Hui slowed to a halt and watched Han Qin soar out into the infinite space. He smirked, lifting his hand to his chin and striking a bold pose as he allowed his tiny body to swell back up to its usual size. Excellent! I’ve accomplished it. Han Qin’s clone is sealed, and I can go about my day!

He gestured, summoning his items back from his storage node, then flew over to retrieve his beating stick. From on high, he surveyed his various tunnels he’d carved to infuriate Han Qin. Digging tunnels and throwing my voice down to the end of them as a tiny me was a fantastic idea. He was totally befuddled! Giving up on finding me and taking off to destroy the village… hehe, yes, yes! Playing in the palm of my hand… I love this feeling. I should do this more often!

Ah, well, I can’t put aside my excellent skills at disguising and hiding my qi and aura, and many other death-faking skills that I put to good work to become an earthworm with a big voice! Death-faking is truly the ultimate skill. Everyone should pursue it! I don’t know why everyone thinks I’m so strange for learning my death-faking skills…

Ah, if I didn’t enrage him with my very presence, it probably wouldn’t have worked out so well. I can’t claim to be a perfect mastermind.

Perfect…? Me…?

Hui slapped his cheeks and shook his head hard. No, no, no! Heart-demon, begone! Truly, truly, this hideous heart-demon, the longer it goes untreated, the more powerful it becomes! But… I don’t even know how to treat it! Aside from suppressing it, can I remove it? Can I… ugh. I should add ‘looking for a heart-demon specialist’ to my list of things to do.

A bolt of lightning surged out of the pure blue sky.

Hui darted to the side. The lightning struck the ground, missing him by a hair’s breadth.

Gazing up at the sky, he grinned triumphantly and clenched his fist. Alright! If I just dodge another 199 of those, I’ll get the ultimate weapon—

A pale white foot materialized behind Hui and kicked him forward. Hui stumbled, his arms flying out. He tried to stop himself, but an absolute force propelled him forward.

“Hmph. Using my space as a prison? Reflect on abusing your elders’ goodwill for five hundred years!” a cute and high-pitched voice declared.

Hui turned over his shoulder, but all he saw was a disembodied pale leg hanging in the air. From halfway down the thigh to the small white foot, the leg hung there, and no other part of the senior appeared.

Eh, but this isn’t my fetish…? Hui thought, and then he stumbled into the infinite space.

The air warped subtly around him, and he spread out his awareness, closely watching every spatial ripple and wrinkle, pouring all his overpowered mental energy into the comprehension of the spatial technique. His forehead wrinkled, and pain assaulted his brain, but he pressed on. I have all this mental energy. I might as well try and gain spatial skills! Even if I fail, it’s a step toward my comprehension.

The cute voice sounded in his ear again. “For that thought, a second punishment.” Space warped again, harder this time.

Eh? I’m not allowed to comprehend spatial skills?

Healer cleared his throat. Er, I’m pretty sure that Senior is referring to your fetish remark.

Hui scowled. Damn Seniors, punishing us for thought crimes!

Yeah! You tell ‘em! Mortal cheered with all his might.

The world warped, and he stepped out into the sky over Han Qin. Fire blasted at him, and Hui darted back. Argh! That evil Senior, putting me right next to Han Qin… isn’t this an infinite space? Coincidentally coming to the same space is a chance that approaches infinity! Obviously, she did this on purpose!

Extra punishment? She might as well directly tell me to die!

Hui dodged. He prepared to defend himself, only for Han Qin to whirl about and fire flames in the opposite direction. After a few blasts, he nodded to himself. Han Qin is attacking randomly! I’m safe. I haven’t been discovered.

Then, I might as well… leave!

Hui turned and flew away, exerting as little qi as possible so as to not attract Han Qin’s attention. He slunk off into the sky, quickly vanishing to a pinprick.

Wiping away his sweat, Hui glanced back. Phew. I thought Han Qin had noticed me… that would’ve been awful! Instead, if I’m alone, this spatial space isn’t so bad. Someone will have to fetch Ying Lin, but putting that aside, I can try to delve the secrets of the spatial distortion… and maybe meditate on this heart-demon and try to overcome it on my own, as well. Essentially, I’ll simply become another Mortal.

Oh, hey. What does that mean? Mortal demanded.

I can collect our disciple, Healer offered. I’m not too far from you right now.

Thank you. I’d appreciate that, Hui replied. He hurried off, lost in his thoughts. So now that Ying Lin is taken care of, the first thing to worry about is hiding from Han Qin. He doesn’t know I’m here, thankfully, and he didn’t figure out my tiny tunnels technique, either. Plus, I haven’t used my soul-burning death-faking technique yet. There’s still a chance I can fully play dead with that.

He glanced over his shoulder again. No longer could he see the fire in the distance, nor sense Han Qin behind him. He took a deep breath and nodded to himself. Alright. So, first off…

His knee bumped something.

Hui jumped back, startled. He looked down.

Han Qin sat in a meditative pose.

Eh? Eh?!? How… what…

Damn that Senior! She looped the space, didn’t she? Am I trapped within a certain distance of Han Qin? Over one stupid remark? Senior, have mercy! Senior, this small cultivator means no harm, his thoughts simply wander sometimes, please, Senior!

Han Qin shifted. Hui gulped. Light-heartedly, he tried, “Oh! Ah, excuse me, Elder Brother. I’ll just be on my way…”

Han Qin’s eyes snapped open. Screaming senselessly, he launched himself at Hui.

“Elder Brother—Elder Brother, please! We’re both trapped in here—ah! Hurts, hurts! Please—hey! Hear me out!”

To his surprise, Han Qin stopped. Well, Hui reassessed a moment later, looking down at himself, he does have me by the throat, and my heart is in his hands. He hasn’t found my core, but if I were an ordinary cultivator, he would have me by the figurative small hairs right now.

Well, let’s not disavow him of that impression. Yes, yes, that’s right. I’m the terrified cowardly cultivator! You hold my heart in your hands! Terror, pure terror, Hui! It hurts, too. That part’s easy. Pain, pain, terror, terror. Heart-demon, begone! I’m nothing but a weak coward!

Han Qin narrowed his eyes. “If I remove both at once, even you might die. Speak.”

Er, I’ll be perfectly fine, but—no, no! Terror! Pure terror, Hui! With some effort, Hui put on a terrified face.

“Elder Brother, thank you for stopping. If your illuminous self would please—”

“Speak plainly, or I remove them.” Han Qin tightened his hands. Hui’s heart beat faster, as if fighting his grip.

“Remove…” Hui gulped. A very clear image flashed through his head, with Han Qin tearing his heart from his chest in a spray of green fluids while a river of green spilled down his torn chest from his missing throat at the same time. It wouldn’t kill me, but it’d hurt, dammit! He shook his head. “Small cultivator understands. Please—”

Han Qin tightened his grip threateningly, nostrils flaring.

What? I’m not even allowed that much? How simply do I have to speak, huh?

Swallowing carefully, Hui considered his words. “Han Qin. For various reasons, we’re both stuck in this realm.”

“Indeed. Various reasons, such as you.”

Dammit, can you stay calm and not blame me for ten seconds? Hui raged. Externally, he managed to keep the terrified expression on his face. “This small… that is, I cannot beat you in a long, drawn out battle. We know this. You’ve defeated two of my clones before.”

“That is true.”

“However, you also know how extremely annoying it is to kill me. Even now, even in this situation, I have techniques that will allow me to escape with my life intact. I do not wish to use them because of their high price, but I do have techniques,” Hui continued.

“Your point?” Han Qin rumbled. Heat emanated from him, and fire began to flicker from his hands. Hui’s organs let out hissing sounds.

Ow, ow, ow, that hurts, that hurts a lot, Senior! Sweat dripped down his face, and his face twisted in very real pain. I’ve never experienced someone directly branding my internal organs before… there’s a first time for everything, I guess!

He twisted slightly, trying to avoid Han Qin’s hands. “My point is that two heads are better than one. Currently, I’m in the advantageous position. I have many clones, and I can create many more at a moment’s notice. Losing this clone is a small loss for me. On the other hand, it seems to me that you have a hard time creating clones, and that each clone is a large loss for you. In conclusion, rather than destroying me, as I’m sure Illuminous Sir could, we should work together to escape this realm.”

“Work together, with a slippery fifth-stage bug?” Han Qin laughed.

Hui tried to bow, only to come up short as Han Qin’s hands intervened. Instead, he bobbed his head very slightly. “It might be hard to believe, but this small cultivator has much experience with destroying… ahem, breaking out of secret realms.”

“Is that so? Even a secret realm of this level?” Han Qin asked skeptically.

“Indeed. In fact, I suspect that I have broken… or at least, assisted in breaking a secret realm made by the exact same man who made this one. Ah, I was only fourth stage back then, too,” Hui added.

“With assistance,” Han Qin said, unimpressed.

Hui let out a gentle, slightly embarrassed laugh, turning his eyes aside. “That is true, that is very much true. Well, to be quite honest, I can still contact all my other clones outside this space, and I do still speak with the Senior who helped me break that realm. If you want to break out, I’m your best bet.”

Han Qin released Hui. Hui sucked in a breath and sagged backward, huddling around his torn-apart chest. He sent his life qi to the wound, and the wound soaked it in. At last, the wound closed, his broken ribs healing and the flesh once again hiding his beating heart. Hui grimaced, eyes squeezed shut, desperately biting his lip. Don’t scream. Don’t scream. Not in front of Han Qin. Keep it in, keep it in… hurts, hurts, hurts, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, ow, ow…

At last, he stood upright. Glancing down at his filthy robes, Hui grabbed his snakeskin and pulled, tearing apart the disguise to reveal relatively clean robes beneath. The remaining cuts and bruises vanished with the snakeskin.

However, the gaping hole in the chest of his robes didn’t vanish. He pressed his lips together, displeased. Han Qin did pierce through the disguise to grab my heart. Naturally, the clothes won’t fix themselves. But still! These are my nice robes. I paid for them, dammit! Han Qin, you’re the enemy of money, of all money and debtors everywhere!

Pressing a hand on his chest, Hui cast the snakeskin technique again, covering up the hole in his robes with a copy of the same robes, but complete.

“I’ve killed you, and when I escape, I will continue to hunt you down and kill you. Why would you help me?” Han Qin asked, eyes narrowed at Hui.

Hui coughed into his hand. “Er, although I still consider you to be a villain worthy of killing, my paltry skills are incapable of such incredible actions. Given that I cannot kill you, and I want to leave this space, my best chance of escaping lies in joining hands with you, if only temporarily.”

He glanced at Han Qin and bowed. “In addition, although Elder Brother has fewer clones than this small cultivator, I don’t believe you’re out of clones entirely. Freeing this clone from this realm might be a larger boon for yourself than for this small cultivator, but ultimately, it’s not as though sealing you here would keep me safe forever. Leading you here in the first place was simply a way for me to buy some time, before you sent the next clone over.”

“You understand that I will attempt to kill you as soon as we are free?” Han Qin clarified.

“Er, Elder Brother, you’ve at least stopped killing me for now. As far as this small clone is concerned, I’ve accomplished the same goal by bargaining with you that I set out to accomplish by locking you in this realm: I’ve bought myself some time.” Besides, I can always run away and attempt my soul-burning fake death technique! In keeping Han Qin from killing me in the moment, I’ve bought myself a golden chance to escape in the future!

Plus, Han Qin doesn’t know about the mysterious senior locked in this space. If I reach out to her, she may agree to keep Han Qin locked up and let me go… or at least to give me a head start against Han Qin.

Han Qin’s eyes narrowed. “You’re scheming something.”

Hui bowed again. “Naturally. And naturally, Elder Brother is scheming something as well, no?”

Han Qin harrumphed. He turned away.

Hui let out a breath. He raised a hand to his chin. Okay. So. Now that Han Qin isn’t trying to kill me… how on earth do I escape this place?