Hui burst out of the dark valley. Ice crackled on the edges of his robes, quickly breaking and melting in the sunlight. The other disciples splayed over the sunny grass, gasping and catching their breath. Needles-girl stood to the side, lounging under a tree. Her eyes widened at the sight of Hui, and her hand flickered.

Hui lifted the hand that wasn’t carrying Tian Mo and caught the needles out of the air. Casually, he flicked them back.

Needles-girl’s eyes grew even wider. She yelped and ducked, covering her head.

Oh, come on. Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it! Flicking his sleeve, Hui vented all the qi in the needles to their front and killed the momentum of the needles. They fell harmlessly out of the air at needles-girl’s feet.

He sighed. Maybe I should just play dead. It’s less dangerous than trying to act cool around these kids, who wouldn’t know cool if it smacked them in the face, anyways.

But… but I still feel like it’s a bad idea to give these baby assassins the satisfaction of killing me! What if they get addicted to it?

Well, it’s not like I won’t do it. But I should use it carefully. Make sure it’s the ideal situation first! No need to paint myself as an easy target. Usually, I have no problem with that, but… well, in an assassin sect… easy targets usually end up dead.

Though I should also take care not to appear so dangerous I end up as someone’s rivals. Rivalries are also dangerous!

Assassin sects are too dangerous, far too dangerous! No matter what I do, the end result is danger!

Hui set Tian Mo down. The young cultivator slid to his rear, still paralyzed with fear. Patting him on the head, Hui sighed. “This is no good. Freezing won’t help you survive.”

With effort, Tian Mo forcibly broke himself free. He gave Hui a sorrowful look. “I know. It’s a fatal flaw—”

“If you’re going to freeze, at least play dead first. Then your frozen body becomes an asset, as you more easily lie unflinchingly in the face of danger!” Hui admonished him, shaking his head. Every good death-faker needs to be able to lie still, even when the enemy thinks they might still be alive! If you can’t lie still through at least three attacks, don’t even bother trying to fake your death in the first place!

“—in my… what?” Tian Mo frowned, tilting his head in confusion.

Hui nodded. “Everyone has flaws! It’s impossible to remove them all. Even so, you shouldn’t allow flaws to remain flaws. Instead, focus on turning those flaws into survival techniques. If your flaws become methods of survival, then at least you can survive when things go sideways. Survival is the most important, the most important!”

Tian Mo frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Maybe that’s too advanced a lesson for him. Hui shrugged. “Or… that’s what I think, anyways. Pay no mind to a small cultivator like me.”

Hesitating, Tian Mo flicked his eyes at Hui, then nodded.

An upright girl a little older than the others burst out of the valley, bits of fog clinging to her. At the sight of everyone sitting around, her eyes widened. “Hurry, hurry! If Zhang Zhisho sees us—”

“If I see what?” a deep voice rumbled.

All the children jumped. Hui whirled, raising his hands defensively.

Zhang Zhisho loomed overhead, floating on her sword, her hands tucked behind her. She tucked them at the usual height, which only served to emphasize the length of her elongated arms. They stuck out at the elbows by at least two feet, giving her the appearance of an elephant’s head with big, floppy ears moreso than a teapot.

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“Back through the valley,” she snarled.

The children reluctantly climbed to their feet.

Before anyone could run into the valley, Hui ran forward and prostrated himself at Zhang Zhisho’s feet. “Elder Si… Senior, please reconsider!”

“Why should I? Slacking off on punishment…” Zhang Zhisho’s eyes narrowed.

“Senior, surely you don’t wish for us small disciples to die?” Hui asked, still pressed against the ground.

Zhang Zhisho quirked a brow. “It’s merely a training area. Don’t exaggerate.”

Hui lowered himself even more, pressing his body into the dirt. “The resent… the mysterious creatures are breaking free. One has an entire arm loose. It nearly killed us poor disciples. Senior, surely you don’t wish death upon us for a simple punishment?”

Er, I’m not too sure about this. After all, not only is this an assassin sect, but also… isn’t it a downright trope for masters to put their disciples in deadly danger for simple punishment, even for the smallest mistake?

But… even so… I can always give it a shot! It never hurts to try. If it saves this small cultivator’s life, then anything is worth trying!

Not to mention, if I tell her that the resentment demons are breaking free, then I might be able to sneak a look at the monster suppression-technique user that created these chains! It might strengthen the suppression, true, but in the end, I need to be able to break this suppression user’s techniques no matter what, whether they’re strong or weak. I might as well fight against the latest, full-power technique. I can learn how to break the best suppression they have from the start, in this secret realm that they clearly don’t check in on much, if the resentment demon was able to break free.

Zhang Zhisho’s brows furrowed. She turned, gazing into the valley. Hui waited, continuing to bow while she frowned and slightly furrowed her brows at the darkness. She turned, looking at the children. Eyes roving the group, she counted quickly.

Hui glanced behind him, counting as well. Oh. Er. Well, I suppose it’s not too bad to have lost two or three children…? Resentment demons, stop eating the children!

Though I suppose they might have succumbed to the strong yin as well.

Ah, no, no. It’s likely the resentment demons who killed them. There’s no point deluding myself. They’re mindless killing machines, for the most part.

I’ll have to talk to the resentment demons about that. Killing Eight Tiers Palace cultivators is one thing, but children? That’s another thing entirely.

Zhang Zhisho narrowed her eyes. She turned away, dismissing the valley and the disciples alike. “Return to the training ground. We must prepare for the duels.”

Hui sat bolt upright. “Duels?” Today? Wait, when? Now? Soon? Duels? I don’t want to duel! Do I have to duel a child? That’s just embarrassing. Whether I win or lose, I lose morally! The loss is mine, no matter what I do at this point.

Zhang Zhisho looked at him, eyes ice cold.

Hui dropped back into his bow silently. My apologies, my apologies. Never mind! Small cultivator will take the loss! Taking the loss is better than dying at the hand of the instructor.

Zhang Zhisho turned away again. “Return to the practice field. You have the time it takes an incense stick to burn.”

“Yes, Master!” the other disciples chorused.

Hui simply remained on the floor until she left. Small footsteps sounded around him. He still waited, eyes silently locked on the valley. That suppression cultivator… if they come to the valley, I want to see them!

“Gui Hui, hurry! We don’t have long!” Tian Mo shouted, patting him on the shoulder.

Reluctantly, Hui climbed to his feet and ran after the other disciples. Not now. I can hang out around the valley and wait later! For now… for now, let’s focus on the duels, and making sure I don’t do too much harm to my ‘fellow disciples!’

Tian Mo looked over his shoulder. At the sight of Hui running after him, he nodded and ran faster, hurrying toward the training field.

As he ran, Hui peered over his shoulder at the valley once more. For as long as he could, until the valley faded from view, he kept glancing at it, his eyes flickering back to the valley. Come on… suppression cultivator… suppression cultivator! Let me get a glimpse. Just a look! Just one look!

At last, the valley vanished from even his eyes. Sighing, Hui turned his gaze forward. I guess I’ll just have to keep popping back in to keep an eye on it. Ah, after all, it was too much to hope for them to immediately show up as soon as I reported the bug—ahem, mentioned the danger to Zhang Zhisho!

--

“Is that the one?”

Jizhi Zhimei lowered her head, the veil on her face fluttering. “Yes.”

Her beautiful voice rang out, shimmering in the air. In the near distance, a bird froze mid-flap, forgetting to fly from the beauty, and dropped to the ground.

The small, unremarkable figure beside her grunted. “Doesn’t look like much.”

“Respectfully… neither do you,” Jizhi Zhimei said, a gentle teasing in her voice.

Another grunt. They stepped forward. “I’ll keep my eyes on him.”

“Oh? Challenging my claim?” Jizhi Zhimei asked, her voice thrumming with danger.

“Yes.” The small, unremarkable figure dropped into the valley. The yin energy swallowed them up.

Under her veil, Jizhi Zhimei scowled. “What a waste of my charms.” Tossing her hair, she turned away and vanished, directly exiting the realm.