A Pawn’s Passage

After breaking Hinnyo's Golden Body, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu continued to employ the Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique. Two streams of sword qi ground together like millstones, relentlessly crushing the abbot of Hongan-ji.

Soon, Hinnyo was drenched in blood. Yet his blood was golden. Ordinary folk might think this venerable monk had attained enlightenment, and foolish people might even believe drinking such golden blood could grant them immortality.

In truth, it was nothing of the sort. This was merely the outward manifestation of divine power leaking.

Hinnyo could no longer suppress the dissipation of his divine power, and the signs of his downfall were becoming clear.

In fact, Hinnyo's defeat was not undeserved. Even with the Daoist Order's vast resources, it would be difficult to find a second pair of prodigies capable of wielding Green Cloud and Purple Afterglow. Even if Li Changge and Yao Pei reconciled and let go of old grudges, there was only one set of the Heavenly Preceptor's Twin Swords.

Meanwhile, Sarutobi Shosai, held by Li Tiangang at the throat, suddenly exploded.

All that remained in Li Tiangang's hand was a doll carved from peachwood.

This method bore some resemblance to the Banished Immortal's Tribulation Substitute, but it required an external medium. Only peachwood over a thousand years old could be used for this method. The peachwood doll would be nourished with one's own blood so that it could perfectly mimic one's true body. It was an excellent life-preserving method at the critical moment.

Sarutobi Shosai had once again escaped.

At the battle of Hisai Castle, Master Sosen and the shinkan died. Princess Tamako was captured, and Sarutobi Shosai fled. At Anno District, Katsuyuki Kiyoyuki and Amemori Unko were slain, Maeda Masao surrendered, and Sarutobi Shosai slipped away once again.

A mere ninja was not worth the chase, so Li Tiangang made no further effort to pursue him. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Hinnyo—the true prize.

However, Li Tiangang did not strike. He merely stared down at Hinnyo, exerting silent, crushing pressure.

Hinnyo was already faltering when up against Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu. So with Li Tiangang joining the fight, the pressure must have been much heavier.

Struggling to fend off both Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu while guarding against Li Tiangang, Hinnyo soon left a flaw in his defense, allowing Zhang Yuelu to sever his right arm with a single stroke.

Zhang Yuelu showed no mercy, unleashing both the Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method and the Six Void Tribulation simultaneously. Thunderous power and the might of six tribulations poured into Hinnyo's body, rendering him immobile.

Qi Xuansu seized the moment, unleashing the Dragon Tail of the Manly Immortal's Hundred Forms, sweeping Hinnyo to the ground.

As Hinnyo struggled to rise, Qi Xuansu stepped on his back, forcing the monk into a prostrating posture.

Qi Xuansu casually thrust Green Cloud into the ground, drew the Pure Bodhi, and held it in both hands. "Since we are in Fenglin and you are a Buddhist, I shall use this Buddhist blade to grant you kaishaku. This should be an honored way of dying for you."

As he finished his sentence, Qi Xuansu's blade cleaved down.

Hinnyo's head rolled far across the ground, his eyes still wide open.

Though it was called kaishaku, it was no different from beheading methods of the Central Plains.

Expressionless, Qi Xuansu remarked, "My experience is lacking, so the cut wasn't very clean. Please forgive me."

Hinnyo was far from dead. He stared at the three Daoists from where his head landed. Though his trachea and lungs were with the rest of his body under Qi Xuansu's feet, his detached head was still coughing like a gravely ill man. Each cough inexplicably spewed torrents of divine fire from his orifices.

The rising and ebbing tide repeatedly washed over Hinnyo's severed head but could not take him away. Instead, the seawater became tainted with divine fire, glimmering as though gilded with countless flecks of gold.

Qi Xuansu watched with some regret at the loss of all this divine power.

"It's a pity he doesn't have a semi-immortal object." Qi Xuansu flicked the golden blood from his blade and sighed.

Zhang Yuelu remarked, "Had he wielded even one semi-immortal object with such vast reserves of divine power, it would've been us in danger."

Li Tiangang continued to gaze at Hinnyo.

Their twenty years of friendship was real. Otherwise, Li Tiangang would not have risked coming to meet Hinnyo. He had still harbored some hope for the monk defecting to the Daoist Order.

He truly believed that though all of Fenglin's Buddhists would not side with the Daoist Order, some monks might discern right from wrong and choose correctly from their own standpoint. Had Hinnyo chosen to submit to the Daoist Order, he could have become the true leader of the Fenglin Buddhist Sect. Their friendship might have been remembered as a fine tale of unity among the Three Religions.

Unfortunately, Hinnyo did not accept Li Tiangang's goodwill and repaid such kindness with betrayal.

Zhang Yuelu noticed Li Tiangang's expression and tugged lightly at Qi Xuansu's sleeve.

Qi Xuansu understood and immediately sheathed Pure Bodhi.

Li Tiangang walked slowly to where Hinnyo's severed head lay nearby. Letting the seawater lap over his feet, he looked down at Hinnyo and murmured, "Master Hinnyo, I gave you your chance."

He paused slightly. "Deputy Hall Master Qi, what is the Great Sage's opinion?"

Qi Xuansu answered truthfully, "Great Sage Zhang agreed that we should eliminate any obstinate fools who refused to change."

Li Tiangang gave a slight nod. "Then I shall carry out the Mansion Master's order."

He suddenly stomped down, crushing Hinnyo's skull. His face remained expressionless as Hinnyo's head exploded. Divine fire surged violently, carried away by the tide into the sea.

His soul returned to the heavens, his spirit to the earth.

Before the three Daoists, Hinnyo was left with no chance of resurrection or possession of another body.

When the last fragment of his skull was swept away by the tide, Li Tiangang turned and walked back to the beach. "With Hinnyo's death, it means the peace talks are essentially foiled. Next, we attack Tsu Castle, then move on to Kobe Castle."

Qi Xuansu gazed out at the sea, faintly making out the Donghai Navy's fleet.

If not for that single cannon strike, the three of them alone would not have been able to defeat Hinnyo.

Now, with the Donghai Navy pressing upon Tsu Castle, if they launched an attack from the sea, the port district would be completely undefended.

Zhang Yuelu said, "February is coming to an end. There's only one month left until the March deadline that many are expecting."

"Three months to pacify Ise Province is already quite good," Li Tiangang replied. "The Sage Commander expects to end the Fenglin campaign before July this year, so our men can return home in time for the Zhongyuan Festival."

Qi Xuansu pondered. It was indeed a tight schedule. After occupying Ise Province, they still had to deal with the royal family and the various regional lords. There were also the Westerners in Satsuma Domain. However, the daimyo of Satsuma was one of Fenglin's Eight Kengo. He could be killed or persuaded to submit. Not to mention, the evil god beneath Mount Fuyo, the Yamata no Orochi in Izumo Province, and all manner of unruly ghosts and gods across Fengling still needed to be systematically addressed. It was truly a colossal task.

The West Shakya Company's involvement made things even more complicated.

In this Fenglin campaign, the Daoist Order had been relying on its overwhelming strength to crush the Sonno-joi faction, so Daoist casualties had been minimal. But if the opponent were to be the evenly matched Holy Court, the war would not end in seven months, likely not even in seven years. That would mean mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and the very high possibility of their own deaths and destruction.

Even in victory, it would likely be a pyrrhic one. Defeat, however, was unthinkable.

But against the scheming Westerners, they could not afford to hesitate or be fearful. They would have to strike back with strength.

After all, war was a great affair of the state, the path to survival or extinction. It should not be taken lightly.

......

On the other side, Little Yin and Lin Yuanmiao returned to the Xiujing military camp, only to find that Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were absent. Upon inquiring, they learned that the two Deputy Hall Masters had gone with the Great Sage of the Fenglin Daoist Mansion to attend the peace talks and would not be back for several days at the earliest.

Little Yin was furious. She had made a huge decision to share her discovery with Qi Xuansu, planning to claim some credit for herself and take the chance to ask when he would fulfill his promise. She still remembered that Qi Xuansu had signed a written pledge to give her 15 demon hearts.

But Qi Xuansu was not there, and her second choice, Zhang Yuelu, was absent as well. It felt somewhat like batting her eyelashes at a blind man—completely wasted effort.

Sulking yet helpless, Little Yin grabbed a random book to kill time. She actually enjoyed reading novels, often immersing herself as the protagonist who punched the Daoist Order, trampled on the Buddhist Sect, treated the Confucian School as a chamber pot, and the Holy Court like a spittoon.

She often saw the phrase "cleave through the heavens," but she did not really understand how one could achieve that. Even so, it sounded powerful and exhilarating.

But luck was not on Little Yin's side that day. She happened to pick a more literary story, where the protagonist did not cleave through the heavens but instead did inexplicable things, like giving up the chance to dominate the world, retreating into obscurity, and even handing his wife over to his brother.

Though Little Yin was still just a young girl, once she put herself into the protagonist's shoes, she found it unbearably frustrating.

Already in a foul mood, Little Yin grew angrier, nearly tearing the book to shreds. But since buying books in the Ghost Kingdom was not easy, she restrained herself and hurled it away with all her strength.

Just then, Lin Yuanmiao entered, casually catching the flying book. He could not help but ask, "What's the matter?"

Little Yin immediately launched into a tirade, criticizing the book thoroughly to vent her frustration.

After listening, Lin Yuanmiao casually flipped through the book and chuckled. "There's nothing strange about it. Writers often want to appear profound and unique, so they make their protagonists choose differently from normal people. For example, when everyone pursues wealth and glory, the protagonist insists on a humble life. When everyone seeks power, he abandons his authority. It's the so-called 'lone voice of clarity' in a corrupt world.

"If the author balances it well, it can be satisfying to read. But sometimes, this balance is lost, either overdone or downright deranged, leading to the protagonist being constantly aggrieved, sacrificing themself, or forgiving their enemies. That's all just to appear different. In essence, it's no different from pointless lamenting or contrived shock tactics.

"It's like wanting to be a prostitute yet also a paragon of chastity. How can the world allow such contradictions? To put it bluntly, it's like wanting to show your face but accidentally baring your backside instead."

Little Yin blinked. "Ah...that's how it is."

Lin Yuanmiao handed the book back to her. "So, there's no need to get so worked up over it."

Little Yin sighed. "But I still can't let it go. I wish I could just meet the author and punch them!"