“Grab the hostages… hostage. Take him back with the rest,” Ai Tuzi declared, flipping her cream-tipped ear and hair over her shoulder.

The rabbit-ear man bowed. Jogging over, he gestured at Tian Mo, recalling his sword from where it hovered over Hui’s corpse at the same time and using it to threaten Tian Mo. Cooperating with him, Ai Tuzi drew her sword back to herself.

Tian Mo cast a look at Hui, lying dead on the ground. He swallowed and looked up at the burly rabbit man.

The rabbit-eared man raised his brow. Bright-red eyes glared down on Tian Mo. “Move or die.”

Tian Mo nodded and scurried off, quickly obeying the rabbit-eared man’s orders.

Good, good. I’d hate to see you make a stupid decision and die for it, Hui thought approvingly, watching from the floor.

The rabbit-eared man loomed over Hui. Hui stiffened, completely stilling. The man lifted his foot and kicked Hui hard in the gut.

Ow! Why? What was that meant to accomplish, huh? It’s not like a mere little kick is going to get me to stop playing dead! Hui rolled over, but continued to play dead.

The rabbit-eared man snorted. He poked Hui again, but when Hui continued to not move, he shook his head and walked away, following Tian Mo and Ai Tuzi into the distance.

Hui watched him go, puzzled internally. Still, how can the demon clans be so brazen? They’re attacking the Eight Tiers Palace’s disciples right on the Eight Tiers Palace’s home turf, in the middle of their secret training realm, in broad daylight? Do they want to start a war?

The battle he’d seen as a reaper flashed before his eyes. Once more, Ai Tuzi’s sister, Ai Lingling, died in a splatter of red blood, her head separated from her body, soul escaping. Ai Tuzi flew at Fei Guren, the two shouting in hatred while their armies clashed all around.

Hui swallowed. Hmm… I suppose the demon clans and the Eight Tiers Palace are already at war. Even so! Attacking and kidnapping Eight Tiers Palace disciples from out of the heart of the Eight Tiers Palace? Are they ready for death?

Or… could it be? Is this revenge for the killing of Ai Lingling? Fei Guren is dead… but perhaps that simply meant that they couldn’t take out their anger on the killer herself, so they took it out on the Eight Tiers Palace overall.

How terrifying! How mortifying! Is this what they call paying back grudges sevenfold? No, no, no! I was wrong. Perhaps the true terror wasn’t the Eight Tiers Palace, but the demon clans! It’s true that the Eight Tiers Palace wants to conquer my Southern Sect Conference right now, but in the future… in the future, if anyone from the Southern Sect Conference kills anyone from the demon clans, won’t they immediately turn around and either kidnap our children—our children!—or declare war on us? After all, not everyone in the Southern Sect Conference is as reasonable as me. Someone will eventually kill a demon from the demon clans, and then… and then, that’s it! Game over.

No, no. If the Southern Sect Conference is going to survive outside of our protective barrier, we need a safe countryside where no one thinks of kidnapping our children or declaring war! In other words… Lying on his back on the ground, playing dead, Hui’s eyes flashed. In other words, I need both the Eight Tiers Palace and the Northern Lands’ Demon Clans dead! I need a war!

But they’re already at war, and they haven’t killed each other yet, he immediately countered himself.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Once more, his eyes flashed. Then I suppose I just have to make sure they enter all-out war! Yes, yes! The way to create a safe land for the Southern Sect Conference… is to create a soft, open world, where nothing outside the barrier can hurt the Southern Sect Conference. If the outside sects are too powerful, weaken them! If there are too many powerful cultivators, remove them! The Southern Sect Conference must become the supreme sect if it is to survive!

So, to escalate this situation… I wonder what this small Hui can do?

Hui gazed off in the direction Tian Mo had been marched. When the cultivators vanished into a forest, he sent his qi and mental energy swooping around himself, then sat up when he detected no active qi around him. It seems they’re monitoring the portal—that is, the entrance and exit to this hidden realm, but aren’t monitoring the interior of the hidden realm. Thus, I should be free to move around, as long as I don’t get too close to the portal in or out.

It's reasonable. After all, they obviously brought people who could handle Zhang Zhisho, and the rest of the disciples are third realm at best. Even if a small cultivator like myself got free, what would they do? Run around? Surely they couldn’t do any damage, and if they went to the portal to re-enter the Eight Tiers Palace and call for backup, they’d get caught by whoever or whatever is monitoring the portal before they could get very far.

But that was their first mistake. This small Hui will ensure they regret it!

Hui cracked his neck, adjusting it back into its usual place, then stretched. Brushing his robes down, he turned toward the place the demons had stolen Tian Mo off to. For a moment, he unleashed his seventh-stage cultivation and extended his senses after Tian Mo.

A distant image grew clearer as he focused. The disciples huddled around Zhang Zhisho, who laid unconscious—or worse—on the floor. Four demons of various races stood around the disciples, two in human form, one with cat ears, the other with feathers mixed in her hair, two in animal form, one as a ten-meter-long iguana, one as a twelve-meter tall deer. Ai Tuzi, her bodyguard, and Tian Mo rejoined the four demons. The bodyguard prodded Tian Mo toward the other disciples, then went to stand by Ai Tuzi’s side.

Ai Tuzi stood before the disciples. She clasped her hands behind her back and looked down at them, her eyes shaded by heavy lashes. “As of today, you are all property of the Northern Lands’ Demon Clans. Come quietly, and you might survive. Resist… and die.”

“Why? Why are you doing this?” Meimei cried.

Ai Tuzi’s eyes flashed. “Ask your Fei Guren, who dared to murder my defenseless little sister Ai Lingling. This is just retribution.”

Hmm, as expected. Unfortunate, truly unfortunate, that they would hold a grudge to such an extent!

Still, is this the extent of their captive-taking force? I haven’t seen their entry or exit point. There must be more to this situation. A precious artifact, a teleportation portal, perhaps just a few additional demons hiding somewhere… it’s possible that Ai Tuzi is carrying an artifact of some sort, but… I might as well investigate further. If I don’t catch someone who’s simply hiding out of sight, I’ll never forgive myself. Hui expanded his senses again, pushing them to their utmost limit.

Beyond the camp, his senses brushed up against a small mouse, barely large enough to notice. He went to sweep past it, then paused. There’s no animals in the secret realm except what the sect has stocked. Is that truly a mortal mouse that snuck in?

Putting more of his attention toward the mouse, he caught traces of qi and cultivation on the mouse. He snorted. So there’s scouts running through the grass beyond the peripheral of the demons’ camp, in case they missed anyone. Clever.

Drawing his senses back over the region closer to him, he sensed another three mice and small rodents rushing through the grass. Hui nodded to himself. I haven’t found any evidence of their exit point, so I’m going to assume it’s an artifact one of the demons, likely Ai Tuzi, is holding. In that case, she can exit at any moment. What is she waiting for?

Ai Tuzi stared up at the sky. She waited for a few moments, then looked down again.

Hmm. That almost looks like she’s waiting for something. Do the stars have to align for her teleport or escape artifact to work? To be fair, if she can get past the Eight Tiers Palace’s barrier and alarm, then it makes sense if it doesn’t work all the time…

Wait, but then… that means she can get through the barrier! Whatever that artifact is, I need it, I need it right now!

Hui nodded to himself. Rescue the hostages and steal Ai Tuzi’s artifact before Ai Tuzi teleports away. Time to get to work!

With that, he turned around and ran in the opposite direction.