Jun Ke scowled. “What chance? If she’s taken the Golden Immortal’s blood, she’s as much a puppet as any of the rest of you. Even if I win her heart now, it’s meaningless.”

Xi Muchen clicked his tongue. “Don’t be so rash. Do I look like a puppet?” He gestured. “Does she look like a puppet?”

Behind him, the door swung open. A jade beauty stepped into the room. Dark eyes scythed through the men, while ruby lips pursed. Her dark hair flew loose around her head, light as a feather, catching on the wind. Lightweight robes in a tasteful, muted gold flew in time with her hair, fluttering about, momentarily offering glimpses of the well-sculpted body beneath.

Jun Ke stepped forward, despite himself. “Sa Zhangli…”

Sa Zhangli stopped. Her eyes landed on Jun Ke, and she scoffed. “Ah. So this is why you pulled me away?”

This? Calling Jun Ke a ‘this?’ How harsh, Elder Sister! Hui shook his head. He gave Jun Ke a look.

As though he hadn’t heard a thing, Jun Ke stared at her, his mouth half-open.

Hui frowned. Are you really that lovestruck? She’s attractive, yes, but jade beauties are dime-a-dozen in the Immortal Realm, okay? Don’t act like a mortal seeing a jade beauty for the very first time!

“I’ve told you many times, Jun Ke. You mean nothing to me,” Sa Zhangli declared firmly.

“I can change that,” Jun Ke promised her.

“I doubt it,” she returned.

Hui frowned, only for his eyes to light up a moment later. Wait, hold on. Jun Ke works at a brothel. Is this… the reverse of the usual pining-for-the-prostitute storyline? Or no, no, I’ve seen this one before, but it’s usually a female prostitute. The prostitute pines for his client… and Sa Zhangli is the cold-hearted client who only cares for his body. Ah! How spicy, and yet, how classic. I suppose the real twist is that Jun Ke can leave the brothel and won’t let go, whereas usually the prostitute waits forever for a client who won’t return.

Clingy, how clingy! Ahh, Jun Ke, I’m cringing already. If she isn’t interested, she isn’t interested! Don’t you understand that whatever you had was no more than a cash transaction?

Ah, well. I guess love makes one do strange things. Though I don’t understand sticking to someone who clearly isn’t interested, I suppose it’s what makes Jun Ke happy. There’s a vast myriad of tastes in the world. Surely, there exists someone who loves tsunderes like Sa Zhangli… and I suppose that someone is Jun Ke!

A strange shiver crawled up his back. Hui rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling a little awkward. Elder Sister Reaper is totally different. And I don’t like her, anyways. Not like that. We have an ordinary employee-supervisor relationship, a totally ordinary relationship!

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Turning her back on Jun Ke, Sa Zhangli nodded at Xi Muchen. “Unless you need someone inducted as a new Inspector, I’m leaving.”

“But that’s exactly it. We’re considering Jun Ke for induction,” Xi Muchen commented.

Hui startled. Right, I almost forgot! I already refused. I’m not under consideration anymore. I haven’t been taken back to prison because they’ve forgotten about the small and unassuming me, but I shouldn’t simply sit back and enjoy the drama. I need to figure out how to break out of here!

Quietly, he probed downward from the soles of his feet with his qi, injecting it directly into the floor. Let’s see what kind of defenses this place has.

While Hui worked, the others continued talking. Sa Zhangli jumped back, her eyes flared wide. A moment later, she narrowed them. “I refuse.”

“You don’t have the right to refuse inductees. Only the Golden Immortal does,” Xi Muchen said, tilting his head.

“The Golden Immortal is going to force me to work side-by-side with this thing?” Sa Zhangli asked, gesturing at Jun Ke.

“Not side-by-side. I’m sure he’ll start in the Exterior Office, like me and Cho Haoli.”

“But he’ll wiggle his way in.” Sa Zhangli twisted her lips. “The greatest regret of my life is that moment of indiscretion where I visited that brothel.”

“It was the greatest moment of my life,” Jun Ke stated, crossing his arms. He managed to glower, but his tone remained somewhat soft.

Good, good. Recover yourself, Jun Ke. Hui nodded in approval, only half paying attention. Under Hui’s feet, a complex barrier formation stretched in all directions. Closely-knit golden symbols wrapped the entire room, including the open window. His bare eyes couldn’t see them; only when he injected his qi could he sense them with his divine sense.

“Rather than locking you outside of the loop, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the day when you were absorbed back into it, and finally forgot me,” Sa Zhangli grumbled.

Xi Muchen tutted. “This is why you should always be careful to only sleep with people already absorbed into the loop!”

“And he would eventually get absorbed, if someone didn’t go out of his way to cause trouble,” Sa Zhangli complained, cutting her eyes at Xi Muchen.

Xi Muchen raised his hands. “I did nothing. He’s the one who came to me!”

Hui sent a mote of death qi toward the overall barrier. As expected, the barrier rebuffed him without effort. Swirling the death qi around just under his foot, Hui compressed it, narrowing the black qi into a thread. He drew the thread toward one of the characters.

The character glowed brilliantly, shining bright as the sun. The death qi weakened, fading away. Hui quickly jerked it back out of the reach of the light, and the character faded.

Hmm. A very subtle barrier. Very reactive, too. I need to weaken that reaction. I could use less death qi, but I feel like the gold character would just blast it away even faster. No… I need it to stop reacting at all.

Hui drew the black qi around, tightening it into a wedge. He jabbed it toward the character all at once, putting all his force behind it. The character blasted light at the death qi. The tip of it faded away, breaking up.

Rather than falling back, Hui poured more qi into the wedge, forcing it to reform even as he slammed it down on the character. The character glowed brighter and brighter, and then the qi reached it.

The character trembled, then dissipated, but the instant it began to dissipate, the other characters around it began to glow. Hui’s eyes widened. Shit! One character was a lot of qi. If the other characters all start to fight back as well, Xi Muchen or someone will notice, if I even can continue to fight off the glow!

The glow grew brighter, building up on each of the characters. They began to thrum, calling out to one another. They glowed stronger and stronger, growing up to a feverish burn.

Hui jolted. He reached for his qi.

Quickly, repair it somehow! I can’t let all these characters lash out! I’ll lose all my work!