A Pawn's Passage

It turned out that many undercover Green Phoenix Guards had mingled into the crowd. At this moment, they drew out their Slim Tiger Sabers or Sheep Sabers and surrounded the grass platform.

In addition, there were also many police officers with batons and metal chains. However, these people were Houtian Beings, not Xiantian Beings.

The biggest advantage of Houtian Beings was that they could hide themselves easily. Even with the Divine Observation Technique or Divine Thought Perception, it was difficult to distinguish Houtian Beings from ordinary people.

On the contrary, Xiantian Beings were easy to spot, even with the naked eye. That was why the dancer in the center of the stage spotted Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu at a glance.

The dancer had Seer Eyes, so she managed to escape from the Green Phoenix Guard’s pursuit many times before. However, she did not expect that the Green Phoenix Guards would be so clever as to deploy undercover troopers, lieutenants, and police officers to hide in the crowd.

Thus, it was difficult to distinguish these Houtian Beings from ordinary people. She was also not as observant as Qi Xuansu, who could spot these authorities based on appearance alone.

The dancer did not panic. With a wave of her hand, the dancers and musicians on the platform turned into little paper figurines, which she kept in her sleeves. This was similar to the Yellow Turban Warriors that Lingquanzi once used. The only difference was that the Yellow Turban Warriors were used for fighting, while these little paper figurines the dancer used had no combat power.

Qi Xuansu was surprised to see this because he had not noticed any flaws in the accompanying dancers and musicians. However, this was not surprising, as the essence of magic was to make illusions seem true.

These spells could turn paper figures into soldiers, as displayed by Lingquanzi before. However, this method could not be used on the battlefield because of the strong spell-resisting blood qi of Martial Arts Practitioners, who were mostly delegated to fight. Diviners and Shamans rarely participated in battles as their physiques were weak.

The illusion would appear more realistic if people believed in it. Tricks and deceptions were considered simple magic. If one believed in the magic, it would seem more realistic. On the other hand, if one did not believe it, the trick would be exposed.

This was also the reason why many scammers, who only knew a few superficial spells, could stay at a place for a long time. With many believers, their spells would be stronger, and their magic would be more realistic. It was a vicious cycle that would keep going until someone exposed them.

The crowd watching the performance previously believed that these dancers and musicians were real people. Thus, the paper figurines seemed more realistic, so much so that even Qi Xuansu could not see any flaws in them.

In fact, this principle could be applied to other aspects, like the magical receptacle. The magical receptacle was a small object that was made of special materials and enhanced with a spell to accommodate more space. However, the magical receptacle could only store non-living objects. That was because the blood from living objects would disrupt the normal operation of the spell.

If a living creature was put into the magical receptacle, the creature would die, or the magical receptacle would be completely destroyed. Only one of the two could be saved.

The legendary paradise was the prototype for opening up a whole new world. It was a magical power that only immortals had. This paradise was the embodiment of making illusions a reality. That way, living people could also enter paradise.

After the dancer put away the paper figurines, she took out a talisman that made her as light as a feather, allowing her to fly.

This was the Diviner’s Flying Feather Talisman, which allowed people to fly in the sky. However, compared with the Heavenly Being’s ability to fly, this talisman was slow and could not be used for combat. Thus, it had great limitations.

Seeing this, the Green Phoenix Guards and police officers on the ground stopped pursuing the dancer.

The Green Phoenix Guards stationed on the surrounding rooftops aimed their long guns at the floating dancer, firing at her one after another.

The whistling projectiles intertwined into an invisible net.

In the blink of an eye, the woman was shot in many places, but there was no blood flowing out of her body. The red dress she was wearing was ridden with holes and torn to pieces, revealing her slender waist and long legs.

Qi Xuansu looked up, but he did not get to see anything because Zhang Yuelu ordered, “You’re not allowed to look.”

Thus, he had no choice but to turn his gaze away. He suddenly figured out one thing. Zhang Yuelu probably knew that the accompanying dancers on the stage were just paper figurines, so she had no reaction when he was staring at the dancing girls before. Now that this woman was a living person, Zhang Yuelu did not want him to stare at the woman’s body.

Qi Xuansu muttered under his breath, “How bossy!”

"What did you say?” Zhang Yuelu asked loudly.

Qi Xuansu grumbled, “I was wondering if you already knew that those dancers were paper figurines.”

"I didn’t see their true appearance, but when I used the Divine Observation Technique, I found that they weren’t breathing, so I knew that they weren’t living people. That’s why I asked you to try and approach them.”

Qi Xuansu was vexed. It turned out that Zhang Yuelu had known it was impossible for him to have a romantic encounter with those women. That was why she was willing to take the risk. Zhang Yuelu was not so generous as to let him interact with such seductive women.

In fact, Qi Xuansu was slow to understand why Zhang Yuelu did this. If Madam Qi had been around, she would have known that Zhang Yuelu was interested in Qi Xuansu because Zhang Yuelu did not want him to look at other women. However, if Qi Xuansu stared at her, she would feel embarrassed.

While the two were talking, the dancer floated higher into the sky. When she reached the highest point, a cloud of smoke exploded, covering her body. She then disappeared as soon as the smoke dissipated.

There were Heavenly Beings in Jinguan Prefecture, but they would not take action on such trivial matters.

Several Green Phoenix Guards jumped down from the second floor of a restaurant facing the street, swearing and holding their guns or telescopes.

At this time, all ordinary civilians had already fled. Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu stood out on the street, so the Green Phoenix Guards immediately surrounded them.

Zhang Yuelu gave her Daoist certificate to Qi Xuansu, who passed it on to one of the leading assistant majors.

The assistant major took the certificate doubtfully and looked at it repeatedly, as if he did not believe it was real.

The rest of the Green Phoenix Guards also stared at the two of them with eager eyes, thinking that they were scammers pretending to be Daoist priests.

Zhang Yuelu became a little impatient and took out her Tiangang Hall badge. She threw it into the hands of the assistant major and said, “The certificate can be counterfeited, but this badge can’t be faked, don’t you think?”

The fish talisman token of the Qingping Society was modeled after the badge system of the Daoist Order. Since the fish talismans of the Qingping Society were designed as small magical receptacles, the Daoist Order's badges were naturally more impressive.

Zhang Yuelu’s badge was made of fine gold, a specialty of the Kunlun Cave. It could not be damaged by fire or scratched. Moreover, this kind of badge was not common, with each hall having different details. Thus, it was difficult to imitate.

The assistant major was shocked to see this. After some clarification, he hurriedly handed the badge and certificate back to Zhang Yuelu with both hands. “My apologies, Mage Zhang. There has been a group of scammers running rampant in the city lately. They even forged the fifth-rank Daoist priest’s certificate last time, so we have to be extra vigilant. I hope you forgive us for our impudence.”

Zhang Yuelu took over the certificate and badge and said with a frown, “If a scammer dares to forge a fifth-rank Daoist priest’s certificate, shouldn’t the local Daoist mansion get involved in the investigation?”

The assistant major smiled bitterly but dared not answer hastily. After all, he was just an assistant major. Who knew what kind of relationship Zhang Yuelu had with the Mages of the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion? He would suffer if the Mages of the local Daoist mansion heard his accusations.

Zhang Yuelu also understood his difficulties. It was clear that the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion did not assist in the case. She waved her hand in dismissal. “Alright, I understand.”

The assistant major instructed the Green Phoenix Guards and the police officers to disperse the pedestrians, leaving a mess on the ground and the empty grass platform.

Zhang Yuelu whispered to Qi Xuansu, “Let’s not rush to Huasheng Hall now. We should go after that dancer instead.”

"How do we track her down?” Qi Xuansu asked directly.

Zhang Yuelu took out the Amorphous Paper, which had turned into an animated paper crane, spreading its wings looking ready to fly. “I planted another paper crane on the dancer earlier, so I can find her.”

Qi Xuansu recalled what happened and questioned, “You released the paper crane when you told me not to look at her?”

Zhang Yuelu glanced at Qi Xuansu in surprise and praised him. “You’re a smart one.”

Qi Xuansu extended his arm. “Please lead the way, milady.”

Zhang Yuelu rolled her eyes at him and let go of the paper crane in her hand. There was a connection between the two paper cranes, so this one fluttered its wings, circled in the air a few times, and flew southwest.

They followed closely behind. As they went further, they found that the area was becoming more remote, with fewer pedestrians and cramped buildings.

They ended up in a street just a little wider than an alley, with many potholes on the ground and sewage everywhere, accompanied by various foul smells. Many low shacks were built haphazardly on both sides of the alley, so cramped that their eaves were almost touching each other. Barely any daylight shone through them.

Zhang Yuelu, accustomed to living conditions in the Jade Capital, could not help but frown and cover her nose.

Qi Xuansu was somewhat used to this environment back then. However, after living in Jade Capital for a few months, he was no longer accustomed to this kind of place.

The Jade Capital and the real world were completely different. The people from the Daoist Order were like dragons above the clouds, while ordinary civilians were like grass in the mud.

This world was naturally segregated. On the one hand, the flying ships allowed people from the Daoist Order to travel through the skies, and the armored ships from the Imperial Court allowed the imperial army to travel across the seas. But on the other hand, ordinary civilians still viewed cattle as valuable assets and traveled on horseback.

Some people carried firearms and artillery, while others still relied on bows and arrows.

The transition from the old to the new had just begun.

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