Immediately, Hui called out in his mind. Mortal? Rogue? Sectgoer…?

No, I don’t have any clones out. But if that’s the case, who is that?

The copy of Hui turned and fled.

“The Elusive Ghost!” Xie Tiangong released Hui and chased after his copy.

The guards hesitated, lost.

Hui threw his hand after the copy. “The Elusive Ghost has copied my face! Stop right there, Elusive Ghost!” So shouting, he rushed after the copy. Whatever that copy is, Elusive Ghost, creepy stalker, or some other terrifying Immortal being… I need to know more than anyone else! It’s me that it’s copied, after all! Get back here, you, whatever you are!

With that, Hui, the guards, and Xie Tiangong all chased after Hui’s copy. Hui’s copy fled with incredible speed. His body flickered around the next corner by the time they’d turned the first.

“Excuse me, Elder Sister.” Hui compressed himself just enough to slip by Xie Tiangong and rushed after the copy at his full speed, hurtling into the distance.

“Ah? Oh!” Xie Tiangong bounced off the wall in her surprise.

“Get out of the way!” The guards shoved at her. She struck the wall and glowered at them, frustrated.

Hui grimaced. Looking over his shoulders, he gave the guards a disappointed look. “Being so rough with an Elder Sister, how impolite.”

“She isn’t our superior!” the leading guard snapped.

Hui clicked his tongue but said no more, needing his full focus to chase the copy ahead of him.

The copy pulled away. Hui frowned and pushed himself to the limits of his abilities, but couldn’t catch up. It’s really fast! How is it doing that? Is there some additional movement technique I don’t know? But I know…

I know a single second stage movement technique…

Ah, wait! But I know several variants of it that I developed at higher realm! And one of them… one of them would be great right now! Hui used the Pond-Reflecting Waltz and circulated death qi. For a moment between steps, time stopped, and he gained half a step on the copy.

Eh, hold on. Death qi… death qi stops time? Is death qi related to the power of time, somehow?

Something to consider, but not now! Later! Now, I need to catch that copy!

Ahead of him, the copy burst out into the customer hallways. It looked left and right, then shot off to the right. Hui spun after it, racing down the hall. “Come back!”

At the next door-laden hallway, the copy shot down it and vanished into one of the rooms. Hui’s eyes lit up. Excellent! Using the Pond-Reflecting Waltz’s stop-time step, he pulled ahead of the guards and chased after the copy. He caught a glimpse of the masked man from earlier at the end of the hallway before following the copy into the room. He kicked the door shut, but half-missed. The door drifted mostly shut, a slim slice remaining open.

The second Hui entered the room, the copy launched itself at him. Clawed hands grappled at his robes, pulling the neck of his clothes open. Hui shoved it away, a new kind of fear setting in. Wait, hold on. Was this all a ploy to get me alone in this room? Is this copy actually some kind of stalker?

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He grabbed the copy’s arms. The copy threw itself back to try to shake him free, and they landed on the bed. Hui and the copy grappled, Hui trying to pin the copy, while the copy grabbed his robes, twisting the neck open.

Behind them, the guards’ footsteps sounded in the hall. Hui went still, clapping a hand to his copy’s mouth. Under him, the copy stilled as well, its eyes big and dark like a cat’s.

The guards slowed to a halt. “You there! Did you see a man… no. Two men in purple?”

Hui stiffened. Shit! The masked man! He saw, he totally saw everything! Oh no, oh no. Instantly, he scanned the room for an exit, but found nothing. The room’s walls closed in on all sides, without a window or other exit. Only the door behind him led in or out.

“I saw nothing,” a deep voice rumbled.

Hui frowned. Eh…?

Ah! Thank you, Senior! Whoever you are, a thousand thanks! I don’t need those guards getting involved in whatever this problem is. This issue clearly has to do with me, and I want no one butting in!

“They must have gone the other way!” Xie Tiangong shouted.

“We’ll split up. You half, go to the back of the building. We’ll follow Xie Tiangong to the front,” an authoritative voice demanded.

Outside, the footsteps faded. Immediately, the copy bucked under Hui, scratching at his neck.

Hui jerked back. “Thank you, Senior!” he called, even as he grabbed for the copy’s hands again.

“No need to thank me,” a familiar voice replied.

Hui whirled, startled. No way… how?

Behind him, the masked man removed his mask. Song Wei stood there. He smiled. “Hello, Master.”

The copy lunged, tearing Hui’s robes apart. Song Wei’s eyes widened, and he leaned in.

How the hell did he ascend so quickly? What’s he doing up here?

No, no. Don’t be ridiculous, Hui. After all, I’m merely a side character, not a main character like Song Wei! If I could ascend this quickly, then surely a main character could ascend even faster! It’s only natural. In fact, it’s the most natural thing to happen!

“Song Wei! Stop watching, and come help your Master, okay?” Hui called.

“I don’t know. Don’t you know what kind of establishment this is? I’m enjoying the show,” Song Wei murmured, his eyes dangerous.

Damned black lotus. Put your black side away and stop being a douchebag for ten seconds! Your Master is in danger, are you really going to watch?

Eh, well, yes. He probably is.

Frustrated, Hui sent a surge of death qi into the copy’s arms. “Stop!”

Rather than eating away at the copy, the copy’s veins turned black, and its grip grew even stronger. It wrapped its hands around Hui’s throat.

Shit! Death qi made it stronger? It…

…hold on. Is this actually the Elusive Ghost? After all that, was Xie Tiangong right?

Hui lifted his hand, gathering life qi in his palm. Slamming his hand down on the copy’s face, he released the life qi all at once, blasting white light into the copy’s face.

The copy screamed. Its face melted off, leaving a white void with a black gash for a mouth and two gashes for eyes. Struggling, it tried to escape Hui’s grasp. His hold on its robes slipped as they gave way, breaking like cobwebs under the influence of the life qi.

“Song Wei!” Hui snapped, his voice all business.

“Yes!” Song Wei jumped forward, the dark and mysterious act forgotten. He drew out a pair of slender red ropes from his sleeves and quickly bound the ghost’s wrists and ankles.

I’m not going to ask why he had that rope on hand. Hui pressed his hand to the rope around the ghost’s wrists, injecting life qi into them, then knelt to pass life qi into the ankle ropes as well. Bound top and bottom with life qi, the ghost settled down.

Hui stepped back. He looked at the ghost. “What are you after? Why did you chase me?”

The ghost growled. It narrowed its eyes at his neck.

Hui touched his neck. Is… is there something wrong with my neck? Is it hungry for blood, or something?

Song Wei stepped forward and fixed Hui’s robes. “Careful, Master. It’s shooting filthy looks at you. With so much flesh exposed, you’re tempting it too much.”

“Ah? Thank you,” Hui said, distracted. Too much flesh…? Is that the problem…?

Wait, hold on. Something at my neck! He grabbed the floor tile off his neck, releasing the vines’ hold, and held it up. The ghost jerked, straining after it. He lowered it to the ground. The ghost’s head followed its movement again.

“This? This floor tile?” Hui asked, confused. Why this? Is it after any and everything stolen from the ruins, like a curse? But then, surely it would target Jun Ke and his friends, who have looted far more than me, or those dangerous-looking uniformed cultivators who looted the other half of the ruins. Either way, they’ve taken far more than one floor tile.

Which means there must be something special about this tile. But what?

He turned the tile over in his hands, looking more closely at it. On one side, the tile was perfectly flat and shiny, but on the far side, the inner square of what had once been a round seal appeared, carved into the jade. He squinted, leaning in closer. What on earth is this?