Hui hurried over to Si Wang’s side. “Elder Brother, how impressive! Handling that dangerous demon so easily…”

“I merely used an artifact. Simply one of my many artifacts,” Si Wang said haughtily, flicking his hair again. He glanced at Hui, watching his reaction.

It’s obvious you’re showing off, Elder Brother. Sighing internally, Hui put on an amazed face. “Wow! Senior must have a great number of artifacts at hand!”

“Hmph! You haven’t even seen half of them!” Si Wang said, smiling a little despite himself.

I… haven’t even seen half of them? Elder Brother, that’s suspicious emphasis for referring to a single one of your artifacts. Could it be that Elder Brother only has four or so artifacts…? Perhaps even… as few as three?

No, no. Surely not. I’m sure Elder Brother just used awkward phrasing. After all, he’s an old, old cultivator! He doubtless has hundreds of techniques and artifacts to hand. Unlike a poor cultivator like me, who… currently has no artifacts, but does have an inheritance maze full of artifacts I received in return for my healing prowess…

Si Wang unslung the net and poked the now-tiny resentment demon. It squirmed, its whole body uncomfortably mobile, as if it were made of a thousand worms. Little hands reached through the net and batted his finger back. Pushed by the force of its reach, the resentment demon swung gently in the net. Hundreds of little arms grabbed at the air uselessly.

It’s even more adorable! A little squicky, but still cute. Creepy-cute, Hui thought, smiling to himself.

Turning to Hui, Si Wang nodded. “I’ve captured it. Weren’t you going to speak to it?”

“Ah, that’s right, that’s right. Elder Sibling, could you please tell me if there’s anything we could do to help you?” Hui asked, smiling at the demon.

“That’s it? That’s your grand plan?” Si Wang asked skeptically.

“It’s step one,” Hui said, still smiling. A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step! There’s no need to try the most difficult thing first if the easiest thing might work!

The resentment demon looked at Hui. Its mouth opened, splitting the melon-sized ball in two. It let out a squeaky roar.

“Oh dear. It’s too cute,” Hui murmured.

“What was that?” Si Wang asked.

Shit! Did I say that aloud? Hui coughed. “That is, let’s move on to the next attempt to communicate.”

He held his hand out to the ball of resentment and pressed his qi toward it. I know I drew death qi out of you. Can I communicate to you with death qi?

The resentment demon perked up. All its hands reached out toward the death qi. It threw itself toward Hui, momentarily swinging toward him only to reach the limits of the net and roll back. It flew back and forth helplessly, reaching for the death qi at the apex of each swing.

Oh? So it likes death qi? Interesting. Hui retracted his death qi. The resentment demon drooped. He extended it, and it reached out again, eager, almost hungry.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“If you talk to me, I’ll give you the death qi,” Hui told it.

The resentment demon retracted its arms. It wriggled in place, crossing and uncrossing its arms repeatedly. Various arms on its body gestured, some lifting into the air with open palms, others shrugging, a few waving their hands, while some closed the fist as if to make a head and shook themselves back and forth.

Hui raised his eyebrows. This little resentment demon… does it have multiple personalities?

Wait, no! That makes perfect sense. The resentment demons are the combination of a great many peoples’ resentment. Both times I created… er, that is, both times a resentment demon happened to condense, they formed in places where dozens, if not hundreds, of people suddenly died. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that resentment demons would have scraps of all those people’s personalities, all conflicting inside of it.

In that case, the current barrier to communication isn’t that they can’t communicate, or that they don’t want to… it’s that they’re trying to reach consensus on whether to communicate with me or not! With so many people balled up into one, it must take forever to decide anything!

Hui sat back, nodding. He put a hand on his chin.

“Have you failed?” Si Wang asked. He held out his hand, and a sword materialized in his palm.

All the hands reached out toward the sword, moving to block it.

“No, no! Elder Brother, wait. Let them think it over!” Hui said, putting a hand out to block Si Wang’s strike.

Si Wang stepped back. “Think it over?”

“Yes, yes. Give them a minute.”

Si Wang frowned, but lowered his sword. The resentment demon hesitated a moment, then lowered its hands. It began gesturing again, going back to its internal debate.

He nodded at Hui. “You think this mindless demon… has a mind?”

Hui nodded.

“It’s a ball of pure resentment. There’s nothing left of the original souls. When they transmute into resentment—”

Hui shook his head. “No, no. They leave behind death qi, too.”

“They lose their minds. They lose their rationality and devolve into less than evil spirits. There’s no way for them to think rationally. I merely allowed you to attempt to communicate so you could learn this truth,” Si Wang said, frustrated.

“But Elder Brother, isn’t that what you learned when the Heavenly Dao was in full effect?” Hui pointed out.

Si Wang frowned at him.

“As Elder Brother said, karma is breaking down. The natural order of things is disintegrating. Even entire mortal villages are vanishing off the face of the earth. Just because resentment would have destroyed their souls originally, doesn’t mean it does now, now that the Heavenly Dao is eroding,” Hui said, nodding.

Taken aback, Si Wang blinked at him. “You… think these resentment demons still hold all the original souls?”

“I don’t see why not. Everything is possible when the Heavenly Dao erodes, and it has specifically eroded away from them. We won’t know until we try to communicate,” Hui said, shrugging.

Si Wang stared at the ball. “If souls are trapped inside, they face a fate worse than death, trapped upon the mortal world, unable to move on or enter reincarnation…”

“Indeed, a fate worse than death, forever trapped next to one’s neighbors and unable to move away,” Hui murmured. If I had to be physically strapped next to the noisy, nonstop-partying, ceiling- and wall-thumping neighbors I had back in my father’s apartment in my first life for the rest of existence, I’d be pretty pissed, too!

Si Wang regarded the ball for a moment, then raised his hand to his chin. “It looks like a melon.”

“Huh?” Hui asked.

Si Wang nodded. “Have you ever carried a melon in a net? Or a gourd, perhaps?”

Hui turned. He regarded the ball. “Huh.” It looks like a very maggot-infested or hairy melon, but I can see it. The motion on the surface is a bit… I don’t think I’d eat that.

Si Wang’s stomach grumbled.

Hui shot a look at the other man from the corner of his eye. “Elder Brother…”

“No, no. I’m not going to eat it,” Si Wang said, licking his lips.

Elder Brother could be a bit more convincing! Hui thought, pressing his lips together.

Two hands raised on the top of the ball, then three, then four, then five. An entire forest of hands lifted off the surface of the ball. The mouth opened, and the resentment demon let out a quiet yip.

“You’re ready to talk to us?” Hui asked.

The hands atop the head all bobbed up, then down, then up again.

I’ll take that as a yes. Hui smiled. “So, Elder Sibling, can you tell me? What can we do, to help assuage your resentment?”