Night fell. Hui meditated, the picture of a studious cultivator. Gu Tian practiced sword forms in the open space of the room, full of energy. At last, a knock sounded from their window.

Hui’s eyes opened. With a gesture, he stored the piece of Mount Mu. Gu Tian sheathed his sword. Their eyes met.

Another knock sounded on the window. Hui opened the window and stared out.

The triplets stood on the branch opposite. One tossed an acorn in his hand, ready to throw. At the sight of the open window, he raised his eyebrows and gestured for Hui to follow.

Hui leaped out the window to the triplets’ branch. Gu Tian hesitated a moment, then snatched up his flute and followed.

“Who’s this?”

“Just you!”

“Eh, Xie Hao, I thought it was only you?”

Hui held up a hand apologetically. “Gu Tian wanted to see the beauty as well. He insisted! How could I refuse?”

The triplets smirked.

“Ah, I see!”

“Showing her off?”

“Couldn’t resist the urge to show off your new girlfriend to your friends?”

Gu Tian frowned at Hui. He leaned in and murmured, “The… what?”

Hui waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it, Elder Brother. You’ll see when we get there!”

“If this is some strange attempt to cheer me up by taking me to a brothel…”

Hui stared at Gu Tian, taken aback. “Elder Brother, you wound this small cultivator! Am I really that immoral of a man, in your eyes?”

Gu Tian gave him a look. “Everyone knows about you and Hong Xue. Are you loyal to him, despite how he is to you?”

“I—Gu Tian, those are baseless rumors. Hong Xue and I are merely friends, merely friends,” Hui said, looking down at Gu Tian with disappointment.

“It didn’t look like they were baseless,” Gu Tian muttered.

Hui sighed, tired. I suppose I reap what I sow, but… does associating with Bai Xue really have to be this painful?

The triplets glanced around. As one, they chorused, “Are you two ready?”

“Ready, Elder Brothers!” Hui replied.

Gu Tian nodded stiffly, uncertain.

They set off through the forest. The triplets led the way with Hui close behind, while Gu Tian trailed behind the four of them. This time, Hui kept track of their route there. The forest grew dense around them, and the triplets sped up. Hui had to abandon his route-tracking to keep up. Behind him, Gu Tian struggled to keep pace, as the lowest cultivation base among them.

At last, the forest closed in around them, the same way as it had the first time. They hurtled through a tunnel of branches and burst out into the courtyard on the far side. The lotus bud stood plump before them, on the verge of blooming. Qi seed plants lined the path.

The triplets hurried ahead at top speed, excited.

“This way.”

“Over here!”

“Beauty, coming right up!”

Hui drifted casually toward the qi seed plants. He raised a hand over the plants, sending his qi in a mist out over them. They aren’t in anyone’s body yet, so I don’t need to worry about using death qi to kill them. Instead, I can simply draw out the life qi from the seeds and leave them inert. Without that virulent life qi, they might still be parasitic, but they won’t be able to spread or grow as viciously or quickly as they should. At that point, an ordinary cultivator can handle them, or if not an ordinary cultivator, at least an ordinary medical master.

If I leave the plants long enough, they’ll grow new seeds, but the Southern Sect Conference should be in a matter of days, or weeks at worst, not a matter of months. There’s no real fear of that happening.

As he wandered toward the opposite side, Gu Tian caught up. He frowned at Hui. “What are you doing?”

“Eh? Just admiring the plants,” Hui said casually. He spun his hand and closed it. A glimmer of gold vanished into his palm.

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Gu Tian glared at the lotus. “Every time I see it, it becomes more hateful.”

“Bad memories?” Hui asked.

Gu Tian snorted. He clenched his fist around his flute. “In my first life, I studied plants on Jade Garden Peak for a time, after Sect Master Lan discovered I had little karma with the sword. My cultivation has crumbled, but I retain my plant arts. I can help grow and bloom Yunxu’s abominations. If only I had lost my arts, too…”

“There’s no point thinking about might-have-beens. Besides, isn’t it likely Yunxu would’ve killed you by now, if you weren’t helpful?” Hui pointed out.

“If only… if only I hadn’t been so cowardly. If only I could have killed my—”

Hui glared at him. “Don’t say that. I’ve already told you. Staying alive is the most important thing! Who cares if others call you a coward? Who cares if you corrupt the world a little? What matters most is that you survive!”

Gu Tian stopped. He frowned at Hui. “If you knew what I’d done, would you still—”

“Yes. So stop worrying about it, and follow me. Never give in to death! Anything else is preferable!” Hui declared.

Gu Tian chuckled. “I wish my heart were as strong as yours.”

Hui frowned at him. Elder Brother, you’re talking to me, right? No one’s ever accused me of strength before… let alone strength of heart! This small cowar—cultivator simply wants to survive, okay? There’s no need for strength. Except for strength to survive!

“What’s holding you up?”

“Come on! The beauty awaits!”

“What are you waiting for?”

Hui grinned and waved his hand. “I’m coming!”

The lotus towered over them. Purple and black petals layered over one another, stretching up to heaven. The blossom was easily as large as the previous blossom, if not larger. Hui stared at it, biting his lip. If this blooms… if I can’t be there right when it blooms, we’re screwed.

Actually… come to think of it…

“So?”

“Go on, talk to her!”

“She’s waiting for you.”

Hui approached the lotus, putting a mesmerized expression on his face. As he walked, he reached into his storage ring and casually drew out a few talismans. Operating the snake skin technique, he passed his hand over the talisman. Cooperate with me, senior technique!

Purple-colored skin that matched the lotus appeared over the surface of the talisman. Quickly, he repeated it a few times, covering a dozen talismans that way, all the while pretending to gaze in wide-eyed amazement at the lotus.

Suddenly, he pointed up at the top of the lotus. “Ah! Do you see it?”

“See what?”

“Where?”

“What are you talking about?”

Even Gu Tian squinted upward.

“At the top of the lotus, is that a projection of the beauty?” Hui exclaimed, still pointing. He waved his other hand, scattering the talismans around the bulbous bottom of the blossom. With the snake skin’s help, they blended into the lotus’ petals.

A dozen fire talismans and barrier talismans, paired together, then disguised! Like this, I leave my old technique for destroying the lotus behind, ready to launch even when I’m not here. Like this, I can destroy the lotus from a distance, as long as I know when it’s about to blossom. And as long as I stick close to Gu Tian, it shouldn’t be impossible to know when it blossoms.

“I don’t see it…”

“Shadows?”

“Are you seeing things?”

Hui squinted. “Eh? It’s gone now. How strange, how strange.”

He pressed his hand against the blossom. Bai Jingwen appeared again, reaching out for him, a mirror image of his own pose. Before, he’d been startled and jumped back before he could get a good look, but now, he wasn’t startled.

Bai Jingwen stood there blankly. Her eyes stared into the middle distance, misty and unclear. Her usually-braided hair hung in wavy clumps behind her, hanging in the blossom as if she stood underwater. Even standing, she looked more like she floated, her weight not on her legs, her toes fully extended. She wore no clothes, but neither were there any details in the shape of her body, excluding the face. No details, nor color, simply a transparent image of Bai Jingwen.

When Bai Fenfeng became a lotus woman, she had color, and she wore clothes, too. Her consciousness was gone, but at least her form fully remained. Is Bai Jingwen like this because she spent longer asleep in the lotus? Or is there some other reason?

“Whoa…”

“He did it!”

“You were right. There is a projection!”

Hui glanced back. “Eh? You can see her, too?”

The triplets nodded enthusiastically. The third one gave him a thumbs-up.

Gu Tian stepped up beside Hui. His hands trembled. He gazed at Bai Jingwen and bit his lip. “I… a woman, inside? If I bloom it, then…”

Hui’s eyes lit up. Now’s my chance!

He whirled and clasped Gu Tian on the shoulders. Putting on his best puppy dog eyes, he gazed into Gu Tian’s eyes. “Please, Elder Brother, can you help me? She doesn’t deserve to be stuck in there. We should free her! Before it blooms and she withers away. You said you still have your plant arts. Surely, someone as successful as yourself can assist me?”

“For love!”

“Let her out!”

“We’d do anything for a beauty. Ah, but make sure you don’t completely destroy the lotus. We won’t take the fall for you if you do.”

Gu Tian hesitated. “Master Erlan said… I shouldn’t bloom it until he says…”

“I’m not asking you to bloom it. Just help me extract the beauty!” Hui insisted, pouting slightly to make himself look all the more pitiful.

Ah, I knew it! Erlan brought the lotus and the qi seeds here. I wonder if he collaborated with Mysterious Heavenly Forest to create or recreate them in the first place? After all, Gu Tian’s plant arts are only enough to bloom them, according to the man himself. Then, if that’s so… Twin Elemental City was nothing but a testing ground for the Southern Sect Conference!

Last time, the woman who emerged from the lotus was twice as terrifying, no, immeasurably more terrifying than the lotus itself! If I can extract Bai Jingwen before she can fully mature into a lotus woman and seal her away, my talismans should be more than enough to destroy this blossom!

He struck a heroic pose and looked at Gu Tian firmly. “Gu Tian. All this time, you’ve told me how regretful you are that you’ve given in and done what they ask, rather than listen to your own heart. It’s fine to stay alive, but if you simply stay alive without acting for yourself, you’re nothing but a sea sponge!”

“A… sea sponge?” Gu Tian asked, flabbergasted.

“Sitting on the bottom of the ocean, motionless, absorbing whatever falls to you without thought! Do you want to be a sea sponge, or a cultivator?” Hui asked, putting his hands on his hips.

Gu Tian’s pupils shook. He swallowed and stared at Hui, then shifted his eyes to the lotus. Resolute, his eyes shone with light. “Obviously… a cultivator!”