Hui continued to lay there. I’m dead, I’m dead…

“Hmm… if this really is a corpse, then I suppose I shouldn’t waste it. I’ll take it home and refine it into a ghoul,” Yunxu mused, reaching out to pick Hui up.

Hui jolted upright. He ran a hand over his hair, fixing it, and smiled, casually circulating life qi to rejuvenate his withered body. At the same time, he grabbed the snakeskin and pulled it off his body. In a few moments, the dried-up and cracked corpse became a fresh-faced Hui once more. “Ah, haha, what a coincidence to encounter Senior here!”

Dammit, so he wasn’t going to let me get away. Sure, I could’ve escaped as a core, maybe, but any motion with Yunxu so close… he’d notice it for sure! I’m not even sure my soul-burning fake death would work, since he’s familiar with working with souls. No matter what, the gig was up.

Yunxu smiled back at Hui. “What a coincidence!”

Hui finished brushing off his robes and adjusting them. He bowed to Yunxu. “Truly, it is a pleasure to meet Sect Lord on such a lonely road. I wonder what karma brought us together? However, I have somewhere to be—”

“You’re paying back your mother, who sent you to the sect,” Yunxu replied.

Startled, Hui took a step back. How…?

“I know a great deal more about you than you know. Walk with me?” Yunxu asked, gesturing ahead of him.

Hui glanced ahead. “If I refuse, will you let me out of this space?”

Yunxu smiled.

Hui sighed. That’s what I thought. “Then, lead the way.”

Lowering his hood, Yunxu swept along the road. Hui walked slightly behind him, glancing left and right. Should I run? I should run.

“I know where your mother is. If you listen until the end, I’ll take you there,” Yunxu offered evenly.

Hui pursed his lips. I can find her on my own. Eventually.

Ah, well, I have to admit that I need to find her soon-ish. I can walk along for hundreds of years, but even a few decades later might be too late for her. Although I can ask for hints, I don’t have much to go on, and this country is large. Without the speed of a cultivator, it’s not surprising if the townsfolk don’t know much outside the few small towns around them. Finding a single woman amongst them is like finding a single star in the vast sky.

He bowed to Yunxu. “Then, this small cultivator will accept Senior’s guidance.”

Yunxu hummed happily and led the way. They strode down the path together, Yunxu slightly ahead, Hui a step behind.

“There was once a young man who dreamed of more than this world,” Yunxu said, almost speaking to himself.

Hui glanced up. Eh? What’s Senior talking about now?

“In hopes of reaching that distant place, he joined a sect and became a cultivator. However, even upon becoming a cultivator and stepping into Jianghu, he still failed to find that world. For a time, he began to despair.”

“That world?” Hui asked, rubbing his hands together.

“A glorious world of metal and glass. A world where even mortals bent the wind and the earth to their whims. Infinite knowledge hovered at their fingertips, and their mere voice could summon objects from the opposite side of the planet,” Yunxu said, his eyes glittering.

Ah, right. He was that kid from that mansion way, way back from the first time I encountered All-Heavens Sect and Gui Delun, the one who murdered his family over them not believing his dreams. His dreams… about my world. Hui cleared his throat. “You know, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. If such a world existed, I’m sure it would have its own trials and tribulations.”

“Is that so?” Yunxu said quietly. He glanced at Hui. “And yet, I still want to glimpse that world.”

Hui nodded sagely. “It’s good for one to have goals.”

“Have you seen that world? In your dreams, perhaps?” Yunxu asked.

Nightmares, maybe. Hui shook his head, giving Yunxu an even smile. “I’m not sure what Senior means. It’s hard for me to picture such a magnificent world. This small cultivator’s comprehension is insufficient, in the end.”

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Yunxu drew himself upright and turned a poker face at Hui. “Liar.”

Hui blinked. Was that meant to be an imitation of Li Xiang? Wait… but Yunxu would have known the original Li Xiang. Li Xiang, before she was a sword spirit. He licked his lips. “Senior, this small cultivator has been wondering for some time now…”

Yunxu smiled.

“You’re the one who used the soul array for the first time, back a century or so ago. You played with Gu Tian and Li Xiang’s souls, initiating the Midnight Massacre, betraying your sectmates and your Sect Master. Why?” Hui asked.

“No need to rush. I was getting to that,” Yunxu said.

Hui snorted quietly. He shut his mouth and gestured for Yunxu to continue.

Yunxu laughed. “You aren’t what I expected at all, you know?”

“I often get that, Senior,” Hui replied.

After a second, Yunxu shook his head. “Ah, no. That’s not the point. You know… Gu Tian, Li Xiang… they were merely tests. You yourself have created and adapted techniques, no? How often do you get it correct on the first try?”

Hmm, although this small cultivator has been lucky a few times, it’s not as though I can count on things working the first time, every time. It takes experimentation and failure to… He paused. “You used them as tests, to figure out how to use the soul array?”

Yunxu nodded. “I needed the soul array. You see, that beautiful world… I wanted to travel there, but naturally, I had to confirm it existed first. I had to confirm that it was possible to travel to it. Physical forms… well, I quickly realized that short of ascending to immortality, transferring my body would be impossible. However… what about a soul? Weightless, ephemeral, delicate and yet infinitely strong… the perfect test subject to send across the unknown void. Gu Tian and Li Xiang were my attempts to utilize the soul array. Once I had it functional, I began trying to transfer souls.”

“The Midnight Massacre,” Hui realized.

“One didn’t work. Two, neither. A hundred? A thousand? I don’t know how many souls I sent. At the same time, I drew from that world, using the soul array to call out to souls from beyond. By exchanging the souls of those tens of thousands of children, I called tens of thousands of souls from that other world.”

Eh, but if that’s the case, then why didn’t I run into other reincarnators? Tens of thousands, I… wait. It’s called the Midnight Massacre, not the Midnight Personality Swap. Hui looked at Yunxu. “They all died. It was a massive failure.”

Yunxu nodded, humming. “Or so I thought. Lan Taijian discovered my crimes, and he and the Sect Master expelled me from the sect and tried to kill me. I fled and conquered Black Asp Sect, hiding there, and I thought that was the end of it. But one day…” He turned up, sunlight illuminating his face. “I heard a voice from the heavens.”

Yunxu lifted his hands. A Heaven mark appeared on the back of his right hand. “A voice…”

Subconsciously, Hui hid his right hand.

Yunxu turned abruptly. He smiled. “So what do you think of this world, Otherworlder?”

Hui cleared his throat and smiled. “I have no idea what Senior means. This is all far beyond small cultivator’s comprehension. However, please accept my heartfelt thanks for your gracious guidance.”

I don’t know why he’s going on like this, but when villains start explaining things, it’s never good. Deny, deny, don’t admit a thing! Ahhh, this small clone’s life might be about to end!

Healer sighed. Can we go ten seconds without ending up in life-threatening danger?

Have you met us? Rogue replied.

Ignoring the clones, Hui furrowed his brows. I’m the result of the Midnight Massacre. I… already suspected as much, but it’s still a heavy blow. So many died because of Yunxu’s obsession. I… can’t take the blame. It’s not as if I wanted to come, or as if I killed them. Yunxu’s the one who murdered them all. And yet, I still… I’m not comfortable, having so much blood on my hands, so many lives ended because of me.

Ahh, what if their souls survived somehow, and seek revenge? Oh no, oh no. Is that why Elder Sister Reaper always chats with me? Does she know that a horrible fate awaits me in the afterlife, and so she talks with me now to laugh at me later?

Wait—wait. The Midnight Massacre was an attempt to call someone over from my world? The mass sacrifice of thousands of innocents. Isn’t that… isn’t that like what Han Qin has been attempting with… whatever senior he’s trying to summon back? Then… Hui wrinkled his nose and brushed his robes off. How icky. I’m the result of demonic cultivation, huh?

Hui rubbed his face, breathing deeply. Is that why the Sect Master attempted to hinder my cultivation? Or… is it because he knew, somehow, that I was Yunxu’s goal, and he didn’t want to allow me to continue to exist? After all, in their minds, nothing a twisted, demonic cultivator like Yunxu creates could possibly be good. I somewhat agree, though I’ll except myself here. Though Yunxu didn’t create me, he merely… according to him, drew me over to this world.

“You’ve thrived, haven’t you? Did you dream of this world, the way I dreamt of yours?” Yunxu asked.

“Ah, if Senior means my cultivation level, it’s progressed quite smoothly. I’ve been told it’s a bit slow, though,” Hui replied honestly.

Yunxu whirled. His face contorted in anger. “You’re ruining this. Stop. Tell me the truth!”

Even if I did, you wouldn’t like what I had to say! Glass towers, metal horse machines, yes, yes, but I lived in the dirt, with my nose to the concrete! I wasn’t a grand CEO, or even an ordinary high school student! I was a pathetic worm, a bug that dared to sometimes call myself a human!

Hui raised his hands, desperately waving him off. “No, no, Senior, please. I simply don’t understand!”

Yunxu’s brows furrowed. Abruptly, he turned away. “Fine. Play your games. All will become clear soon.”

“Where is Senior taking me?” Hui asked, suddenly nervous. Dammit, I shouldn’t have given up. Even if I spent the rest of my life playing dead, even if he refined my body into a ghoul, it would’ve been better than… whatever horrible thing Senior is about to do to me! A voice from the Heavens? That’s at least a Wandering Immortal, right? I already have one Wandering Immortal after me, and whatever Chen Wuya and Zui Jiu qualify as… well, suffice to say, they’re after me, too! I don’t need another horrifying Senior peering over my shoulder!

“Exactly where I said I would. Back to your home,” Yunxu said with a mysterious smile.

A shiver ran down Hui’s spine.