A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu scaled the bare cliff horizontally for a long time and only climbed to the top of the cliff after leaving the perimeter of the Daoist temple ruins.

At this time, his fingers were dripping with blood, and his flesh had peeled off until his bones could be seen. His nails were also a gory sight. Fortunately, he had the strong physique of a Martial Arts Practitioner, so he was able to crawl such a long distance on a bare cliff without using any tools.

Qi Xuansu let out a long breath. He finally understood why Zhang Yuelu told him not to leave the house. It turned out that she had already expected something to happen.

Thinking of this, Qi Xuansu stood up and walked to the Zhang family’s residence. Qi Xuansu had overestimated Zhang Yuelu’s abilities. She probably did not expect that her mother and cousin would use such tricks to deal with him. Her worry came from an unfounded, bad premonition that she could not figure out.

Although Zhang Yuelu had many enemies, like Li Tianzhen and those from the Jiangnan case, Yunjin Mountain was her home base. The Heavenly Preceptor was residing in the Dazhen Mansion on Yunjin Mountain, so who would be so bold as to provoke Zhang Yuelu on her turf?

Even the Earthly Preceptor Xu Wugui from back then only dared to ambush the Dazhen Mansion when the Heavenly Preceptor was not around. That was why Zhang Yuelu could not figure out why she had a bad premonition when she was at home. It did not make sense to have a bad premonition months in advance, right?

In terms of divination, the longer the time span, the more variables there were. Thus, the accuracy decreased significantly. Therefore, most predictions would not exceed two months. Zhang Yuelu thought about her itinerary for the next two months. She would be in Yunjin Mountain or Jade Capital, both of which were very safe places.

After Qi Xuansu returned to the Zhang family’s residence, he happened to meet Zhang Juqi. Qi Xuansu had a good impression of this kind and polite man, so he respectfully stopped to greet this elder.

Zhang Juqi glanced at Qi Xuansu, his gaze falling on Qi Xuansu’s fingers. He advised in a mysterious tone. “You shouldn’t think that Yunjin Mountain is a safe space. Wherever there are people, there is conflict.”

Zhang Juqi stopped talking and went about his own business. Qi Xuansu stood there and looked at Zhang Juqi’s back thoughtfully.

He had an intuition that Zhang Juqi was not as simple as he seemed. This man probably had an unspoken story.

At this moment, someone patted him on the shoulder from behind. “What are you looking at?”

Qi Xuansu turned around, surprised to see Zhang Yuelu. “Why are you back so early?”

Zhang Yuelu replied, “I slipped out right after finishing the Eight Treasures Porridge. I didn’t want to stay and act.”

“Act? What kind of act?” Qi Xuansu was curious.

Zhang Yuelu rolled her eyes. “The act of a loving grandniece. At this time last year, the Heavenly Preceptor was not in Dazhen Mansion, and I didn’t come home. I heard that the Laba Festival in the Dazhen Mansion was just ordinary.

“But it’s different this year. The Heavenly Preceptor attended this time, so after having some porridge, all members of the Zhang family rushed to flatter the Heavenly Preceptor. Although the Heavenly Preceptor has never married and has no biological children, he has more descendants than anyone else.”

Qi Xuansu burst out laughing. “I never realized how sarcastic you can be!”

Zhang Yuelu waved her hand. When she noticed Qi Xuansu’s fingers, she could not help but ask, “What happened?”

Qi Xuansu did not hide anything from her and recounted the events earlier. However, he did not tell her about his suspicion. He only mentioned how strange this encounter was. “Maybe I’m just too sensitive.”

Zhang Yuelu fell into deep thought. She shook her head and said, “You’re not sensitive. I was wondering why Zhang Yuyue didn’t show up for the meal at the Dazhen Mansion. What are they up to?”

He did not comment.

At this moment, Zhang Yuelu roughly connected the dots. Her tone became more aggressive as she shouted, “I can’t tolerate this! They’re going overboard!”

Qi Xuansu kept a calm demeanor. “Qing Xiao, don’t get mad. We don’t have any evidence.”

Zhang Yuelu suppressed her anger and nodded. “My cousin certainly has the courage to carry this out, but I’m afraid she doesn’t have the brains to think of such schemes. There’s probably a mastermind behind this.”

Although Zhang Yuelu did not say it explicitly, they both knew who she was referring to.

Zhang Yuelu muttered, “I was right. We can’t stay in Shangqing Town for long. It would’ve been best if we came back on New Year’s Eve and left on New Year’s Day.”

Qi Xuansu smiled helplessly. “You don’t have to.”

Zhang Yuelu’s good mood after having the Eight Treasures Porridge was completely ruined. She then asked Qi Xuansu to follow her to her room.

It was no longer taboo to enter a woman’s room. But this was the first time Qi Xuansu had set foot in one. Qi Xuansu was somewhat disappointed because Zhang Yuelu’s room was extremely simple, with only a bed, a table, a screen, and two ceramic drum stools. That was because she had moved most of her things to her residence in Jade Capital.

Zhang Yuelu motioned for Qi Xuansu to sit down while she sat across from him with a table between them. Then she took out the ointment she bought from Huasheng Hall.

Since returning home, she had been using the ointment regularly, so most of her wounds were almost healed, leaving only faint red marks due to the new skin growing.

Qi Xuansu shook his head. “It’s just a minor injury. It’ll be fine after a while.”

“Stretch out your hands,” Zhang Yuelu commanded, leaving no room for negotiation.

Qi Xuansu had no choice but to obey.

“Alright, don’t move.” Zhang Yuelu stood up and came back with a basin of water.

Zhang Yuelu first washed Qi Xuansu’s hands with water before carefully applying the ointment. Since she had not done anything like this before, she was a little clumsy and accidentally hurt Qi Xuansu. But to Qi Xuansu, this pain was nothing compared to the warmth and pleasure he felt from being treated with such care.

After applying the ointment, Zhang Yuelu asked, “All done! Doesn’t it feel better?”

Qi Xuansu focused on his fingers. After the initial sting, there was a slight chill. The ointment seemed to have accelerated his healing to a certain extent. The wound that would originally take three or four days to heal would be as good as new in about two hours.

Zhang Yuelu instructed, “Just raise your hands like this and wait until the medicine takes effect before resting them.”

Qi Xuansu could only do as he was told.

……

Every New Year, the number of people in the Jade Capital would decrease while the Zhenjing Courtyard, the Chongyang Palace of Immortality, and the Dazhen Mansion would see much higher traffic than usual.

Not everyone in the Dazhen Mansion was a descendant of the Zhang family. Those who had dealings with the Zhang family also visited the Dazhen Mansion during this period. Thus, the frequency of flying ships increased.

A huge flying ship broke through the sea of ​​clouds and descended slowly, preparing to dock in the lake outside Shangqing Palace.

A group of people was already standing on the shore, ready to greet them. The leader among them was Zhang Jucheng, Zhang Yuyue’s father. He was a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master who was the Palace Master of the Shangqing Palace.

Zhang Jucheng was not the Heavenly Preceptor’s biological son, but Zhang Jucheng’s father and the Heavenly Preceptor were biological brothers. Since the Heavenly Preceptor never married or had children of his own, according to the clan inheritance system, Zhang Jucheng would be the successor. Zhang Jucheng’s family was then considered the main branch of the Zhang family.

Behind Zhang Jucheng was a group of high-ranking Daoist priests, including Zhang Juping, the third-rank Youyi Daoist master who had previously met with Qi Xuansu.

Zhang Jucheng and his entourage looked in the direction of the flying ship. They were all Heavenly Beings, so their breath alone could dissipate the water vapors brought on by the flying ship.

After the flying ship docked, a ramp was lowered, and the people on the boat disembarked one by one.

Zhang Jucheng had already taken the initiative to greet them. This flying ship was a special ship from the Chongyang Palace of Immortality, filled with high-ranking priests from the Quanzhen Sect.

They were on orders from the Earthly Preceptor to visit the Heavenly Preceptor on Yunjin Mountain to celebrate the Laba Festival. In fact, they had the same purpose as Sage Qingwei visiting the Emperor in the Imperial Capital.

The Laba Festival was divided into two sessions, one in the morning and another in the evening. The first session during the day was mainly attended by members of the Zhang family, in which Zhang Yuelu participated this time. The second session was held in the evening for senior officials from the Zhengyi Sect and Quanzhen Sect. Although the number of people invited was fewer, it was more important.

Among the people who came this time were the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion Master, the Chief Deputy Qinzhou Daoist Mansion Master, and the Wuxu Palace Master, all of whom were second-rank Taiyi Daoist masters.

Zhang Jucheng was acquainted with Qi Jiaozheng, the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion Master. The Qi family in which Qi Jiaozheng was born was the one others often misunderstood Qi Xuansu was from.

If Qi Xuansu was from that particular Qi family, he would be of equal status to Zhang Yuelu. It was a pity that Qi Xuansu had no blood relationship with the Qi family. After all, he merely followed his master’s last name.

Zhang Jucheng and Qi Jiaozheng briefly exchanged greetings and walked in front of their entourage.

Behind them were Zhang Jucheng’s younger cousin, Zhang Jushu, and the Wuxu Palace Master.

Logically speaking, the Wuxu Palace Master should be of the same rank as the Shangqing Palace Master. However, in the past, Sage Donghua had always been in charge of the Wuxu Palace while he was the Beichen Hall Master. However, after being promoted to Ziwei Hall Master, a new Sage had to take over the Wuxu Palace.

This Sage was only an ordinary second-rank Taiyi Daoist master and was not yet an Omniscient Sage, so he was still lower in rank than Zhang Jucheng and Qi Jiaozheng. That was why the group of Quanzhen Sect disciples this time were led by Qi Jiaozheng, the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion Master.

The Quanzhen Sect disciples left the flying ship one by one.

The number of Zhengyi Sect disciples on the shore welcoming their counterparts continued to decrease. Soon, only Zhang Juping was left standing there. The ramp was still attached to the ship.

Finally, the last figure appeared. Pei Xiaolou was seen wearing a Daoist hechang and a lotus crown that resembled a blooming lotus. There was a saying that clothes make a man. At this time, Pei Xiaolou no longer looked like a quack whom Qi Xuansu met on his very first ride on the flying ship. He looked rather cool.

Pei Xiaolou stood at the top of the ramp, looking in the direction of the Dazhen Mansion. He turned to look at Zhang Juping below with a smile and slowly walked down the ramp.

It was hard to imagine that two people with such different personalities could become friends.