The flaming stone and the brilliant white sword light struck the orb. White and red light swept out, flashing one, then the other, then one, then the other. The two attacks drilled into the side of the orb, piercing through its crystalline shell.

The orb cracked.

“Keep attacking!” Hui shouted. He slammed his hand forward, sending his qi into the crack. While they attack, I’ll destroy her self-healing function on the inside. We’ll attack her within and without, and destroy her utterly!

Shue Yinyue’s qi rushed forth to fix the crack in the shell, but even as she reached the crack, Hui was already there. Death ducks flapped into the crack, swooping through the blood qi inside.

“Ha! You think that’s enough to stop me?” Shue Yinyue sent a wave of qi at Hui’s ducks. Instantly, they plumped. Fat and lazy, they drifted back to Hui.

“Of course not, Elder Sister, of course not,” Hui said. Naturally, as a high-realm demonic cultivator, she has methods for dealing with death qi. But that isn’t the only thing I have at my beck and call. Calling forth a death duck, he waved his hand. A strand of rot qi emerged from its beak, and he carefully threaded it through the hole in the shell. He led the rot qi to glom onto her blood qi, letting it infect the dense qi within.

“What is this?” Shue Yinyue asked, startled.

“Nothing, nothing,” Hui said. He spread the rot qi around, encouraging it to eat into her blood qi reserves inside the blood crystal shell.

Shue Yinyue sent a wave of qi at the rot qi, but all it did was continue to spread. She pulled away from the rot-qi-infected part of her qi. Unwilling to let her escape so easily, Hui sent the rot qi after her, chasing her down inside the orb.

“Now, Bai Xue, Li Xiang! She’s distracted!” Hui called.

Outside the orb, Bai Xue and Li Xiang’s attacks intensified. The crack snapped across the entire orb, bursting through the shell. Bits and pieces of crystallized blood burst off.

“Li Xiang, you first, me second!” Bai Xue shouted.

Li Xiang’s eyes flashed. She drew back and slashed again.

The crystal shell burst in two. Two pieces flew apart, revealing the loose, rotting blood qi.

Hui quickly retracted his rot qi. I think I’ll hold on to this.

Shue Yinyue burst forth, sending blood qi flying outward. Even as she did, Bai Xue swung again. His blazing-hot weapon split Shue Yinyue’s blood qi in two, and seared half of it dry, killing it off. Only a handful remained.

Embedded in the remaining handful, the dark orb glimmered in the sunlight.

“There!” Hui shouted, pointing.

Shue Yinyue quickly wrapped her qi around the orb. “You won’t take it from me!” She darted for the teleportation formation.

The formation lit up, preparing to activate. Hui wrinkled his nose. I suppose she really did contact whoever was waiting to activate the teleportation formation on the other side. Luckily it’s one-way… though that’s necessary, isn’t it, since it needs to be hidden? A two-way formation would have a massive qi signature on both sides.

But that’s not important right now!

Li Xiang sprinted after the little red ball. Bai Xue flew for it. It out-sped both of them, rocketing toward the teleportation formation. “It’s too late. Your children belong to me!”

Hui threw his hand out. “Now!”

From the sky, a majestic phoenix dropped down and snagged the dark orb out of the ball of blood qi. Startled, Shue Yinyue turned about, trying to recapture the orb.

Hui laughed. “Not a chance!” He snapped his fingers.

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Rot qi exploded in what little remained of Shue Yinyue’s blood qi. Her attempt to turn fizzled, and she rolled out-of-control into the activated teleportation formation. A brilliant flash lit the forest, and she vanished.

The phoenix shifted, turning from bird to beautiful young woman. Qian Liqiu landed delicately on the ground. Turning to Hui, she held out the dark orb to him.

“Thank you, Senior,” Hui said, carefully accepting the orb. He bowed deeply to her.

“Not at all. For as much as we owe you, this much was nothing,” Qian Liqiu returned, elegant as ever.

Bai Xue swept his eyes across the clearing and grinned. “Xiao Hui, who is this new beauty? I haven’t been introduced!”

Hui coughed. “Elder Brother, please. She’s the queen of the phoenixes. You met her earlier, remember?”

“Ah… she’s that fine young lady I met earlier, all grown up already? I see, I see. And now we meet in the flesh, as it were.” Tossing a wink at Hui, Bai Xue bowed. “Your Majesty, shall we become acquainted?”

Bowing silently to Hui, Qian Liqiu took to the air once more.

“Pity,” Bai Xue murmured.

Li Xiang turned to Hui. “Our children?”

“Ah, right. A moment…” Hui turned his attention to the orb. Hmm. It’s fundamentally not that different from Shue Yinyue’s defensive formation. If I just… like this…!

The orb popped open. Bright light beamed out from within. Two misty forms took shape from within the orb. Bai Xingxue staggered out, wiping her eyes. She caught sight of Bai Xue and stumbled over, grabbing onto Bai Xue’s arm. “Mommy…”

“That’s right. I’m right here,” Bai Xue said, stroking her hair.

Li Weiqi stumbled out a moment later, coughing and waving his hand. As his eyes landed on Li Xiang, he straightened his spine and jumped in place, quickly giving her a formal bow. “Mother.”

Li Xiang nodded, just once.

Eh… I feel like there’s a big difference in personality here… Ah, oh well. I can’t blame anyone for their choices when I’m the one who spent ten years in hell. Hui cleared his throat. “It’s wonderful that everyone’s been freed.”

Bai Xingxue blinked at him.

Li Weiqi stared blankly, then quickly bowed. “Thank you, Elder Martial Brother. I appreciate your help in rescuing me.”

Hui pressed his lips together. Ah… my heart! My chest hurts! This isn’t how I imagined being reunited with my children would go… though I guess… I can only blame myself for not being there! Ugh. I wanted to, I wanted to be there! But… instead…

Bai Xue nudged Bai Xingxue. “This is your father, Xiao Hui… Weiheng Hui. He came back from the dead to rescue you.”

“Eh?” Bai Xingxue asked, looking Hui up and down. She frowned, then looked him over again. “This one? Are you sure?”

Ouch. Hui laughed a little, not sure how to take it. “Er, Elder Sister, I… didn’t just come back from the dead. I might have… also… burned down the Underworld?”

Bai Xue stared at him. “You… what? What’s going to happen to all souls from now on?”

“I rebuilt it! I rebuilt it, of course I rebuilt it!” Hui said, waving his hands. “Er, and I’m not the Lord of the Underworld or anything. But, er, I might be… something like… the owner of the Underworld…?”

Li Weiqi looked at Li Xiang. “Don’t tell me, is he also…?”

“Your father,” Li Xiang replied, nodding.

“He’s… powerful?” Li Weiqi said uncertainly.

Li Xiang nodded.

“A powerful demonic cultivator?” Li Weiqi asked, squinting.

“No, no. I’m not a demonic cultivator, not demonic at all!” Hui insisted, shaking his head vigorously.

“You… own the Underworld. You just admitted to burning it down,” Li Weiqi pointed out.

“Ah, that was… merely… I had to do it to escape. You understand, right, Elder Sister?” Hui said, turning to Li Xiang.

She nodded. “If Weiheng Hui says he had to do it, then he had to do it.”

Li Weiqi squinted at Hui. “I don’t understand.”

Bai Xue stepped forward, thumping both Li Weiqi and Bai Xingxue on the back and sending them toward Hui. “You’ve met him before, you know. He was playacting the demonic cultivator in the sect, to try and teach you rowdy children to be more cautious! For all the good it did.”

“That was you?” Bai Xingxue asked, flabbergasted.

“Eh? Why? Why not just… introduce yourself?” Li Weiqi asked.

Hui rubbed his nose, embarrassed. “Ah, well… small cultivator was trying not to traumatize you. Small cultivator was dead at the time, and… well, I couldn’t be sure I’d escape from the Underworld, so…”

Bai Xingxue stared. “You were dead?”

“Didn’t seem dead,” Li Weiqi muttered.

“He did sometimes,” Bai Xingxue pointed out.

“Okay, true. But usually dead people don’t ever seem alive,” Li Weiqi countered.

“Well, it was a certain condition, anyways. I was dead, but not dead,” Hui explained.

Li Xiang raised a hand. “Let us return to the sect. It’s dangerous to stand around here for long. After all, she threatened to send more troops. If she does, we will be safest in the sect.”

Hui nodded. “What Elder Sister says is indeed correct!”

“This is my dad? Aren’t you supposed to be a hero?” Li Weiqi accused him.

Hui scratched the back of his neck. “Er, I suppose… not all heroes look heroic? My apologies, E… Junior Brother. This is the way I’ve always been. I can’t change my nature.”

Bai Xingxue looked at him, then ran to his side and hugged him. “Dad!”

Not sure what to do, Hui looked down at her, then up at Bai Xue.

Bai Xue mimicked hugging her back, a playful smile on his face.

Hesitantly, Hui put his arms around Bai Xingxue. So small… and so very warm. This is… this is a life that I won’t allow to be extinguished.

A second later, Li Weiqi somewhat reluctantly hugged him as well. Hui wrapped an arm around him, too. And this one… this one, the same. These are my children. Finally, at last, I’ve met them… met them as myself!