The figure in black all but dragged him up a narrow set of stairs hidden behind a wall. Hui casually dropped his new lotus seed in the darkness of the corner of the wall, then followed after her, hurrying to avoid tripping up the stairs. Her grip tightened on his wrist to the point that his hand hung uselessly, and his wrist turned red, but she didn’t seem to notice.

Does she hate this Little Flame to such an extent? Ahh, I should have never mentioned Little Flame. I should have sat out Senior’s walkthrough, then gone looking for Little Flame on my own.

Though… I would have taken forever to find these stairs, so maybe it’s fine.

As long as Senior doesn’t kill me, that is!

Dragging Hui, she stomped up the stairs and down an equally narrow hallway. Doors stretched on either side, and occasionally, moans and soft noises emerged from them. Hui licked his lips. Er. Ah. I think I understand. Did I ask a prostitute to take me to meet another prostitute? No wonder she’s angry. Not that I intended to sleep with either of them, but… well, pride in one’s profession is something I’ve certainly seen before.

“Senior, I—I think you’re misunderstanding something,” Hui tried.

The woman in black didn’t respond.

Hui bit his lips. Mmm… that’s the kind of silence where the best move is not to move! He shut his mouth and followed along, over the creaky wooden floor to the end of the dimly lit hallway.

A lone door stood at the hallway’s end. The woman in black knocked on it. “Little Flame, someone to see you.”

“Another? I’m so tired,” a soft voice whispered.

“Last one for today,” the woman in black declared, and stomped in, dragging Hui.

“No, no, it’s really, there’s no rush, if she’s tired, I can come back tomorrow—” Hui stopped short.

A pretty girl in loose robes of red and yellow sat at the far end of the room, her hair ornately decorated with twists and pins depicting flowers and butterflies. Aside from her unusual pallor, he could have mistaken her for a prostitute anywhere, absolutely ordinary, if beautiful.

Except for the crawling, cracked marks up her arms and side, slowly smoking away while fire licked at the edges of the burned flesh.

Hui’s eyes widened. He yanked out of the woman’s grasp and ran to Little Flame’s side. “This… you, too?”

“Too?” Little Flame asked exhaustedly, tilting her head. Big, limpid eyes stared into his.

Hui knelt down beside her. Carefully, he drew aside his outer robes. The woman in black startled forward, but stopped herself at the last moment, allowing him to bare his stomach. I’m in a clone state, so the fire hasn’t had long to burn, but simultaneously, I don’t have the Sanzu’s water to suppress them. They should be there!

Small flames flickered in his stomach, following the path of the mark Han Qin had cut.

Little Flame gasped. She looked up at Hui, her tired gaze changing to pity. “I’m so sorry.”

Looming over the both of them, the woman in black let out a sudden laugh. “I thought you were like all the rest, coming here to use Little Flame. Instead, you’re the same as her. Infected with that horrible phoenix fire.”

She bowed to Hui. “My apologies for treating you roughly.”

“No, no. I understand, of course, of course,” Hui said. Little Flame has it far worse than me, and she’s being used as the source of all flame in this town? Of course she dragged me around like that! Now I understand.

He pressed his lips together, looking over Little Flame. “Elder Sister, I know a way to suppress the flames, but… I’m not sure it will work for you.”

“The Sanzu’s water?” Little Flame guessed.

Hui nodded. “Then it’s no good.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“No. I, too, would wash away with the flames,” she said, lifting her arm toward the moonlight that streamed in through the single window in her room. Where the moonlight fell on her hand, it turned from delicate flesh to pale bone.

“Ah,” Hui said, nodding. She’s a dead spirit of some kind. To touch the Sanzu would be equivalent to moving on. If she doesn’t want to do that, then there’s no way to deal with the flames… and even moving on is only temporary, if what Han Qin told me is true.

“There’s no hope for us,” Little Flame sighed.

“No. I refuse to believe that! Little Flame, these flames must have come from somewhere. Where did you get infected? If I can follow these flames back to their source, I may have a chance of destroying them,” Hui said, looking into her eyes.

She blinked at him and raised her sleeve to cover her mouth. Her eyes darted to the woman in black.

She’s asking that woman for permission? Hmm. It seems my escort is no mere prostitute, Hui noted to himself.

The woman in black laughed. “He’s offering to help you for nothing, Little Flame. You should take this opportunity.”

“Yes, Madame Black Dragon,” Little Flame said.

Hui startled. He half-jumped up, then toppled over backward and instantly played dead, unable to process doing anything else through the shock. Eh? The Black Dragon herself is the one who led me here? What? The—the leader of the gambling den? The mob boss herself? The, the, the ultimate collector of all debt, the one who indebts all she sees? She—led me, touched me, I—I can’t afford this! I’m going to die, I’m going to die for real!

Little Flame recoiled, drawing her robes over her burn scars. “Eh?”

Snorting, the Black Dragon nudged Hui with her foot. “Now, now. There’s no need to panic. I bear you no ill will.”

With some effort, Hui forced himself to sit upright and stop playing dead. “No… no need to panic?” he repeated.

The Black Dragon laughed, lifting her sleeve over her mouth. She nodded. “I want to repay a favor I owe you.”

“Eh?” Hui asked, perking up. I’m the one who’s owed the debt? But… what is it? I’ve never seen this Black Dragon before in my life. I would’ve remembered a man or woman this much taller than me! She’s even taller than Bai Xue! Neither have I ever helped a black snake or dragon of any description. So why does she say she owes me?

Brows furrowed, he peeked at Black Dragon. “Eh, Senior, are… are you sure you have the right person?”

“Yes,” she said unhesitatingly.

She’s sure. She’s really sure! If she’s that sure, I suppose I’ll believe her. Hui shrugged to himself, then turned back to Little Flame. “Elder Sister, please. Can you recall how this happened? I’m searching for the source, to discover a way to remove these flames once and for all. If you can recall where you were infected, I might have a clue as to where their source is.”

“What about you? Where were you infected?” Little Flame asked timidly.

Hui sighed. “A man named Han Qin attacked me with phoenix fire. Although it comes from the same ultimate source as your flames, it’s an impure version… there aren’t even visible phoenixes in the fire! Yours is much purer, and thus, closer to the source than my flames.”

Little Flame climbed to her feet. “It’ll be faster if I show you.”

“Then, shall I take us all together?” Black Dragon offered. She flicked her sleeve, throwing out a skein of black silk. It floated in midair, waiting for them to board.

Drawing a veil over her head, Little Flame hopped onto the silk. Hui followed her up, and Black Dragon climbed on the rear. She waved her hand, and the window opened. The silk flew out the window, and the three of them flew over the raucous streets.

“Senior Black Dragon, are you… a dragon?” Hui asked.

She chuckled. “If I am?”

“No, no. I’m merely wondering why Senior is here,” Hui said.

“Here in the Night Market, you mean?” Black Dragon asked.

Hui nodded. “Er, if you don’t mind, of course.”

Black Dragon sighed. “I failed in my Immortal ascension and fell down from the Heavens. Half charred to death by the Heavenly Tribulation, I hovered in between life and death. I probably would have died, but…”

She looked down, cradling her arms. “I had eggs in my belly. I wanted to ascend before they were born so they could begin life as dragons rather than struggling in the mortal realm as snakes or carp or… whatever they might be. Although I failed in that, my desire to live at least long enough to give birth to my children kept me hovering on the brink of death even as my cultivation failed and my body rotted. In the end, I gave birth to a single beautiful egg before I fell here, no longer a mortal nor an Immortal, neither alive nor dead.”

She lifted her sleeve, showing him her forearm. From her wrist to her elbow, black scales crawled over her skin, except where the flesh rotted away entirely to show white bone.

“Oh,” Hui said, startled. So she’s an undead pseudo-dragon, a dragon who failed to ascend to become a true dragon. I can probably consider her a flood dragon, or something equivalent. Still incredibly powerful, but not as powerful as an Immortal.

Not that flood dragons are anything to shake a stick at! She’s still at least at the eighth realm, if not ninth. No… since she failed ascension, she reached tenth realm at least once! Although her failed ascension will have set her back, she might have clawed her way up to ninth or tenth realm again in the years since!

Hui coughed. “How long ago was that?”

“Hmm? Three hundred… a little over three hundred years, now. Perhaps closer to three hundred and fifty,” Black Dragon said, putting her hand on her chin.

“Your child… was he a small snake with brown patterns on his back?” Hui asked. He’s all white now, but initially…

Black Dragon smiled mysteriously.

Ah. I think I understand now. The debt she’s repaying… it’s for helping Zhubi, isn’t it? If I’m understanding right, then I’ve just met Zhubi’s mother! Hui nodded to himself, a hand on his chin. To think, Zhubi’s mother was such an important figure!