A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1370: The Northern and Southern War (II)

The reason Qi Xuansu appeared in Monclova was due to the case he had previously been leading.

It involved personnel from the Western Daoist Order and was another contest against the Evangelical Ministry.

Following the trail step by step, Qi Xuansu discovered that the Western Daoist was in Monclova, so he personally went over. However, before that, he had gone to Monterrey to meet Great Sage Gong.

On the eve of the great battle, Great Sage Gong’s command center was a scene of intense activity. Communication signals, loud discussions, and hurried footsteps intertwined. When Qi Xuansu arrived, Gong Fu was standing with a group of generals and strategists before a three-dimensional sand table formed entirely by magic.

Seeing Qi Xuansu arrive, Gong Fu was very courteous. He had the strategists leave temporarily and instructed his secretary to serve tea.

Qi Xuansu briefly explained the situation to him.

Great Sage Gong did not limit his thinking to a mere internal traitor. Instead, he looked at the bigger picture. Leading Qi Xuansu to the sand table, he pointed and said, “Monclova lies directly south of Del Rio, while Monterrey is southeast of Monclova. From the map, only Laredo is between Monterrey and San Antonio.

“Like Del Rio, Laredo is split in two by the Rio Grande. Each side occupies half, facing the other across the river. In fact, Laredo is our key defensive direction. The Holy Court’s surprise attack on Del Rio caught us off guard.

“After taking Del Rio, if the Holy Court pushed straight toward Monterrey, they would fall into a pincer between Monclova and South Laredo. On the map, Monclova, Monterrey, and South Laredo form a triangle, a classic pocket formation. Fearing their retreat would be cut off, they dared not charge in recklessly, so they chose to attack Monclova first.

“Right now, the Holy Court is temporarily stalled at Monclova. But passively taking hits is not our style. We must look for an opportunity to break through and counterattack, catching them off guard.”

Qi Xuansu stared at the sand table and said, “If we can cross the Rio Grande and seize Laredo by surprise, we can follow the railway line straight toward the Holy Court’s frontline headquarters at San Antonio.

“But such a large-scale operation would be difficult to keep secret. The Holy Court’s ability to strike Del Rio by surprise relied on their advanced railway transport. Just as the art of war says, they are swift as the wind and sudden as thunder.

“We don’t have such conditions. To take North Laredo, we must reinforce South Laredo first. As the saying goes, before the army moves, supplies must go first. With such large-scale troop movements and logistics, it’s nearly impossible to avoid detection by the Holy Court.”

Gong Fu gave Qi Xuansu an approving look. “You’re right, Tian Yuan. Concealing our strategic intent is difficult. But if it were easy, there would be no need to discuss it here. The Holy Court has struck us with speed like the wind and force like thunder. In response, we must not only be immovable like a mountain but also unfathomable like the shadows. I’ve thought it through. This requires two approaches. One is how to disguise and act in a way that deceives the Holy Court’s eyes, which I’ll handle. The other is to mislead the Holy Court through intelligence and divert their attention. I hope to entrust that part to you.”

Qi Xuansu fell silent for a moment, then nodded. “Understood. I will complete the task.”

......

Meanwhile, the two cardinal priests had just finished their discussion.

Robert Abraham was mainly responsible for battlefield command. He came from a noble background. According to Western aristocratic custom, the eldest son inherited the title and built achievements, while the second son entered the Holy Court to become a cleric. Robert had originally been meant to inherit the title, and his family had high hopes for him, training him in military skills from a young age. However, by a twist of fate, he entered the Holy Court in place of his brother and, relying on his strong military abilities, earned great merit, eventually rising to become a cardinal priest.

He was known as the War Bishop within the Holy Court.

Milton, on the other hand, led the Evangelical Ministry. Although it was nominally under Cardinal Joseph’s authority, Milton actually managed its day-to-day operations.

Robert’s instincts were sharp. He sensed that the Tawantin Empire was about to make a move, and various signs indicated that its main forces were far from powerless. Thus, he demanded that Milton determine with certainty the direction of Tawantin’s main force and clarify their true strategic intent.

In addition, the Holy Court’s advance stalling at Monclova made him uneasy. If possible, he intended to change tactics and attempt a flanking maneuver.

Milton, however, was quite confident. “Although Ape God has been exposed, we still have a trump card, codename Cuckoo.”

Robert was skeptical. Recently, the Evangelical Ministry’s performance had been disappointing. Though they had turned Sun Zhongnu and achieved notable results, he was quickly silenced. This even cost them a cardinal deacon. Then their headquarters was bombed by the Western Daoist Order. At first, they had made bold claims of capturing the Lotus Seat, but it ended in a mess. Instead, their own leaks led to the capture of Ape God.

Under such circumstances, it was hard for Robert to trust the Evangelical Ministry’s capabilities.

Milton clearly sensed Robert’s distrust but could not address it directly, so he explained, “Ape God cooperated with us because Cuckoo acted as the intermediary. Cuckoo has been dormant longer than Ape God and is even more deeply hidden. At this critical moment, we intend to activate Cuckoo.”

Robert pondered for a moment, then agreed. “This is the critical moment. If we defeat Tawantin in this battle, Cuckoo will no longer need to remain hidden.”

......

When capturing Hun Chowen, Qi Xuansu had already mentioned to Huangfu Ji that there must be an intermediary linking him with the Holy Court and that this spy needed to be eliminated.

Huangfu Ji agreed.

The Juesheng Hall and Beichen Hall immediately launched an investigation. However, Hun Chowen had chosen a path of no return and refused to speak, which made the investigation more difficult.

But they were no amateurs. They still managed to uncover clues and gradually narrowed down the list of suspects.

This happened to overlap with another task Qi Xuansu had assigned.

Earlier, due to ideological issues within the Tawantin Empire, Qi Xuansu had ordered strict inspections, tracing the matter all the way into the Western Daoist Order itself.

With both investigations intersecting, the suspect’s range narrowed even further.

Based on the investigation results, Qi Xuansu preliminarily concluded that the traitor within the Western Daoist Order had also been transferred to Monclova along with personnel movements.

Thus, Qi Xuansu personally came to Monclova to continue the investigation.

At that very moment, Zhang Yuelu contacted Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu briefly explained the situation to her. “As long as we can root out this traitor, we can make something of it. It’s still too early to say who will win or lose.”

Zhang Yuelu felt relieved.

As long as the war in the Southern New Continent did not spiral out of control, Qi Xuansu’s merits would still place him far ahead of the Three Daoist Prodigies, including Zhang Yuelu herself.

In a sense, Qi Xuansu was similar to Great Sage Jiang. Both were neutral and were capable of solving problems. Wherever emergencies arose, major matters were assigned to Great Sage Jiang, and minor ones to Qi Xuansu. This had become one of the few shared understandings among the three Daoist sects.

This time, Great Sage Jiang should have been the one to come, but he could not leave, so Qi Xuansu had to step in temporarily. Yet Qi Xuansu performed well. Thus, it could not be said that Qi Xuansu relied solely on background. His current position was the result of many factors. If he could not solve problems and instead created them, then even if Madam Qi were the Grand Master, she could not promote him.

The greatest advantage of his backing was that it gave Qi Xuansu a relatively fair environment. His merits would not be swallowed by superiors, nor would he be deliberately suppressed. It ensured that those above knew of his existence and gave him opportunities, with Madam Qi stepping in personally when necessary. Whether he could seize those opportunities and achieve merit depended entirely on Qi Xuansu himself.

Zhang Yuelu was not overly worried about Qi Xuansu’s safety. After all, with Madam Wu protecting him, he would be able to escape even if things turned ugly on the battlefield.

This was also a tradition between the Northern and Southern Continents. In earlier times, the commanding leaders would fight first. The most notable one was the divine war between apostles and ancient gods. Later, however, both sides grew somewhat indifferent. Since they could not truly kill each other, expending such effort felt pointless, like performing tricks for show. They simply stopped fighting directly and engaged in mutual deterrence and restraint, competing in strategic resolve while letting the armies below conduct the actual war.

Whichever side lost would quickly retreat.

Two Immortals might be evenly matched, but if one side had tens of thousands of troops in support, the balance would shift. These were not mere ordinary soldiers. They included elite forces like the Steam Unit, the Three Yin Beings, as well as the Diviner Corps and many others. Naturally, the scales would tip.

Even an Immortal would find it exhausting to face off against multiple Three Yin Beings.

Thus, in wars between the North and the South, high-level figures generally managed to preserve their lives.

This had little to do with status and more with cultivation level. Even if high-ranking figures led charges personally, they usually remained unharmed. The ones who died were still ordinary soldiers.

After the war began, the Patriarch had returned to St. Francis Church in St. York, while Tantai Zhenxiao remained at Danxiu Palace on Danxiu Mountain. The two engaged in a distant contest of composure, seeing who could remain steadier and more patient. Meanwhile, actual battlefield command was handled by their respective second-in-commands, Joseph and Gong Fu.

Neither Joseph nor Gong Fu was confident of defeating the other. Thus, one stayed in San Antonio and the other in Monterrey, both focusing entirely on military command.

With these two overseeing matters, Pseudo-Immortal forces on both sides found it difficult to carry out sneak attacks and could only exert themselves on the frontal battlefield.

However, this did not mean that they would never face off against one another. If Gong Fu could lead his army to the gates of San Antonio, the two Immortals would inevitably be forced into direct confrontation.