The flute trilled. All around Hui, the righteous cultivators looked around, startled.

“What’s that?”

“Music? Is Mysterious Heavenly Forest… serenading us?”

“Who’s playing the flute? Pipe down!”

The lotus began to open. One petal after another peeled down. A small burst of purple-black dust danced in the air over the lotus.

In the same instant, inky traces burst through the air. As if drawn by an invisible brush, long black strokes closed off the sky, until the lines colored in the entire sky. Sealing power emanated from the black ink, bearing down on the cultivators below. Hui’s cultivation base dropped, suppressed to the level of Qi Gathering.

This is fine. I can still activate the talismans! Hui thought.

“What’s going on?”

“That ink!”

Li Xiang trembled, fighting the seal. She glared at the ink above, and began to leap into the air.

Hui grabbed her arm. “Elder Sister, no!” Erlan cast that. He’s far above our cultivation level. That’s not something we can easily fight!

Li Xiang looked at him, then nodded. She relaxed, no longer on the verge of jumping.

A handful of the other cultivators fought back against the seal as Li Xiang had. Two of them leaped into the air to attack the black ink. The second they made contact with it, however, black ink splashed over their entire bodies, and they plummeted to the ground. Where the black ink touched, only white bone remained. One clutched his arm, staring in profound fear as black ink ate away his flesh. He turned his sword on himself and severed his arm at the shoulder. By the time the arm hit the ground, only bone remained.

Hui stared at them in horror. Good thing I held Li Xiang back!

More black-purple dust spewed out of the lotus. More than a mere poof, it began to color the air, a shimmering screen of purple-black.

“Hold your breath!” Hui shouted, covering his mouth with his hands. Around him, the other cultivators leaped back, wary of the dust.

Good. As long as they’re aware of it, they should be able to lessen the chances of infection. Hui waited, watching the lotus. Time slowed to a crawl as he focused. More and more dust swirled in the air as the petals peeled away. A breath passed, but it felt like eternity. Hui’s eyes narrowed in determination. Just a little more!

The air grew thick with dust, so thick it began to surge out from the lotus. Hui’s eyes flashed. He made a hand sign, and the talismans activated. A golden barrier flashed over the lotus, containing the dust. The fire talismans flew into the dust, then burst into life. An explosion blasted through the barrier, exterminating the lotus and the dust in a single breath.

From out of the walls, the demonic cultivators and a force of Mysterious Heavenly Forest cultivators dressed in black charged at the weakened cultivators. Hui jumped back, catching his breath. He glanced upward at the ink and scowled. Dammit! I focused too much on the traps Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect set, that I totally overlooked the possibility that they would simply overwhelming us with raw might! I had eyes, but could not recognize Mount Tai before me… or rather, I failed to see the forest for the trees!

He glanced up at the seal high above. If I don’t unseal that, there’s no hope. Hui reached out with his death qi. Barely a meter above his head, his qi faltered and weakened. I can’t reach it when I’m suppressed this far!

Li Xiang tensed beside him, ready to leap into action.

“Li Xiang, take me to the seal!” Hui said urgently.

She glanced at him, then the seal. “Can you unseal it?”

“Maybe,” Hui said. I can’t be sure. Erlan is a demonic cultivator. He might have taken precautions against death qi. On top of that, he’s a higher realm than me. If I’m wrong… I might… He cast a glance at the fallen cultivators and gulped.

“I can’t take a risk on maybe,” Li Xiang said. She ran forward, racing to meet the attacking cultivators. The few others who could resist the seal ran with her, and the two sides clashed. The righteous cultivators were clearly outnumbered and outmatched. Although they could temporarily hold back the tide, it wouldn’t be long before their line broke.

Hui took a deep breath. He ran forward after Li Xiang. At the back of the righteous cultivators, he threw a few fire and ice talismans toward the attackers. Blasts of fire and ice landed in their midst. Tossing five barrier talismans at his feet, he shaped the power to cover himself and the other righteous cultivators. The demonic cultivators who broke through past the line put up by Li Xiang and the others found themselves stopped by the gold barrier.

Talismans are the best! I made these at fourth realm, so they’re still fourth-realm talismans! As long as I have enough qi to activate them, it’s as if nothing happened to my cultivation! Hui grinned and gave Li Xiang a thumbs up. “They won’t break through, Elder Sister! Fight hard!”

Li Xiang nodded and surged forward, executing a mysterious set of sword forms that blurred in Hui’s eyes. The wave of demonic cultivators fell back as one, and the three closest cultivators spat blood and fell back, severed in two at the waist.

Safe behind the barrier, Hui closed his left eye and focused on Jin Xian. She straightened up and looked around.

“Fang Hua, can you hear me?” Hui called out silently to Jin Xian.

There was silence.

Hui bit his lip. Dammit. I don’t want to risk her life without—

“Yes?”

He took a deep breath. “Fang Hua, I’m… actually a member of Starbound Sect, and many of my sect brothers and sisters are in danger right now. I can’t move on my own. If I use your body, I might be able to save their lives, but… you might die. Are you—”

Fang Hua snorted. With a mental voice that could sever iron and chop nails, she snapped, “Quit your blathering. I’ve already died once, and only came back because of you. Black Asp Sect clearly did not deserve my allegiance, for allowing me to die under a fellow disciple’s hand! Whatever sect you belong to is now my sect. I understood that I might die under your control when I entrusted my body to you. Do what you desire.”

Hui bowed to her. “Appreciated, Elder Sister!”

“But if I die… here, or at any other time—my sole demand is that you murder any member of Xi Clan you come across!”

Hui bowed again. Naturally. They’re simply too dangerous to live!

Taking control, Hui urged her upward, toward the seal. As a member of the demonic faction, naturally, Jin Xian’s cultivation base was not suppressed by the seal. I don’t want to lose Jin Xian, but if I don’t break this seal, more people will die. I must try!

“Xie Hao, what are you doing?” Gu Tian shouted. He stared after Jin Xian, lowering his flute.

“What I have to do!” Hui shouted back, using Jin Xian’s voice. He hurtled toward the seal, gathering death qi in his hand. Death qi can negate qi. It’s crude, but it’s worth a try!

Catching sight of Jin Xian hurtling upward toward the seal, the other demonic cultivators leaped into the sky to give chase.

“Xie Hao!”

“I knew you were no good!”

“Are you courting death?”

Gu Tian grit his teeth. He hesitated, then began to play the flute again. A strange melody swirled upward, encasing Jin Xian as she flew upward. The chasing cultivators’ eyes blurred, and they fell back, momentarily confused.

In that moment, Jin Xian reached the seal. Hui held out his hand toward the seal, reluctant to touch it. Even this far away, the corrosive power of the ink sunk into Jin Xian’s hand, melting it to bones in a few seconds. He hesitated. Can I break through this?

Behind him, the cultivators shook their head and burst free of the power of Gu Tian’s flute. Roaring, they raced at Jin Xian.

No time! Hui gathered Jin Xian’s death qi from inside her and shoved it at the barrier.

A small hole opened in the black ink. Nearly at the same time it appeared, the barrier began to heal the wound, closing over the hole.

Hui frowned. That’s no good. I barely weakened it. Am I too weak, compared to Erlan? Is that the problem?

If I’m too weak, then—there’s only one thing to do! Again, Hui gathered Jin Xian’s death qi and slammed it into the barrier. This time, when the hole opened up, he sent a pulse of his own qi with it, using Jin Xian’s cultivation base to send it high into the sky.

In the next moment, the demonic cultivators reached Jin Xian. Hui returned the body to her. She turned on them with ferocious might. Holding nothing back, she dropped on the first cultivator, mouth wide. He stabbed her in the chest as she fell, but to an unliving death cultivator, the sword through her heart meant nothing. She drew herself into him and tore into his neck. Horrible slurping sounds filled the sky as Jin Xian devoured his flesh and blood.

The other cultivators fell back, startled. Down below, Gu Tian’s face twisted. “Xie… Hao?”

You knew I was a death cultivator, Hui muttered silently in his heart. Not that I am. But Jin Xian is. This kind of thing should be expected, right?

The cultivator in Jin Xian’s grip withered up. She cast him aside and leaped for another. He darted back, but didn’t see the green threads swirling toward him. They connected, and Jin Xian gestured, pulling him toward her. Helpless to resist, the cultivator could only scream in horror. She opened her mouth again, a twisted smile on her face. Blood smeared over her lips like lurid lipstick, a brilliant, eye-gouging red.

Hui retracted his awareness from Jin Xian, slightly disgusted. He wiped his mouth self-consciously, though no blood colored his actual mouth the way it did Jin Xian’s.

Up above, Jin Xian scythed through the cultivators. Before her, they were dry weeds and rotten wood, helpless against her might. She devoured them, darting from one to the next in the blink of an eye. When they fled too far, her green strings lashed out and caught them dead, paralyzing them for the moment it took for her to reach them and kill them. Magical attacks washed over her as if they weren’t there at all. A Mysterious Heavenly Forest cultivator thought to use flame, but Jin Xian took the initiative to slash at the flame with a handful of death qi, and the wave of fire died before it touched her flesh. In an instant, there were three fronts to the battle: the demonic cultivators and Mysterious Heavenly Forest cultivators, the righteous cultivators, and Jin Xian!

Hui swallowed, suddenly nervous. Have I… created a monster? I know they said death cultivators can fight a realm higher than their actual realm, but until this moment, I—never fully appreciated what that meant!

Around him, the other righteous cultivators started to draw away. Hui glanced around, confused.

“Doesn’t that death cultivator… look like him?”

“It’s almost spooky how similar they look.”

“Are they brothers? Is that why it’s fighting for us? To have a death cultivator like that in his family… what a savage family that must be!”

Hui scowled. Dammit! It’s my mistake for making Xie Hao look too much like myself! He quickly erased his scowl and stared at Jin Xian with wide eyes. “Wh… what? That death cultivator… looks like me?” He darted out and grabbed a fellow cultivator, pulling him close. The other cultivator leaned away from him, but Hui refused to release him. “Elder Brother, tell me. Does that cultivator look like me? It isn’t so, right?”

“He… he does!” the other cultivator snapped, pulling his robes free.

Hui released the other cultivator and stared into the middle distance, as if stunned. He patted his cheeks, then shook his head. “I… have I… done something to draw the ire of heavens? Why is a man who looks so much like me a savage death cultivator?”

Hui looked around, then ran at another cultivator. “Elder Sister, tell me it isn’t so. I don’t look like him, do I?”

“You… you don’t!” she said, but refused to look him in the eye.

Hui drooped, defeated. “They all think it! Oh no, this small cultivator’s reputation is ruined, all because someone unrelated looks a little like me! We don’t even look that similar!”

“Eh… is it really just misfortune?”

“What kind of karma did he sow, that the Heavens repaid him by giving a death cultivator a nearly identical face?”

“Still, it’s… quite strange… they must be related somehow, but… it doesn’t seem he knows that death cultivator?”

Hui breathed out. It’s not completely effective, but at least they aren’t convinced I’m somehow connected to Jin Xian anymore. I need to be more careful with my disguises in the future!