AS FENG XIAO LISTENED, the corners of his eyes curved—almost a smile, yet not. "Unfortunately, I happen to have seen both of the Zuoyue Bureau's deputy chiefs, a man and a woman. Don't tell me you're one of them."
Woven into his tone was, Go on, keep bluffing. Let's see what you come up with.
"How do you know the Zhangsun Bodhi you saw was the real Zhangsun Bodhi?" asked Cui Buqu.
"Oh?"
Cui Buqu's expression didn't shift a mote as he lied through his teeth: "As the saying goes, 'the crafty hare keeps three burrows.' This is especially true for the Zuoyue Bureau. We work for the court and our whereabouts and identities are need-to-know. It's normal to use a double or two. After all, I rely on my brain to make a living. I'm not like Deputy Chief Feng, a skilled martial artist who can go about as he pleases."
Feng Xiao suspected Cui Buqu was calling him a musclebound simpleton, but his tone was neutral; it was hard to take exception.
"Then who is the chief of the Zuoyue Bureau? What's their name?"
"You know, I've never seen them before either. They never show their face—they give their orders from behind a screen in a dark house. They sound old from their voice; they must be quite advanced in age." Cui Buqu continued his improvisation, his lies so convincing they sounded like truth.
Feng Xiao furrowed his brow in thought. He mused to himself, Could it be the empress's trusted eunuch, Chamberlain Zhang?
"Does the voice sound masculine or feminine?"
"Apart from sounding old, it has no distinctive features."
Feng Xiao sighed. "Daoist Master Cui is a gifted man of peerless intellect and cunning. How unfortunate that there's yet another person on top pressing him down. A capable man cannot lose his authority for even a day, lest he find himself impeded by all around him. In the end, being one's own master is the best way to live!"
Even now, they never missed a chance to tear into each other.
"Is that so?" said Cui Buqu. "Feng-langjun is in the same position, since the Minister of Justice is your superior."
Feng Xiao smiled. "The Minister of Justice is a figurehead. My Jiejian Bureau is unlike the Zuoyue Bureau. Though the empress and the emperor are called the Two Saints, when all's said and done, the world can belong to only one. Being under His Majesty's jurisdiction or his wife's jurisdiction—there's a distinction. In my opinion, giving up your seat as deputy chief is a no-brainer. Why not join the Jiejian Bureau instead? I'll grant you the position of fourth deputy chief, as well as the authority to take or spare a life, to punish or reward. Whatever the Zuoyue Bureau can give you, the Jiejian Bureau can give. Whatever the Zuoyue Bureau cannot give you, the Jiejian Bureau can still provide."
Cui Buqu asked curiously, "I'm already a deputy chief of the Zuoyue Bureau, and if I joined your organization, I'd still be your subordinate. What's the difference between what you're offering and what I have now?"
"Of course it's different," said Feng Xiao. "How can an awful old man who gets in your way compare to me, an elegant, exceptional, and heaven-sent genius? Not to mention I'm far more pleasing to the eye."
Cui Buqu didn't know what to say.
"Look upon me every day, and your mood will improve. If your mind is at peace, your body will heal without the use of medicine. Is this not a great boon?"
After a moment of silence, Cui Buqu said, "Deputy Chief Feng. You really are the best-looking person I've ever met."
Feng Xiao arched a brow and said, "Naturally. Did you only just realize?"
"But you're also the most thick-skinned and shameless person I've ever met." Cui Buqu spoke sincerely.
Feng Xiao laughed. "Does there exist a man capable of achieving great things who also has skin as thin as paper? These things called reputation and dignity are merely traps people set for themselves—they constrain you and prevent you from moving forward. Look at Fo'er. He obviously can't defeat me, but to safeguard his own dignity, he claims it's because I wasn't focused. He cherishes his reputation above all. Whether he pursues the martial path or runs after wealth and power, reaching the summit will be nigh impossible for him. If Ishbara Khagan's subordinates are all the same, I fear it'll be difficult for him to accomplish great works."
"As far as I know, though they call Fo'er the number one Göktürk expert, many powerful Göktürk martial artists have appeared in recent years," said Cui Buqu. "There are enough of them that we can set aside the late Hulugu for now. Bagha Khagan from the Eastern Khaganate is an extraordinary martial artist in his own right, and there's also a man under Apa Khagan called Yeluohe. He looks as delicate as a woman, but his moves are ferocious and brutal, his skills incredible. They are strong enemies all who mustn't be under—"
Feng Xiao was listening attentively, but before Cui Buqu could finish the word underestimated, he began to cough. He covered his mouth, but the harsh sounds of his coughing seeped between his fingers, growing more and more intense. If not for Feng Xiao taking care of the assassins from the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai earlier, they would surely have been discovered now.
As he coughed, a bone-searing pain flared to life in his chest. It spread rapidly through his body in wave after wave from his fingertips to his heart and lungs, even bringing a searing ache to his temples. The incense of helplessness was stirring inside him. His body was frail to begin with, and as the poison took hold, he endured an agony several magnitudes greater than the average person would have experienced.
Even so, he made no sound other than to cough—no groans or cries of pain escaped his lips.
It wasn't as if the Jiejian Bureau had never used incense of helplessness before. Feng Xiao had witnessed at least one powerful martial artist break down weeping under the influence of the incense, answering any and all questions as his resistance collapsed. Even after the poison had been neutralized, his eroded willpower dragged his body down with it. He hadn't lost his health completely, but he'd never be what he was.
Yet Cui Buqu, who knew no martial arts at all, had somehow managed to accompany Feng Xiao, running around all over Liugong City with the poison working inside him, enduring it in silence until it finally flared up. When it came down to it, Cui Buqu was from the Zuoyue Bureau; he wasn't a mortal enemy. Hadn't using incense of helplessness on him been a bit much?
For the first time in his life, Feng Xiao, Deputy Bureau Chief Feng, spent the span of several breaths reflecting on his actions.
But he quickly cast aside such a useless emotion—surely he merely felt sympathetic because he too was poisoned and injured. "I still have some incense of helplessness with me," he said to Cui Buqu.
"…No need." Cui Buqu curled up against the cold, drawing all his meager warmth into himself.
Incense of helplessness had no antidote—the only way to be free of it was to endure the endless, torturous agony, waiting for the poison to fade as the body expelled it. Some martial arts practitioners could temporarily suppress the poison using internal energy; aside from that, one could alleviate the pain by treating poison with poison—suppressing the effects of the incense with another dose. Yet afterward, the next flare-up would be more agonizing than the last.
Still, those who were subjected to this poison would often take more incense to bring themselves relief. They chose a temporary, short-term comfort and ignored the long-term harm it wrought.
"The cave is cold and damp," Feng Xiao's tone was disapproving. "You're exhausted, so flare-ups will affect you more severely. A wise man accepts his circumstances. The next time it flares, you can recuperate somewhere warm and comfortable. You'll still feel better then than you do now."
Cui Buqu's forehead burned hotter and hotter as his consciousness grew hazy. There seemed to be something between him and the sound of Feng Xiao's voice—it came to him soft and muffled. He said, "If I take a first step, I will take a second step. If I wish to defeat the poison completely, I must not take the first step at all." His eyes were tightly shut, his brow furrowed as he struggled in the grip of unrelenting agony. Somehow, he still managed a self-deprecating laugh. "I've suffered pain far greater than this. This…is nothing."
Feng Xiao raised a brow and was about to ask more when he heard a wail from outside. The wind that had died down suddenly picked up again, blowing snow and rain into the cave. A wave of bone-chilling cold swirled inside, the icy gust sweeping right into his open mouth and aggravating the poisoned wound in his shoulder. Feng Xiao bent his head in a coughing fit of his own.
Once it began, it seemed it'd never stop. The night was long, and they were crammed together in this small space. Their coughs rose and fell in tandem like echoes.
A tiger ripped from its mountain may be bullied even by dogs. All that was missing were the howls of wolves outside.
The instant he thought it, Feng Xiao heard the faint howl of wolves on the cliffs amid the wind and snow. The corners of his lips quirked up. He looked at Cui Buqu just a short distance away. "Hey."
Cui Buqu was using all that remained of his consciousness to fight the poison; he had no attention to spare for Feng Xiao.
Feng Xiao coughed twice. "I'm injured too. Why not come closer? We can huddle for warmth."
Opening his eyes a crack, Cui Buqu frowned as his sluggish thoughts processed Feng Xiao's words. "Get the fuck over here then," he said.
Feng Xiao was stupefied. He eyed the unmoving Cui Buqu and concluded he probably hadn't the strength. Feng Xiao was left with no choice but to debase himself and scoot over, pulling the other man into his arms. Deep inside, he thought in both anger and sorrow, How did my venerable fucking self fall this far?
No matter how he looked at it, it was all one person's fault.
***
Pei Jingzhe, standing at the gates of Lu Manor, sneezed thrice in rapid succession. Whether due to the chill of the wind or someone discussing him out of earshot, he had no time to wonder. He, too, had encountered the unexpected.