A Pawn's Passage

The Heavenly Court was a grudgeful secret society. They would not let Qi Xuansu go easily for killing their members.

The Heavenly Court had lost members in Jiuwa Hill and the Feilong Inn at Salt Lake, but they attributed these deaths to the Green Phoenix Guard, who had the support of the Imperial Court. The Black Robes would also come to their aid when necessary. Thus, the Green Phoenix Guard was the cat, while the Heavenly Court was the mouse.

But for ordinary people, the Heavenly Court was an unshakable behemoth. The Heavenly Court would not let things slide if their members were killed.

Although the Heavenly Court had a fierce attitude against the Green Phoenix Guard and vowed to fight to the death with them, they did not actually do much to avenge their deceased members. However, they would certainly dare to hold ordinary people accountable.

Qi Xuansu understood this fact. That was why he used the Divine Dragon Pistol to kill Jia Zi. Since the projectile he used came from the Daoist Order’s Tianji Hall and not the black market, it had the unique logo of the Daoist Order. Thus, the Heavenly Court would think that the death of Jia Zi was caused by the Daoist Order.

He put away his cutlasses and quickly left the place.

Of course, he did not want to provoke the Heavenly Court. But those people wanted to kill him first, so he had no choice but to defend himself. If his cultivation level was a little weaker, he would have been the one who died, so he could not hold back or sympathize with these Heavenly Court members.

Qi Xuansu returned to the inn that night. After hesitating for a while, he reluctantly took out a large cash note and handed it to the innkeeper and his wife. He told them to leave this place as soon as possible, as a disaster was imminent.

The reason was simple. The white salt everywhere indicated that the salt smugglers were present. These salt smugglers had seen Qi Xuansu’s face, so it would have been easy to trace him back to the inn. Qi Xuansu knew the way secret societies operated and predicted that the innkeeper and his wife would not end well if they stayed. Thus, Qi Xuansu paid them 100 Taiping coins as compensation to abandon the place as soon as possible.

To be fair, this inn was not located in the city, so the building was not valuable. Even if they were to sell their business, it would only cost about 100 Taiping coins at most. The innkeeper and his wife would have suspected Qi Xuansu of conspiring against them if he had not offered them money. With these 100 Taiping coins, the innkeeper and his wife were no longer doubtful.

After a brief discussion, the couple packed up their belongings and fled overnight.

It was always better to believe these warnings. The building would still be there, so they could still go back after some time. From this perspective, the couple had just earned 100 Taiping coins without effort.

Qi Xuansu also continued on his way. However, he was saddened by his loss of 100 Taiping coins and reminded himself not to be such a good samaritan the next time.

After all, 100 Taiping coins was not a small amount. If one converted the cash note into coins, it would weigh dozens of kilograms.

It was true that curiosity killed the cat. If Qi Xuansu had not followed those salt smugglers, he would not have gotten into trouble.

This inn was at the border of Yongzhou, so Qi Xuansu quickly left Yongzhou and entered Liangzhou.

One thing that surprised Qi Xuansu was that in the past, the Heavenly Court had been operating in the Lingnan and Jiangnan areas. Now they looked like they were expanding their territory, reaching out to the northwest and other regions. Fortunately, Liangzhou was far away from the Heavenly Court’s main altar. The local altar in Liangzhou was relatively weak, with few skilled fighters.

However, Qi Xuansu was still afraid that they would come after him. If the Heavenly Court wanted to expand its territory in the northwest, it would need a regional leader to take charge of this area. The most suitable person was Feng Bo, who had organized the Eagle and Dog Slaughtering Assembly in Jiuwa Hill.

The Heavenly Court originally thought of using this opportunity to convert some stragglers and make friends with the other secret societies based there. However, they did not expect to be bombarded by the Green Phoenix Guard and the Black Robes.

With that Phoenix Eye Bomb, the Eagle and Dog Slaughtering Assembly was ruined, and the men Feng Bo brought also suffered heavy casualties. Two of his loyal subordinates, Ding Chou and Jia Shen, were intercepted and killed by the Green Phoenix Guard on the way.

In order to supplement manpower, various branches of the Heavenly Court targeted the local salt smugglers, bandits, and the like, forcing these people to join them.

As a result, they only received bad news. They did not gain members. Instead, the leader of a local altar, Jia Zi, was beaten to death. Hearing this, Feng Bo was furious. If he returned to the main altar at this time, he would surely be punished severely.

As such, Feng Bo personally inspected the corpses and questioned the survivors for leads on the killer. He then traced the salt smugglers to the inn where Qi Xuansu stayed but found that the inn was abandoned. In a fit of anger, the Heavenly Court burned down the inn to vent their anger.

Feng Bo could roughly piece together the situation based on the survivor’s accounts. Before Jia Zi jumped into the fight, he shouted, "Black Robes!"

The fragments of the projectile also came from the Daoist Order’s Tianji Hall. It was not a secret that the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court had frequent exchanges on firearms. No matter what the situation was, it indicated that the killer was not an ordinary man and that he was either a member of the Daoist Order or the Imperial Court.

That was when Feng Bo fell into a dilemma: should he get revenge?

On one hand, the Daoist Order was serious about cracking down on secret societies at the moment, so it was not wise to provoke them rashly. As for the Green Phoenix Guard, they had the help of the Black Robes, so they were not to be underestimated.

On the other hand, Feng Bo had to do something about the members’ deaths. Otherwise, morale within the Heavenly Court would fall, and their hope of expanding would be slim to none.

Feng Bo had no choice but to choose the lesser of two evils. So, after some thought, he decided to hunt down this person himself instead of sending a group of his subordinates.

The Daoist Order and the Imperial Court had strengthened their security, so a group of subordinates would easily attract unwanted attention. After the repeated losses, morale was low, so his subordinates should rest and recover. Therefore, it was better for Feng Bo to act alone so as to be discreet.

Feng Bo also had a way to find that killer. He found some blood stains on Jia Zi’s corpse that did not belong to him. Since Jia Zi was a Martial Arts Practitioner in the Yuxu stage, Qi Xuansu could not get away completely unscathed. Qi Xuansu still suffered some minor injuries, but his wounds healed fast. These traces of blood were the key element Feng Bo used to track down Jia Zi’s slayer.

There were various Daoist techniques that could allow one to overcome their opponents with subtle attacks. As long as one had access to the opponent’s nails, hair, or other organic matter, one could use it as a medium to create an effigy made of straw. Hurting this effigy was akin to hurting the opponent. One could also use it to chase away the opponent’s soul.

The spell that Feng Bo used was similar, but it was a tracking spell that used blood as a medium to determine Qi Xuansu's exact location.

Feng Bo closed his eyes. Suddenly, a blurry picture appeared in front of Feng Bo’s eyes. It was a man wearing a cloak, riding a horse on the broad official road, stirring up dust behind him. A large monument beside the road flashed past, with the words “Liangzhou” written on it.

At the same time, Feng Bo felt a strong pull. That was how Feng Bo locked down on his target, Qi Xuansu.

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