A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1360: Adaptability

Qi Xuansu did not contact Sage Qingwei in Audrey’s presence. Only after she had left did he use the Cloud Message to reach out to Sage Qingwei.

The connection was quickly established. There was no image, only voice. Qi Xuansu spoke first. “Secretary Shen, this is Qi Xuansu.”

On the other end was Shen Yuqing, Sage Qingwei’s secretary. “Greetings, Chief Deputy Qi. Sage Qingwei has been waiting for your message. Please hold. I will inform him immediately.”

Qi Xuansu replied politely, “Thank you, Secretary Shen.”

Soon, Sage Qingwei’s voice came through. “Tian Yuan?”

“Greetings, Sage. This is Qi Xuansu,” he said, his tone becoming solemn.

Sage Qingwei’s voice was gentle, making it hard to associate him with the terrifying figure who controlled the Daoist Order’s hidden forces. “I presume you have brought me good news this time.”

“Your insight is remarkable, Sage,” Qi Xuansu said flatteringly. “It is indeed good news, though not entirely. I assume you are already aware of the Western Daoist Order and Tawantin Court massing troops at the border, as well as the destruction of the Evangelical Ministry’s headquarters by Juesheng Hall.”

“I have read the report,” Sage Qingwei replied calmly. “You shouldn’t be blamed for this. No one anticipated the emergence of a traitor. Moreover, you eliminated the traitor in time and prevented greater losses. This sets a good example for the correct course of action. As for accountability, aftermath handling, and rectification, those are matters for later.”

Qi Xuansu said, “That is correct. However, I anticipate that the Holy Court will launch an offensive soon to take vengeance. Great Sage Gong’s stance is firm. He is willing to go to war.”

Sage Qingwei remained noncommittal. “What’s your opinion?”

Qi Xuansu replied, “War is acceptable, but it must be controlled in scale. We need a proper justification.”

“Have you found such a justification?” Sage Qingwei asked.

“I have,” Qi Xuansu explained. “There is a traitor among the Tawantin army’s high ranks, causing leaks of classified information. This makes launching a full-scale war inadvisable. However, the exact identity of this traitor is still unclear, and there is no concrete evidence yet. We can only confirm his existence.”

“This reason is indeed sufficient, but it cannot be based on speculation. What are the specifics?” Sage Qingwei questioned.

Qi Xuansu said, “Not long ago, I reported to headquarters that I brought someone out of St. York. She is a member of St. York’s upper society and happened to obtain intelligence about this traitor. In exchange, she asked me to take her out of the Northern Continent. She has just informed me about the traitor, and I had Deputy Lu verify it. It matches her account. We can preliminarily narrow it down to one of two high-ranking generals, who are brothers. However, we still cannot determine which one specifically, and we lack concrete evidence.”

There was a brief silence on Sage Qingwei’s end.

Qi Xuansu also fell silent, organizing his thoughts in preparation for Sage Qingwei’s next questions.

“Is there a possibility of a counterintelligence scheme here?” Sage Qingwei’s voice broke the silence. “What if the Holy Court deliberately released this information to mislead us? Or what if this woman is their pawn?”

Qi Xuansu remained calm and replied, “I have considered that possibility, but I believe it is unlikely.”

“Explain your reasoning,” Sage Qingwei said.

Qi Xuansu said steadily, “If this were a counterintelligence scheme by the Holy Court, it would mean they had full knowledge of my movements. But my trip to St. York was top secret. Only you and I should have known. Based on subsequent developments, the Holy Court was clearly unaware of my existence, at least not in advance.

“Furthermore, this woman is connected to the fallen apostle and the Philosopher’s Stone, similar in nature to Chen Shuhua’s creation of the Longevity Stone. I personally witnessed these rare materials, which can’t be faked. Using her for a counterintelligence scheme would be far too costly.

“After I took her away, the Northern Continent’s reactions were entirely genuine. They attempted interception at all costs, which can’t be easily staged. Unless the Holy Court could foresee everything, that she would definitely escape to the Southern Continent and reveal this information to us, and deliberately planted false intelligence in advance. That is practically impossible.”

Sage Qingwei acknowledged his reasoning. “The problem now is the lack of concrete evidence, and time does not allow for a slow investigation.”

Qi Xuansu said, “Exactly. If we delay this, we won’t be able to stop the Western Daoist Order from escalating the situation.”

Sage Qingwei did not respond immediately.

Not wanting to bear the responsibility alone, Qi Xuansu asked directly, “I would like to request your instruction, Sage. Can we treat this as a special case under special circumstances?”

This was not private communication using their licenses. In theory, Qi Xuansu had contacted the Beichen Hall headquarters, which was why Secretary Shen Yuqing answered first, which meant it would be recorded. The Cloud Message system was managed by the Tianji Hall, which was within the Quanzhen Sect’s purview, so it was not something Sage Qingwei could easily erase.

If Sage Qingwei agreed, then if anything went wrong later, both he and Qi Xuansu would share responsibility.

If Sage Qingwei refused, then Qi Xuansu could not later be blamed for missing an opportunity.

This was precisely why Qi Xuansu dared to ask such a question. Ultimately, Qi Xuansu belonged to Sage Donghua’s faction, so if things took an ugly turn, Sage Donghua would step in to protect him. Others like Lu Yujue of the Taiping Sect relied on Sage Qingwei fully, so they naturally could not use procedural rules against him.

Rules and procedures only mattered when there were people to uphold and balance them. Without enforcement, they were nothing more than empty words on a paper.

Sage Qingwei did not evade the question, “We must prioritize the bigger picture, so special measures can be taken in urgent circumstances. But how exactly do you plan to proceed?”

Qi Xuansu deliberately paused for a moment. This was not hesitation, but a deliberate pause to signal the complexity of the situation. “Should we deliberately alert the enemy by disturbing their den?”

Sage Qingwei showed interest. “Continue.”

Qi Xuansu suggested, “We can pretend that information was accidentally leaked, creating the illusion that we already have solid evidence and have identified the target, preparing to make an arrest. This would pressure the traitor into fleeing. Once he chooses to flee, it’s essentially a confession. By then, whether we have evidence becomes irrelevant.”

Sage Qingwei countered, “What if he doesn’t flee?”

Qi Xuansu replied, “If he doesn’t flee, we proceed to the final step. We detain and isolate both suspects for investigation despite lacking solid evidence. This will certainly cause dissatisfaction. People will accuse us of framing the innocent and may even stir unrest within the military. But it will also give the Daoist Order a reason to prevent the Western Daoist Order from escalating the situation. It’s choosing the lesser of two evils.”

Sage Qingwei fell silent for a moment before giving his approval. “You may proceed.”

The communication ended.

Qi Xuansu sat alone for a while, contemplating the plan to lure the traitor out.

Relying solely on Beichen Hall would not be enough. They would need the cooperation of Juesheng Hall.

The key lay in Huangfu Ji, whether he prioritized the greater good or his personal objectives. Or rather, whether his “greater good” aligned with Qi Xuansu’s.

Huangfu Ji was undoubtedly a radical, often willing to take risks. But he was not reckless. Radicalism did not mean blind action. Given that the high-level spy truly threatened Tawantin’s security, Huangfu Ji would not remain indifferent. Moreover, the Huangfu and Gong families did not share entirely aligned positions.

With this in mind, Qi Xuansu decided to test Huangfu Ji’s stance and once again contacted Lu Yujue.

“Chief Deputy Qi, what instructions do you have?”

Qi Xuansu said, “Compile a case file regarding the attack on the Cusco armory. The more detailed, the better. Deliver it to me by 5 PM at the latest.”

Lu Yujue obliged. “Understood, Chief.”

By evening, Qi Xuansu took the file and went to visit Huangfu Ji once again. This time, accompanied by Audrey.

Huangfu Ji was no fool. Seeing this, he immediately understood that Qi Xuansu had business to discuss. He dismissed everyone else and deliberately said, “I’ve long heard that Chief Deputy Qi and Chief Deputy Zhang are a match made in heaven that’s quite enviable. So it’s quite surprising to see you arrive with another beauty, Chief Deputy Qi. What brings you here?”

Qi Xuansu went straight to the point. “Miss Ale has just provided me with critical intelligence. A high-level spy, codename Ape God, has sold multiple classified pieces of information to the Evangelical Ministry, including details about the Cusco armory.”

With that, Qi Xuansu handed over the file that he compiled based on Lu Yujue’s materials and Audrey’s intelligence.

Huangfu Ji’s expression turned serious. He took the file, skimmed through it, and fell into silence.

After a moment, Huangfu Ji finally spoke. “No wonder you went to such lengths to bring this lady out of St. York. Cusco was originally the capital of Tawantin, but because it was too close to the border between the Northern and Southern Continents, a new capital was built for security reasons. Now, Cusco mainly serves as a military stronghold. The fact that the Holy Court could strike such a well-hidden armory and cause massive damage already made me suspicious. I suspected an insider and conducted several investigations. But I never once suspected the Hun brothers.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “What is your opinion, Brother Huangfu?”