A Pawn's Passage

A flying ship traveled high above the clouds. Its interior differed slightly from ordinary flying ships, featuring not only separate rooms but also a small hall. This design reduced the passenger capacity compared to typical commercial flying ships but allowed for ad hoc meetings to be held in the small hall.

This was not a commercial vessel, but a flying ship used exclusively for members of the Nine Halls on official business. Just a few days ago, Lei Xiaohuan, Lu Yushu, Li Mingzhi, and Li Mingcheng had taken this same flying ship to Jinling Prefecture. Thus, making this its second trip to Jinling.

At the moment, no meetings were taking place in the small hall. A few people sat in scattered groups. None of the people present were high-ranking Deputy Hall Masters. Most of them were superintendents heading to Jinling Prefecture to assist their respective superiors.

Among them was a woman, whose appearance was alluring yet imbued with a valiant air that rivaled men. She was conversing with an elderly man.

The woman glanced at the clouds outside and asked, “Elder Jiao, what do you think about this major case making a comeback?”

The old man stroked his beard and warned. “Your word choice suggests that someone is exploiting the situation with another grand inquisition. I think it’s better to phrase it as a recurrence of another major case instead.”

The woman shook her head. “Of all times, you’re still nitpicking words.”

Elder Jiao advised earnestly. “Xiao Lin, you must think through every word and action. If you’re not cautious, you’ll trip over this someday.”

The woman whom Elder Jiao called Xiao Lin, was Lin Youzhen, a superintendent of Beichen Hall. Elder Jiao was a superintendent of Ziwei Hall. Those who worked in the Nine Halls were often acquainted, so the two had some friendship.

Exasperated, Lin Youzhen rolled her eyes. “Elder Jiao, you’ve repeated this a thousand times already. Aren’t you tired of saying the same thing? Let’s talk about the case instead.”

Elder Jiao said, “There’s not much to say, really. We only need to follow whatever the superiors decide. No matter what, obeying orders is never wrong. But how the Deputy Hall Masters maneuver against each other is beyond our involvement.”

According to the Daoist Order’s regulations, subordinates who acted under their superior’s command were exempt from liability, even if they were to commit crimes in the name of performing their duties. That was why Elder Jiao mentioned that obeying orders would never go wrong.

Without this rule, countless individuals could be implicated, leading to what they called collective punishment. However, there was a crucial condition to this—subordinates must have written orders from their superiors as proof of obeying orders. Without such explicit authorization, they risked becoming scapegoats during investigations.

Lin Youzhen said enviously, “I heard that the scope of the case has expanded the more it’s investigated. Even Sage Cihang, Sage Qingwei, and Sage Donghua have personally intervened. The one who initially uncovered the case was none other than the Deputy Hall Master Zhang from Tiangang Hall. During the Jiangnan case back then, she was also involved and made significant contributions, which led to the Earthly Preceptor making exemptions to promote her and award her a semi-immortal object.”

Hearing this, Elder Jiao chimed in. “Of course. She has the protection of the Heavenly Preceptor and the favor of the Earthly Preceptor. Not to mention, she has Sage Cihang as her master. That semi-immortal object was originally a generational heirloom of the Cihang lineage. If it were anyone else involved in the Jiangnan case, they wouldn’t just fail the investigation; they’d be reduced to nothing but ashes by now.”

Lin Youzhen, fully understanding this logic, sighed in response.

Elder Jiao muttered, “Back in the days when the sixth-generation Grand Master was around, the tension between the sects would have never escalated to this state. Ultimately, we still need a Grand Master to oversee Jade Capital.”

Lin Youzhen did not comment on that. She caught sight of someone seated by the window through her peripheral vision.

The person wore a wide-sleeved, cross-collared hechang and a Hunyuan headdress—the typical uniform of a fifth-rank Daoist. His eyes were covered by a pair of dark sunglasses.

This person seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, suddenly joining their group the day before departure.

Most of those heading to Jinling Prefecture were already acquainted with each other. Even if they were not acquainted, they would have crossed paths a few times in Jade Capital and had some sort of impression. Yet this person was a complete stranger. No one recognized him.

From his demeanor, he appeared not to know anyone either.

That would have been understandable. The weird thing was how utterly out of place he seemed among the superintendents, as he was clearly a “wild” Daoist priest.

The Daoist priests from the Nine Halls who resided in the Jade Capital lived a life of privilege. Many Daoists from the regional offices regarded Jade Capital as nothing more than a giant greenhouse, nurturing the overly delicate Daoists who could not withstand hardship, explaining the conception of the derisive nickname—flowerbed priests.

In retaliation, the Daoist priests of the Nine Halls referred to the Daoists from the regional offices as wild priests, ostensibly linking the latter to wild weeds—resilient to the elements but lacking refinement. It was also a veiled insinuation of barbarity.

It was akin to the disdain scholars held for warriors or the aristocrats for commoners. The flowerbed Daoists looked down upon the wild Daoists in the same way.

Wandering Daoists who operated outside the Daoist Order were considered the wildest of them all, complete barbarians who were held in the greatest contempt.

Lin Youzhen suspected that the man by the window used to be a wandering Daoist, likely with blood on his hands. There was solid evidence to support this as the man carried two swords and a gun. What refined Daoist would carry so many weapons?

In truth, wandering Daoists entering Jade Capital had become increasingly common, as the flowerbed Daoists were only skilled at rhetoric but often lacked real combat ability. Thus, even at the same level of cultivation, these flowerbed Daoists struggled to prevail in fights.

As a result, Tiangang Hall was forced to recruit elite Daoists from the regional offices to fill its ranks.

For this reason, most of the wild Daoists were concentrated in Tiangang Hall and Beichen Hall, rarely seen in the other seven halls.

Yet, this man by the window was a fifth-rank superintendent of Ziwei Hall and a Prospective Mage, indicating a promising future.

As such, the others could not help but speculate about the man. Some suspected nepotism, thinking the wild priest was an illegitimate son of a Sage who had recently been recognized, while others believed his presence was linked to the current tense situation.

However, this man clearly did not fit in and showed no intention of interacting with the rest of the group. He merely kept to himself, treating the rest of the superintendents as air, which only deepened their displeasure.

What right did this wild Daoist have to act so arrogant? Did he think he was a prodigy like Zhang Yuelu?

The wild Daoist in question was, of course, Qi Xuansu.

After returning to Sycamore Villa, he bid farewell to Li Qingnu and Liu Hu. There was not much to say since he did not have much interaction with Li Qingnu to begin with, so a brief goodbye sufficed. As for Liu Hu, he had already said his goodbyes earlier on the way to Bohai Prefecture.

All things eventually came to an end, but if fate allowed it, they would have the chance to meet again.

Initially, Qi Xuansu had planned to take the sea route from Bohai Prefecture to Jinling Prefecture. However, Pei Xiaolou informed him at the last minute that a flying ship from Jade Capital to Jinling Prefecture was available. Moreover, official travel on the flying ship was free of charge.

Qi Xuansu promptly changed his plans. He headed to the flying ship port in Bohai Prefecture, presented his deployment order from the Ziwei Hall, and boarded the flying ship back to Jade Capital, free of charge.

He arrived just in time to catch the flying ship to Jinling Prefecture. He did not even get the chance to enter Jade Capital and boarded this flying ship immediately to finally embark on his journey to Jinling.

In fact, after experiencing Wu Luo snapping the flying ship in half, Qi Xuansu developed some aversion to traveling on flying ships. However, he convinced himself that Wu Luo was probably severely injured during that incident, so she was unlikely to cause trouble again so soon. Moreover, since this ride was free, he shoved his phobia aside.

Qi Xuansu truly could not care less about the strange looks he got from his peers.

He had seen a fair share of important people by now—Sage Cihang, Lei Xiaohuan, Pei Xiaolou, Zhang Yuelu, Qin Wubing, and even the Finest Courtesan, Li Qingnu. All of them had no issue with wild Daoists.

Only these mediocre individuals liked to obsess over status and lineage, as it was likely the only thing they could boast about themselves. Without these markers, their sense of superiority would crumble.

For instance, when introducing the Holy Xuan, his titles would naturally include the first-generation Grand Master who revived the Daoist Order and Master of the Three Religions. No one would bother to add “a member of the Li family” as an extra tag.

After all, it was the Li family who was proud to be associated with the Holy Xuan, not the other way around. However, some individuals only had everything because of their family background, so they desperately clung to the label of “Li family descendant” as their sole claim to superiority, allowing them to look down on others and satisfy their sense of self-worth.

Those who looked down on commoners, despised wild Daoists, and fixated on pedigree, belonged to this category.

This type of disdain differed from how Daoists viewed people from Jianghu. Daoists typically regarded Jianghu people with indifference, akin to adults watching children bicker. It was a perspective born of absolute confidence in their own strength, because if a conflict were to arise, Daoists would easily triumph over Jianghu folk. Their sense of superiority was based on strength and cultivation.

However, the disdain flowerbed priests had for wild priests was different. Despite their relatively equal cultivation level, flowerbed priests were likely to lose to wild priests in a direct confrontation.

Thus, behind the bravado of the flowerbed priests was anxiety and fear, stemming from a deep-seated concern that wild Daoists might replace them one day. After all, much of Tiangang Hall and part of Beichen Hall had already been “taken over” by wild Daoists. Lacking the power to reverse this trend, the flowerbed priests clung desperately to notions of identity and pedigree.

Admittedly a bit petty and prideful, Qi Xuansu had no interest in pandering to those who would not appreciate him, so he simply chose to ignore them.

Qi Xuansu looked out the window and adjusted the sunglasses on his nose bridge.

He could see a vast city below, nestled between mountains and rivers. It had a square and orderly layout, with rows of buildings standing close together. The streets were checkered, resembling a chessboard.

The flying ship began its slow descent, bringing about a layer of mist all around.

They had finally arrived in Jinling Prefecture.

Once the flying ship docked, everyone rose from their seats and proceeded to the outer deck in an orderly manner.

The ramp had already been lowered, and some people were waiting below to greet the group.

The superintendents were both honored and surprised to see a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master in a Lotus crown leading the group. As they disembarked one by one, they bowed respectfully to the Sage.

Qi Xuansu was the last to disembark, not because he wanted to make a show of his importance but because he was worried that Zhang Yuelu would not be able to handle his surprise appearance if she happened to be there. Also, the longing and fear of her reaction were too much for him to bear.

When Qi Xuansu finally descended the ramp, the second-grade Taiyi Daoist master stepped forward to greet him.

“Sage Pei, I’m unworthy of this reception.” Qi Xuansu hurriedly saluted the Sage.

Pei Xiaolou waved dismissively. “Let’s ditch the formalities between us. We should first synchronize our statements and align our narratives. When we meet Miss Zhang, we need to know what can be said and what can’t, even if she threatens to beat you to death.”

Qi Xuansu’s expression turned serious, and he nodded solemnly.

With that, Pei Xiaolou led Qi Xuansu away from the group.

The other superintendents, unable to discern the details of their conversation, could not help but feel a mixture of curiosity and shock.

Joining Ziwei Hall as a wild Daoist and having a Sage personally welcome him was not a treatment befitting an illegitimate child of just any ordinary Sage. At the very least, Qi Xuansu would have to be the illegitimate child of an Omniscient Sage!