Hui stepped out into the Underworld. The rings chased ahead of him, burning through the space. Taking a deep breath, he gazed out across the dark, stony expanse. Unlike the Night Market, where I had the Black Dragon on my side, here, I face off against Zhu Diyu. I’m seventh realm now, but Zhu Diyu… I suspect he’s ninth realm, if not some kind of deviant Immortal.

“Now the Underworld?” a cool voice asked quietly.

Startled, Hui whirled.

Black Dragon stood beside him, eyes shut, arms folded across her chest. She tilted her head at him.

Hui dipped into a short bow. “Thank you for your assistance, Senior.”

She raised a hand, accepting his bow. “So?”

Standing, he gazed out across the dark realm once more. He took a deep breath. “Yes. Now the Underworld.”

“Why?” Black Dragon asked.

“Because Zhu Diyu wants me to break the net,” Hui replied simply.

“So instead you decided to burn down the entire Underworld?” she asked, smiling slightly.

“Mmm. Senior, do you know a better way out of the Underworld? One that isn’t an obvious trap,” Hui asked

“If I knew, wouldn’t I have already left?” she asked, tipping her head toward him.

He looked upward. “Though… I still don’t have an answer to the net. It’s just…”

“Hmm?” Black Dragon asked.

Hui looked at her from the corner of his eyes. “Senior, will the net show up… if someone who isn’t an Immortal attempts to enter the mortal realm?”

Black Dragon laughed. She shook her head. “You saw through his ruse, huh?”

“Ah… well, it was a bit suspicious. I’ve seen the net before, but only when Immortals interfere with the mortal realm. Small cultivator had entered the mortal realm many times without ever seeing the net. For such a small cultivator as myself to suddenly see it in a moment of desperation… is that not suspicious?” Hui said, spreading his hands.

She chuckled. “Indeed, indeed.”

Although… given that Senior is on the verge of ascension, or was… can Black Dragon enter the mortal realm without breaking the net? Hui licked his lips. “Er, but Senior—”

Black Dragon raised a hand. “I know. Leave my concerns to me.”

Hui hesitated, uncertain, then nodded. Ah, well, in the end, I may be seventh realm, but Black Dragon is borderline Immortal! If she wants to do something, who am I to stop her?

Though, in the same breath, I’m challenging Zhu Diyu…

Hui looked at the Black Dragon and nodded to himself. That’s why I have Senior! Reliable and steadfast, that’s Senior!

Taking a deep breath, he looked down at the rings. They circulated slowly, the birds chasing one another on the loops of qi. Somewhere in the process, more songbirds had appeared. They fluttered in the inner ring, calling out to one another.

Since this is the Underworld, should I reorder the rings? Hui considered. After all, here, the world is built on death qi, and life qi is dangerous.

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A second later, he shook his head. This may be the realm of the dead, but the realm itself is not dead. What I’m rejuvenating here isn’t the inhabitants of the realm, but the realm itself.

Speaking of… He turned to the Black Dragon. “Could I ask you to gather up the inhabitants again?”

She tilted her head. “Why?”

Hui frowned at her, then turned back to his rings. This… this Dao of mine. It’s more than merely death reversal. The cycle of reincarnation. The loop of life and death. For the souls who are stuck here, unable to proceed through reincarnation… isn’t this what they need? Something to forcibly send them along. Something to clear their regrets and burn them away.

I understand. Hui nodded. A second later, he frowned. “But then… why did Senior gather up the inhabitants of the Night Market?”

Black Dragon waved her hand. “We aren’t mere souls lost in our process of reincarnation. Those of us in the Night Market have such extreme regrets and unfinished karma that we have manifested physical bodies… or brought our bodies down with us. Is it righteous to wipe all that away?”

Hui put a hand on his chin. It would depend on the individual case… but who am I to decide who deserves to right their karma and who doesn’t? Small cultivator is no Lord of the Underworld… and even the Lord of the Underworld failed to handle the Night Market’s inhabitants.

“In any case, I encourage those who can to erase their karmic debts, and those who can’t are invited to gamble it away and lose themselves in the revelry of the Night Market, until they can’t remember any more what they came for. It takes a long time, but I think it’s worth it,” Black Dragon said, nodding to herself.

Hui nodded along. So Black Dragon and the Night Market can be considered the ‘special cases’ division of the Underworld, where all the weird situations that can’t be handled by the standard process of the Underworld are handled. Hmm… it makes sense. Naturally, a special cases division takes longer to process each individual case. If I consider this as an office, then, although it’s somewhat unreasonable to burn up all the paperwork for the standard cases—that is, the souls trapped in the Underworld—it isn’t too unreasonable, because that also solves the standard cases’ problems. To burn up the paperwork for the special cases, which might have spent hours, weeks, months on their cases… now that would be truly unfortunate.

“Then… let’s begin,” Hui declared.

He stepped forward. The rings began to circulate faster, spreading out from his body. They rushed through the Underworld. The death qi ring decayed the rock, the air, the souls themselves. Phoenix fire burned what remained. The final life qi ring sowed sparks amidst the ashes.

“How curious,” Black Dragon said, smiling slightly to herself as she walked alongside Hui, on the inside of the rings.

Hui startled. “Senior! How did you get inside…” He tensed, then abruptly bowed to her. “Please forgive small cultivator for being so unthinking and forgetting to consider Senior! Ah, you were standing right next to me and I still used the technique which can destroy entire worlds…”

“What kind of cultivator would I be if a mere seventh-stage attack could destroy me?” Black Dragon said, snorting. “Don’t worry, child. I have my secrets.”

Hui bowed again just to be sure, then walked on. Though he pretended not to be bothered, on the inside, he sweated, nervous. Oh no. Oh no! Imagine if I had attacked her, if she hadn’t been able to easily deal with the rings! She’d be completely qualified to squash this small bug. Ahhh, I nearly killed myself due to a lack of forethought! I have to be careful, careful at all times! Just because I’m going to save my children doesn’t mean I can get sloppy. And, and, of course, she’s Zhubi’s mother. I don’t want to hurt her!

Across the Underworld, Zhu Diyu looked up from his throne. His gaze pierced across the Underworld. From the edge of the Underworld to its center, he and Hui made eye contact.

Hui bowed elegantly. “Senior, as requested, I’m breaking free of the Underworld.”

“This isn’t what I wanted,” Zhu Diyu growled.

“Whether it is or isn’t, small cultivator isn’t concerned. Ah, but… come to think of it, how could the small buglike actions of someone as lowly as me factor into the plans of someone as magnificent as you?” Hui said, tipping his head and putting a hand on his chin.

Zhu Diyu narrowed his eyes.

“No, no, it couldn’t be. Senior, consider this my last gift to you in my position as reaper,” Hui declared, stepping forward. “Like a good subordinate, I’ll finish up all the work you didn’t want to complete!”

“Hmph,” Zhu Diyu grumbled, leaning back against his throne.

“Or… perhaps, couldn’t complete?” Hui wondered aloud, tapping his cheek.

Zhu Diyu sat bolt upright. His eyes glowed dangerously.

“Ah! No, no. My apologies. Of course, Senior is magnificent and powerful enough that he can complete whatever work he wants to!” Hui said, though this time, there was a mocking note to his voice.

“Mamian,” Zhu Diyu intoned.

“Yes,” the reaper replied, stepping forward beside him.

“That man is alive in the Realm of the Dead. End him.”