Peerless ( Meng Xi Shi )

The first reaction Gao Yi gave to those words was that he was unhappy about it. Which decent men in this world to say something like that as the first thing when they meet someone else?

Yet he suddenly felt an aggressive curiousity rising in him. No longer cared much for being unhappy, he quickly asked, "Why do you say so?!"

Cui Buqu, "I am talented since a young age, so I've learned the art of reading the hints from Mother Nature and one's face. Just now when I entered, I saw that Officer Gao, negative energy surrounds you. I fear because of the party the day before, you've unwittingly brought back 'something' on you."

There was no doubt that Cui Buqu had spoke too much when they do not know each other well, but after the episode yesterday, Gao Yi was desperate for someone who could listen to the way he felt inside. He didn't care much what Cui Buqu had said. Not able to tolerate it finally, he simply asked whatever his heart was thinking at the moment.

He asked, "Yesterday night, did you people witness anything strange?"

Cui Buqu nodded his head, "Yes. To be completely frank, the reason we came immediately to the bureau in the morning was because of this."

Gao Yi, "Quickly, speak!"

So Cui Buqu told him all about the crying of a ghost that they heard last night.

Of course, he did not mention anything about Feng Xiao's shouting as well as the pot of water that was used to wash his legs.

The colour on Gao Yi's face changed immediately. "Did you hear what the ghost said then?"

Cui Buqu, "Something about how it died pitifully and that it was some unfinished business here. Could it be that Officer Gao has also heard of the ghost's crying last night?"

Since he wasn't the only one who heard the cry, Gao Yi's suspicions were lifted aplenty. He even thought that he was lucky, for although he had some bad luck, there was someone with him. He even lowered his voice and said secretively, "I have not only heard it, but I have also seen the ghost myself!"

Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao exchange glances, yielding a look of surprise, "How does it look like? Was it a female ghost?"

Gao Yi. "I did not catch her looks properly, but she was wearing a white shirt and her hair was in a mess. She was tall and thin, her voice was androgynous. T-That ghost immediately came to my bed side. After I called for my men, she was gone. Yet every time I lie down, that voice rang in my ears. It was far yet near, telling me how pitifully it died and wanted her case to be re-investigated."

Feng Xiao grabbed Cui Buqu's sleeve and gave a look of shock, "Husband, even Officer Gao was unable to avoid it. Would we get haunted by the ghost again if we go back tonight? Husband, my husband, let us switch to another inn, alright?"

Cui Buqu said in a deep, steady voice, "No wonder when we prayed for a fortune before we went out, it gave us a bad-omen. From the looks of it, this is not only a bad omen, but one that will send ten thousand ghost crying all over a million cities.

Once Gao Yi heard that name, he felt goosebumps all over himself. Quickly, he said, "What is the meaning of that?"

Cui Buqu, "If there was really an earth-shaking case that ended in injustice twenty years ago, and at that time Qiemo had not yet set up a bureau from the Imperial Palace, then the victim of the case would have been unable to bring her case to justice until now. As days and months passed, her resentful energy grew stronger, so she harassed Duan Qigu and refused to leave. The episode yesterday at the party was also the key incident that tainted Duan Qigu with such a dark energy. Therefore, it's easy for them to see the dead!"

Gao Yi felt that this vengeful ghost was too unreasonable, "If the ghost had an issue, she should seek the one who has something to do with it! What use is there to harass us?! This is really despicable!"

Feng Xiao was in charge of pushing the conversation, "Husband, so according to what you said, this could only get worse?"

Cui Buqu, "Of course. Just now I just said, even if there is one day this case is ignored, her resentful energy would only become worse. Yesterday it wasn't only Officer Gao who saw the ghost, but practically everyone in our inn has seen it. If this continues, I fear it would also affect the luck of other people. When that time comes, would it be ten thousand ghosts crying over a million cities?"

Gao Yi was extremely concerned for one sentence in his speech and asked, "What would happen if one's luck is affected?"

Cui Buqu, "A light sentence would be that you'd be unlucky whenever you go; a heavy sentence would be that you would get involved with ghosts no matter where you go, your consciousness would become hazy, and if you conduct business your revenues will be affected, and if you are an officer then your career will be affected."

Feng Xiao acted shocked, "Husband, then don't we need to have bad luck for the rest of our lives as well? Even if we were simply walking pass others, we would somehow anger them for no reason. Let us leave this place quickly. Let us leave those who couldn't leave behind. We are not people from this place anyway, so just let them as much bad luck as they want!"

Gao Yi: ...

Feng Xiao, "Husband, your wife is really afraid. If we continue like this, what if one day I woke up and the one next to me in bed isn't you, but a ghost?!"

Gao Yi: "..."

Cui Buqu shot Feng Xiao a glare, hinting towards him: That is going overboard. Stop when you see that it has served its purpose, If you continue like this it will be playing with fire.

Feng Xiao: Look at Gao Yi, scared to the point of being like this. Let me add two more sentences to ensure that he couldn't sleep tonight.

As both of them exchanged glances, although Gao Yi was still suspicious of them, he already believed them seventy to eight percent.

Had it been Duan Qigu who single-handedly built everything he had now from nothing, he would not have believed it so easily; but Gao Yi was originally a superstitious person himself and placed absolute trust in things such as the tortoise shell and the copper coins. Practically half of the residents in Qiemo knew that if their Magistrate managed to get a bad fortune, he would not even step out of his manor for the entire day. Therefore, let alone the fact that he has seen a ghost with his own two eyes, since the ghost harassed him for an entire night, at this moment it was fuelled by the these two people, he was really wavering.

Once Cui Buqu decided that the flame was almost hot enough, he said: "Officer Gao, have you ever thought of reopening the case and pry open the truth, so that the dead can rest in peace? It can also bring an end to this haunting ruckus."

Gao Yi smiled bitterly, "You speak as if it is an easy thing. From where should I begin the investigation, and who should I begin from? Can I directly question Duan Qigu whether he has killed someone before? This case is at least twenty years ago. It has not even been a few years since I came to Qiemo, so let alone some bones, there is not even a written report I can begin with."

Cui Buqu, "Since the few times the talk of ghosts came from the well, if we send someone down to the well to look, perhaps we can find something. There is no such thing in this world of someone who could create evidence on a corpse and some bones, since this matter does not only concern the luck of everyone in the city, it also concerns the future luck of Officer Gao. Certainly you don't want to live like this for the rest of your life?"

Gao Yi furrowed his brows, "And your meaning is?"

Cui Buqu, "Use this chance to uproot Duan Qigu's background, then using it against Xing Mao. Demolish both powers in Qiemo at once, then you can be free from being a submissive puppet of a Magistrate and claim your conquest. By that time, let alone rising up the ranks, you could even be knighted a Marquis of the Imperial Court."

Gao Yi immediately shook his head. With the few years he's been here, he knew Duan Qigu and Xing Mao's ways. Unless the Imperial Court has sent a huge army, otherwise with him alone, he could not have taken down any one of them.

Cui Buqu, "Yesterday at the party, Xing Mao's subordinates almost poisoned Duan Qigu, in the end the plan failed, and after that Xing Mao refused to own up that it was related to himself, do you think Duan Qigu believed it? Xing Mao was certain that Duan Qigu did not believe him, so in order to protect himself, he would choose to make the first move to take the advantage of the element of surprise. Officer Gao, how would you know that you would not be the next one in line?"

"Don't say any more. Don't say anymore. I could not impossible..." Gao Yi spoke halfway, then suddenly he woke up in surprise. The colour of his face dulled, "If you are not the nephew of Kucha's King, then who are you?"

Kucha has never participated in Qiemo's political affairs, so how would his nephew be here encouraging Gao Yi to go against Duan Qigu and Xing Mao?"

"Indeed I am not from Kucha."

Cui Buqu said coolly, "Gao Yi, you are at the face of death, do you still think you can still retreat yourself to a land of safety?"

He took out a painted name seal and toss it towards Gao Yi, "Take a look at what is this."

Gao Yi took the seal questioningly, but when he saw the seal he immediately jumped.

Of all the officers now, if they carried multiple titles on themselves, their seals would have a few surfaces on them for convenience, such as the very seal that Cui Buqu gave Gao Yi at the moment: It had as many as six surfaces.

The seal is definitely not a counterfeit. Cui Buqu usually would not expose his identity of the Zuoyue Bureau, but he was similar to Feng Xiao as in that they carried a few titles on them, so once he took a string of them out, it would suffice to efficiently intimidate certain people.

For example, there was two engravings on Cui Buqu's seal. It was the Physician of Yinqing Guanglu and the Jiancha Commander, the former has no real power to it, to put it simply, it was only a name and title, but the Emperor would usually bestow upon such title to people who achieved some level of conquest; the latter, however, was a position that was only established last year. Its rank is not very high and not everyone knew about it yet, but Gao Yi heard from his friends in the capital that this officer rank held the same power of the Three Departments and Six Ministries. Although the Jiancha Commander needed to bow before many other officers, everyone was also quite intimidated by the authority he held.

The title 'Physician of Yinqing Guanglu' is a third-ranking officer, the title 'Jiancha Commander' is an eight-ranking officer. Since the rank of Cui Buqu is higher, of course, when Gao Yi meets Cui Buqu, it was protocol to bow before him.

He suspected that he had seen it wrongly. In such a small city like this, let alone normal officers, but anyone who are accustomed to a comfortable life would not even come here to eat sand. How can there be a third-ranking officer all of a sudden?

Cui Buqu, "I am on a journey to investigate a case and passed by here. To avoid my true identity being exposed, I took up the false identity of the nephew of the King of Kucha. Gao Yi, after seeing this seal, do you have any more questions?"

Gao Yi was cheated once, so he naturally had his guard on, "Dare I ask where you are heading, and what case are you investigating? And what does it has to do with me?"

That means: Even if you are the Jiancha Commander, you have no power to order me.

Cui Buqu glared at him, "Under orders of the Imperial Palace, I am heading towards the Sanmi Mountains to Western Göktürk, do you understand?"

Gao Yi was not so ignorant until he knew nothing about the war between Göktürk and the Imperial Palace, so if it concerns Göktürk, then there this is definitely something of severe importance, so he understood.

Feng Xiao slapped the table when he saw the opportunity came.

The strength he used wasn't much, and Gao Yi practically heard nothing, but in the blink of an eye the table collapsed into powder that fell all over the ground and turned into a pile of ash.

Feng Xiao said in a gentle, soft tone, "Officer Gao, what do you think of my martial abilities?"

Gao Yi swallowed and spoke with difficulty, "Rarely seen."

Feng Xiao smiled, "With a martial artist of my ability, who could hinder me from doing what I want to do? And who could hinder me no matter where I go? Even if I am a fraud, won't you think that that is a little demeaning? If it hadn't been for Lord Cui's special identity, what would have made me remain constantly on his left and right protecting him?"

Before Cui Buqu took out the seal, Gao Yi already believed him seventy to eighty percent, after Feng Xiao's threat, he believed it completely.

He rose to his feet and bowed, "How may I address my Lord?"

Cui Buqu, "Cui, Cui Buqu."

Gao Yi, "Lord Cui, you are a high-ranking officer, and you carried dire responsibilities on you, so I should not ask too much, but it seems your case has nothing to do with the case of Duan Qigu."

Cui Buqu, "Although my case has nothing to do with this, I wish not to see you dead upon my returning journey, and that Qiemo has turned into a new Kingdom of Shanshan."

Gao Yi laughed dryly, "This is putting it too bombastically."

"Fool! Do you know that the Xing manor haboured more than five thousand steel armour and has two warehouses filled with provisions hidden within the city? Do you know that with these two added together, it would be enough to conquer the whole of Qiemo?!"

Originally, Cui Buqu wanted to use the case to instigate some will in Gao Yi, yet since the table was turned into powder by Feng Xiao, Cui Buqu could only use his voice to suppress the other, and once again he scolded Feng Xiao in his heart.

Gao Yi looked swayed, "This is impossible."

Cui Buqu said impassively, "All these years, the Imperial Palace established its strongholds all over Qiemo and used it to pass encoded messages. Although presently they were unable to discover where Xing Mao's warehouses are, but the fact regarding the steel armours were definitely not just a rumour. Even at this time, you still hoped to lie to yourself and others, convincing yourself that he would not give rise to an army, or are you hoping that if he does indeed raise an army, he would spare you your life?"

Even if Xing Mao did not wish to become enemies with the Sui Empire and send Gao Yi out of town after wrapping him up, there would be no way that Gao Yi could remain an officer. Ten out of ten chances that he would even be punished by the Imperial Court for his failure and it would leave a mark of shame in history.

Gao Yi's face suddenly turned white.

Suddenly he thought about the party yesterday, how Duan Qigu and Xing Mao faced off each other was as ferocious as two tigers in a vicious battle, and when he thought about how he would undoubtedly keep getting bad fortunes in the next few days whenever he threw the dice, and then he thought about how the ghost would keep haunting him for days in the night, and the million ghosts crying across a thousand cities, he was too afraid to even make the decision. He even looked a little indecisive and taken away.

Cui Buqu knew very early that Gao Yi was a coward who was unwilling to be helped up. Had it been any ordinary day, he would have already done it without hesitation, but now their army hadn't yet arrived, and with these few people alone, there was nothing they could have done. At the very least Gao Yi was an officer of the Imperial Court, so his name held some power to it and could ease the entire process.

If only Gao Yi was willing to cooperate.

"But if Xing Mao really did had steel armours hidden, perhaps his intention wasn't to breed soldiers? After all, his grandfather was the King of Shanshan, so if these steel armours were passed down to him, it would not be very strange at all. Additionally, this place is a ruin mess and it is near to Göktürk, perhaps he only wanted them for self-defense..." Gao Yi was beginning to think of a few excuses for Xing Mao.

Cui Buqu, "I heard that when Xing Mao held parties and became drunk, he would often sing the song 'Strong Winds Bellowed'. Of how strong winds rose into the air and soar in the sky, the dominance and glory that once was would return."

Gao Yi said weakly, "Rumours about that song is everywhere, and the people sing it whenever. Xing Mao is a learned man and he is of Han Han descent, so this can surely prove nothing?"

Cui Buqu laughed a cold laugh, "I also heard that in the year when Officer Gao just came to Qiemo as a new officer who ascended to his post, Xing Mao and Duan Qigu both sent someone to bring a white fish and a sword to you as a welcome gift."

The white fish is recorded in the book of Liu Xiang. When Qu Zixu said a phrase to the Wu King, hinting of the story of the white dragon who turned into a fish, that extraordinary folks and people of royalty can be among the common folks.

The sword was a hint to Gao Yi to imply the dominance of Duan Qigu, to warn him that Duan Qigu is a man who has seen and been through many things, so that he should also turn a blind eye to whatever that happened here, otherwise, even if he was an officer of the Imperial Court, Duan Qigu would not show him a merciful escape from death.

Gao Yi was well versed in academics, so he knew immediately what these two items meant.

The latter was threatening him with the power he held over the city, yet since Duan Qigu was so bombastic with his actions, he was not quite as terrifying. The first, however, was not making a show of his power to Gao Yi, he simply wanted to see Gao Yi's reaction upon receiving the sword.

Although cowardly Gao Yi recorded Xing Mao's ambitiousness in the zhangbiao and sent it to the Emperor, the Imperial Palace was not at a position to deal with Qiemo yet, so Gao Yi could spend years of peace within the city and pass day by day. He had never thought of plotting a plan to retake Qiemo from both Xing Mao and Duan Qigu.

Since Xing Mao had such a prideful and dignified personality, naturally, he was dauntless and did not even put Gao Yi in his eyes.

Cui Buqu thought that Gao Yi was lucky that he wasn't his own subordinate, otherwise Cui Buqu would have Qiao Xian tossed such a useless person into the river to feed the fishes.

If there were such thing as the list of most 'have-nothing-to-do' people in this world, then Gao Yi's name would have definitely been on it; he might even made it up to the top three.

Gao Yi never expect Cui Buqu to still remember all these, so his expression had became incredibly ugly, bitter with a smile, he put both his hands together and begged, "My Lord Cui is indeed wise. However, it is not because I refuse to help, but in these days that you've spent here, you have seen it yourself. Xing Mao's power is immense, and Duan Qigu is unstoppable. Instead of getting involved directly, should we not wait until both of them fight each other, then we can come out and claim to be the victor!"

The way he thought made perfect sense, but both Xing Mao and Duan Qigu were not fools, so how would they let Gao Yi become the victor like this?

Cui Buqu knew that this person had as much guts as a rat, so he was too lazy to waste his breathe convincing him. Immediately, he stood up and said, "You can chose not to get involved. I will take care of this matter, but I shall do it in your name."

Gao Yi wanted to part his lips to decline, but when Cui Buqu shot him a cold glare, those words froze in his throat and he could not even manage to say one word from it.

Feng Xiao, "Gao Yi, try to take it while we are still being nice. If we want to do anything to you, it's only one word of command away. However, since we are all officers of the Crown, we should show mercy to each other, no? If this continues, you will be harassed by ghosts every day and soon, there is no need for Xing Mao to kill you, you would have already died from being depleted of your good luck."

In Gao Yi's opinion, perhaps being haunted by ghosts was more scarier than being murdered by Xing Mao, so with these words he finally made his choice. After a moment of silence, he said, "These days I am not well, so I will close my doors and refrain from receiving guests. Whatever it is that Lord Cui wishes to do, I will not interfere."

These words meant that he already allowed Cui Buqu to do whatever he wanted.

After they exited the bureau, Feng Xiao asked Cui Buqu, "How did you know that using rumours of ghosts could deal with him?"

Cui Buqu, "Two months ago, before travelling to the City of Six Crafts, I have already ordered people to investigate everything that happened from the City of Six Crafts to Western Göktürk and place them on my desk, including this cowardly, gutless, superstitious magistrate of Qiemo."

Feng Xiao couldn't help but looked up closely at Cui Buqu.

Since two months ago, Cui Buqu had already investigate everything and had all the information clearly in his head. He knew Gao Yi's weaknesses and his interests, and back in the City of Six Crafts he was already plotting how to wage war between Duan Qigu and Xing Mao.

"No need to admire me too much, I am only but a few steps ahead of you." Cui Buqu said plainly, expressionless on his face.

Feng Xiao shook his head, "I am not. I am only thinking that, no wonder you are shorter than me, and your body is weaker than mine. Because all you do is plotting how to pit other people."

Cui Buqu's lips twitched and he said in a mocking way, "I do not care if you say that my body is weak, and I do indeed think of pitting others every day when I am bored and have nothing to do. However, how are you so sure that you are taller than me? Couldn't it be that your heels of your shoes are higher than normal shoes?"

Feng Xiao gave him a strange smile, "I am certain that I am taller than you, because I am 'longer' than you."

Cui Buqu glared at Feng Xiao, and did not speak for a very long time.

Feng Xiao flipped a handkerchief and pretended to fool around and being shy, "Husband, why are you looking at your wife like this? Your wife is feeling soooo afraid by your looks that her heart is thumping aggressively!"

Cui Buqu: "..."

He remembered: since that time when he was held under Feng Xiao's custody and was drugged with the Naihe drug. There were days he couldn't tell day from night and, of course, his clothes would have been changed by some maidservants. It was definitely during those moments that Feng Xiao saw him. Since this person had a face that is thicker than the walls of the Great Wall of China, he would never know how to write the word 'discreet'.

But Cui Buqu was long used to it, so expressionlessly, he skipped over the topic.

"Tonight, let Officer Gao see the ghost for another time."

Feng Xiao, "You are certain Xing Mao would make his move tonight?"

Cui Buqu answered him definitely, "If our predictions are right, then now there are two groups of people who wants Duan Qigu dead. One group of men are the third in charge and Yu Xiu, and the other group is the one who poisoned the wine. Additionally, there might be a relationship between the one who poisoned the wine and the third in charge. Xing Mao is waiting, so we must act quickly. Let this city of Qiemo turn into a true city where the ghosts cries in the night. Since Xing Mao has already waited for so many years, he would definitely take the chance and make the move tonight!"

Send ten thousand ghost crying all over a million cities: This is to describe the worst calamity possible. Cui Buqu meant that if Gao Yi does not take care of the ghost, Qiemo would descend into the worst calamity possible.

Zhangbiao: An official method of communication to the king. Officers or commanders who left the palace and wanting to send messages or reports back to the king usually write everything on a Zhangbiao, and have someone send it to the Emperor himself. It looks like the below picture.

The story of the white dragon who turned into a fish: Among Han folklores there was once a white dragon who turned into a fish to swim in the lakes of the mortal world. It swam here and there because it thought it was fun. Later on, a hunter shot it in the eye and the dragon wanted the Emperor of the Heavens to bestowed punishment to the hunter, but the Emperor of Heaven refused. He said, 'The hunter shot a fish, not a dragon, so why should he be punished? The problem lies in you. You are a dragon, so why did you turn into a fish?' In this case, this phrase meant that people of royalty can be hidden among the common folk—Xing Mao meant that he was a descendant of a king, who is now among common people, and the white fish was to warn Gao Yi to be mindful that Xing Mao is a king walking among normal people.