A Pawn's Passage

Clearing a single sedimentation tank was not difficult, but a massive water treatment plant like this had far more than one sedimentation tank.

Zhang Yuelu immediately activated a mother-child talisman.

Before long, a half-body projection of Sage Cihang appeared before Zhang Yuelu.

“Master, I fear my speculation has proven to be true.” Zhang Yuelu was blunt. “We’ve encountered a Cult of Fates demon and living corpses. We’ve also discovered a large number of monstrous fish in the sedimentation tank, likely their so-called Gift. The only good news is that they have not been alerted of our presence.”

Sage Cihang, an experienced individual, remained calm and pondered briefly before asking, “What’s the state of the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion?”

Zhang Yuelu replied, “It’s not complete chaos, but it’s far from good. After all, the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion oversees all of Jiangnan, with maritime trade as its core. With so many counties, ports, and warehouses, they can’t all be stationed in Jinling Prefecture. To be honest, after the upheaval, Jinling is all show with little substance.”

Sage Cihang had once overseen the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion and was naturally aware of the situation.

The combat strength of various Daoist mansions varied. For instance, the Kunlun Daoist Mansion, tasked with guarding Jade Capital, boasted the greatest combat strength among all Daoist mansions. Similarly, the Western Region Daoist Mansion, located on the frontier and frequently engaged in warfare, also had formidable strength. These two were akin to the Imperial Guard and frontier troops, stronger than ordinary regional garrisons.

However, the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion was not in the same league in terms of combat strength. In terms of power, status, and importance, it ranked among the top within the Daoist mansion. However, much of its power was economic. It was still inferior to other Daoist mansions in terms of military strength.

The reasoning was simple. The pleasures of prosperous regions had always eroded one’s will. Daoist priests were not like the Black Robes and could not be bound by martial law. It was hard to avoid indulgence if one lived in the affluent Jiangnan.

As a result, the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion was second only to Jade Capital in harboring flowerbed priests. In addition, Jiangnan was a central, peaceful area, well guarded by the Black Robes and the Jiangnan Navy, making a large presence of Spirit Guards redundant.

The Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master and Deputy Mansion Masters focused on maritime trade and seldom concerned themselves with military readiness, which had effectively deteriorated.

Worse still, the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master and several Deputy Mansion Masters were not even in Jinling at the moment. In the event of a major incident, expecting the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion to resolve it alone was unrealistic. Even if they managed, the consequences—whether in lives lost or property damage—would likely be devastating.

Sage Cihang said solemnly, “I’ll send word to Bai Yingqiong. You two sisters can discuss stabilizing the situation in Jinling while I convene a Golden Tower Council meeting as soon as possible.”

Zhang Yuelu asked, “How long will it take?”

Sage Cihang shook her head slightly. “It’s hard to say. Before that, I’ll have to meet with Sage Pei to hear his thoughts.”

Zhang Yuelu sighed. “I suppose that’s all we can do for now.”

Sage Cihang cut off the connection of the mother-child talisman.

Zhang Yuelu took out another mother-child talisman. This time, she contacted Mu Jin, instructing her to mobilize all available personnel to the water treatment plant.

Logically, mobilizing personnel from the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion to handle the water treatment plant would be the most appropriate choice. Despite the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion’s declining military readiness, managing a single water treatment plant should not be difficult.

However, Zhang Yuelu was not a Deputy Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master, so she could not overstep her authority. Adding another layer of communication would inevitably cause delays. Moreover, with the unclear stance of the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion that made it hard to distinguish friend from foe, it was more practical to mobilize her own forces from Tiangang Hall.

Thus, further action from the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion would have to wait until Sage Cihang communicated with Bai Yingqiong.

After Zhang Yuelu finished relaying her orders to Mu Jin, Qi Xuansu finally spoke. “Though it hasn’t been long, many of the monstrous fish have already entered the waterways. I just don’t understand. How do these fish spread curses? Surely no one would eat such weird fish.”

Zhang Yuelu explained, “These fish are essentially sources of contamination. They don’t need to do much. Just going where the water flows is enough to pollute the water wherever they pass, much like placing the carcasses of diseased animals into a water source.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “If that’s the case, most of the city’s wells are probably already compromised. What should we do next?”

Zhang Yuelu pinched the bridge of her nose. “This plant should have a main sluice gate. We’ll have to shut it down first, then slowly clear out these fish. At the same time, we’ll send word to the local Green Phoenix Guard and the Warden's Office to seal off the wells. The key is to quickly locate the cult demons and capture them to prevent them from continuing their rampage in the city.”

As she spoke, Zhang Yuelu took out a stack of mother-child talismans but suddenly remembered she had not been in Jinling long enough to establish contacts with the local Green Phoenix Guard or the Warden's Office. The same was true for the Black Robes, whose highest-ranking officer was not in the city, rendering the mobilization of their garrison impossible.

“When it rains, it pours…” Zhang Yuelu muttered, clenching her fist. “Mobilizing the Green Phoenix Guard and the Warden's Office will require negotiation with the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion.”

Speak of the devil.

At this time, a mother-child talisman lit up. Zhang Yuelu retrieved it and saw Bai Yingqiong’s name inscribed on it.

“It seems Sage Cihang works quickly. You should talk to Sage Bai, while I’ll go shut down the main sluice gate.” Qi Xuansu was decisive.

Sage Cihang’s communication with Bai Yingqiong would likely be brief. However, for Zhang Yuelu and Bai Yingqiong to implement specific actions would take considerably longer.

Zhang Yuelu hesitated briefly before nodding. “Alright, take care of yourself.”

The two parted ways. Since the layout was highly complex, there were designated signs to guide the way, sparing Qi Xuansu the need for a map. He just followed the markers.

Numerous sedimentation tanks were connected by metal bridges of varying lengths. The other tanks, like the first one, were packed with monstrous fish.

In just a matter of hours, these creatures had grown at an astonishing rate, rivaling the regenerative powers of a Martial Arts Practitioner’s.

Qi Xuansu no longer attempted to clear the monstrous fish. Instead, he headed toward the main sluice gate.

Beyond the sedimentation tanks were the filtration tanks. Qi Xuansu found that the situation there was equally grim. The sharp-toothed fish had torn through the filtration nets. While some remained in the filtration tanks, others had already moved to the next stage, which was the disinfection tanks.

Qi Xuansu doubted that the disinfection tanks would be able to kill the monstrous fish. It was likely that both the clean and waste water reservoirs had already been compromised. Thus, this made shutting the main sluice gate the only viable option.

Along the way, Qi Xuansu discovered several similar large rooms. There were no humans inside. All the switches had been activated, allowing the water channels to flow freely. A few living corpses roamed aimlessly, but there were no giant living corpses or Cult of Fates demons with undying divine power.

Qi Xuansu dealt with these living corpses easily.

Even so, Qi Xuansu had witnessed the methods of the Cult of Fates.

In just a few hours, a plant housing hundreds of people had become a death zone teeming with living corpses.

This reminded Qi Xuansu of the manufacturing plant in Cuowenbu, where the Cult of Fates secretly spread curses, turning the living into zombies. These zombies infected more people, transforming the place into a zombie town. The growing army of undead became a corpse tide that spread outward and wreaked havoc.

To prevent the corpse tide from expanding further, the Daoist Order had been forced to deploy a Grade-A Series Three Phoenix Eye Bomb, destroying the entire manufacturing plant along with the zombies.

Years later, only ruins of that site remained, but some living corpses still roamed there. Strangely, they seemed impossible to eradicate. Despite annual “weeding,” they returned year after year, like weeds in a field that revived every spring, lingering and harming others to this day.

If such an event were to occur in Jinling, it would shake the entire world.

At last, Qi Xuansu arrived at the location of the main sluice gate.

Qi Xuansu gazed at the massive gate over the reservoir. It was as large as a city gate. The cult demons had deliberately destroyed the control switches.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu stood in silence for a long while.

Even with the winch and the chains connecting the gate, Qi Xuansu doubted he could lower it. The pitch-black chains were as thick as water buckets, and the winch itself was ten times the size of a regular millstone.

Turning such a massive winch was beyond the strength of even a Guizhen-stage Martial Arts Practitioner.

However, at this moment, there was no other option. Qi Xuansu took a deep breath, rolled up his sleeves, and walked toward the massive winch.