Whether dignity or pride was more important, perhaps some people
would rather live a punishing life to keep their dignity; but these were
indeed not the ways of Feng Xiao, so he ultimately chose the latter.
Feng Xiao, "Dad…"
His voice was very soft with barely any resonance; it was brought by
the light wind up to Cui Buqu's ears, like a groan.
Cui Buqu, "I cannot hear it properly."
Feng Xiao, "Pull me up first, I have no strength left."
Cui Buqu snorted coldly, "'I have no strength' are so many words
strung together, yet you could not even say 'Dad'?"
Tang Li had massaged his shoulders for him a little while ago, so
presently, Cui Buqu felt that both his shoulders had already regained
their strength. Feng Xiao seemed like he was also stepping on a
slope of stone down below, for if not, Cui Buqu might not have been
able to pull him up.
Feng Xiao, "Dad~~Dad~~"
The first 'dad' has a raised tone, but the second one was hushed.
This wasn't because Feng Xiao's voice was crooked by the
miscellaneous sounds from their surroundings. It carried a tone that
sounded as if he had been truly embarrassed.
If it had been a weak maiden screaming like that, one would have
felt pity for her, but with how Feng Xiao pinched his nose and shouted in a high pitched voice, it only made Cui Buqu's skin stand
on its ends; in fact, it practically made him startled enough that he
would have dropped Feng Xiao.
As if he had expected this to happen, Feng Xiao held his hand and
suddenly pulled him down with a tremendous amount of strength just
as a gust of wind whipped past and blinded his eyes. He could not
even grab onto the edge on time, and just like that, he was pulled
down by Feng Xiao.
There were a lot of things that were difficult to predict in this world
even with intelligence; for example, he could never have expected
that Feng Xiao failed to hold on.
Feng Xiao knew martial arts, so he might not die if he fell, but that
amount of height to a regular person like Cui Buqu would claim his
life. The moment he was pulled down, Cui Buqu practically owned up
to fate.
But soon he discovered that Feng Xiao was not falling; in fact, his
foot swiftly reached the ground, pulling him into a cave.
Both of their breaths were ragged as they glared at each other in the
dark. Outside, the storms and winds grew more powerful, covering
any last traces of light.
Following the sound of the winds outside, Cui Buqu inhaled, "So
you…"
Just as he said three words, his mouth was immediately silenced.
Feng Xiao's body pressed close, squeezing him against the cave
until he could not move.
The cave existed midway down the cliff. Judging from the way it
looked, it was created from the whirling winds after some period of time. The cave was narrow on the inside, so when both of them were
pressed together, it was even tighter.
However, Cui Buqu knew that Feng Xiao doing such pointless
actions was not solely just to pull his leg, so he did not move and did
not struggle against him.
As expected, after a while, a black shadow swept past outside.
Cui Buqu's eyes were sharp; he recognized them as one of the
assassins that went down to look for Feng Xiao just now.
From Feng Xiao's current situation, he might not win in a fight of one
against two. If they were still lingering above the cliffs like before,
they would have been discovered by now.
The shadow suddenly stopped, both legs stepping on a stone that
stuck out outside, looking around downwards.
The small cave was pitch black; it was impossible to see anything at
all.
There was no need for Feng Xiao to point it out, Cui Buqu had long
held his breathe, and the only thing he didn't hold was his beating
heart.
The man furrowed his eyebrows for a while, contemplating whether
or not to continue searching. Cui Buqu felt Feng Xiao's body move
slightly. He only heard a hushed, soft sound of something brushing
against the rock, and as something above their head seemingly
exploded, before an immediately series of flapping followed.
The searching assassin was startled. He did not expect such a big
group of bats to fly out of the cave. He reached out a palm to slap it,
but it only drew more bats flying towards him, leaving little claw
marks on his face. He lost his balance and fell.
Cui Buqu could not have guessed that bats were hibernating in the
cave. Another wave of bats flew down from above their heads, and
he felt that this was not any less threatening than facing death itself.
Needless to say, considering mysophobic Feng Xiao who had just
taken a shower not long ago, he estimated that when Feng Xiao
returned home, he would certainly shred off one layer of skin. The
thought made him happy. Even if he was in danger right now, he felt
that it was not so bad.
Feng Xiao finally removed his hand from his face.
But before Cui Buqu could release a breath of air, he heard the other
man say, "There is still one more."
Before he finished his words, a shadow flew in from the outside in a
destructive force with sword gleaming in hand, aiming directly at
Feng Xiao!
Feng Xiao's zither was long gone, he rose from his position and
attacked with a palm towards the opponent, turning his body
sideways slightly when the tip of the sword almost touched his
shoulder, allowing the sword to slice open his clothes and the
surface of his skin lightly as his palm hit the assassin's neck square.
As Cui Buqu listened, he heard the breaking of bones and that man
being flung out of the cave.
"Let's go?" Cui Buqu said.
Naturally, now was the best time to escape. Fo Er and Gao Ning
were long gone and the chances of them returning were slim. Of the
two Yunhai Thirteen Stories assassins, one was killed by Feng Xiao,
and the other fell down the cliff, probably half-dead by now. Even if
he was not dead, he was probably unconscious.
"I can no longer move." Feng Xiao breathed quietly.
Cui Buqu, "This cave is not far from the surface. I can go up and
bring help."
Feng Xiao answered with an 'Oh', "Then go."
Cui Buqu twitched his lips, "…then let me go."
But the other person still held tightly to his wrist.
Feng Xiao answered innocently, "I want to let go, but my hand
refuses to listen to me, there is nothing I can do."
This man was, no doubt, worried that once Cui Buqu left, he would
never return. Even if Pei Jingzhe found him, it would already be the
next morning. The night was still long, and there were a lot of things
that could happen.
Cui Buqu, "We can work together."
Feng Xiao, "Speak."
Cui Buqu, "I know something related to the case you are
investigating now; it may help you gain a breakthrough. I can tell you
what it is."
Feng Xiao, "Then why did you not say it earlier?"
Cui Buqu, "I too only just knew about it."
Feng Xiao, "I should have guessed you were plotting something and
pulling strings behind my back."
Cui Buqu did not budge an inch, "Do you want to know or not?"
Feng Xiao knew they would remain here for a little while, so he
relaxed, allowing himself to completely forget the situation he was in
at the moment, leaning against the rocky walls. Only, he refused to
let go of Cui Buqu's hand, "Why should I trust you?"
Cui Buqu, "Did you not guess my identity earlier?"
Feng Xiao raised his voice a little, "Oh? Finally admitting it now, are
you?"
Cui Buqu, "That is correct. The Zuoyue Bureau and the Jiejian
Bureau, although they do not have a good relationship, they are both
subjects of the crown. Since we are now all in the City of the Six
Crafts, we are on the same boat. Even if I have displeased you, we
should defeat the enemy first, and then we can talk about other
things."
Feng Xiao, "Why are you here? Was it for the jade?"
Cui Buqu remained silent for a while, "No. Two months ago, I was
already in the City of Six Crafts; how would I know that the jade
would be stolen? The Zuoyue Bureau had something we needed to
do."
Feng Xiao sighed, "Until now, QuQu you refused to be honest with
me; it will be very difficult to convince me that you are trustworthy!"
Cui Buqu rolled his eyes, "The Khan Ishbara is on the move and has
set his eyes upon the Central Plains. However, although there are
many Göktürk tribes, the Khan's powers are not enough to conceal
all that he did. My mission is to aid the imperial court to foil the
Göktürk's plans. This is a secret of the utmost confidentiality. All who
are not involved are not permitted to ask, so I can only tell you until
this point. With your intelligence, it is not difficult for you to guess the
rest. I need not tell you more."
Feng Xiao remained silent. In the dark, Cui Buqu could not see his
expression; he only felt that Feng Xiao was trying to determine how
much of his words were true.
Who knew that the other would suddenly ask, "So if what you said is
true, then Wen Liang is also a distraction you created?"
Cui Buqu said nothing.
His silence meant that he did not deny it. With such a lead, Feng
Xiao could guess the rest of the story and everything he encountered
in this case. Cui Buqu had been by his side all this while, even being
drugged with the naihexiang until he looked weak and sickly, but
Feng Xiao was unaware of being led by the nose and walking
around in circles. He could not help feeling his fingers itch, and that
he truly wanted to take the other's head, throw it down onto the
ground and kick it around.
And then he reflected on himself, who thought that he was on the
winning side, yet was fooled so easily by the other. It was not easy
for him to hold himself in place and curb his temper.
Feng Xiao laughed, "Then can I trouble Master Daoist Cui to clarify
yourself? Of the few people who accused Wen Liang, were they also
people you had planted to mislead me?"