A Pawn's Passage

Qingbai Temple.

Qi Xuansu sat upright in front of the square table, his expression slightly stiff.

Bai Yongguan was sitting opposite Qi Xuansu, with a copper pot placed between them. The steam rising from the hot pot covered their faces and blocked their sight.

Thin slices of meat were soaking in a spicy red soup.

Bai Yongguan was like a food connoisseur, introducing Qi Xuansu to the hotpot before him. His voice came from behind the steam. “Mutton would be best when eating hotpot in winter. Unfortunately, we don’t have any sheep here in the temple, so we can only serve pork. I hope you won’t mind, Deacon Qi.”

"It doesn’t matter.” Qi Xuansu settled his nerves. “I’m not particular about food. When I was in the Western Region for an expedition, I survived on Army Pills and cold, dry rations. All that matters in the vast Gobi desert with no human habitation is sustenance, so I’m used to it.”

Bai Yongguan laughed, stretched out his chopsticks, and picked out an extremely thin slice of meat from the copper pot. He put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly, savoring its taste.

Li Zhen’er was sitting on Bai Yongguan’s left, and his disciple Bai Yue was sitting on his right.

At this time, Li Zhen’er’s face paled, and her whole body trembled slightly.

Bai Yue was expressionless. She also picked up a slice of meat with her chopsticks and placed it in the bowl in front of her.

Qi Xuansu made no move to eat.

After Bai Yongguan swallowed the meat, he asked, “Deacon Qi, why aren’t you eating?”

Qi Xuansu lowered his eyes and said, “To be honest with you, I’ve already eaten in the city before I came here, so I’m not hungry.”

"I see.” Bai Yongguan narrowed his eyes. “Well, you can just eat less. At least have a taste.”

Qi Xuansu could no longer refuse, so he picked up his chopsticks and reached into the pot. However, he suddenly felt nauseated when he saw the white pieces of meat floating in the soup. All he could think about was how he should make his escape.

Since Bai Yongguan was a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist priest, his cultivation level would at least be at the Guizhen stage. But Qi Xuansu was not sure which lineage Bai Yongguan belonged to.

If Bai Yongguan was a Martial Arts Practitioner, then Qi Xuansu would have no chance to fight back at such close proximity. He had learned this lesson the hard way when he faced off with Zhuge Yongming back then.

However, it was unlikely that Bai Yongguan was a Martial Arts Practitioner because each lineage would change one’s external appearance. The most notable feature of a Martial Arts Practitioner was the strong blood qi, so much so that one would feel a faint heat emitting from the Martial Arts Practitioner if seated next to them.

The higher the realm of Martial Arts Practitioner, the more intense this burning feeling would be. It was not until the Martial Arts Practitioner reached the Heavenly Being stage that their blood qi would become more restrained.

Qi Xuansu did not feel this heat from Bai Yongguan, so he was inclined to believe that the latter was not a Martial Arts Practitioner.

Among the remaining inheritance, Qi Xuansu eliminated the possibility of Bai Yongguan being a Rogue Cultivator, Banished Immortal, or Qi Refiner. That was because Bai Yongguan could turn his disciple Lu Yu into a pig. Thus, Bai Yongguan could only be a Diviner or a Shaman, both proficient in spells.

Diviners and Shamans had one thing in common. Without an added layer of defense, their natural bodies were fragile, so they could be easily injured.

This was the reason Qi Xuansu did not escape immediately. If he rashly escaped from Qingbai Temple and aroused Bai Yongguan’s suspicion, he would lose the opportunity to ambush Bai Yongguan. Moreover, Bai Yongguan could easily catch up to him on the arduous mountain road. In a head-on fight, Qi Xuansu could not defeat Bai Yongguan, regardless of the latter’s lineage. That left Qi Xuansu with a dead end.

At the moment, Bai Yongguan was only testing him. After all, Qi Xuansu was from Tiangang Hall, so killing him would definitely trigger an investigation. Bai Yongguan, a fourth-rank Daoist master who had lost power, could not avoid or suppress the investigation. His only choice would be to leave the Daoist Order and be hunted down by Tiangang Hall and Beichen Hall. If that happened, he would have to live in constant panic.

Thus, even if Qi Xuansu knew the inside story, they could negotiate terms. Therefore, Bai Yongguan did not kill him unless absolutely necessary.

For Qi Xuansu, what was most important in this world was his own survival. If he was threatened, he would naturally save himself first. At worst, he would leave the Daoist Order and remain a member of the Qingping Society.

That was why Qi Xuansu did not mind striking first.

Qi Xuansu put the meat slices in his bowl and flipped them gently with his chopsticks.

Bai Yongguan’s gaze fell on Qi Xuansu through the steam rising from the hotpot.

At this moment, Li Zhen’er finally could not bear it any longer and started sobbing.

Bai Yongguan immediately turned to Li Zhen’er and rebuked her. “Why are you crying? I told you to rest if you don’t feel well. Don’t embarrass yourself in front of our guest.”

Li Zhen’er just kept shaking her head without uttering a word.

Qi Xuansu breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Madam Li, you’re a sixth-rank Daoist priest, so you should be a Xiantian Being unaffected by common diseases. How did you get sick? Are you injured? There are some rogues around lately, so you should be careful.”

Li Zhen’er spoke in a low voice. “Thank you for your concern, Deacon Qi. This is just a chronic problem. It’s nothing serious. I’ll get better after a while.”

Qi Xuansu nodded slightly and quietly touched the gun holster on his waist.

Long before he arrived at Qingbai Temple, Qi Xuansu had already loaded a Dragon Eye Bullet into his pistol in case of an emergency. He did not expect it to come in handy so soon.

The Dragon Eye Bullet was powerful, evident by the fatal wound it brought to the sinners back in Fort Cimut. Those sinners were as strong asXiantian Being Martial Arts Practitioners. At the time, Qi Xuansu managed to kill them with one shot to the chest.

If Bai Yongguan did not use any protective powers or treasures, Qi Xuansu could severely injure him or even kill him with one shot.

However, there was another variable—Bai Yongguan’s disciple, Bai Yue. Qi Xuansu was unsure whether Bai Yue was an accomplice or a clueless, innocent person.

Assuming that Bai Yue was Bai Yongguan’s accomplice, she should not be underestimated, even though she was only an eighth-rank Daoist priest. In many cases, Qi Xuansu had defeated his opponents who were higher in rank and cultivation than him, so he assumed that others could do the same.

Bai Yongguan was distracted by Li Zhen’er. He ordered his disciple, “Yue’er, send her back to her room.”

"Yes, Master.” Bai Yue stood up and came to Li Zhen’er’s side. “Master-Mother, let’s go.”

Li Zhen'er glanced at Bai Yongguan, stood up slowly, and left with Bai Yue. In the end, only Qi Xuansu and Bai Yongguan remained in the main hall.

Qi Xuansu did not have much of an expression, but his whole body was tense. He was ready to pull out the Divine Dragon Pistol from his waist at any time. This was a gun drawing technique, which he derived from the sword drawing technique. It was not a sophisticated technique, but it was very practical.

Bai Yongguan did not rush to speak. Instead, he placed some of the other side dishes into the hotpot.

Qi Xuansu did not act rashly either.

After Bai Yongguan finished cooking the side dishes, he chuckled and wanted to speak.

However, there was a loud noise coming from the gate of the temple, startling Bai Yongguan.

Qi Xuansu immediately seized this perfect opportunity and kicked the square table, flipping it over. The copper pot, soup, dishes, and the white meat in the pot flew up between them, blocking their sight.

When Qi Xuansu pulled out the Divine Dragon Pistol from his waist, his thumb had already pressed down on the hammer. He did not search for his target. Instead, he moved toward the position in his memory and pulled the trigger.

A cloud of smoke and fire exploded from the pistol, and the Dragon Eye Bullet spun rapidly before shooting out of the barrel.

Qi Xuansu did not wait to see if he had hit his target and immediately left to take cover so that he could load the second Dragon Eye Bullet into the pistol.

The copper pot fell to the ground, revealing Bai Yongguan’s figure. There was an expanding patch of blood on his chest, but he was far from dead. He was not even seriously injured.

Bai Yongguan had a sinister smile on his face as he stretched out to cover the spot on his chest where he had been shot. “As expected of an elite from Tiangang Hall, you truly are different from an ordinary Daoist priest.”

Qi Xuansu hid behind a pillar outside the door and turned his head slightly to get a glimpse of Bai Yongguan.

He noticed a faint golden light all over Bai Yongguan’s body. Qi Xuansu happened to see this scene not long ago in the battle at the ancient temple. The Shaman that Zhang Yuelu severely injured also had such magical powers, and she was in the Shaman’s Golden Body Realm.

Bai Yongguan turned out to be a Shaman.

The strength of a Shaman was closely related to the amount of incense power they received. Daoist temples always had a reserve of incense power. The more incense offerings the Daoist temple received, the more incense power it had in the reserve.

For the Daoist Order, incense power was similar to the Imperial Court’s tax money. Local Daoist temples would offer up their incense power to the local Daoist mansions at the end of the year. After reserving part of the incense power for Spirit Guards, the local Daoist mansions would hand over the remainder to the Ancestral Court. Then, the incense power would be distributed uniformly, such as for the cultivation of Shamans or for training new Spirit Guards.

Although Qingbai Temple’s incense offering was minimal, it should still have a reserve. If Bai Yongguan used this incense power, then his combat power would be comparable to that of Banished Immortals.

Bai Yongguan snorted. He summoned a Spiritual Statue around five meters tall, wearing armor and holding two whips. The statue was buzzing with electricity, and Qi Xuansu could hear a faint roar of thunder.

The Spiritual Statue swung both whips, cutting the pillar where Qi Xuansu was hiding behind in half.

At the critical moment, Qi Xuansu rolled away and dodged the blow.

Bai Yongguan laughed. “Deacon Qi, since you don’t want to eat my pork, I presume you prefer mutton. Why don’t I turn you into a sheep then?”

Before he finished speaking, he pointed his finger at Qi Xuansu.

This was the Shaman’s mystical ability, the Small 36 Heavenly Generals Transformation Technique. It could make something fake seem real and change reality. A Diviner could only practice this technique after reaching the Heavenly-Being stage. However, for Shamans, even Xiantian Beings could use this technique as long as they had enough incense power.

Suddenly, a mysterious force fell on Qi Xuansu, trying to change his physical form.

At the same time, another force surged out of Qi Xuansu’s body to resist this change. In the end, the two forces neutralized each other. Bai Yongguan failed to transform Qi Xuansu into a sheep.

Bai Yongguan was shocked at first, but then he looked elated. “So, you’re the person with a special physique! It must be fate that you served yourself up on a silver platter!”

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