A Pawn's Passage

Master Wan shook his head and said, “That thing is not here with me.”

Yin Jiuyin asked, “Is it with Madam Bai?”

“Yes.” Master Wan nodded.

Yin Jiuyin sighed. “Alright.”

“Grandpa Wan!” At this moment, the little girl ran toward the giant. Yin Jiuyin did not stop her, clearly assured that the little girl would be completely safe with the giant.

“You’re still so tiny, little one! You never seem to grow up!”

Qi Xuansu actually managed to hear a tone of delight coming from this grisly giant, but because the giant’s face was made of spliced ​​corpses, the giant had no expression.

The little girl giggled. “Why do I have to grow up? I don’t want to be like you, Grandpa Wan. You only eat and sleep all day!”

“Little girl, you sure inherited your grandpa’s ability to annoy people!” Master Wan exclaimed.

As he spoke, Master Wan slowly stretched out a giant palm, which landed on the ground with a crash, causing the fog to stir around him.

The little girl climbed onto its huge finger and trotted to the middle of Master Wan’s palm.

Then Master Wan slowly lifted the little girl in front of him.

Qi Xuansu could not help but think to himself, If I were to look at Master Wan’s face up close, I probably wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face. But this little girl doesn’t seem scared at all! I wonder where she’s from. Could she be a century-old ghost?

Yin Jiuyin raised his voice. “Girl, you stay here and keep Grandpa Wan company. I’m going to see Madam Bai!”

The little girl only laughed in response.

Yin Jiuyin turned to Qi Xuansu and said, “Kid, please come with me.”

Qi Xuansu hurriedly agreed. He certainly did not want to stay near this giant, as Master Wan’s oppressive aura was too strong. It could kill Qi Xuansu easily by squishing him with its pinky. Whenever Master Wan moved his body, several corpses would fall off his body, and these fallen corpses seemed to come back to life after landing. The corpse gas they emitted was also lethal, corroding anything it touched.

Yin Jiuyin led Qi Xuansu away from here and returned to the Wu Gate again.

Throughout this time, Master Wan did not acknowledge Qi Xuansu’s presence. Qi Xuansu did not know whether the giant did not see him or just did not care at all.

There was another possibility that the Xuan Jade of Death had covered Qi Xuansu’s aura. After all, most of the pedestrians on the street earlier had turned a blind eye to Qi Xuansu, who also had no heartbeat, pulse, or breathing in this place. He was just like a dead person here.

Qi Xuansu could not help but ask, “Master Yin, is Madam Bai in the Imperial City?”

Yin Jiuyin answered, “Yes.”

Qi Xuansu looked up at the majestic Wu Gate and felt that he was in a dream. He was just traveling to Longmen Prefecture for a mission, but he managed to encounter such bizarre events. Moreover, all of this was not a coincidence. It was inevitable because he took the Xuan Jade of Death through the Ghost Pass.

Thinking of this, Qi Xuansu suddenly had a conjecture. Was this all arranged by Madam Qi?

Madam Qi had given him the Xuan Jade of Death and the task of escorting someone from the Longmen Prefecture. She even managed to rope in Pei Xiaolou to help keep Qi Xuansu safe from harm on the pretext of repaying a debt. This was why Qi Xuansu had a badge from Pei Xiaolou that allowed him to enter and exit the Ghost Pass freely.

It would make sense if Madam Qi had arranged all this. However, Qi Xuansu pondered carefully and felt that it was unlikely.

This series of events was like a string of beads. As long as something went wrong at one link, everything would fall apart. If Qi Xuansu had not been so curious as to follow the salt smugglers, he would not have provoked the Heavenly Court, and hence, would not have attracted Feng Bo’s attention. Without Feng Bo’s pursuit, Qi Xuansu would not have met Pei Xiaolou. Naturally, without the badge Pei Xiaolou had given him, he would not be able to take the shortcut through the Ghost Pass.

That was why Qi Xuansu thought it was unlikely that Madam Qi would make arrangements based on his whims.

Qi Xuansu was busy justifying his thoughts when he noticed Yin Jiuyin stretching out a hand to press on the city gate, slowly pushing the massive gate open with his own strength.

The huge city gate made a dull creaking sound, opening a small gap big enough for the two of them to pass through. The howling yin wind that surged out from this gap almost knocked Qi Xuansu off his feet.

After all, Qi Xuansu was just an ordinary person without any cultivation in this place.

Yin Jiuyin stood in the cold gust unmoved, but his clothes billowed in the wind. Qi Xuansu had to lower his center of gravity as he moved forward with difficulty.

The two passed through the Wu Gate and entered the Imperial City.

Once inside, the flow of yin energy could still be felt, but the cold yin wind dissipated. The yin energy was much stronger inside, so when Yin Jiuyin opened the door, it was like opening a floodgate. The abundant yin energy flowed out of the crack and formed the yin wind.

Fortunately, Qi Xuansu was like a dead person at this time, so he was not affected by this yin energy. Otherwise, he would have “drowned” to death in this abundance of yin energy.

This place was fortified with thick black walls on all sides. The floor was paved with white jade. This stark contrast in colors symbolized the coexistence of yin and yang, a typical Daoist characteristic.

Beyond this fortified wall were many palaces. A straight road ran from north to south, splitting the Imperial City symmetrically, just like the one in the yang realm.

However, to Qi Xuansu's expectation, the place was completely empty at this time, with not a single being in sight, including Spirit Guards, Daoist priests, ghosts, and zombies. This palace was deserted.

Yin Jiuyin led Qi Xuansu deeper inside the city.

Since this was a replica of the actual Imperial City in the yang realm, the buildings along the central axis were the Palaces of the Supreme Deity, the Higher Deity, and the Central Deity. Among them, the Palace of the Supreme Deity was the largest, and the Palace of the Central Deity was the smallest.

The emperor would usually hold grand ceremonies in the Palace of the Supreme Deity. Such ceremonies included the emperor’s accession to the throne, the emperor’s wedding, the appointment of an empress, and the emperor commanding the generals to go to war.

In addition, every year during the emperor’s birthday, New Year’s Day, Winter Solstice, and other festivals, the emperor would receive guests and hold a banquet for the civil and military officials here. The imperial examination for Jinshi scholars was also held in this Palace of the Supreme Deity.

The Imperial City in this yin realm also had a replica of the three palaces. Yin Jiuyin came to the largest Palace of the Supreme Deity, also known as the Golden Throne Hall.

As soon as they entered the hall, Qi Xuansu heard a chuckle.

“Master Yin, you never come here without a purpose. I wonder what brings you here today?”

Qi Xuansu turned toward the source of the voice and saw a woman sitting on the throne in the innermost part of the hall.

The woman was slim and tall. She was wearing a white dress and had half of her eerily pale and beautiful face covered with her long black hair, making it difficult to see her true appearance. There was a string of beads on her wrist, which were made up of 12 thumb-sized skulls. The eyes of each skull were dancing with faint blue fire. It was a creepy sight.

Qi Xuansu figured that she must be the Madam Bai whom Master Wan and Yin Jiuyin mentioned earlier.

So far, disregarding the little girl, Qi Xuansu only met three of these mysterious characters. He could not help but think about the Daoist preference for the number 3.

There were three celestials: the Heaven Celestial, Earth Celestial, and Water Celestial.

The Holy Xuan also created three positions of Deputy Grand Masters, who were also known as the Three Preceptors: the Heavenly Preceptor, the Earthly Preceptor, and the Imperial Preceptor.

At this moment, Madam Bai seemed to notice Qi Xuansu, who was following Yin Jiuyin. She let out a small gasp. “You even brought a guest with you? How rare!”

Qi Xuansu felt Madam Bai’s chilling gaze on him, which made him freeze.

He took a step forward, lowered his head, and saluted with slightly trembling arms. Even his voice sounded shaky as his teeth chattered. “Gr-Greetings, M-Madam B-Bai.”

His teeth were chattering not from fear but from the sudden plunge in temperature.

“There’s no need to stand on ceremony.” Madam Bai smiled. At this moment, it felt as if spring had returned. The chill receded in an instant. “Raise your head and speak.”

Qi Xuansu did as he was told.

The woman sitting on the throne lifted her black hair that was covering the other half of her face, or rather, her skull. The other half of her face had no skin or flesh, only bones. A strange black smoke was also constantly escaping from her mouth.

Qi Xuansu forced himself to remain calm and dared not show a reaction for fear of offending this woman. He had previously heard stories about half-face makeup, but this woman’s half-face makeup was truly unbearable.

Although Madam Bai sounded friendly, her expression was cold and intimidating, like a high and mighty Emperor of the Netherworld. It was terrifying to make direct eye contact with her.

Qi Xuansu secretly thought that among the three mysterious characters he had seen in this place, Master Yin was the most normal.

Madam Bai seemed to have read Qi Xuansu’s thoughts. She said calmly, “You only think so because you have never seen Master Yin’s true appearance. He’s actually nothing like a human.”

Qi Xuansu only felt a chill on his back.

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