A Pawn's Passage

In the blink of an eye, it was already the 8th of December, a traditional festival when people ate Eight Treasures Porridge. It was called the Laba Festival, which originated in Buddhism to celebrate Buddha’s enlightenment.

After Buddhism and Daoism merged, Daoists retained this festival. However, after the two big religions turned against each other, the Daoist community celebrated the festival as the transcendence of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor instead of Buddha’s enlightenment.

Every Laba Festival, the Dazhen Mansion would make a pot of Eight Treasures Porridge and invite friends and relatives to celebrate the festival together. It could be regarded as a year-end party. However, not all relatives were invited. The criteria for getting an invitation were strict. One must be a third-rank Youyi Daoist master, a direct descendant from the main branch of the Zhang family, or someone specially invited by the Heavenly Preceptor.

Of course, the Eight Treasures Porridge in the Dazhen Mansion was not an ordinary porridge that commoners ate. Traditional Eight Treasures Porridge contained red dates, lotus seeds, barley, dried longan, red beans, and the like. However, Dazhen Mansion added many rare medicinal ingredients, including the precious Red Fruit.

It was rumored that Red Fruit only bloomed and bore fruit after a hundred years. If an ordinary person consumed this fruit, their internal organs would be incinerated by the strong fire contained in the fruit. However, if they could resist the fire, they could use the medicinal power of the Red Fruit to enhance their cultivation level.

There were very few Red Fruit trees in the world. A few of these trees, which were more than a thousand years old, were situated in Yunjin Mountain and Kunlun Cave, so ordinary people did not have the opportunity to see them. Even if they were lucky enough to pick one up, they would not dare to eat it rashly.

The Red Fruit added to the Eight Treasures Porridge in the Dazhen Mansion had been processed in advance to remove some of the fire, which was neutralized by other medicinal ingredients. This porridge was a great tonic for those lucky enough to consume it. That was why it was a great honor to be invited to the Dazhen Mansion for the Laba Festival.

Tantai Qiong, Zhang Yuyue, and Zhang Yuelu received the invitation to the Dazhen Mansion. Tantai Qiong was a third-rank Youyi Daoist master; Zhang Yuyue was a direct descendant of the main branch of the Zhang family; and Zhang Yuelu was specially invited by the Heavenly Preceptor. Thus, the three women went to the Dazhen Mansion for the Eight Treasures Porridge.

Only Zhang Juqi and Qi Xuansu were left at home. Qi Xuansu did not mind because he was a menial seventh-rank priest and was merely Zhang Yuelu’s guest. So it was reasonable that he was not qualified to participate in such a grand event. On the contrary, if he were invited, he would not know what to do with himself, as he would be surrounded by high-ranking Daoists.

Qi Xuansu had such a low rank that he was probably not even qualified to entertain guests at the Dazhen Mansion. Even thinking about the idea of being invited to that exclusive event was embarrassing.

What Qi Xuansu found weird was that Zhang Juqi did not receive an invitation. Although Zhang Juqi was not a third-rank Youyi Daoist master, he was in the fourth rank and from the Zhang family. More importantly, his wife and daughter were both invited. Only he was singled out, which was quite embarrassing.

Even so, Zhang Juqi did not seem to care, as if he had been accustomed to this arrangement for a long time. He did not feel disappointed or resentful. Instead, he went out to play chess and drink with his friends, who were also not invited to the Dazhen Mansion.

This indicated that it was not just a year or two since Zhang Juqi did not receive the invitation to the Dazhen Mansion for the Laba Festival. Qi Xuansu recalled that Zhang Juqi had been stuck in the fourth rank for quite some time and could not help but suspect that Zhang Juqi might have some conflict with the Zhang family.

After the women left, Qi Xuansu had nothing to do and wandered alone on Yunjin Mountain. After all, it was a rare opportunity for him to be here, so he did not want to miss out on the magnificent scenery. Of course, there were some forbidden areas on the mountain, but they were clearly marked and guarded, so Qi Xuansu was not afraid that he would mistakenly enter the restricted zones.

At some point, Qi Xuansu came to a cliff. There was a Daoist temple there. Looking out from the temple, one could see the sea of ​​clouds by the mountain. It was an excellent place to enjoy the view. However, since the Holy Xuan destroyed the peak, part of the Daoist temple slid into the abyss below, leaving only some ruins of the temple and a bell tower that remained on the flat cliff.

Qi Xuansu climbed up to the bell tower and looked out at the vast sea of ​​clouds. He was not interested in ​​clouds. What really piqued his interest was the majestic power that had created such a scene. The Holy Xuan destroyed a mountain in a fit of rage and changed the landscape of the area. This was the so-called immortal power that was capable of moving mountains and shaping seas.

He wondered if he could ever become this powerful. If he had such power, even the Dazhen Mansion would have to bow to him. With such colossal power, he would no longer feel burdened by the Qingping Society, and everything would bend according to his will.

Of course, Qi Xuansu was not someone who repaid kindness with enmity. It was Madam Qi who saved his life, so he would always remember that debt. However, he never regarded Madam Qi and the Qingping Society as one entity. If there was a day he could call the shots, he would let Madam Qi be the leader of the Qingping Society. That would be an interesting turn of events.

While Qi Xuansu was daydreaming, he heard some footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw a woman appearing at the stairs on the first floor, looking like she was about to climb up the bell tower.

This woman was beautiful with sultry eyes. When she walked, her hips swayed gently, adding to her charm. However, Qi Xuansu was an experienced traveler. He had learned a bit of Madam Qi’s divination techniques, which were the foundation for the Purple Star Astrology and Divine Calculation Technique.

Judging from this woman’s face alone, Qi Xuansu could tell that the woman was not a treacherous villain, but she certainly did not have good intentions for approaching him.

To put it simply, this woman did not look like a good person.

Qi Xuansu immediately became wary and slowly backed away from the stairs. As an experienced traveler, he was suspicious of everyone, assuming the worst of humanity. He knew he had offended Tantai Qiong and Zhang Yuyue, who were both not easy to deal with. Thus, he had been preparing himself for anything they might throw his way.

He knew that Tantai Qiong would not kill him while he was on Yunjin Mountain, but she would likely use some other means to get him kicked out. These were probably some dirty tricks that most people used in politics or on the streets.

The moment Qi Xuansu saw this woman, the word “honeytrap” popped into his mind. This was a common trick, using beautiful women as bait to extort money from men. However, Qi Xuansu quickly thought of another possibility: accused rape.

As long as a woman was willing to put her dignity aside and identify a man for having an affair with her, she could ruin a man’s reputation, even without evidence. This practice originated during the times when Confucianism was the orthodox religion.

Confucians valued women’s virtue, so the woman who accused another man of rape would pay a greater price than the man, preventing false accusations. This virtue carried through to this day when Daoism was the orthodox religion. Although there was no explicit rule, rape was still frowned upon.

However, a woman’s virtue was not as important as it was in the past, so the consequences of women accusing men of rape were not as serious. Thus, some people began to make false accusations.

As long as a man and a woman were seen alone in a room, it was hard to shirk accusations of rape. Even a high-ranking priest’s reputation would be ruined. Only those in power could suppress this kind of accusation.

Thus, a low-ranking priest like Qi Xuansu would not be able to escape. Qi Xuansu remained guarded against the woman because he believed that Tantai Qiong was capable of using such despicable means to get rid of him.

Qi Xuansu looked around and found that the stairs were the only way up and down the bell tower, but they were already occupied by that woman. The other side was a cliff, which had a flat surface without even a slight bulge on the edge. Right below him was an abyss.

He suddenly fell into a dilemma. As the woman climbed the stairs slowly, Qi Xuansu felt his heart pounding with every step she took.

Finally, the woman’s upper body was visible from the second floor of the bell tower. By then, Qi Xuansu had already retreated to the edge of the bell tower and leaned back on the railing.

When the woman reached the second floor and came face-to-face with Qi Xuansu, she smiled and greeted him. But immediately after, her expression stiffened.

Qi Xuansu fell backward into the abyss below, startling the woman. Of course, Qi Xuansu did not take his own life. During the fall, he had already pulled out his short sword, Qing Yuan, from his waist. He adjusted his posture and stabbed the side of the cliff, right below the bell tower.

He relied on his exceptional physique, comparable to that of a Martial Arts Practitioner to stop his fall. Then he curled his fingers, piercing his nails into the cliff while shifting his body weight to pull out his sword.

His reaction was certainly unexpected. That was how Qi Xuansu used his fingers to climb up the cliff like a gecko.

After a while, the woman returned to her senses and rushed over to the railing. She leaned out and looked down, but all she could see were the clouds. Qi Xuansu’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

The woman stamped her foot fiercely. “Who is that man? Am I that terrifying that he would rather jump to his death?!”

She was at a loss for what to do because all that she had prepared had become useless. Not long after, she heard more footsteps climbing up the stairs.

Three more people went upstairs, with Zhang Yuyue taking the lead. She did not go to Dazhen Mansion for the Laba Festival because she did not care much about the Eight Treasures Porridge that others considered precious.

The other two who followed were helpers that Zhang Yuyue had borrowed from the Dazhen Mansion to capture Qi Xuansu.

However, Zhang Yuyue looked around and saw no sign of Qi Xuansu. She frowned and asked the woman, “Where is he?”

The woman pursed her lips and tipped her head toward the railing. “He jumped down before I got to speak with him. It was really eye-opening.”

Zhang Yuyue rushed to the railing, leaned over, and looked out, only to see the clouds. Qi Xuansu had already escaped. Frustrated, Zhang Yuyue slammed the railing with her palms. “What a cunning bastard! He’s definitely not easy to deal with!”