A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu did not stay in the dream meeting for long and severed his connection with the dream realm. Everything around him became dark again.

After the darkness dissipated, Qi Xuansu slowly opened his eyes. He was still at home in Haichan Place. The candles he used for the ritual spell had been extinguished, and the Soul Returning Incense had burned out. Only a pile of fine ashes remained.

It was dark and quiet outside. Qi Xuansu put away the ritual spell materials in the fish talisman, swept away the incense ashes, and put the fish charm talisman in his pocket before he returned to his bedroom and slept with his clothes on.

His years of traveling made Qi Xuansu develop the habit of not going into deep sleep. Early that morning, Qi Xuansu vaguely heard voices outside his door.

The voices were not coming from outside his room but from outside the courtyard.

Qi Xuansu suddenly sat up from the bed. After he was completely awake, he opened the door and walked out fully dressed, as he had slept in his clothes last night. When he got to the courtyard, he recognized the voices outside the door to be Nun Cui’s and Zhang Yuelu’s.

He thought bitterly, If only Madam Qi was here, this would’ve been a gathering of the only three women in my life.

Outside the door, Nun Cui and Zhang Yuelu were chatting happily. They worked in the Nine Halls and were both fourth-rank Daoist masters, so they had seen each other around before.

Qi Xuansu took a deep breath to settle his mind and walked toward the door.

When he opened the courtyard door, the conversation between the two women stopped abruptly, and they both turned to Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu was a little frightened by their gazes. He forced a smile and greeted them. “Good morning, Aunt Cui and Qing Xiao.”

Nun Cui looked at Qi Xuansu with a meaningful gaze. “Tian Yuan, how could you hide this from me?”

The smile on Qi Xuansu’s face stiffened. “I didn’t hide anything.”

Nun Cui smirked and said, “Alright, I understand that youngsters get embarrassed easily. You two can chat. I won’t disturb you.”

After that, Nun Cui walked out of the alley.

When Qi Xuansu was left alone with Zhang Yuelu, they looked at each other. Zhang Yuelu was still dressed in the same attire as last night, but she had removed her blue and white vest and replaced it with a hooded cloak. She took the initiative and said, “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

"Please, do come in.” Qi Xuansu came to his senses and hurriedly opened the door.

Zhang Yuelu entered the courtyard and looked around. “It’s a nice place.”

Qi Xuansu walked a few steps ahead to lead the way for Zhang Yuelu.

When they came to the living room, Qi Xuansu was about to boil water to make tea. Zhang Yuelu waved her hand. “Don’t bother. Are you all packed?”

Qi Xuansu said truthfully, “I didn’t expect you to come so early.”

"I can help you pack your bag.” Zhang Yuelu suggested.

Qi Xuansu was secretly glad that he had put away all the sensitive things relating to the Qingping Society and nodded. “Sure.”

Zhang Yuelu beamed at him. She was not a stunner, but it still made his heart skip a beat. The two of them first went to Qi Xuansu’s study, where he had kept some valuables that he wanted to take on the trip with him.

As soon as Zhang Yuelu entered the study, her eyes lit up. The first thing that caught her eye was a table that was backed against the wall. There was a sword-stand on the table, but instead of a sword, there was a long gun placed horizontally on it.

Zhang Yuelu had an interest in strange weapons and firearms. Otherwise, she would not have met Qi Xuansu by chance at the weapons shop in Taiqing Square.

Qi Xuansu remarked, “This is an old-fashioned flintlock gun, for collection purposes.”

Zhang Yuelu nodded and turned her gaze to the desk.

There was nothing interesting on the desk. It was just brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, brush washers, brush holders, paperweights, and other stationery. Zhang Yuelu glanced at it and went to browse the bookshelf, which had many books of varying thickness on it.

Zhang Yuelu lamented. “Back then, I found studying extremely boring and difficult, so much so that when I saw the books, I felt like running away.”

Qi Xuansu said, “I never felt bored when I was a kid. I could practice or study at my own pace or could do other things if I wasn’t in the mood to study. My master would never force me. That’s why I am only in the Kunlunstage, but you are in the Guizhen stage.”

Zhang Yuelu shook her head. “You’re wise.”

"Well, everyone ought to choose if they want to suffer first and enjoy later, or enjoy now and suffer later. Do you find yourself suffering now?”

Zhang Yuelu chuckled. “How could I be suffering? I was promoted to the fourth rank at a young age, with the position of Sage almost within reach. If I still complain about suffering, I’m afraid I’ll get struck by lightning as a punishment from the heavens.”

Qi Xuansu went to pack his things. “Qing Xiao, will you pass me the bundle of iron spikes on the bookshelf?”

"This one?”

"Yes, those on the second rack as well.”

"Alright.”

"By the way, I placed a large cash note between the second book from the left, on the third rack of the bookshelf.”

"You have an interesting way to hide money.”

They stopped at the bedroom and kitchen to bring along a change of clothes and some dry food. Finally, he packed all of these into a large bag.

Zhang Yuelu looked at the bag and frowned slightly.

Qi Xuansu asked, “What’s wrong?”

"I was just wondering...” Zhang Yuelu hesitated for a moment before continuing, “What would my mother’s expression be like when she saw you at the door with such bulky baggage?”

Qi Xuansu pouted. “Are you looking down on me because I don’t have a magical receptacle? Well, you’re welcome to find another partner.”

Zhang Yuelu hit him lightly. “Stop pretending. You’re not so sensitive that you’ll feel offended by such words.”

Qi Xuansu smirked. “You're right, I really don’t care. I don’t even care what your mother thinks of me. That’s something for you to worry about.”

Zhang Yuelu rolled her eyes at him. She pursed her lips and stretched out her hand. “Give me your bag. I’ll put it in my magical receptacle and give it to you when you need it.”

Qi Xuansu pointed to the Executioner, Meridian, and the Green Bird Pistol. “What about these?”

Zhang Yuelu said, “You don’t need to bring these. I’ll lend you my Divine Dragon Pistol.”

The last time they were at Fort Cimut, Zhang Yuelu lent the Divine Dragon Pistol to Qi Xuansu. Afterward, he returned it to her because these weapons were issued by TiangangHall and could not be given or sold privately.

Qi Xuansu agreed. “Alright.”

Zhang Yuelu glanced at the short sword hanging on Qi Xuansu’s waist and suddenly remembered something. She asked, “Did you use this sword to kill Desmond?”

"Strictly speaking, it was the Superior Black Blood and the Phoenix Eye Bomb that killed Desmond in the end.” Qi Xuansu explained, “I just used this sword to cut a hole in his back and his heart.”

Zhang Yuelu asked, “What is its name?”

Qi Xuansu hesitated for a moment. He pulled out the sword and held it with both hands. His face was reflected on the blade of the sword. “This sword has no name.”

"Why don’t we give it a name?” Zhang Yuelu suggested.

Qi Xuansu asked, “What name?”

Zhang Yuelu pondered for a while. “My courtesy name is Qing Xiao, and yours is Tian Yuan. Why don't we name it Qing Yuan?”

"That’s a good name.” Qi Xuansu agreed. “Qing Yuan, it is.”

Sometimes, Qi Xuansu was not as slow as Madam Qi thought he was. He did not ask why he should add Zhang Yuelu’s name to his sword but happily agreed to do so.

Qi Xuansu put Qing Yuan back into its sheath, while Zhang Yuelu put his bag into her magical receptacle. Qi Xuansu once went into Zhang Yuelu’s magical receptacle and found that she had quite a large space inside, enough to store his bag.

Zhang Yuelu asked, “Shall we head out?”

"Sure.” Qi Xuansu was not one to procrastinate. He first asked Zhang Yuelu to wait in the courtyard. Then he locked all the room doors before locking the main door.

On October 16th of the 41st year of the Jiushi Era, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu left Jade Capital and headed for Shangqing Prefecture by land instead of taking a flying ship. On the way down Kunlun Mountain, there was heavy snowfall.

To Qi Xuansu’s surprise, Zhang Yuelu bought him a new cloak. He had seen this cloak in a clothing store and knew that it cost at least 100 Taiping coins. Although Zhang Yuelu did not want Qi Xuansu to wear Tiangang Hall’s standard cloak to meet her family, he knew that she had put some thought into buying this cloak for him.

Zhang Yuelu was not as “skilled” in making money as Sun Yongfeng was, so she was not that rich. A hundred Taiping coins was not a small amount either. To say that he was not touched by this would be a lie. Qi Xuansu had no parents or relatives growing up. He also did not have any close friends who cared about him, a true loner.

Aside from his master, no one had ever bought him anything worth more than 100 Taiping coins. As for Madam Qi, her kindness to Qi Xuansu was never reflected monetarily. On the contrary, it would be kind of her not to ask him for money.

However, Qi Xuansu was not used to showing his emotions, so he did not say much.

After he put on his cloak, he suddenly realized that his cloak and Zhang Yuelu’s cloak were quite similar in workmanship and texture. She probably bought them at the same time.

Zhang Yuelu felt a little uncomfortable when she noticed Qi Xuansu’s gaze on her cloak.

After they parted ways in Taishang Place last night, Qi Xuansu was in a hurry to attend the dream meeting and returned to Haichan Place. However, Zhang Yuelu was not in a rush to return to Xuan City. Instead, she explored Taiqing Square. Fortunately, it was the XiayuanFestival, so many shops were still open at that hour.

In fact, Zhang Yuelu had thought of only buying a cloak for Qi Xuansu. With her level of cultivation, she was immune to cold and heat, so it did not matter whether she wore a cloak.

However, the shop owner was great at sales. After finding out that Zhang Yuelu planned to buy a men’s cloak, the shop owner suggested that she should buy a matching one because it came in a set. In the end, Zhang Yuelu somehow bought two cloaks of the same style.

When she returned home, she felt a little regretful. However, after careful consideration, she decided to wear the new cloak anyway.

Early this morning, Zhang Yuelu went to Qi Xuansu’s house and unexpectedly bumped into Nun Cui at the door. Nun Cui had seen her several times in the Nine Halls and was a talkative person, so Zhang Yuelu had no choice but to exchange pleasantries with her. That was how Qi Xuansu woke up.

Qi Xuansu looked away and coughed lightly. “This cloak is nice.”

Zhang Yuelu pulled up her hood, which covered most of her face, and said nothing.

Qi Xuansu pressed his lips together, not knowing what to say, so he simply kept quiet.

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