Finally, Li Qingxiao silently left the Eight Scenic Villa. The jade pendant gradually dimmed, and Li Qingxiao dared not linger nearby, returning to his home.
Unfortunately, when Li Qingxiao pushed open the courtyard gate, another unexpected visitor arrived. However, it wasn't a troubled young lady but a man who looked like he had tuberculosis. Li Qingxiao had seen him at the city gate.
The man stopped at a distance, leaning on a cane nearly as tall as himself. He didn't speak but silently watched Li Qingxiao.
Li Qingxiao tensed up, adopting a defensive stance. "What do you want?"
The man answered irrelevantly, "I'm called 'Yi Wangsun'."
This was a poetic term rather than a personal name.
Li Qingxiao's face darkened. "When it rains, it pours. You're really persistent."
"Yi Wangsun" smiled. "It seems you know who I am, so I won't introduce myself."
Li Qingxiao said, "What do you want? Get to the point."
"Yi Wangsun" spoke unhurriedly. "Fine, straightforward! Since you're being direct, I'll be frank too. I'm here for a dossier, Bichen Jia No. 319136."
"Bichen" referred to the Bichen Hall, "Jia" indicated top-secret, "319" was the Daoist calendar year since the Xuan Saint defeated the Confucian sect, making it the 319th year of the Daoist era, and "136" was the dossier's sequence number.
Li Qingxiao said, "If I say I've never seen this dossier, would you believe me?"
"Whether I believe you or not isn't important," the tubercular man looked deeply at Li Qingxiao. "The key is whether those above believe you. Let me put it this way: I'll trouble you to come with me and explain the matter to those above. Whether you've never seen it or forgotten it, we need an explanation."
"Those above?" Li Qingxiao laughed. "If the person above knows I'm here, why don't they come themselves?"
"Yi Wangsun" said, "You're deliberately asking. When you escaped from the Bichen Hall's disciplinary department, it was because Chief Zhou of the Bichen Hall spoke up. If something happened to you right after leaving the Bichen Hall, it would embarrass Chief Zhou. If it escalated, it would be awkward for everyone. That's why neither the Daoist sect nor we dare to pressure you too much, fearing Chief Zhou's displeasure. However, I'm just a minor figure, probably not even on Chief Zhou's radar. If I do something to you, when Chief Zhou questions it later, he can blame me for overstepping, absolving the important figures."
Li Qingxiao nodded. "That makes sense. The 'gods and buddhas' often use intermediaries to do their bidding, remaining aloof like chess players. It's pitiful how those chess pieces know they're being used but still feel lucky or even proud."
"Yi Wangsun" wasn't angry, just said, "So, are you Chief Zhou's chess piece? Do you feel proud about it?"
Li Qingxiao said, "I'm a chess piece, and so are you. We're on the same board, so a fight seems inevitable."
There was a moment of silence between them.
"Yi Wangsun" broke the silence. "You truly have courage, Daoist Li."
"I don't have courage," Li Qingxiao said coldly. "My temper isn't as good as you think. You've been watching me, but I want to kill you. You think I'm made of clay?"
"Yi Wangsun" said, "If you were still a Daoist of the Bichen Hall, you'd have the right to say that, and I wouldn't disagree. After all, going against the Daoist sect is like going against yourself. But now that you've been dismissed from the Bichen Hall, without that protection, saying such things seems presumptuous."
Li Qingxiao suddenly pulled out a pistol from his waist, pointing the black muzzle at "Yi Wangsun."
"You can say that again and see which is faster: the poison needles in your cane or my pistol. What era are we in? Still using these outdated things?"
"Yi Wangsun" raised his cane. "The old and the classic are two sides of the same coin. There's a reason why classics become classics…"
Before he finished speaking, the pistol fired.
In a flash, "Yi Wangsun" aimed the cane's end at Li Qingxiao, and silver poison needles shot out like rain.
This wasn't like sword fighting where several rounds were needed.
One round was enough.
Li Qingxiao tried to dodge, but a poison needle still hit his shoulder.
"Yi Wangsun" fared worse, as Li Qingxiao's shot blew off the right half of his head.
Li Qingxiao's face turned green, his poisoned shoulder unable to move, his entire arm hanging limply. He put the pistol in his mouth and used his other hand to search through "Yi Wangsun's" clothes.
He eventually found a fish-shaped token and two thumb-sized jade bottles.
This made sense. "Yi Wangsun" was here to capture, not kill. Even if he used poison needles to incapacitate Li Qingxiao, he needed to keep him alive to explain things, so he definitely carried antidotes.
Li Qingxiao was here to kill, so he used a pistol - something the Bichen Hall hadn't taken back when he left. It was his means of self-preservation, not to be used lightly. That Mei Ning was clearly much weaker than "Yi Wangsun."
Two bottles, one for external use and one for internal use.
If he couldn't tell the difference, he wouldn't have survived in the Bichen Hall for so long.
Li Qingxiao carefully removed the poison needle from his shoulder, sprinkled the external powder on the wound, and swallowed the internal pill.
After a moment, the greenness on Li Qingxiao's face faded, and his shoulder regained movement.
Li Qingxiao moved his shoulder, first dealing with the other poison needles to prevent accidental injury and to cover his tracks. Then he examined the fish token in his hand.
The fish token was an identity proof, made with secret techniques, unique. It was divided into four grades based on color: "jade white," "gold purple," "silver pink," and "copper green." The token in Li Qingxiao's hand was copper green, inscribed with "Yi Wangsun."
This meant "Yi Wangsun" was a D-grade member of the Peaceful Society, indeed a minor figure.
As for the Peaceful Society, it was a secret organization, and a very special one, straddling the line between official and illegal organizations.
The Peaceful Society was originally established by the Daoist Xuan Saint as an intelligence and espionage agency, with members using poetic terms as codenames. It played a crucial role in the Daoist sect's overthrow of the Confucian rule.
Later, it was abolished by the Xuan Saint, its core members transferred to the Bichen Hall.
When internal Daoist sect conflicts intensified, someone rebuilt the Peaceful Society for power struggles, transforming it into a secret organization.
Later, when the Daoist sect normalized secret organizations, many were pardoned, including the Peaceful Society, which became a semi-official organization.
But times changed, and the Peaceful Society returned to its old ways, becoming a secret organization again. Its purpose was no longer power struggles or targeting the Confucian sect but seeking secrets of immortality and ascension in this lawless era.
They had long been interested in the confidential file Li Qingxiao had stolen, approaching him several times. First, they tried to buy it, but when negotiations failed, they finally decided to take action.
Li Qingxiao looked at the fish token in his hand and couldn't help but sigh.
First, it was the Heavenly Gate people from Phoenix and Dragon Island, now the Peaceful Society came knocking.
He couldn't stay at the ancestral home for long, but there was clearly something mysterious about the Eight Scenic Villa. To leave now would be hard to bear.
Li Qingxiao thought for a moment, entered the house, and soon came out carrying a shovel.
…
The burly man didn't go to the Eight Scenic Villa but followed certain hidden markers out of the city, occasionally asking locals if they'd seen a woman from Phoenix and Dragon Island.
Soon, he arrived at the place where Li Qingxiao and Li Qingshu had met and chatted, but it was now empty.
The tall man looked around, finally stopping his gaze at a nearby archway inscribed with "Peaceful and Carefree."
The man sighed softly, "The Way of Peace isn't peaceful."