A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1371: The Northern and Southern War (III)

Qi Xuansu and Huangfu Ji met again, still discussing the matter of the traitor.

“Great Sage Gong has given me orders to mislead the Evangelical Ministry through intelligence. After thinking it through, there’s only one way. We’ll find this spy without alerting them, then use him to send messages back to mislead them,” Qi Xuansu said.

Huangfu Ji immediately understood. “You mean to turn their own plan against them and work in reverse. By sending false intelligence through the spy to Joseph and Robert, it’ll mislead their judgment and conceal our real strategy. This is excellent! If done well, it’ll save tens of thousands of troops.”

Qi Xuansu nodded. “But the prerequisite is to identify the spy.”

As he spoke, he placed a list on the table. “These are the suspects filtered out by our joint investigation.”

Huangfu Ji had been focused on logistics lately—shells today, supplies tomorrow, and medics the next. He barely had time to pay attention to internal affairs, so it was his first time seeing the list. He scanned it and pondered. “Many of them are familiar faces. They’re all veterans of the Western Daoist Order.”

Qi Xuansu said, “Only then can they stay hidden.”

Huangfu Ji examined the names. Though he was known as a fierce and aggressive figure, he was far from reckless or foolish.

Qi Xuansu did not interrupt. Huangfu Ji knew these people better, and his judgment would be more accurate.

At that moment, Madam Wu appeared before Qi Xuansu again, visible only to him. She looked bored out of her mind. “I thought following you to the battlefield would mean burning down enemy camps. But here you are, stuck in a room reading files all day. What a waste of your cultivation!”

Qi Xuansu replied, “The Westerners have a term called the war machine. It’s quite fitting. We’re all just components in this massive machine, each serving our role. If one part tries to break away or work against the system, there will be consequences. It will either get crushed, or the entire machine fails.”

“You always have a way with words. No matter how you spin it, you’re right. If you weren’t a Daoist, it’d be a loss to the Daoist Order. Luckily, you are one,” Madam Wu said sarcastically.

Qi Xuansu remained unfazed. “Thank you. That’s the highest praise a Daoist could receive.”

After a moment, Huangfu Ji said, “At this stage of the war, the Holy Court won’t be able to sit still much longer. The most important thing in the world is money, and war burns money the fastest. Their strategy is to pour in endless money. They may not care about lives, but they certainly care about their Gold Pounds and Crowns. They’ll use this spy soon, if they haven’t already, to break through from within.”

Qi Xuansu said, “That’s exactly what I was thinking. This is our opportunity.”

Huangfu Ji said slowly, “Since we’ve narrowed the suspects down this far, let’s set a trap and catch them off guard.”

“What kind of trap?” Qi Xuansu asked.

Huangfu Ji replied, “Simple. We’ll use the method of elimination. Feed each suspect different intelligence, and whichever one the Holy Court reacts to, that person is the spy. The intelligence is all real. If they’re loyal, it’s not truly a leak. The spy can only leak one piece of intelligence, but it’s worthwhile if we can catch the one who turned Hun Chowen.”

Qi Xuansu thought for a moment. “It’s worth trying. But someone capable of connecting the Holy Court with Hun Chowen must be extremely cunning. They may not fall for it. We must avoid framing innocent people, too. What if they see through our plan and shift the blame to someone else?”

Huangfu Ji said, “This only identifies the target. We’ll still conduct deeper investigations afterward. No innocent person will be wronged. Each piece of intelligence is given to only one individual and must remain strictly confidential. If you and I were both suspects, and I were the spy, I would only know my own intelligence, not yours, so how could I frame you? But if I knew your intelligence, then you’d already be the leak. That’s no injustice.”

Qi Xuansu nodded. “That works. But the leak of intelligence must be done carefully. It can’t feel forced. We have to make the act convincing.”

Huangfu Ji smiled. “People in this line of work are all master actors, so leave it to them.”

This was the advantage of leadership. They could set the direction, and others would figure out the execution. As they say, they only cared about results.

The two discussed late into the night, mainly deciding what intelligence to leak.

It could not involve core secrets, like the Great Sage’s main offensive direction. Otherwise, the act would fail after the spy was exposed. The goal was to mislead the Holy Court’s strategy. But trivial intelligence would not be enough to bait such a big fish. It had to be something substantial.

Since it involved the Western Daoist Order, Qi Xuansu could not push too hard as an outsider. In the end, Huangfu Ji made the decision.

The intelligence covered many areas, like defense, supplies, personnel, the Daoist Order’s movements, and ammunition reserves.

The next day, Huangfu Ji carefully organized the plan, assigning tasks in separate batches to different individuals to ensure no overlap.

Afterward, Huangfu Ji said to Qi Xuansu, “Now we wait. Under normal circumstances, this cunning old fish wouldn’t act easily since our bait might not be enough. But now, the Holy Court is under financial pressure and pushing for a quick victory, so they’ll pressure him. Even if he doesn’t want to act, he’ll have to. This is our chance.”

Over the next two days, nothing happened. Qi Xuansu and Huangfu Ji did not sit idly. They continued their investigations and did not place all their hopes on catching that big fish.

On the fourth day, the Holy Court finally made a move.

The Holy Court launched an attack on a Tawantin armory, dispatching three flying crafts to carpet-bomb the site. The place turned into a sea of fire because the bombing triggered internal explosions within the armory. The entire facility erupted into a mushroom-shaped cloud of black smoke.

An armory held vast amounts of ammunition. Its destruction made defense far more difficult and aided the Holy Court’s siege. Burning supplies had always been a classic tactic. Often, wars were lost because the soldiers ran out of food and ammunition.

Huangfu Ji was greatly encouraged. Comparing the intelligence, he quickly narrowed down the suspect.

Her name was Du Juanzhi, a third-rank Youyi Daoist within the Western Daoist system. While not low-ranking, she was far from the true upper echelon and well below the Pseudo-Immortal level. It was hard to imagine that someone like her had bridged Hun Chowen with the Holy Court.

Qi Xuansu reviewed her file, which included a portrait. She looked ordinary, not particularly attractive. She was dull, taciturn, and somewhat withdrawn, not at all socially adept.

If Qi Xuansu had investigated alone, he likely would not have suspected her, at least not immediately. This showed that Beichen Hall and Juesheng Hall were highly competent. They had not overlooked an ordinary woman during the narrowing process. In the end, Huangfu Ji’s elimination method exposed her.

Huangfu Ji also inquired about casualties and losses at the armory. The loss of equipment couldn’t be recovered, but the wounded had to be treated well, and the dead properly compensated.

As for whether these casualties were caused by his plan, Huangfu Ji did not care.

Casualties were just numbers. He cared only about achieving the optimal outcome with the least loss.

If the spy was not exposed, there would be more deaths and losses in the future. By using this elimination method, Huangfu Ji had already accepted that some would be unlucky casualties.

It was true that the merciful could not command an army.

At that moment, fleeting visions appeared before Qi Xuansu again.

To this day, Qi Xuansu still had not understood how the Guizang Lantern worked. It seemed entirely random.

This time, what he saw was the future, but it had nothing to do with him. It concerned Huangfu Ji.

In the vision, Huangfu Ji had clearly aged. His short beard had grown long. A sword was embedded in his chest, piercing straight through his heart.

Yet Huangfu Ji appeared completely unfazed, his expression calm.

Another man, who was severely wounded, had been captured by Huangfu Ji’s attendants and forced to kneel. But the wounded man held his head high, cursing Huangfu Ji and accusing him of betrayal. If not for Huangfu Ji, his brothers would not have died under Western bombardment. He had come today for revenge.

Only then did Huangfu Ji recall the “fishing” operation from years ago. But he remained indifferent.

War always claimed lives. When the main force retreated, those left behind to clean up the mess rarely survived. Was that truly betrayal?

Once war began, anyone could die. Even Huangfu Ji himself had nearly died at Joseph’s hands. How could a man who did not value his own life possibly value others’?

Huangfu Ji reached for the sword hilt in his chest and pulled it out. Since it had not damaged his body spirits, the wound healed rapidly before the naked eye, leaving no trace.

He tossed the sword aside. “Let him go.”

The vision ended abruptly.

Qi Xuansu came back to his senses, feeling a tinge of emotion.

Once, he too had been such a powerless nobody. That was why he refused to accept it. He followed Madam Qi’s advice, abandoned the freedom of Jianghu, and entered the rigid hierarchy of the Daoist Order.

Everyone knew the sorrow of being insignificant and wanted control over their own fate.

That was why everyone strove to climb upward.