Hui burst out into a tight, warm, soft place. Confused, he wiggled, unable to properly expand from his seed. What’s going on? Where am I?

Two pale, slender fingers grasped him, freeing him from his confines. He rustled past the collars of a robe and found himself facing Black Dragon.

Black Dragon smiled. “Look who came back.”

Hui swallowed. He glanced down at the place he’d come from, the neatly crossed collar of a black robe. Er, from the outside, I thought Senior didn’t have curves, but from the inside, I discovered… er, I was mistaken! Hui bowed to Black Dragon. “Please forgive my transgression! Small cultivator knew not where his seed was. I never would have dared to touch—”

“Hmm? Oh, no. I know where I stored you. If it bothered me, why would I have put your seed there?” Black Dragon asked, tilting her head.

“Ah… huh?” Hui asked. What Senior says is reasonable, and yet, at the same time, why do I feel like it’s entirely unreasonable?

She waved her hand. Kneeling, she set him gently on the floor, stepping back to give him room to grow. “I was born a snake. I didn’t have breasts. The concept of finding them attractive or untouchable is alien to me. I bind them so that I don’t trouble others with my indifference.”

“Oh, of course, of course,” Hui said, nodding. Reasonable, yet unreasonable! Senior, you’re troubling me anyways! He circulated his qi, growing back to his usual size in the space of a breath.

Just as he reached full height, Black Dragon stepped forward and hugged him. With her unusual height, his head reached exactly the soft place where his seed had been. She patted him on the head. “Though if they interest you, I am the proprietress of the brothel, after all…”

Hui firmly gripped her arms and pulled himself free of her grip. “Senior, you’re my oldest friend’s mother.”

“Yes, and…?” Black Dragon said, tilting her head.

“I—I can’t see you that way!” Hui protested, taking another step back. There are a great many people who are into MILFs, but, but, she’s Zhubi’s mother! I can’t. I’d never be able to look Zhubi in the eye again!

“What’s a MILF?” Black Dragon asked, frowning at Hui.

Hui stiffened. He looked at her slowly. “Senior, please forget that word.”

“Why?”

Taking a deep breath, Hui shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I have no time to explain. My children are in danger. I need to break free of the Underworld.”

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Black Dragon quirked her eyebrow. “That’s even more difficult from the Night Market than from the Underworld.”

“Ah, well… that is, I have a plan,” Hui confessed humbly. He glanced at Black Dragon. “Senior, could I trouble you for a ride?” I meant to teleport directly to the seed I left beside the phoenix flame, but now that I’m here, I’ll simply walk there. I wasn’t able to sense that seed. It might be defective, or perhaps the flame burned it up, but one way or another, I can’t use it right now.

“Naturally. I’m curious as to how you’re going to break out of the Underworld, anyways,” Black Dragon said.

“No, no. It’s nothing exciting,” Hui said, shaking his head.

“Where do you need a ride to?” Black Dragon asked.

“I need Senior’s assistance to return to the phoenix fire’s source quickly,” Hui requested.

Black Dragon raised her eyebrows. “It sounds like you’re about to do something interesting.”

“No, no. Not this small cultivator,” Hui said, shaking his head.

Snorting, Black Dragon led the way through the crowd, back to the door. Stepping outside, she flicked her sleeve, unspooling her skein of black silk, and the two of them stepped atop it. “You don’t need Little Fire this time?”

“We shouldn’t need to disturb her,” Hui said.

With a final nod, Black Dragon took off, almost instantly compressing into a beam of sword light. The wind rushed past, and the land zipped by below them. Hui grabbed onto Black Dragon’s hips instinctively, squinting against the headwind. Even though he exuded some qi to protect himself, the wind still whipped into him. Too fast! We’re going too fast.

But… I can’t ask her to slow down. The sooner I finish this and get to my children, the better!

The edge of the world rapidly approached. This time, rather than pausing there, Black Dragon zoomed around the edge and under the slab of earth, flying him directly toward the ball of flames. Hui looked at her, confused. Why this time? Why not last time?

She glanced over her shoulder. “I’ve already heard the narration. I didn’t want to hear it again.”

Hui raised his eyebrows and nodded. Ah, that makes sense. No one likes repeated voiceovers. I, too, mashed the skip button on video games… or rather, I always cheered for my father’s ‘friends’ to hit the skip button whenever they repeatedly had to watch a boss’s cutscene.

As they approached, Fen Long’s voice started up again. Hui glanced up, then ignored it. You’d think he’d have set it up to only play once per person. But who knows? Maybe magic formations aren’t that programmable. I certainly haven’t managed much more than simple setups with talismans, but then, I haven’t tried magic formations yet. I can’t say for sure.

The fire burned on, as it ever did. Phoenixes whirled amongst the flames, living for mere moments before they fell back into the fire. The inferno completely consumed the woman. Not even a shadow of her form could be seen.

Black Dragon hovered nearby, watching on with her eyes shut. “So? What do you intend to do?”

“Fix this,” Hui said. He stepped off the skein of silk and approached the flames, pausing as it grew too hot for his fifth-realm body. He glanced up, then reached into the nook where he’d hidden the lotus seed. A warm lotus seed fell into his hand, perfectly roasted and ready to be eaten.

Hui sighed. I can’t use this. It’s food now, not a seed.

Ha… I guess I should have seen that coming. I left a seed over a fire… of course it cooked! Hmm. If I leave a seed here again, I should do it a little further from the phoenix flame, so it won’t cook up. He shook his head at himself, chuckling a little.

“Oh, thank you.” A hand with black-painted fingernails dipped in front of his face and snatched away the seed. Casually, Black Dragon peeled it and threw it in her mouth.

Hui stared, wide-eyed. Is that okay? Is it really okay?

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