A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu could not discern Li Qingnu’s intentions. The amount involved was simply too large to be brushed off as a friendly gesture, so it was hard not to suspect ulterior motives.

There were unspoken rules to gift-giving. Handing over money outright was crude and unbecoming. The real trick was to cater to the recipient’s interests.

Qi Xuansu did not have many hobbies, but card games were one of them. So when Li Qingnu gifted him a collector’s edition of the Holy Xuan Cards, it was an undeniably valuable present tailored to his tastes.

Just then, Qi Xuansu felt a warmth at his chest. He reached into the inner layer of his robe and pulled out a child talisman from Madam Qi.

With a rub of his fingers, the talisman dissolved into a glowing screen, and Madam Qi’s upper body appeared before him. She wore a straw hat and sunglasses that covered nearly half her face. Behind her was a backdrop of cerulean waters and blue skies.

Madam Qi opened with a scolding. “You little brat! We haven’t seen each other in ages, but you never bothered to check in with me? Other people’s kids send greetings to their parents, but you just wait around for me to summon you, huh?”

Qi Xuansu snapped back. “You’ve got some nerve saying that! You took all my money and left me with only 100 Taiping coins. I was so broke I almost couldn’t afford the flying ship ticket back to Jade Capital. So how could I possibly afford to buy extra talismans to communicate with you? After all, I’ve got to save what little I have left for emergencies. Besides, I heard from Su Yi that you’ve got mountains of gold and silver in your grasp. If you just loosened your fingers a little and let a bit of that wealth slip through, I could’ve lived off that gold dust for half a lifetime! If you do that, I’ll take the initiative to greet you every single day!”

Madam Qi huffed. “Su Yi...do you mean Yao Pei? Women in the Yao family never tell the truth. So don’t you listen to that girl’s nonsense. Where would I get mountains of gold and silver? If I really had that kind of money, why would I still be running around in the wind and rain working for scraps? What I get from the Seven Treasure Pavilion is just some shares that I can’t liquidate, so I can’t spend them like Taiping coins. Even so, do you think I’d embezzle your measly stipend? I’m saving it for your wedding! If I gave it all to you, you’d burn through it in no time!”

Qi Xuansu shamelessly said, “Then I won’t get married anymore. Give me my money back!”

“Do you really believe that yourself?” Madam Qi pierced right through his lies. “You’re always going on about Qing Xiao, and now you say you won’t marry her? Hah! I’m not buying it.”

Guilty, Qi Xuansu had no comeback, so he changed the subject. “Madam Qi, I met Sage Cihang.”

“Wow. You two are certainly moving fast, having now met your mother-in-law, huh?” Madam Qi replied sarcastically.

Qi Xuansu hesitated, then added, “Sage Cihang figured out who you are.”

Madam Qi quipped. “Well, that’s not surprising. If she couldn’t even figure that out, what business would she have being an Omniscient Sage, let alone vie for the position of Grand Master? She might as well go home and take care of some grandkids. That’d be more appropriate.”

Qi Xuansu continued, “Sage Cihang said the thing you implanted in me isn’t some ordinary Auxiliary Heart, but something called an Embedded Longevity Stone Heart. Apparently, it’s an extremely rare item. Other than the one Huasheng Hall retrieved from the ancient creation projects, only the Li and Yao families are said to have one.”

Just as Qi Xuansu expected, Madam Qi outright denied it. “So what? Is her word the truth now? I could even say I gave you an original Longevity Stone. Would you believe that?”

Qi Xuansu asked, “What exactly is the Longevity Stone?”

Madam Qi replied, “It’s the predecessor of the Embedded Longevity Stone Heart, an elixir for immortality forged by the combined efforts of the Ten Great Witches of Lingshan. It could bring the dead back to life and even make one an Immortal. The creation project didn’t create the Longevity Stone Heart from scratch. They were just making imitations of the original Longevity Stone.”

Qi Xuansu rubbed his chest and muttered, “I’m not an Immortal, so I definitely don’t buy that bullshit.”

Madam Qi laughed. “Good. You shouldn’t. If you must know, there are three versions of the Longevity Stone—the original one crafted by the Ten Great Witches of Lingshan, the improved version by the Six Enlightened Witches, and the replica created by the Shamanistic Sect.

“The original version was called the Undying Elixir, made from parts of ancient beasts. So it inevitably carried the wrath and killing instincts of those creatures. While it could resurrect the dead, those revived would be tainted by beastly instincts and turn into monsters.

“The later replica made by the Shamanistic Sect was actually an improvement made by Wu Xian. But since only Kunlun had the materials to substitute for ancient beasts, Wu Xian’s failure was inevitable because she was based in Lingshan. But during this refinement process, she discovered another method—using humans instead of beasts to create this elixir.

“At the time, the Heavenly Emperor was waging war across the land, so Wu Xian asked him to have his generals collect the life force from slain enemies for her experiments. The Heavenly Emperor agreed, and she continued refining the Elixir of Immortality. She named this new formula the Longevity Stone, which became the precursor to what we now know.

“Using this Longevity Stone could lead to immortality without turning one into a monster, but the user would gradually become extreme, irritable, and violent, turning into someone else entirely without even realizing it.

“Near the end of the Wei Dynasty, the Grand Shaman of the Shamanistic Sect allied with Song Zheng to launch a coup against the Golden Horde. The Grand Shaman used hundreds of thousands of lives—including the life of the old Khan—to forge the Old Longevity Stone. But he was unaware of the danger lurking behind. Xu Wugui and Tantai Yun killed the Grand Shaman and then fought over the Old Longevity Stone. In the end, it was the Holy Xuan who swooped in to reap the spoils.

“The truly perfect version of the Longevity Stone was an improved elixir crafted by the Six Enlightened Witches, who spent centuries in the Five Element Paradise refining it. Sadly, the final product was split into six parts. Xu Wugui took two, while Wu Yang took one. The Holy Xuan took three parts, supplementing the Old Longevity Stone he had previously acquired and giving rise to the New Longevity Stone.

“The Daoist creation project used the New Longevity Stone as the model for the Embedded Longevity Stone Heart, and Huasheng Hall then based its design for the Auxiliary Heart on that embedded version. You could say that each generation was a watered-down shadow of the last.”

After hearing all this, Qi Xuansu was shaken to the core, but more questions followed. “Madam Qi, this really doesn’t sound like you. I was expecting you to play dumb and hide all this from me. What’s with the sudden change in personality?”

Madam Qi feigned anger. “What kind of person do you take me for? A son must be filial, and a mother must be loving—that’s how harmony is kept. Oh right, did you receive what Qingnu sent you?”

Qi Xuansu paused, looking surprised. “That set of Holy Xuan Cards?”

“I had Qingnu send it to you, as compensation.” Madam Qi flashed a smile brimming with motherly affection.

However, Qi Xuansu was not convinced. “It’s a fine gift, no doubt. But aren’t you just being generous with someone else’s money? If you really want to compensate me, shouldn’t you pay for it yourself?”

Madam Qi instantly dropped the act of a loving mother. “Enough with the nonsense. Do you want it or not?”

“I want it, of course!” Qi Xuansu replied, though still hesitant. “But...this doesn’t count as taking a bribe, does it?”

Madam Qi replied nonchalantly, “Taking money and doing nothing in return doesn’t count as bribery.”

“Is that how it works?” Qi Xuansu looked doubtful.

Madam Qi, relentless in leading people astray, added, “If you’re still worried, you can always just turn your back and deny knowing the person.”

Qi Xuansu finally came to his senses. “Madam Qi, are you trying to trick me?”

Madam Qi scoffed. “According to Sage Cihang, I gave you an Embedded Longevity Stone Heart. Do you know how many Taiping coins that’s worth and what crime are we talking about here? If they really wanted to punish you, they would’ve had you executed eight times—killed, revived, then killed over and over again—on the Demon-Vanquishing Platform. So since it’s from me, you can rest assured and accept it without worries.”

Qi Xuansu thought it over and realized she had a point. In such a vast Daoist Order, how many could truly claim innocence if one were to investigate thoroughly? Everyone would have some sort of stains, so it would be fine as long as no one caught him.

Finally, Madam Qi laid all her cards on the table. “By the way, you’re basically a local bigshot now in the Imperial Capital. I’ll have someone contact you there shortly. You and Qingnu should be prepared for what’s to come and communicate with each other. I care for you so much—checking in on you, sending you gifts—so as my son, it’s about time you showed some filial piety and helped ease some of your poor mother’s burdens.”

Before Qi Xuansu could object, Madam Qi ended the conversation.

Qi Xuansu was stunned for a moment. He then let out a helpless sigh. I knew it! Nothing from Madam Qi came without a catch. She never shows up unless she has something planned.

Of course, this was not exactly a bribe. It was more like giving a child a piece of candy to coax them into doing chores. Even if she did not give him anything, Qi Xuansu could not exactly complain.

Then it dawned on him. Madam Qi had said quite a lot, but none of it was actually what he wanted to know. Most of it was just some secrets of the Daoist Order that he would eventually learn as he climbed higher up the ladder anyway. As for the real questions he had—like her true intentions for picking him or her plans for him—she had not mentioned a word of it and had simply brushed them off.

Qi Xuansu sighed, sank back into his chair, leaned against the backrest, and looked up at the lamp overhead. His head ached from all the pressure.

He had only just arrived in the Imperial Capital and had not even warmed his seat yet, but both Madam Qi and Sage Donghua had given him forewarnings. Not to mention the warning from Sage Cihang.

All this was enough to drive a man mad with worry.

But this also confirmed one thing—something major was indeed about to happen in the Imperial Capital. All kinds of powers were converging here, not just the three Daoist sects, but also various secret societies. It seemed like the Lingshan Witch Cult, Cult of Fates, and Ziguang Society were likely to take advantage of the chaos.

After sitting for a while, Qi Xuansu decided to act quickly.

Whether it was Madam Qi’s instructions or Sage Donghua’s orders, they all had one prerequisite—for him to familiarize himself with the capital’s situation as soon as possible, so he could be ready when the time came.

Judging by this, the game was still in the opening moves, not yet at the stage of fierce confrontation. However, time was not on his side. He could not afford the slightest complacency.