Hall or the Xuan Jade of Death.

“Why is she here to join in the fun then?” Qi Xuansu asked the old man.

Long Wuji chuckled. “So what if she’s a woman? Why can’t women have fun with other women? Besides, without the Li family’s approval, no one will be able to get close to Li Qingnu. So the meeting is probably just drinking tea and chatting. In that case, gender doesn’t really make a difference, does it?”

Qi Xuansu thought it made sense. When Li Qingnu was in Wuzhou, Zhang Yuelu was also curious about Li Qingnu and purposely went to a poetry gathering to see the latter. This indicated just how much attention the Finest Courtesan gained from everyone, regardless of gender.

At that thought, Qi Xuansu figured that the Finest Courtesan might not be as helpless and pitiful as she claimed to be. With the power of the Li family, Li Qingnu could accomplish many things, especially in Jiangbei.

While they were talking, Zhang Feng and Huang Ning took their seats. A woman in colorful clothes rang the bronze bell.

Immediately after, two people left their seats and walked onto the bluestone floor in the center of the field.

One of them held a bamboo staff, while the other held a long sword.

The two did not waste any time and started fighting.

The person wielding the sword raised the long sword slightly, pointing its tip diagonally upward. However, the movement was exceedingly slow and erratic, as if there was no aim. In fact, the sword was aiming for the opponent’s shoulder. The person using the bamboo staff was not mediocre either. A strong wind whistled past with a casual swing of the staff.

The contrasting nature of their weapons seemed to complement each other perfectly.

The person wielding the sword did not want to confront the opponent head-on, drawing circles of sword light with the sword. On the other side, the person using the bamboo staff made some noise and took the initiative to attack.

In terms of cultivation, these two people were on the same level as Song Luodi. They were both masters in their own right. If they were in the Daoist Order, they could at least be a fifth-rank Daoist priest.

The start of the fighting competition already set the bar high, so it was certainly not just a gimmick.