Hui blinked. He furrowed his brows, thinking desperately as Xi Sanji’s sword fell. Reveal myself… I know I rejected it earlier, but I was less sure of Xi Sanji’s intentions then. Now that she’s planning to kill me so that I don’t reveal this space to Tseng Caihong, I’m pretty sure she’s actively planning a rebellion! Or at least, she is now that she’s acquired this lost garden.

If I don’t reveal myself, I can fake my death… but does that mean I’ll have to either change my face, or avoid Xi Sanji forever? Ah, not that I plan on returning to the pill tier, but it’s possible we’ll run into one another around. Hmm, avoiding Xi Sanji… doesn’t actually sound that hard, now that I’m thinking about it. As long as I stay shut-in on the assassin’s tier, will I ever encounter her?

But… on the other hand, it would be nice to have a cooperator.

And on the other-other hand, if I reveal myself now and she decides to give me up for whatever reason, including saving her own ass if her half-baked rebellion gets found out, I’ve just fucked myself royally, for no gain!

Yes, after all that… I think, this time, as every time, the correct answer… is to play dead!

The sword cleaved through the top of Hui’s head. He fell backward, going limp. Blood poured out of his brain, soaking into the lush soil.

Chen Wuya took off from his shoulder as Hui died, flapping off into the distance. Xi Sanji considered him for a moment, then dismissed him.

Eh? Elder Sister isn’t going after Chen Wuya?

…Elder Sister is indeed wise.

Xi Sanji looked down at him. She hesitated. “I’m sorry. Truthfully, I had no intention of killing you. It’s just that I can’t allow you to continue to live, knowing what you know.”

Sigh. Typical cultivator. I find you a secret realm full of treasure, hell, I even give you the treasure, and you thank me by killing me! That’s after you saved my life, too. Haaa. Turning a complete one-eighty and deciding to kill me in thirty seconds… this world is too dangerous, far too dangerous. It’s a good thing I’m so skilled at playing dead, or else I’d be in a life-or-death battle right now, on the verge of revealing my secrets! Instead, I’m wisely lying on the ground, at conflict with no one.

Lying flat… what a great idea! Everyone should try it. You can’t go wrong by giving up and not even trying! It’s truly liberating. What job? What expectations? I’m a dead body! I can’t have those!

The reaper looked down at Hui. She shook her head. “How pathetic.”

Elder Sister Reaper, please forgive my bad habits.

“What bad habits? You were just praising yourself moments ago.”

Does Elder Sister also have the bad habit of reading my thoughts? Ah, I’ll forgive Elder Sister’s bad habits.

The reaper raised her foot.

Hui barely repressed the urge to tremble beneath his desire to play dead. Elder Sister, forgive me! Elder Sister doesn’t have any bad habits! Elder Sister is a perfect being with no bad habits! Definitely not bad habits like stepping on people!

With visible effort, the reaper put her foot back down. She took a deep breath, her eyes narrowed. “The next time you come to the Underworld, watch your back?”

Is Elder Sister going to step on it? Hui thought involuntarily.

The reaper’s eye twitched.

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No no no, it was an accident, I didn’t think that intentionally! Elder Sister, forgive me! Elder Sister, apologies, many apologies!

While Hui sparred with the reaper, Xi Sanji turned away. She waved a hand, and a glowing door-shaped portal opened on the path. Xi Sanji stepped through and vanished, the portal lasting only a moment longer before it left, too.

Hui waited a few moments, just to be sure, then activated his life qi, healing his head. He climbed back to his feet and dusted off his hands, looking around.

…Now that I’m alone, shall I see if there’s anything to loot?

Ahhh, that all gold palace, I failed to loot anything! Regret, a thousand times regret! Though I suppose spirit stones are currency in most sects, not gold, so it isn’t worth as much as I’d think.

Still… regret! I’ll have to see if I can wriggle my way back there somehow. But that’s a task for another day.

Hui wandered among the spiritual plants, looking around as he went. Spiritual plants of all kinds stood in all directions. He nodded as he walked. That one can cure bad cough and push you to the next realm when combined with a White Blossom, that one is great at replenishing spiritual energy if it’s heated, that one tastes horrible unless you use some Nether Heart Sap… yes, yes…

He pursed his lips. I know everything except for the useful information! All this useless pill garbage, but not the most vital piece! Namely… how much do these herbs cost?

I could loot everything indiscriminately, but a lot of these herbs have to be harvested at specific times or in specific ways, and I don’t have the time or patience to bother. Plus, some go bad quickly… all in all, I’d rather let Xixing take over the garden as-is and allow her to harvest them.

Kneeling, he checked the cobblestones under his feet, only to click his tongue in disappointment. Ordinary mortal cobbles. Yawn.

Ugh. Am I doomed to come out of this empty-handed?

No, no. Not empty-handed. He looked over his shoulder at the buried lotus seed, and a smile touched his face for a moment.

Alright. Time to get out of here. Hui waved his sleeve, calling out to the world.

The realm ignored him. Nothing happened.

As expected, really. Hui sat down, folding his legs. Rather than call to the world, he cleared his mind, searching out the shape of the realm. Slowly, it appeared in his mind. Water and wood qi circulated around one another, swirling softly with a third energy Hui couldn’t place, yet which felt familiar. His brows furrowed. Could that be… time?

Hmm. Putting aside time for a moment, this realm is different than what I’m used to. Unlike Fen Long’s realm, the small realms used for securing people or items, or even the Underworld to some extent, it’s not meant to hold anything inside, so it doesn’t have a rigid structure. Instead, if anything, its soft structure makes it harder to grasp… even, perhaps, harder to see in the first place.

Hui put a hand on his chin. Though I have to say, unless the power of time is doing something I don’t understand, I think this Senior misjudged how to counter Tseng Caihong’s eyes. Tseng Caihong can see anything, but only if she’s looking for it. Rather than hiding the realm layers deep, where I’d assume Tseng Caihong could find it if she looked for it, it would be better to deflect Tseng Caihong’s eyes with false ‘reward realms’ and give her what she expected to see.

Perhaps that’s what the golden palace at the bottom of the sea was meant to be, but… er, Senior, what kind of person would expect a pill cultivator’s inheritance to be inscribed on gold panels? Everyone knows pill cultivators’ most treasured places are gardens!

In any case, perhaps hiding her inheritance in the pill library was enough to hide it. It certainly seems that Tseng Caihong hasn’t looted this place yet, after all. Still… I’m starting to think my decision to play dead to Xi Sanji was truly the wisest move I could make. Both the ancient Senior and Xi Sanji fundamentally misunderstand how to hide from Tseng Caihong… in my opinion, anyways. Instead, to give her an obvious thing to latch onto, with an obvious purpose and a hidden purpose, and allow her to assume the obvious purpose… He looked over his shoulder at the lotus seed. …Well, not to toot my own horn too much, but…

Dismissing his thoughts, he focused on the realm’s shape once more. Tentatively, he applied a little death qi to the realm’s limits. A hole opened up, but the fluid form of the realm swallowed it in a moment, before he could escape.

Hui paused, then shrugged. If a small hole isn’t enough, how about a large hole? He pushed off the ground and flew up, pressing up against the limits of the realm. Lifting his hand, he injected a great amount of death qi into the realm’s limits.

A hole opened in the realm’s wall. Instantly, it began to close again, but before it could, Hui hurtled through it, out into the void.

Darkness swallowed him. The sensation of falling gripped up, but in no direction. He fell eternally, unable to detect up from down, unable to catch or move himself. And somewhere, something watched him. A shiver ran up his spine involuntarily.

… I really could have thought that part through a little better, Hui thought, full of regrets.