Thump. Thump.

Hui startled awake. His hair stuck to his face, eyes hazy. He yawned and rubbed his face, then stretched.

Ah. I had a good night’s sleep.

…Wait. I slept? I shouldn’t need to sleep anymore. What happened?

He blinked around, and his eyes fell upon the talisman, sitting on the bone floor in front of him. He picked it up. Though inert, the power contained within squirmed at his touch, barely contained between his blood and the paper. The talisman formula stared back at him, unfamiliar. He knew he’d made it, and yet the creation of the formula remained blurry, out of reach.

Hui shook his head and stowed the talisman in his ring. I did it! I don’t remember how, but it’s done now. Now that I have the formula, I can create more… once I have more qi.

Thump. Thump.

“Xie Hao, the great Hong Xue has come to your paltry cave! Get your ass out here!”

Hui scrambled upright. He ran to the entrance of his cave, paused, ran back and drew the ghoul skin on, then ran to the entrance again and glanced out. “B… Hong Xue?”

A cultivator at the third realm gazed down his nose at Hui. He had simple features, a long jaw, high cheekbones, and a flat nose, like a henchman in an imperial court. “That’s right. Be honored that Hong Xue deigns to drop by.”

Hui glanced at Bai Xue, who quirked his lips in a small smile and winked at Hui, lifting his eyebrows suggestively.

A furious blush rolled over Hui’s cheeks, visible even through the ghoul skin. He spluttered, the events of their last meeting replying in his mind, then managed to remember to bow. “Ah… this small cultivator is honored, truly.”

“Eh? What’re you blushing for?” the man asked, frowning at Hui.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. My overwhelmingly handsome face has that effect on people, regardless of gender,” Bai Xue declared magnanimously.

“Even ghouls?” the cultivator asked.

“Mmm, ask your Fa Chuyou about that,” Bai Xue replied, smirking.

The cultivator blushed at that. “How… how dare you. Fa Chuyou is a pure plum blossom, white and untainted, who lives delicately above the rest of us, a true jade beauty, a bastion of pure snow in this bloodsoaked sect!”

“Eh,” Hui said flatly. Are we talking about the same Fa Chuyou who begged to refine my corpse? Who mixes corpses together and gets all hot and bothered about refining corpses?

Bai Xue chuckled. “Ah, never mind, never mind that. Huang Muwen, why don’t you lead us to the Blood Mist Valley?”

“Eh, already?” Hui asked.

Bai Xue nodded. “It’s been months since our last meeting. I was willing to let you hide away for a time, but it’s becoming excessive.”

Hui blushed again, furiously. “I—I wasn’t hiding! I was busy studying and seeking enlightenment!”

“Eh, ‘seeking enlightenment?’ Keep your enlightenment to yourself,” Bai Xue said, winking.

“You—” Hui sighed, already knowing he couldn’t win against Bai Xue. “Let’s just go.”

“Well said,” Bai Xue agreed. He tossed Hui a vial of dark blue potion.

Hui caught it. “What’s this?”

“Qi replenishment. You’re exhausted, right? I can sense it.”

“Ah, true,” Hui said. He uncapped the bottle and tossed it back.

“Mmm, no need to tell me why, though,” Bai Xue added, tossing him a wink.

Hui almost spat the liquid. At the last second, he clapped his hands to his lips and caught it, forcing himself to swallow instead. Qi rushed into his stomach and swirled into his dantian, replenishing his store of qi. He narrowed his eyes at Bai Xue. “For a whole month? Who would?”

Bai Xue spread his hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Junior Brother. Ah, but it’s so strange. The way you speak seems to suggest that you might… perhaps…” He raised his eyebrows.

“Hong Xue, sleep with one eye open tonight,” Hui grumbled, shooting him a death glare.

“Eh? So I can see who’s sneaking into my bed?” Bai Xue replied, wearing an expression of utter surprise.

Huang Muwen glanced from one to the other. “Are you two done?”

“Yes,” Hui sighed.

Bai Xue chuckled. “Never.”

“The Blood Mist Inheritance Zone only opens once a month. If we don’t enter tonight, we won’t have another chance for a month,” Huang Muwen said, leading the way down the skeleton.

“That often?” Hui murmured, thinking back to the previous inheritance zone he’d entered, the one with the Phoenix-Fire Spark Altar, where he’d met Bai Xue and faced off against the triplets. That one only opened every two hundred years. I thought that was more standard.

“Most people exit with a minor comprehension, or a weak treasure. Many return with nothing at all. In return for opening regularly and often, the inheritance realm only opens once for each person. No matter how many times you try, once you fail to grasp the inheritance once, you’ll never have another chance,” Huang Muwen explained.

Hui nodded, understanding.

“I feel good about this. I’ll be the one to grasp the true inheritance,” Bai Xue proclaimed. He glanced back at Hui and winked.

Hui smiled. Right, Bai Xue has the key from Zhang Zhou that should allow us to enter the secret realm of the inheritance zone.

“Even if you don’t, don’t get disheartened. Even a minor enlightenment can be considered a stroke of good luck,” Huang Muwen replied evenly.

Bai Xue laughed and thumped Huang Muwen on the back. “You’re a good man, Huang Muwen. Too good for the Black Asp Sect.”

Huang Muwen rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. “I’m… no one fantastic.”

“Ahh, don’t say that. Don’t deny your goodness, Huang Muwen. A fantastic cultivator like you deserves to shine brightly,” Bai Xue said. A familiar glint of mischievousness danced in his eyes.

“No, no. I wouldn’t dare.”

Hui’s lips quirked slightly upward as he watched Bai Xue torment Huang Muwen. It’s so much more fun to watch when he isn’t teasing me.

They passed by the ghoul field on their way to the Blood Mist Valley. Fa Chuyou stood around, supervising the ghoul platoon. As they passed by, her eyes lit up, and she ran over.

Huang Muwen smiled and straightened his shoulders, drawing himself to his full height. “Fairy maiden Fa Chuyou! To what do we owe—”

“Xie Hao! Xie Hao, I’ve been so lonely. It’s been so long since I refined your corpse,” she cried out. She ran to Hui and threw her arms around him, patting his ghoul-skin’s cheek. “Why haven’t you come back to me? I’ve been waiting for you every night.”

Hui tensed. “Fa Chuyou, I—I’ve been busy cultivating. I didn’t have time to—”

She pouted, sticking her lips out. “You have time to wander around with that no-good Hong Xue and his hangers-on, but you don’t have time for me?”

“Hangers… on?” Huang Muwen staggered back as though he’d been struck, hands gripping his heart.

“Elder Sister, we’re on our way to the inheritance zone in the Blood Mist Valley. When I come back, I’ll—I’ll let you refine my corpse,” Hui agreed reluctantly, the images of the distorted figures in the Corpse Refining Valley flashing before his eyes. He carefully extricated himself from her grasp and backed away.

Still pouting, Fa Chuyou put her hands on her hips. “Fine. But don’t make me wait.”

“I won’t, I won’t,” Hui promised, bowing to her.

The three walked on. Huang Muwen walked like a living corpse, his eyes empty and motions lifeless. Bai Xue hummed to himself, face unreadable except for the small smile. Hui glanced at Bai Xue, nervous. He’s got something to say, I just know it.

Bai Xue caught his glance, and the small smile grew wide. “Eh, Hui, how popular, how popular. All these beauties crawling into your lap, but the chaste little you keeps his hands to himself? How precious.”

“Elder Sister,” Hui sighed, exhausted.

“Elder Sister?” Huang Muwen said, startling back to life. “And who’s Hui?”

“Elder Sister Fa Chuyou… is quite the handful,” Hui improvised.

“I was simply praising our Xie Hao’s cleverness and brilliance in gaining so many women’s attention,” Bai Xue explained cleanly.

Huang Muwen furrowed his brows, but then shrugged and turned away. They drew to the lip of the valley.

Huang Muwen drew a deep breath, banishing his exhaustion and depression. “From here on out, stick close to me. It’s easy to get lost in the blood mists. If you get lost, there’s no guarantee you can escape alive, understand?”

“Understood,” Hui said, nodding.

“Got it,” Bai Xue yawned.

Turning, Huang Muwen jumped down into the valley.