A Pawn's Passage

Only solitude and loneliness accompanied Qi Xuansu since he was traveling by himself. When he was traveling with Zhang Yuelu back then, he always felt that time passed quickly, so the long journey always seemed short. Now that he was alone, he began to miss Zhang Yuelu. Even if they always encountered various dangerous situations during their travels, he much preferred that to not seeing a single soul.

It took him three days to finally reach the edge of the Salt Lake.

Salt Lake was an area with a few sparse green patches, which failed to bring vitality to the yellow desert sand. Instead, it accentuated the barren and deserted Gobi Desert.

However, the Salt Lake was not like the Death Sea, so there were still clusters of human settlements on the edge and even in the depths of the Salt Lake. Qi Xuansu’s top priority now was to buy a horse for transportation. He still had his own savings of 300 Taiping coins, as well as the 500 Taiping coins from Zhao Fu’an, totaling 800 Taiping coins. This should be enough to support him for a long time.

At this time, Qi Xuansu no longer cared about revenge or keeping the 500 Taiping coins cash note as a reminder. Survival was more important.

It was freezing in the Western Region, much colder than Jiangnan and Wuzhou in the south. If Qi Xuansu did not have his transformed, hot-blooded physique like that of a Martial Arts Practitioner, he would have been frozen to death.

The only advantage of this route was that the people from the Daoist community would not travel here because they did not want to suffer hardships. Although this place was right next to the Ancestral Court, it was rare to see Daoists here. So Qi Xuansu was safe for the time being.

After nightfall, Qi Xuansu took shelter on the leeward side of a slope. He poured his innate qi into the mother-child talisman in his hand, which turned into flames that were not hot to the touch. Madam Qi’s face and upper body appeared in the flames, contorting as the flames swayed.

Madam Qi’s voice came through from the flames, slightly distorted. “Tian Yuan, are you alright?”

Madam Qi quipped. “A flying ship crashed. This is a big accident that has not happened in many years, so needless to say, news of it has spread all over the world in just a few days. How could I not hear about it? I just didn’t expect that you’d get caught in this kind of incident that only happens once in a lifetime! I really don’t know what to say.”

Qi Xuansu frowned. “Madam Qi, you don’t seem surprised that I’m still alive.”

Madam Qi’s eyes widened in the flames. “You heartless little brat! Do you think I want you to die?”

“That’s not what I meant.” Qi Xuansu explained, “I mean, a normal person would think it impossible for me to survive a fall from those heights. So you should have sounded surprised and happy when I contacted you out of the blue. But you seemed unusually calm, as if you’d already known that I’d survive this.”

“Oh…” Madam Qi said sheepishly, “Well, of course, I had high hopes that you’d survive. After all, you’re a blessed child, protected by the gods, with all the luck in—”

“Stop the nonsense.” Qi Xuansu quickly interrupted her. “Madam Qi, don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m hinting at. What exactly is going on? Is this related to the body transformation that the Qingping Society did to me? Also, don’t even try to act like you can’t hear me because the formations are interfering with our communication. I’m in a barren land with no formations for miles!”

At this point, Madam Qi could not play dumb anymore. She reluctantly said, “Fine, it does have a slight connection.”

“Just a slight connection?” Qi Xuansu asked.

Madam Qi said, “This is what I find strange. The Qingping Society transformed your body so that you’d come back to life. To be precise, you should have entered a state of suspended animation so that your body can slowly heal.

“But the specific time required for this repair depends on the severity of the injuries you suffered before death. Of course, you can’t be dismembered, pulverized, or burned to ashes. You must still have a relatively complete body. According to my calculations, it should have taken you three months to wake up and contact me. How could you be back to normal in just a few days?”

Qi Xuansu immediately remembered something and asked tentatively, “Could it be related to the Xuan Jade?”

“You got another piece of Xuan Jade?” Madam Qi asked, “When did this happen?”

Qi Xuansu roughly recounted what happened at Yulan Temple. After Madam Qi heard this, she did not answer Qi Xuansu’s question. Instead, she asked, “Why didn’t you tell me about it back then?”

He replied, “I was with Qing Xiao at the time and didn’t have time to contact you.”

Madam Qi pressed on. “What about when you arrive at Yunjin Mountain? You should have plenty of time then, right? The Dazhen Mansion can’t possibly restrict the use of mother-child talismans.”

Qi Xuansu felt guilty. “Well, when you sent Li Qingnu to meet me, I thought you already knew about it.”

Madam Qi snorted. “It’s my business if I find out some clues through other channels. But whether you tell me is your choice. It’s not the same thing. You’re such a heartless little ingrate! How could you forget your mother once you have a wife?! No wait, she’s not even your wife yet, but you’ve already disowned me!”

At this point, Madam Qi covered her face in dismay and continued, “Sigh, I’m so blind to have trusted the wrong man. I thought I would have someone to rely on when I get older, but I didn’t expect how ungrateful you are to abandon me after you’ve found a backer like the Zhang family. Go to her, then!”

Qi Xuansu looked helpless, but he did not feel bad for Madam Qi at all. He sure as hell had no intention of apologizing to her. There was a saying that parents were the best models for their children. This was where Qi Xuansu learned how to be such a good actor. It was all thanks to Madam Qi.

Seeing that Madam Qi’s emotions were rising and that she was probably planning to cut off their communication out of “sorrow and anger,” Qi Xuansu hurriedly interrupted her. “Don’t think that you can get away with explaining by deviating from the topic! You can’t trick me this time. You clearly know everything. I won’t let this slide! Unless you plan to never see me again and keep avoiding me, I will keep pestering you until you explain this to me.”

Madam Qi had no choice but to put down the hand that was covering her face. She wiped the corners of her eyes and huffed. “You’re so mean! How can you be so indifferent when you see your mother crying?”

Qi Xuansu immediately recalled that Madam Qi had told her friends that he was her godson. He was not disgusted with it. In fact, their relationship was similar to that of an adopted mother and an adopted son.

In their society, it was not easy for women to raise children alone, so it was more common to see adopted father-and-son pairs. An adopted mother was still relatively rare. Qi Xuansu had to admit that his master and Madam Qi had filled the roles of his non-existent parents. But Qi Xuansu was unforgiving this time. “I have never seen a mother who likes to act in front of her own son and deceive her own son!”

The two of them stared down at each other through the flames for a long time. In the end, Madam Qi was the first to compromise. “Ugh, fine! I’ll explain. Your resurrection is related to the Xuan Jade and the Qingping Society.”

This was something Qi Xuansu had guessed a long time ago, so he was not surprised. He pursued further. “So what exactly did the Qingping Society do to me?”

Madam Qi replied, “When you were pierced through the heart back then, I couldn’t save you by myself. So I brought you back to the Qingping Society and asked them to save you. The principle is not that complicated, actually. Since your heart failed, they just implanted a new heart into your body.”

Qi Xuansu was startled. He recalled how he had no heartbeat when he regained consciousness in the lake. He subconsciously pressed his chest and asked anxiously, “Does this mean that I’m a heartless person?”

“Of course not. You’ll be easily found out if you’re still well and alive but don’t have a heartbeat. It’ll make things complicated.” Madam Qi shook her head. “Amputated limbs can be regenerated, but it takes time. Of course, the heart can also be regenerated, but it also takes time.

“However, people will die without a heartbeat, so the idea is to replace your heart with something else to maintain your vitals while giving your heart enough time to slowly regenerate and heal itself. Once your heart has regenerated, you can use it again.”

Qi Xuansu suddenly understood. “That’s why I went through several inspections...”

“Of course they’ll need to check how well your heart is recovering,” Madam Qi said matter-of-factly.

Qi Xuansu asked again, “Then what is this thing that temporarily replaces the heart?”

Madam Qi answered, “The Qingping Society calls it the Auxiliary Heart. It’s just like when a Deputy Hall Master fills in for the Hall Master when the Hall Master is not around. Once your heart is fully recovered, we will return it to its original position.”

Qi Xuansu had some guesses. He quickly asked, “So where is this Auxiliary Heart now?”

“Of course, it’s still in your body.” Madam Qi looked at Qi Xuansu as if he were stupid. “Do you think we’ll just dissect you again to take out this Auxiliary Heart?”

Qi Xuansu covered his heart and took a few steps back. He almost fell backward, but he managed to catch himself. He gasped. “In other words, the reason why I didn’t die this time was because of this Auxiliary Heart?”

“There’s also the Xuan Jade. That piece of Xuan Jade you got symbolizes life.” Madam Qi explained, “The Xuan Jade’s power has also altered the Auxiliary Heart. When you were in suspended animation, the Auxiliary Heart started beating to replace your stopped heart and injected the Xuan Jade’s life energy into your whole body, healing your injuries. That’s why you came back to life in such a short time.”

Qi Xuansu was still in disbelief. “This is truly a work of art that surpasses the laws of the heavens!”

“You look like you have never seen the world.” Madam Qi scoffed with disdain. “Actually, the Daoist Order’s Huasheng Hall can do it too, but it’s too costly, so low-ranking priests like you won’t be able to enjoy such privileges. High-ranking priests, who are mostly Heavenly Beings, won’t need such means to save their lives. These injuries mean nothing to them.”

Qi Xuansu settled his mind and said cautiously, “It’s costly, huh? Does that mean you helped me foot this medical bill first?”

Madam Qi rolled her eyes at him. “Something like that. The Qingping Society still bore most of the cost. That’s why you will have to pay off your debt before you leave the Qingping Society. I gave you the alias Gold-Plated Knife just so you’d remember your debt. In short, Qi Xuansu, you have to pay back what you owe me!”