A Pawn's Passage

They finally reached the deepest part of the warehouse. Seeing that the area where those women were held was right ahead, Steward Chen thought he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. But just then, someone suddenly cried out, “W-What is that?!”

This was the deepest part of the dungeon. Since there were only a few prisoners left, the lighting was dim. The ceiling above was two stories high, so the upper area was shrouded in darkness. If one did not deliberately look up, it was nearly impossible to notice anything above.

Following the sound, Steward Chen lifted his head and saw one hanging figure after another.

These were the people who had vanished earlier.

Steward Gao—the one who vanished after taking a single punch—was the first hanging corpse, followed by Old Zhou, Xiao Luan, and the others. All of them were bound by thin, ribbon-like strips of paper rope, dangling from the dungeon’s high ceilings and swaying gently.

Before joining the Nanyang United Trading Company, Steward Chen had been a seasoned man of the Jianghu, believing himself hardened by countless storms. However, he could not stop trembling at the sight before him.

His legs shook uncontrollably, and his knees went weak, nearly unable to stand. He tried to speak, but his throat was dry, producing only a few hoarse croaks.

One could imagine the state of the others if the leader, Steward Chen, were like this. Some of them could no longer even stand and collapsed onto the ground from fright.

None of them saw even a shadow, so they did not know whether it was a Heavenly Being or a thousand-year-old ghost haunting them.

But seeing their colleagues strung up like puppets shook them to the core.

However, most of these men were Jianghu desperadoes, the kind who lived life on the edge. Terrified to the extreme, one of them lashed out in anger and cursed loudly, “You gutless bastard! All you do is sneak around like a rat! If you’ve got any balls, come out and fight me! I’ll fucking skin you alive, motherfucker! Show yourself, shameless mutt!”

Steward Chen wanted to stop him, but it was already too late.

A long, thin strip of paper that was only a finger thick descended from above and moved as if it was alive, wrapping around the man’s neck before tugging him upward.

The foul-mouthed man was lifted into the air like the others before him. However, Xiantian Beings were tenacious; strangling alone could not kill him. His legs thrashed wildly, like a dying fish.

After a few moments, his struggle weakened, and he finally went still. However, no one could tell whether he was dead or unconscious.

The remaining men instantly fell silent, frightened into utter submission.

The unseen enemy was killing openly before everyone’s eyes, and yet, not a single trace could be perceived.

Steward Chen grew even more fearful. He no longer had any thought of killing or silencing the slaves. All he wanted to do at this moment was to flee this place as quickly as possible.

He looked at the others and saw that every face was ashen. All of them had been deeply horrified.

Just then, the mysterious paper butterflies from earlier fluttered back from nowhere, gathering in the air to form two sentences. “Those who flee die. Those who surrender live.”

Steward Chen’s mind raced. He shouted to his group, “Don’t fall for it! It’s only one person. If we split up, we can still escape!”

As soon as those words left his mouth, three men immediately bolted, each fleeing in a different direction.

They had been scared witless, so all they could think of was escaping. There was no time left for coherent thought.

The dungeon’s layout was like a chessboard, with crisscrossing passageways and many branching paths. Even if a dozen people fled in different directions, there was more than enough room for them to spread out.

Then, the butterflies that formed the words suddenly scattered, splitting into three swarms that darted forward at astonishing speed. They swarmed over the three fleeing men and clung to their bodies. In an instant, the three men were trapped in paper cocoons.

Although Steward Chen had yelled for everyone to flee, he himself had not moved one bit.

Seeing what had happened, all remaining color drained completely from Steward Chen’s face.

The others who witnessed this scene fell into utter despair. With a metallic clang, someone dropped their weapon.

As if triggering a chain reaction, everyone else dropped their weapons as well and

knelt on the ground with both hands raised high in surrender.

Elsewhere, Steward Sun fared only slightly better, because they at least saw their assailant—Zhang Yuelu. That way, they would at least know who killed them.

A Banished Immortal was already the foremost among the Five Immortals, and Zhang Yuelu was a Wuliang-stage one. Though they boasted having dozens of Xiantian Beings on their side, their cultivation levels varied wildly.

Steward Sun was at the Guizhen stage, but most others were only at the Kunlun or Yuxu stages, which were hardly worth mentioning, especially before Zhang Yuelu. Even if they stood shoulder to shoulder to form a human wall, they would not survive a single blow from Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu resorted to such theatrics only because she feared someone might slip through the net and flee. After all, capturing dozens of men alive by herself still required a bit of effort.

Once Zhang Yuelu revealed herself, she did not waste a single word and immediately unleashed Six Void Tribulations.

Anyone she touched—even through their own weapons—instantly froze, unable to move. Within moments, they all collapsed onto the ground.

Only Steward Sun remained. He spun around and fled without hesitation, only for Zhang Yuelu to flick a finger, breaking his leg instantly and sending him crashing to his knees.

After finishing all of this, Zhang Yuelu opened her Daoist License and used its voice transmission function to contact Qi Xuansu. “Tian Yuan, send your men to No. 23, Yuwei Street in the Central District. I’ve prepared a big gift for you here.”

On the other side, Qi Xuansu was entertaining a guest—Xie Jiaofeng, the Deputy Mansion Master of Tianfu Palace.

His late-night visit was not because he wished to have a heart-to-heart chat with Qi Xuansu. It was only because he wanted to patch things up regarding the daytime assassination attempt. He wanted to explain himself a little and hoped that Sage Qi would not take it to heart.

Qi Xuansu truly did not care about the assassination attempt much, but he wanted to appear as if he cared.

After all, he had instructed Chen Jianchou to say what he did during the welcome banquet with the purpose of forcing Xie Jiaofeng and Qin Hengjun to take a stance.

Just as the merchants had deduced, Xie Jiaofeng and Qin Hengjun were now firmly in Qi Xuansu’s grasp and had no choice but to cooperate. Otherwise, if Qi Xuansu chose to make an issue of this, neither of them could escape responsibility for the assassination attempt.

Such was the intricacies of officialdom—one must seize every exploitable opportunity to turn passivity into initiative. There were blessings within misfortune, and vice versa.

Qi Xuansu deliberately said that Deputy Mansion Master Xie need not worry and that they could investigate slowly. But his demeanor did not seem unconcerned. Thus, Xie Jiaofeng grew doubtful, suspended in uncertainty. Since he could not read Qi Xuansu’s true intentions, he could only follow the path Qi Xuansu had already laid out.

After all, Qi Xuansu had seized his weakness. Qin Hengjun, who reported to the Imperial Court, still had one layer of protection. But Xie Jiaofeng was a Deputy Mansion Master, so there was no way he could not escape from Qi Xuansu’s grasp.

This gave Qi Xuansu an idea. If a similar situation arose in the future, he could stage this show himself—placing himself in the role of the wronged victim to claim the moral high ground and earn sympathy, thereby breaking stalemates. In a sense, this was a self-injury stratagem.

However, such a scheme should be reserved for true desperation. He would have to weigh the pros and cons first.

If this assassination had succeeded, all would be over. But since it failed, it immediately became a weapon for Qi Xuansu to turn the situation around. Likewise, if the self-injury stratagem was used well, it would grant him moral authority. If used poorly or if he was exposed, he would suffer tremendous backlash.

After receiving Zhang Yuelu’s voice transmission, Qi Xuansu said to Xie Jiaofeng, “Deputy Mansion Master Xie, I just received news from my people that they have destroyed an illegal slave-trading den.”

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Xie Jiaofeng’s mind. Sage Qi has already begun his counterattack? Was it aimed at the Heavenly Court?

In truth, Xie Jiaofeng also believed that the Heavenly Court was the most likely culprit.

There were some Jianghu rumors about the Heavenly Court’s Feng Bo bearing a grudge against Chief Deputy Qi. Feng Bo once attempted to assassinate Qi Xuansu right outside Wuxu Palace and managed to cut off his arm when he was still comparatively weak.

There was also gossip that Li Tianzhen harbored affection for Second Deputy Zhang but could never obtain her favor. However, seeing that Chief Deputy Qi and Second Deputy Zhang were preparing their new marital residence and the Zhang family was said to be preparing the dowry, Li Tianzhen must surely be sour about it. Naturally, Li Tianzhen would hate Qi Xuansu for stealing his wife.

Since the Heavenly Court was undoubtedly a vassal of the Li family, it was entirely plausible that Li Tianzhen ordered the Heavenly Court to assassinate Chief Deputy Qi.

If Xie Jiaofeng could think of it, then Qi Xuansu certainly could as well. Thus, it was entirely reasonable for Qi Xuansu to wish to retaliate.

However, Qi Xuansu’s second sentence immediately overturned Xie Jiaofeng’s assumption. “Apparently, this den is connected to the Nanyang United Trading Company.”

Xie Jiaofeng thought, Chief Deputy Qi is truly admirable for putting state affairs and public duty before personal grudges.

After all, everyone knew Chief Deputy Qi had come for Mansion Master Wang.

Qi Xuansu’s next sentence was, “Deputy Mansion Master Xie, what do you think?”

Xie Jiaofeng was instantly stunned. As a seasoned old fox, he naturally heard the hidden meaning behind Qi Xuansu’s words. Qi Xuansu was forcing him to take a stance, questioning who he would stand with—Chief Deputy Qi or Mansion Master Wang?

From Xie Jiaofeng’s perspective, the situation was still unclear. Chief Deputy Qi seemed to hold the advantage, but Mansion Master Wang’s foundation was deep and decades-old. It was still far too early to conclude who would win or lose in this game.

Under such circumstances, taking a stance rashly would be extremely unwise. Even though Xie Jiaofeng belonged to the Pei faction, and Qi Xuansu had close ties with the Pei family, making them natural allies, he still had no desire to be used as Qi Xuansu’s blade. He also did not want to be pushed to the front line against Wang Jiaohe. After all, a blade used to chop people would eventually become dull.

However, he could not refuse to answer either.

Backed into a corner, Xie Jiaofeng said, “Although I’m not from the Shibo Hall and don’t know much about business matters, I must at least offer a view since you have asked for my opinion. I have previously exchanged thoughts with many colleagues regarding the Nanyang United Trading Company and consulted others familiar with the situation. However, I truly do not understand these Western commercial terms, so I still cannot provide any constructive ideas or opinions. After all, as I said earlier, I am not from the Shibo Hall.”

Qi Xuansu laughed. “What on earth are you driveling about?”