Okay, Liu Guang is asleep. Hui glanced to his right, but quickly licked his lips. Er… I don’t think they’d notice if I was here, or not. Let’s make my excuses in any case, but I don’t think they’ll remember. “Ah! The liquor is running out. I’ll be right back!”

Gui Yutong and Bai Jingwen giggled. Gui Yutong vaguely waved a hand at him.

I’ll take that as my sign to leave. Hui nodded at the two of them and took to the air, quickly putting his liquor bottle into his storage space.

Chen Wuya staggered atop his head. “Hey. Careful with the sudden movements.”

Hui glanced up. “Senior, I’m about to do something. If you want to go to sleep, you should go back to one of the other clones.”

“I’m not that drunk,” Chen Wuya protested. He fluttered off Hui’s head and slipped into Hui’s robes, peeking out of them from Hui’s neck. “There we go. Now I won’t fall off.”

What happened to ‘not that drunk?’ Hui shook his head at him, but said nothing. He summoned Moonlight Cutter and sped up, hurtling back in the direction he’d come from.

As he flew off, Liu Guang opened his eyes just a hair. He hummed to himself. His eyes locked on Moonlight Cutter, and he raised his eyebrows. “Ding Qinwen…? What’s he doing back…?”

A second later, his head tipped back, and he returned to snoring.

Sailing through the air, Hui hurtled back to the peak he’d come from. Down below, the disciples continued to practice. Sword cultivators went through the forms. Herbalists picked herbs. Spirit beast cultivators chased a hart.

Hui frowned. Still doing exactly what they were during the day? As expected, it’s only an illusion. Without Liu Guang here to scare people off, it would become obvious much faster!

He lifted his hand to the barrier. Death qi thrummed in front of him, forming into black chains. His expression turned darker. And this barrier. What kind of bullshit was Liu Guang spouting? ‘Residual dark qi?’ Ha. This entire barrier is built with death qi.

Unfortunately, that means that my usual tricks won’t work. Hmm…

But the opposite of death qi is life qi. I bet I can negate it from the other direction!

Hui lifted his hand, summoning a ball of life qi to his fingertips. He peeled a strand off and touched it to the barrier.

The black chains melted away where the life qi touched. Hui instantly cut back his life qi, startled. They’re melting too fast. That’s… that’s more than I’d expect, from death qi and life qi’s usual interaction.

Is life qi meant to be a key for this barrier…?

Hui looked at his hand, then at the barrier. At its edges, the retreating death qi already showed signs of regenerating. He swallowed, then darted through. I’ve opened it. Might as well take a look inside! Besides… besides, I can’t abandon Jin Xian!

On the far side of the barrier, the peak appeared entirely different. No disciples ran about. Even the trees and greenery were gone. Instead, bare rock thrust up into the sky. Cold aura emanated from the ground below.

Hui shivered, running his hands over his arms. This dark, death aura… death qi. There must be ghouls here!

A dark gash caught his eye, rent deep into the side of the peak. From within, ghouls reached for the sky, squirming over one another. Hui licked his lips. Ah. That explains where they found the ghouls for the trial.

So I guess… Liu Guang threw Jin Xian down there. Well… it makes sense. Put a ghoul with the other ghouls. It’s better than exorcising her from my perspective, but it makes my job hard! How am I supposed to find one ghoul amidst a ghoul-stack?

Hui cupped his hands to his mouth. “Jin Xian! Er… Fang Hua! Are you down there?”

The ghouls continued to squirm around, paying him no mind.

Hui sighed. I guess it was too much to hope for…

One of the ghouls whipped around. Pure white eyes stared up. It hefted a clawed at Hui at let out an ear-piercing screech.

All the other ghouls turned. Hundreds of eyes stared up at Hui. They crawled over one another at top speed. One or two leaped, temporarily taking to the air to charge at Hui.

Oh shit. Oh shit! Er, er, er… Wait! I have just the item for this! Hui’s eyes glittered. Reaching into his node, he searched down deep into his storage ring and drew out a ghoulskin. Quickly, he threw the ghoulskin on and suppressed his qi and life qi, instead circulating his death qi at the forefront.

The ghouls quieted down. They settled down into the rift, returning to their quiet unlives.

Hui let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. It’s a good thing I had that old ghoulskin around, or else… who knows how that would have ended? I would’ve had to fight tons of ghouls! It’s not that I wouldn’t win, but… but this small cultivator doesn’t like to fight! And it would be a total waste of life qi, to massacre some ghouls at random for no benefit for myself.

He raised a hand to his chin. I guess I should go down there and wander through the rift. That’s probably where Jin Xian is, after all. And—

One of the ghouls flew up toward him. Hui backed away, pulling out a handful of talismans. Shit! Even with my disguise—

The ghoul stopped. A once-proud male cultivator, he sported unusually clear skin for a ghoul, though it was still stained with dirt and grime, and long but ragged hair. Long iron nails stuck out of his chest and limbs at regular intervals.

Hui lowered his hand, but remained on guard. He isn’t attacking?

Bowing to him, the ghoul groaned. After a second, he coughed and straightened up. Cataract-covered eyes met Hui’s. “Our Matriarch is waiting for you.”

“Matriarch…?” Hui muttered. It can’t be. Jin Xian—no. Fang Hua?

The ghoul straightened. He looked at Hui with hazy eyes.

“Lead the way,” Hui said, nodding.

The ghoul nodded and bowed shortly. He turned away, flying into the gorge.

Hui followed close on his heels. The second they entered the gorge, a wave of icy yin and death energy surrounded them, a thousand times more intense than the cold energy outside of the rift. Hui shivered, glad to have the ghoul’s skin to protect him against the cold. Even a cultivator like me feels the cold down here. It’s icy!

The ghoul descended to the ground. Hui touched down behind him. His footsteps crackled over frozen ground, and his breath misted on the air. He nodded at the ghoul. “What is Elder Brother’s name?”

The ghoul paused. “Tie Dingzi.”

E-eh. Your name is… ‘iron nails?’ Are all ghouls so literal? I know I named Jin Xian poorly, but still!

Hui nodded. “Small cultivator greets Elder Brother. I’m known as Xie Hao.”

Without glancing back, Tie Dingzi nodded. “I know.”

Ah. So as I suspected, their Matriarch is…

Tie Dingzi strode ahead. The ghouls wandered aimlessly, but when Tie Dingzi grew close, they parted, leaving a path open for him. The path closed behind Hui. A few of the ghouls stared after Hui, a hint of intelligence in their eyes, but most lurched blindly along, no more aware than animals.

Hui glanced behind him. “This place… it’s so cold that it preserves the flesh, and there’s so much negative energy that it’s easy for death cultivators such as yourself. It’s almost as if… All-Heavens Sect has deliberately created a cradle for death cultivators.”

Tie Dingzi snorted. “Exorcists are useless without something to exorcise.”

“Eh? Are they deliberately releasing powerful ghouls, then?” Hui asked.

Shaking his head, Tie Dingzi led him onward.

It wouldn’t surprise me too much. After all, All-Heavens is capable of one-sidedly declaring sects to be demonic, and has no qualms against wiping out righteous sects. Why not pad their pockets and expand their influence by creating the very creatures they’re the best at destroying? The more death cultivators and ghouls there are, the more that other sects come to ask All-Heavens for help, the more powerful they become.

If I take them out, I’ll be helping the entire cultivation world! Ah, not that they’ll know. Hmm… oh well. We can explain afterwards.

They climbed through the valley, ghouls separating as they passed. A dark veil of qi obscured the way ahead. Past it, Hui could barely make out a pale throne. Tie Dingzi stepped through the veil, and Hui followed, ducking his head as he passed through the veil.

“Took you long enough,” a familiar voice drawled.

Hui looked up.

Fang Hua sprawled lazily atop a throne of white bleached bone, her head propped on her hand. She smiled at him, the light in her eyes no less hungry than Jin Xian’s, though something about this hunger sent a shiver down Hui’s spine in a way Jin Xian never had.

Hui swallowed. He quickly dropped into a bow. “Good evening, Elder Sister. Ah… thank goodness small cultivator found you! I was so worried.” That hunger… Please don’t eat me. Please don’t have the other ghouls eat me. I’m vegetables, I don’t taste good!