A Pawn's Passage

Huangfu Xi knew that Chief Deputy Qi believed in equality.

Equality, however, had nothing to do with respect.

For example, certain powerful figures would despise everyone equally and regard all ordinary people as insects, never making exceptions.

The Daoist Order’s concept of equality was not fabricated out of thin air. It originated from the saying that nature was impartial.

Qi Xuansu certainly believed in equality. He treated every enemy equally, especially those who wanted to kill him. He would not show mercy simply because the enemy was a woman.

One punch followed another. There was nothing fancy about it; only the plain, unadorned fists of a Martial Arts Practitioner.

At first, only the assassin’s head was driven into the ground. Later, her entire upper body was smashed beneath the surface.

Qi Xuansu grabbed the assassin by the neck, yanked her back out, and asked, “What’s your name?”

The assassin gave no response.

Qi Xuansu wasted no words and only followed up with yet another plain and direct punch.

The cycle repeated again and again.

Clearly, Daoist law and regulations did not apply in non-Daoist territory.

The assassin’s aura grew weaker and weaker. It seemed she would die beneath Qi Xuansu’s fists before the poison could even finish her off.

Qi Xuansu’s punches also contained fist intention. Once the force penetrated the body, it damaged not only the flesh but also shook the soul. The Martial Arts Practitioner’s advantage over a Diviner was not a myth.

To Qi Xuansu’s surprise, this assassin was truly stubborn. She simply refused to speak. Her cultivation was even higher than his. Even after being afflicted by the Shebishi Venom, Qi Xuansu had no way to perform a soul search and could only resort to such primitive methods.

Since the fists had proven ineffective, Qi Xuansu had other methods. He directly employed both demonic fire and Red Lotus Karmic Fire. The latter, in particular, was considered the bane of Shamans and was extraordinarily formidable.

Even Madam Wu, a spirit born of fire itself, could not wield this fire.

Having two such divine abilities focused on a single person was no small “blessing.”

This time, the assassin finally broke. In an extremely faint voice, she whispered, “Laduo.”

“What?” Qi Xuansu did not stop immediately.

The assassin replied, “My name is Laduo.”

Only then did Qi Xuansu cease his methods, allowing her a brief moment to catch her breath. “Whose chosen servant are you?”

“Grant me a quick death.” Like a fish out of water, Laduo had no strength left to resist and could only struggle in vain. “Kill me!”

Qi Xuansu said coldly, “Answer my question, and I can grant your wish. My reputation has always been excellent.”

Laduo merely repeated herself. “Kill me.”

Qi Xuansu said nothing further. Once again, demonic fire and Red Lotus Karmic Fire ignited in his hands.

The moment Laduo saw the flames in Qi Xuansu’s hands, fear appeared in her eyes.

Having her soul scorched by these two flames was a fate worse than death. She did not fear dying, but neither did she wish to endure such agony again.

Qi Xuansu always had a vicious streak, but he kept it buried deep within himself. Most of his enemies were members of the Daoist Order, so he could not afford to be this ruthless with them. He even had to display a certain degree of tolerance and benevolence.

This was not a pointless effort. Qi Xuansu’s reputation was fairly good these days; at the very least, it was better than Zhang Yuelu’s. That measured display of leniency had contributed greatly to it.

Under normal circumstances, Qi Xuansu always left room for others and had not truly killed many people. If he were to exterminate everyone without exception, then even if he were technically right, he would ultimately become wrong in the eyes of others. Such actions would genuinely damage his reputation and, in turn, his political career.

A crucial factor was that none of his opponents, Wang Jiaohe included, had ever truly intended to kill him. Whether out of unwillingness or fear of the Golden Tower Council, they had all remained in a state of conflict without crossing the final line. Naturally, everyone left each other some room to maneuver.

But in the New Continent, Qi Xuansu no longer wished to be merciful. These people genuinely viewed him as a weapon. Every one of them wanted to kill with a borrowed knife. They truly wanted him dead so they could use his death as a reason to borrow the Daoist Order’s knife to kill others.

Failing to kill him was one thing. Not wanting to kill him was another entirely.

Such people were anti-Daoists and were no longer his own people. So there was no need for courtesy, nor any need to hold back.

In the end, Laduo could no longer endure it. At last, she spoke. “I am—”

But the moment the words left her mouth, the divine power within her suddenly erupted. Her entire body burst into flames, instantly losing all vitality and luster. She became a corpse, then slowly disintegrated within the flames formed from her own divine power.

Just like that, with almost casual ease, a chosen servant of an ancient god died. Qi Xuansu had neither the time nor the ability to stop it.

Only one being could accomplish such a thing—the ancient god whom Laduo served. Her divine power had been bestowed by that god, so that god held absolute power over life and death.

This level of control was even deeper than the Daoist Order’s control over its Spirit Guards. The divine power used by the Daoist Order was, in a sense, an ownerless divine power that required the Thirty-Three Heavens to regulate. Moreover, a Spirit Guard’s divine power was not directly infused into their body but relied upon their Spirit Guard armor. Thus, at most, the Daoist Order could strip a Spirit Guard of their divine power.

However, the ancient gods were intimately connected to the divine power they bestowed. They could cause that divine power to rebel within a chosen servant’s body and hence destroy them.

Clearly, Laduo’s mission had failed, and she had been silenced permanently.

This was also Qi Xuansu’s greatest advantage. These people dared to assassinate him, but that did not mean they dared challenge the authority of the Daoist Order. Their intention was to frame others. As Qi Xuansu drew closer and closer to the truth, those behind the scenes had no choice but to sacrifice a limb to save the body.

Qi Xuansu stared at the ashes on the ground without any particular anger or frustration. Even if Laduo had said nothing, once he confirmed that she was not Utu, he had already formed a rough idea of the truth.

Utu was a chosen servant of Ixchel. Who could perfectly imitate one of Ixchel’s chosen servants? Probably not even Kukulkan, since their divine authorities were fundamentally different.

As far as the domain of death was concerned, True Lord Siming and Samuel, the Apostle of Death, could accomplish such a feat. However, True Lord Siming did not involve himself in the New Continent. Samuel was active here year-round, but he was confined to Hell. Unlike the ancient gods whose divine kingdoms were attached to the mortal world, Hell was separated by an additional barrier. It was difficult for Samuel’s divine power to penetrate into the world, which made it even harder to create a Pseudo-Immortal chosen servant.

Aside from Ixchel, the Goddess of the Full Moon, there was only one other possibility—Chak Chel, the Goddess of the Stars and Moon, the old crone with tiger claws.

The two had originally been two aspects of a single being before splitting into separate individuals. Their divine authorities remained highly similar, so naturally, their chosen servant would also be quite alike.

If Laduo was a chosen servant of Chak Chel and had been sent by Chak Chel to assassinate Qi Xuansu, then it meant the internal struggle among the ancient gods had already reached a peak where no tactic was considered off-limits. Chak Chel intended to use a fake Utu to assassinate Qi Xuansu, thereby shifting the blame onto Ixchel and provoking the Daoist Order into striking at Ixchel.

This was also connected directly to the disappearance of the Divine Eagle Guards.

When the Divine Eagle Guards vanished, Chak Chel had appeared personally. She warned Tantai Ying that the failed sacrifice had provoked the wrath of the Heavenly God and told her to leave. Chak Chel was likely aligned with this so-called Heavenly God, and that Heavenly God was connected to the Shadow Tide.

It was the humanoid insects who had disrupted part of the sacrificial ritual. Judging from the discoveries at the Hun Manor, the humanoid insects and Utu were allies. They stood opposed to Chak Chel, which meant they were on Ixchel’s side.

Unulatu was likewise one of Ixchel’s people.

With that, the entire affair finally made sense.

First, Laduo slaughtered everyone in the Princess Residence, creating an opportunity for Qi Xuansu to strike at Unulatu, who was backed by Ixchel. Then they sought another opportunity to assassinate Qi Xuansu. Since Qi Xuansu was attacked while targeting Unulatu, she would naturally become the prime suspect. In this way, they could use the Daoist Order’s hand to strike at Ixchel, who stood behind Unulatu.

To achieve this, they even dispatched two assassins—one to the Temple District and one to the Princess Residence. Since they could not determine which Qi Xuansu was the real one, they simply intended to kill them all to ensure success. With the Feathered Serpent God present in the Temple District, they sent the somewhat weaker assassin Long Yazi there, while the stronger Laduo was assigned to the Princess Residence.

The depth of such scheming could not be underestimated.

Unfortunately, there was no concrete evidence. Everything remained Qi Xuansu’s deduction, and the only witness had already been silenced.

It was not as though Qi Xuansu intended to take Chak Chel to court or seek legal redress.

Rather, Qi Xuansu was considering how he would report the matter to his superiors. Deductions and suspicions were acceptable, but they had to be supported by tangible evidence. Reasonable conclusions had to be built upon factual foundations. They could not consist entirely of speculation.

If something went wrong and the Golden Tower Council made a mistaken judgment, Qi Xuansu could not afford to bear that burden. If he presented all available evidence on the table, then even a misjudgment would not be blamed on him.

That was why Qi Xuansu had repeatedly pressed Laduo for answers.

Now that Laduo had been silenced, Qi Xuansu could only place his hopes on several other lines of investigation.

Meanwhile, Hun Ahau and Tantai Ying combined their forces. Huangfu Zhu stayed behind to maintain order, while Hun Ahau and Tantai Ying led the Spirit Guards to arrest Unulatu.

After all, matters had already progressed to this stage. There was no turning back now. Naturally, they would press forward and resolve the Unulatu problem. Even if there were indeed hidden complications behind the scenes, they could only continue down the current path.

Along the way, many of the Northern Palace Guards continued to resist, but they were no match for the high-ranking Spirit Guards and were steadily pushed back.

This was only to be expected. These Spirit Guards were effectively imperial guards as well, but they belonged to Danxiu Mountain. The difference in capability was immediately apparent.

Hun Ahau, a Pseudo-Immortal, was personally leading the charge. Without relying on any external aids, he was actually stronger than Qi Xuansu himself.

Before long, the Spirit Guards had surrounded Unulatu’s palace.

Hun Ahau felt an immense sense of satisfaction. This woman, who had betrayed Chowen, was finally about to pay the price for what she had done all those years ago.

The Northern Palace Guards had two Commanders. One had accompanied Emperor Manu Tancha to the Temple District, while the other was Maranga. At this moment, he stood before the main gate of the Empress’s palace and spotted Hun Ahau at a glance through the crowd.

The two men had long been at odds. When Hun Ahau had been sidelined in the past, Maranga had taken every opportunity to kick him while he was down. Neither had expected the tables to turn so quickly nor that they would meet again under such circumstances.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps echoed from within the palace. A figure slowly emerged. It looked more like a skeleton than a living person, draped in a billowing black cloak and holding a massive, long-handled scythe. Occasionally, glimpses beneath the cloak revealed wrinkled, scaly skin covered in tumorous lesions and black fissures. In some places, white bone was visible, while shriveled muscles still clung to parts of the body.

It was none other than Utu, the chosen servant of Ixchel.