The sun shone overhead. Clear skies stretched in all directions. Heat wavered off the stony path and shimmered on the surface of the pond. A single lotus bloomed among the reeds and pondgrass, delicate white petals spreading wide.

A few moments later, the lotus dropped its petals. A fat seed sat in the seed pod. The seed pod dried, and the seed began to fall out.

“Lucky!”

Kneeling, a young woman plucked the lotus pod and stuck it in her sack with a few other lotus pods. Humming to herself, she peered around the pond, but found no other lotuses. She sighed. “Oh well. It’s better than none.”

She turned and headed back up the small tributary stream, heading toward the bigger lake upstream. The lotus pods bumped around in her sack. One, a little larger than the others, smacked hard against the sack, and its single seed tumbled out.

Life qi glowed in the seed. It cracked open, and a small Hui fell free. He fell into the sack and laid there, eyes shut. After a few seconds, Hui shook himself and looked around, confused. He raised his hands. Pure white this time, instead of green? My skin matches my robes. This… is awkward.

Wait, that’s not it. Why am I small again? Where am I? Last thing I remember, I was sitting in the cave, contemplating a solution to the slowly-decaying spell formation…

He frowned around at his strange surroundings, the cloth bag and the other seeds, then startled. Did the lotus bloom? It bloomed, and my soul immediately got sucked into the new lotus body? Is this going to happen every time? Or… is it just because I was so close to it?

Loud humming startled him. Hui stared around, then reached out with his mental energy. A mortal girl? I wonder why she… well, she probably saw my seed pod and got hungry. It’s understandable.

But… what do I do about this situation? I wanted to blend in with the mortal world as a human, not make my debut as a tiny vegetation spirit!

Hui took a deep breath. He calmed down and circulated his breathing and qi. I have life qi. I can grow back to human size without too much effort. It’s just… to do so in her bag… well, it’d be better if I snuck out first.

I don’t want to attract attention. In the first place, I settled down near my lotus clone in order to be able to use it to run errands while my main body… er, first clone, remained locked in comprehension. The best case scenario here is that I sneak out when she puts her bag down, run off into the forest, grow to full size and use some cosmetic skills to adjust my color… Not that I have any cosmetic skills, but I’m sure it can’t be too hard. In a pinch, I can always use a snakeskin.

Once I’m disguised as a mortal, I can find a premise to return to the town as a passing merchant and make a few requests for the materials I need, mostly ink and paper. Although it would be better to use talisman paper and cinnabar ink, I can make do with ordinary paper and ink mixed with blood. Now is not the time to be picky.

About a year has passed since the sect fell, but I barely feel like I’m any closer to a solution. I wonder if I should risk another visit to the sect to pick Chen Wuya’s mind… though I feel like he’ll just mock me unless I come with at least half a solution.

In terms of offense and defense, I’ve got some talismans, but… their formulae are woefully outdated, with the exception of the void attack and the barriers. I need to either comprehend new formulae or buy new ones, and right now, with the sect looming over my head, how could I focus on talisman formulae? But at the same time… where am I going to buy new ones?

Hmm… actually, I know just the place. Twin-Elemental City, the one ruled by the Bai Clan! They don’t disallow rogue cultivators or demonic cultivators, so it shouldn’t be a problem even if I’m recognized. I wouldn’t expect Bai Xue to defend me or anything… after all, they have to maintain the clan’s neutrality, so they can’t stand between All-Heavens Sect and myself. However, if nothing else, they should turn a blind eye to me passing through. Maybe even… help out a bit?

Anyways, now that I’m already in this clone… I might as well fly over and buy some formulae. My real body… no! first clone… I can faintly sense that it’s still focused on comprehending a solution to the spell formation. In other words, I’ve somehow… instinctively split my consciousness?

Hui rubbed his chin. Should I be concerned? It doesn’t seem natural to be able to split my consciousness so easily…

Then again, maybe I simply have a natural talent in splitting my consciousness! Maybe I should simply accept my blessings without questioning it too hard.

The sack wiggled. Hui glanced up and found the opening widening, revealing the blue sky above. He dove into his seed husk and closed it around him, compressing his soft body down to the utmost. I’m just an ordinary lotus seed, nothing to see here…

“I’m hungry,” the girl muttered under her breath. She fished around in the bag blindly.

Equally blinded by his seed husk, Hui held his breath. Grab another seed, grab another seed, grab another—

Five fingers closed around his seed. The world shifted and bumped around, and the dim cloth-covered light burst to full sunlight. Hui shrieked internally. No! Don’t eat me!

What do I do, what do I do? Run? Too obvious! Play dead? No, I’ll get eaten! Nooo, there’s got to be a way! My life as an ordinary mortal! My future of peacefully buying ink and paper! He wiggled in the seed, frustrated.

Hui hesitated, thinking, then suddenly rocked in his shell, bucking against the girl’s fingers. Her fingers slipped, and with a little cry, she dropped the lotus seed.

Yes! Freedom! Hui went to leap out of the seed.

A hand scooped him out of the air, closing the shell back around him. The girl clutched him to her chest and sighed. “Phew. I can’t afford to lose one. I only have a few, after all. I hope Fu Liyu doesn’t mind me snacking on one…”

A shiver ran through her, and she looked at the seed, suddenly hesitant.

Eh? What’s this? Did she decide she doesn’t want lotus seeds, after all? Hui thought hopefully.

Her stomach grumbled. The girl glanced around, then reached up to peel the seed again. “Fu Liyu won’t miss one little seed, surely… ah, she never even knew this seed existed! It’ll be the same beating either way. Grit your teeth and bear it, Ying Lin!”

The seed rocked again. This time, she clenched her hand around the seed. Ying Lin frowned at the seed. “Is there some kind of bug in here? Is that why it’s so big?”

Hui rocked the seed yet again, his eyes glittering. Yes! A bug! Throw me away, I’m no good to eat! You don’t want to eat this seed!

“Oh, well. This Ying Lin has peeled bugs off seeds before. I’m not proud. This one isn’t for Fu Liyu, so she doesn’t need to be worried about it.” Ying Lin dug her nails into the seed’s husk and peeled the seed open.

A very small man laid there where the seed’s meat should have been, curled up very tightly and completely pure white, from the tip of his ponytail to his tiny, soft-looking boots. Sheepishly, he smiled at her. “Ah… hello?”

Ying Lin screamed and threw the seed away from her with all her might.