A Pawn's Passage

Upon entering the Earth Palace, the first sight that greeted them was a towering statue of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor.

Wang Jiaohe circled the statue from the left, while Qi Xuansu passed from the right.

The two entourages surged forward like two tides, and the statue stood like a rock between them, splitting the waves neatly into two halves.

Once they passed the rock, the stream merged again as one.

Since there were many participants, the meeting was held at the assembly hall, which was shaped like a rectangle. One side was open, serving as the entrance. Directly opposite it were the seats for the Mansion Master and Deputy Mansion Masters, facing south. On either side of the hall were two rows of chairs, facing each other and angled toward the main seats in front.

As everyone entered, the Mansion Master and Deputy Mansion Masters took their places at the main seats, while the aides moved to the left and the Spirit Guards to the right.

Chen Shuhua sat on Wang Jiaohe’s left, close beside him. Qi Xuansu took the seat to his right. However, a vacant chair lay between them, as it was reserved for Great Sage Lan.

Even though Great Sage Lan could not attend, his seat had to be kept empty as a gesture of respect and protocol.

After everyone was seated, Wang Jiaohe opened the session with a few formal remarks as the Mansion Master. It was the usual rhetoric about the importance and necessity of this council, nothing more than ceremonial platitudes.

Then came the main agenda. Since Qi Xuansu had been the one to propose this council, he would speak first.

Qi Xuansu swept his gaze across the room before speaking. “The agenda of this meeting is simple. It’s a matter often discussed yet never truly resolved—the secret societies. Since the Holy Xuan rebuilt the Daoist Order, these secret societies have remained the gravest affliction upon us. In their most dauntless days, seven Ancient even dared to storm Kunlun Paradise. Over two centuries, some have ascended, and others have fallen. Today, only three Ancient Immortals remain active. They are the target of worship for the infamous Three Secret Societies. Among the three, the more depraved and unrestrained ones were the Lingshan Witch Cult and the Cult of Fates.

“I happened to have crossed paths with these two secret societies more than once. When the flying ship crashed at the Kunlun Mountain Pass, I was there. When the Yinglong Warship fell in Cuowenbu, I accompanied Sage Cihang to the scene. During the second major Jiangnan case, True Lord Siming had descended upon Jinling Prefecture, where I became a firsthand witness. I’ve seen their methods and their madness, so I know full well how far they will go.

“This time, these two secret societies have plotted a heinous crime right under our noses in Thanglong Prefecture, using the Southern Dragon Qi to secretly forge two divine-descent vessels.

“It is an atrocity beyond imagination. Had those two Ancient Immortals descended together within the city, Thanglong itself would have been doomed. How would we have explained that to the Golden Tower Council?

“Thankfully, Great Sage Lan has discovered their schemes in time and struck swiftly to destroy both vessels, salvaging the situation.”

This set of facts had two interpretations.

One could say that Great Sage Lan had been negligent, failing to detect the Ancient Immortals’ discreet movements in time, thus allowing the current crisis to unfold. But one could also say he had been vigilant, discovering the scheme swiftly and acting on it even faster to restore order before disaster struck.

The first interpretation was a fault, while the second deserved a merit.

It all depended on how the story was told.

Since Qi Xuansu was in the same boat as Great Sage Lan, he would naturally speak from the old man’s standpoint. In doing so, he was defending himself as well.

The Great Sage was credited for salvaging the situation, discovering the plot in time and turning the tide. But the investigation had been conducted by Chen Jianchou, who had been tasked to do so by Second Deputy Qi. Thus, Great Sage Lan earned the primary merit, while Qi Xuansu could rightfully claim an assist.

At this point, no one could afford to oppose Qi Xuansu.

There was no point in claiming that Great Sage Lan had failed to discover the plot sooner, as it would implicate the entire Daoist Mansion. Therefore, anyone belonging to the Poluo Daoist Mansion had no choice but to embrace the second narrative, that Great Sage Lan had acted swiftly and contained the threat.

In other words, the secret societies were simply too cunning. Their schemes were impossible to guard against. If even the Golden Tower Council and Donghuang could not prevent the invasion of Kunlun Paradise back then, how could a regional Daoist Mansion be blamed for failing to do so?

Instead, the Poluo Daoist Mansion’s timely discovery and intervention had prevented a catastrophe. They had turned fault into redemption and misfortune into merit.

It was a case of spinning loss into triumph.

Qi Xuansu did not particularly enjoy such political games, but the situation demanded them. He had to purge the rot within the Daoist Mansion without tearing it apart, while still maintaining a semblance of unity and balance. Put plainly, he needed to win allies to stand against Wang Jiaohe.

If he were to condemn the Daoist Mansion as a whole, labeling everyone negligent and culpable, he would offend the entire group. If so, who would stand beside him? How could he confront Wang Jiaohe’s power alone?

To achieve anything, one must choose the right approach. But to unite those who could be swayed, he had to make compromises.

If Sage Qingwei could compromise for the greater good of Fenglin, then Qi Xuansu had to do the same for the greater good of Poluo. There was no other way around it.

Who in life could truly do whatever they pleased? Even the sixth-generation Grand Master ascended early, proving that every path had its trade-offs.

After finishing his monologue, Qi Xuansu paused and scanned the hall once more.

The expressions around him were relieved. Few expected to earn any real merit from this, but not being faulted was a merit in itself.”

Qi Xuansu continued, his voice steady. “For that reason, Great Sage Lan sustained some injuries and is now recuperating in seclusion. Before he sealed himself away, he entrusted me to temporarily fulfill part of his duties. That is why I have declared martial law after consulting with Mansion Master Wang and Chief Deputy Chen. This would prevent the two secret societies from striking back with another ambush.

“Before I speak of the two secret societies, I wish to talk about my aborted inspection tour. Since it ended midway, I only visited two places. The first was the Lion City of the Jawa Kingdom, the very heart of Nanyang’s trade. I’m sure all of you have been there before and know it well, so I’ll spare the details. The second stop was the Phnom Penh Prefecture of the Funan Kingdom. I went on a disguised visit, and what I saw there was utterly shocking.”

As Qi Xuansu finished his sentence, Ke Qingqing had already begun adjusting the image recording stone, while attendants lowered a screen near the entrance of the hall.

Soon, the projection flickered to life before everyone’s eyes. It was evident that the footage had been taken from a concealed angle, as the view trembled and jolted, as if recorded hastily in the midst of chaos.

Since Ke Qingqing could not possibly keep the image recording stone active at all times, each clip was brief, yet more than enough to convey the gravity of the scene.

As the images unfolded, the faces in the hall grew increasingly grave.

One clip showed a thug grabbing Qi Xuansu by the collar. Seeing this, someone in the audience slammed the tea table beside them in indignation.

When the footage ended, Qi Xuansu resumed speaking. “In the span of a single day,

I encountered multiple secret societies one after another. Though these smaller cults may not directly threaten the Daoist Mansion, many of you have said before that we would need the Golden Tower Council’s help to lead the effort in purging Nanyang of the secret societies entirely. That way, all Daoist Mansions could coordinate on a grand scale. But that is no excuse for us to turn a blind eye to these smaller cults. If we continue to ignore them, our Daoist Mansion will begin to rot from within.”

He gave no one time to interject as he continued, “These secret societies act with such arrogance, flaunting their crimes in broad daylight. Frankly, we might as well drop the word ‘secret’ altogether. So, I decided to seek out the local superintendent to ask what was happening. But that revelation shocked me yet again.

“I waited in a local Daoist temple for the entire night. At dawn, the superintendent finally appeared, but he reeked of alcohol and was barely able to stand. When I asked where he had been, he said he had spent the night reading Buddhist sutras, which actually meant drinking and womanizing. With such a man overseeing affairs, how could the secret societies not run rampant in the region?

“Just yesterday, a respected Old Sage heard some rumors and came to ask me what had happened. I showed him the evidence from that day, and the Old Sage was furious, saying that young Daoists these days have no morals, disgracing the Daoist Mansion. I told him that it isn’t merely a question of morals but a violation of Daoist law. It must be dealt with severely.”

By this point, Zheng Jiaohe’s face had darkened completely.

Qi Xuansu drew a brief conclusion. “In any change of circumstance, external causes merely trigger events, while internal causes are the true driving force behind them. Applied to the secret societies, the external cause is their unbridled aggression, while the internal cause is the negligence of governance. Worse still, some among us are even colluding with these secret societies, allowing them to become so rampant.

“Now, bringing this back to the two secret societies and Thanglong Prefecture. If there is a corrupt, complacent superintendent in Phnom Penh Prefecture, could Thanglong Prefecture be the same? Are there none among the Deputy Mansion Masters like him?”

Qi Xuansu finally revealed his key point. The preceding buildup was all argumentation, designed to prove his point, leaving no room for people to refute.

By now, anyone could tell Second Deputy Qi’s real intent was not what it appeared to be. Using the pretext of the secret societies, he was actually pointing the finger at the Daoist Mansion’s organizational structure.

Wang Jiaohe did not rush to speak. He merely thought that Qi Xuansu was indeed a formidable opponent. It was a pity that Qi Xuansu was not part of the Wang family, as this young man would have been a valuable asset.

As soon as Qi Xuansu finished, Xu Jiaorong spoke up immediately. “Great Sage Lan has always regarded the secret societies as a grave problem and insists they must be suppressed. The difficulty is the scope. We cannot damage maritime trade, and we must consider the stances of other nations. We need an opening, and we need a coordinated and comprehensive action plan. I believe what happened in Thanglong Prefecture is a highly suitable opening for us to launch a full-scale assault against the secret societies. After all, we must first clean up our doorstep before we can address the rest.”