A HAUNTING IN THE DESERT Rival investigators Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao embark on a diplomatic
journey westward hoping to build a key alliance that will stand against the power-hungry
Eastern Khaganate. But they get more than they bargained for when they stop to rest at the
oasis city of Qiemo where they find a haunted inn a beleaguered Sui magistrate and the city
divided between two powerful self-styled rulers. Despite their larger mission Cui Buqu has an
audacious idea—one that will turn the city upside down and bring Qiemo back under Sui control
if he succeeds. Even Feng Xiao must admit that while Cui Buqu’s schemes are outrageous
there’s something increasingly intriguing about this sickly chief of the Zuoyue Bureau. Yet
more is at stake in the city than petty power struggles: as the investigative duo digs into the
underbelly of Qiemo they uncover evidence of a conspiracy that stretches across Great Sui and
beyond.
