A Pawn's Passage

The heist was set for Friday, but Qi Xuansu needed to conduct reconnaissance in advance.

Although Qi Xuansu was now a respectable figure who had entered high society, in the past, he had been a wandering Daoist and was no stranger to petty tricks and underhanded dealings.

This did not hinder Qi Xuansu’s rise within the Daoist Order. After all, in an era that promoted equality, one was not to be judged by one’s origins. At times, humble origins had instead become a mark of praise.

If given a choice, Qi Xuansu would certainly prefer to become Grand Master through his own efforts rather than by virtue of his lineage.

Of course, bloodline was still valued. The Li family was the prime example of this. They constantly promoted hereditary succession, intent on becoming the emperors of the Daoist Order. Quite a number of people genuinely accepted this system, revealing a deeply ingrained servility.

Qi Xuansu’s Jianghu life had not passed so long ago that it was close to being forgotten. All of these Jianghu methods had been taught to him by Madam Qi herself.

Although he had not done such things for a long time and was somewhat rusty, his current cultivation level was a lot higher than before, which actually made things easier.

If Sophia’s residence were not so close to St. Francis Church, it would have been even easier.

Sophia’s residence occupied a considerable area. It was a typical Western-style mansion. Compared to residences of the same rank in the Central Plains, it was much smaller in land area and had a simpler structure, essentially a courtyard with a three-story building, appearing fairly conventional. After all, Sophia could not possibly build an expansive estate in the most prosperous part of the Central District, where land was extremely valuable.

Since surface space was limited, the solution was to make use of the underground.

According to Qi Xuansu’s observations, the visible guards were not a concern. They were mainly there to stop ordinary people. The plainclothes detectives from the Reckton Detective Agency handled the outer perimeter. Although they had undergone alchemical augmentation, their strength was still insignificant before Qi Xuansu’s Pseudo-Immortal incarnation. Their main function was to alert the rest to incoming danger.

Qi Xuansu could easily bypass these visible guards and plainclothes detectives without any difficulty.

The security inside the residence was handled by Colt Company’s Steam Enforcers, which came in different models. The ones Qi Xuansu had encountered previously were merely standard guard models. But those assigned to protect the Chairman were higher-tier and more powerful personal guard models.

For Qi Xuansu, destroying them was not difficult. The challenge was doing so without alerting the Patriarch. This required finesse.

At this moment, the long-unseen Madam Wu appeared again. “If you ask me, I’d recommend burning everything to ashes and then fighting your way out. Kill whoever stands in your way!”

Qi Xuansu nodded in agreement. “That is indeed an option. Even if I fail and I’m smashed to dust by the Patriarch’s descending palm, it won’t affect me much. I’d just lose an immortal object. So it’s nothing too serious.”

“You brat!” Madam Wu was left momentarily speechless.

Qi Xuansu laughed. “If I were Tantai Yun, I would definitely choose that approach. I’d crush this mansion with one stomp and punch down every floating island. Unfortunately, I’m not her.”

Madam Wu said, “Tantai Yun became an Immortal before 40 without relying on external help. The Holy Xuan had external aid and had already reached immortality at your age. You’d better hurry up. You’re not exactly young anymore, but you’re not even a Pseudo-Immortal yet. How can you even dream about becoming the Grand Master?”

Qi Xuansu fell silent for quite a while before slowly saying, “You really set high standards and strict demands for me. Listening to you, it sounds like attaining immortality and becoming Grand Master is as natural as getting married and having children.”

While the two bantered, Qi Xuansu used his Thought to sweep across Sophia’s residence from afar, reconstructing its entire layout in his mind.

At the same time, he detected certain restrictions that prevented his Thought from penetrating downward.

This should be where the key was stored. Qi Xuansu might have been able to break through those restrictions, but it would certainly alert Sophia, so he chose not to force it.

In addition, Qi Xuansu made an unexpected discovery. He found another abandoned underground chamber, which appeared to have originally been a wine cellar.

This gave Qi Xuansu an idea. He asked Madam Wu, “Madam Wu, since we share perception, you must have sensed that underground restriction as well. My Diviner lineage isn’t quite there yet. Do you have a way to break the restriction without getting noticed?”

Although Madam Wu was constrained by innate limitations and unable to reach immortality, she had not wasted her long years. Time had granted her many other abilities, so much so that she could be considered a polymath, knowledgeable in nearly everything.

Moreover, judging from her methods, she leaned more toward spells, particularly fire spells.

Madam Wu thought for a moment before replying, “When you break that restriction, hand over control of your body to me—complete control.”

Qi Xuansu emphasized, “I don’t want a brute-force breakthrough. I mean dismantling it silently without alerting anyone.”

“I know,” Madam Wu said confidently. “Don’t forget, I spent many years in the Western world, so I’m familiar with their tricks. It’s nothing special.”

“Good,” Qi Xuansu said, putting his mind at ease.

He had already figured out a way to infiltrate Sophia’s residence.

By Friday, Qi Xuansu concealed his form and stood atop a tall building, watching from afar as Sophia departed her residence in a luxurious carriage. Then, he leaped from the rooftop. The instant he touched the ground, he sank into the earth and vanished.

This was the most widely used technique among the Five Elements Escape Methods—the Earth Escape Method. In Western terminology, it was called the Stone Walk Spell.

Using the Earth Escape Method, Qi Xuansu entered the abandoned wine cellar he had previously discovered.

This cellar had no direct connection to Sophia’s underground chamber. There was still a considerable distance between them. It was completely sealed, surrounded on all sides by earth. Long ago, there must have been a passage leading to the surface, but for some reason, it had been buried and blocked, eventually becoming a sealed, abandoned cellar.

Since it was abandoned, it lacked protective magic and restrictions, allowing Qi Xuansu to enter it easily using the Earth Escape Method.

This was an unexpected find from Qi Xuansu’s earlier scan of Sophia’s residence. It was from this discovery that his plan had taken shape.

Qi Xuansu’s idea was to dig a tunnel from this abandoned wine cellar to the underground chamber beneath Sophia’s residence.

A Pseudo-Immortal like Qi Xuansu’s Liberation Incarnation could easily turn stone into mud and even reduce soil into fine powder, eliminating the need to transport excavated earth.

Neither Sophia nor the local Patriarch would ever imagine that a Pseudo-Immortal would stoop to such dirty work as tunnel digging.

Qi Xuansu pressed both hands against the wall. In an instant, the soil before him turned into fine powder, and a smooth tunnel, like one carved by flowing water, appeared before him.

He walked to the end of the tunnel and repeated the process, opening another section.

The plainclothes detectives, the Chairman’s guards, and the Steam Enforcers above ground remained completely unaware.

Qi Xuansu bypassed them with ease.

Soon, Qi Xuansu arrived outside Sophia’s underground chamber. After clearing away the soil, he saw walls made of a special metallic material, engraved with various arcane symbols.

Beyond this wall lay his destination. All of Sophia’s security measures at the entrance of the underground chamber had become meaningless.

“Madam Wu, the rest is up to you,” Qi Xuansu said, handing over full control of his body to her.