A Pawn’s Passage

Naturally fearful of fire, the Jorogumo let out a sharp shriek and retreated frantically.

Lin Yuanmiao's cultivation had fallen, leaving his strength far from what it once was, yet his skill and insight remained intact. He was like an aged master boxer whose body was no longer at its peak and whose blood qi was waning, but whose experience and precision were sharper than ever. Thus, Lin Yuanmiao could not be compared to an ordinary Wuliang-stage Heavenly Being. With a mere flick of his finger, the fire moved at his command, relentlessly pursuing the Jorogumo.

Little Yin peeked out from behind Lin Yuanmiao and saw that the Jorogumo was no match for the old man, so she boldly stepped out and snorted. "Hmph! How dare you be so arrogant, wild demon? The Daoist Order was founded on capturing ghosts and subduing demons like you!"

Expressionless, Lin Yuanmiao shifted his hand seal, and the flames transformed into countless fiery cranes. They swooped in from all directions, leaving the Jorogumo with nowhere to escape.

Taking advantage of Lin Yuanmiao's battle with the Jorogumo, Little Yin approached the door that lay flat upon the ground. Even through the seal, she could feel scorching heat billowing out toward her.

But within that blazing aura mingled a trace of yin energy, reminding Little Yin of the snake demon that had once tried to strangle her.

The resemblance between the two was undeniable.

Yet one question gnawed at her. Despite the mysterious door and layers of sealing talismans, the aura still leaked through. What could possibly be sealed beneath? If it were a demon, it would probably rival the severed head of Shuten-Doji, or perhaps even surpass it.

After all, the seal on Shuten-Doji's head had already weakened. The stone stele was fractured with cracks. Yet here, this door was intact, seamless, and airtight. For an aura to leak through such a seal only proved the terrifying power of what lay beneath.

Little Yin felt a spark of greed, but she was no fool.

If she truly unleashed an earth-shaking demon and caused catastrophic trouble, she would likely be confined forever and never allowed out to play again, even if she could resurrect upon the Emperor Willow.

But if she reported it to the Daoist Order, knowing their nature, they would certainly claim the lion's share, leaving her only scraps of leftovers.

After much hesitation, Little Yin still reached out to touch the crisscrossing red threads before her.

In an instant, a blazing inferno erupted, far more terrifying even than Lin Yuanmiao's True Samadhi Fire. Unlike the scorching aura behind the black door, this flame carried no trace of yin energy. Instead, it brimmed with the purest radiance, a force that restrained and annihilated yin energy. Two utterly different flames clashed here.

Little Yin, a yin creature, was certainly restrained by this flame. The moment her fingertip touched the flame, she cried out in pain and quickly withdrew. Normally, her injuries would heal instantly, but her wound refused to mend when scorched by this flame imbued with radiant power. Were it not for her unique constitution, even the slightest touch of this fire would have burned her away like a spark falling into dry tinder. For any ordinary yin creature, survival would have been impossible.

"That's the flame of Himiko-no-Mikoto." Lin Yuanmiao's voice came from not far away.

Little Yin turned her head to see that Lin Yuanmiao had already reduced the Jorogumo to ashes and silently appeared behind her.

She glanced again at her fingertip and could not help but ask, "Aren't you from the Central Plains? How do you know everything?"

Lin Yuanmiao replied, "Some time ago, Deputy Hall Master Zhang was investigating a case and reviewed a vast number of records. They contained detailed accounts of all matters in Fenglin. I helped sort through those records, so of course, I learned a lot."

"I see..." Little Yin nodded in understanding. Soon, her eyes gleamed as she asked, "Old Lin, can you guess what's behind that door then?"

Lin Yuanmiao gave her a glance, as if to say, "You dragged me into treasure hunting with such bravado when you know nothing, huh?"

But by now, there was no turning back. They could only press forward on this dark path.

Lin Yuanmiao replied, "In my view, what lies behind this door shares its origin with the sealed entity beneath Mount Fuyo. The monks of Fenglin call it demonic fire, the flames of an evil god."

Little Yin thought for a moment and mused, "An evil god is still a god, so this demonic fire is still divine fire. That's exactly the divine power we're looking for!"

"Divine power is only useful if we can actually obtain it," Lin Yuanmiao countered. "Besides, this place is sealed with Himiko's divine power. Even if it was not sealed by her directly, it was surely done by a jokai-rank shinkan from the Ise-jingu. How could we possibly break it?"

Little Yin could not help but recall the seal of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto. Though Qi Xuansu had found a method to unravel it, his cultivation was not high enough. In the end, her grandfather had stepped in to break the seal. Thus, a seal laid by Himiko would surely be no weaker than Tsukuyomi's.

Frustration welled within Little Yin. She pouted and asked unwillingly, "Then what do we do? Let this already cooked duck fly away?"

Lin Yuanmiao said calmly, "In my opinion, we should report this to the Daoist Order and let them handle it. We can at least earn some credit. Even if we don't go straight to the Order, we should at least inform Deputy Hall Master Zhang and Deputy Hall Master Qi. Their status gives them backing, and they can mobilize the Daoist Order's resources. In the end, they'll claim the bulk, but we'll still get a fair share."

"Ugh...that's a dumb opinion!" Little Yin pouted unhappily. "Old Lin, why do you sound so bureaucratic, just like Xiao Qi? First, the Daoist Order splits with him, then he splits with us, and then we have to split between ourselves. Do the math—what will we even have left?"

Back in the day, Lin Yuanmiao had outwitted even Lin Lingsu, which was proof of his deep cunning. His current oddities stemmed only from missing memories. He now replied bluntly, "A thousand sheep on the horizon aren't worth one rabbit in hand."

Having been taught to read and write by Master Yin since childhood, Little Yin naturally understood the meaning of this proverb.

Though she was most reluctant, Little Yin had to admit that it was indeed the safest course of action.

However, Little Yin was still unwilling to give up. She circled the sealed space carefully, searching every corner.

Lin Yuanmiao did not move from his spot and only watched Little Yin's actions with a detached gaze.

In truth, Lin Yuanmiao was divided. On one side, he was newly reborn, like a blank sheet of paper, carrying a touch of innocence. That was why he could play along with Little Yin. On the other side, he remained an extension of Lin Lingsu, shaped in every way by the Imperial Preceptor of the Jin Dynasty, a man who commanded the court with ease and was far from ordinary. Thus, Lin Yuanmiao often revealed a side that was shrewd, calculating, and cold-blooded.

This contradiction made Lin Yuanmiao seem conflicted, which was why Qi Xuansu always thought the old man was mentally unstable.

Little Yin did indeed find something.

In a corner, she discovered a charred corpse. Likely because it still carried traces of Himiko's divine flame, the Jorogumo had left it untouched.

"Old Lin, come here! I found something!" Little Yin's voice brimmed with excitement.

Lin Yuanmiao walked over to the charred body and scanned it up and down. A mysterious light shimmered in his eyes. This was a technique akin to the Divine Observation Technique, though not entirely the same.

Little Yin was self-aware, knowing that she had a lofty status and a boundless future, like the three Daoist prodigies. Perhaps one day, she might rise to become the fourth Yin Being, or even the second Sakka. But that was for the future. For now, she was still weak and had to rely on Lin Yuanmiao.

Lin Yuanmiao grasped the corpse by the ankle, lifted it upside down, and gave it a shake.

With a metallic clang, a key fell out from within the corpse's abdomen.

Little Yin snatched up the key and asked eagerly, "Could this be the key to that big door?"

As she spoke, she pointed at the nearby seal.

"No, it isn't," Lin Yuanmiao replied, turning back along the path toward the surface.

Puzzled, Little Yin had no choice but to follow behind him.

The two of them returned to the surface.

Though it was his first time here, Lin Yuanmiao had memorized the layout when he followed Little Yin through the halls and corridors earlier, recalling it with flawless precision. He had even noticed details that Little Yin had overlooked. Now, he was the one leading them back.

Coming to a wall, Lin Yuanmiao ran his hand lightly across its surface and soon found the corresponding keyhole.

Since Lin Yuanmiao could not fully merge his soul and body, his cultivation had fallen. Yet, his body was still that of an Immortal's husk. That made his six senses far sharper than any mortal's. For instance, when it came to sound, unless special soundproofing methods were employed, no subtle noise within 300 meters of him could escape his ears. This was precisely why Daoists always set up privacy barriers when discussing important matters.

If he were in a bustling marketplace, he could hear the cries of vendors, the haggling of customers, the jostling of crowds, whispers, and countless footsteps. Yet one had to consciously filter out most of these useless sounds, hearing them but letting them pass. Otherwise, they would go mad. The ability to remain in the midst of clamor yet hear nothing was a fundamental skill of high-level cultivators. As for which sounds entered not only the ear but also the heart, that depended on the individual.

Thus, with only a casual glance, Lin Yuanmiao could both ignore what he wished not to see and notice details imperceptible to ordinary people. The key lay in his willingness.

Lin Yuanmiao took the key from Little Yin and inserted it into the lock.

A grinding sound of mechanisms ensued as the wall rotated, revealing a hidden chamber behind.

This time, Lin Yuanmiao stepped inside first, and Little Yin followed close behind.

Within the chamber was a kneeling skeleton. Its upper body leaned slightly forward, with both hands clasping a folding fan at its abdomen. Its skull was nowhere to be seen.

Before Little Yin could ask, Lin Yuanmiao explained, "This is the ritual of seppuku in Fenglin, considered an honorable death. The one committing seppuku would slash open their abdomen. Since the process was unbearably painful and removing one's own organs is horrifying, to prevent the body from falling backward, the seppuku performer often entrusted a confidant to act as a kaishakunin. After the first cut was made, the kaishakunin would mercifully strike to sever the seppuku performer's head."

Little Yin pointed at the fan positioned over the abdomen. "They use a fan for seppuku?"

Lin Yuanmiao replied, "Over time, seppuku evolved into a symbolic ritual. Often, the sword used for the act was replaced with a fan. The one performing seppuku merely gestured at his abdomen with the fan, and then the kaishakunin's blade would fall. This 'fan seppuku' was in truth nothing more than beheading. Since it was a beheading, the head would be taken away. But we should still check. Fenglin has family crests that signify different clans. Perhaps we can determine the identity of the lord of this Tenshukaku."