A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 82: Undercurrent (III)

After Lu Yu came out of the rouge shop, he walked leisurely to the Qingbai Temple outside the city. He had to stagger the time with his master’s wife to avoid being caught by his senior sister. However, he was surprised to see his master when he returned to Qingbai Temple.

His master, Bai Yongguan, unexpectedly came back and was sitting in the hall.

Lu Yu felt uneasy and came forward to greet him respectfully.

Bai Yongguan’s face was expressionless, so Lu Yu could not tell whether his master was happy or angry. Bai Yongguan only asked Bai Yue, his other disciple standing next to him, to light the candles in the hall.

Lu Yu wondered why they would need to light candles in broad daylight. But strangely enough, not long after Bai Yue lit the candles, the sky outside suddenly turned gloomy. It seemed that there would be a snowstorm soon.

This way, it was just the right time to light the candles.

Lu Yu was shocked. What kind of mystical ability is this? Divination?

At this moment, his senior sister, Bai Yue, asked softly, “Junior Brother, have you brought back the rouge I asked for?”

“Yes.” Lu Yu quickly took out the rouge he had bought and gave it to his senior sister.

Bai Yue took it over and thanked him.

Lu Yu looked around, feeling a little uneasy. He asked, “Where is Master-Mother?”

Bai Yongguan replied, “My wife is feeling unwell, so she’s resting.”

Lu Yu’s heart suddenly sank. Just two hours ago, he was making love to his master’s wife, so he would know if she was sick. He did not believe that she suddenly fell ill.

At the same time, Qi Xuansu had already left Yishan City and walked along the mountain road to Qingbai Temple.

As soon as Qi Xuansu set foot on the mountain road, he felt something was wrong. The sky outside the city seemed more cloudy. The cold wind was mixed with some snowflakes. It was a sign that it would snow heavily soon.

He looked up at the brightly lit and eye-catching Qingbai Temple at the end of the mountain road.

Although Qi Xuansu did not know what this sudden snowstorm would entail, he knew that something was not right. The Ancient Immortal believers could have a hand in this change of weather. Or was the weather in Yishan City always so unpredictable?

For now, Qi Xuansu could only continue his journey to Qingbai Temple, hoping that the Daoist priests in the temple could give him an answer.

......

In an underground hall in front of the six-armed woman statue, a man in a black cloak stood with his arms crossed. His face was hidden in the shadow of his hood, only his chin with a short beard was exposed.

In the existing society, a beard was a symbol of one’s age. Generally speaking, people did not grow beards before the age of 30 because it was fashionable at the moment to be clean-shaven. This was because most of the handsome heroes in the storybooks were fair-faced and clean-shaven.

After the age of 30, one could grow a beard because most men would already have become fathers at that point. Generally, it would be a short beard.

After the age of 50, it was necessary to grow a beard as a status. Otherwise, one would lose dignity because they did not look like an elder. Generally, men of that age preferred long beards.

Therefore, it was normal and fashionable for a young man to be clean-shaven. But it would be extremely rare if an old man did not have a beard.

To put it bluntly, a man’s beard was like a woman’s hairstyle, which changed with one’s age and stage in life. Young people thought it was nicer not to have a beard, while old people preferred beards.

Following the trend of the current society, this man was probably middle-aged, between thirty and fifty years old.

The statue of the six-armed woman was ten meters tall, and a circle consisting of hundreds of candles was lit at the base of the statue. It made it seem as if the statue was placed on a rosette made entirely of candlelight.

In front of the statue was an altar piled with human heads. Some of the heads became skeletons without any skin or flesh, while others were freshly killed with the victims' eyes still wide open. Their gaze were empty, and they had horrified expressions.

A monk was kneeling in front of the altar with his back to the middle-aged man in the black cloak. His hands were clasped together, and his eyes were closed as he chanted sutras.

The middle-aged man looked up at the statue and said, “It seems that the progress is going quite smoothly.”

“There is an obstacle.” The monk did not get up or look back.

The middle-aged man in the black cloak withdrew his gaze and spoke in a low voice. “Obstacle?”

The monk explained, “We can use the power of countless living souls to break the restrictions of the mortal realm, but the rules of the heavens are fixed. Even immortals can’t defy them. That’s why we need a suitable vessel to deceive the heavens and avoid punishment. We must exploit loopholes, like with the border customs from the previous dynasty. What we need now is a scholar smart enough to identify these loopholes.”

According to the laws of the former Wei Dynasty, scholars could travel on their own without paying a road tax when crossing borders. That was why some merchants paid scholars to bring their goods across the borders in order to save on taxes.

From Jinling Prefecture to the Imperial City, the shortest waterway was 1750 kilometers. Merchants would have to go through 12 customs and pay about 350 Wen of taxes. On average, it costs about one Wen every 500 meters. However, hiring a scholar only costs about 100 Wen.

The current Great Xuan Dynasty had already abolished the border customs.

“A vessel? No problem.” The middle-aged man said indifferently, “I have a few devout believers who are more than willing to sacrifice their lives for the divine descent.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be of any use.” The monk looked up at the statue of the six-armed woman. “This divine descent is far more advanced than before, so it would yield unprecedented divine power. Therefore, the vessel must be very strong, either a Heavenly Being or a person with a special physique and a tough mind.”

“A special physique and a tough mind?” The middle-aged man muttered, “These are the conditions required by Daoist Spirit Guards. Most of these people have joined the Daoist Order, so they are rare to come by. But I will try my best to find them.”

A member of the gentry and a scholar appeared behind the cloaked middle-aged man.

Seeing them, the middle-aged man asked casually, “How is the Saintess’s injury?”

The gentleman replied, “It’s not optimistic. Although she managed to save herself, the four strings of God-given prayer beads that were closely intertwined with her life were completely destroyed. She has also suffered heavy injuries from the arrow wound, so she won’t be able to perform for the time being.”

The middle-aged man was silent for a moment before remarking, “We’re one person down, leaving us with only six people. I hope those two Daoist masters are just passing by.”

The gentleman asked, “What if they’re not?”

The middle-aged man did not answer the question. Instead, he asked, “Where have they gone now?”

The gentleman said, “The two of them went separate ways. One of them stayed in the city, planning to go to the Major’s Office, while the other went to Qingbai Temple.”

The middle-aged man ordered, “Inform the Daoist priests in Qingbai Temple and the Green Phoenix Guard not to act rashly just yet. Just monitor the two of them for now.”

“Yes, sir.” The gentleman responded, turned around, and walked out.

......

Zhang Yuelu went to the Major’s Office alone. After showing her identity, she met with Luo Xiao, the local major of the Green Phoenix Guard.

Although the Green Phoenix Guard was not part of the Daoist community, Zhang Yuelu's status was equivalent to a Lieutenant Colonel, so Luo Xiao still showed her some respect.

Zhang Yuelu did not beat around the bush. She took out the victim’s head and roughly retold her encounter with the bandits at the ancient temple. She explained her purpose for coming and requested to take a look at the headless corpse.

After Luo Xiao heard this, he asked, “Mage Zhang, do you think this matter is related to the Ancient Immortals?”

Zhang Yuelu was always aloof in front of outsiders. “I don’t just think it. I know it. Major Luo, do you not agree?”

“I agree with your view, Mage Zhang. Only followers of the Ancient Immortals would be capable of such atrocious acts.” Luo Xiao nodded in agreement.

Under Luo Xiao’s guidance, Zhang Yuelu went to the morgue of the Major's Office. The scene was exactly as Zhang Yuelu saw through the Purple Star Astrology.

There were many corpses in the morgue, most of them covered with white cloth. Three big metal boxes were stacked on each other, and there were ten such stacks against the wall, arranged side by side. These metal boxes were used to temporarily store corpses that could not yet be buried.

The headless corpse was located in the deepest part of the morgue. Luo Xiao led Zhang Yuelu to the corpse and hesitated for a moment. “The corpse may be gory, so I hope you are prepared.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Zhang Yuelu said, “I’ve dealt with plenty of dead people during my tenure with Tiangang Hall, so I’m not that squeamish.”

Luo Xiao said nothing more and lifted the white cloth covering the corpse. However, considering that Zhang Yuelu was a woman, he only exposed the corpse's upper body, while the lower body was still covered with the white cloth.

The headless corpse had been disemboweled.

Zhang Yuelu looked at the corpse expressionlessly. Her eyes lingered on the shattered heart, and she suddenly asked, “Why is there no putrid smell? There is no smell at all.”

“It’s the effect of formalin. This is a new thing introduced from the Western Continent. It can be used to preserve corpses after being heavily diluted, but in high concentrations, it’s more lethal than green vitriol oil.” Luo Xiao explained, “In the past, we used salt or mercury for corpse preservation, but these two methods are expensive and not as practical as formalin.”

The so-called “green vitriol oil” was a liquid waste produced by Daoist priests from producing elixirs. It had a strong corrosive effect. This substance was also called sulfuric acid on the Western Continent.

Zhang Yuelu nodded. “There are indeed many new things from the Western Continent.”

Luo Xiao opened the bundle that Zhang Yuelu brought and placed the charred head alongside the headless corpse.

Zhang Yuelu studied the corpse. “Shattering the heart and chopping off the head is how the secret societies retrieve living souls.”

Luo Xiao asked, “What do you mean by this?”

She explained, “The core of the body is the heart. The heart acts according to intentions, and the essence of the intentions comes from the soul. The physical form of the soul is the spirit. To crush the heart is to force one's intention into the mind. Cutting off the head with a special method can trap one's living soul in it, eliminating the need for a special container to keep the living soul.

“At first, we thought it was a robbery, so we didn’t think much about it and didn’t check the head for a living soul. After our encounter with the cult leaders, it was too late because a fire burned the whole place to ashes. The living soul would have dissipated naturally, especially since the head was charred beyond recognition.”

In terms of living souls and Ancient Immortals, the Green Phoenix Guard was not as knowledgeable as Tiangang Hall. Luo Xiao did not expect that the problem that had troubled him for so long would be easily solved by someone from the Daoist Order.

He asked, “In that case, is this group of monsters planning something big?”

Zhang Yuelu followed up. “Do you have any details about the deceased? It would be best if you could provide his birth date.”

At this moment, someone interjected. “Of course.”

Zhang Yuelu turned around and saw an old man in a green uniform walking in slowly.

Luo Xiao introduced him. “Mage Zhang, this is He Nian, the assistant major in this office. He is in charge of all the documents here. He is also responsible for this case.”

He Nian saluted Zhang Yuelu. “Greetings, Mage Zhang. I was the one who dissected this corpse.”