Hui flew along. The forest gave way to plains, which slowly grew scrubbier and scrubbier until the plains gave way to a desert. Bored, Ying Lin flicked through some of Hui’s spare spell manuals, the ones he’d stolen from the Fu Clan. Every so often, she made quick handsigns and blasted some kind of spell or another into the distance. As the spells only reached third stage, none of them travelled too far or carried too much force with them, and besides, the land below them was unpopulated, so Hui let her carry on without interfering.

Zhubi, on the other hand, stared around eagerly, drinking in the scenery. His long white hair billowed after them like a cloud or a dragon’s tail. He hissed in delight whenever Hui turned or attempted any kind of maneuver, so after a while, Hui started adding flair to his flight, loops, spins, and turns.

Hmm, my sword is getting a bit crowded. It was already bad with me and Ying Lin, but now that Zhubi’s using his human form, too, there isn’t much room. If Jin Xian chose to hang out as well, or if I needed to transport her around, I’d be out of luck.

Maybe I should look at purchasing a shuttle or an immortal boat. An immortal boat, in particular, would give us a sort of home base, and we wouldn’t have to construct huts every night or sleep in the wild. Hui reached into the node and extracted the spirit stones he’d received from Song Weilai’s cave, mentally counting them. Hmm… with this, I might be able to buy a low-level boat…

An immortal boat? Heh! What’s a poor cultivator like you doing, thinking about buying one? Sectgoer said, smirking with all his might.

Does Senior have enough spirit stones for one? Hui asked humbly, though internally, he rolled his eyes. If anyone has the heart-demon, it’s certainly Sectgoer! Listen to the sound of his voice…

I don’t have a heart-demon, but I do have spirit stones. Maybe if you ask nicely, I’ll buy you a—

Senior, please look upon this poor cultivator with kindness and share your benevolence! Hui immediately cried.

Sectgoer paused. He shook his head. It really isn’t fun to tease us, is it?

Hmm, Bai Xue seems to enjoy it, though, Hui pointed out.

Healer laughed, jumping into their conversation. Bai Xue is a pervert. We can’t expect their tastes to align with the world’s.

What about Chen Wuya? He… well, he changed his mind, Rogue added in, changing his tone halfway.

I can’t understand that Senior, Mortal added in.

None of us can, Hui sympathized.

Hey, do you think Han Qin is Fen Long? Mortal asked.

No, he’s… Liu… Shen-something. You’re the one who told us that, Sectgoer retorted.

Do you mean Lai Shuren? Mortal replied mockingly. Anyways, didn’t he fail twice at doing… whatever he was trying to do to Fu Liyu, and destroy other sects before deceiving the Fu Clan? He’s probably used different fake names before. Isn’t it possible?

Possible… but not likely. Besides, isn’t Chen Wuya a demonic cultivator? It’s more likely Fen Long belongs to the righteous faction, not the sect-massacring faction. It’s not as if demonic cultivators never fight, but Chen Wuya and Fen Long’s schism seemed like more than a spat, Hui pointed out.

It was an idea, Mortal said defensively.

Healer hummed. Mortal, why bring Chen Wuya up? Is Chen Wuya near you?

Mmm. I thought I sensed his aura the other day. Han Qin hasn’t come by lately, so I don’t think it’s him. He seems like a busy Senior, Han Qin. Unlike Chen Wuy—I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Senior! Nonono, you’re a very busy Senior! Forgive me!

The other clones fell silent. Quietly, they lit a candle for Mortal.

Healer cleared his throat first. Ahem. In any case, I have to get back to work.

All the other Huis made their excuses, and the clone chat went dead once more.

Sighing, Hui turned his head into the wind and let his ponytail stream behind him. Ah, the vicissitudes of life…

Ying Lin bolted upright so fast her head bumped into Hui’s chin.

Hui took the blow without flinching. Ying Lin cried out and slipped sideways off the sword. Startled, Hui reached after her, swaying wildly forward. He caught Ying Lin, but Zhubi let out a little cry and grabbed onto his face, blinding him. Hui stumbled, and one of his feet slid off the sword. Swaying on one foot, he tapped the snake boy, still blind. “Zhubi!”

“Ah, Master!” Ying Lin found her footing and pulled him back onto the sword.

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Panting, Hui stomped his other foot back on and grounded himself, then peeled Zhubi’s hands off his eyes. His vision returned, he resumed guiding the sword, but shook his head at himself. Careless, utterly careless! Pay more attention, Hui. Rubbing his chin, he looked down at his disciple. “Ying Lin?”

“I… this disciple is not sure if it’s worth mentioning,” Ying Lin murmured demurely.

Can you make sure before you almost fall off the sword, next time? Now that we’ve come so far, spit it out! Swallowing his words, Hui put on a polite smile. “Speak.”

Ying Lin shot him a guilty, apologetic look, but pressed on. “I sensed a strange aura just now. One I’d felt before, back at the banquet. I didn’t mean to disturb Master, but—”

Hui’s eyes widened. He instantly grabbed onto Ying Lin and Zhubi and sent them into the node. Sectgoer, catch!

Eh—huh? Who’s this child? Wildman, don’t tell me, did you and Bai Xue… after all—

Hui scowled. Don’t let your imagination run wild. And catch!

Waving his hand, he sent all his gear over to Sectgoer. All the spoils from Song Weilai had already been sent into the node, so they were safe. Hui finally bent and sent Moonlight Cutter through the array, leaping forward to run on the air instead. He extended his senses and caught the same glimmer of aura Ying Lin had, fast approaching.

That’s what I get for not paying attention and chatting with the other clones! Even my little disciple sensed it before me! Hui ground his teeth. He looked all around him. It’s too late to run away. All I can do is… is not die pathetically!

But why? How did he find me so quickly?

Well… hmm. I usually suppress my qi, but I couldn’t during my battle with Song Weilai. Is it possible that he can easily discover the more powerful fluctuations of my full battle strength, but cannot find the weaker fluctuations when I suppress my qi?

Note to self! Only use my full strength in the direst of situations! It’s no good if Han Qin hunts us all down!

Lifting his fingers to his forehead, he carefully synced his memories to the rest of the clones. We got lucky with Sixth, but who knows how Senior is going to obliterate me this time. Mmm… in this situation… argh, it’s helpless, I know it won’t work, but if I don’t try—if I don’t try!

Hui stopped running on air and dropped to the ground. He rolled over a couple of times, then waved his hands to sever the branches off the scrubby brush all around him. Sitting up, he threw talismans into the air to blast elemental attacks at himself, then, grabbing the branches from earlier with his qi, he sent them into the air and circled them back on himself, stabbing himself in a thousand places. Having made himself suitably pathetic, Hui killed his qi and gently circulated his death and rot qi, giving off a horrible aura of death. Experimentally, he allowed the rot qi to infect his body and decay it at the surface level.

By all appearances, Hui had met a horrible fate, and some time ago at that. His body riddled with physical and magical wounds, he had bled out alone in the scrub, then rotted away, no one to remember his name and no one to bury his body. Someone at Hui’s level would find it nearly impossible to tell this body apart from a true body. Even someone above it would struggle.

It might work, Wildman. He left me alone when he thought the spider killed me.

Oh, really? Hui replied, suddenly hopeful.

Mortal paused. Er, but for some reason, his real form couldn’t enter the area, so er… this small cultivator was only fooling his clone. It’s much harder to fool a Wandering Immortal…

Useless! Go play with Senior Chen Wuya for a thousand years!

Elder Brother, please—

The aura drew close. Hui cut off his connection to the node and fully suppressed his qi and life force with all his might. The flickering candle of his life guttered as it rarely had since he began to cultivate, so dim that a thin breeze would snuff it out. So dim that even a Wandering Immortal might overlook it?

He bit his lip, then made one last preparation. He extracted the core from his body and dug it into the ground below, not so deep that he required much qi to accomplish it, but deep enough that if Han Qin decided to burn his body, he’d survive.

Now… now I leave my life in the hands of fate.

Han Qin appeared, hair whipping around him. He wore a new face, and his robes were now a dark red, but his aura was undeniably the same. Seeing Hui’s body, he scowled and unhesitatingly blasted the body into ash.

Hui held his breath. A new body. Is a new body all the price I have to pay? I’ll take it!

Descending, Han Qin touched down with a soft thump. Two puffs of dust rose from the dry ground and swirled around his feet. He squinted down at Hui’s ashes, then knelt and sifted through them. Although the ashes glowed red-hot and seared at Hui’s core buried below, Han Qin handled them as if they were cold.

After a moment, Han Qin snorted. He turned his eyes directly toward Hui’s hiding spot and smirked. “You expect me to believe this when there’s no sign of your soul dissipating, nor of reincarnation? How pathetic.”

Fuck! Mortal, how dare you! Giving me bad information! Hui raged silently in his heart. Even Mortal couldn’t hear him now.

After a second, his heart calmed. No, no, it makes sense. After all, it’s not as if a sixth-stage cultivator could sense those things, and from what I understand, Mortal isn’t going anywhere fast. He might have deliberately left Mortal untouched, even, as a kind of bait for the other clones.

Bait… I wonder…

Han Qin reached out and grabbed Hui’s core. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll hunt down every last one of your clones and destroy them all.” He clenched his hand. The power of a Wandering Immortal closed in around Hui.

Hui’s core shattered. The world turned monotone.

“Already? Can you slow the pace a bit? It’s quite annoying,” the reaper said, frowning at Hui.

Hui bowed to her. “Please forgive this clumsy cultivator, Elder Sister. I have no reason to—”

“Enough with the bullshit. I take it you’re going willingly, as well?” she asked. She drew her sword and flourished it. The cold blade sparkled with icy light.

Hui straightened. He adjusted his robes, then nodded. “I’ll go.”

The reaper snorted. She struck.

“You came again,” Han Qin murmured, moving even in the monotone world.

The reaper paused. “Ruining your clone for such a triviality?”

Flames with the aura of the Heavenly Tribulation sparked inside Han Qin. In a moment, they raged within and without, burning his flesh and soul as one. Burning brightly, yet mindless of the pain and heat, Han Qin rounded on her. “Tell me. Why can’t I revive her? Why must she be excluded from reincarnation and banned from all revival techniques, when you’re even willing to—”

The reaper swished her sword and carefully sheathed it. It whispered against its sheath, a perfect fit. “Give up. My lord will never allow that calamity to return.”

“No! No, I— she isn’t—”

The monotone world vanished. Han Qin stood alone, flames burning his body. His mouth slammed shut. His clone stood there until he crumbled to ash, never uttering a sound.