Peerless ( Meng Xi Shi )

Qiao Xian sat in the tea house, watching the amber-coloured liquid in her bowl, daydreaming as the tea reflected the colour of the sunset.

Gradually, the light of the sunset disappeared, and the owner of the house lit the candles, walking over to ask Qiao Xian if she wanted a bowl of hot noodle soup.

Qiao Xiao declined.

She was not used to bitter tea that brought with it a little saltiness. In the Zuoyue Bureau, everyone knew that the Commander's subordinate, Qiao Xiao, loved sour plum tea.

But in a place like this, where the cold had yet to retreat, there was not a single trace of sour plum tea.

Qiao Xiao raised the teacup to her lips for the fifth time; once she savoured it, her eyebrows wrinkled. Finally, Zhangsun Bodhi appeared.

Slowly, the other walked out of the Spring Moon, as if they had long agreed to wait here for the other. He was walking towards the tea house casually.

"You are an hour late." She said as Zhangsun sat down.

Zhangsun, "It is you who is early."

Qiao Xian, "What did you find out?"

Zhangsun spoke a bit too late, "The scent on her body was made by someone called Lady Miao. The lady supposedly knew a lot about perfumes and could make whatever scent she wanted. The reason Yunyun could make a name in the Spring Moon was also because of her."

If either Feng Xiao or Cui Buqu was present, once they heard of the name Lady Miao, they would have made the connection with the concubine of the Khotan ambassador, Qin Miaoyu; but they were not here, so Zhangsun and Qiao Xian both were clueless.

However, even so, Zhangsun and Qiao Xiao both managed to understand the reason why Cui Buqu wanted them to investigate the plum blossom scent.

"This Lady Miao must be a hint to the person the Commander wants to find." Qiao Xian said, "But you were with her a whole day, you only managed to find out about this clue?"

Zhangsun Bodhi looked at her silently, which meant that he asked her back with 'Then what did you find out?'

Qiao Xian, "Originally I was tailing her handmaid, but who knew I saw her outside, looking enviously at you and Lady Yunyun; so I pretended to be a wounded martial artist from Jianghu who accidentally came into the Spring Moon and let her save me, then feigned pity and managed to ask a few things."

Qiao Xian had some scent on her that made her smell like a sharp beauty; but if she swapped into the body of a male, it turned into something elegant. It would make women go mad with craze. After staring for a long while, one would feel that Qiao Xian even felt manly.

For the first time, Zhangsun Bodhi's gaze lingered on Qiao Xian for a long while, confusion showing in his eyes.

"You — are you a male or a female?"

Qiao Xian replied plainly, "After reading Buddhist scripts for so long, don't you understand that 'looks are only the mind's perception', and are meaningless'?"

Zhangsun replied silently, turning the Buddha beads in his hands, and muttered amitabha under his breath.

"You are right. I have strayed."

Qiao Xian, "Nothing took place between you and Lady Yunyun?"

Zhangsun said calmly, "After I asked what I wanted, I put her to sleep and left."

After waking up, perhaps she might remember Zhangsun Bodhi, but she would certainly not recall why she had fainted. It was as if it was all a dream.

From then on, they would walk their separate ways, never to meet again.

Zhangsun Bodhi quickly brought himself back to reality.

"What did you manage to find out?" He parted his mouth to ask.

Qiao Xian, "From the handmaiden, I managed to ask the location of Lady Miao. She said that Yunyun secretly bought a manor and originally wanted to move there when she could redeem herself. Since Lady Miao helped her back in the Spring Moon, she wanted to repay her, so she offered to let Lady Miao live there for some amount of time. I also wanted to see what sort of deity is Lady Miao."

Zhangsun Bodhi raised his head and asked, "It is almost dark; why are we still not moving?"

Qiao Xian did not answer, calling for the owner, she asked for two bowls of soup noodles.

"It is still early. Let's eat before leaving."

Zhangsun Bodhi nodded his head.

He was not a man of many words. If he could choose, he would have taken a sword and fought his enemies to death. Just now, although Lady Yunyun was incredibly cooperative; after he walked out of the Spring Moon, Zhangsun Bodhi's lips gave away his nervousness.

Only now did he manage to make himself relax.

Qiao Xian stared at him for a moment before suddenly saying, "Compared to the Jiejian Bureau, the Zuoyue Bureau is still short of men."

If only the Commander could have someone who was both intelligent and skilled in martial arts, perhaps this time he would not have needed to set out himself.

"Compared to watching the Commander lie down on a bed half a month, I would rather he expose himself more to the outside. It helps his illness." It was rare to see Zhangsun speak a moderately long sentence.

Qiao Xiao furrowed her brows, "But in Feng Xiao's hands, he would not be comfortable."

As the conversation approached this end, the noodles arrived. Both of them no longer spoke and simply ate their meal silently.

The noodle soup was no more than regular vegetarian noodles. The soup, naturally, was cooked using well water. On top of the noodles were a few spring onions and wild lettuces. This was enough to make a full meal for the citizens of this marketplace.

This sort of noodle soup, compared to what Zhangsun and Qiao Xian used to eat, was vastly different. However, due to their hunger added with cold weather, once the soup washed into their stomachs, they felt a warmth that was enough to spread throughout the body, chasing away all fatigue.

Qiao Xian and Zhangsun both thought of the same thing.

If only the Commander was here, how nice would that be? They did not know if he could even drink a bowl of soup at this moment.

...

Naturally, Cui Buqu was not drinking soup. Not only that, but he still had to stand out in the snow, enduring the cold, and refraining himself from coughing too much.

However, he was in a particularly good mood.

Since presently before him, Feng Xiao was in a battle of one against five.

"Bring the jade from the manor." He heard Feng Xiao ordering Pei Jingzhe.

Pei Jingzhe did not know what Feng Xiao had in mind, but he obeyed nevertheless and quickly brought the jade.

The moonlight was not weak; the jade glowed in Feng Xiao's hands like crystals in the night. One could also see a tint of green light illuminating from it.

Regardless of whether this was the Jade of Heaven's Lake or not; it was, without a doubt, a beautiful jade.

Everyone present glanced at the jade stone, and their eyes shone.

Feng Xiao pushed himself upwards, and said in a loud voice, "Did all of you come for the jade?"

Among the five uninvited guests, only the yellow-robed woman wanted to simply take a look at the jade. The other four remained silent and did not state their purpose.

Amidst the awkward silence, no one dared to speak; it was as if they were having a battle of silence.

Feng Xiao was not in a hurry; Cui Buqu was even more patient. The only one who was currently shivering in anxiety was Pei Jingzhe.

He knew he had not trained adequately, and he was unwilling to embarrass Feng Xiao; so he inhaled deeply, suppressing his feelings and put on a façade.

The yellow-robed woman was the first to break the silence, "I was the first to appear, and I have no intentions to defy the Jiejian Bureau. I am only a weak woman, and here, cold winds have been bellowing for the entire night. Please pity me, Lord Feng, let me have a look, so I will have something to tell when I return."

Her smile was shallow. At first, it was because she had quite a normal face that would leave no impression; but because her voice was melodious, everyone present could not help but turn towards her.

Cui Buqu surveyed the place and realized two people did not look at the yellow-robed woman. One was the person wearing a bamboo hat, the one that he was unable to determine whether he was male or female, and the other was the Göktürk.

The Göktürk's attention, since the beginning to the end, had been on Feng Xiao.

Only high-level martial artists would not allow anything to distract them from their mission.

As for the man in black who hid in the shadows…

The other's body was leaning sideways, standing very far away; his left hand holding his right, pressing on it from time to time.

Cui Buqu's eyes squinted a little.

Feng Xiao did not observe the others. He had been looking at the yellow-robed woman as if within this manor, she was the only one present.

Seeing the other smiled, he smiled as well. "Since you are well-mannered, I should give the jade to you first. However, I don't even know your name. What if you took it and ran away; how should I know where to find you?"

The yellow-robed woman said, "I am Bing Xian."

Feng Xiao twitched his eyebrows, "Your surname is Bing? How rare."

Bing Xian, "Names and the like are nothing but addresses. Just like Lord Feng yourself, is not your name also unusual and unparalleled, bringing with it the elegance of a generation?"

Feng Xiao laughed loudly, "Compared to those unmannerly fools, you have earned my favour! The Jiejian Bureau needs people like you who are understanding, why not consider joining me? I will guarantee you will be well taken care of; you definitely need not stand out here outside the manor enduring the cold winds!"

Bing Xuan smiled as if she wanted to say something; but suddenly, Feng Xiao snatched the jade from Pei Jingzhe's hands and threw it towards her.

"Since I like you the most, I shall lend you the jade first!"

Bing Xuan was caught by surprise. She had never thought that Feng Xiao would just surrender the jade without warning; so without hesitation, she lunged herself towards the jade.

However, even if she was quick, there was someone more agile than her.

The man clad in white with a bamboo hat and the man in grey flew towards the jade at the same time.

The Göktürk did not even look at the jade. Taking out a long knife in his hand, he flew towards Feng Xiao in a deadly motion with the force of crumbling mountains and violent waves.

The gesture was so impactful that Cui Buqu, who stood behind Feng Xiao, could also feel the gust of wind coming from it. He could not help but take a few steps back. He almost hit the wall with his back, but suddenly someone pulled him to the side. He blinked and realized Feng Xiao had pulled him into his arms.

However, the Göktürk's knife came from above. Cui Buqu felt his hair come loose, and suddenly his hair fell all around him.

High-level martial artists such as Feng Xiao would know that just now, with how the Göktürk's intended to take someone by surprise; it would at least have pulled off the jade hairpiece in his hair. In order to stop his hair from becoming messy, Feng Xiao used Cui Buqu to block the wind for him.

Cui Buqu did not need a mirror to know that he looked like a psychopath now with the messiness his hair had become. A wave of disgust rose from his chest, and he scolded loudly, "You whose surname is Feng, you mother fucking bastard!"

In the next moment, he realized the Göktürk indirectly avenged him, because Feng Xiao was provoked by the other, he had no time to bicker with Cui Buqu.

The jade was just touched by the man in grey, but before he could revel over it, he realized the jade was suddenly beginning to crack in his palms, turning into dust that was blown away by the wind.

All the three, who were after the jade, stared at it in bewilderment.