A Pawn's Passage

“Eagle and Dog Slaughtering Assembly?” Qi Xuansu heard this term for the first time. He only felt that he was outdated after only being away for a few months, as the street slang was ever-changing.

“Brother Wei, haven’t you heard of it?” Eighth Tianyang continued, “There will be an Eagle and Dog Slaughtering Assembly at Xiping Prefecture. They claim that all heroes should join in the fun. But those people are not heroes. They’re just reckless criminals.”

Qi Xuansu hesitated before guessing, “Eagle and Dog Slaughtering Assembly... Does that mean—?”

Eighth Tianyang nodded. “Eagle refers to the Imperial Court, and dog refers to the Daoist Order. Most of the people participating in this assembly are members of secret societies, excluding the Lingshan Witch Cult, the Cult of Fates, and the Ziguang Society.”

Qi Xuansu was at a loss for words for a moment before finally speaking. “How daring of them! But why did they choose Xiping Prefecture?”

Eighth Tianyang replied, “Xiping Prefecture is not that far from the Kunlun Ancestral Court. This group of people knows what they’re doing. Brother Wei, you must have heard about the current situation of the Daoist Order. There are undercurrents surging in the Jade Capital because of the three Deputy Grand Masters. The Kunlun Daoist Mansion shrank their forces, and the Western Region Daoist Mansion was at war with the Shamanistic Sect.

“With all this going on, the two Daoist mansions lack manpower. That’s why those secret societies know that as long as they don’t take the initiative to provoke the Daoist Order, the Daoist Order won’t have time to care about them.”

Qi Xuansu understood clearly and said, “So, are you also going to Xiping Prefecture?”

Eighth Tianyang nodded again. “Due to some changes in the Yongzhou Lieutenant Colonel’s Office, the Imperial Guard’s Office issued an order for the Yongzhou, Liangzhou, and Shuzhou Lieutenant Colonel’s Offices to be jointly responsible for this matter. I’m under orders to investigate the situation in Xiping Prefecture. But I didn’t expect to encounter this group of demons from the Heavenly Court on the way there.”

Not all senior majors of the Green Phoenix Guard worked in the Lieutenant Colonel’s Office. Sometimes a senior major could be put in charge of a Major’s Office, which was usually scattered in various prefectures and counties. So it made sense that Eighth Tianyang’s group chose to pass through Salt Lake.

Qi Xuansu pointed to the official uniforms worn by Eighth Tianyang and the others. “You don’t look like you’re trying to disguise yourselves.”

“It’s more convenient to travel with this official uniform, especially when going through customs or staying at inns. I wanted to wait until we got to Xiping Prefecture before changing into civilian clothes,” Eighth Tianyang said with a wry smile.

Just as he was talking, the innkeeper had already come out of the back kitchen, seemingly unfazed by the blood on the floor. He held a plate of cooked beef and served it on the counter. “Sir, your cooked beef.”

“Please excuse me.” Qi Xuansu excused himself and went to the counter to take the plate of beef and the key to his room. Then he went straight to the guest room on the second floor.

The guest room was relatively clean and simple, with only a bed and a table. Qi Xuansu sat on the bed, pulled over the table, and slowly drank his wine while eating meat.

As he drank, he inevitably thought of Zhang Yuelu. She should have returned to the Jade Capital safely by now. I wonder what she’s doing at this time. Is she drinking her sorrows away? Or is she busy dealing with her official duties?

Qi Xuansu had nothing else to think about but his traveling partner for the past few months.

Eighth Tianyang remained seated in the lobby. A Green Phoenix Guard went over to knock on the counter. After the innkeeper’s wife stood up, the guard left her 10 Taiping coins. The rest of the guards threw the bodies out into the courtyard under Sui Fan’s command. When the door opened, the fierce wind would blow some sand into the lobby. But that was still better than having the lobby reek of blood.

The sandstorm finally stopped the next day. A thick layer of sand had accumulated outside the door. The bodies that were thrown out looked like small sand hills. The Green Phoenix Guards dragged the corpses farther from the inn, dug a deep pit, and buried them so as to prevent epidemics.

Eighth Tianyang invited Qi Xuansu to join them on their journey to Xiping Prefecture. After some consideration, Qi Xuansu agreed to the offer. Eighth Tianyang even gave him a horse so that they could set out on the road. After riding for a day, they finally left the Salt Lake area.

At nightfall, the Green Phoenix Guards lit a bonfire and set up camp. Qi Xuansu was familiar with this kind of thing and quickly helped several injured Green Phoenix Guards set up their tents. However, he did not stay in the tent. Instead, he sat by the campfire with Eighth Tianyang and Sui Fan, keeping guard and chatting to pass the time.

Since the other Green Phoenix Guards were not Xiantian Beings, traveling with such intensity took a toll on their bodies. Many of them were also injured. Thus, they rested early.

A former Daoist and two Green Phoenix Guards sat by the fire and talked about the current affairs of the world.

Eighth Tianyang sighed. “Back then, the Daoist Order had Three Xuan Leaderboards, namely the Venerable Xuan Board, the Elite Xuan Board, and the Junior Xuan Board. The Venerable Xuan Board was for Immortals; the Elite Xuan Board was for Heavenly Beings; and the Junior Xuan Board was for talents below thirty years old. Everyone, even those not in the Daoist Order, could participate. Only Confucians, who were the orthodox religion at the time, could not join the competition.”

Sui Fan said, “Right. It’s said that the Holy Xuan was ranked first on the Junior Xuan Board before he was twenty years old. After he became a Heavenly Being, he also claimed the first spot on the Elite Xuan Board. Later, he defeated the leader of the Confucian School and the Buddhist Sect to become the first on the Venerable Xuan Board. He dominated all three leaderboards.”

Eighth Tianyang added, “Donghuang had also ranked first on the Junior and Elite Xuan Boards, but he failed to take first place on the Venerable Xuan Board after he became an Immortal. He was still not as good as the Holy Xuan.”

Sui Fan chuckled. “Well, they’re brothers, so losing to his elder brother isn’t so bad.”

Qi Xuansu had heard of this before. He asked, “Why is there no such thing as the Three Xuan Leaderboards now?”

Eighth Tianyang explained, “There are many reasons. Firstly, the name ‘Xuan’ clashes with the Holy Xuan and the Great Xuan Dynasty. But the most important reason is that they don’t want to offend people. If such a board exists, how would they judge the Grand Master or even the three Deputy Grand Masters? Would the three of them fight each other? Even if they don’t care who among them won, their disciples will mind. It’ll just cause resentment between the Daoist sects.”

Sui Fan added, “In the Holy Xuan’s era, there was internal fighting among the Daoist sects. Confucians, Daoists, and Buddhists also liked to fight each other. At the time, the Great Xuan Dynasty had just replaced the former Wei Dynasty. So war was still rampant on the continent. Back then, competitions where people fought to the death were also common.

“Each side would select ten people to compete with each other, and everyone who wanted a chance to be on the leaderboard had to fight in person. The Deputy Grand Masters back then weren’t so snobbish or mysterious. Even the Holy Xuan fought in person. That was why it was easy to distinguish who was superior. The rank on the leaderboard was solely based on the result of the fight.”

Qi Xuansu sighed in his heart.

As the Daoist Order grew in power, the upper echelons of the Daoist Order did not have to do everything themselves, unlike their predecessors. The people in power had fewer opportunities to fight.

Qi Xuansu then recalled what he had seen on Yunjin Mountain. The destroyed mountain peak was caused by the Holy Xuan during a fit of rage. Perhaps it was indeed a good thing that people of that caliber did not fight often, because when the gods fought, ordinary people were bound to be collateral damage.

Eighth Tianyang took out a wine pouch and tossed it to Qi Xuansu. “Care to have a drink?”

Qi Xuansucaught the wine pouch. Since his alcohol tolerance had increased, he agreed. “Sure.”

He poured the wine into his mouth without touching the rim. He was not afraid that he would be poisoned because ordinary poison would not work on him. That was because he had both blood qi and innate qi, and ordinary poison usually only targeted one type of qi. A poison that would work on him would be very expensive and not readily available.

Qi Xuansu threw the wine pouch back to Eighth Tianyang.

Eighth Tianyang took a sip and continued, “Although the Three Xuan Leaderboards are long gone, there is a new kind of leaderboard called the Wuyou Leaderboard, the Taiping Leaderboard, and the Ruyi Leaderboard.”

Qi Xuansu was stunned. “Like Wuyou coins, Taiping coins, and Ruyi coins?”

Eighth Tianyang smiled and nodded. “Exactly. That’s why these leaderboards are also called the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Leaderboards.”

Qi Xuansu shook his head and laughed. “I’ve been traveling around for so long, but I’ve never heard of these leaderboards.”

“That’s not surprising. It only came out last month. But the people behind the scenes must have spent a lot of money to spread this news all over the world within a month.”

Qi Xuansu inquired, “Who’s the person behind it?”

Eighth Tianyang answered, “The Qingping Society.”

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