Up ahead, Jin Xian battled against two of the rough men. Their baskets were nowhere in sight, and instead they brandished swords against Jin Xian’s claws. She bared her teeth and lunged, fast as lightning. One of the men clasped his throat, while Jin Xian chewed with pleasure, blood streaming down her chin.

Elder Sister, you’re really that hungry, huh? Hui thought, petrified.

The man tossed back a pill. The wound on his throat closed. He and his friend rallied, launching themselves at Jin Xian again.

She threw out a hand. Green threads slashed the men, opening up long wounds down their bodies. One of the men faltered and fell back, while the other continued toward Jin Xian, screaming in rage. Jin Xian smiled, revealing bloody teeth, and extended her poisonous claws.

I’ll leave Elder Sister to her meal, Hui decided, flashing past on Moonlight Cutter.

He looked around, searching the area. The remnant poison blurred his vision at the edges, but he pushed through and focused on what he could see. If they don’t have their baskets… in other words, their wares, then they must have stopped nearby. I woke up pretty early, so it’s no surprise they didn’t get very far. Zhubi, where are you?

Hui hesitated, then sent a pulse of his qi out into the surrounding forest. It’s too late to hope no one saw me, with Jin Xian fighting wildly! Instead, I’ll have to focus on making this a quick and precise strike to free Zhubi and Bao Huli!

As he’d hoped, Zhubi answered back with a weak pulse of his own qi. Hui bit his lip. Dammit, do they have the two of them drugged as well? Then, then…

If they have the drug, then probably… they probably have the antidote! Argh, this is a terrible plan. I… I’m going to—

No. Even if this clone dies, I’ll die freeing Zhubi. I can’t let Zhubi be in danger. I don’t want to die, but I’m a clone. Zhubi only has one life!

The other clones would never let me live it down if Zhubi got captured, or worse, injured, on my watch!

He hurtled onward, barely more than a beam of light. Up ahead, where he’d sensed Zhubi’s qi coming from, stood a low mountain, barely more than a hill. Someone had carved an immortal cave in its top a long time ago, and now it hung open, dark and dreary. Hui hesitated one more moment, then shook his head and rushed inside. Even if it’s a trap, I have to go! I’ll count on them not expecting me to have woken up yet!

Two cages, barely large enough to hold a human, stood at the back of the cave. As Hui entered, he blocked the sunlight, darkening them, but he quickly threw his sword out to light up the cages. Bao Huli slumped against the wall of one, still in human form though her ears and tail had appeared, while Zhubi cut a comically small figure at the bottom of the other. A spell engraved in the bottom of the cage wrapped a barrier around the iron bars, doubly barring those inside from leaving.

At the sight of Hui, Zhubi perked up, but immediately shook his head and waved his tail.

Hui rushed forward. “I know, I know this is a bad idea, but I can’t leave you h—umph!”

His rear left ribcage half caved in. Hui crumpled pathetically. His head smacked against the cage, stunning him, and he gazed backward, confused.

Song Weilai stood over him, a war hammer balanced on her shoulders. She tutted at him and sent forth a wave of pressure. It weighed at Hui’s body, dragging him downward.

Hui fumbled in his robes for a talisman, reaching clumsily for the node. His fingers found paper, but faltered, unable to pick a single talisman out of the pack with clumsy fingers. Shit, the poison! It’s still slowing me down. I haven’t fully cleared it from my system!

“Should’ve stayed asleep,” she said. She lifted her hand.

Hui tensed, expecting another hammer strike, but instead, she released a red dust made of petals and blew it in his face. Flinching back, Hui desperately rubbed at his face, but too late. The poison from the lily within him reacted to the red dust, and the entire world spun around him.

Hui grabbed his chest and pulled, tearing the snakeskin off his body. The red dust’s effect lessened, but didn’t vanish. Instead, the poison inside him continued to riot, rebelling against any scrap of the red dust. Hui tried to claw upright, but his limbs refused to obey him. His entire body weighed a thousand pounds, every limb weak. He glared helplessly at Song Weilai.

“Freezing Blue-White Lilies instinctively attack in the presence of the Summer Plum Tree, as the Summer Plum Tree will block out their sunlight and simultaneously exude too much yang for the Freezing Blue-White Lily to survive. A single petal of the Summer Plum Tree is enough to make the Freezing Blue-White Lily’s poison riot and render even masters helpless,” Song Weilai explained.

She walked over and grabbed his hand, examining the delicate green skin. With her fingernail, she cut his hand open. Green blood oozed down his hand.

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A smile blossomed over her face.

“What do we have here? A vegetation spirit? Some kind of plant demon? Offering yourself up to me so kindly… this master accepts. You’ll make a pretty penny at auction.” Song Weilai hummed to herself as she dragged him toward a third cage, hidden in the shadows.

Hui struggled weakly, but it was no use against Song Weilai’s strength. She threw him inside and slammed the door shut.

A barrier thrummed up around the cage. Hui fell back, sinking down the wall. Song Weilai looked over the cage with a pleased look, then walked away.

Shit. I’ve been captured.

At least I can watch Zhubi and ensure she doesn’t hurt him! Ah, and… isn’t this a sort of training? Compared to All Heavens Sect, this is baby mode. If I can’t escape from this cage, I’d be hopeless in escaping if All Heavens Sect ever caught me. After all, they won’t let me go if I simply play dead. They know my trick.

The poison died down slowly. Hui drew himself upright, putting his back against the cage wall, and focused on circulating his qi to chase out the last of the poison. The Summer Plum Tree poison fought against the Freezing Blue-White Lily, the two battling inside his meridians. If I only circulate my qi, I won’t be able to solve this. Instead…

Hui drew out his death qi and applied a tiny mote between the two poisons. The mote instantly leaped to life. Hungrily, it devoured Hui’s qi, and the poisons along with it. As soon as the poisons’ effect faded, Hui drew out a songbird and threw it at the death qi. The two canceled one another out.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Hui retracted what little remained of the life qi. The world cleared up around him, and his muscles responded to his cues once more. Phew. Thank goodness that worked!

The poisons taken care of, Hui turned his attention to the cage. The spell etched in the cage exuded a fierce suppression, but compared to the waterfall, or even his usual habit of pretending to be weak, it barely got in his way. He cast Lightning Palm experimentally, and the suppression killed the spell in his hand, but it did nothing to affect the qi inside his body. As long as he didn’t extend his qi outside himself, the suppression could do little to him.

Hui nodded to himself. Not too difficult. In this case, let’s leave playing dead as a last resort. First, let’s focus on breaking out of this cage!

Hui extended his hand toward the barrier. Death qi materialized at his fingertips, ready to leap forth.

A second before he touched the barrier with the death qi, Song Weilai came stomping back in, leading one of her mooks. Hui dissipated the death qi and simply touched the barrier, flinching back as it sent a pulse of searing heat into his hand. Ow, dammit! I wouldn’t have faked testing the barrier if she hadn’t come back in. Damn you, Song Weilai!

Song Weilai snorted at him. “Keep your little paws away, unless you want to get burned. You’ve got to stay in top form for me, all the way until auction!”

“Excuse me for being so bold, Senior, but that doesn’t inspire much motivation for this small cultivator,” Hui replied.

“You’re an odd duck,” Song Weilai said, laughing.

A quack issued from Hui’s dantian. He clasped his hands to his stomach and laughed awkwardly.

Song Weilai frowned at him, then turned to her underling and grinned, gesturing at the cages. “Two fifth-stage beasts, one plant spirit, all at least fifth stage. Forget that Azure Fang Sect. Let’s head to the auction house instead.”

The rough cultivator she’d brought along glanced at the cave’s opening. “Master, what about that jiangshi? I’m not sure we can destroy it.”

“Drive it off with some of that undead-repelling Three Suns Herb powder. I told you to buy those pills for a reason! Haven’t they done us well? Always trust in your Master!” Song Weilai said flippantly.

“What if she’s… one of their undead? The attack is rather coincidentally timed,” the man said uneasily.

Song Weilai waved her hand. “Ji Taiyu is many things, and a fool in a great many ways, but he’s good at discerning character. He wouldn’t accept a demonic cultivator as his disciple. It’s merely coincidence!”

Right, right! He wouldn’t accept a demonic cultivator. I’m a pure and righteous cultivator! Er, but Senior, that is my jiangshi… Hui thought.

“Still, what a collection of disciples he’s gathered. I wonder if that girl…” Song Weilai wandered off, turning to the cave’s mouth with a thoughtful expression.

“Unless Senior is a slaver, you’re wasting your time. Ying Lin is an ordinary human cultivator. You should have felt that yourself,” Hui rebuked her.

Song Weilai waved her hand. “It’s true, it’s true. There’s no need to gather such trash, anyways. Even if she’s a spirit beast, what’s a second-realm spirit beast when we have three fifth realms? Better to let Ji Taiyu continue being my foolish friend than risk disrupting him by returning.”

“Continue? Senior… have you done this to Ji Taiyu before?” Hui asked, curious.

Song Weilai laughed. “Aren’t you an interesting fellow? Shouldn’t you be in despair that you’ve been captured, and are about to be sold?”

“Respectfully, small cultivator has already spent a lifetime being sold,” Hui replied, bowing from his weak sitting posture. Even if I can’t wiggle out of this, it’s not as if I’m unused to being used to pay off someone else’s debt. Besides, from what I remember about my novels, spirit beasts and spirit plants are usually treated better than how I was in my first life. They aren’t constantly kicked and threatened, nor endlessly beaten half to death, for example.

Her brows furrowed, but Song Weilai let the matter drop. “In any case… I have. Ji Taiyu has a strange luck that guides him to rare things. He’s truly heaven-defying. The number of powerful beasts, strange materials, and herbs I’ve stolen or bought off him for low prices is beyond counting. Although I’ve founded my own merchant business with my own two hands, I would never have made it this far without his assistance.”

“Elder Sister, aren’t you ashamed of that?” Hui asked.

“Business is business. If I drop what falls into my hand, I couldn’t call myself a businessman at all,” she replied.

What a thick face! Not at all ashamed. Ah, well, I suppose this poor cultivator will never be able to understand the rich. Hui shook his head.

The underling still looked uncertain. “Master… what about that vigilante?”

“Her? A trifling fourth-stage cultivator with some scraps and trash under her? What realm are you?”

“Fifth, but…”

Song Weilai made a shooing motion. “Go, go, before that jiangshi eats your Junior Brothers. And stop being such a worrywart!”

The underling gave a last unsure look behind him, but took to the air and headed out toward Jin Xian. Song Weilai wandered around, setting up spells around the perimeter of the cave. At last, she settled by the cave’s mouth to meditate.

Hmm, with her guarding the exit, it’ll be a bit tough, but… putting that aside, now’s the time! Three of four underlings are fighting Jin Xian. Even if I don’t know where the fourth is, that’s two on three! The math is in my favor. It’s time to escape! Joyfully, Hui summoned his death qi once again and reached for the barrier.