Peerless ( Meng Xi Shi )

It was challenging enough to look for one treasure of this standard, where would one find another?

Cui Buqu reached out and rested his hand on top of the jade stone, feeling a tingle of coldness radiating from his palm.

All three of them present had never seen the real Jade of Heaven's Lake; therefore, they naturally did not have any means of identifying it.

Feng Xiao, "What did they say on the Lanling Guild's side?"

Pei Jingzhe, "I have asked people from the Lanling Guild. Yesterday, an old servant with grey robes came along and gave them the jade placed in a very common looking chest. He claimed it to be a family heirloom, but because they were facing dire circumstances, he came here to pawn it. Usually, the Linlang Guild would not have accepted these things that had no backing to them. They fear it might be stolen property; destroying the Linlang Guild's name. However, since it came at the right time, Wen Liang reconsidered it and decided that if it was indeed stolen, he could still simply bring it to the auction, so when the owner recognizes it, they could return it to him; so he decided to accept the jade."

Cui Buqu, "If they were to decide against auctioning it, what would they do with it?"

Pei Jingzhe, "According to their rules, they would keep it for a year. If there was still no one who came to claim it, they would release it to be auctioned. This time, however, they immediately auctioned it.

Cui Buqu, "Would the Khotan kingdom send another ambassador here?"

Pei Jingzhe looked at Feng Xiao. With a nod from his Commander, he told Cui Buqu, "Yes. The Khotan kingdom would send a new ambassador, and he is already on his way. We have men waiting at Qiemo to receive them. However, at the very least, it might take the ambassador three to five days before they could arrive in the City of Six Crafts."

That would also mean that within these three to five days, no one would be able to verify whether presently the jade in their possession was the authentic Jade of Heaven's Lake.

Cui Buqu caressed the jade and said, "Today when you claimed the jade, at least ten people were glaring at you for a long time. Three of them were displeased; two of them had killing intentions."

He had even noticed this?, Pei Jingzhe felt a little shocked and could not help but ask, "Who?"

Cui Buqu proceeded to honestly spill his analysis, "The three who furrowed their brows in displeasure were: Jinhuan group Leng Dou; Khotan top millionaire, Zhou Pei; Anlu Zhang Clan's Zhang Yingshui. The two that held killing intentions: one is a black-clad Göktürkish; the other is a man wearing grey robes, around twenty-five to twenty-six, and wearing a bamboo hat. I have never seen these two men before; therefore, I am unable to determine their identity."

"Göktürks?" Pei Jingzhe reacted sensitively to the word.

On the other hand, Feng Xiao looked amused, "Whether this jade is the real one or not, once it is in my hands, it would not be surprising if a handful of people would come to our doorstep."

Cui Buqu, "That is correct."

Pei Jingzhe said in agitation, "Would they be willing to go against the Jiejian Bureau?"

Cui Buqu laughed in ridicule, "The Jiejian Bureau may have the Emperor's blessing, even the Three Departments and Six Ministries would have given you people face; but what are they in the province of Jianghu? This jade is ethereal; possessing the ability to raise one from the dead, why is it not worth it for them to fight over?"

Pei Jingzhe's jaw fell wide open. He wanted to retort, but he could not think of anything to say.

Feng Xiao gave a light laugh.

"The weather is bitter and cold. After standing outside for so long, why won't you come in and have some tea?"

Is there someone outside?

Pei Jingzhe immediately twitched his ears. His martial arts were not dreadful, but just now, he did not even realize there was someone outside.

Suddenly, at this moment, the feather-light voice of a woman, like glistening water, sounded.

"I only fear that the house is too crowded with there being not enough space."

There it was!

Pei Jingzhe stood up at that instant.

Feng Xiao simply took the jade's chest and threw it against the room's door.

Of course, it was not his intention to drill a hole into the door to throw the chest outside the room. Once the chest hit the door, it bounced back, and so did the door, opening widely by itself. This was a technique that only high-level martial artists knew.

The wind followed, flowing into the room from the opening. The shadow of a yellow-clothed woman instantaneously filled the gazes of the three of them. The woman was sitting on the roof of the residence opposite of them, with both her legs hanging down freely.

She looked quite ordinary without a hint of fear or nervousness. When compared to Feng Xiao, it was like the cloud and the earth. Once their mouths open, it is impossible to recognize the wrong person.

"It is rather late in the night; I would feel so shy to disturb you at an hour like this. However, if Lord Feng would allow me to take a look at the jade, I will leave once I have caught a glimpse of it."

Pei Jingzhe followed Feng Xiao out of the room and immediately realized that the yellow-robed woman was not alone. On the top of the left and right roofs, and under the tree on the left, there were three others.

One was wearing a white veil, clad in all white from head to toe. It was impossible to even tell their gender.

Another was tall and had tints of yellow in his hair. With a glance, it was evident that he was an exotic man.

With so many elite martial artists standing outside, he himself did not even realize something was wrong. What did that mean?

It meant that if anything happened, he would not be able to serve Feng Xiao the way he wanted.

Pei Jingzhe felt his body drenched in a cold sweat all of a sudden.

The yellow-robed woman noticed his nervousness and laughed lightly, "Little Lord, do not be afraid. I am not with them."Cui Buqu coughed in a low voice before walking out slowly.

Compared to the way those outsiders were dressed, Cui Buqu was wrapped tightly around his body. The colour of his face looked white as snow; at once glance, it was easy to tell that he was sick all his life as if he could not even manage to live past the next few days. His footsteps were also light, showing that he knew nothing of martial arts.

Everyone's gazes fell upon him, and then turned away, not thinking of him much.

Feng Xiao approached confidently without even a trace of being nervous. Instead, he looked as if he was waiting for this to happen for a very long time. His eyes glowed excitedly, blinking like a dazzling array of stars.

"There are two more. Why don't you all come out?"

Everyone present said nothing as if they were waiting for the last two to emerge from the shadows.

The silence lasted for a long while. Only one shadow came out in slow steps. From their figure, they looked like two tall women, but half of their body was still hidden by shadows.

Pei Jingzhe spoke in a low voice, "Who else is there? What good will hiding yourself do?

The yellow-robed woman said, "That person has left, and if I am not wrong, it should be one of the assassins from the organization, the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai..

As soon as they heard the name, Feng Xiao and Cui Buqu's gaze shook a little.

Yunhai Thirteen Stories was a recent secret organization in the Jianghu province. Their profession was murdering people for gold. In this world, there were bound to be some people whose existence was a threat to another; so if it was not convenient for them to dirty their own hands, or if they were in no power to kill them, they would employ the Yunhai Thirteen Stories.

It was said that Yunhai's business was not bad at all; but they were growing bolder by day, even daring to assassinate imperial officials. Last month, within the ministry of justice, one official had fallen dead. After an investigation by the Jiejian Bureau, it was discovered that his death was suspicious and related to the murder. So the Yunhai Thirteen Stories had been on the Jiejien Bureau's tracking records ever since.

The things did by assassins were mostly illegal; therefore, when they saw that Feng Xiao was not an amateur and that there were so many other highly skilled martial artists present, they knew that they could not take advantage of the situation, so naturally, they hid in the shadows.

However, merely one had left, five still remained.

Cui Buqu's gaze swept the area, and he coughed twice, but it was simply to cover his amusement.

It would be interesting to know how that oleander would deal with a kind of situation such as tonight.