WHEN XIAO LÜ WISHED TO, he could give anyone he spoke with the impression that they were bathed in a gentle spring breeze. He felt instantly familiar, like they'd found the other half of their soul. Even Cui Buqu was not immune.
Xiao Lü was an extraordinarily proud man, unable to tolerate the slightest imperfection or flaw. Yet ironically, the first half of his life had been filled with imperfections. He was born into a noble family, but their authority had waned. He was learned and knowledgeable, but found himself serving an incompetent emperor and unable to receive his favor. His gifts were extraordinary: an exceptional memory and martial talent the likes of which appeared once a century. But he was born with poison coursing through his veins, and though he possessed powerful internal cultivation, much of it was consumed suppressing the toxins in his own body.
His original plan had been to infiltrate the Southern dynasty from within. It was his own territory, after all, and the emperor of Chen was weak. The lines of power within the Southern dynasty were tangled and interwoven, and thus easy to exploit. But the appearance of Yuwen Yihuan had altered his view.
At the time, the Northern Zhou dynasty was still thriving. As the daughter of the crown prince, the infant girl was destined to become an emperor's daughter. She'd been left for dead, but she was the twin sister of the crown prince's living child. Her status was both delicate and extremely useful. Xiao Lü covertly gathered his forces and worked for years until he finally created a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The three days of the Lantern Festival and the solar eclipse; Zheng Yi and Liu Fang's deaths; the massacre at the Prince of Qin's mansion; the Buddhist ceremony at Daxingshan Temple. The stars aligned: the right time, the right place, and the right people. His victory had seemed assured.
Yet in just a few hours, everything had unraveled.
Had Cui Buqu's group not obstructed him, had his co-conspirator Kuhezhen not betrayed him, had he not pursued perfection and tried to eliminate the emperor of Sui first, perhaps he'd have succeeded in changing the world.
But it was too late for what ifs.
Xiao Lü had always understood that the path he walked was as steep as a thousand-foot cliff. No other road was available to him. He'd exhausted himself for years plotting and planning, yet ultimately, he hadn't been able to outrun his own death. The idea of changing one's fate was a joke.
Xiao Lü closed his eyes, seeing his whole life flit by in a blink. A sense of futility washed over him.
"I…won't gamble," said Cui Buqu.
Xiao Lü smiled. "You're afraid."
"Yes, I'm afraid," Cui Buqu said flatly.
He didn't explain, but Xiao Lü saw through him. "Cui Buqu, I thought you understood better than anyone how to seize the moment. You burn all paths of retreat in your resolve to press forward. Yet right now, cornered as you are, you refuse to take this step. Why?"
His question was met with silence.
Xiao Lü chuckled. "You have attachments. Considerations. You're afraid if you accept my proposal, you'll never leave here. And there's someone you still wish to see, isn't there?"
Cui Buqu acted like he hadn't heard. "Xiao Lü, you often say we're alike. Indeed, our experiences and talents bear a great resemblance; we even both took Fan Yun as our teacher. But I have no desire to overturn the world or usurp the throne, and even less to gamble on a fleeting hope." He added coldly, "If you still have the energy to say all this, get up and look for a way out."
Xiao Lü sighed. "If there is hope, what does it matter if it's fleeting? Escaping this place will tax you beyond what you can bear. Without taking the chance I'm offering, you won't get far."
The situation was indeed dire for Cui Buqu. Although his expression remained placid and his tone moderate, it was only because he was used to suppressing his pain. If not for the stone wall supporting him, he probably wouldn't have been able to sit up at all. Each exhale felt like he was breathing out fire, scorching his heart and lungs, and the cold, damp air of the cavern aggravated his agony. It was as if ice and fire were warring inside him.
Cui Buqu endured and endured, but eventually, he could endure no longer. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
Xiao Lü narrowed his eyes. His sight was fading, but in the torchlight he could vaguely make out the crimson splatter on the ground. He still had enough left in him to tease Cui Buqu. "I didn't expect that after all our time fighting, we'd end up dying together. Perhaps we'll meet again in the next life."
Cui Buqu sneered. "But I don't want to see Pavilion Leader Xiao ever again. Please die a little farther away so I may have peace."
The flame in his hand flickered out, plunging them into darkness once more. Just before the light faded, Cui Buqu saw what lay behind the stone door: a corridor, its stone walls lined with candle holders. This, too, must belong to the labyrinth. If there were holders for candles, someone must have once used this path to cut through the maze. It might just lead them out—provided there were no traps along the way.
He exhaled a breath of stale air. With great effort, he propped himself onto his elbow, then slowly climbed to his feet. Even if Xiao Lü couldn't move, Cui Buqu had to keep going.
"Don't leave; stay here with me…" Xiao Lü called from behind him.
His words were like an invisible shackle, locking around Cui Buqu's ankle and preventing him from taking another step. Cui Buqu was exhausted. His broken body was strained to its limit, yet he'd dragged it along, lingering at death's door, year after year. It took enormous willpower simply to command his body to walk and talk, to force it to keep up with his mind. But it forever lagged behind, heavy and sluggish.
"Cui Buqu, you're trying so hard to leave this place. If the person you want to see doesn't want to see you, what will you do? You've lived a life of agony. You spend your days lost in pain and suffering, and for what? You refuse to pursue the most glorious position for yourself. Why not die here with me? At least then I won't be lonely in the underworld!"
Behind him, Xiao Lü hunched over, wracked by coughs. He laughed as he coughed and coughed as he laughed. Cui Buqu didn't look back or respond. He continued to inch forward, step by laborious step. He crossed the threshold of the stone door and entered the passageway. Darkness enveloped him, as if he'd fallen into a bottomless abyss or sunk into the depths of hell. Only the pain in his limbs reminded him he was still alive.
A soft wind blew across the back of his neck. Cui Buqu couldn't evade as a cold hand gripped his throat.
"You don't wish to die with me, but I wish to die with you," Xiao Lü murmured. He tapped Cui Buqu's acupoint, and his hand slid down from his nape to press firmly against his back. "Cui Buqu, even if you refuse to gamble, I still want to make a wager with you."
Cui Buqu was unable to speak or move, unable to struggle. Cold, stagnant air washed over him, untouched by the sun for centuries. Yet as Xiao Lü's hand pressed into his back, it felt as if he'd thrust a fragment of the sun into his body.
His bones were instantly incinerated by that searing light; the clash between ice and fire a relentless torment with no respite. A hook seemed to be stirring and clawing at his flesh, as if trying to tear him apart and rebuild him anew. Scalding waves of heat churned around him yet failed to dissolve the bone-piercing chill. Neither side was willing to relent until the other was consumed, locked in a stalemate with Cui Buqu's body as the battleground.
How could a mortal body withstand such torture? His was already painfully fragile, unable to weather such an intense shock. The slightest push and it would splinter into thousands of pieces, never to be whole again.
Cui Buqu forced his eyes open a crack and gazed vacantly into the void ahead. His lips parted as if to moan, but no sound escaped.
When the pain reached its peak, his consciousness, his very soul, could no longer bear it. It struggled free of the confines of his body and started to rise toward the heavens. Just a little further and he would be free. Never again would he be shackled by this suffering.
He'd taken revenge for his birth mother, and the Zuoyue Bureau had Zhangsun and Song Liangchen. There was no need for him to regret or worry. The world was full of brilliant men. The court would surely find a new chief to take his place at the Zuoyue Bureau. As for this case—his last—he and Xiao Lü would be buried within the labyrinth forever, their corpses rotting and becoming one with the earth. In a few months, they'd be unrecognizable piles of bones, nameless and forgotten. All grievances and enmities would fade, vanishing like smoke. All obsessions were but illusions.
A voice lingered in his ears, soft and poisonous. Wouldn't it be nice to stay here quietly? You'll have me as your opponent. You won't be lonely even in the underworld.
Cui Buqu felt as if he was walking in a daze, pulled along by an unseen guide. He passed under a stone gate and traversed a long corridor where time seemed to stand still. The agonizing sensations of burning heat and freezing ice evaporated, leaving his body weightless. Even the sensation of his feet pressing into the floor as he walked seemed to have faded away.
He couldn't remember having ever felt so light and carefree—it was a feeling he'd scarcely dared to dream of. Cui Buqu had never imagined there'd come a time when he could feel like an ordinary person. No, he was even more comfortable than an ordinary person. If he kept going like this, it wouldn't be long before…
Before—
Yet even as that force pulled him inexorably forward, he found himself resisting its tug. Deep down, he felt like there was something he had forgotten—something of great importance.
He looked around in confusion, then lowered his head again. Whatever it was, he couldn't recall it. The force continued to draw him onward, step by step. A nagging, anxious feeling bubbled up within him. What was it that he couldn't remember?
Something slipped from his lapels and fell to the ground. Stone struck stone with a crisp ringing sound, jolting his hazy mind back to clarity.
It looked like…a piece of jade.
The recollection came to him sluggishly. One night, after returning to the capital—perhaps it had been during the Lantern Festival—he'd gone to the East Market for an appointment. He'd seen this piece of jade as he passed a shop and bought it on impulse. On the piece of jade was carved…
He furrowed his brow, straining his memory for every detail.
A phoenix.
The phoenix had been vivid and bursting with life, its head proudly raised, ready to soar into the nine heavens. When he looked at it, he felt it bore an uncanny resemblance to someone.
Cui Buqu trembled. He stopped, refusing to take another step no matter how much the force tugged and pulled.
There was something he'd yet to do. There was someone he needed to see. He couldn't leave.
He didn't want to die.
He wanted to live.
With that thought, the tide of pain came rushing back in, crashing over him from all directions. It surged and roiled with no end in sight. In his half-conscious stupor, Cui Buqu didn't notice the blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, nor the uncontrollable way his body shivered and twitched. He didn't notice that behind him, Xiao Lü was now emaciated and gaunt, frail and gray-haired. His left hand on Cui Buqu's back was no longer smooth and slender. It was wrinkled and withered, as starkly white as bone.
A mouthful of blood spattered onto Cui Buqu's shoulder. At last, Xiao Lü loosened his grip and slumped to one side. He didn't even have the strength to open his eyes and glance at the darkened world around him. He'd once believed he would never accept this. But now, an uncanny tranquility enveloped him, as if all the dust of the mortal world had settled around him. This wasn't a bad place to die. An underground labyrinth for holding Buddhist sarira—at least it wasn't filthy and unclean.
It was only a pity he had finally lost to fate.
Xiao Lü's lips curved, pulling at the dried and shriveled skin of his face. The vitality he'd once possessed was gone as if it had never been. Even those who knew him best might not have recognized him. His gaze shifted from the distant, empty void to Cui Buqu before him.
Cui Buqu, I wish you luck. If you don't make it, come keep me company in death. We can duel to our hearts' content in the underworld.
Dazed, Cui Buqu only vaguely heard him. He could no longer tell what was hallucination and what was reality, just as he couldn't tell if his spirit had left his body. He didn't know if he still remained in the mortal realm. A powerful force from the underworld yearned to tear his soul away. His spirit warred fiercely with his body, neither side willing to concede.
He drifted in a strange and boundless darkness, clinging to his last shred of clarity as a shield against the outside forces that would take him. He fought them, inching step by step back down the path he'd come. He didn't know how much time passed before he gradually became aware that he was waking up in his flesh-and-blood body.
The agony had grown more intense. This time it wasn't just his body; his head also ached. He felt as if a hand had reached into the tranquil pond that was his mind and stirred. He let out a soft sigh. The sound traveled down the passageway, bouncing off the walls and echoing over and over.
With great effort, he opened his eyes. All he saw was darkness. Yet he keenly sensed that there was no longer anyone beside him.
"Xiao…Lü?"
There was no response.
Before long, he heard the sound of hurried and erratic footsteps in the distance. This person was unsteady on their feet, stumbling as they ran, at times light and at other times lumbering.
Who could it be?
The emperor of Sui? Zhangsun? Or was it Kuhezhen's human gu? It could also be Feng Xiao or Tu'an Qinghe. Friend or foe, he lacked the strength to move even an inch.
The footsteps drew nearer. The newcomer carried a light, which bounced up and down in time with their steps. A moment later, it resolved into a blurred figure holding a torch.
It was…a girl.
Cui Buqu frowned. In his confusion, he took her for Qiao Xian before remembering he had sent Qiao Xian away. She couldn't possibly be here. It wasn't Qiao Xian, nor was it Qin Miaoyu. Then who?
He soon received his answer.
The girl stopped, panting harshly in the dim light. Her beautiful and delicate features twisted with an incongruous savagery. A vertical gash marred her once lovely forehead, the edges curled outward like a wound inflicted by a knife. Blood trickled down the bridge of her nose, leaving rusty streaks where it dried. Her forehead around the wound seemed to pulse, as if some living thing lurked beneath her skin.
Yuwen Yihuan stared blankly at Cui Buqu, then turned her gaze to the space beside him. Only then did Cui Buqu see Xiao Lü, silent and still.
"Xiao-lang!"
Tears mixed with blood streamed from Yuwen Yihuan's eyes. She fell to her knees and pulled Xiao Lü into her arms, unafraid of his withered and aged corpse.
Why didn't you wait for me? the girl screamed silently. Her eyes shone with a lifetime's worth of sorrow.
To her, Xiao Lü was everything. He was heaven and earth, the entire first half of her life. She'd been born into the imperial family but never spent a single day as a princess. Princess Leping, Yuwen Eying, Yuwen Yun, the emperor of Sui, Empress Dugu. These people were all her closest blood kin, yet they couldn't have been more distant from her. Even when she'd followed Xiao Lü's orders to approach the princess and her daughter, Yuwen Yihuan had never seen them as her true family.
The only one she trusted unreservedly was Xiao Lü.
He'd taught her to read and write, taught her martial arts and strategy. Although they called themselves siblings, had Xiao Lü asked her to strip and offer up her innocence to him, she'd have done it without hesitation.
Unfortunately, Xiao Lü had never asked for such a thing. There was no shortage of beautiful women around him, but all his energy was devoted to his grand plans. He'd probably paid more attention to his opponent, Cui Buqu, than to her. Now his body would never be warm again.
Yuwen Yihuan's tears of blood ran dry.
Slowly, she raised her head and glared at Cui Buqu. He returned her stare with indifference, unafraid.
"Xiao-lang is dead," she said. "So why are you still alive?"
She gently released Xiao Lü, then pulled a long worm from her brow. Her empty hand stretched toward Cui Buqu, trailing down his neck and unfastening his collar with a feather-light touch.
"Look what you did to Xiao-lang. I won't let you die so easily. Your suffering should be greater than his. At least that way he'll have peace in the underworld."
She used her nail to score a gash in the skin beneath Cui Buqu's collarbone, then brought the worm close. It latched on eagerly, sucking at his blood in greedy gulps. She let go, and the worm darted into his flesh, leaving only a small strip of tail exposed. Soon enough, even that disappeared. Yuwen Yihuan tore open Cui Buqu's clothing and watched as the worm wriggled slowly beneath the skin of his chest, unable to suppress a smile.
"Next, I'll remove your heart. But don't worry—with the gu in you, you'll live for a while without it. Perhaps you'll get to feel what it's like to have no heart at all."
Her tone was cool and deliberate as she slowly tugged open Cui Buqu's garments, her expression almost reverent.
Cui Buqu felt like his body had been split into three: a third composed of the familiar pain of his original illness, a third the martial essence Xiao Lü had transferred into his body, and the final third the gu tearing into his flesh. All three fought fiercely for dominance. None were willing to concede. Black blood oozed from Cui Buqu's lips without cease.
His body was at its limit; he could endure no more. But Yuwen Yihuan didn't care how much pain he was in. The greater his pain, the happier she became. If Cui Buqu had been able to speak and describe his current experience to her, she might have clapped in delight. She caressed his chest over his heart, searching for the opportune moment to strike. At last her lips curled in satisfaction.
She sliced open his chest over his sternum, then reached in to rip out his heart.
A sword stabbed soundlessly toward her from behind.
Yuwen Yihuan froze, her heart pounding in alarm. The enemy had followed her down the passageway, but she'd only noticed when they were right at her back. This person was a martial artist on par with Xiao Lü in his prime.
It was her last thought before the sword pierced her through.
Bewilderment filled Yuwen Yihuan's eyes. From the moment she'd plucked the gu from the ground and welcomed it into her own body, she'd accepted her fate. She knew she was a middling martial artist, so she had to rely on the gu to help Xiao Lü. As a vessel for the worm, she would die the most painful of deaths—but it didn't matter how awful her end would be.
Yet her sacrifice had been in vain. By the time she found Xiao Lü, he was already dead.
The bloodstained blade was swiftly withdrawn. A kick sent Yuwen Yihuan flying, and the blade drew a swift arc through the air. Crimson blood splattered the stone walls as her head parted from her body and rolled into the darkness.
Cui Buqu felt an arm wrap tightly around his waist.
Distantly, he heard someone calling his name over and over, their voice laced with fear and urgency. He opened his eyes a crack and tried to speak, but only brought up a mouthful of blood.
Above him, Feng Xiao's face came into focus. It was entirely changed.
Had the arrogant Deputy Chief Feng ever made this kind of expression before? Cui Buqu felt an urge to laugh. He managed to say, "Help me remove the gu…"
Feng Xiao's gaze was fixed on the pulsing movements beneath the skin of Cui Buqu's chest. He gritted his teeth. "I dare not."
He didn't dare. Cui Buqu wanted to laugh even more. "The two options are…life and death. That's all." He closed his eyes and said calmly, "I entrust my life to you. I'll hold no grudges if I die."
Feng Xiao's expression shifted, as if he was biting back something he wished to say. He lit a torch and drew a dagger from his sleeve. He held the tip in the flame, then pressed it to Cui Buqu's chest. Still he hesitated to make the cut.
"Hurry…" Cui Buqu's body twitched as the gu burrowed deeper. He felt his awareness slipping.
Feng Xiao dared not wait any longer. He trained his eyes on an undulating patch of skin and struck. A black dot wriggled within the streaming blood, trying to conceal itself. Feng Xiao grasped it firmly and pulled it out.
"Ah…" Cui Buqu's eyes snapped open at the burst of pain. His gaze was unfocused, his face ashen and drenched in sweat.
Moving with extraordinary speed, Feng Xiao flung the worm into the torch's fire. Then he gathered Cui Buqu into his arms and dashed away, leaving Yuwen Yihuan's corpse behind.
Cui Buqu was hazily aware that Feng Xiao was carrying him while sprinting. The arms around him were steady, trying to minimize any jostling. The Feng-er he'd met a year ago in Liugong City would certainly not have shown him this much consideration. Cui Buqu was rather touched.
Feeling Cui Buqu shift slightly, Feng Xiao seemed to think the poison was flaring up again. He screeched to a halt and lowered his head. "What's wrong?" he asked, anxious.
"Nothing." As long as Cui Buqu could endure the pain, he'd dismiss it.
Feng Xiao smoothly set him down.
"How did you find me?" Cui Buqu asked.
"I tracked Yuwen Yihuan. That girl would have become an enormous problem if not eliminated. I didn't expect to find you with her."
He and Tu'an Qinghe had both ended up in the labyrinth, Feng Xiao chasing Yuwen Yihuan and Tu'an Qinghe chasing Feng Xiao. They'd fought again, but the collapse of the labyrinth had separated them. Feng Xiao had wandered around the altars and nearly perished several times. Fortunately, his incredible martial arts allowed him to overcome each and every crisis.
At the same time, Zhangsun had been fleeing the human gu with the emperor in tow when they ran into Tu'an Qinghe. The human gu had no power to differentiate between friend and foe; it didn't spare Tu'an Qinghe simply because he was on Kuhezhen's side. After the monster's terrifying pursuit, the appearance of Tu'an Qinghe had given Zhangsun the chance to slip away.
"I met them just up ahead. Zhangsun found an exit, so I had him take the emperor out first while I came to look for you. Instead, I found Yuwen Yihuan."
Feng Xiao spoke quickly as he described what had happened. He glossed over all the dangers. He knew if he mentioned them, Cui Buqu would ask more questions—and if Cui Buqu asked, he had to answer. But he didn't want to waste any time.
Cui Buqu had seen many sides of Feng Xiao, but he'd never seen him so panicked and flustered. "So Tu'an Qinghe is still here, and alive."
"Hopefully the human gu catches up to him and they destroy each other. Best if he never appears before me again."
Cui Buqu gave a small smile. "I fear your wish won't come true."
A man had appeared at the entrance of the passage.
The lantern in his hand swayed as he steadily made his way closer. If Tu'an Qinghe could perish at the hands of a human gu, he wouldn't have deserved his reputation.
Feng Xiao sighed. "So persistent!"
But he didn't rush to confront their new adversary. Instead, he pulled out a jade pendant and held it in front of Cui Buqu. "You dropped this."
Cui Buqu glanced at the phoenix carved into the jade. He shook his head. "It's not mine."
"Then whose is it?"
"Perhaps it was Yuwen Yihuan's," said Cui Buqu flatly.
Feng Xiao was so angry he laughed. "Would it kill you to speak the truth just once?"
"Well," said Cui Buqu, "maybe. I really am about to die."
Feng Xiao froze. Cui Buqu took the opportunity to change the subject. "However, if you defeat Tu'an Qinghe, perhaps I'll tell you the truth you wish to hear."
"In that case, you had better still be alive to talk to me when I return."
"I'll do my best," Cui Buqu said sincerely.
Feng Xiao lowered his head to kiss him, and this time Cui Buqu didn't resist. Perhaps he'd exhausted all his energy. He simply leaned against the stone wall for support and raised his chin, letting Feng Xiao take as he pleased.
After a moment, they parted. Feng Xiao tucked away the jade pendant and strode toward Tu'an Qinghe. Cui Buqu watched him go, then slowly closed his eyes.
Tu'an Qinghe hadn't moved. He bent and set the lantern on the floor. "If possible, I wish our battle to take place above ground."
Feng Xiao rolled his eyes. "You think I want to fight you down here?"
Tu'an Qinghe gave him a serious nod. "Since this battle is unavoidable, let victory depend on our skills."
Feng Xiao snorted. Then he dashed toward Tu'an Qinghe, swift as lightning.
In an instant, their figures intertwined. One wielded a saber, the other zither strings. Tu'an Qinghe's dazzling saber glare rolled out and engulfed his opponent. Feng Xiao's sleeves billowed. He looked vulnerable, even frail, surrounded by the saber qi's tremendous might, as if he might collapse at any moment.
But then the strings shot out from his sleeves and shattered the saber qi. Tu'an Qinghe changed tactics; he leapt into the air and swung his sword again, and his saber glare descended like roiling thunderclouds.
Feng Xiao unsheathed the whip sword at his waist. With a flick of his wrist, he infused the thin, flexible blade with true qi. It turned cold and hard, swathed in a chilling aura.
The saber glare closed in, relentless as a fierce tiger leaping down from the mountain to catch its prey. Its qi swelled like thunderclouds low on the horizon, rolling in to crush all of heaven and earth.
Even Cui Buqu could feel the dense sweep of bloodlust from where he was sitting. Endless and indefatigable, it sent a chill shivering through him. He'd never witnessed the splendid martial arts of Hulugu before he died, but he'd heard Fan Yun speak of them. Fan Yun had even demonstrated a couple of moves for him. While the imitation couldn't hold a candle to the original, it had been enough for Cui Buqu to glimpse the deadly and overwhelming power of the foremost master of his day.
Tu'an Qinghe, who'd never set foot in the Central Plains, displayed a martial style inspired by Hulugu's, yet also distinctly his own. He'd spent years training in the snowy mountains of his homeland. All he thought of and cared about was martial arts, and this unadulterated devotion to his craft lent his skills an incredible purity. Though he lacked Hulugu's crushing power, his moves had an almost transcendental quality. Given enough time, he was certain to surpass Hulugu and become a grandmaster of his generation.
But that was a tale for the far future. Today, the opponent in front of him was in no way his inferior. Though Feng Xiao rarely set foot in the jianghu, he too was a gifted genius. Only recently, he'd survived qi deviation and taken his martial arts to new heights. Yet this pulse-pounding, tumultuous battle had no witness other than Cui Buqu. It was a pity, in a way.
Even Feng Xiao wasn't sure he could prevail. He and Tu'an Qinghe were almost equal in strength; they had the same odds of winning. Any tiny, imperceptible mistake would mean defeat. But he couldn't afford to lose.
Because there was someone behind him.
The tidal wave of saber glares crashed over Feng Xiao, who stood unmoving. He didn't rush to dodge or counter—he didn't yet know his opponent's whereabouts. A sea of saber glares engulfed his vision, most of them mere afterimages. But the real saber glares were hidden within the fakes, and if he failed to distinguish them, he might find the next slash scored into his flesh.
Feng Xiao leapt into the air.
He swung his sword, and his blade and body became one. Together, he and the sword pierced through the saber glares.
The passageway exploded with light. Two figures parted in midair and landed on protruding rocks in the cliff face. A long gash stretched from Tu'an Qinghe's right shoulder to the left side of his abdomen, weeping blood. Feng Xiao's arm was a mess of cuts beneath a crimson-soaked sleeve.
Both their faces had paled. They were both suffering from more than trivial injuries. If they continued, they would continue to wound each other like this until they both died together. It was the only possible conclusion.
Feng Xiao didn't want to die here. He still had to bring Cui Buqu out of the labyrinth. But he didn't say so out loud. Instead he said, "Your heart is elsewhere. It's not in this battle."
Tu'an Qinghe's eyes widened. It seemed Feng Xiao had hit the mark.
"Why don't we postpone this fight to another day?"
His opponent seemed to consider this. "When?"
"Three years from today. In three years, I'll meet you at Jin Peak on Mount Emei."
Tu'an Qinghe turned and left—his only answer. In the blink of an eye, he'd vanished into the darkness. It had been obvious something was worrying him; even now, he was in a desperate hurry. He hadn't even bothered to staunch his bleeding.
Feng Xiao slanted a glance at the spot where Tu'an Qinghe had been standing earlier. Yuwen Yihuan's corpse still lay sprawled on the ground nearby, and in an instant, Feng Xiao understood.
But he had no time to consider it. He strode quickly over to Cui Buqu, then bent down, helping him up as gently as possible. He couldn't resist brushing a hand over Cui Buqu's chest. When he felt a faint flutter of warmth there, he unconsciously relaxed. "I'll carry you out, all right?" he whispered.
Cui Buqu twitched. He glanced at Feng Xiao before closing his eyes once more and nodding.
Feng Xiao pulled Cui Buqu onto his back. He started to walk, pausing after each step. His progress was slow but very steady. "Promise me you'll still be awake when we leave the labyrinth."
A moment passed—or perhaps it was many moments. Finally, Feng Xiao heard a faint sigh from behind him. "I promise."
Cui Buqu didn't make promises easily, and when he did, he always kept them. But Feng Xiao felt no relief. Instead, he grew even more tense. No one understood Cui Buqu's desire to survive better than Feng Xiao. Yet there was also no one who better understood the extent of his injuries.
Even if Cui Buqu wanted to live, how could his body possibly weather such severe harm? Feng Xiao could seek out the best physicians in the world, but Cui Buqu first had to make it out of the labyrinth.
"If you keep your promise," Feng Xiao said, "I'll tell you something."
"…Mm?"
"Cui Buqu, I like you. If you live, I'll deign to stay by your side for a lifetime. If you die, even if the Zuoyue Bureau buries you, I will dig up your grave and scatter your bones. I will ensure your soul cannot rest and will never reincarnate."
Feng Xiao's voice was icy—cold enough to freeze a person solid. Yet Cui Buqu smiled.
Whether it was the martial power Xiao Lü had transferred, the essence of the Jade of Heaven Lake, or the two poisons neutralizing each other within his body, he'd already persevered through the greatest agony. The pain was no longer so unbearable.
But he had no intention of telling Feng Xiao just yet.
He'd been given the chance to admire Deputy Chief Feng's confession and submission, so of course he would take it. At most, once they escaped from here, he'd forgo setting a trap for him just this once. That was good enough.
END OF MAIN STORY