A Pawn's Passage

The Innkeeper went to his office, took out a mother-child talisman, and contacted the headquarters to report the situation.

However, no one at the headquarters answered his correspondence.

The Innkeeper pursed his lips tightly, his expression solemn. The beads of sweat on his forehead betrayed his calm facade.

After a while, the headquarters finally responded, but it was brief. “Got it.”

The Innkeeper was speechless. He thought to himself, The Black Robes are coming, but that’s all the headquarters has to say to me?

Finally, the Innkeeper asked, “Any instructions from the headquarters…?”

“Instructions…” The personnel from the headquarters pondered for a moment before replying, “Let them be. Don’t provoke them and follow their orders.”

The Innkeeper could not help but ask, “That’s it?”

“Yes, that’s all.” The tone of the personnel from the headquarters left no room for negotiation.

The Innkeeper was silent for a long time before he asked again, “May I know the reason?”

The headquarters replied, “The person leading the army this time is General Loulan.”

In addition to Xizhou, the Great Xuan Dynasty implemented a system of provincial governors in other regions. The State Governor held the highest authority, ruling over Chief Admirals, Pacification Commissioners, and Chief Military Officers.

The governor was under the Ministry of War. They oversaw military affairs, managed supplies and rations, and supervised river systems in specific regions. Initially, this position was only created as needed and disbanded after a specific term. However, over time, it became a permanent fixture and the head of a state.

Generally speaking, the governor was equivalent to a high-ranking official at the level of the six ministers. Although the Great Xuan Dynasty had always emphasized the equality of both civil and military officials, a governor was still considered a civil official.

However, Xizhou was an exception because it was a regained border territory with constant wars, so the highest government office was not the Governor’s Office. Instead, the Xizhou Protectorate held the most power, with control over the military and civil affairs in the region.

Although the Xizhou Protectorate was nominally under the control of the Governor of Xiliang, it actually answered to the Imperial Cabinet and had equal status to the governor.

In the event of a large-scale war that needed the aid of troops from various states, the Xizhou Protector could bear the seal of a Chief General and have absolute military power. The Chief General could control the Governors of Xiliang, Qinzhong, and Shuzhou and order the three Governors to provide food and fodder for the army.

Under the Western Region Protector were four Deputy Protectors, who were also honored as Generals.

General Loulan was the Deputy Protector stationed in Loulan City. He ranked first among the four Deputy Protectors in the Western Region. If something unexpected happened to the Protector of the Western Region, the Deputy Protector of Loulan could temporarily take charge.

The Innkeeper remained silent.

Soldiers from a foreign state were entering Xizhou under the command of the Loulan Deputy Protector. Coupled with the headquarters’ attitude, the Innkeeper felt that something was wrong, as if a disaster were imminent.

It was clear that even The Inn’s headquarters were unaware of this.

“Any more questions?” The personnel from the headquarters asked as per routine.

The Innkeeper croaked, “Is this branch getting...abandoned?”

“Don’t overthink it.” The personnel at the headquarters hastily ended the conversation.

The Innkeeper was stunned for a long time before he finally came out of his office.

Several waiters came up to him and asked, “Sir, what did the headquarters say?”

The Innkeeper uttered one word. “Wait.”

“Wait?” Everyone was puzzled.

The Innkeeper went back to his position behind the counter and said nothing more.

……

About an hour later, the cavalry suddenly took over the city, occupying commanding heights and sealing the city gates.

In the face of this formidable army, most people in the city dared not make a move.

The local gangsters and vigilantes were like unarmed civilians compared to the heavily armed and ironclad Black Robes. For the Black Robes, it was even easier to deal with anyone who violated their rules because they could use force against them and unscrupulously punish them. However, they could not use force against civilians.

There would occasionally be some rebellion, but these would be quelled in the blink of an eye before a commotion was stirred up.

At the same time, several other old cities were quickly and effortlessly occupied by the Black Robes.

In fact, even if the people wanted to resist, these rammed-earth cities in disrepair could not withstand the Black Robes’ heavy artillery.

The Black Robes had declared martial law in the West Gobi and the west coast of Cuowenbu, barring anyone from entering or exiting the area. This was so that they could hunt down all members of the targeted secret societies.

This sudden occupation was not completely unexpected. There were already signs of such movement on New Year’s Day.

Typically, New Year’s Day was for visiting relatives and friends. This year, it was also the day when the Great Sage of the Taiping Sect took over the role of the Acting Grand Master, also titled the Great Sage Lunzhi. He would assume this role and become the absolute authority in the Daoist Order for six months.

However, on this day, the Great Sage of the Taiping Sect was severely humiliated by the Lingshan Witch Cult. Since it was the day of the handover between the Great Sages of the Quanzhen and Taiping Sects, both Deputy Grand Masters were held accountable.

In addition, the flying ship had departed from Yunjin Mountain, which was the territory of the Great Sage of the Zhengyi Sect. Thus, all three Deputy Grand Masters were involved and deeply offended by this act of terrorism.

Thus, the Golden Tower Council quickly reached a consensus to conduct a harsh crackdown on the secret societies.

The Daoist Order did not limit their suppression to just the Lingshan Witch Cult but extended it to target all secret associations, starting in Yongzhou, where two secret societies had organized rebellions.

The Great Sage Lunzhi spearheaded this campaign, while the other two Deputy Grand Masters provided support. He not only dispatched Tiangang Hall, but also Fengxian Hall and Beichen Hall to launch an internal audit within the Daoist Order to root out any spies and suppress dissidents.

If Qi Xuansu had followed Zhang Yuelu back to Tiangang Hall, he would have been discovered. However, since he was also a victim of the flying ship crash and was labeled as missing or even dead, his file had been sealed. So no one would bother investigating him. By a twist of fate, Qi Xuansu managed to escape this inquisition.

The Imperial Court and the Daoist Order had the same stance when it came to suppressing secret societies. With the Great Sage of the Taiping Sect taking the lead in this crackdown, the Imperial Court cooperated with the Daoist Order by mobilizing the Green Phoenix Guard and the Black Robes. Their previous raid on Jiuwa Hill, in which Qi Xuansu narrowly escaped, was just a small trial run.

Qi Xuansu did not expect that he would be so unlucky as to be the target of both the Daoist Order and the secret societies due to his identities. He finally felt the agony of being trapped between a rock and a hard place.

……

When the Daoist Order advocated employing young people, the Imperial Court did the same. After all, young people had proven to be able to take on big responsibilities, as shown by the Holy Xuan, who unified the Daoist Order when he was 30 years old.

A young general in black armor strode into the lobby of The Inn with a riding crop in hand.

Upon seeing the man, the Innkeeper flashed a professional smile.

This general looked to be in his thirties, yet he was already the Deputy Protector of Loulan, more commonly known as General Loulan. This time, he was also the Chief General leading the army.

“My name is Qin Wubing.” The young general introduced himself and bragged. “This name was bestowed by the Champion Marquis himself.”

The Innkeeper lowered his head and said respectfully, “Greetings, Your Grace. My apologies for not welcoming you beforehand.”

“I’m not related to the imperial family. I come from the Qin family of Jiangling.” Qin Wubing corrected him.

“My apologies, General.” The Innkeeper quickly corrected himself.

One of the founding fathers of the Great Xuan Dynasty shared the same last name as the emperor but did not have royal blood. It was just a namesake. But he was bestowed the title of Commandery Prince of Jiangling County, which was hereditary.

Qin Wubing said nonchalantly, “No need to be polite. I am a warrior, so I don’t care for such formalities. Are you a staff member of The Inn?”

The Innkeeper responded, “Yes, sir.”

Qin Wubing handed the riding crop to an attendant and placed his hand on the Innkeeper’s shoulder. “For the sake of your relationship with the Green Phoenix Guard, I will be lenient with you as long as you hand over the list of people from this branch. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee that you and everyone here can leave this Inn in one piece.”