Before Hui, the creatures from the Underworld, led by Black Dragon, battled Tseng Caihong, while the resentment demons rolled forth, getting under her feet and in her way however they could. Hui stood back, watching the fight unfold. He touched the large pill Xi Sanji had brewed, rolling it around in his sleeve thoughtfully.

Struggling up for a moment, from under a deluge of ghosts and resentment demons, Tseng Caihong glared at him. “Despicable!”

Hui bowed. “Thank you, Senior.”

I know I couldn’t beat her in a fair fight, so why fight fair? Only losers shout about things like honor and uprighteousness. If I have five dogs, I’ll fight you six on one. If I have a thousand dogs, it’s a thousand on one. Evenly matched battles are a good way to die.

Ah, not that I think this is going to finish her off. If it does, that’s great, but the odds are against us. Ultimately, Black Dragon and the rest started off dead, and can only exist on this realm, let alone fight, for a limited time. The resentment demons, too, are essentially a wad of trash Tseng Caihong tossed away, and can’t be expected to destroy her.

Still, that’s fine. I haven’t used all the tricks at my disposal yet. As long as I tire her out here, my goals are accomplished.

Essentially, I’ve developed a series of tests of strength. The longer she fights back, the more tired she becomes, the more she draws on the potential she’s stored up, the more she becomes susceptible to my plans. I saw that white flickering in her eyes earlier. I can’t handle her at the top of her game, so I won’t. No need to!

After all, she had to create dozens of resentment demons to support her continued lifespan. That suggests she burns through a lot of potential just to stay alive. So what about when she fights? She must need an even greater mass of potential to fuel herself. From the beginning, my plans depended on that supposition. Luckily, it turned out to be correct!

That was the gamble, the gamble I didn’t want to take. Ah, of course I had backup plans, but luckily, we didn’t have to go there, since my guess was right.

When the resentment demons dug up the earth and created more resentment demons, I wonder if that was them digging up the pollution Tseng Caihong’s methods created, or if she simply absorbed so many people that the earth around Eight Tiers Palace was full of resentment-corpses she’d tossed away? Hui shivered. His thoughts went to the town he and the reaper had visited, and he shivered again. Absorbing entire towns of mortals… how vicious. Tseng Caihong must die.

Tseng Caihong slammed her hand on one of the ghosts. The gel encompassed the ghost’s body entirely, but nothing happened. White still entwined with the colors in Tseng Caihong’s eyes, and the ghost continued to attack.

Black Dragon laughed. She struck with her tail. Tseng Caihong desperately blocked, and still stumbled back a step.

Coiling closer, Black Dragon looked down on Tseng Caihong. “Trying to steal our lives? Our potential? Our existence? We’re dead and denied by this world, and burning the last scraps of potential we have away. Good luck stealing anything.”

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Tseng Caihong bit her teeth. She unleashed a barrage of blows at Black Dragon. Spinning around, Black Dragon tanked them on her scales, then turned around and slammed into Tseng Caihong with her forehead. Tseng Caihong flew back. A resentment demon caught her, and another two resentment demons pummeled her, while ghosts scraped at her body and soul, unleashing claws, fire, and ice. One ghoul reared back its head and spat a glob of acid mucus on her. Another tossed a pot full of boiling soup and eyeballs at Tseng Caihong, only for the eyeballs to grow tentacles and wrap around Tseng Caihong’s body.

A blast of seven-colored light burst from Tseng Caihong’s chest. Resentment demons and ghosts went flying. Even Black Dragon dodged, dropping out of the beam’s path. Hui threw himself to the side, quickly adding a barrier to his body. Tseng Caihong immediately leaped up and blasted toward Hui, reaching out for him. “You’re going to die here!”

Black Dragon dropped her coils down in front of Hui, blocking Tseng Caihong’s path. Tseng Caihong struck Black Dragon. A sound like a struck bell resounded, echoing in the cave. “Not yet, he isn’t,” Black Dragon returned. Whirling around, she slammed her claw at Tseng Caihong, the claw bright with her Wandering Immortal energy.

Tseng Caihong’s eyes widened. She slammed her palm at Black Dragon’s claw, putting all her strength into it.

With a rattling boom, the palm and claw met one another. Energy swirled all around, seven-color light bursting from Tseng Caihong’s palm, while black, dead energy circulated around Black Dragon’s claw. Both of them put their all into the blow. Eyes narrowed, Tseng Caihong pushed harder. A pressure wave expanded out from the force of it, smashing into the cave’s walls and sending boulders and dust flying. Hui ducked the wave, hands over his head. Elder Sisters! Think about where we’re fighting! The cave’s going to fall in!

Dead, black eyes glittering, Black Dragon let out a quiet snort. Nothing visibly changed, and yet, Tseng Caihong took a trembling step back. The color in her eyes steadily paled. The more they paled, the more she retreated.

At the same time, the black energy around Black Dragon ran down. All around them, the ghosts and ghouls crumbled, fading away into nothing. Or no, not nothing, Hui thought, watching as a black-stained ghost trembled, then turned into a whisp of pale energy. The reaper appeared for a bare moment, gently beckoning the whisp home. Hui nodded, understanding. They’ve used this opportunity to give up their grudges. Rather than their potential, they burned their ties to the mortal world. Now that they no longer have ties, they can move on, and truly enter the cycle of reincarnation.

Tseng Caihong laughed, seeing that. She looked at Black Dragon. “It’s my win.”

Black Dragon’s tail began to crumble. Her scales fell away, and her flesh rotted at speed, her bones immediately falling to pieces afterward. She looked over her shoulder, then smiled at Tseng Caihong. “Only for a moment.”

Tseng Caihong clicked her tongue dismissively. “I’ll return to the Palace and absorb those idiots. You’ve taken nothing from me that I cannot regain.”

“It’s good you’re so confident,” Black Dragon said.

Hui stepped forward, moving to Black Dragon’s side. He put a hand on her side. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”

In moments, only her head and claw remained. She looked at Hui and nodded. “It’s up to you now. Punish this woman, and bring my son back to health.”

“Yes,” Hui promised, nodding.

Black Dragon closed her eyes for the last time.

Without hesitating, Hui jumped forward and grabbed for Tseng Caihong. Tseng Caihong pulled away, but too slow, dulled from Black Dragon’s blow. He grabbed onto her ankles before she could reach the air.

She looked down. “How fitting, for a bug to grab at my feet.”

“Indeed, Elder Sister.”

Her palm descended, smashing down on Hui’s forehead. Hui died instantly.

As he died, his body smiled. Perfect.