“Elder Sister, I’m going this way,” Hui said, gesturing toward his quarters. Right now, I need to head back topside and check in on my children, encourage them to keep growing. Once they have a reasonable comprehension of the importance of running for help and working on growing their ability to run away, I can focus on some of my personal objectives.

The reaper sighed. She shook her head. “You should spend some time here. Get to know the clerks and the Underworld.”

“I’m spending all my time here, Elder Sister, it’s just that I have to recover. I’m still getting over having died horribly,” Hui said, looking shyly at the floor.

“Your death wasn’t that bad. It was splitting your soul into pieces ahead of time that caused so many problems,” the reaper said.

Hui scratched the back of his head. “Ah ha!”

“Don’t you ‘ah-ha’ me,” the reaper grumbled. She shook her head and walked off. “Don’t cause any problems!”

“I never cause problems!” Hui said, aghast at the suggestion.

“Any more problems,” the reaper clarified, waving her hand as she vanished around the corner.

Hui shook his head. I haven’t caused any problems for the reaper! …That she knows about. Probably. I mean, I did make the resentment demons, but she doesn’t know that. Again… probably.

Oh well. For now, let’s head back to the surface and check in on Bai Xingxue and Li Weiqi. If I can get them to start studying seriously, I can rest on that task for a while and focus on my many other tasks.

It’d be nice to have some clones to help me get the jobs done… but this small cultivator has learned his lesson about clones! Until I have a better clone technique that doesn’t shatter my soul, I’ll be the only Hui around!

Stepping into his quarters, Hui glanced around the spartan space. White walls, stone floor, nothing remarkable at all. The reaper is right. I do need to spend more time down here. Get to know people. Figure out what’s going on with the Underworld, and Si Wang, and Zhu Diyu.

But first, back to my children!

Now familiar with the process of returning to the mortal world his way, Hui quickly settled into a meditative pose and sent himself upwards.

Back to Starbound Sect! Back to…

Er, whoops. Did I drop a seed in Starbound Sect?

Dammit. I should have—

The seed he’d left in All-Heavens Sect called out to him, drawing strongly at his soul, but in the distance, other seeds called out weakly. In the star-ridden darkness, they appeared barely a single shade above the black background.

Huh. I’ll give it a shot. Hui sent himself toward the dark seeds.

Sunlight. Warmth. He waved gently on the breeze, soaking up the sun. Hui relaxed, enjoying the moment. This is nice. I could do this forever.

Wait, no. I have things to do! Hui shook himself, forcing himself to move. His limbs twitched, and then white hot pain slammed into him from all sides.

Hot! Hot! What is this? It hurts, it hurts! Hui tore himself out of the body he’d spawned into. He hovered above it, looking down on it as a soul.

A white lotus bobbled in a shallow pond beside the familiar hut, in a line with dozens of other lotuses. Their petals sparkled with white powder, their seeds unusually large.

Oh. These are the lotus clones I was growing before I died. But they’re inundated with life qi, so they hurt to use.

Huh? But I could use them before, when my soul was still dead. What was different then? He looked at his spectral hands and frowned. Is it because I technically qualified as alive? Or was it something unique about my original body, that served as a sort of anchor I could use to manipulate life qi, even when I was no longer in it? Or maybe… it’s because my soul was dead, but also alive, and so… Hui bit his lip, then shook his head. I’ll figure that out later. For now, let’s simply focus on actually becoming alive, instead of playing alive!

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He circulated his qi and held his hand out. A black seed spawned, then began to drop. Before it hit the ground, Hui flew into it and pressed himself outward. The seed sprouted. From a pale white tendril, to a single dark leaf, to a man, all in the space of a few breaths. Leaves wrapped around Hui’s bare feet, rapidly forming into boots, and he landed on the ground.

“I’m back! Again,” he said, stretching. Freedom, sweet freedom!

A quiet but fierce hiss caught his ear. Hui turned.

White scales. Dark eyes. A purplish-pink tongue flicked out.

“Zhubi?” Hui asked.

The eyes widened. The massive snake suddenly diminished down to his usual size, then leaped off the ground and flew toward Hui. With a happy hiss, Zhubi wrapped himself around Hui’s neck and nuzzled his cheek.

“Zhubi! Were you guarding my grave?” Hui asked, gently petting Zhubi’s head.

Zhubi hissed again. He wrapped around Hui’s fingers and held tight, glaring into Hui’s eyes.

“Ah… I’m sorry for leaving you behind. I didn’t have a choice,” Hui said. I didn’t want to die, Zhubi. Believe me!

Zhubi bumped Hui’s nose with his snout, then shook his head and settled back down, releasing Hui’s hand.

“I might not be able to stay with you forever yet, Zhubi, but I’ll be back,” Hui promised. “And until then… shall we go check on my kids?”

Zhubi let out a derisive snort.

“What? You don’t like them?” Hui asked, tilting his head.

Zhubi pushed off Hui’s neck and leaped to the ground. He transformed in midair. A boy in white robes with white hair much longer than his body landed on the ground. Since the last time Hui had seen Zhubi’s human form, it now seemed a year or so older in appearance. Most notably, though, Zhubi now wore his hair wrapped around his neck, with the very ends tied together with a loose snakeskin ribbon.

He gestured for Hui to follow. Curious, Hui obeyed. Like that, the two of them descended the mountain, Zhubi leaping from stone to stone, Hui following. Zhubi hopped rather than jumping. His robes curled tight around his legs, and he preferred to keep his legs together when he moved, never taking big steps.

“You know, you have legs now,” Hui said, tilting his head.

Zhubi paused, perched with both feet clutching a rock. He looked up at Hui, tilting his head in return.

Hui shook his head. “Never mind.” He was born a snake, and he’s still a snake in his heart. There’s no need to convince him to act like a human. If he wants to hop around, go ahead! It’s adorable, anyways. Like watching a puppy bounce around.

Nodding, Zhubi bounced on down the rocky mountainside, the tail end of his hair bobbing along after him. Hui followed along, walking quietly after the hopping snake boy.

At the bottom of the mountain, Zhubi glanced left and right, then raised a hand and stepped through, lifting the barrier like a curtain. Hui stepped through behind him, and the two of them stepped out into the sect and onto the old path toward the training ground at the bottom of the mountains.

As they walked toward the training ground, a stone suddenly hurtled out of the woods toward Zhubi. Hui jumped, reaching for it, but Zhubi darted out his hand like a snake striking its prey and caught it first. The stone thumped into the palm of his hand. He looked at it, then held it up to Hui.

Hui took it. A Go stone. Polished and worn, still warm with a spark of qi.

He blinked, startled. “But… why?” Why is Li Weiqi attacking Zhubi?

Zhubi shook his head and shrugged at Hui. He made a shooing gesture with both hands, indicating for Hui to stand back.

Hui obeyed, leaping silently into the upper branches of a nearby tree.

A second later, Li Weiqi burst out of the woods. He pointed a curled thumb at Zhubi, ready to flick another stone at him. “Graverobber!”

Zhubi hissed. He shook his head.

“I’m not even allowed on father’s peak. Why can you run freely all over it? What are you doing up there, anyways? Stealing father’s inheritance? You’re always up there. And no one tells me anything!” Li Weiqi shouted.

Shaking his head, Zhubi put his hands up.

Hui put a hand on his chin. Er… it seems like I might have given my child daddy issues, despite—or rather, because I wasn’t there. My apologies, son! I’ll have to make up for it, once I’m truly alive again.

“Stop! Don’t take another step. I’m not letting you back on father’s peak, never again. Duel me like a man! We’re the same age, aren’t we?” Li Weiqi snapped.

Zhubi backed away. He shook his head.

No, actually… I know he looks childish, but Zhubi has a few hundred years on you… Hui thought to himself.

A second later, his eyes widened. Wait! Hold on! Isn’t this exactly what I wanted? This—this is the motivation my son needs to begin cultivating in earnest! From atop the tree, he peeled a bit of bark away and flung it at Zhubi, throwing it just hard enough to get the snake’s attention.

The bark bounced off Zhubi’s white hair. Zhubi rubbed his head. He shot a reproachful look up at Hui, as if asking, why is everyone throwing things at me today?

Hui mimed punching, then gave a thumbs up and nodded.

Zhubi frowned, taken aback. He opened his mouth and pretended to swallow something.

Eyes wide, Hui shook his head hard. Plucking a leaf from the tree, he batted at it gently with his hand, then showed Zhubi the whole leaf. Gently. Gently teach him how powerful you are! Show him the heavens beyond heaven, but… but not in an overly painful way!

Another Go stone bounced off Zhubi. He flinched and turned, annoyed.

“Don’t ignore me,” Li Weiqi snapped. “Fight me!”

With one last glance at Hui to be sure, Zhubi shrugged. He shuffled forward, still unwilling to take big steps.