A Pawn's Passage-Chapter 1106: Approaching Tide

Zhang Yuelu concealed her presence as she moved through the warehouse, not wanting the guards nor the imprisoned slaves to see her.

This warehouse area resembled a prison that was divided into numerous rooms. Some rooms held only one person, each extraordinarily good-looking. Their treatment was relatively decent, with good food and no clear signs of abuse.

After all, the Heavenly Court intended to sell them for high prices. Beating them bloody or keeping them filthy would be bad for business.

There were also common dormitories. The captives here were worse off than those in the single rooms, but not atrociously so. Some of them had superficial injuries. It was not because the Heavenly Court was kinder than the West Shakya Company. Their business models simply differed.

Zhang Yuelu glanced across the pitiful slaves without much expression. After all, she was no saint. She was cold-hearted in her own way. In a sense, many people’s description of Zhang Yuelu resembling the fifth-generation Grand Master had never been pure praise. It carried mixed meaning.

As the saying goes, merciful people could not hold armies, and righteous people could not hold finances. Yet the most crucial in governing a nation was military and financial control. After all, one could only raise troops with money, and only with troops could one govern a nation.

A soft-hearted person rarely makes a good leader, as evident in the sixth-generation Grand Master’s reign.

From the beginning, Zhang Yuelu aimed only to reform the Daoist Order, not to change the world. She was a top-down reformer, not a bottom-up revolutionary. Her upbringing empowered her and limited her. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Ideas were one thing; implementation was another.

Worldly change was never the work of one person. Only with turmoil and rising tides could heroes ride it. But before the tide arrived, even heroes had to stand powerless.

Zhang Yuelu did not attempt to free these poor souls immediately. She merely surveyed them. Even if she saved this batch, more would appear later. To end it, she would need to cut off the root. However, moving against the Heavenly Court was no simple task.

Disregarding the Taiping Sect’s support, even the Golden Patriarch alone stood as a towering obstacle.

After finishing her survey, she made a major discovery. Most slaves bore some kind of mark, like stamped seals. Each of them were different, likely indicating their place of origin. The Heavenly Court was probably not meticulous enough to erase these marks.

These marks were not words but symbols, and among them was the emblem of the Nanyang United Trading Company.

Since Zhang Yuelu had nearly wiped out the Company’s Lingnan branch, she knew many of their secrets. Recognizing the symbol posed no difficulty.

Using these symbols, Zhang Yuelu separated the slaves originating from the Nanyang United Trading Company. She then selected a beautiful Western woman with blue eyes, golden hair, and pale skin—clearly of good birth, which usually meant a high price tag.

Then, she made the woman appear temporarily ill with a sallow complexion and weakened breath, yet not in any mortal danger.

A valuable slave suddenly falling ill could not be auctioned because no one would pay a fortune for someone about to die. Given the high acquisition cost, the auction house would not simply discard her either.

Thus, two options remained. They could either sell her at a steep discount or return her to the supplier. Since discounting risked a loss, the latter was more likely.

At the same time, Zhang Yuelu implanted a trace of her own aura into the woman using the Six Void Tribulations. Even a Wuliang-stage Heavenly Being of equal standing would struggle to detect or dispel it when dormant. This made her method virtually foolproof.

The rest was simple. Zhang Yuelu would wait for the woman to be returned to the Nanyang United Trading Company, then follow the aura she had planted to locate their warehouse.

This method was not an absolute guarantee, but it was the best solution she could devise in a short time. If it failed, she would have to wait for information from the Ziguang Society, which might take some time.

Zhang Yuelu did not believe that it would alert the Nanyang United Trading Company. Although the Wang family had reprimanded the company harshly after Chen Shuhua’s incident and urged restraint and caution, some habits were hard to change.

Moreover, lower-level staff likely had no understanding of how dire the situation truly was. The Wang family could not reveal the full truth, as doing so would crush morale and risk the Company collapsing before the crisis even unfolded. Thus, the Wang family would downplay the danger and make it seem like they were still in full control.

A single returned slave was far from enough to rouse their vigilance.

After confirming she left no loose ends, Zhang Yuelu did not return to the auction hall but slipped away quietly through another route.

......

Meanwhile, after executing the former Yu King Chen Shuzhen, Qi Xuansu decided to continue the inspection tour he had not yet completed.

Even Wang Jiaohe could not object to this.

Thus, Qi Xuansu boarded a flying ship and headed toward Lion City.

This time, Qi Xuansu had a Yinglong Warship accompanying him. However, it was not exactly an escort. Spirit Guard Jia Yin was returning to the Old Port Pacification Commission Office and was merely traveling the same route. After arranging some matters at the Old Port Pacification Commission Office, Spirit Guard Jia Yin would then serve as Qi Xuansu’s temporary bodyguard.

Qi Xuansu’s entourage this time was quite large. Besides his personal secretary Chen Jianchou, he brought along Little Yin, Han Yongfeng, Lu Yuting, and Shangguan Ya, who was temporarily under his command, along with 500 Spirit Guards.

Qi Xuansu did not intentionally put on such an ostentatious display to flaunt the prestige of his new post as Chief Deputy Mansion Master. It was simply because he was currently too weak. At the moment, he could barely muster the strength of a Xiaoyao-stage Heavenly Being. Thus, his escort had to be greatly reinforced to prevent any mishaps.

Compared to his own safety, no scale of escort could be considered excessive.

There were no obstacles in his journey.

When the flying ship descended once more outside Lion City, the entire city was thrown into hectic commotion again. Fortunately, not much time had passed since his last visit, so many previous arrangements could be picked up where he left off.

Still, many silently cursed him. Does he have nothing better to do? Didn’t he just come for an inspection not long ago? Why is he here again?

But no matter how dissatisfied they were, no one dared voice it aloud.

After all, the man had been promoted. Before this, Qi Xuansu was merely a third-rank Youyi Daoist serving as the Second Deputy Mansion Master. But now, he was a second-rank Taiyi Daoist serving as the Chief Deputy Mansion Master. That was a massive step upward.

Many could not cross such a threshold in their lifetime, yet Qi Xuansu had leapt past it just like that. No one could object to it either, because it was all earned through solid achievements.

What made it feel abrupt was simply the speed and the fact that he was far too young. Had Qi Xuansu been a weathered seventh-generation disciple, no one would have found it abrupt and might have even called it a natural progression.

However, everything had two sides. Qi Xuansu’s youth became a weapon many used against him. It became their main point of criticism.

But it was also precisely his youth that granted him a certain hidden form of respect and status due to his boundless future.

The logic was simple. A Chief Deputy Mansion Master was formidable, but it was even more so for someone under thirty to ascend to such a position. This implied that Qi Xuansu had plenty of time for advancement until he gained eligibility to compete for the seat of Grand Master. Moreover, with him already at the Wuliang stage before 30, he would surely attain immortality in his lifetime.

Being eligible to compete for the Grand Master seat meant that he would be known as a Daoist Heir, on the same level as Sage Donghua, Sage Qingwei, and Sage Cihang.

Though people might look down on the sixth-generation Grand Master now, it required three Deputy Grand Masters joining forces to suppress him. Who among ordinary folk dared compare themselves to the Three Deputy Grand Masters?

Some might not fear offending a Chief Deputy, but they would fear offending a future heir to the Daoist Order.

Unless they killed Qi Xuansu now, his rise was almost unstoppable. Most people would look ahead and plan for the future. Thus, Qi Xuansu received respect far surpassing that given to an ordinary Chief Deputy.

Since Chief Deputy Qi was still injured, the port area was placed under full lockdown by the Black Robes.

Qin Hengjun, the second-in-command of the Nanting Protectorate, personally came to receive him. Accompanying him were his adjutant, Manager Hu, and Zhou Yonghe of the Taiping Bank, as well as numerous local Daoist priests.

The Spirit Guards and the Black Robes formed an inner and outer perimeter. Every pair of eyes was fixed on the flying ship.

Once the ramp descended, Qi Xuansu was the first to step off.

In an instant, everyone closed in around him.

This scene reminded Qi Xuansu of how they once welcomed Great Sage Jiang Hedao at the Penglai Pool in the Imperial Capital. He had never expected to one day receive such treatment himself.

Qi Xuansu first exchanged formal greetings with Qin Hengjun, then turned to Manager Hu and said, “Thank you for coming to receive me, Manager Hu.”

Manager Hu replied, “It is only proper.”

If Manager Hu still held some reluctance the last time, after the upheaval at Thanglong Prefecture, he now fully understood the situation and had resolved to stand firmly on Qi Xuansu’s side.

At this moment, Manager Hu had a feeling that a great tide was approaching.