A Pawn's Passage

Zhang Wuyue let go of his sleeve. “How could I have been mistaken? Aren’t you Zhong Boyu?”

Zhong Boyu turned his face away. “I don’t know you.”

Zhang Wuyue said, “When I was studying at the Shangqing Palace, I was assigned to the Wuzhou Daoist Mansion for an observational internship. You were a deacon then, weren’t you? You even supervised me for a while. Later, you resigned to wander the Jianghu, and I was there to see you off. How did you end up on the New Continent?”

With Zhang Wuyue exposing his identity, Zhong Boyu could no longer keep up the act. “What are you doing on the New Continent?”

Zhang Wuyue replied, “I’m here to make money and try my luck. If I strike it rich, maybe I’ll be able to buy a house in Taishang Place of Jade Capital and finally get married. I just finished discussing some business and was on my way back. I never expected to run into you here.”

Zhong Boyu cleared his throat. “I’m here to make money too. They say the New Continent is paved with gold, so I came to have a look. Business isn’t easy these days. You have to drink with people. Today I ran into a particularly difficult client. I suggested just a few drinks, but he insisted on drinking Dreaming Death. That liquor has quite the kick, and before I knew it, I’d had too much.”

Though he knew exactly what was going on, Zhang Wuyue played dumb. “That’s rather inconsiderate of him. How could he just leave you by the roadside?”

Zhong Boyu said, “Well, they were going to arrange a carriage for me, but I insisted on walking back to sober up. I didn’t expect this stuff to hit even harder in the wind. I was fine just a moment ago, but once the night breeze started blowing, I got all muddled again. My head wasn’t working properly, so I failed to recognize you.”

Zhang Wuyue chose not to expose him. “I see.”

Zhong Boyu asked, “Have you eaten?”

Zhang Wuyue rubbed his stomach. “All I did tonight was drink. I haven’t eaten a thing.”

Zhong Boyu said, “Perfect. I threw up everything I’d eaten earlier. Let’s grab something together.”

Zhang Wuyue glanced at the sky. “At this hour, all the restaurants and taverns should be closed. Why don’t we meet tomorrow?”

“I know a breakfast shop that starts preparing food at midnight. We can head over now and just treat it as an early breakfast.” Zhong Boyu suggested.

Zhang Wuyue could only agree. “Old Zhong, you seem pretty familiar with this place.”

Zhong Boyu waved his hand. “Well, I’ve been here for quite a while.”

Led by Zhong Boyu, the two arrived at a small eatery and ordered two bowls of noodles. There was no beef, so it had been replaced with llama meat, which was wonderfully firm and chewy, slightly tougher than mutton. It was neither gamey nor greasy.

Zhong Boyu asked again, “Do you want liquor?”

Zhang Wuyue said, “Didn’t you just drink Dreaming Death?”

Zhong Boyu smacked his lips. “It’s mostly a habit. I need a drink to go with my meal.”

Left with no choice, Zhang Wuyue called out, “Boss, bring us a pot of liquor.”

Once the liquor arrived, Zhong Boyu politely offered, “Give this a try.”

Zhang Wuyue declined. “I usually prefer red wine and yellow rice wine. I’m not fond of strong liquor.”

Zhong Boyu said, “Red wine and yellow wine are both too mild. They just don’t hit the spot. This has the real kick. It’s corn liquor. You won’t find it in the Central Plains. I guarantee you’ve never had it before.”

Zhang Wuyue said, “Isn’t this just sorghum liquor? I don’t like it.”

“Really?” Zhong Boyu replied without changing expression. “They have corn liquor in the Central Plains too? I don’t remember that.”

Zhang Wuyue hesitated. “They don’t?”

Zhong Boyu looked at Zhang Wuyue. “Either you’re remembering it wrong, or I am. One of us has to be mistaken. But I’m quite sure it’s you.”

“So...it’s not the same?” Zhang Wuyue was no longer so confident.

Zhong Boyu shook his head. “Corn and sorghum aren’t the same. Corn has broad leaves, while sorghum’s leaves are narrow. Sorghum has red seeds at the top, whereas corn has yellow kernels. They’re completely different.”

Zhang Wuyue nodded. “There’s a lot to learn. Still, I’ll pass. I’ve already had quite a bit to drink tonight and really can’t drink any more.”

Only then did Zhong Boyu stop insisting. He ate with great relish, taking alternating bites of noodles and sips of liquor. Yet he still found time to ask, “This meal is rather beneath someone like you. Can you get used to it?”

Zhang Wuyue mixed up his noodles and took a big bite. “There’s nothing I can’t get used to. I think it tastes great.”

“Good, good.” Zhong Boyu nodded. “For ordinary people, as long as they’re willing to endure hardship, there’ll always be more hardship waiting for them. But for someone like you, who was born into a great clan, only by enduring the greatest hardships can you rise above everyone else.”

Zhang Wuyue merely smiled and let the remark pass.

When it came time to pay, Zhong Boyu insisted on picking up the bill. Then he searched himself and realized he had no money.

Zhang Wuyue was not surprised. He offered, “I’ll get it.”

As he spoke, Zhang Wuyue took out a Taiping coin from his sleeve pouch and said, “Keep the change.”

The owner had never expected to make such a big profit the moment he opened for business, so he thanked them repeatedly.

Zhong Boyu sighed and said earnestly, “We’re out here to do business, not to enjoy ourselves. Save where you can.”

Zhang Wuyue replied, “Frugality is good, but when you’re out dealing with people, appearances matter. How much money I actually have, how much money others think I have, and how much money I can actually mobilize are three entirely different things. If I want people to believe I’m wealthy, I can’t appear too frugal.”

Zhong Boyu dropped his carefree demeanor. “Right now, it’s just the two of us here. You spent a Taiping coin to treat me to a bowl of noodles. How wealthy do you want me to think you are?”

Zhang Wuyue smirked. “The richer, the better.”

Zhong Boyu said, “If I remember correctly, your cousin is Zhang Yuelu, which makes Qi Xuansu your brother-in-law. Everyone knows Qi Xuansu is a bigwig these days. Even if you told me you could raise 10 million Taiping coins, I wouldn’t find it surprising.”

Zhang Wuyue’s smile faded. “Let’s not talk about that. Back then, you at least had a respectable cultivation level. Even if you didn’t advance any further after all these years, you shouldn’t have ended up living on the streets. Someone with your cultivation shouldn’t have any trouble earning enough silver to get by. Why stoop to letting me buy you a bowl of noodles?”

“So you noticed.” Zhong Boyu sighed.

Zhang Wuyue reached out and grabbed Zhong Boyu’s wrist. “What happened to your cultivation?”

Zhong Boyu answered indifferently, “Someone crippled it.”

Zhang Wuyue asked, “How did that happen?”

“Well, that’s a long story,” Zhong Boyu said. He had probably long since come to terms with it. His eyes did not redden, nor was he overwhelmed by sorrow. He spoke with complete calm.

Zhang Wuyue said softly, “I’d like to hear it.”

Zhong Boyu replied frankly, “After leaving the Wuzhou Daoist Mansion, I wandered Jianghu. By a stroke of fortune, I ended up joining the Eight Tribes.”

“The secret society that split off from the Creation Project? I’ve heard of it. Now that the Daoist Order is normalizing some secret societies, the Eight Tribes is one of those included and can operate openly under its own name.” Zhang Wuyue had heard about the Eight Tribes while in Nanyang. Genki had done quite a bit of business with its members.

Zhong Boyu continued, “Later, I was transferred from the Eight Tribes into the White Jade Hall. You could say I was held in fairly high regard there.”

Zhang Wuyue had not served in the Daoist Order for very long, much less in any of its specialized departments, so he knew little about the secret societies. He asked, “What kind of secret society is this White Jade Hall?”

Zhong Boyu explained, “The membership of the Eight Tribes is extremely complex. Besides Daoists who defected from the Daoist Order, there are also Daoists who never defected but secretly joined the Eight Tribes in a personal capacity. They advocate mutual assistance. Those who remain within the Daoist Order provide protection for the Eight Tribes while sharing in its gains.

“In recent years, besides maintaining ties with active Daoists within the Daoist Order, the Eight Tribes has also forged similar relationships with the core members of other secret societies, including the Cult of Fates, the Qingping Society, The Inn, the Seven Treasure Pavilion, and the Heavenly Court. Despite the conflicts between these secret societies, the Eight Tribes shared an intricate web of interests with them all and hence brought them into an alliance.

“If I had to compare it to something, it would be like a business partnership. The Cult of Fates, Qingping Society, The Inn, the Seven Treasure Pavilion, and the Heavenly Court provided the capital. They were the investors who did not manage the business but invested and shared the profits. The Eight Tribes acted as the manager, overseeing operations while also taking a share of the profits. To coordinate relations among all parties, the Eight Tribes and the other secret societies established a special assembly known as the White Jade Hall. Every member of the White Jade Hall held dual identities as a member of the White Jade Hall and a member of their original secret society.

“After several years, White Jade Hall gradually began showing signs of breaking away from the major secret societies and establishing itself as an independent organization. The major societies noticed this trend and intervened decisively. Following an internal struggle unknown to outsiders, the White Jade Hall abandoned its ambitions of independence, though it still retained considerable autonomy.”

Zhang Wuyue understood, though he did not seem particularly concerned. “That should have been a good thing. If you were assigned to the White Jade Hall, it meant you’d entered the core circle. Did something happen afterward?”

Zhong Boyu sighed heavily. “Every decision made by the powerful ends up being paid for by us minions. A single drop of spit from a bigwig is enough to drown an ant. I’m one of those unlucky ones. The Daoist Order decided to normalize some of the secret societies. Aside from the Cult of Fates and the Lingshan Witch Cult, the remaining secret societies could openly operate in the light of day, dropping the word ‘secret’ from their identities. Their past offenses would no longer be pursued. But there was one condition. They had to completely sever ties with the Cult of Fates and the Lingshan Witch Cult.

“As I said earlier, when White Jade Hall was established, it already contained members of the Cult of Fates. So the other secret societies decided to dissolve White Jade Hall, execute every Cult of Fates member within it, and conduct reciprocal purges among the remaining members. In other words, you kill my people, I kill yours. To them, sacrificing a handful of members in exchange for the Daoist Order’s trust was both worthwhile and necessary.

“Now, White Jade Hall no longer exists. I was among those marked for elimination. But I was lucky enough to escape with my life. Even so, I lost all of my cultivation. My former superior took pity on me and arranged for me to leave overseas. That’s how I ended up here. Clearly, I lied earlier when I said I was here to do business...”

Zhang Wuyue remained silent for quite a while.

The bloody struggles of the Jianghu felt distant to him, as though they belonged to an entirely different world. In a sense, he had been well protected. Especially after Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu rose to prominence, everyone around him had become polite and respectful toward him.

But Zhang Wuyue also understood that this was merely an illusion. Without that protection, would those people still treat him nicely?

Zhang Wuyue asked, “Then where do you live now?”

“Wherever life takes me,” Zhong Boyu replied. “Some people are obsessed with having a house. They think that life isn’t worth living without a roof over their heads and enough ground to stand on. I think differently. I can sleep anywhere. You know those roadside furnaces used to heat water? Once the fire burns out, I spread the ashes and sleep inside the furnace chamber. I also sleep under the bridge, in haystacks, or construction sites. They’re all places you’ll often find me.”

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