A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu did not know much about the intricacies between the Daoist Order, the Imperial Court, The Inn, the Qingping Society, the Eight Tribes, White Jade Hall, and other forces.

He only knew one thing—it was not suitable to stay in this area. He even gave up on the thought of returning to Qin Xiang, as he wanted to leave the West Gobi as soon as possible.

As a result, Qi Xuansu encountered a dozen Black Robes when he was about to leave the West Gobi.

Qi Xuansu did not expect the Black Robes to seal off this city. He focused all his attention on avoiding the Daoist Order’s flying ship, so he was completely unprepared when encountering the Black Robes.

As a result, he was ambushed and shot twice. Fortunately, the Black Robes used ordinary armor-piercing projectiles instead of the Dragon Eye Bullets. If they were to use the latter, Qi Xuansu would have been seriously injured, even with his self-healing abilities.

The ordinary armor-piercing projectiles pierced through Qi Xuansu’s qi shield, entering his body and causing a starburst-shaped explosion. Although Qi Xuansu’s body could withstand the impact of this bullet, he was momentarily stunned.

These Black Robes were not ordinary city guards. They were the elite frontier troops experienced in battle, far superior to the Green Phoenix Guard in terms of coordinated operations and firearms.

Qi Xuansu quickly hid behind a huge rock.

This group of Black Robes was equipped with a five-barrel revolver with rotating chambers capable of firing 18 shots. For a while, the gunshots were incessant as the bullets hit the rock and stirred up dust. The rock that Qi Xuansu hid behind chipped off so much that it resembled a wasp’s nest.

Faced with this situation, Qi Xuansu did not intend to sit still and wait for death. Instead, he squeezed out the two projectiles lodged in his muscles, waited for his wound to heal rapidly, and then took out his Divine Dragon Pistol.

The use of firearms was taught in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, so Qi Xuansu was not inferior to these Black Robes when it came to shooting. Moreover, he had an advantage over them. He would not die from a gunshot wound, but these Houtian Beings would.

In fact, Qi Xuansu could just get rid of them all at once with a single Phoenix Eye Bullet. But considering that he only had two of these bullets left, he wanted to save them for real emergencies.

The next moment, Qi Xuansu stood up and shot the revolver, relying solely on his accurate hearing to infer the location of the revolver based on the direction of the gunshot. The revolver that cost more than 3000 Taiping coins exploded to pieces.

That was when he jumped out from behind the rock. Since he was still wearing the Jiamas on his legs, he instantly landed in front of the Black Robes, as if the ground had shrunk.

Although the Black Robes were frightened by Qi Xuansu’s abrupt leap, the ones with pistols in the front row quickly retreated, while the ones wielding swords and shields pushed forward.

If Qi Xuansu was still in the Kunlun stage, he would have had a hard time fighting against these well-trained soldiers. However, Qi Xuansu was in the Yuxu stage and about to advance to the Guizhen stage.

He threw out his 5-kilogram Divine Dragon Pistol, hitting the face of a soldier who was planning to shoot him while retreating. The soldier’s face was bruised from the impact, and he fainted instantly. If it were not for the protection of his helmet, his head would have busted open.

This was the advantage and disadvantage of the Divine Dragon Pistol. It weighed 5 kilograms, which was difficult for ordinary people to lift, let alone shoot steadily. However, for people like Qi Xuansu, the pistol’s weight was not a problem. It could even be used as a bludgeon.

Qi Xuansu let the Black Robes stab him while he punched out using both fists. Although he failed to break their shields, his fists managed to deform them. The soldiers holding the shields felt their wrists shatter upon impact and could not help but scream in pain. They staggered back, no longer able to hold their formation.

After knocking the two soldiers away, Qi Xuansu charged into the group of Black Robes like a tiger attacking a flock of sheep. In the blink of an eye, several soldiers fell to the ground with broken bones and tendons.

Without the soldiers wielding the swords and shields, the remaining soldiers with guns were flustered, as they were not trained to use firearms in close combat.

One of them raised their gun, but Qi Xuansu reached out and dented the barrel. Thus, when the soldier pulled the trigger, the barrel exploded in the soldier’s face.

Another soldier raised his gun to shoot Qi Xuansu, but he only felt a strong force coming from the muzzle, which was now facing the sky. The projectile shot upward as Qi Xuansu kicked the soldier in the chest, hurtling the soldier’s body backward. Upon landing, the soldier vomited blood.

Two gun-carrying soldiers took out their daggers and stabbed Qi Xuansu. In close combat, long guns were inconvenient. Although pistols were more convenient, ordinary Black Robes were not equipped with high-quality pistols, and only generals were deserving of the Divine Dragon Pistol. Usually, only Mobile Corps General and above were allowed to own this pistol. However, the Divine Dragon Pistol could also be bought on the black market.

These soldiers were not as strong as Qi Xuansu. As soon as Qi Xuansu slapped them with his backhand, they both flew backward.

The others were shocked by Qi Xuansu’s fighting prowess and dared not move for a moment.

Qi Xuansu picked up his Divine Dragon Pistol and questioned, “Why are you attacking me?”

A soldier, who seemed to be the leader among them, replied, “I am Chen Meng, the sentry leader of the Xizhou Frontier Army, under the military orders of the Xizhou Protectorate to blockade the front line of Cuowenbu in search of secret society members.”

Qi Xuansu sneered. “Is this how you search for them—by beating people to death first? What if I’m not a secret society member? Won’t I have died in vain?”

Chen Meng stated as a matter of fact, “With your cultivation level, we can only stop you by firing our guns. I don’t think the gunshots will kill you either. Please obey the military orders of the Xizhou Protectorate and accept the interrogation. You won’t end well if you go against the Imperial Court.”

Qi Xuansu scoffed. “Need I remind you that your lives are in my hands right now?”

Chen Meng was unrelenting. “I would also like to remind you that you are in the territory of our Great Xuan Empire. You won’t end well by going against the Protectorate or the Imperial Court. If you are not a member of a secret society, you should accept the interrogation willingly. We won’t let any bad guys get away, but we will not wrongly accuse good people either.”

Qi Xuansu laughed. Just as he was about to speak, a group of cavalrymen rushed toward them from the horizon.

This was a common method used by the Black Robes. They used marksmen and the infantry to guard a certain location and form a stronghold, then they sent out rangers to patrol the areas between the various strongholds. The cavalry's high mobility was a means of providing quick reinforcements when necessary.

Their previous gunfight had already alerted the group of rangers.

The ground shook as the sound of horse hooves approached. The pressure brought by the Black Robes was completely different from that of the Green Phoenix Guard.

The Green Phoenix Guard was just the emperor’s eyes and ears, while the Black Robes was the emperor’s sharp sword, symbolizing the majesty of the Imperial Court.

Qi Xuansu did not pay attention to the rangers, who would take some time to arrive, but sized up the sentry leader in front of him.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu missed his original identity as a Daoist priest.

With that identity, the soldiers would have to show some respect to the Daoist Order. But without it, even a sentry leader dared to make things difficult for him.

However, Qi Xuansu did not want to risk it all and kill this sentry leader. Otherwise, the latter would have already been dead.

Qi Xuansu said, “It’ll be easier for me and all of you if you let me go.”

The sentry leader did not speak and just shook his head.

In the end, Qi Xuansu chose to put down the Divine Dragon Pistol in his hand.

The sentry leader’s expression softened a little, thinking that Qi Xuansu had surrendered. “Good.”

Qi Xuansu stared at him. “I’m just an ordinary traveler, so I hope you can keep your word. If you verify that I’m not a secret society member, then you must let me go.”