A Pawn's Passage

The Central Plains still used the reigning emperor’s era name. However, long ago, some had proposed using the birth year of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor as Year One of the Daoist Order and thereafter adopting a unified common-era dating system.

However, when the matter was actually debated, deep divisions emerged within the Daoist Order.

Simply put, no one could determine the true birth year of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor. The Li Family argued that the birth year of Li Dan, also known as Laozi, should be used. Doing so would further strengthen the Li Family’s legitimacy and sacred status.

Others within the Daoist Order disagreed. Li Dan was indeed an incarnation of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, but long before Li Dan, the Primordial Daoist Ancestor had descended into the world many times. Guangchengzi, who enlightened the Heavenly Emperor, and the Three Pure Ones could all be regarded as incarnations of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor. There were even legends claiming that the Primordial Daoist Ancestor had existed since the creation of heaven and earth itself. With so many incarnations of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, why should Li Dan’s birth year alone be chosen?

In short, Li Dan was the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, but the Primordial Daoist Ancestor was far more than merely Li Dan.

The Li Family naturally refused to accept this reasoning. They acknowledged that these figures were all incarnations of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor but argued that the Daoist Order itself had been founded during Li Dan’s era, making him the primary incarnation. Furthermore, a Buddhist text composed to facilitate Buddhism’s integration into the Central Plains explicitly identified Li Dan as the Daoist Ancestor who rode an ox westward and transformed into the Buddha. Likewise, the Qi Dynasty had posthumously honored Li Dan with an imperial title.

Since this was to be the Daoist Order’s calendar, they argued that it ought to begin with the founder of the Daoist Order.

At this point, the Zhang Family had their own opinion. Broadly speaking, Daoism had indeed been founded by Laozi, but the Daoist Order as an institution had been established by the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor. The Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor’s own teacher was the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, who was no longer Li Dan but another incarnation of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor. Therefore, if one truly wished to identify the founder of the Daoist Order, it should be the Primordial Daoist Ancestor who transmitted the Dao to the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor.

Thus, the Li and Zhang families once again found themselves at odds, neither side was willing to yield.

At that point, the Quanzhen Sect entered the debate as well. They argued that since the Heavenly Emperor predated Laozi, the origins of the Dao must have stretched back even further to the era of the Heavenly Emperor. In those days, the Heavenly Emperor had been enlightened by Guangchengzi, who himself was an incarnation of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor and had received instruction from the Three Pure Ones. Therefore, if one wished to trace the true beginning, it ought to start with the Three Pure Ones.

The three sides argued endlessly. In the end, the Li Family made a concession. Since the Primordial Daoist Ancestor’s true beginning could not be definitively established, why not use the Holy Xuan instead? After all, there had only ever been one Holy Xuan, so the calendar could simply begin from his era.

From the Taiping Sect’s perspective, this was still acceptable. After all, the Holy Xuan was also a Li.

The Holy Xuan occupied an unassailable position within the Daoist Order, so neither the Zhengyi Sect nor the Quanzhen Sect could openly oppose the proposal. Instead, they raised different objections.

The Zhengyi Sect argued that the Holy Xuan was certainly worthy, but he was the restorer of the Daoist Order, not its founder. Beginning the calendar with the Holy Xuan would effectively negate all of Daoist history that came before him. That would be inappropriate.

The Quanzhen Sect also acknowledged that the Holy Xuan was certainly worthy, but if the calendar began with him, the Daoist Order would have a history of fewer than 300 years. If so, it would make the Daoist Order appear like a mere upstart that could neither compare with the Confucian School nor with the Holy Court and would be unable to demonstrate its profound historical heritage.

The three sides argued back and forth, but no consensus was ever reached. In the end, the matter was shelved altogether, and the imperial era names continued to be used.

In the 46th year of the Jiushi Era, just after the Shangyuan Festival on January 15th had concluded, Qi Xuansu officially began the search for Paititi. He established his base of operations at the Hun Manor outside Cusco.

Cusco had once been Hun Ahau’s stronghold, and his influence there remained considerable. Naturally, Qi Xuansu transferred Hun Ahau back to the area, stationing him there to assist in the search for Paititi.

Qi Xuansu deliberately refrained from transferring too many personnel from other regions so as to avoid drawing undue attention. Officially, his presence in Cusco was attributed to the investigation surrounding the human-faced fruit trees.

Before leaving Danxiu Mountain, Qi Xuansu specifically instructed Tantai Ying to leave Lin Bufan alone for the time being and wait for him to volunteer a confession.

Although Qi Xuansu had originally said he would leave Lin Bufan hanging for three days, he ultimately ignored him for more than ten days, not speaking to him at all until the Shangyuan Festival.

During that time, Lin Bufan gradually sank into despair. The Shangyuan Festival carried special significance, yet the Gong Family made no move whatsoever. They did not rescue him before the festival, nor did they bother to bail him out. Outside observers began to believe that the Gong Family had abandoned him.

Lin Bufan knew the Gong Family had taken no action because a family as powerful as the Gongs would have had little difficulty getting messages through if they truly wished to, even though the Juesheng Hall claimed its isolation procedures completely severed contact with the outside world.

Ordinarily, such messages did not need to be elaborate. It was enough to let the detainee know that rescue efforts were underway, that their family had everything arranged, and that they had nothing to worry about. With that reassurance, the detainee would gain confidence and continue refusing to talk.

Of course, the message could also be a threat, implying that if the detainee confessed, their family would suffer the consequences. Such warnings were usually phrased indirectly, politely informing the prisoner that their family had already been “taken care of.” The meaning was obvious, and some prisoners would even find an opportunity to take their own lives.

The fact that the Gong Family had sent no message whatsoever over such a long period was itself a statement.

Naturally, Lin Bufan fell into despair.

Whenever an official deadline was stipulated, it meant that time was not unlimited. Once that deadline passed, the eventual punishment would become far more severe. Returning embezzled funds was a classic example. If the money was returned within the specified period, the offender could receive leniency. But if the deadline were missed, an entirely different standard would apply.

This imposed tremendous psychological pressure.

Qi Xuansu’s so-called strategy of leaving him hanging was essentially applying pressure. This was also why Qi Xuansu had hurriedly reported the matter to Great Sage Gong. Qi Xuansu himself had not been entirely confident that he could persuade Great Sage Gong, which was why he had described the plan as a risky gamble. Fortunately, the outcome had been favorable. Great Sage Gong had the necessary vision to prioritize the greater good and ultimately approved of Qi Xuansu’s handling of the affair.

Meanwhile, Tantai Ying also paid a special visit to Miss Gong. After all, they were friends. Lin Bufan was just a man. She could easily find another. No one knew exactly how Tantai Ying had managed to console Miss Gong. Perhaps Miss Gong simply reflected that Tantai Ying did not even have a man of her own, which somehow restored her sense of balance. In any case, Miss Gong never came looking for trouble with Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu truly was a little afraid that some female Daoist might confront him, as it would reflect badly on him. There was already no shortage of gossip about his life. Some people claimed he lived off his wife’s family, while others spread rumors that he kept an enormous harem. If yet another woman came making a scene, people would automatically assume he had seduced and abandoned her.

The key problem was that Miss Gong was no ordinary person. He could not very well resort to force, and since he was on someone else’s turf, he could hardly throw her out either. Many female Daoists chose to feign ignorance and were unwilling to listen to reason. There simply were too few women like Zhang Yuelu who were reasonable.

Had this happened on his own turf, Qi Xuansu would not have been concerned. His Daoist companion was the legendary Zhang Yuelu, his mother-in-law was Sage Cihang, the acknowledged leader of the female Daoists, and Madam Qi was a woman herself. Setting aside the Daoist Order’s rules and institutions, any one of them could easily step forward to help settle the matter. Most importantly, they could do so without leaving anyone grounds for criticism.

Although Qi Xuansu was preparing to search for Paititi, he had not abandoned Lin Bufan’s investigation. He could not afford to pin all his hopes on a single lead, so he entrusted Lin Bufan’s interrogation entirely to Tantai Ying.

Qi Xuansu himself would venture deep into the jungles surrounding Cusco.

Due to the map’s scale, the marked location appeared to be nothing more than a small circle, but the actual area it represented was enormous. Thus, Qi Xuansu first had Hun Ahau conduct preliminary searches around the outskirts to narrow the search area. He never mentioned Paititi, saying only that he was looking for ancient ruins, which he suspected were connected to the humanoid insects.

Hun Ahau had no idea that Qi Xuansu had a map of Paititi, much less that Paititi lay somewhere around Cusco itself. Harboring no suspicions, Hun Ahau simply followed Qi Xuansu’s orders and dispatched men to search for ancient ruins. As the most influential local powerhouse in Cusco, Hun Ahau still had numerous former subordinates and old acquaintances in the region, so the search proceeded smoothly.

Once Hun Ahau reported the locations of these ruins, Qi Xuansu marked each one on his map, personally inspected them, eliminated them one by one, and gradually narrowed the search area.

The method was hardly ingenious, but it was undeniably practical. Its only drawback was that it required a great many people to conduct such a large-scale search.

The people Hun Ahau sent out were all locals who were familiar with the terrain and knowledgeable about the region’s countless legends and oral traditions. They had a rough idea where abandoned temples once stood, where ancient tombs were located, and where old trial grounds could be found. Had outsiders been conducting the search instead, they would have been nothing more than headless flies wandering aimlessly through such an immense rainforest.

This dramatically reduced Qi Xuansu’s workload. Once someone else had located a site, he merely had to head there for inspection, saving all the time that would otherwise have been spent searching. He could examine several sites in a single day. Had he been searching on his own, he might have needed several days just to locate one.

As it happened, they stumbled upon genuine traces left behind by the humanoid insects at several of the ruins. This unexpectedly corroborated Qi Xuansu’s explanation, convincing everyone that he was indeed investigating the humanoid insects rather than secretly searching for the legendary Paititi.

After roughly ten days of searching, Qi Xuansu had managed to narrow the area considerably. Paititi was most likely located within a vast valley that was encircled by mountains on all sides. Reaching it required crossing the surrounding peaks. Such a location had been ideal in less developed times, when isolation and natural defenses were valuable assets. In the modern era, however, economic development depended first and foremost on transportation. Remote mountain locations like this had inevitably fallen behind, which was precisely why the Western Daoist Order had decided to construct the new port.

Even though Jade Capital stood on the peak of Kunlun Mountain, the Daoist Order had established an aerial transportation network through its vast fleet of flying ships. Even so, Jade Capital itself had begun constructing auxiliary cities over the past several years.

At this point, Qi Xuansu no longer required anyone else’s assistance. He personally set out to search the remaining area, merely instructing Hun Ahau to keep a close watch on all activity in the surrounding region.

Though the rainforest was dense and teeming with dangers, it posed no obstacle to Qi Xuansu, as he simply flew over it.

Qi Xuansu brought Madam Wu with him, flying at low altitude over the sprawling rainforest. The jungle was home to many ferocious beasts, some no weaker than Xiantian Beings. Yet all of them sensed the overwhelming blood qi emanating from Qi Xuansu, so they lay low and remained hidden, not daring to reveal themselves.

Before long, Qi Xuansu spotted a towering mountain range in the distance. The peaks pierced the clouds, while bands of white mist encircled the summits like white ceremonial crowns adorning the mountains.

Had he attempted to reach this place on foot, there was no telling how long the journey would have taken or how much effort it would have required.

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