A Pawn's Passage

When entering Xijing, one would need a travel permit issued by the local government. However, the Black Robes were not under the control of the local government, nor were the Daoist priests. Thus, Daoist priests only had to produce their insignia or certificates while Qi Xuansu flashed the Black Robes badge given by Qin Wubing to the gatekeeping guards. That was how he entered the city without being stopped.

Having survived multiple wars, the original ancient city of Xijing was no longer existent. The prosperity of the past had been buried, and nothing was as it used to be.

The current Xijing was no longer comparable to the prosperous capital of the past. Only half of its buildings remained standing, and the rest had been destroyed by the war.

In addition to its vast area, Xijing City had a symmetrical structure and neat layout like Jade Capital.

The outer city had three gates on each side, with six main streets connecting the twelve city gates. The north-south Zhuque Street was the central axis, linking the Chengtian Gate of the Palace City, the Zhuque Gate of the Imperial City, and the Mingde Gate of the outer city. This divided Xijing into two symmetrical parts, each side with its own market called the East Market and the West Market, respectively.

Within the city, there were eleven north-south streets and fourteen east-west streets, dividing the residential areas into 110 neatly arranged blocks, resembling a chessboard.

The Palace City was located in the central northern part of Xijing, with Taiji Palace in the middle. To the east was the East Palace, and to the west was the Yeting Palace, where most of the servants lived.

The Imperial City was connected to the south of the Palace City, with the Ancestral Temple on the left and the Soil and Grain Altar on the right. There were also various major government offices.

After Tantai Yun occupied this place, she renamed it Wuxu Palace. This name was still in use.

This was the core of the Qinzhou Daoist Mansion and Wuxu Palace. That was why this place had two groups of governance. The Wuxu Palace Master resided in the East Palace, while the Qinzhou Daoist Mansion Master resided in the Yeting Palace.

In this regard, the three Daoist sects were different. The Taiping Sect’s Zhenjing Courtyard, Qingling Palace, and Qizhou Daoist Mansion were located in three separate places. The Zhengyi Sect’s Shangqing Palace and the Dazhen Mansion were in the same place, while the Wuzhou Daoist Mansion was in a different area. The Quanzhen Sect’s Wuxu Palace and Qinzhou Daoist Mansion were in the same location, but the Chongyang Palace of Immortality was in a separate place.

Wuxu Palace was far grander than Shangqing Palace. After all, Shangqing Palace was built on a mountain and was adjacent to the Dazhen Mansion, so the space it could occupy was quite limited. Although intricate, it was not majestic. It only fared better in terms of celestial aura.

Wuxu Palace was a replica of the Imperial Palace in the Imperial Capital. Even with half of it destroyed, it spanned an exaggeratedly large area. The main hall in the atrium between the East Palace and the West Palace only consisted of one floor, but it was 67 meters tall and was supported by 365 pillars, each as thick as 2.5 meters in diameter.

Due to the insufficient lighting and its towering height, one would not be able to see the dome of the hall when looking up. All one would be able to see was the pitch-black darkness with countless luminous pearls hanging from the ceiling, resembling stars in the night sky.

There were few windows in the main hall, so the dim lights were turned on even during the day. As such, this hall was called the Night Court.

Qi Xuansu had heard about the Night Court before and had longed to see it. After entering the city, he walked along Zhuque Street for more than an hour before finally arriving at the gate of Wuxu Palace.

A river surrounded the Palace City like a moat. A straight bridge that could accommodate four horses walking side by side connected the Palace City to the outer city. A few Spirit Guards were standing on both sides of the bridge, prohibiting anyone from entering or exiting at will.

Qi Xuansu could not help but feel a little disappointed. In the past, he could easily enter by producing his Daoist certificate. However, this was no longer an option. Fortunately, the Night Court was tall enough that he could vaguely catch a glimpse of it from outside. Thus, Qi Xuansu stopped to admire it for a while before leaving.

What Qi Xuansu did was a common occurrence in the area, so the Spirit Guards did not pay attention to him.

There was a Taiping Inn located in a convenient spot across the street from Wuxu Palace. Countless people who visited Wuxu Palace would wait at the Taiping Inn if they were not permitted to enter the palace. Many disciples from Wuxu Palace and the Qinzhou Daoist Mansion would also patronize the Taiping Inn for drinks and meals. Most of them were generous in their spending.

An ordinary inn would be able to earn more money than it could ever spend in a lifetime by relying on this business. However, no other inn could occupy such a prime location. Only the Daoist Order’s own establishment would be able to enjoy such privileges.

Qi Xuansu had just received 500 Taiping coins, so he was feeling rich.

Although the Taiping Inn was a bit pricey, he could rest there with peace of mind since it was right next to Wuxu Palace.

However, this time, Qi Xuansu miscalculated. The moment he checked into the Taiping Inn, a white-haired old man followed him inside. This old man was none other than Feng Bo, who had been tailing him all this time.

This Taiping Inn occupied a large area, so much so that the Taiping Inn had purchased surrounding shops and hacked down the walls in between to expand the main building. The area was nicely renovated into a specialty restaurant, with many luxurious private rooms separated by windows on the second floor. The lobby on the first floor also had screens so that guests could drink and talk in private.

All guest rooms were moved to the back of the main building and divided into many independent courtyards. The bigger courtyards could accommodate multiple people. Since Qi Xuansu was alone, he asked for the smallest courtyard available, which cost 5 Taiping coins a day.

Qi Xuansu planned to stay in Xijing for two days to get some proper rest. As soon as he took off his cloak and put down his satchel, he heard someone knocking on the door.

Since this inn was opposite Wuxu Palace, Qi Xuansu let down his guard, thinking that it was a waiter from the inn. So he stepped forward to open the door.

As soon as he opened the door, he felt a cold rush of air traveling up his spine and exploding in the back of his head, making his scalp tingle.

Qi Xuansu saw a white-bearded and white-haired old man in a green robe standing outside the door. It was clear that the old man was no ordinary person.

He instantly recognized this person as Feng Bo, the God of Wind from Heavenly Court and host of the Eagle and Dog Slaughtering Assembly on Jiuwa Hill.

Qi Xuansu was not the only one who understood the meaning of hiding in plain sight. Feng Bo also understood it and trailed behind Qi Xuansu with the intention of killing him. On the contrary, Qi Xuansu was completely unprepared for this hostile encounter.

The old man in the green robe spoke first. “I’m a guest from next door.”

This excuse was far-fetched since they were merely staying in the Taiping Inn for a few days. They were not moving into a new home, so there was no reason to visit the neighbors.

However, Feng Bo could not come up with a better idea. Since this place was in such proximity to Wuxu Palace, he had to consider how best to kill Qi Xuansu and escape smoothly. He wanted to kill Qi Xuansu silently so that he would have enough time to escape. If there was any commotion, he was afraid that he would be trapped in this inn.

Feng Bo thought that although this excuse was far-fetched, at least it would not make the young man wary. After all, most people would relax their guard knowing that they were close to Wuxu Palace. No one in their right mind would commit murder here.

What Feng Bo miscalculated was that Qi Xuansu recognized him as the Heavenly Being, Feng Bo.

Qi Xuansu became curious about the Eagle and Dog Slaughtering Assembly that Eighth Tianyang mentioned and went to Jiuwa Hill to check it out. That was how he saw Feng Bo from a distance. He even had a deep impression of that day because he almost had a close brush with death when the Black Robes launched a Phoenix Eye Bomb in an attempt to eliminate everyone there.

Feng Bo was a member of the Heavenly Court, and Qi Xuansu had recently killed Jia Zi of the Heavenly Court. Thus, he could already guess what Feng Bo’s purpose was.

At that time, there were more than a thousand people on Jiuwa Hill. Feng Bo was the focus of the crowd, so he did not notice Qi Xuansu among them.

Due to this, Feng Bo’s plan came to nothing. Feng Bo thought that Qi Xuansu did not recognize him; hence, Qi Xuansu was unaware of his motive. However, Feng Bo’s scheme was exposed the moment he showed up at Qi Xuansu’s door. Thus, Feng Bo became the unsuspecting person in this scenario.

Qi Xuansu knew very well where his advantages lay, not in terms of cultivation level or cleverness, but in geographical location and external help.

This location was more favorable to Qi Xuansu, as they were opposite Wuxu Palace and the Qinzhou Daoist Mansion. Qi Xuansu was also confident that he would get external help because the Daoist Order would not allow a high-level member of the Heavenly Court to escape right under their nose.

The main question was, how should he alert the Daoist Order?

In fact, it was not difficult to alert the Daoist Order. Qi Xuansu could detonate the remaining two Phoenix Eye Bullets. However, in this enclosed environment, he could not guarantee that he would not injure himself. Qi Xuansu dared not test the resilience of his body by trying the power of the Phoenix Eye Bullet.

Moreover, if he did this, Feng Bo would kill him immediately in a panic. Even if Qi Xuansu could withstand the aftershock of the Phoenix Eye Bullet, he could not withstand the thunderous strike of a Heavenly Being.

Back in Baidi City, Qi Xuansu had already experienced what it was like to be struck by a Heavenly Being, so he knew what to expect.

He could not rely on his Auxiliary Heart. He barely survived the last time he fell into the Starry Sea. What if Feng Bo decided to behead him? He did not think that his Auxiliary Heart would allow him to grow another head.

Since this was a matter of life and death, Qi Xuansu dared not act rashly.

Qi Xuansu forced himself to remain calm so as not to alert Feng Bo. He even invited the old man inside and asked, “Old sir, what’s the matter?”

Feng Bo said, “I have nothing to do, so I thought of chatting with you for a while. You wouldn’t mind, right?”

“Of course, I won’t mind.” Qi Xuansu smiled.

The two men were like a pair of strangers who met by chance. However, each of them had their own motives.

Qi Xuansu was thinking about how to alarm the Daoist Order to save his life, while Feng Bo was thinking about how to kill Qi Xuansu without alerting the Daoist Order.

For Feng Bo, killing a Xiantian Being was not a difficult task. The hard part was escaping unscathed.

When Feng Bo entered the Taiping Inn, he looked around and noticed many people with high levels of cultivation in this inn. Some of whom were guests, and some were workers of the Taiping Inn.

Feng Bo could have conjured the essence of heaven and earth to split Qi Xuansu in half. However, it would be difficult to hide it from others. He was a Heavenly Being Qi Refiner, so without using the essence of heaven and earth, he could not guarantee a kill with one strike. If this kid stirred up some commotion, Feng Bo would be stuck there.

Therefore, Feng Bo had no choice but to try a sneak attack. This was like a lion trying to stalk a rabbit.