A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 289: Peeling Away the Layers

According to the rules, Beichen Hall should be responsible for cases that did not involve secret societies. However, Zhang Yuelu felt that the secret societies were related to this case. She only put forth her conjecture, but she still needed evidence to confirm it.

Furthermore, Tiangang Hall’s responsibility was to deal with external affairs, which had a broad scope. Strictly speaking, Tiangang Hall could intervene in anything, as long as it was not directed at Daoist disciples. Therefore, even if Zhang Yuelu confirmed that the murderer was not related to a secret society, as long as she wanted to continue the investigation, no one would be able to object to it.

Zhang Yuelu could also give a reasonable excuse that she was already there, so she might as well take up the case, lest it be a waste of time.

Of course, Zhang Yuelu also wanted to continue the investigation. Whether someone was pretending to be Qi Xuansu or whether Qi Xuansu was still alive gave her the motivation to continue the investigation.

With the rapid post talisman, the checkpoint records from the Ghost Pass were quickly sent to Zhang Yuelu. Due to the Ghost Pass’s unique location, not many chose to travel through it. There had been only about 100 people who had passed that checkpoint from the day before Wan Xiuwu’s death.

It was not difficult to check these people because they started by eliminating those who failed to meet the criteria. As such, there were less than 10 people who matched the killer’s profile.

Zhang Yuelu scanned the list. Her gaze landed on a name—Wei Wugui.

This person met all the above conditions to the tee. He was a Martial Arts Practitioner who carried a Divine Dragon Pistol and two cutlasses.

Wei Wugui was also a soldier under the command of General Qin Wubing. At the customs clearance, he showed a badge issued by Qin Wubing and another badge issued by Sage Pei Xiaolou from the Chongyang Palace of Immortality.

Zhang Yuelu fell into deep thought as various clues floated in her mind.

Qin Wubing was the Deputy Protector of Xizhou and the future Commandery Prince of Jiangling. He had a close relationship with Shangguan Jing, the deceased Seventh Deputy Tiangang Hall Master, as they had jointly suppressed secret societies in Yongzhou.

However, when Shangguan Jing was attacked by Wu Luo in Cuowenbu, Qin Wubing chose to stand still. However, through subsequent investigation, it was discovered that Qin Wubing had been in contact with Shangguan Jing right before the latter’s death.

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Someone from the Daoist Order had asked Qin Wubing to stop all operations. Out of sentimentality over their friendship, Qin Wubing leaked some information to Shangguan Jing and warned the latter to leave. Unfortunately, before Shangguan Jing could escape, Wu Luo attacked his warship. Thus, it was concluded that Qin Wubing had nothing to do with Wu Luo.

Pei Xiaolou, the Deputy Chongyang Palace Master, was just mediocre, but his elder brother was Sage Donghua, the Ziwei Hall Master and the second-in-command in the Quanzhen Sect with a status equivalent to Sage Cihang. Zhang Yuelu also recalled having met Pei Xiaolou once in Shangqing Palace because of Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu knew Pei Xiaolou. Wei Wugui also happened to be acquainted with Pei Xiaolou.

Was there any connection between them?

However, among the Sages, Pei Xiaolou was infamous for being frivolous. He liked to make friends with young people. So it was difficult to conclude that there was a connection between Qi Xuansu and Wei Wugui because of this. But with her current status, Zhang Yuelu was not qualified to question a second-rank Taiyi Daoist priest. She would require the authorization of the Golden Tower Council or Sage Cihang’s personal involvement.

Even if Zhang Yuelu asked her master to question Pei Xiaolou, she would have to be confident of her suspicion. If nothing was found based on this conjecture without any real evidence, Pei Xiaolou and Sage Donghua would not let it slide so easily. Sage Cihang would fall into a passive situation, and Zhang Yuelu would even be held accountable by the Golden Council.

As long as it did not involve a secret society, it was best if Zhang Yuelu handed over whatever evidence she gathered to Fengxian Hall instead of her master. After all, Pei Xiaolou was a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master with Sage Donghua as his backer.

Zhang Yuelu could not investigate Pei Xiaolou, nor could she investigate Wei Wugui because he was from the Imperial Court.

The Daoist Order and the Imperial Court had a pact that was made by the Holy Xuan and Emperor Gaozu of the Great Xuan Dynasty. But for some reason unknown to outsiders, this pact was not written. It was more of an ancestral edict. That was why it was regarded as an unwritten rule that both parties strictly abided by.

Zhang Yuelu had mentioned this edict before when she was arresting the cult demons. As long as it had to do with secret societies, the Daoist Order had the full authority to handle the case as they pleased. However, the Daoist Order had no right to punish those from the Imperial Court. If someone from the Imperial Court committed a crime and fell into the hands of the Daoist Order, the Daoist Order had to hand the criminal back to the Imperial Court, and vice versa.

Zhang Yuelu could not arrest Wei Wugui, as this would paint the Daoist Order in a bad light, especially at this critical moment when the Imperial Court was trying to intervene in the internal affairs of the Daoist Order.

Wei Wugui was just a personal guard of Qin Wubing. If Zhang Yuelu, the successor of Sage Cihang, broke the rules, Qin Wubing could report the matter to the Imperial Court and make a big fuss about the situation. There was no way for Zhang Yuelu to shirk responsibility because she was the Deputy Hall Master of Tiangang Hall, so her actions represented the Daoist Order's attitude to a certain extent.

This meant that Zhang Yuelu had to use a roundabout way to communicate and negotiate with Qin Wubing first, asking for Qin Wubing’s assistance to interrogate Wei Wugui.

Furthermore, Wei Wugui was Qin Wubing’s personal guard, which meant that he had been to the West Gobi of Cuowenbu. He must have left some traces traveling from the West Gobi to Xijing Prefecture, so Zhang Yuelu could ask someone to track his route.

Another thing Zhang Yuelu found strange was the gap of two days between Wei Wugui’s entry and exit record at the Ghost Pass, indicating he was not just passing by. This made her wonder what he did in the Ghost Pass.

Cuowenbu, West Gobi, Yinglong Warship’s attack, Wu Luo, Qin Wubing, Pei Xiaolou, Yunjin Mountain, and the flying ship crash seemed to have some connection. However, Zhang Yuelu was unable to grasp how these seemingly unrelated events were connected to each other. She felt like there was a missing piece in the puzzle.

Pan Cuiqing also saw Wei Wugui’s name and said in surprise, “This guy...”

“Deputy Palace Master Pan, do you know this person?” Zhang Yuelu asked.

“This guy provoked the Heavenly Court somehow, so Feng Bo from the Heavenly Court chased him to Xijing Prefecture. But this guy was quick-witted to detonate a Phoenix Eye Bullet, hence alarming the Sub-Tiangang Hall. That’s how he survived Feng Bo’s attack.

“But this guy somehow provoked an arrogant Sub-Tiangang Hall personnel, who insisted that the incident with Feng Bo was a private duel and wanted to hold Wei Wugui accountable. Coincidentally, Sage Pei arrived from the Chongyang Palace of Immortality to inspect the area and caught this Sub-Tiangang Hall personnel abusing his power. After this incident, Sage Pei grew to like Wei Wugui, but that’s expected of Sage Pei.”

Pan Cuiqing belonged to the Wuxu Palace, not to the Qinzhou Daoist Mansion. It was inevitable for these two entities to have some conflict since they worked closely together. As such, Pan Cuiqing would not cover up for the Sub-Tiangang Hall, which was from the Qinzhou Daoist Mansion. He even took the opportunity to reveal how the Sub-Tiangang Hall abused its power.

Although the Sub-Tiangang Hall was an elite team, they were under the control of the Second Deputy Qinzhou Daoist Mansion Master. Thus, the Sub-Tiangang Hall was considered small, and their actions could not represent the Daoist Order. As such, the Imperial Court would usually turn a blind eye to small matters.

Zhang Yuelu looked pensive. “I see.”

After a while, Zhang Yuelu ordered, “Deacon Tian, please send a letter to Qin Wubing, the Deputy Protector of the Xizhou Protectorate, asking him to confirm the identity of Wei Wugui. If Wei Wugui is indeed his subordinate, then please ask for General Qin’s cooperation in this investigation. If necessary, we will ask someone from the Imperial Court to question Wei Wugui.”

Zhang Yuelu paused for a moment, her tone turned solemn. “If Wei Wugui’s identity is fabricated and he is found to be unrelated to the Imperial Court, immediately notify the Zhongzhou Daoist Mansion and the Spirit Guards stationed at the Ghost Pass and ask them to assist in apprehending that man.”

Tian Baobao took the order and left.

Pan Cuiqing clapped his hands and praised. “Deputy Hall Master Zhang, you are indeed a young talent who has cracked the major Jiangnan case. You’ve made so much progress on this case. It’s simply amazing!”

“Deputy Palace Master Pan, you’re exaggerating.” Zhang Yuelu was indifferent to his compliment.

Pan Cuiqing changed the topic. “As far as I know, Wei Wugui is acquainted with Sage Pei. Do you want to inform Sage Pei about this?”

Zhang Yuelu stated, “Let’s see how General Qin responds first.”