A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu was not at all surprised that there might be underground palaces or secret chambers beneath the Yuhuang Palace. After all, the Nether Prison was also built underground. What puzzled him was that no one had discovered it until now.

He asked, “How did you find it?”

Zhang Yuelu replied, “It was a coincidence. After Qian Xiangyun escaped, I personally searched her residence, and that’s when I found the entrance.”

Qi Xuansu sighed. “Deputy Hall Master Zhang, you’re a real professional, unlike me, who only deals with brothels. Sure, some brothels have hidden cellars for hiding people, but how could those compare to a cave residence hidden beneath the Yuhuang Palace?”

“Enough with the snarky remarks. I suspect Li Changge doesn’t know about this place. The Taiping Sect may be united, but not to the extent of absolute openness among all members. A high-ranking Daoist like Qian Xiangyun must have secrets she couldn’t let others know,” Zhang Yuelu said, then deliberately paused and gave Qi Xuansu a meaningful glance.

Qi Xuansu responded innocently, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Zhang Yuelu could not be bothered to expose him and continued, “I don’t want Li Changge to know about this, so I’ve arranged for him and Yao Pei to handle the Wen Weng case. With Yao Pei delaying him, even if Li Changge suspects something, it’s unlikely he’ll take any action.”

In any case, Zhang Yuelu was the leader of the five-member delegation and had a certain degree of autonomy. Li Changge could not openly refuse her arrangements, especially if she had reasonable justification.

Qi Xuansu said, “Let’s go take a look now. Come to think of it, the last time we worked a case together was in Jinling Prefecture. Now that we’re joining swords again, it’s bound to go smoothly!”

“Joining swords, huh? As if you even use a sword.” Zhang Yuelu rolled her eyes.

Qi Xuansu casually said, “I’ve heard the Zhang family has a pair of swords called Green Cloud and Purple Afterglow. It’ll be perfect if each of us can wield one, joining swords in unity.”

“Oh? You haven’t even married into the Zhang family, yet you’re already eyeing the Heavenly Preceptor’s Twin Swords? Am I leading a wolf into the house?” Zhang Yuelu joked. They had faced life and death together countless times, so such banter came naturally.

“What do you mean by marrying into the Zhang family? I’d never be a matrilocal son-in-law!” He protested. “I want people to say that Zhang Yuelu is Qi Xuansu’s wife, not that I am Zhang Yuelu’s husband.”

Zhang Yuelu chuckled. “Then there’s only one possibility. You’ll have to become the Grand Master.”

Qi Xuansu pressed on. “So only you scions from the Three Noble Families can dream of becoming Grand Masters, but poor kids like me from the Wanxiang Daoist Palace can’t even dream about it once?”

Zhang Yuelu said seriously, “That’s not true. You don’t have to be from the noble families to become the Grand Master. My master, Sage Cihang, isn’t from the Zhang family, nor is Sage Donghua from the Yao family. What truly matters is having a Deputy Grand Master who wholeheartedly supports you.”

The three noble families were the Zhang, Li, and Yao families, which were represented by the Heavenly Preceptor, the Imperial Preceptor, and the Earthly Preceptor, respectively.

Fearing that future Grand Masters might become autocratic, the Holy Xuan established a rule that the Grand Master must have the support of at least one Deputy Grand Master to enact policies.

Without support from at least one of them, what use was being Grand Master? One would only be a puppet Grand Master at best.

That was how the sixth-generation Grand Master was completely sidelined.

By contrast, the fifth-generation Grand Master had the support of all three Deputy Grand Masters because he replaced those who did not support him.

Family lineage naturally carried such advantages, so by the eighth generation, it came down to a contest among three noble-born disciples for the Grand Master seat.

Qi Xuansu had merely spoken offhand and had not seriously considered the feasibility, so there was no real disappointment. He simply changed the subject. “We can discuss whether I become Grand Master or not in the future. For now, let’s talk about this cave residence.”

“Follow me,” Zhang Yuelu said, her expression unchanged, though inwardly she felt a small pang of self-reproach.

She had come to find Qi Xuansu for official matters, only to discover he had vanished again. So she waited for him to return. At first, she felt like questioning him, but later, she changed her mind, deciding to go with the flow. It was a rare night with such beautiful moonlight, and the Penglai Pool was beside them. Thus, she thought there was nothing wrong with enjoying the view together. She just had not expected that in the end, they would stay true to their original intention and circle back to business. So be it.

Zhang Yuelu composed herself and led Qi Xuansu to Qian Xiangyun’s residence, which was guarded by Spirit Guards so ordinary people could not enter. These Spirit Guards were already used to the tirelessness of high-ranking Daoist priests. Under special circumstances, it was not unusual for them to go days without rest. So it was not surprising that an investigation was still underway at this hour.

Qian Xiangyun’s residence was quite large, with pavilions, towers, pools, rock gardens, pines, orchids, plum trees, and bamboo. She even kept a white crane, indicating that the former Deputy Mansion Master had refined tastes. However, with her escape, all of this had been reclaimed by the Yuhuang Palace. The white crane seemed to sense that its master would never return. It huddled in a corner, listless and dispirited.

Zhang Yuelu was quite familiar with the place and led Qi Xuansu straight to Qian Xiangyun’s study.

The Daoist study rooms were generally similar in layout. Perhaps because Daoists valued craftsmanship, they tended to have antique shelves and cabinets that were sometimes not filled with books, but with items that Confucians would deem unnecessary trinkets. For instance, Zhang Yuelu’s study featured a model of an ironclad battleship.

Qian Xiangyun’s study did not even have bookshelves. Instead, it was lined with multiple antique display racks, each holding cannon models of various sizes. The largest was the size of a human head, and the smallest was no bigger than a palm.

This reminded Qi Xuansu of a story that circulated within the Daoist community.

Once upon a time, a heretic shrine ran rampant, so the local Daoist priest brought people to eradicate it. Thinking himself capable, the shrine keeper tried to negotiate with the Daoist priest, proposing a magical duel to determine the victor. If he won, the Daoist priest had to leave him alone. A crowd of ignorant men and women jeered in support, eager to see whose magic was stronger. The Daoist priest responded simply, asking the Spirit Guards to surround the shrine and fire cannonballs at it.

After all, private duels were a privilege for Daoist kin. Who was he to ask for one? Thus, the Daoist priest leveled this shrine without a second thought.

The moment the cannons roared, the foolish crowd scattered like birds, only to be stopped by the Spirit Guards and forced to watch as the shrine was destroyed and the shrine keeper was shot down. The followers were sentenced to three months of labor as punishment.

Afterward, the Daoists gathered the innocent townspeople and gave a customary lecture on the dangers of heretic shrines. “You may choose not to believe in Daoism, as we do not force anyone. But you absolutely must not worship heretic shrines. If discovered, you will be punished severely.”

They then gave each person half a kilogram of millet as consolation. People feared power more than they respected virtue. Whether this was righteous or not was debatable, but it certainly was effective.

Qi Xuansu walked up to one of the antique racks and carefully examined the cannon models.

Daoists had a particular fondness for ships and firearms, just as the people of the Golden Horde favored horses and bows.

In the past, it was the age of horses and archery. Now, it was the era of ships and firearms.

The cannon models were extremely realistic. One even had a pullable cord designed to simulate firing.

Zhang Yuelu adjusted the direction of several cannon models, then pulled the cord of the firing model. The hammer struck the firing pin, and a flash of light shot from the barrel, striking another cannon model on a different display shelf.

The second model was not designed to be triggered, since it had no pull cord. Yet after being struck by the light, it also emitted a similar flash from its barrel, hitting a third model on yet another shelf.

This sequence repeated. The lights interlaced until finally, all the beams converged on the largest cannon model.

That final cannon also emitted a flash of light, but instead of hitting another model, it triggered the opening of a permanent Yin-Yang Gate.

“What an ingenious method! How did you discover this?” Qi Xuansu was in awe.

Zhang Yuelu replied, “It wasn’t actually that hard. Displaying so many cannon models was a bit too deliberate, so I thought it was suspicious. I just had to find the one that stood out and test different configurations.”

Zhang Yuelu made it sound easy, but Qi Xuansu felt he probably would not have been able to solve such a puzzle himself.

Qi Xuansu asked, ”Have you been inside?”

“I have.” Zhang Yuelu nodded. “It’s a large underground palace, so I didn’t explore too deeply. I used a compass to determine my location and found that it was still within the boundaries of Yuhuang Palace, just underground. There are no other paths connecting it to the surface, and the only access is through the Yin-Yang Gate. That’s likely why it has remained undiscovered for so long.”

“You’re brave. Weren’t you afraid of getting trapped inside?” Qi Xuansu asked with a hint of reproach.

Zhang Yuelu pursed her lips. “If I were to suddenly vanish in the Yuhuang Palace, the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion would definitely launch a full-scale search. Based on my last known whereabouts, Qian Xiangyun’s residence would be the focus. There are countless experts in the Daoist Order, so finding the underground palace and getting me out wouldn’t be difficult.”

Qi Xuansu had to admit that Zhang Yuelu’s reasoning was quite thorough.

Zhang Yuelu said, “After we go in, the Yin-Yang Gate in the study will close. But there’s another mechanism on the other side to open it again, so there’s no need to worry about being trapped.”

With that, she stepped in first.

Qi Xuansu followed behind.

Passing through the Yin-Yang Gate, the scene before them changed. Just as Zhang Yuelu had described, they found themselves in a vast underground palace. The two stood in a corridor. Behind them was a dead end, but the wall bore the outline of a door, resembling a relief. That must be the Yin-Yang Gate to exit.

The two walked forward along the corridor, which ended in a spacious hall.

Zhang Yuelu said, “When I came here last time, I made a preliminary inspection. This place wasn’t built in the current dynasty, nor in the previous one. It bears a distinct style of the Golden Horde.”

After the Li family’s Qi Dynasty was the Zhao family’s Jin Dynasty. Then the Golden Horde briefly took over the Central Plains, followed by the Xu family’s Wei Dynasty, and now the Qin family’s Great Xuan Dynasty.

The Golden Horde’s rule over the Central Plains was 500 years ago.