Qian Liqiu scoffed. “If you have not the confidence to face death, then begone.”
“Senior, I have already faced death. Small cultivator is dead. I can’t die any more!” Hui tried.
“You can. Soul death,” Qian Liqiu stated.
Hui prostrated deeper. “Senior is far too intelligent, ah, Senior’s knowledge is truly boundless! Senior, please, is there any other way small cultivator can prove his worthiness? Small cultivator has no desire to die!”
“Without dying, there is no route forward,” Qian Liqiu stated.
Hui opened his mouth to protest, then paused. Wait, wait, I’m thinking of this wrong. Qian Liqiu is a phoenix. She doesn’t see death in the same way as us mere mortals. For phoenixes, who die and are reborn in an endless cycle, is death merely another way of telling me that we need to transform? You cannot do this as you are now—is that what she’s trying to tell me?
Qian Liqiu stared at him. She tilted her head slightly.
Hui straightened to his feet, dusting his robes off. “Senior, I think I understand.”
“Did I give you the right to stand?” Qian Liqiu demanded.
Dropping back to his knees, Hui continued undeterred. “If that is what you mean, then I am ready to die.”
She nodded. “Then we can cooperate. If you do, indeed, walk the Dao of Reincarnation, then this will be a good experience for you.”
“And if I don’t?” Hui asked, before he could stop himself.
Unblinkingly, she stared at him as if she stared at a bug. “You die.”
Ah… small cultivator saw that coming! Hui sighed. But… my dao…
My Dao. To walk the path of reincarnation… is that it? I…
A shiver ran down his spine. A glimmer of thought wriggled into his brain, half-thought. My Dao… is something like that. Almost… almost that! But—to die and reincarnate, as a phoenix does. If I can accomplish that… putting aside my Dao, that’s an incredible step forward! I’d be almost… almost… immortal! Not Immortal, but immortal. Or at least, very difficult to kill. To succeed here, to master a phoenix’s reincarnation technique… who could kill me?
Ah, no. I’m sure that a great many Seniors, and certainly Immortals, could kill me. Law-level attacks are always dangerous, and of course, it doesn’t matter what techniques I have if someone can inflict bodily- and soul-destruction in a single blow. But as for petty attackers… I would no longer have to worry about someone attacking my poor dead body after I played dead! Wonderful, wonderful. I can’t pass this up. An opportunity to learn such an advanced form of death-faking and death-reversal!
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Death reversal…
Dangerous. It’s definitely dangerous! Risking my life to advance my Dao… I never thought I’d stand at this crossroads. I never thought I’d reach such a dangerous place in my life, where I considered risking my precious little life to grow! Growing stronger is secondary to survival. Growing stronger is meaningless if I lose my poor little life!
But no, it’s not only my Dao. For the sake of my children. For the sake of escaping to the mortal realm. There’s much at stake right now, far beyond this small cultivator. I’m risking this little life for their sake, not merely for the sake of my Dao!
He took a deep breath. “Thank you for your guidance.”
A small smile spread over Qian Liqiu’s face, though she didn’t show her teeth. She gestured with her fingers, flicking to indicate he should rise.
Hui climbed to his feet again. Just to be safe, he clasped hands to Qian Liqiu before fully rising.
She flipped her hair over her shoulder, giving no indication of her response to his actions. Turning, she walked away. “We will cooperate with you. We will trust you. Ensure we do not regret this, or we may come to regret ever cooperating with humanity. And then…”
“What a pitiful existence that would be,” Hui murmured. This isn’t a world where a single race can credibly make a threat like that, aside from dragons, perhaps. Humans are powerful enough to kill whatever they don’t like. Phoenixes… even if they turned against humanity, what’s to stop another cultivator from pulling the same thing Huo Fenghuang did? Or worse.
Rather than someone to be feared, Qian Liqiu is someone to be pitied.
Qian Liqiu paused. She looked over her shoulder. “Do you categorize everyone you meet into those buckets? Someone to be feared, or someone to be pitied?”
Hui blinked. He opened his mouth, then shut it.
“Xiao Hui… of the two, which are you?” she asked quietly. Her eyes burned with a wisdom well beyond her apparent eighteen years.
“Obviously… someone to be pitied!” Hui insisted, nodding. Feared? This small cultivator? Never, never!
“And if I asked your enemies?” Qian Liqiu asked.
Hui scratched the back of his head. He laughed, lightly. “Ah, Senior… well, most of them are dead.”
Qian Liqiu harrumphed. “And you’re still someone to be pitied?”
“Of course, of course!” Hui said. Me, feared? Senior is being ridiculous. There’s no reason to fear me. I go out of my way to avoid killing. I go out of my way to avoid both conflict and creating enemies! Naturally, between fear and pity, I’m one to be pitied!
“So unaware,” Qian Liqiu murmured.
“Of everyone, I’m the most aware!” Hui said, shaking his head. A beat later, he waved his hands. “Ah, I mean, merely, I’m aware, Senior, I’m aware! I wouldn’t dare claim to be first.”
She tossed her hair and walked off, ignoring him completely. “Prepare yourself. It will not be easy. Huo Fenghuang will fight it. You must be strong enough to wrest us free. Even if we assist you, we cannot do this alone.”
Hui nodded. He bowed to her back, waiting while she faded out of existence. Once again, he stood alone in Huo Fenghuang’s dantian, aside from the death ducks and the singular life qi songbird. Right. If they could break free on their own, they would have done it long ago. I have to play my part.
And I know exactly the part to play.