YUXIU HAD HEARD of the terrors of incense of helplessness. It was a one-of-a-kind poison used by the Jiejian Bureau on uncooperative or tight-lipped suspects. The Divine Farmer Shennong had consumed hundreds of plants, poisoning himself to learn their effects so the ailing masses might put them to use in agriculture and medicine. But Yuxiu had no ambitions of becoming another Shennong, and no desire to experience the potency of incense of helplessness.
His fury appeared even more savage on Apa Khagan's borrowed features. Yuxiu ground his teeth. He was ready to strangle Cui Buqu to death on the spot, but one final sliver of reason stopped him.
"Where's the antidote?!"
There was no antidote for the incense of helplessness, but Cui Buqu wasn't about to tell Yuxiu that. Blood foamed at the corner of his mouth as he coughed, and his answer came out as a mumble. "It's pointless even if you hold your breath… The moment you entered, it seeped through your skin… Now it's circulating to your entire body through your meridians. The more you try to suppress it with your internal energy, the worse it will get…" He coughed harder.
Yuxiu pressed Cui Buqu to the ground and leaned in so they were nose to nose. The lower his voice dropped, the stronger his bloodlust blazed in his eyes. "What about you? You've been poisoned by the incense too. Do you plan to die with me?"
Cui Buqu smiled. "Your life is a valuable one. Dying alongside you is worth the price."
Unable to breathe with Yuxiu's hand around his throat, Cui Buqu raised his head to gasp for air. The faint light trickling through the thin material of the yurt's roof outlined his fair and slender figure. The sight was heart-stoppingly beautiful.
Yuxiu was an admirer of all things lovely, whether living or dead. In any other circumstances, he'd have tightened his grip on Cui Buqu's neck and forced him to raise his head higher to admire the sight a moment longer.
Instead, he let go. Cui Buqu coughed violently and curled into a ball, gasping for air. He'd also been poisoned. Surely no one could remain so unconcerned about their own life. Yuxiu watched him coldly for a spell. Ignoring everything else, he sat down and began to regulate his qi and breathing.
He quickly realized Cui Buqu was telling the truth. Circulating his internal energy only aggravated the pain; Yuxiu soon felt like his chest was being stabbed by a thousand needles. Any contact on his skin was excruciating—even the brush of his clothes against his body was unbearable.
Cui Buqu was not a martial artist. How could he endure such torment?
Yuxiu was a martial artist of many achievements. He'd never before suffered such a setback. He gritted his teeth and searched Cui Buqu, but found only a silk pouch. Inside were a few pills that smelled of herbs.
"What is this?!" Yuxiu suspected it was the antidote, but he dared not take any chances. He grabbed two pills and shoved them into Cui Buqu's mouth, forcing him to swallow. Cui Buqu gave a gasping laugh.
"What's so funny?!" Yuxiu was furious. There was no trace of his former graceful bearing as he aimed a kick at Cui Buqu.
"That's medication for my asthma," said Cui Buqu. "You thought it was the antidote, but you couldn't be certain, could you?" He coughed. "It doesn't matter what you think. I was the one who hatched this scheme against you; why would I have the antidote on me?"
Seeing that Cui Buqu had consumed the pills without ill effects, Yuxiu was even more suspicious that they were the antidote. He took two pills, but when the pain in his chest remained, he knew that Cui Buqu hadn't been lying.
"Where's the antidote?! Give it to me, or I'll kill you!"
"It's with Feng Xiao." Cui Buqu's words came in starts and stops, but he was still smiling. "Didn't you send people to delay him? Knowing him, if he dies, he'll destroy the antidote to ensure we both join him in the underworld."
Yuxiu raised his foot to kick Cui Buqu again. But when he saw the way Cui Buqu was gasping for breath, he changed his mind. One more kick might really send Cui Buqu to the underworld, and right now, Yuxiu needed him alive. Yuxiu sat back down. Enduring the pain, he closed his eyes and once again began circulating his qi.
Yet Cui Buqu refused to let either of them rest. "You say you aren't Yi-xiansheng, but you're certainly one of the leaders of the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai. You're not the first, but perhaps you're the second or third."
Yuxiu ignored him. But Cui Buqu didn't need an answer. He continued to theorize: "You were apprenticed to the Tiantai Sect and played advisor to the Prince of Jin. Your future was undoubtedly bright, yet you joined the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai to sow chaos across the land. When you threw in your lot with the Prince of Jin, you already had another goal. Time and again you've acted against the Sui dynasty, and now you're stirring up unrest in the Western Khaganate. Surely the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai don't believe they can conquer this land from the shadows with just a handful of people. You—"
His asthma struck again. He was under the influence of incense of helplessness; even those two pills could only temporarily relieve his discomfort. Talking was as difficult as ever. "Yuxiu-chanshi, do you remember Luhua Village?"
Yuxiu opened his eyes.
"Looks like I guessed right," said Cui Buqu with a smile. "Before joining the Tiantai Sect, you lived in Luhua Village. Because you were of foreign blood, the villagers treated you with contempt—until one day, a noble's entourage came and took you away."
Looking at Cui Buqu, Yuxiu said slowly, "Cui Buqu. Has anyone ever told you that opening your mouth at the wrong time will get you killed?"
"You and Feng Xiao are really quite alike," said Cui Buqu. "As you're already old acquaintances, why don't I play the role of witness when you swear your vow of brotherhood?"
"As soon as they bring me Feng Xiao's corpse, you're a dead man. Tread carefully if you want to enjoy these last moments of your life, lest I slip up and strangle you before then." Yuxiu's words were methodical; he was completely calm. Now that he was poisoned with the incense, screaming in fury wouldn't change anything. It was smarter to conserve his strength and focus on prying the antidote's whereabouts from Cui Buqu's mouth.
"My investigations didn't yield that noble's name," Cui Buqu continued. "But taking into account the year it took place and what happened to you afterward, it was likely Princess Qianjin, whom Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou gave away to the Eastern Khaganate in marriage."
Yuxiu's gaze upon him was that of a man looking at a corpse. But Cui Buqu remained unconcerned. When he had something to say, he'd say it, and only stop once he was satisfied.
"Princess Qianjin took pity on you, an isolated child with neither mother nor father. She brought you back to the Khaganate and personally taught you to read, and found someone to instruct you in martial arts. Years later, you left the Khaganate and wandered the Central Plains. After becoming a monk, you joined the Tiantai Sect as their disciple. A man of your talent will stand out wherever you go, so you quickly distinguished yourself there. At one point, you almost became their next leader.
"But you declined, claiming you lacked experience and wished to descend the mountain. The sect leader saw you as young but dependable, and made you head of Shangli Hall. This gave you access to all the men and resources the Tiantai Sect had amassed over the years to support you in your travels. Yet the first thing you did upon leaving the mountain was return to Luhua Village, where you massacred the inhabitants and burned the village to the ground."
For a moment, Cui Buqu couldn't go on. The pills had made it somewhat easier to breathe but did nothing to alleviate the effects of the incense of helplessness. Yuxiu was a martial artist; in comparison, he was far better off. Cui Buqu leaned back against a pillar for support, gathering his strength to continue.
"Remarkable," said Yuxiu. "Your investigations touched on even Luhua Village. But tell me: I killed everyone in the village. How did you come to know of this?"
"There was a woman at the time who'd newly married into the Zhou family from out of the village. She was visiting her parents back home at the time of the massacre, and escaped death. You didn't know her, but the village and her in-laws had told her of your existence."
"Ah," said Yuxiu. "A minnow that slipped through the net. But what's the use in digging up all this old history?"
"It's very useful, of course," said Cui Buqu. "For a start, I now know that your plans, and the plans of the Thirteen Floors, have some connection to Princess Qianjin. Finally the pieces fall into place. You obstructed us time and again. You attempted to steal the Jade of Heaven Lake; you disguised yourself as the khagan to spoil the alliance between Sui and the Western Khaganate, yet you made sure Fo'er's side suffered losses as well. It's because Princess Qianjin loathes the emperor for usurping the nation that once belonged to her Yuwen clan."
Yuxiu burst out laughing. "You're wrong. The princess has nothing to do with the Thirteen Floors. She shouldered her duty and married a Göktürk Khagan, knowing she would remain trapped in the Khaganate for the rest of her life. How would she have the means to make trouble in the Central Plains or found an organization like the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai? She doesn't need to do anything. Whatever she wants, I'll do it for her. My goals happen to align with the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai; why can't I borrow their strength?
"Cui Buqu, oh, Cui Buqu. You boast of your cleverness, but why don't you use your scheming mind to help the common people? Instead you spend your days bickering with Feng Xiao and trying to figure out what the emperor will do next. You allowed a weak woman to step up instead. It was she who was made to repair the relationship between the two nations. It was she who took on all the suffering that should have been yours!"
Yuxiu's face twisted with hatred. He seemed to see the faces of all his enemies in Cui Buqu's as he grabbed Cui Buqu's collar and yanked him in, closing a hand around his throat once more.
Cui Buqu had thought to probe him for more secrets about the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai and the mastermind behind them. He hadn't imagined he'd stumble upon Yuxiu's greatest and most deeply buried secret in the process—the handsome monk wearing Apa Khagan's face was a man deeply in love. And the one he loved was Princess Qianjin of the previous dynasty.
After Princess Qianjin was married off, the Northern dynasty changed hands from Zhou to Sui. The current emperor, Yang Jian, wasn't just any upstart noble. He had been the father-in-law of the emperor of Northern Zhou. Buttressed by the authority and influence of this position, he donned the emperor's yellow robes and slaughtered Princess Qianjin's entire family. There could exist no warmth or gentleness in the struggle for power, but Princess Qianjin had lost both her nation and her family. Of course she hated Great Sui.
Perhaps she'd fostered Yuxiu with the intention of creating a useful tool, or perhaps she returned his feelings sincerely. Either way, Yuxiu was willing to cross fire and flood for her, to treat the entire world as a game of chess and overturn the lives of countless innocents.
If the Tiantai Sect caught wind of this, they would expel him. His reputation would be destroyed, and the Prince of Jin would never employ him as a counselor again. The power he'd painstakingly built up and schemed for would go up like so much smoke.
As for the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai…
If Yuxiu wasn't Yi-xiansheng, who was the mastermind capable of giving this man orders? Was it Princess Qianjin? Or was there someone else?
All this flashed through Cui Buqu's mind as his thoughts grew increasingly hazy. Yuxiu's cold laugh rang in his ear. "Let me guess. There is no antidote for incense of helplessness—or if there is, neither of you have it with you. You've been trying to stall me until Feng Xiao can come to your rescue. Isn't that right?"
Cui Buqu closed his eyes. Yuxiu was a brilliant man. Keeping him occupied this long was an achievement; it had always been merely a matter of time until he discovered the truth.
His hand tightened slowly around Cui Buqu's neck. He was certain Feng Xiao wouldn't make it, and so he deliberately made Cui Buqu's death slow, cutting off his air little by little, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a quick end.
Yuxiu's feelings toward Cui Buqu had always been complex. He enjoyed their battle of wits and admired the man's brilliant mind, on par with Yuxiu's own. He'd believed his disguise as the khagan to be flawless, yet Cui Buqu had seen through it.
Fortunately, he'd prepared for all contingencies. His plans were foolproof.
"I'd really prefer not to kill you. But unfortunately, I can't allow you to live." Yuxiu ignored the pain of the poison and channeled qi to his palm, ready to snap Cui Buqu's neck.
The sound of clashing weapons and angry shouts rose outside. Yuxiu gave a muffled groan, and his grip suddenly slackened.