A Pawn's Passage

Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu returned to the Taiping Inn. After Zhang Yuelu changed out of her disguise, they went to the counter to check out. The receptionist at the inn was easygoing, allowing them to pay for one day’s rent and refunding the remaining deposit to them.

Qi Xuansu collected the rent and left the city with Zhang Yuelu.

It was already getting late, and the city gates were closed. However, since it had been peaceful for many years, there was a small side door open for people to enter and exit from.

They witnessed a small incident when they were leaving the city.

A carriage was about to leave the city, while another carriage wanted to enter. The side door was narrow, but the two carriages moved toward each other, refusing to give way.

A fat man stepped out of the more luxurious carriage and started cursing at the ordinary-looking carriage. However, after seeing a pretty young maid getting out of the ordinary-looking carriage, the fat man changed his tune. He stopped cursing and began to tease her instead.

Immediately afterward, a young man stepped out of the ordinary carriage. The man had a cold expression and did not bother to argue with the fat man. Instead, he asked the young maid and the coachman to step aside and held the horse's reins himself. A moment later, he whipped the horses and crashed into the luxurious carriage.

The horse and the ordinary carriage overturned, but the young man was quite skilled. He had jumped off the carriage at the critical moment, so he did not get injured.

Zhang Yuelu watched the farce expressionlessly. She was only annoyed that they were blocking her path.

“I don’t know.” Zhang Yuelu scowled. “But this behavior is a disgrace to all mankind.”

Zhang Yuelu did not lower her voice, so the young man heard them. He was infuriated and walked toward the two of them with a riding whip in hand. Judging from his offensive stance, he planned to teach the two of them a lesson by beating them to a pulp.

Qi Xuansu took the initiative to step forward. As soon as the young man raised his riding whip, he felt a chill on his forehead. At some point, Qi Xuansu had taken out his Divine Dragon Pistol and pressed it against the young man’s forehead.

This method of using a gun was strictly prohibited when taught in the courses of the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, as a skilled opponent could easily seize the gun. The correct method was to keep a distance from the opponent and fire the gun before the opponent approached.

However, Qi Xuansu did not follow this rule because most people had not received systematic training on how to seize a gun, and most people would instinctively panic when a gun was held to their forehead.

Normally, Qi Xuansu would not be so reckless. But he was holding back some pent-up anger because of his encounter with Li Qingnu. That courtesan had seen through his identity and shattered some of his illusions.

Some of Li Qingnu’s harsh words replayed in Qi Xuansu’s mind.

“Do you really think of yourself as a Daoist priest from Tiangang Hall who hunts down cult demons?”

“Do you really think that you can marry her?”

“You’ll always be a shady mouse.”

Qi Xuansu felt like killing someone at the time, but he managed to suppress his murderous intent after Li Qingnu revealed her identity as a member of the Qingping Society. He did not argue with her and even kept her identity a secret. That was because Qi Xuansu had to behave normally so as not to make Zhang Yuelu suspicious.

That was why he had some pent-up anger. Since this arrogant young man provoked him, Qi Xuansu would gladly teach that lout a lesson.

Qi Xuansu did not even bother to say any threatening words. He merely pressed down on the hammer of the gun and hooked his index finger on the trigger. The whole time, he was staring at the arrogant young man.

This was the killing aura that Zhang Yuelu noticed on Qi Xuansu back then.

The arrogant young man, who had been so aggressive earlier, instantly turned pale. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his body froze.

Whether a person wanted or dared to kill someone was obvious. If a timid lady pointed a gun at him, he would not care about it and would even dare to seize the gun from her. That was because he knew that the timid lady would not dare to fire the gun. However, when Qi Xuansu held a gun to his forehead, he did not dare to move or speak.

The arrogant man had an intuition that if he made a move, Qi Xuansu would shoot him. Even if it was not fatal, it would hurt.

Zhang Yuelu noticed something wrong with Qi Xuansu, so she stepped forward and held his wrist. “Tian Yuan, forget it.”

Qi Xuansu kept silent for a moment. Then, he slowly removed the gun from the man’s forehead.

That man no longer looked as arrogant as before. He breathed a long sigh of relief and took a few steps back, almost losing his balance and falling to the ground.

Qi Xuansu suddenly laughed and said, “It’s really difficult to be a good person.”

Zhang Yuelu did not know what Qi Xuansu was bothered by, so she did not catch the hidden meaning of this.

She chided him. “You’re good at everything, but you’re just too violent sometimes. You’re not usually so impulsive. Why are you so worked up this time?”

Qi Xuansu answered truthfully, “Li Qingnu said something that irked me earlier.”

She remarked, “The Li family is always eccentric. It’s a well-known fact that they can be harsh with words. Even many of the Sages weren’t spared when discussing matters in the Golden Tower Council. So don’t take it to heart.”

Zhang Yuelu was not suspicious of Qi Xuansu, nor did she ask about what happened in detail. She did not think that Qi Xuansu, who remained calm after being punched by Zhao Fu’an, needed comforting, so she offered a perfunctory consolation.

As someone who prided himself on being mentally resilient and adaptable, Qi Xuansu gathered his thoughts and followed Zhang Yuelu out of the city.

The two carriages did not completely block the side gate. There was still a small gap for people to walk through.

After leaving the city, Zhang Yuelu suddenly said, “If I guessed correctly, my cousin has probably left for Shangqing County. If we travel fast enough, we will probably bump into her.”

“What is she doing in Shangqing County?” Qi Xuansu asked ignorantly.

Zhang Yuelu replied, “To complain to my mother, of course. My cousin is too self-righteous and stubborn. Only a few people are capable of swaying her thoughts. When she fell in love with Li Minghuang, no one in the family could dissuade her. Now that she believes you are the next Li Minghuang, she’ll want to steer me back on the right path. This is also my fault. Maybe I shouldn’t have provoked her.”

Qi Xuansu sighed. “It’s fine. I’ve already anticipated it. I can handle it.”

Zhang Yuelu sighed. “You don’t have to meet my family now. Perhaps after a few years—”

“I don’t like to give up halfway,” Qi Xuansu interrupted.

Zhang Yuelu glanced at Qi Xuansu with a look of resignation. Finally, she smiled, as she believed that Qi Xuansu could handle it.

……

As Zhang Yuelu predicted, Zhang Yuyue had arrived in Shangqing County one step ahead of them.

In addition to the large flying ships, the Daoist Order also had small flying boats. The principles of the two modes of transport were different. The flying ships were made of dragon pearls and skeletons, then supplemented by formation talismans. There were different types of smaller flying ships, including mechanical birds and feather boats, which were a specialty of the Zhengyi Sect.

According to legend, there were boats shaped like snails that submerged in water without letting water in. They were called Snail Boats. There were also flying boats called Feather Boats that could fly through the clouds like birds.

Compared with the flying ships, these small flying boats could only fly shorter distances and at a slower speed. It could only accommodate two or three people. However, the advantage was that it did not require dragon pearls or skeletons to operate. It could operate with only talismans and formations.

Zhang Yuyue left Fenning County by flying boat. Although she left Fenning County later than Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu, she arrived in Shangqing County one step ahead of them.

Not far outside Shangqing County was Yunjin Mountain.

The area from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside was considered Shangqing Town, which was further divided into Uptown and Downtown. There were various palaces and temples on the mountainside, with Dazhen Mansion at the top of the mountain.

Everyone knew of the Dazhen Mansion of the Zhengyi Sect, but there were many other palaces and temples on Yunjin Mountain, including Shangqing Palace, Beizhen Temple, Nanji Temple, Chongyuan Temple, Zhenxian Temple, and many more.

Dazhen Mansion was the residence of the Heavenly Preceptor and the main branch of the Zhang family. Other disciples of the Zhengyi Sect lived in other temples in Shangqing Town.

Zhang Yuyue’s maiden home was the Dazhen Mansion. However, as soon as she arrived at Yunjin Mountain, she did not return home to meet her father and brother. Instead, she went straight to Shangqing Town, situated on the mountainside.

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