A Pawn's Passage

Of course, Qi Xuansu knew what it meant for two aspects to be one entity.

As far as Qi Xuansu was concerned, this explanation made sense. Among the Five Immortal lineages, the Heavenly Immortal and Godly Immortal lineages were the ones most capable of accomplishing such a thing. There were living examples of both. For instance, Lin Lingsu and the Elder Shenxiao had once been the same person before later splitting into two separate individuals. Ixchel and Chak Chel had likewise once been one entity.

In the end, both cases shared the same conclusion. The two aspects turned against each other, and one killed the other.

Shi Bingyun said, “Wu Guangbi and I are old acquaintances. The Heavenly Court has done considerable research into these ancient myths, and many of these stories were told to me by him.”

Qi Xuansu was slightly taken aback, not expecting there to be such a connection. But on second thought, it made perfect sense. The Heavenly Court was emulating the Celestial Court. They even incorporated the titles of quite a few ancient deities, such as the God of Wind (Fengbo) and the Master of Rain (Yushi). 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Shi Bingyun continued, “Wu Guangbi once said that, according to the Songs of Chu, the Cloud Lord was the deity within the clouds and the Lord of the Xiang River—Xiang Lord for short. But the Cloud Lord is depicted as male, while the Xiang Lord is depicted as female. At that point, one cannot even tell whether the deity is male or female.”

Qi Xuansu said, “That is merely a minor detail. If I remember correctly, the Yin-Yang Unification Method can split a person into a man and a woman, so it’s understandable. The important question is, where did Cloud Lord go? The Eastern Sovereign most likely perished, while the Wind God, Rain God, and Thunder God surrendered to the Heavenly Emperor. Only Cloud Lord vanished without a trace.”

Shi Bingyun smiled. “That, I do not know. Perhaps Cloud Lord has already perished, and the cave dwelling you found was the very place where he met his end.”

Qi Xuansu nodded. “Perhaps.”

Though he said so, Qi Xuansu was beginning to feel somewhat uncertain.

Back then, the world had not yet entered even the Taisu Era, so advancing one’s cultivation level was comparatively easier. This resulted in the existence of many beings with extraordinary divine powers in ancient times. It was also the reason why so many people revered the ancients while disparaging the present.

In truth, people in the present day were not inferior to the ancients. Rather, the environment had changed. The world had entered the Taiji Era, and the end of the era was drawing near. As such, even attaining immortality was difficult, let alone being a First-Tribulation or Second-Tribulation Immortal.

In that primordial age, the world itself was comparatively loose in its structure, with many aspects of it yet to fully evolve and take shape. There were many loopholes that could be exploited, which was why there were tales of people attaining the Dao through sudden enlightenment. There were even innate deities born from the very beginning, something that could never be seen in the present age.

Thus, in those days, First-Tribulation, Second-Tribulation, and even Third-Tribulation Immortals were quite common. One example was General Yinglong under the Heavenly Emperor. A fully grown flood dragon possessed the strength of an Immortal, a true dragon corresponded to a First-Tribulation Immortal, a Horned Dragon was equal to a Second-Tribulation Immortal, and a Yinglong winged dragon was equivalent to a Third-Tribulation Immortal.

Yet working together, the Wind God and Rain God had actually managed to repel the Yinglong, a Third-Tribulation Immortal. Even if the Yinglong might not have the combat strength of the Heavenly Emperor, who was likewise a Third-Tribulation Immortal, and even taking into account factors such as the two of them having caught the Yinglong off guard, the Wind God and Rain God would still each have needed the strength of a Second-Tribulation Immortal to accomplish such a feat.

If the Wind God and Rain God were both Second-Tribulation Immortals, then the Thunder God and Cloud Lord, who were in the same rank, should presumably have possessed strength at roughly the same level.

A tomb belonging to a Second-Tribulation Immortal was not something to be trifled with. Though Qi Xuansu might not fear ordinary Immortals, he had no confidence in confronting a Second-Tribulation Immortal.

Yet Qi Xuansu was reluctant to simply turn back like this.

Thus, Qi Xuansu asked, “Has anything unusual happened in Yunmeng Marsh in recent years?”

Shi Bingyun thought carefully for a moment before saying, “Does fog count? Over the past few decades, fog has been appearing over the waters of Yunmeng Marsh with increasing frequency. Quite a few scholars and poets considered it a rare and beautiful sight and would often deliberately go sightseeing on foggy days. At first, nothing happened. It was only when people began disappearing one after another that the matter finally drew serious attention.”

Something stirred in Qi Xuansu’s mind, and he immediately asked, “What happened to those who disappeared?”

Shi Bingyun replied, “There’s no trace of them alive, and no bodies to be found. It was as though they had simply vanished into thin air. Even after the heavy fog dispersed, the Daoist Mansion and the Imperial Court each dispatched personnel to conduct a joint search, yet they still could not find the slightest trace of them.”

Qi Xuansu looked toward Long Xiaobai and asked, “Xiaobai, do you know what might be going on?”

Long Xiaobai frowned. “When I stumbled upon that cave dwelling by accident, it happened to be a day of heavy fog.”

Qi Xuansu and Shi Bingyun exchanged a glance.

Shi Bingyun said, “In that case, heavy fog may very well be a sign that the Immortal’s cave dwelling has opened. Could those missing people have entered the cave dwelling?”

Qi Xuansu said, “We can’t rule out that possibility.”

Shi Bingyun continued, “Ever since these incidents of the fog devouring people, the Xiangzhou Daoist Mansion investigated and found that this sort of fog was not something that had only begun appearing in recent years. The earliest records can be traced back to the period when the Golden Horde ruled the Central Plains. The people of the Golden Horde did not know how to govern the realm, throwing the land into chaos and causing all manner of secret societies to spring up in droves.

“The most famous among them was probably the White Lotus Sect. Back then, Yunmeng Marsh had not yet become completely interconnected as it is today, and there were still some areas of marshland that had not been submerged beneath the waters, scattered throughout the network of waterways and lakes. Thus, many followers of the White Lotus Sect fled into Yunmeng Marsh to escape pursuit by the Golden Horde and established some basic camp sites there.

“After those White Lotus Sect followers entered the marsh, people would still come out from time to time at first to gather information and exchange supplies. But as time passed and fog repeatedly descended upon Yunmeng Marsh, they emerged less and less frequently. Eventually, they stopped coming out altogether, as though they had completely vanished into the mist. The local official at the time spent his days drinking and had no interest in governing, while the soldiers dared not venture rashly into the marsh. So, the two sides eventually left each other alone.

“It was not until Emperor Taizu of the Wei Dynasty raised his army, drove out the Golden Horde, and restored the Celestial Empire that the Wei Dynasty authorities finally sent people into Yunmeng Marsh to search for traces of those White Lotus Sect followers. In the end, they really did find the White Lotus Sect’s camps. According to the records, the situation at the time was exceedingly strange. Those camps did not look as though they had been abandoned for years. On the contrary, they looked as though people had been living there normally all along, with full signs of human habitation and everyday life.

“The cooking fires had not yet gone out, and porridge was still simmering over them. There was firewood that had only been half chopped, half-eaten dry rations, and other such things scattered everywhere. Yet there was not a single person to be seen anywhere in the entire camp, as though everyone there had gone into hiding just before the soldiers arrived. The Deputy Commander thought the same thing at the time, so he ordered the soldiers to search the area around the camp.

“But they found nothing. The Deputy Commander had no choice but to withdraw his troops, intending to report the matter to the Imperial Court to have a special team investigate further. Yet on the next night after he left, Yunmeng Marsh inexplicably flooded. The waters submerged the entire stretch of marshland along with the camps, turning it into a vast lake.

“For many years afterward, Yunmeng Marsh continued to expand. The marshes and woodlands that had once existed there gradually disappeared, while lakes of all sizes merged into one continuous body of water. This included the Dongting Lake that spanned 400 kilometers. Together, they gradually became one enormous lake that surpassed even Cuowenbu.”

Qi Xuansu could not help asking, “After something like that happened, didn’t the Daoist Order send anyone to investigate?”

Shi Bingyun said, “It did indeed attract the Daoist Order’s attention, but only at the level of the local Daoist Mansion. As you know, during the early years of the Daoist Order, its attention was focused entirely on the Western Region. Later, its focus shifted to Nanyang, and after that, even farther to the New Continent. So Yunmeng Marsh was not at all a priority.

“I also spent some time serving in the Xiangzhou Daoist Mansion back then, which is why I know about these things. The Xiangzhou Daoist Mansion did conduct an in-depth investigation. The earliest records concerning the fog date back to the Golden Horde Era, but the supernatural phenomena surrounding Yunmeng Marsh go far beyond that, tracing back to the time of the First Emperor. You should have heard the story of how the First Emperor severed and suppressed Jinling’s dragon qi. Something else happened around that time as well.

“In the 28th year of the First Emperor’s reign, the First Emperor passed through Yunmeng Marsh when violent winds and waves suddenly arose. The First Emperor threw the Imperial Succession Seal into the lake to suppress the wind and waves. Eight years later, a mysterious individual from Huayin returned the Imperial Succession Seal to the First Emperor.”

Qi Xuansu said, “The Imperial Succession Seal was one of the First Emperor’s Four Great Immortal Objects. If the First Emperor once used an immortal object to suppress Yunmeng Marsh, there must be more to this place than meets the eye...”

At this point, Qi Xuansu abruptly stopped speaking because something had suddenly occurred to him.

Shi Bingyun asked, “What is it?”

Qi Xuansu slowly came back to himself and said, “Do you still remember the Anchor the Monkey Operation?”

“Of course I remember.” Shi Bingyun said, “How could I forget? After idling away so many years in the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion, that was the one major affair I took part in. It was quite a thrilling experience. I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life. It was also because of that incident that you began your meteoric advancement, being promoted directly to Deputy Hall Master of Ziwei Hall.”

Qi Xuansu said, “The Imperial Court chose to refine the Monkey at Wuxing Mountain because that was where the Northern Dragon passed through. At the Imperial Capital, it split into two branches. One headed toward Bohai Prefecture and entered the sea from there, while the other went to Liaodong, passed through Taibai Mountain, entered the sea from Silla, and continued on to Fenglin. Whichever branch it was, both had to pass through Wuxing Mountain.

“When I went to Poluo, I uncovered Chen Shuhua’s secret refinement of the Longevity Stone. Her principal crime was not refining the Longevity Stone, but stealing the Southern Dragon’s dragon qi. These two matters were essentially the same in nature. It was simply that the Southern Dragon had been weakened for a long time and could not compare with the mighty Northern Dragon.”

Shi Bingyun’s expression turned grave.

Qi Xuansu continued, “You also mentioned just now how the First Emperor severed and suppressed Jinling’s dragon qi. The dragon qi of Jinling Prefecture actually corresponds to the Central Dragon. Looking at the map, Yunmeng Marsh lies directly along the Central Dragon’s path.”

Shi Bingyun said, “You think these strange phenomena in Yunmeng Marsh are connected to the Central Dragon?”

Qi Xuansu rose to his feet and began pacing back and forth. “When I was in the New Continent, I had quite a few dealings with all kinds of deities, including the Tawantin ancient gods, the Holy Court’s Apostles, the Fallen Apostles, and even deities of the sea. As such, I have some understanding of the Godly Immortal lineage. Godly Immortals are the hardest to kill and the easiest to bring back to life.”

Shi Bingyun froze for a moment before immediately realizing what he meant. “You’re talking about the resurrection of a Godly Immortal?”

Qi Xuansu said, “When burying the dead, you have to choose a place with good feng shui. Otherwise, the corpse might turn into a zombie. So if an Immortal deliberately chose a place with exceptionally auspicious feng shui on the Central Dragon before dying, what do you think would happen?”

Shi Bingyun asked, “If that’s the case, should we report this to the Daoist Order? Given your standing, the Golden Tower Council would certainly take it seriously.”

Qi Xuansu pondered for a moment. “These are only our speculations. We don’t have any concrete evidence yet. If I rashly report this to the Golden Tower Council and it turns out to be a false alarm, I won’t know how to clean up the mess. I think I should investigate it myself first, then decide what to do.”

Shi Bingyun nodded. “That would be best.”