Cui Buqu had seen Feng Xiao's most distressful moments; in order to rescue Pei Jingzhe, he had no choice but to travel to the outskirts of the city. It was when Cui Buqu himself had been drugged by the Naihexiang drug and could only be carried away by him, then going to an agreed meeting that was most certainly a trap. As expected, both of them failed miserably and were left with no option but to hide in a cave as they waited for backup. However, from the way he saw it, during that time Feng Xiao might not have been fully uncertain of victory, judging from the way he allowed himself to be beaten around. If Fo Er had returned and the two of them engaged in a fight, it would be difficult to tell the winner from the loser.
This person cherished himself deeply, to the point that he would admire himself in the mirror and never treat himself badly. Although he often provoked him on purpose as his entertainment, while occasionally showing a display of intimate affection, Cui Buqu had always regarded the relationship between the two of them as an alliance between nemesis. Each time, they worked towards a shared goal. So, regardless of how many times Feng Xiao teased or played tricks on him, or dug a pit to let him fall into it, he would shamelessly return the favour. When the time came for them to work together out of necessity, neither would say a word against it, making a prompt decision instead at the nick of time.
When Feng Xiao betrayed him, Cui Buqu could calmly acknowledge that his speculation was wrong; even when Feng Xiao stopped Yu Xiu in order to stab him himself, Cui Buqu did not feel furious or even angered, because he knew that it was the only way. Even towards Feng Xiao's confession about his reluctance doing so afterwards, Cui Buqu could also, with a calm and peaceful heart, agree with him.
Up until now, Cui Buqu wanted to let go of everything and escape after he set the place on fire, knowing well that Feng Xiao would never be in any danger, for the other man would never thrust himself into any dangerous situations.
However, this time, once more, he was wrong.
Feng Xiao not only hasn't left, he even went back looking for him.
Why did he want to search for him?
Feng Xiao had no reason to do this at all.
Βut, the one Cui Buqu was wrong about the most had been himself.
He could have turned a deaf ear to Fan Yun's words, prioritizing his own safety and escaping, then this whole thing would be over and done with.
To escape, he would have to pass through the Twin Spinning Compass Array. That array was made by Fan Yun and Cui Buqu knew its quintessence. He was confident in walking past it without running into Feng Xiao and Yu Xiu.
He only needed to free himself from this situation, then seek out members of the Jiejian Bureau to guard the cave. Although they might not be able to capture grandmasters like Yu Xiu and Yuan Sansi, they could capture the housekeepers and other guards. They might even capture Lin Wei and Ning Shewo. When that time comes, they will be closer to taking down the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai.
If he went looking for Feng Xiao right now and with the possibility of being discovered by Yu Xiu, it would be very dangerous.
On this journey, he walked and paused recurrently, many notions flashing in his sea of thoughts like lanterns. These were simply the voices of the consciously intelligent part of his mind, asking him not to pay that man surnamed Feng any attention and leave on his own first. With his sickly body walking around in the array looking for someone—let alone trying to kill a thousand enemies by sacrificing eight hundred of his own, before Yu Xiu moved his fingers, in the scenario he finds him instead of Feng Xiao, he would have fallen down in defeat first.
What has gotten into that man surnamed Feng this time? Why would he turn back to look for him?
Cui Buqu sighed. He could feel himself radiating steam like a burning furnace, reaching out with a hand to touch his forehead. Even in his palm, he could feel an unusual body temperature. He scolded this fellow Feng Xiao in his heart a few times, now that he no longer had the strength to outright scold him.
Both his legs were heavy as if they were tied to a boulder of a thousand jin1. The cold winds of dense forest swept by, and for a moment it blew away the boiling hot steam Cui Buqu exuded. It even caused him to sneeze.
He knew very well he has reached the border of the array. Another step and he will have stepped into it. If he only wanted to escape on his own, he should take a detour into another direction and pass through the array.
Cui Buqu's footsteps only paused for a moment, before taking a step forward.
...
Feng Xiao realized that he had underestimated Fan Yun.
He thought that after he listened to Cui Buqu's vague explanation of the array, he could trap Yu Xiu inside it. However, the situation now was far from his expectations. Not only was Yu Xiu trapped within it, but even Feng Xiao himself was also trapped within it.
There shouldn't have been a light in the array, but occasionally a firelight would shoot up into the air, or there would be faint lights like fireflies floating about. If one were to move forward, very quickly they would fall into a trap. Feng Xiao has already seen it a few times, and once he was almost confused himself, another time he was almost discovered by Yu Xiu. Both of them were in the array looking for traces of the other as they looked for the way out, yet having to be wary of being found. Walking and stopping around they would return from where they had begun. Even Feng Xiao found his strength depleted.
Yu Xiu's poison was swirling inside his body, forcibly suppressed by his inner strength, yet it was wriggling eagerly. Regardless of how skilled Feng Xiao was, he could not keep this up forever. He had to regulate the cold air of the array, at the same time having to be wary of Yu Xiu, and take note of that silver needle inside his body. If this continued, then there would only be one result left.
Naturally, Feng Xiao knew that Yu Xiu's apparent condition was not any better than his. When they fought before, the other was injured. If he could not leave this array, then Yu Xiu would also completely exhausted in it.
However, Feng Xiao had no intention to perish together with Yu Xiu.
There was a forked road at the front, separated by three boulders.
This scene appeared not too long ago. Feng Xiao was fairly certain that he passed by here before. Now, it was very obvious that he'd found his way back.
He felt a little helpless.
Last time, he picked the path on the left, so this time Feng Xiao went right.
The further he walked, the denser the coldness of the forests felt. Among the fog, there was a faint light.
Just because there was a light doesn't mean that there was the exit. It was more likely a trap. Feng Xiao felt no joy, his footsteps instead slowing down.
Passing through the thick, heavily chilled fog, he saw a group of people hurrying towards him.
The one leading them was the Third Commander of the Jiejian Bureau, Ming Yue. The other also saw Feng Xiao. His simple and honest face looked overjoyed for a moment.
"Er-lang!"
Ming Yue brought men as he came over in large steps. "I finally found you. Those oral messages you left weren't mentioned in detail. If not for meeting Cui Buqu, I wouldn't have found my way here!"
Feng Xiao blinked and spoke slowly, "Cui Buqu has gone out?"
Ming Yue, "That's right. He said you were still in here, so he sent me here for backup! Such a pleasant thing to have found you. Come, follow me out first before we discuss again!"
As he finished speaking, Ming Yue reached out to pull him.
Feng Xiao unconsciously took a step back.
Ming Yuan caught thin air. He didn't understand so he turned around to look at him.
Feng Xiao, "Do you know the exit?"
There was a glint in Ming Yue's eyes, "I know. Cui Buqu showed me before!"
Feng Xiao twitched his lips, not saying another word before he gave Ming Yue a push.
"What are you doing?!" Ming Yue was shocked. However, he could not avoid that palm that contained deep inner strength, so he could only allow it to hit him.
There was a bang! His palm caused the fog around to disperse, conveniently turning Ming Yue and the others into dust as it went.
Feng Xiao gave a cold snort.
He had always been the one to give orders in the Jiejian Bureau. Considering Ming Yue's personality and character, he would never attempt to exceed his authority and make a final decision before his conclusion.
Additionally, in a complicated array like this, Feng Xiao could not believe that Ming Yue would know how to walk out of this array with just a simple explanation from Cui Buqu.
So, it can only mean that this was an illusion.
These illusions seemed to reappear from time to time. They could even blur the boundary of time, causing Feng Xiao to forget for how long he's been trapped in here.
He had never been in such a difficult situation before, where he could not see his enemies nor touch them. It was also his choice to step into this array, to begin with.
He would rather see Yu Xiu and Yuan Sansi appearing simultaneously right now. Even if it was one against two, it was better than floating around in limbo and not knowing what lies beyond.
Behind, someone seemed to be approaching.
They were still a little far, perhaps separated by a boulder.
However, Feng Xiao immediately sensed it.
Such heavy footsteps would never belong to Yu Xiu.
Was it another illusion?
He stood there unmoving, quietly waiting for the other party to walk closer. He raised his palm slowly into a stance that meant he could kill at any moment.
A figure appeared behind the boulder, walking out from amid the fog.
In his hand was a glowing green light, it should be a luminous pearl.
However, it was very contradictory to this appearance.
Feng Xiao squinted his eyes, watching the other helping himself with a boulder as he walked forward with great difficulty, stopping again not far from him as if waiting for Feng Xiao to walk over himself.
There was a cold laugh and Feng Xiao granted his wish. His footsteps moved and he is already before the other in the blink of an eye, his palm ready to strike.
This hit was just to test waters, for in reality, not much energy was infused into it. However, if it was an illusion, this palm would shatter the illusion created by the cold fog.
However, this time, his palm landed on a warm body. The other shook faintly, his body falling backwards and hitting against the boulder before he spits a mouthful of blood.
When warm blood spilt on the back of his hand, Feng Xiao finally gave a look of confusion.
"It's you?"
To explore his theory, he took another step further and took this body that has neither dispersed nor turned to dust into his arms, pinching that face as he inspected closely.
"It's you."
This time, there was a tone of joyful surprise in his voice.
[1] Jin: Chinese unit of measurement that equals to 500grams.