A Pawn's Passage

In a certain sense, Zhang Yuelu was not suited to being a “tool” because she had too many ideas of her own. She was firm and unyielding, preferring to follow her own approach.

Qi Xuansu was the opposite. His background meant he did not have many ideas of his own, most had been instilled in him by others. This made him well-suited to being a “tool.” One could just give him a problem, and he would solve it. As such, he was often able to complete tasks efficiently, from Wuxing Mountain to Poluo. Moreover, he did not mind being both the black glove and the white glove, which meant that he could be flexible when necessary. Regardless of whether such methods were right or wrong, Qi Xuansu was certainly more likable than Zhang Yuelu.

Due to this, both Sage Donghua and Sage Qingwei were fond of using Qi Xuansu and continually entrusted him with important responsibilities.

A tool most often ended up doing the hard work while others took the credit. But for various reasons, Qi Xuansu avoided this fate. Each time, he received the credit he deserved. As a result, he was no longer merely a tool but gradually accumulated enough capital of his own.

Since tools were not supposed to have any thoughts, they did not have the concept of betrayal or loyalty. The key was in how they were wielded. An axe could chop wood, but if one accidentally swung it onto one’s own head and killed oneself, one could not say the axe betrayed them. One could only blame oneself for using the axe poorly.

Since Qi Xuansu was treated as a tool, one should not expect him to offer loyalty in return. He could be loyal to the Daoist Order but not necessarily to any specific individual.

Sage Qingwei had learned this the hard way. On the battlefield of Fenglin Continent, Qi Xuansu had been very useful. But at the critical moment of the final battle in Yomi-no-Kuni, Qi Xuansu did not indulge Sage Qingwei and simply acted as he saw fit.

Qi Xuansu was merely a tool. If Sage Qingwei could use him, so could the Heavenly Preceptor and the Earthly Preceptor. It all depended on whose hands he was in.

The Earthly Preceptor also treated Qi Xuansu as a tool, which was what drove Qi Xuansu to seek answers in the Lingshan Paradise.

If a ruler treated a subject as their own limbs, the subject would treat the ruler as their heart. If a ruler treated a subject as disposable, the subject would not stay loyal to the ruler either.

Thus, Sage Donghua had already changed his approach and proposed to take Qi Xuansu as his disciple. That way, Qi Xuansu was no longer a tool but a successor of the Donghua lineage. In return, Qi Xuansu would have to pledge his loyalty.

When Qi Xuansu returned to Jade Capital to report on his duties, he would need to give Sage Donghua a clear answer.

Moreover, this report was not just about responding to Sage Donghua. Qi Xuansu would also have to report his work in detail to Sage Qingwei, after which Sage Qingwei and the Golden Tower Council might make adjustments based on his performance during this period.

In other words, if Qi Xuansu failed to produce results and performed poorly, he might not be able to hold onto his position as Chief Deputy Beichen Hall Master.

At the beginning, Sage Qingwei did somewhat appear to be asking Qi Xuansu for help. That was because Qi Xuansu’s past performance had been outstanding. Every task assigned to him had been completed properly. This was his greatest value, and Sage Qingwei hoped to make use of it.

In other words, Sage Qingwei wanted Qi Xuansu to solve his problems. If Qi Xuansu could not solve them, then his greatest value would cease to exist. If so, Sage Qingwei could move to the next plan and use this failed mission as a pretext to suppress him.

In short, before Qi Xuansu took on the role of Chief Deputy Beichen Hall Master, he held the initiative. But after assuming that position, he shifted to a passive position.

In truth, Qi Xuansu initially had no clear plan. The scale of the Western Daoist Order was evident. While it might not rival the four great powers—the Great Xuan Court, the Zhengyi Sect, the Taiping Sect, and the Quanzhen Sect—the fact that it could support the Tawantin Empire meant it was not much weaker.

The three major powers within the Western Daoist Order roughly corresponded to a slightly weaker Heavenly Preceptor, Sage Cihang, and a stronger Zhang Jucheng.

Asking Qi Xuansu to mediate the conflicts among these three figures and their respective factions was extremely difficult, even with the powerful Daoist Order backing him. He did not even know where to begin. So instead of going directly to the Southern New Continent, he went to the Northern New Continent first.

His trip to the Northern New Continent did not disappoint.

If Audrey’s intelligence was accurate and there truly was a traitor, then this provided Qi Xuansu with a fairly good point of entry.

However, Audrey would not reveal this information easily. Her body was highly unusual, capable of withstanding the descent of a fallen apostle and even deceiving it. The vessel had to appear indistinguishable from a living human on the surface. With such a special body, soul-searching techniques and bewitching spells would not work on her.

Thus, Qi Xuansu had only one option. He would have to agree to her request to obtain the intelligence. Then, he would use this list of traitors as a point of entry and intervene in the internal affairs of the Western Daoist Order.

He had no way of removing the fallen apostle’s corruption for now. But once he reached the Western Daoist Order or returned to Jade Capital, there would be plenty of experts and plenty of methods to deal with it gradually. The most important thing was to get Audrey out of St. York and free her from Sophia’s control.

To do so, Qi Xuansu needed to consider several issues.

First, how strong was Chairman Sophia’s control over Audrey? Could she track Audrey precisely? Even if Audrey fled thousands of kilometers away, would Sophia still know her location? Or was there a limit to this tracking ability? If such tracking existed, could it be interfered with or blocked?

Second, what exactly was this Steam Power Core? When Qi Xuansu heard about it, his heart skipped a beat, as it reminded him of his own Longevity Stone Heart. If Sophia could shut down Audrey’s Steam Power Core, then how could Qi Xuansu flee with the dead weight that was Audrey’s body? Audrey would have to be able to move freely on her own in order to flee the Northern New Continent.

Third, even if Qi Xuansu solved the first two problems by blocking the tracking and ensuring Audrey could move freely, the disappearance of such a famous actress would quickly be noticed. Sophia would certainly not let it go and would launch a full-scale search, possibly even alerting the Holy Court.

This was Sophia’s territory, so Qi Xuansu needed to plan a proper escape route to evade pursuit, preferably with a backup plan.

Fourth, what about the aftermath? Qi Xuansu could not allow the identity of Dutch Vanderlind to be connected to Audrey Ale’s disappearance. After all, Dutch was a friend of Josiah Strauni, and the two were seen attending an Upper District banquet together. If it were believed that Dutch had abducted Audrey, Strauni would also be implicated. Qi Xuansu had to ensure Strauni’s safety, erase all traces, and guarantee that nothing could go wrong.

These problems had to be solved one by one.

Qi Xuansu first questioned Audrey about the tracking and the Steam Power Core, only to realize that these were essentially the same problem.

According to Audrey, Sophia could indeed track her location, which originated from the Steam Power Core. If Qi Xuansu could sever the connection between them or obtain the key Sophia used to control the core, then both problems would be solved at once. Sophia would neither be able to locate Audrey nor immobilize her.

“So, how do we obtain that key?” Qi Xuansu asked.

Blocking it was certainly doable, but not by Qi Xuansu himself. He would have to get help from the Daoist Order. However, that would take time, which he did not have. So, it seemed like he would have to resort to stealing.

Qi Xuansu said, “Based on common sense, something this important would usually be carried on the person, perhaps stored in a Space Bag. But stealing a Space Bag from Sophia would be even harder than killing her.”

Audrey replied, “This key is quite special, so Sophia can’t carry it with her.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “What exactly is it?”

Audrey said, “Although I have never seen it myself, I have heard descriptions of it. It’s supposedly massive, large enough to occupy an entire room. It’s also connected to various pipes and wiring, so it can’t be stored in a Space Bag.”

Qi Xuansu frowned. “If this key is so large, then how am I supposed to take it?”

“Why take it? Why not destroy it?” Audrey observed Qi Xuansu’s expression. “Sir, is it because you wish to control me?”

Qi Xuansu remained expressionless. “Miss Ale, you’re overthinking it. Once you arrive in Jade Capital, we will remove the Steam Power Core from your body and replace it with a Daoist artificial heart to sustain your life. But we would like to study this Steam Power Core to understand its technology, which is why I still hope to obtain this key. It’ll be beneficial for our future research.”

Audrey smiled faintly. “Sir, you are thinking a bit too far ahead. I believe we should first deal with the immediate problem. If we can’t leave St. York, then none of this will have any meaning.”

Qi Xuansu nodded. “Very well, I will consider it. I believe that with your help, we will solve this problem. Let’s end our discussion here for today. By the way, this will be our last meeting in St. York. I hope our next meeting will be somewhere on the Southern New Continent. Tomorrow, I will arrange for someone else to contact you.”

“Someone else?” Audrey asked, slightly uncertain. “Are they reliable?”

Qi Xuansu said, “Yes, he’s as reliable as my own limbs. His name is Hosea Matthias.”