THE MANOR WAS NONDESCRIPT and of no interest to anyone, one among many like it in the city. Its gates were shut year-round, and only a single elderly woman, hard of hearing, occasionally came and went for food and necessities.
When the neighbors asked, they learned the owner of the manor was gravely ill and had been unable to go out for many years. Of course they were all sympathetic, but they couldn't help worrying the disease was contagious. Thus people gradually stopped making inquiries, and the owner of the manor obtained peace and tranquility free from disturbance.
Now the night was late, and silence was all around. Every household had blown out their candles and gone quietly to bed, and the manor in their midst was quietest of all. Not a whisper could be heard. Around the corner, Qiao Xian and Zhangsun Bodhi exchanged glances.
Zhangsun's expression said, Are you sure this is the place?
Qiao Xian had no patience for his questions. She leapt onto the tiled roof in a single bound.
Zhangsun shook his head and followed a step behind.
They both landed soundlessly on the roof. Qiao Xian bent to remove a tile, but Zhangsun Bodhi stayed her hand. He pointed to the luminous moon in the sky, and Qiao Xian drew back.
Tonight the moon was bright, the stars sparse. With no candles lit in the manor, the interior would be black as pitch. If a trickle of moonlight seeped down from overhead, an ordinary person mightn't notice, but a martial artist certainly would.
Qiao Xian couldn't sense anyone inside the room—but it was better to be cautious.
Zhangsun Bodhi looked around, then jumped off the roof and circled the building. After a few seconds, he leapt back up. Qiao Xian was confounded as she watched him crouch and spring outward. He hooked his feet around the eaves and hung upside down, facing the house, his movements silent.
Qiao Xian too hopped down to look. She found a broken window and a pillar beside it that blocked Zhangsun from sight while allowing him a clear view of the interior. She hid beneath the tree and threw him a hand signal. Is someone there?
After a moment's observation, Zhangsun gave her an unexpected answer: Yes.
Qiao Xian was stunned. There was merely a wall between them, yet they hadn't detected this person's presence at all. Whoever it was must be a master of internal martial arts and breath control. This wouldn't be easy. Had the other party already noticed their presence and made their preparations?
Just then, a noise came from behind the house. It was faint, but not so faint as to escape Qiao Xian and Zhangsun's ears.
Nor had it escaped the ears of the person inside.
"You're already here. Why keep sneaking around?" The woman in the room—presumably Miao-niangzi—snorted. Though she didn't conceal her anger, her voice had a charming lilt that drove one to imagine an equally charming face.
Qiao Xian and Zhangsun looked at each other, then simultaneously hid themselves in the darkness. Better to let the exposed third person take the blame.
"Come out!" The woman's tone was frigid as an arrow of ice, and she let out another delicate hmph.
A quiet noise came from behind the house, and a black shadow leapt out to smash through the broken window and attack the woman inside.
Qiao Xian's ears pricked up. They were at a distance, but she could vaguely tell that the woman in the room wielded something like a whip. The intruder swung a sword, the blade ringing in the air, overflowing with murderous intent. Each move was made to kill. The woman blocked each blow, one by one, but struggled to gain the upper hand. Such a stalemate couldn't last. Once the woman's patience was worn thin and her strength exhausted, the intruder would slay her with a single strike.
Miao-niangzi was an important lead in the case; Qiao Xian and Zhangsun couldn't let her die. They hesitated no longer and charged into the house.
The woman was embroiled in a life-and-death struggle with a masked figure in black. Qiao Xian saw at once that the weapon she'd heard from outside wasn't a whip, but the woman's own belt. The white belt was made of some unknown material, flexible yet unyielding—even sword qi was unable to cut it. The figure in black seemed to specialize in killing blows; each move left them wide open as they focused only on taking her life. If not for her advantage in weaponry, she'd never have held on this long.
When Qiao Xian and Zhangsun rushed in, the woman's expression changed. She thought two more enemies had appeared, and her focus slipped. Immediately, the black-clad person's sword stabbed toward her forehead—Qiao Xian and Zhangsun sprang into action. Zhangsun grabbed a prayer bead and flicked it toward the person in black, while Qiao Xian drew her sword and hacked down toward their wrist.
To their shock, the intruder disregarded the danger completely and pressed forward, determined to slaughter Miao-niangzi.
At the last moment, Miao-niangzi leaned back and raised herself onto her toes, contorting into an almost impossible position as she spun away. She avoided a fatal strike by half an inch, and the black-clad person's sword skimmed past her temple. Where the sword qi brushed her, dark hairs drifted down. Miao-niangzi felt a pain in her scalp and reached up to touch it. Fear filled her face.
The slash had sliced a lock of hair from her temple, and her scalp was now cut and bleeding. If she'd taken the two newcomers for helpers and not fought with all she had, her body would be cooling.
The black-clad person's attack had failed, and now there were two more obstacles in their way. Their eyes shone with anger behind their mask, and every strike grew fiercer. Zhangsun shot bead after bead, each aimed perfectly through the gaps in the opponent's sword qi so that they were unable to advance or retreat—much less approach Miao-niangzi.
Qiao Xian, fearing Miao-niangzi might seize the chance to escape, left Zhangsun to deal with the person in black. She grabbed for Miao-niangzi, intending to capture her.
Miao-niangzi barked something in a harsh tone, but Qiao Xian couldn't understand her and didn't stop. Surprise came over Miao-niangzi's face, and she immediately switched to Chinese. "Who are you?!"
"Someone who can protect you," said Qiao Xian. "If you want to live, come with us!"
Miao-niangzi scoffed. "There are many people who wish me dead, but they haven't succeeded yet!"
Across the room, Zhangsun had no desire to waste time with this enemy. He reached into his clothes and produced a short wooden rod. With a flick of his wrist, the inch-long rod extended into a two-foot baton, which he thrust toward the black-clad person's chest. They instinctively raised their sword to parry, but Zhangsun's thrust had profound internal energy behind it; its momentum was unstoppable. Not only did the sword fail to block his strike, it snapped in two. The rod slammed heavily into flesh.
Zhangsun Bodhi had thought to capture this person alive to find out who was so intent on taking Miao-niangzi's life. But when the masked intruder saw they'd failed in their mission, they bit down on the poison capsule in their mouth before Zhangsun could stop them and died on the spot.
"You saw that person's skills," said Qiao Xian to Miao-niangzi. "The Thirteen Floors of Yunhai have many such experts. Even if this one is dead, a second will follow. We can guarantee you your life."
Miao-niangzi's lovely eyes flashed. "Who are you? And why should I believe you?"
"Because of this." Qiao Xian fished a token from her sleeve. Miao-niangzi looked closely and saw two words carved upon it: Kaihuang Zuoyue. Though the token was wood, it gleamed like gold. It was clear at a glance that it was a valuable object. "We are members of the Zuoyue Bureau working under the emperor of Great Sui. We hold the same authority as the Six Ministries. However great the danger you're in, the Zuoyue Bureau can ensure your safety."
Miao-niangzi eyed the token with suspicion. "I heard the emperor ordered the Jiejian Bureau to investigate this case. I've never heard of any Zuoyue Bureau."
"The Jiejian Bureau was established by the emperor, and the Zuoyue Bureau by the empress. The court has its Two Saints who rule side by side. Surely you've heard this?"
Watching Qiao Xian patiently try to convince her, Miao-niangzi could see she wasn't out for blood. She relaxed and wound her hair around her finger, then said with a smile, "I'm afraid the one I've offended is a person even you can't afford to provoke."
"The chief of the Zuoyue Bureau wields the same authority as the Minister of Justice, and he's in Liugong City as we speak. If you cooperate and help us locate the Jade of Heaven Lake, even if you killed the Khotanese envoy, we can still ensure you live a life free from threat and escape to whatever distant place you wish. Surely it's better to choose to trust us than to remain hunted and on the run with no guarantee you'll live to see the next day."
Miao-niangzi blinked. The injury on her scalp had stopped bleeding, though the wound was ugly. Even so, her incredible beauty made it easy to overlook such a flaw.
"In that case, you already know my relationship to Yuchi?"
Yuchi? Yuchi Jinwu—the dead Khotanese envoy? Qiao Xian and Zhangsun Bodhi exchanged a glance. Their minds went quickly to work, though their expressions remained unchanged. "That's right," Qiao Xian said, "we've already looked into your relationship."
"All right, then I'll tell you this: the one who murdered the envoy and the one who took the jade are the same person. He's still in the city."
"What's his name, and where is he now?" Qiao Xian pressed.
"His name is—"