A Pawn's Passage

The Moon Mirror had a limit to how much it could bear and could not allow two Immortals to pass through it. Otherwise, Great Sage Jiang and the Heavenly Preceptor would not have needed to take separate routes to reach the Paititi pocket realm back then.

It was the same this time. After Madam Wu became an Immortal, Great Sage Jiang returned the same way he had come. Madam Wu could not follow him through and had to remain in the Southern Continent. But Madam Wu did not mind that. She simply decided to return to Jade Capital together with Qi Xuansu.

With Madam Wu once again by his side to protect him, Qi Xuansu returned Moon in Water to her.

Madam Wu effectively held dual status, being both a veteran of the Daoist Order and the Western Daoist Order. Thus, when her news reached Danxiu Mountain, the Western Daoist Order decided to hold a 3-day celebration for Madam Wu at the Danxiu Palace.

In fact, this was the normal practice. Whenever someone attained immortality, there would be celebrations. This was especially true for an Immortal who was not deeply embroiled in a power struggle, as there was even more reason to celebrate, and it was much easier for everyone to reach a consensus on doing so.

Sage Donghua, Sage Cihang, and Sage Qingwei were all deeply embroiled in the power struggle, standing almost at the very center of the storm. Furthermore, the three had attained immortality at nearly the same time, which somewhat canceled out the impact of their individual advancement. More importantly, none of the Three Heirs had even brought up or publicly announced their attainment of immortality. As such, there could be no talk of celebrations.

That was an exceptional situation. By Qi Xuansu’s generation, the gaps between them had already become obvious. They were no longer advancing neck and neck, nor could their achievements cancel each other out. Whoever became the first to become an Immortal would inevitably publicize it far and wide and celebrate it on a grand scale, building momentum and creating widespread influence before the election for the eight-generation Grand Master.

It was not until Qi Xuansu left the Paititi pocket realm that he learned what had happened to Zhang Wuyue. By then, two days had already passed since Huangfu Ji sealed off New Port.

Qi Xuansu immediately connected the matter to what was happening in Nanyang. Their frontal assault against Zhang Yuelu had made little progress and failed to break through, so they had decided to take a roundabout approach from the flank, hoping to open a breach through Zhang Wuyue.

Fortunately, Huangfu Ji was highly experienced and reacted extremely quickly, immediately bringing the situation under control.

Qi Xuansu did not allow his concern to cloud his judgment. He first contacted Nanyang to find out how the situation there had developed. He did not ask Zhang Yuelu directly because she always liked to report the good news while keeping the bad news to herself. Her intentions were good, but sometimes, it interfered with Qi Xuansu’s judgment. It was simply Zhang Yuelu’s style.

Thus, Qi Xuansu reached out to Xu Jiaorong.

Xu Jiaorong spoke implicitly, because many things could not be said over open communication, as someone could easily use it as evidence against them. Xu Jiaorong merely said that Great Sage Lan had spoken with Mansion Master Yao, then recounted the proceedings of the Daoist Mansion Council to Qi Xuansu.

Through this, Qi Xuansu already understood what had happened. Perhaps Zhang Yuelu had resorted to some means of her own, or perhaps the Zhang family had exerted its influence, but they had successfully forced Yao Shu into a compromise. The Poluo Daoist Mansion formed a united front against outside pressure, so it was now extremely difficult for the Taiping Sect’s frontal offensive to make any further progress. They would inevitably have to maneuver around from the flank.

Qi Xuansu arrived at roughly the same conclusion as Huangfu Ji. What happened with Zhang Wuyue had probably been set in motion long ago. From the moment that woman asked for a house in Jade Capital, the kid had already fallen into someone else’s trap. It simply had not been revealed at the time, as they were waiting for the critical moment to play this card.

They really had Zhang Yuelu to thank for this. As soon as she discovered what was happening, she immediately put a stop to Zhang Wuyue’s actions. It was not because Zhang Yuelu had seen through the scheme at the time. She simply had stronger principles and would not allow her cousin to engage in such shady dealings.

Had it been someone else, they might have thought it was no big deal, turned a blind eye, and continued indulging Zhang Wuyue. Then, when the Xie Jiaofeng incident erupted with Zhang Wuyue still in Lion City, that would truly have been an irredeemable disaster.

After all, it was Xie Jiaofeng who had arranged Lion City’s business for Zhang Wuyue.

It was a fact that Zhang Yuelu had sternly reprimanded both Zhang Wuyue and Xie Jiaofeng and ordered Zhang Wuyue to shut down his company. This actually cleared her of involvement, proving that she had neither spoken to Xie Jiaofeng on Zhang Wuyue’s behalf nor issued any written approval. This was also one of the reasons Fengxian Hall had been unable to pin this on Zhang Yuelu. They could only use Yao Shu as their mouthpiece to insist that Zhang Yuelu bore responsibility for failing to oversee her subordinate.

Conversely, if Zhang Yuelu had not stopped Zhang Wuyue at the time and had simply let him do as he pleased, Fengxian Hall could have raided Lion City while Zhang Yuelu was away and arrested Xie Jiaofeng and Zhang Wuyue in one fell swoop. They would have been caught red-handed.

An investigation would then reveal that Xie Jiaofeng had personally approved Zhang Wuyue’s business, while Zhang Yuelu had done nothing to stop it. By then, whether through coercion or inducement, Xie Jiaofeng could be pressured into turning on Zhang Yuelu and claiming that he had acted under her instructions. At that point, Zhang Yuelu would not be able to absolve herself.

This time, it truly was a case of good deeds bringing good rewards.

If Zhang Yuelu had compromised her principles even slightly or gone just a little easier on Zhang Wuyue, she truly would have fallen into their trap, and the situation would have been far worse than it was now. There would have been no point even talking about forcing Yao Shu into a compromise.

Instead, the incident had now become evidence in Zhang Yuelu’s favor. The official document ordering the closure of Zhang Wuyue’s company still existed, proving that Zhang Yuelu neither showed favoritism nor sought personal gain. As long as nothing happened to Zhang Wuyue, Xie Jiaofeng’s actions could simply be attributed to his own attempt to curry favor with his superior, having acted on his own initiative without any involvement from Zhang Yuelu herself.

This also taught Qi Xuansu a lesson that a person without desires would always stand upright.

Of course, Qi Xuansu deserved some credit as well. He was the one who had taken Zhang Wuyue to the Southern Continent, which had been completely beyond Li Tianzhen’s expectations.

That was precisely why, when plotting conspiracies, one should never string together too many beads. The more beads strung together, the greater the risk. If even one link went wrong, all the beads might scatter across the floor. The shorter the process of a conspiracy, the better. The fewer links involved, the better. The best schemes were one-shot affairs, relying on two things above all else—secrecy and speed.

Those schemes involving twist after twist were not actually feasible at all. They were like acrobatics, flashy and impressive to watch, but on a real battlefield, they were a sure path to death. What a battlefield demanded was coordinated movement and obedience to orders, not how many fancy flourishes one could perform with a sword or spear. Conspiracies were the same. There was no need to obsess over subtle clues stretching across a thousand miles or schemes laid out decades in advance. There were simply too many variables. What mattered was to be steady, precise, and ruthless.

In this regard, Zhou Mengyao was the perfect cautionary example. She had planned to cultivate Qi Xuansu as part of a long-term scheme spanning at least 20 years. In her envisioned scenario, when Qi Xuansu finally learned the truth, he would undoubtedly be shocked, but by then, it would already be too late to change anything. Alternatively, Qi Xuansu might never discover the truth for the rest of his life.

Yet the plan had barely reached its halfway point when Qi Xuansu already sensed that something was wrong and fell out with Zhou Mengyao. There had been so many variables that even Zhou Mengyao could not cope with them all. Madam Qi was a variable, and the Heavenly Preceptor was another. Little Yin, the Guizang Lantern, True Lord Ziguang, the Western Daoist Order, and Great Sage Jiang were all variables as well.

When Zhou Mengyao first laid out her plans, she certainly could not have imagined that she would end up fighting a great battle against Qi Xuansu over the waters of the Southern Continent. Perhaps in her original vision, their final showdown should have taken place at the summit of Jade Capital. Yet as one variable piled upon another, events somehow took this bizarre turn instead.

Even Zhou Mengyao could not keep such a long-term conspiracy under control, let alone anyone else.

The Earthly Preceptor could perhaps manage it, but she must have relied on methods of foreseeing the future to continuously adjust her strategy and eliminate variables. Even now, Qi Xuansu still had not figured out what exactly the Earthly Preceptor intended to do.

Without the Earthly Preceptor’s methods, it was far more realistic to stick to simple, one-shot schemes.

After Qi Xuansu learned the specifics of the situation, he sought out Hun Ahau and Utu and summoned Huo Ling back. Qi Xuansu did not speak harshly to them, nor did he truly treat the Pseudo-Immortals as his servants. Instead, he humbled himself and asked them for a favor. He asked them to cooperate with Sage Huangfu and help find his good-for-nothing brother-in-law.

It was tedious work, requiring them to search through the area bit by bit like a needle in a haystack. More importantly, they had to ensure Zhang Wuyue’s safety. It would be best if they could capture the kidnappers alive.

Since Sage Qi had humbled himself to ask them personally, they had to respond in kind. They all assured Sage Qi that he could rest easy and that they would do everything they could.

Sage Qi had shown them respect, so naturally, they had to return the favor.

Qi Xuansu thanked them and did not remain idle himself. After making a brief appearance at the banquet held especially for Madam Wu, he personally joined the search party as well.

Qi Xuansu and Huo Ling were both at the Zaohua stage, while Hun Ahau and Utu were Pseudo-Immortals. Once these four entered the hunt, the end was near for those Taiping Sect kidnappers.

It took only one day for Utu to locate the Taiping Sect members’ secret hideout. Although the hideout was protected by a formation capable of blocking large-scale detection spells, Qi Xuansu had resorted to a simple but painstaking method—searching the area bit by bit and crossing each searched location off the map. Utu happened to be lucky, as his search route took him directly over the secret hideout. At such close range, no formation could conceal it from him.

Utu personally made his move, casting a spell that instantly plunged the kidnappers into panic. He then passed through layers of earth and corroded the formation before unfurling his divine domain in the secret hideout.

At this moment, Utu, dressed in black robes and wielding a scythe, could almost be mistaken for the Apostle of Death, Samuel.

Amid their terror, the kidnappers barely managed to collect themselves and tried to resist. Unfortunately, the disparity in cultivation between them and Utu was simply too great. Utu trapped them within his divine domain, leaving them in a state little better than the humanoid insects in the southern rainforest.

Thus, Utu not only rescued Zhang Wuyue safely but also prevented the kidnappers from escaping.

Upon receiving the news, Qi Xuansu went to the Western Huasheng Hall branch in New Port, where he saw the still unconscious Zhang Wuyue.

Zhang Wuyue was placed in a suite at this time. Like a physician delivering difficult news, Utu pulled Qi Xuansu out of the ward and into the small sitting room outside.

He spoke with some concern, “Sage Qi, I hope you can prepare yourself for what I am about to tell you.”

“What is it?” Qi Xuansu’s heart sank.

Utu said, “Young Master Zhang’s soul has suffered severe damage. Even if he wakes up, his mental faculties may be affected.”

Qi Xuansu’s brows knitted tightly. “Qing Xiao entrusted Tian Zhong to me, yet he ended up like this. How am I supposed to explain this to her?”

Hun Ahau said softly, “But Young Master Zhang did remarkably well and actually managed to hold out. In all fairness, if it were me without my Pseudo-Immortal cultivation, I could not guarantee that I would have endured this level of torture.”

Qi Xuansu slammed his fist onto the tea table before him. “The Taiping Sect has gone too far! Where are those men?”

Utu replied, “They are held in the Nether Prison and are awaiting your judgment.”