Ghost made a face at the Spy Master.

"I told you, it's just Ghost ... why does everyone keep calling me Xiao Gui?"

"Everyone? Who else dares call you that?"

"Everyone," grumbled Ghost making a face. "Everyone outside the Sect. Is no one afraid of me?"

"I wonder why?" Xi Xuan asked smiling. With his young sweet face and charismatic personality, people couldn't help but be drawn to him. Ghost did not look like a threat.

"How did you know I would be in the city?"

"You need to ask?" the Five smirked proudly. The Spy Master was not the only one who had Intel. He had his own means too, although it had been difficult to confirm the obscure rumours. Xi Xuan was good at covering his tracks but he did not have to know that, did he? He would just make it look easy so his friend would be kept on his toes.

"Hmmm. I thought I squashed all possible rumours of my early arrival. Do others know?" he asked worriedly wondering if his secrecy was for nought.

"Nah. I'm faster than your team," he replied. "But no one else knows or there would have been a welcoming party out front."

"Good."

The Spy Master had came here early to catch up on work. If anyone knew he was early, he would never get any serious work done. The expected socializing from the various Houses would consume all his time. There was enough time for that when he revealed his presence later. Right now, he had important reports and updates to consider and decisions to make.

Some things had to be seen in person. He had to meet some contacts for sensitive information. His father had taught him to be hands on when the need arose. Never let the agents feel neglected or abandoned. They must know they can rely on the Zhangs when they got into trouble. Several spies have been pulled out of dangerous situations and saved before.

"Work?"

"Yes."

Ghost sat quietly for a while. "Congratulations."

This time Xi Xuan made a face. "You heard about my marriage to House Zhai."

"Of course. That's why you're here aren't you."

"Officially, yes. I'm killing two birds with one stone. I get to straighten out some issues here and gain an alliance through this marriage."

"You don't seen enthusiastic. Why? I heard she is the beauty of Zinnu."

"Beauty is nothing to me. It's her reputation which concerns me. Other than being a beauty, she is known for her narcissistic and entitled behaviour. If not for the mutual alliance benefits, I would not consider it. I prefer to live in peace."

Ghost laughed at his friend's blunt honesty.

"I'm glad I'm not in your position. I can't imagine having to marry someone for reasons other than love."

"It's just business to me. I've been raised to do my duty. The Zhang family and our people comes first," he stated, then added thoughtfully, "Who knows? Maybe we'll grow to love each other over time. I understand she wasn't given a choice either. Lord Zhai arranged it. I hope she will give me a chance to show her all I can offer her and be a good husband."

Xi Xuan refilled Ghost's cup and held up his own. "By the way, congratulations on your fifth blade."

Ghost smiled pleased that his friend had picked up on that tidbit. It had been a proud moment for him and he had had no one else to share it with. He held up his own steaming cup a moment before drinking to the toast. A toast with tea was just as good as a toast with wine, he supposed. It was the person toasting him that mattered.

"Gege (big brother)!! Gege!! Guess what just happened to me!" Xi Xiu burst through the doors in search of her brother. "Oh! I'm sorry. you have a guest!".

Both men stood up turning towards the whirlwind entering the room.

"May I introduce to you my sister, Zhang Xi Xiu."

Ghost looked upon the face of the girl he had only heard about until now. She resembled her brother enough to indicate their relationship. However, she had a slim heart shaped face with dimples whereas her brother had high cheekbones in an angular face. Large eyes glared at him from under long lashes. Her soft pink lips were slightly open in anger whilst her cheeks were flushed prettily.

She was beautiful.

She was also Lei Jun ... without the bad make-up and hair.

Ghost grinned bowing slightly to her in greeting. She was after all a Zhang and the Spy Master's sister.

"You!!" she spluttered spotting Ghost.

"Hello, Miss Zhang or should I address you as Lei Jun?" asked Ghost mischievously.

"Xi Xiu, show some respect. This is Ghost, I've mentioned him to you a few times before."

"Ghost? The Ghost? The one in your stories?" she gasped have difficulty in matching all the exciting stories she knew about Ghost over the years to this annoying handsome youth before her. If it were true, the moment he revealed his presence to her on the roof she had been in grave danger. He could have killed them all without revealing his presence. Why did he do that? And why did he save her?

"Why you, you, YOU!!!!" she spluttered thinking back to her first encounter with him at the Blue Peony.

"Me?" Ghost asked innocently, "What about me?"

"You lied! You said you were Xiao Jian!!"

Xi Xuan turned in surprise to Ghost, "You told her your real name?!"

"What? It's true?" Xi Xiu gasped. "He wasn't lying?"

"No," her brother answered.

So, this guy really was a Shard and was not a threat to her brother at all. She knew all about her brother's friendship with the mysterious Ghost. Gege told her exciting and intriguing stories about his mainland friend all the time. It had made her want to meet him so bad. It seemed that the Shard did not lie to her about his name after all.

She reddened.

"What about the story of your mother dying in childbirth? Was that made up to get my sympathy?" she continued trying to salvage some face. Surely he lied to her sometime during their first exchange?

Ghost suddenly looked stricken and looked away.

"XiuXiu!"

Xi Xiu froze at gege's admonishment. Oh no, that was true too? Did she just make another mistake? Why did her heart squeeze so painfully when he reacted like that? She felt so sorry. She should shut up but before that she should apologize.

"Ghost? I, ummm, I apologize." She bowed low to show her sincerity.

He took a moment to regain his composure before facing her. "It's o'kay."

"Aaand, when was this?" Xi Xuan looked pointedly at his sister. His timely question glossed over the awkward silence. "Lei Jun?"

"Ummm," Xi Xiu hedged.

Gege had allowed her early excursion into the city to train and familiarize herself with the land ahead of his party. She was not supposed to engage with the citizens nor try to secure information for personal reasons. But then, the temptation had been too great. She had heard so much about the mysterious Ghost that she wanted to see him for herself. See if he fit the mental image she had of him.

"Well ..." She bit her lip nervously.

"It doesn't matter. I bumped into her a few nights ago and again tonight," Ghost cut in saving her from further explanation. "Your fighting skills are much better than your disguises."

"Is that a compliment or insult?"

"Neither, just an observation."

The Spy Master's eyes narrowed. Disguise? XiuXiu had disobeyed him and put herself in danger. She met Xiao Gui in disguise? Where did she go? Surely she had not met him randomly in the streets or go to the Dark Sect. He had been careful not to disclose the Dark Sect's location to her in his story telling. Perhaps The Blue Peony? Or The Singing Nightingale? She was not experienced enough. What was she thinking?

"XiuXiu, I will talk to you more on this matter later," Xi Xuan said in a quiet voice.

She gulped. When Gege used that tone, she was in trouble.

Xi Xuan turned his attention to Ghost. "I have actually planned to have you both meet, although in different circumstances."

Xi Xiu kept her eyes averted and her head down.

"Tell me Xiao Gui, what do you think of XiuXiu?"

"She's pretty."

Xi Xiu blinked at the unexpected praise.

"Is that all? Your first impression. Tell me Xiao Gui."

"First impression?"

Xi Xuan paused a moment. He forgot Ghost had a warp way of understanding things. He related everything to survival and his job. He may be a skilled Shard but his social skills outside of role-playing for disguises seriously needed work. Maybe he should use words the Shard could understand.

"Evaluate her."

"Oh."

Ghost looked at Xi Xiu studying her again in the lighted room. He thought about his encounters with her then spoke directly to her.

"Your knife skills are impressive, good shadowing techniques and light on your feet. However, you should practice more on your disguises and do proper homework before getting yourself into a situation."

"What are you talking about? My disguise was awesome. You didn't even know I was not a man at the Blue Peony!"

"I did too."

"Did not! You're a liar!"

"Did too! The moment I looked at your face up close. Your stance was all wrong and you forgot to keep your voice the right pitch and timbre throughout our conversations. It was all over the place."

"Is that so? Then why did you not expose me?"

"Because you're pretty."

"Excuse me?!?"

"... and I was curious of your intentions. Actually you could have gone there as a woman. A woman looking for a man is more believable. It would have made things so much easier."

"I had to go as a man. The Blue Peony is a brothel!"

Ghost rolled his eyes. "I know what the Blue Peony is, but it also offers other things besides pleasures of the flesh! People go there to eat and enjoy the music too. They also have live dancing, storey telling and stage shows, if you go on the right nights."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You needn't have bothered with your bad disguise but if you wanted to pretend to be that kind of customer, they offer male services too. Stick to being a girl."

"They offer men? How do you know? Are you one of them?" she shot back furious.

Xi Xuan coughed trying hard not to laugh. Although they were basically fighting, he found it amusing seeing them try to outdo each other.

This meeting was unplanned. He wondered how Xiao Gui would react. They complemented each other, he thought in satisfaction ... if they didn't kill each other first. Xi Xuan had wanted them to meet for the longest time, that was why he had told stories of each to the other. They were about the same age and would make a good match if they got along. They had so much in common and Ghost could protect her when she was fully trained and assigned activities on the main land in the future.

He had hoped their first meeting could have been better and not this explosive. However, he kept quiet and observed. Surely they would work things out? They were both young. While XiuXiu was excitable and spontaneous, Xiao Gui was calm and calculative. She was bright, independent and adventurous, he was careful, secretive and disliked risks. He did his homework meticulously before revealing himself or engaging in a situation.

He glanced at his stunned friend. Obviously the Shard did not have many verbal confrontations like this. The Shards were more physical. This was proving to be more interesting and entertaining then he could have hope for. Maybe exposing Xiao Gui to XiuXiu could make him see things differently? Perhaps make him more human? The Five was socially awkward and insecure unless he was in a role for work. He was smooth when on a mission but he didn't really know how to be himself.

He hoped Xiao Gui did not take offence to XiuXiu's insult. An offended Shard was not a good thing.

Ghost looked bewildered for a moment then a wicked smile slowly appeared on his lips.

"You wish!"

"What?!?!?" she spluttered. His response wiped the sneer off her face. "Gege!! He is bullying me!!"

Xi Xuan laughed merrily.

"Gege!!"

"Now, now, you have to be fair XiuXiu. I asked his opinion on your skills. He was giving his professional evaluation. Now, its your turn, what do you think of Xiao Gui?"

"He's annoying!!" she shot back.

Xi Xuan laughed. "No that's not what I meant. Evaluate him. Evaluate his skills."

Ghost had a weird expression on his face but kept his peace. No one outside the Dark Sect had ever evaluated him. But as Xi Xuan had pointed out, it was her turn to evaluate him.

She turned to face the handsome youth. Taking a deep breath to calm her mind, she tried to be objective. Darn it, in his recounting, gege had mention that Ghost had saved his life several times in Zinnu. According to him, Ghost was young and skilled. He was intelligent, brave and loyal. She had inadvertently developed a crush on this mysterious 'Ghost' who protected her brother on the sly. But Gege had never mentioned that he was this attractive ... or annoying.

Her confused feelings bubbled up. She would rather die than admit he had exceeded her expectations and in every aspect too! How exasperating! Evaluate his skills? Right!

"You are skillfully annoying!!" she burst out unable to control herself.

"Huh?"

Ghost took a step back at her vehemence, all trace of playfulness and bravado gone. He looked confused. Skillfully annoying? What does that mean? No one had ever evaluated his skills like that before. Her vague conclusion did not fall into any known category for improvement. What kind of assessment was that? Where had he lacked? How should he improve?

"I ... I need to get back," Ghost stated, uncertainty in his voice.

He needed to think. He needed to re-evaluate his actions. Did he do something wrong? Did he fail or mess up somewhere? Other than being distracted for a while on the roof, he did not recall any mistakes in his execution of the situation. If he made a mistake, he needed to know where and when to better himself. To fail in some way could be fatal later.

"But ..." Xi Xiu immediately regretted her words at Xiao Gui's reaction. She had expected him to argue back or make another cheeky remark not suddenly look so vulnerable.

Xi Xuan smiled gently. He knew Ghost. Although the Shard presented a tough and street smart exterior, he really was an insecure boy underneath. His true self first showed when he wanted to be friends all those years ago. And now, his fragile mask was slipping again with his uncertainty in dealing with XiuXiu's evaluation. He would let Xiao Gui think and come back to ask his questions privately later.

"I think it's best he leaves before you poke another hole in him ..."

"Gege!! How did you know?" she cried out and covered her face.

Xi Xiu heard the doors opening and closing quietly. She peeked out from between her fingers to see her brother gesturing to the guards outside to allow the Shard's departure. Immediately, she followed him.

"Wait!" she cried running to the chamber doors. "I want to ask you something."

But when she looked out, only the two guards were there. The Shard was nowhere in sight.