The hand rushed through the sky. Hui crossed his arms, thinking. I’ve got to pay that back. I can’t have Sect Master behaving as my debt collector. I won’t survive it!

With a flick of its golden fingers, the hand tossed Hui. Startled, he flailed for a moment, flying through the air, then plunged into a cave.

Darkness closed in around Hui. Smooth rock walls surrounded him. A few crystals jutted through the stone, sharp, a pale blue. They glowed faintly in the darkness, providing light.

Shadow eclipsed the sun. Hui whipped around. The giant gold hand lifted a boulder and placed it in front of the cave entrance.

Hui rushed to the entrance and shoved at the boulder. Gold light flashed against his hands. A barrier? Figures.

For the sake of thoroughness, he walked around the cave’s perimeter, slapping the wall at random. Everywhere he slapped, golden light rushed up, sealing him in. As I figured. I’m stuck.

He sat down and sighed. Ah, you’ve done it this time, Hui. That’s what I get for not heeding Elder Sister Mei’s warning. I should’ve known she had good reason for it!

Oh, well. Frustration won’t do me any good now. The milk has been spilled. How do I get out of this one?

I’m stuck in this cave for a hundred years. The way to solve that is to sit here quietly and cultivate, but… well, I can do that later. I’ve got a hundred years.

No, no. The real problem to solve is that debt. What can I do? What can I sell?

Sell? Hold on.

Hui took off his robes, under-robes, and trousers, then put the robes back on. Spreading out his under-robes and trousers, he drew his sword and chopped them into even rectangles as best he could. That done, he stacked the rectangles into a pile and bit his thumb, recalling the wind talisman formula as he did. Qi rushed up in his veins. He drew his thumb across the thin fabric, infusing qi into the talisman. Setting it to the right, he picked up the next piece of fabric and started over.

His head grew light. Qi ran thin in his veins. The world wobbled before him, and Hui toppled sideways to the cave floor, unconscious.

Some time later, Hui jolted back to life. In the cave, without daylight, it was impossible to tell how much time had passed, but it felt like at least a day had gone by. Rubbing his eyes, he pulled the half-finished talisman in front of him again and pressed on.

In that way, time passed. Hui drew, passed out, sat up, and drew again. At last, a pile of sixty talismans sat before him. A few scraps of fabric remained, not large enough for the talisman’s script.

Or… are they? Hui pulled one of the scraps over and frowned at it. He bit his thumb again, but this time, took it slow. Painstakingly, he fed qi into the talisman one stroke at a time, miniaturizing the strokes but feeding the same qi inside. With the final stroke, the talisman thrummed with power.

Time to test it out! Hui held it up and aimed it at the barrier. “Activate!”

Wind burst from the talisman and lashed against the barrier. Gold light glowed, but only for a moment. The wind quieted.

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Seems less powerful. Still… I might not be able to sell these, but they’re good for self-defense. The element of surprise is essential for a little cultivator like me to survive!

Another few days passed. At last, every scrap of fabric used up, Hui gathered up the talismans and tucked them into his robes.

“That’s a start,” he muttered to himself. In the absolute silence of the cave, his voice echoed, loud to his ears. Hard to say what else I could do in here to make money. I could use the rest of my robes as well… mmm, better not. I can do that later, if I get bored, but let’s not go completely nuts in the first month or so.

Looking around the cave, his eyes alighted on the glowing crystals. Curious, he hopped up and grabbed onto one. Digging his heels into the wall, he pulled.

The crystal snapped off. Hui grinned. More money in the bank!

Wait, unless… they realize I broke it, and make me pay for it, too.

Hui looked at the wall, then at the crystal, then at the wall again. All I need is one person in this cave after me who doesn’t report the missing crystals, and I’m good. After a hundred years, there’s going to be dozens, if not hundreds, of new suckers—ahem, disciples. And besides, who says these crystals aren’t a natural resource free for the taking? So decided, he jumped up again and grabbed the next crystal.

All his loot gathered, Hui sat down and thought. I have talismans. I have crystals. At a guess, all this is probably worth a few hundred spirit stones, at best.

A million… He sighed heavily.

It’s a start. Don’t get down, Hui. After all, this is a cultivation world! If you can’t pay him back, might makes right! Run to Master and hug the golden thigh!

Ahem—I mean, cultivate diligently and grow stronger than the Sect Master!

He drew out his flint from the secret realm and looked at it, then shook his head and put it back away. No one would understand its value. Not to mention, it’s essential for my cultivation. Even if I’m desperate, I can’t sell that.

Hui sat down again, hands on his knees, overlooking his small cache. I’ve done my best! So, what next? Cultivation?

No, wait! A better method of faking my death, I need a better way to fake my death!

The primary issues with my current method are that it uses my real body, and that if I use it once, it’s very obvious if I use it again.

He put a hand on his chin, thinking. A fake body. Once I get out, I can run to Xixing for some pig skins and see if I can sew a few together, or find some straw and old clothes, but in here, my hands are tied. Besides, I lack a storage ring or any other large item storage device. I can’t carry around a dozen fake bodies all the time—that’d give me away worse than plopping down dead twice!

A technique that creates a dead body on the spot. Is there such a miraculous technique? Wait—the ghoul skin! Skin. What if I remove the outer layer of skin to stand in for me, like a cicada’s shell? I couldn’t use it in quick succession, but I could use it without bringing anything along with me, and without making it obvious where the dead body came from.

Hui nodded thoughtfully. I’ll have to reinforce the skin with qi, and carry around extra robes, figure out the blood and hair and… but it’s still better than bringing a bunch of full-size Huis with me everywhere. Hmm… it’s not a bad start.

How do I get the skin off me, though?

His eyes flashed. Easy! The clothes-cleaning technique! I’ll have to do it more delicately, but… I’ve got a few years to spare! Practice makes perfect!

He took off his outer robes and folded them neatly, not wanting to destroy his final remaining piece of clothing if the technique failed or went sideways. Standing in the cave, naked as the day he was born, he closed his eyes. He gathered his qi under his top layer of skin, then pushed it outward rapidly, cutting the skin away from his body. It stung, but not horribly. He flinched, frowning.

At last, the qi circulated under his skin over his whole body. Alright, like a cicada! Make a cut, and step through it! Hui slashed outward with his qi.

His skin burst. Atomized. Dead skin blasted through the air, tiny dust-particle fragments that coated everything around him in a thin film. The blast revealed bare, tender pink skin beneath. Hui took a step and flinched, frozen. The slightest breeze from walking burned his entire body, every inch raw and sore. Ah, hurts, hurts, hurts! My whole body feels like a popped blister!

I was so close, though! What am I doing wrong?