Sprinting as fast as he could in the opposite direction, Hui hesitated, then unleashed his cultivation to the fourth realm. It’s what Jizhi Zhimei knows my cultivation to be. Might as well use it to my advantage. Now that I’m in danger, I can’t hesitate!

In no time, he reached the rift. Without pause, he rushed directly to the resentment demons. No time for subtlety or attempting to properly break the barrier. I’ll simply attack them, brute force!

After all, right now, I’m Gui Hui, an ordinary small cultivator who’s simply trying to save his friends. That’s all I am! I’m going to all lengths and turning to these monsters as my last resort, yes, not a practiced barrier breaker who knows a lot about these monsters. Right, right.

Reaching the first demon, he went to the source of the chains. Bracing his feet against the wall, he hauled backward with all his strength. The chain stood sturdily, not even beginning to strain.

But that’s alright! I don’t need the chain to break! Hui altered his body to his plant form and circulated life qi to spur his muscles to grow rapidly. All at once, he yanked the chain.

The stone the chain connected to crumbled. The chain burst out of the wall. Hui fell backward, barely catching himself before he hit the ground. Wiping the sweat off his face, he threw the chain aside and moved on to the next. One after another, the chains erupted from the rock and dropped to the ground. All around Hui, the resentment demons shook themselves off and rolled around, tearing the chains off of their bodies with their long, long arms. As they removed the chains, they rolled toward their comrades and dug at the rock walls, removing the chains ahead of Hui.

“If it alerts Tseng Caihong, all the better,” Hui muttered.

The last resentment demon wriggled free of its chains. Hui casually passed his hand over one of the chains and sent it into his storage ring, then nodded at the resentment demons. “Follow me. We have a battle to fight.”

The resentment demons roiled, hands gripping and writhing in the air. They let out a vague cry, high and keening.

“Not—not against the Eight Tiers Palace, though,” Hui quickly amended.

As one, the resentment demons rolled to face them. They stared, eyelessly judging him.

“But—but soon! Soon. Just… not now. They have Zhubi,” Hui pleaded.

“Zhubi?” one of the resentment demons asked, its body splitting in two to allow it to speak.

“Zhubi… my friend. A snake. Tseng Caihong took him from me,” Hui explained.

“Eight Tiers Palace… took a friend… away?” the resentment demon whispered.

All around it, the other resentment demons began moving much faster, arms hugging themselves, clinging to one another, shaking and trembling. Whispers passed back and forth. “Taken?” “Friend…” “Eight Tiers.” “Took.” “They took!”

Hui raised a brow. Did Eight Tiers Palace take something from the resentment demons? Is that the source of their resentment? Interesting. I haven’t had a hint as to the source of their resentment for a while. But if Eight Tiers Palace took something… I might be able to give it back!

Another voice in the back of his head replied, unless Eight Tiers Palace took their lives.

Hui took a deep breath. Right, well… yes. I suppose that’s… relatively likely, since I created the first resentment demon from a grave mound…

Well, yes. But maybe there’s something else Eight Tiers Palace took from them! Something I can return! Hui nodded to himself, putting reality on the backburner for a moment.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Returning to the world, he looked at the resentment demons. “They took my friend. If I hurt the Eight Tiers Palace, they’ll hurt my friend. Will you help me this time, without harming the Eight Tiers Palace disciples?”

The resentment demons looked around at one another. After a few moments, the speaking one rolled its body up and down. “Agree.”

“Then… follow me.” Hui strode off, leaving the valley behind. Behind him, the resentment demons rolled, propelling themselves with their many hands.

There’s nothing subtle about this. If I’m wrong, and Ai Tuzi has an artifact that allows her to teleport away at any moment, then the disciples are gone. Hui paused, then shrugged. But if she has that, then she could leave at any moment anyways. No point worrying too much about it.

In any case… here we go!

Taking the lead, Hui sliced a random branch off a nearby tree and flew ahead of the resentment demons. They trundled on after him, slow by comparison. Hui glanced over his shoulder. Hmm. They are a bit slow. I need to upgrade them in more ways than one. Power, speed… At least I’ve freed them now.

He glanced up. And Tseng Caihong hasn’t appeared. Ai Tuzi must have some kind of artifact or relic that allows her to block Tseng Caihong’s alarm network from alerting her… or there’s something else going on behind the scenes, but either way… it doesn’t bode well.

Ah, as expected, I have to solve this myself. No one is going to save these small cultivators except for me.

Speeding ahead, he left the resentment demons truly behind him. In the space of a few moments, he crested the hill behind which the hostages were being held.

As he approached, a mouse cried out. Hui glanced down at it, but it hid in the grass, unwilling to challenge him. He snorted. A good choice! No need to challenge me when you’re merely a scout. Yes, yes. That’s a role that would fit this Xiao Hui!

The hostages came into view, guards still ringing them in. Ai Tuzi stared directly at Hui as he drew close, crossing her arms casually.

In the center, the hostages looked up hopefully. Seeing it was only him, most of them sighed and shook their heads, though Tian Mo and Meimei both stared, wide-eyed. Particularly flabbergasted, Tian Mo mouthed, How are you flying?

Hui raised a finger to his lips and smiled. Let’s just… not question that, okay? I’ll play the role of a protagonist who’s gotten a miraculous level up for now!

Ai Tuzi tossed her head, sending her long rabbit ears flopping. “Oh? Come to hand yourself over as a hostage?”

“Ai Tuzi! These disciples have nothing to do with Ai Lingling’s death. Spare them!” Hui shouted. I ought to give her a chance. I abhor killing, after all, and more so when my opponents clearly are going to seek retribution!

Ai Tuzi scoffed. “Ai Lingling had nothing to do with the war, and yet, she was cut down. This is merely my response to your reprehensible sect’s atrocities!”

Hui cleared his throat. “Er, Elder Sister… I’m a hostage. Eight Tiers Palace isn’t my sect.”

Ai Tuzi stared at him.

Hui stared back at her.

She cleared her throat. “Then you shall be drawn into our conflict, the same way my innocent sister was drawn into the war with Eight Tiers Palace!”

“That’s not the same at all!” Hui rebuked her.

“No?” Ai Tuzi challenged him.

Hui shook his head. “No, Elder Sister. First off, your sister was a part of the demon clans, who were at conflict with Eight Tiers Palace. She chose to follow you onto the battlefield. She chose to enter the chaos of war. I merely went to practice, and your bodyguard killed me!” Hui pointed accusatorily at the bodyguard.

Ai Tuzi and the bodyguard turned toward one another, then back at Hui. The bodyguard frowned. “That’s right. I killed you!”

“Ah, well, that is, you attacked me and I passed out,” Hui quickly explained. He paused. Right, right, and then, how do I explain the fact that I’m back here? Something… anything… argh, it’s been too long! Just start talking! He jabbed his finger at Ai Tuzi. “But I woke up! And I’m not going to let you take your unjust retribution!”

“You… a low-realm cultivator, alone?” Ai Tuzi scoffed.

“Who said I was alone?” Hui asked, spreading his arms.

The resentment demons crested the hill behind him, slowly rolling into view. As their top arms appeared over the hill, Ai Tuzi squinted, more confused than impressed.

More and more of the resentment demons appeared over the hill, their full immensity slowly revealed. As they grew larger and larger, Ai Tuzi’s eyes grew wider and wider. She stumbled back instinctively, and her jaw dropped. She scrabbled for her sword.

Aha! She doesn’t have an instant-use escape-from-the-enemy-secret-realm-teleportation item! Excellent, excellent! Smiling gently, Hui threw his hand forward. Screaming, the resentment demons barreled down the hill toward the demon cultivators.

“Ah! Remember, don’t hurt the Eight Tiers Palace cultivators!” Hui shouted after them.

The hostages jolted at Hui’s words. The fear in their eyes grew more intense, and they all huddled toward each other, more terrified than before their rescuer arrived.