Hui jostled around in the bag for a while, quietly cultivating. Abruptly, the bag tipped, and Hui and the rest of the lotus seeds tumbled out. Hui executed a neat roll and came to his feet, then remembered he’d been kidnapped and toppled over, playing dead.

“Lotus fairy? Lotus fairy!” Ying Lin hurriedly stuffed the lotus pods back in her bag while staring desperately at Hui. “No, my fairy! Hold on, I’ll save you!”

Eh, if you want to save me… the lotus seeds can wait, you know? Hui thought, continuing to play dead. In any case, this is a good opportunity to make a clean break from this girl. Let her think I’m dead, and vanish like that. I’m kind of the same as a small animal or a bug right now. At worst, she might bury me. More likely, she’ll just toss me out the window.

As he laid there, Ying Lin continued to pack the seeds away. Meticulously, she stripped the seeds out of the pods before putting them back in. At last, she put them all in the bag and tucked the bag onto her waist again, and only then rushed to Hui’s side. “Hold on! I’ll save you!”

If I really was dying, I’d already be dead by now, you know? Hui thought, shaking his head internally.

A wave of water poured over him. Hui spluttered, startled. Ying Lin stared at him worriedly, then snatched him up. She ran outside and grabbed a handful of dirt, placing it in a cracked bowl. Matter-of-factly, she grabbed Hui and stuck him forcefully upright, as if she were planting a flower. He flopped over, so she shoved him in deeper, forcing him to stand upright. She stepped back and looked over her work, nodding with satisfaction.

Hui stared back at her. Even if I was a plant, what would this do? You didn’t dig a hole for my roots or use good soil. And you watered me before you put me in the dirt! This… when it comes to caring for plants, I give you a… ten out of a hundred! I guess you knew to use water and dirt, but… aside from the most basic of basics, there’s not much to recommend about it!

Ying Lin stared at him earnestly. “Fairy… Please. I just had one small wish. One small… wish.”

Didn’t you already make a wish? And I fulfilled it, too, even though I had no incentive to! Well… it was truly a small wish, after all, so it was harmless. But I’ve done it! You got your wish. Go on, get out of here so this small cultivator can escape. I’ve treated you well enough.

Ying Lin continued to perch there, staring at him from a few inches away. Her round face and round eyes filled up his vision. All he could see were her huge eyes and her intense gaze.

What? What do you want? Give up on me! I’m dead. I’m dead! Let me be! Don’t you have to deliver the lotus seeds? Go on, shoo! Hui shouted silently.

“Fairy…” Ying Lin whined, tilting her head.

I won’t be done in by your puppy eyes! Go!

“Ying Lin, where are those lotus seeds?” Aunty Wen shouted.

Ying Lin whirled. “Coming!”

Instantly, Hui leaped out of the pot. He spun, searching. The hut he found himself in had a single window, on the far wall behind Ying Lin. The second he identified the window, he leaped for it, flying through the room.

“Fairy! You’re alive!” Ying Lin cried, excited.

Hui froze in midair. He turned slowly, only to find Ying Lin’s big round eyes staring at him.

Fuck! How fast are you? Dammit, I’m a fifth stage cultivator… argh, I wasn’t moving at top speed to avoid accidentally hurting Ying Lin, but still!

He coughed and laughed. “Er, thank you for helping me, but… I’ve already brought you extra lotus seeds, so couldn’t you…”

Ying Lin quickly bowed to him. “Fairy! Please, you have to make me pretty! I need to be chosen as one of Young Miss Fu Liyu’s handmaidens at the banquet!”

Hui looked her up and down. What is she, fifteen? Maybe sixteen? Her face and eyes are a bit too round, and she’s plain and a bit too thin, but there’s nothing wrong with her face or figure. In fact, for a servant girl, she’s quite passable.

Make her beautiful? Er… I guess I could. I don’t really want to get stuck here… but at the same time, I can use my connection to this servant girl to get close to that Fu Liyu, who seems to be a noble lady of some sort. If I plan to disguise myself as any sort of mortal aside from a peasant, having a Young Miss or two as a contact would be a huge help, and who wants to be a peasant, after all?

Hmm… but what exactly should I be? He looked at his hands, then flexed them. My skills… I can use talismans, manipulate qi… I could be an exorcist, but I don’t want to be associated with cultivation! A small association is fine, but nothing serious.

Non-magical skills… Paper-making? No, that requires me to settle down. Merchant? I’m not that rich, nor do I have any knowledge of business! What else… what other profession moves around a lot and has skills I can emulate?

Ah! I know!

Nodding to himself, Hui drifted down to the ground and stretched, using life qi to grow himself back to his usual height. Hesitating a moment, he considered his options, then used a snakeskin to disguise himself, after all. Aside from rendering his pure-white skin a more natural color and returning his white hair to black, he made himself slightly less attractive, from the level of a cultivator down to the handsomeness of a mere mortal, and added a pair of glasses. Doctors should be scholarly, after all! Refined and scholarly, that’s me. The doctor… er, what should I call myself?

“Whoa! Fairy, what magic is that?” Ying Lin asked, her face a series of circles once more.

“Call me Xie Hao, not fairy,” Hui replied, ignoring her question. He adjusted his glasses and looked at her. “I’m an ordinary, mortal doctor, understand? I specialize in adjusting the flow of qi and balancing one’s internal energy. I merely… er, got trapped in some rogue cultivator’s spell when you found me. Thank you for saving me.”

Ying Lin’s face immediately fell. “You’re a quack.”

“I am not,” Hui replied, at the same time that a faint quack emanated from his dantian.

Ying Lin stared. “Did… did you…”

“Ying Lin! The seeds!” Aunty Wen shouted. A doughty, big-boned woman with good meat on her bones spun around the corner, glaring at Ying Lin. At the sight of Hui, her eyes widened, and she backed away. “Ying Lin… you…”

“Aunty Wen! No, no, it doesn’t count! He was a fairy until just now!” Ying Lin cried.

Hui bowed deeply to the middle-aged woman. “Madam, please forgive this small doctor. I lost my way and wandered until I grew dehydrated. As the River of Forgetfulness materialized before me, this servant girl offered me some water, which I gratefully accepted, and led me to rest in this hut, which I now realize was untoward of me to accept. I accept responsibility for my crimes.”

Aunty Wen’s brow creased. “How’d you have the time to do all that while I ran to the kitchen and back? We’re deep in the Fu family compound…”

Hui cleared his throat. “In any case, I see I’ve overstayed my welcome. Please excuse me.” He moved to escape. I am alone with a maiden in her room. Understandably, the Fu family won’t like that.

Aunty Wen snapped her arm out to block his path. Hui looked at her hand, then up at her. She looked down at him, her face stony.

Hui stared back, equally emotionless, while internally he screamed. Aunty Wen, please let me off! I’ve done nothing! I got kidnapped into her room, understand, kidnapped! I never wanted to be there!

“You said you were a doctor?” Aunty Wen asked.

Hui nodded nervously. Is this the kind of ‘are you a doctor’ that gets asked before she says ‘good, you’ll need all your skills!’ and pummels me to pieces?

Ah, she’s a mortal, but still… still, this small Hui doesn’t want to get pummeled, even if it doesn’t hurt! It’ll take so much effort to fake as if a mortal could injure me…

Aunty Wen smiled suddenly. “Good, good, how wonderful! Ying Lin, why didn’t you tell me you’d found a doctor?”

“Eh? I…” Ying Lin said, staring wide-eyed at Hui, completely lost.

“How wonderful, how wonderful.” Aunty Wen glanced around her, then gestured Ying Lin forward. “Ying Lin, you still have that sore wrist, don’t you?”

“Yes. It doesn’t bother me much, but…” Ying Lin said, stepping forward. She held out her wrist.

“Doctor, could I trouble you…?” Aunty Wen asked.

Hui looked at Ying Lin, then at Aunty Wen. After a moment, he shrugged to himself. He took Ying Lin’s hand and stared at it with his third eye. It lets me see qi… maybe I can also see inside a person?

His vision shivered. He frowned and tightened his grip. Threads appeared, running through Ying Lin’s body in all directions. Most glowed a pale gold, but one or two darkened to black.

One of those ran through Ying Lin’s wrist. Almost in a trance, Hui pressed his hand against Ying Lin’s wrist and pushed a spark of life qi toward that black thread. The black dissipated, and the string lit up again.

Ying Lin startled. She pulled away, then shook her arm, twisting her hand around freely. “Ah? It doesn’t ache anymore!”

Aunty Wen’s smile widened.

Hui coughed. Explain it, explain it! I don’t want them to suspect I’m a cultivator. “Her bones were a little misaligned. I pressed them back into place, and—”

“Come with me! The Young Miss is in need of a doctor,” Aunty Wen announced. She grabbed ahold of his arm and yanked him along, dragging him after her.

Lost, Hui looked at Ying Lin for guidance.

She opened her round mouth and whispered, “Don’t forget to come back and make me pretty!”

I don’t know what I expected. Hui shook his head and let Aunty Wen drag him away.