Out of the Valley of Beasts. Bai Xue hurtled through the air, toward a higher point on the snake skeleton than Hui had hoped to reach. He flew into his cave and released Hui, stepping back.

“It’s good to see a familiar face,” he sighed, stretching. As he did so, he swapped back to his female form. Red hair turned white, as did red robes.

“I could say the same. How did you end up here?” Hui asked.

“You first,” Bai Xue said, smirking slightly.

Sighing, Hui explained the circumstances of his arrival: the illusion, the gem, the life qi and demonic cultivators clashing, then his short time in the demonic sect. “So how about you?”

Bai Xue’s lips curled up deviously. “You remember that curse specialist who cursed me?”

Hui nodded.

“So did I. I researched him thoroughly. Once I discovered he was in Black Asp Sect, I scoured the markets until I found a Black Asp Sect identity medallion for sale.”

“You can buy something like that?” Hui asked, startled.

Bai Xue shrugged. “For the right price, if you’re persistent enough.”

Ah… I get the feeling I don’t want to know the rest of that particular story. “And then?”

“It only had the character Hong on it, so I became Hong Xue. Changed my hair and robes to match, of course, and infiltrated the sect.”

“To kill Zhang Zhou, the man who cursed you?”

A devious smile spread across Bai Xue’s face. She shook her head. “No. I wanted to take it slow.”

“Take it… slow?” Hui asked.

The devious grin deepened. “First, I picked a fight with him on false pretenses and crippled his cultivation base. Once he was crippled, I seduced the woman he was in love with and made her my beloved. I’ve begun to study under his former master, and I’ve befriended all the fellow cultivators who used to be his friends, before he was crippled.”

Wide-eyed, Hui backed away. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

“Oh, that’s not all,” Bai Xue said triumphantly. “Zhang Zhou was his master’s favorite. He alone owned a key to the inner realm of a secret inheritance space hidden in the Blood Mist Valley! I relieved him of that, of course. Once I unlock his inheritance realm and steal everything that should have been his… then, I think, I’ll reveal my true identity and kill him.”

Hui nodded slowly. “Elder Sister, your plan is truly magnificent. Mere antlike cultivators like myself could never come up with something so thorough, so devious.”

“The Bai Clan is respected amongst the clans… but if we need to, we can be fearsome as well. Anything to protect the clan, no matter how far we have to go! You think I go too far? If this keeps the next generation of demonic cultivators from seeing my baby sibling as prey, then I’m glad to do it!” Bai Xue declared, crossing her arms.

No, no, she has a point. With her clan’s… predisposition, it’s very easy for cultivators to underestimate and look down on them. Especially since the inheriting bloodline is made up of furnaces! It might seem excessive to me, but I don’t have to worry about my siblings and potential children being treated as furnaces by demonic cultivators such as these. I understand her motivation.

Bai Xue smirked. Leaning against the wall, she plucked at her lip, exposing her red tongue. Against her pale skin, it almost looked like a splash of blood. “Besides… seeing that horrid man squirm in humiliation as I steal everything out from under him… isn’t it the most divine feeling?”

Hui licked his lips nervously and backed away again. Nope, you’ve lost me. “And… and no one suspected Disciple Hong suddenly becoming Hong Xue?”

Bai Xue shrugged. “Apparently he predates even the current Sect Master, and wasn’t that fantastic of a disciple. No one paid him much mind while he was alive, and now that his identity talisman is mine, no one bothered to challenge me.”

Predates the Sect Master? “How long has Yunxu been the Sect Master?” Hui asked, startled.

“Only a hundred years or so, apparently. He rolled in, exterminated the previous Sect Master, and mostly keeps to himself, from what I’ve seen. He hasn’t come out once in the months I’ve been here,” Bai Xue said, shrugging.

Ah, speaking of Yunxu! I’m masking my qi and wearing a disguise, but Bai Xue is… she changed the color of her male form’s hair, but that hardly qualifies as a whole disguise, especially since pill refining changes one’s hair color in the first place! He glanced at Bai Xue. “Er, but… Elder Sister, surely the higher-realm cultivators have noticed…?”

Either that, or the demonic sect cares even less about its goings-on than Starbound Sect.

Bai Xue nodded. “The Black Asp Sect believes firmly that every individual’s karma is their own to handle. Well… but that’s an easily-broken rule. In any case, the few that recognize me have implicitly allowed my presence. As far as the Black Asp Sect is concerned, allowing the heir of the Bai Clan to vent their frustration and forgive their disciple’s infraction is far more valuable than a random disciple’s petty life. We’re well connected, after all, not to mention Twin Elemental City. Most people would hesitate before incurring a grudge from me.

“That fool Zhang Zhou thought he could completely suppress me and make me his slave, or else he wouldn’t have dared to touch me. And now… now I’m going to suppress him and make his life living hell!” Bai Xue’s eyes shone. She clenched her fist, determined.

After a moment, she turned and tilted her head. “If you aren’t here by choice, should I help you get home?”

Hui considered, then shook his head. “I need to rebuild my death qi cultivation, and… I have a feeling there’s good fortune to be found here.” If I could learn how to refine my own ghouls, or befriend Fa Chuyou and get her to hand me a few of her extras, I’d finally have the clones I’ve longed for!

Bai Xue nodded approvingly. “If that’s the case, I’ll help you out as long as you’re in the sect! Soon, I’m planning to raid the inheritance zone. If you want, I’ll bring you along. Who knows? Maybe you could find something valuable inside, as well.”

“Yes, of course!” Hui said. Inheritance zones are fantastic in novels! They always hold the best loot!

A second later, his heart froze. And unspeakable danger! My little life will be at stake! “Er… but, Bai Xue, it’s not… too dangerous, is it?”

Bai Xue laughed. “It’s meant for those at the fourth stage, but don’t worry. I’ll be there to protect you.”

At that, Hui nodded, somewhat reassured. As long as Bai Xue’s around, I can comfortably hug the golden thigh! A mental pressure lifted off his shoulders. He looked at Bai Xue and smiled.

“What?” she asked, squinting at him.

“Nothing. I’m just thinking it’s nice to have a friend around to rely on,” he said earnestly.

Bai Xue’s face broke into a smile. In the space of a breath, she crossed to him and firmly scruffed his ghoul skin’s hair. “That’s the Xiao Hui I know. So sweet, so sweet! Are you really a cultivator?”

“Eh? Of course I am! What kind of question is that?” he asked, ducking away from her hand.

She chuckled and let go. “Nothing, nothing. It’s been too long, Xiao Hui. How about a drink to celebrate our reunion?”

Hui touched a hand to his forehead, releasing the ghoul skin. It slid off, and he stored it away with a gesture. “Why not?” It’s not as if I have anything pressing. There’s no harm in spending a while drinking and shooting the breeze with a beautiful lady.

With a little gasp, Zhubi crawled out of Hui’s robes and settled around his neck, quickly coiling in to snooze.

“That’s much better. I’m no Fa Chuyou, you know,” Bai Xue said. She caught the tail end of his ponytail and stroked it longingly, sinking her fingers through the silky hair.

“Er… Elder Sister, the liquor?” Hui hinted, subtly shaking his hair out of her grasp.

Smiling, Bai Xue drew a white porcelain jug from her storage ring. She poured them each a cup and sat on the floor by a lush bed, gesturing for Hui to sit beside her.

They drank for a while, chattering on. At last, Hui glanced back and sighed. “A bed? How fancy. I don’t have any furniture at all.”

“Which vertebra are you in?” Bai Xue asked. She handed him a cup and poured the liquor.

“One hundred and eight,” Hui replied, grimacing. “Oh, but my cultivation has grown, so I should be able to jump up a coil.”

“Go see Elder Jing as soon as you get out, and he’ll promote you. You don’t want to stay at the bottom too long,” Bai Xue advised him.

“I know. I’ve already been attacked by a mob. A whole mob, for this small cultivator!” Hui complained, tossing back the liquor. He held his cup out again.

Obligingly, Bai Xue filled it. “How sad. And? Did you crush them?”

Hui shook his head. “I couldn’t, I was worried they might have Masters who could come back and crush me. Oh… I did humiliate a Dai Dagao, though…”

Bai Xue snorted. “Wish I could’ve seen that. He’s the big one, yes?”

Hui held his fingers up, barely a hair’s breath apart. “Little where it counts.”

She laughed and refilled his cup again. “What about you, Xiao Hui? Are you… a small cultivator there?”

“Eh? No,” Hui said defensively. He squinted at her. Bai Xue, what are you up to?

“Really? Prove it,” she said, leaning close. Her warm breath tickled his neck.

He gulped in a breath. His lungs filled with a sweet scent, not floral but refreshing, somewhere between pine and citrus; neither a cologne nor fully a perfume, but invigorating nonetheless. He laughed, putting a hand on Bai Xue’s chin. “Are you trying to seduce me?”

Bai Xue gave him a mysterious smile and leaned in. Her face hovered above his. His eyes gravitated to her lips, plump and bright red against pale skin.

Her breath mingled with his. Her eyelids dipped, a mysterious expression on her face. She traced her fingers over the collar of his robes. Their eyes met, and she held his gaze, her eyes hungry, lingering. “Do you want me to?”

Hui gasped, suddenly hot. Is it the alcohol, or…? “Bai Xue, I… I’m…”

“Are you?” she whispered. Lips tickled his ear.

Hui put a hand to his burning ear. He looked at Bai Xue, a complicated expression on his face.

A delicate knock came from the front of the bone cave. A sweet, enticing scent filled the space. “Hong Xue? Are you in?”

Hui jolted upright. “Er—you, you have a visitor.” He grabbed his ghoul-skin and pulled it on, cheeks and neck bright red.

“Are you in, your granny. Your grandmother is in!” Bai Xue snapped under her breath, annoyed. After a second, she sighed and took a deep breath. Her body shifted, robes turning from white to red. Hong Xue cleared his throat, voice deep. “Xiao Hui, come back anytime.”

“Of—of course,” Hui said. He adjusted his robes restlessly, rushing out of Bai Xue’s cave.

A pretty woman with a curvaceous body stood just outside the door. Her robes hugged her curves tight, and the front of her collar revealed inches of creamy white skin. Full lips and a beautiful face turned to greet Hui. “Hong Xue… eh?”

A handsome man rushed by, hurriedly adjusting his robes. If not for his cold exterior and his strong aura of death qi, she never would have imagined him a ghoul. Pale skin showed almost no decay, nearly flawless. Faint spots of red on his cheeks and ears drew out his charm. He breathed raggedly, chest heaving. The scent of alcohol brushed by her nose as he rushed by.

“Jing Aimei, what a pleasant surprise,” Hong Xue said, appearing in the cave door seconds later. The scent of alcohol clung to him, and a faint blush simmered on his cheeks.

Jing Aimei blinked. She looked from the retreating cultivator to Hong Xue, and her brows furrowed. “Hong Xue, did you… and he…”

Hong Xue grinned and drew her into his arms. “Hmm? I had a drink with an old friend. Are you jealous?”

Immediately, she melted, giving in. “Of course I am! Who wouldn’t be? Your alcohol is the tastiest!”

Hong Xue chuckled. He drew Jing Aimei into his bone cave. “I’ve still got more, you know…”

Rushing down the vertebrae, Hui shook his head, rubbing his cheeks to dismiss the blush. Bai Xue! You, you— argh! I was about to give in!

Damn you, Jing Aimei! I almost—I mean, Bai Xue, you shouldn’t have… argh!

He darted into his bone cave and sat in the corner, hurriedly assuming the lotus pose to circulate his qi and calm his mind. Focus, Hui. You’re in the midst of a demonic sect, among wolves! Now is not the time to run off after women. Even if those women are incredibly beautiful and desperate for your body…

Stay strong, Hui! Don’t give in to that lascivious furnace!