Hui ran back to the palace. The triplets chased after him, close at his heels. Hui glanced back a few times, but never caught sight of Ding Lao. Did it really shake him that much to see his cousin trapped beneath the tablet?

If he’s that shocked, does that mean… that the ordinary cultivators don’t know about the sect using disgraced cultivators’ souls and karma to feed the trees?

“He’s not chasing?”

“Why not?”

“Who cares? As long as he’s not after us, we’re free!”

The triplets paused. Hui jumped ahead one tree, then turned and looked back. “Are you going?”

The triplets nodded. “We might as well.”

“There’s no reason to stick around.”

“Huang Yan might come to find us. You’re better off staying away from us.”

Hui hesitated. He looked at the triplets. “Er, Elder Brothers… could you take me back to the lotus?”

“Why?”

“She’ll kill you!”

The third triplet’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, I got it. You fell in love with the beauty in the lotus!”

Hui blinked, taken aback. “Fell in love?”

The triplet patted his back. “Of course, of course. There’s no need to be shy.”

“I…” Hui started to protest, then stopped himself. Wait, wait, no. The triplets gave up an entire secret realm to go after Bai Xue. If anyone would help me do something for love, it’s these three! Who cares if I’m in love with Jingwen or not? If it gets me to the lotus so I can absorb it and the qi seeds’ life qi, I’ll take it.

He made a bashful expression and stared at the floor, scuffing his foot. “It’s not like that at all.”

The other two triplets circled around him, beaming.

“You should’ve said so!”

“We’ll help you meet her.”

“If it’s for love, we’ll move heaven and earth! After helping us escape Ding Lao, how could we not pay you back?”

“Helping you…?” Hui asked.

“That illusion of Ding Bo. That was your doing, right?”

“He’s gone.”

“No longer with us.”

Hui nodded slowly. That’s right, the triplets know that something bad happened to Ding Bo. Are they not ordinary cultivators? Actually, come to think of it, they can also enter the secret area with the plants. Don’t tell me. Are the triplets… important to the sect?

They were sent to the secret area, and chosen for the tournament, as well. I guess… all along, signs have pointed me at the truth. I failed to see Mount Tai before me!

“Right, right. So… Elder Brothers, you’ll take me to see the lotus?” Hui asked.

The three grinned. They shook their heads.

“Don’t be so anxious.”

“Not right away.”

“You’ll just run into Huang Yan, and she’ll kill you again. No, no. Trust your Elder Brothers. We’ll come back for you after dark, when Huang Yan likes to cultivate in seclusion. All the other cultivators scurry off then, without Huang Yan to keep them working! You’ll have the lotus beauty all to yourself.” The third triplet winked.

“Ah, that’s not necessary, Elder Brothers,” Hui said shyly. He rubbed his cheeks, managing something of a blush.

The triplets exchanged a glance, and the third one patted him on the back. “Remember. When you hear a knock at your window… come out! It’s your Elder Brothers, the Gao Trio!”

“This disciple hears and obeys,” Hui replied, cupping his hands. “Ah, Elder Brothers, the third window from the left on the upper floor belongs to this small cultivator.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The triplets nodded.

“Then, until tonight!”

“See ya later!”

“Make sure you clean up for the lotus beauty!”

With that, the three leaped off, bounding through the trees. Hui remained bowed until they vanished into the distance, then stood and raced for the palace. I don’t want to get caught whenever Ding Lao wakes up!

Ah, and I can finally study the piece I stole—er, righteously borrowed—from Mount Mu! If I’m lucky, I should be able to make some breakthroughs on the path of body cultivation while I wait for the triplets.

The palace loomed up. Hui bounded over to it and leaped in the window to his room. Settling in the corner, he sat down and held the piece of Mount Mu in his lap. He began to meditate, seeking enlightenment on his path of body cultivation.

Crystallization. Petrification. Transmuting the body from flesh into crystal. Crystal that can heal and grow, or lay broken, depending on my needs. Crystal that can take heavier blows than my flesh, and propel me faster away from danger!

The piece of Mount Mu glowed green. Souls glistened inside it, tiny scraps of karma and soul left over when he cut it off.

Even Mount Mu is fed with souls? Or… is it perhaps… that all this time, this forest has only been able to grow because Mysterious Heavenly Forest is feeding it the flesh and souls of cultivators?

Ah… but it shows how both internal energy and the soul can possess a crystallized body! Hui reached out and put a tiny bit of his qi into the piece. The souls squirmed faster, speeding in pulses along the green qi veins embedded in the scrap.

The qi passages remain. If anything, they become more numerous. More numerous… and finer. Is that necessary for crystallization, or a side-effect of it being a tree?

He poured more qi into the scrap, digging deeper. Maybe… the qi passages are so thin because it’s only the surface of Mount Mu. If I could see the full tree, I’d know for sure. But Mount Mu… it’s terrifying! It could kill me. And if it doesn’t, it’ll alert Sect Master Mu, and he’ll kill me! I’ll have to make do with understanding the piece I have.

The door slammed open. Gu Tian stomped in, expression stormy. He threw his flute on the table and plopped down in a chair, crossing his arms.

Startled from his meditation, Hui quickly tucked the piece of Mount Mu into his storage ring and stood. “Gu Tian, did something happen?”

Gu Tian jumped. He sat upright and brushed his hair back, embarrassed. The stormy expression, too, vanished. “Ah! I didn’t see you there. No… nothing, nothing.”

Hui walked over and sat across from Gu Tian. “Something happened. What was it?”

Gu Tian twisted his lips and stared out the window. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Was it… the Lotus Pill Blossom?”

Gu Tian jolted. He stared at Hui. “How…?”

“Just a guess, a guess,” Hui said, waving his hand. If I hadn’t seen you activating the blossoms last time in Twin Elemental City, and didn’t know they had one here, I could never have guessed it!

For another few seconds, Gu Tian stared at Hui. At last, he shook his head. “You really are an odd du—”

Hui coughed.

“Are you okay?”

“A cold, a cold,” Hui said, waving his hand.

Gu Tian sighed, slumping in his chair again. “You guessed it, though. I’ve been asked to activate yet another Lotus Pill Blossom, at ‘just the right time.’ With the Southern Sect Conference coming up… it’s not hard to guess what that means. I don’t want to, but I’m too weak to fight back! Erlan would kill me. If I want to stay alive, I…”

He put his head in his hands and shook his head. “I’m so weak, Hui. To stay alive, I’ll become anyone’s lackey, do the dirtiest deeds. I… someone as pathetic as me deserved to stay dead. Licking the boots of villains to stay alive… how sad.”

“No!” Hui declared. He jumped up and threw his hand out, adamant. “Absolutely not. There’s nothing wrong with deciding to live! It takes a true man to do whatever it takes to survive, no matter what that means. As long as you stay alive at the end of the day, you always have another chance. Another route! There’s no such thing as cowardice when it comes to staying alive. Fake your death, forsake your sect, whatever you need to do to survive!”

Gu Tian looked at him, then laughed aloud. “I guess a death cultivator would say so. Look at me, talking away, when you chose to live even after bearing the shame of being brought back to life as an abominable being, something any righteous sect would exterminate in a heartbeat. I’m still a living human, but here I am, giving up.”

“That’s right. As long as you’re alive… Gu Tian, the world is open to you. If you have to activate the Lotus Pill Blossoms now, do it so that you can survive to fight back another day. Better yet, escape to Starbound Sect when you have the chance!” Hui suggested.

“I can’t. I’m…” Gu Tian sighed, looking at his hands. “If they knew, they would…”

“Who cares? Don’t let them! Become a rogue cultivator, if that’s what it takes. Put on someone else’s face. There’s always a way to survive, as long as you keep your eye on the goal!”

“After all this time… after all these crimes, can I really…” Gu Tian murmured.

“You can. And…” Hui’s eyes glittered. “Why don’t you come with me? I’m going to visit the Lotus Pill Blossom tonight.”

“You—eh? What?” Gu Tian asked.

Hui clicked his tongue and smiled mysteriously. “I have deep connections within Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect. Don’t underestimate this small cultivator!”

Gu Tian hesitated, then nodded. “I’ll do it. I’ll go. Maybe—maybe I can make up for everything I’ve done wrong.”

“That’s the spirit!” Hui cheered. With Gu Tian there, I wonder if I can draw out even more life qi by using his flute? Or would it be death qi? But… the last lotus had death qi because they were feeding it dead cultivators. Will this one have… ordinary qi, because they’re feeding it spirit stones?

One way or another, I need to destroy, or at least weaken, the Lotus Pill Blossom! It’ll have life qi, too, the only question is how much. Even if it’s not as much life qi as the first had death qi, it should be more life qi than an average plant, given the Lotus Pill Blossom’s vitality and strength. Hui nodded firmly to himself.

He stood up from his chair and walked back over to the corner to sit, this time hiding himself behind the bed. From around the bed’s corner, he called, “Don’t go far. We’ll head out as twilight falls.”

“Understood,” Gu Tian replied.