A strange sect elder sat in Ya Ai’s room beside Ya Ai, not Hong Haitao but someone new. The two sat close together, conversing quietly. Ya Ai nodded, covering her smile with a sleeve, while the elder drew something on the boards for her.

Hui frowned. Where are all these sect elders coming out of?

Seeing them come in, the sect elder stood and rushed over with unusually youthful vigor. With a young, fresh voice as delicate as petals on the spring wind, he asked, “Li Xiang. Has the time arrived?”

“Lu Xubo!” Hui exclaimed, pointing. Ah, that’s right! I turned him into a sect elder.

Lu Xubo scowled at him. “Why are you surprised? You’re the one who made me look like this!”

“Elder Brother… I forgot,” Hui confessed honestly, bowing.

“That’s true,” Li Xiang confirmed.

Lu Xubo crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at both of them. “You didn’t need to tell me, Li Xiang. I believed that in the first place.”

“I also forgot,” Li Xiang said.

“You forgot about me?” Lu Xubo asked, his eyes watering. He pouted, his lower lip trembling a bit.

"Er, Elder Brother, that, uh…” It’s extremely repulsing if you act like a lovestruck young man as an ancient sect elder! Hui thought, unsure how to express it.

Lu Xubo scowled. He turned away. “So, is it time?”

“It’s time. We should prepare,” Li Xiang said.

Ya Ai stood from the rear of the ship. She wore fine robes Hui had never seen her in before, lovely soft pink robes that drifted around her as she walked, as many-layered as a peony flower. She held out a pile of simple, dark green robes. “These are the official honor guard robes in my sect. Please change into them.”

Hui nodded, taking a set himself. “If we fail, Ya Ai, say that we threatened you. Keep yourself alive first. We have ways to wriggle away.”

“Master, do we have to assume failure?” Ying Lin said, sighing.

“No, no. We won’t fail. But if we do,” Hui insisted.

Ya Ai giggled behind her sleeve. “Don’t worry. I’ll preserve my own life. I’m in no hurry to die.”

“Good,” Hui said, nodding with approval.

“Master… can we change our clothes? Since we’re in disguises, with disguise clothes?” Ying Lin asked.

“Mmm. The outer robes are a separate piece. The inner robes are part of the disguise, though, so don’t remove them,” Hui explained. I’m a thorough disguise-maker, after all! What if my opponent looked in my robes for my belongings, or decided to steal them after my ‘death?’ I couldn’t allow myself to be revealed with something so simple.

But at the same time, I’m not going to come up with the naked body of every disguise I make. That’s… a bit much for me. If my opponent is at the level of removing my under-robes, they’ve probably let their guard down enough for me to launch a counter-attack and escape.

Ying Lin nodded. “Understood!” She began to undo her robes.

“Wait, wait! Even though they’re disguise bodies, we should still—” Hui turned, only to find Li Xiang undressing as well. He covered his eyes with his hands. “You too?”

“Li Xiang! You… you absolutely shouldn’t!” Lu Xubo cried, though he stared wide-eyed without even pretending to look away.

Li Xiang turned. “If you’re bothered, you can go to another room.”

“Eh, I…” Lu Xubo stuttered.

“That’s right, that’s right. There’s three girls here and two boys. You’re the ones who came into the women’s room!” Ying Lin declared, pointing.

Hui turned. “Alright, alright. I’ll go.”

“No, no. We can stay,” Lu Xubo decided suddenly, nodding to himself.

Hui gripped Lu Xubo’s arm firmly and drew him out of the room. “Let the girls change in peace.”

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“But, but we…”

A few moments later, Hui knocked on the door to Ya Ai’s room, now dressed in the dark green robes. “Li Xiang, Ying Lin?”

“We’re good!” Ying Lin called, pushing the door open.

The five of them grouped up in Ya Ai’s room. Ya Ai sat in the back, atop a low platform. Hui and Lu Xubo knelt to her left, while Li Xiang and Ying Lin knelt to her right. The distant sound of music drifted by, emanating from the deck of the ship. Ya Ai took a deep breath and put her hands together, calming herself.

“Don’t be nervous. We won’t let him hurt you,” Hui said gently.

“I know, and yet…” Ya Ai shook her head. “I can’t help but be nervous.”

“Of course! It’s the day you meet your prospective husband. Ah, it’s doomed to end in tragedy, and yet… how bittersweet! Forced to betray her future husband by a band of revengeful brigands… what a wonderful romance,” Ying Lin said, sighing deeply.

Hui shook his head at her from across the room. “Where did you even hear about these romances?”

“Eh? Doesn’t everyone know about romance?” Ying Lin asked innocently.

“Who was it? Bai Xue? Some weird, convoluted plot by Bao Huli?” Hui asked, crossing his arms.

“No, no. It was no one,” Ying Lin said, shaking her head. Her eyes glanced aside.

“Don’t lie,” Li Xiang admonished her.

Hui snorted. That’s a benefit to having Li Xiang around! He looked at Ying Lin. “So?”

“Cheh! Bai Xue gave me a stack of mortals’ novels in return for me keeping a daily Hui diary for them,” Ying Lin confessed, turning aside.

“Where are you keeping them?” Hui asked, startled. I feel like I would have noticed a whole stack of novels!

She pulled out a small sachet, the kind usually used to hold perfume. “They also gave me a small spatial treasure.”

Hui leaped for it.

Faster than he’d thought possible for a third-realm cultivator, Ying Lin stuffed the sachet back into her robes and turned away. “No! My precious novels.”

“They’re rotting your brain. Give them to me. I’ll be doing us both a service,” Hui said, holding his hand out.

Ying Lin shook her head. “Master! I’m building networks with powerful seniors. Shouldn’t you praise me?”

“What’s a daily Hui diary, anyways? What kind of stalkerish…” Hui muttered.

“No, no, it’s not creepy! It’s just an ordinary diary. What we did from day to day, what kind of adventures we went on, that sort of thing. It’s more of a travel journal than a Hui diary, that’s just what Bai Xue called it as a joke,” Ying Lin defended herself.

“It’s not unusual to keep a travel diary,” Li Xiang confirmed.

It isn’t? Well… then again, I lived in the era of social media. Really, isn’t a travel diary the old-age equivalent of sending social media posts from wherever you’ve traveled to? Hui pinched his chin, considering, then shook his head. “Let me read it before you give it back to them. I don’t like that you did this behind my back, but as long as it’s really just a travel diary, it’s harmless enough.”

Ying Lin nodded. “Bai Xue’s sad that they can’t openly travel with you due to family obligations, so this is their way of keeping up with you. They told me to check with you, but I… guess I forgot?”

“Forgot? What ‘forgot,’” Hui muttered darkly, narrowing his eyes at Ying Lin. You wanted to make sure you could read all your novels before I found out, isn’t that right? In case I confiscated your precious romance novels along with that journal!

“Eheh, Master,” Ying Lin replied, smiling brilliantly. “Ah! Those novels motivated me to learn to read. You should praise me, right?”

Hui stomped across the gap and forcefully scruffed her hair. “Good job, good job.”

“Master, it hurts, Master, shouldn’t it be more of a head pat? Master!” Ying Lin protested.

Li Xiang snorted, then turned away.

Ya Ai’s eyes opened wide. She sat up, folding her hands in front of her. “The guards have entered the ship. Prepare yourselves.”

Hui crossed back over to sit beside Lu Xubo. A second before he settled down, his eyes widened. “Ying Lin! Give me that pass I gave you.”

“Pass?” Ying Lin asked, frowning.

“The city pass. Hurry!”

Ying Lin’s eyes widened. She patted down her robes, searching.

Hui drew his own faked pass out and held his hand out, his heart racing. Come on! If Chen Xigui senses my faked passes again, he’ll, he’ll, he’ll know I’ve returned, and if Wang Xiu broke free and came back and he senses the pass, he’ll know we aren’t honor guards but instead—

In any case, give me that pass already!

Ying Ling yanked a pass out of her robes and threw it at Hui. Hui snagged it out of the air, then flipped his hand over, sending the passes away. Hopefully he didn’t sense that. Ah, I’d better prepare in case it does! Hui took a deep breath. He settled back down and closed his eyes, rejoining Lu Xubo as an honor guard. He peered at Lu Xubo out of the corner of his eyes. If I have to, I’ll stick the passes on Lu Xubo! Then Chen Xigui should be distracted by Lu Xubo, and Ying Lin and I can get away safely.

But let’s wait until we get to that before we start worrying about planting evidence on Lu Xubo.

An oppressive but familiar aura grew close. Hui checked his aura and disguise one last time, then settled his qi, putting himself at a low, steady circulation, somewhere around the middle of fourth stage.

The door opened. A servant bowed, stepping aside as they pushed the door wide. Chen Xigui stepped through, surveying the room with an imperious gaze. Hands tucked behind him, dressed in the finest white-and-gold robes, he almost looked the part of the unknowable master… except for being about waist height and twelve years old.

Hui expertly stifled his laughter, experienced in the way of faking his emotions. Li Xiang remained pokerfaced, as always. Lu Xubo scowled, his eyes narrowing to slits.

Ying Lin let out a quiet but distinct snort.

Chen Xigui startled. He swept his gaze toward Ying Lin.

Abruptly, Hui began to cough. He went all-out, coughing as loudly as he could, even leaning forward on the floor. Ying Lin, dammit! Don’t laugh at the final boss, okay? Ah, I really need to teach my disciple better. She’s far too bold, far too bold!

Chen Xigui turned in the opposite direction, frowning at Hui instead. “Is your servant healthy?”

“An old injury. Pay him no mind,” Ya Ai quickly bluffed.

Good job, Ya Ai! It’s just… what kind of injury—

“What kind of injury causes coughing fits?” Chen Xigui asked, rubbing his chin.

Exactly! Junior Brother, you’re too on point, sometimes…

“It’s no matter. He’s merely a servant.” Ya Ai looked at Chen Xigui, then gestured him closer. “Let’s begin.”