The seed twitched. A sprout burst from the seed, rapidly growing into a lotus bud. Hui and the triplets jumped back, startled. After a second, Hui leaned in, curious. A rebirth ability? I could use something like that! If I can cultivate this technique, my playing dead can reach a whole new level!

Though… I might need to entirely become a lotus beast for that. This small cultivator isn’t willing to go that far. Transmuting my body is one thing, but becoming an entirely different species is something else!

The lotus bud grew and grew, swelling to the size of a human. Hui stepped back, frowning. Fire isn’t enough. We can kill her over and over, but we don’t have Erlan’s overwhelming power. We can’t end her in one shot before her regeneration begins.

I need to stop her regeneration, somehow. Seal her. Or… suppress her?

The death qi-based suppression that held Ding Bo sealed in that tablet! I don’t know exactly how that suppression works, but I have death qi. I should be able to replicate using death qi to seal, even if I can’t recreate that exact suppression technique!

Hui’s eyes widened. “Death qi talismans! How did I never think of it before?”

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

“What kind of qi?”

“I’m a demonic cultivator, Elder Brothers. A death cultivator, in fact,” Hui explained.

“Oh, right.”

“Death cultivator…”

“You’re dangerous, aren’t you? Huh.”

He pointed at the lotus. “If you can distract her for a few moments, I can seal her!”

The triplets nodded.

“We’ve got it.”

“Leave it to us.”

“Are you sure? She’s pretty powerful.”

Hui hesitated. “I… I can do it! Probably.”

The triplets exchanged a glance. As one, they nodded.

“We’ll do it!”

“For the time it takes an incense stick to burn.”

“If we don’t, we’re all dead. This had better work,” the third triplet said, giving Hui a look.

Hui bowed to them. “Thank you, Elder Brothers. I’ll do it!”

He backed away. Gu Tian moved to his side, nervous. “Xie Hao… can you really seal her?”

Hui knelt. He drew out a sheaf of talisman papers and bit his thumb. “We’ll all find out together.”

“That’s reassuring,” Gu Tian grumbled under his breath.

The lotus bloomed. A new Bai Jingwen stepped out with a shriek. The second she appeared, she launched herself at the triplets. Jin Xian leaped into the fray, green wires thrashing around her. Rather than engage Bai Jingwen claw-to-claw, she whipped at the lotus beast with her wires. Invisible whips took chunks out of Bai Jingwen’s flesh, while one of the triplets dueled Bai Jingwen with a sword. Another triplet threw fire, while the final one cheered on the sidelines.

Hui focused on the paper, cutting out everything else. He drew death qi out, infusing it into his blood. His blood blackened, emitting a powerful aura of death. The black blood began leaking up his arm. Hui caught his breath, startled, then pressed his thumb to the paper. I have to write until I get all the black blood out! If I stop… I die!

He scribbled over the paper. Death aura infused into the paper, eating it up. The paper decayed under his power, unable to hold the death qi. Hui’s brows furrowed. Dammit! I need something that won’t decay. Stone?

Hui jabbed his hand out and snatched a nearby stone. He scribbled over the stone, inscribing a formula onto the surface. The formula began to seal, but halfway through, the magic slipped out from Hui’s control, the formula going sideways. The stone detonated, crumbling at the same time.

Shaking stone shrapnel from his hand, Hui drew another stone toward him. Even stones decay under death qi. But they last long enough for me to work out the formula!

With a shriek, one of the triplets flew past Hui. Gu Tian ducked, putting his hands over his head. In the distance, Jin Xian fell back, claw marks oozing black blood down her torso.

“How much longer do I have?” Hui called.

The triplet jumped to his feet. “At least… ten breaths!”

Ten breaths to finish a formula. Hui’s eyes widened, then narrowed. He waved his hand, collecting all the stones in the area to his hands. Using the corrupted, death-qi-infused black blood, he inscribed one formula after another on the stones, tweaking as he went. He finished a formula and tossed it aside. It detonated seconds later, but he’d already moved on to the next one. That one, too, he tossed away, drawing out another stone.

I’m so close. It keeps falling apart at the last second! The final stroke of the sealing formula… it’s not quite right, and it’s destabilizing the entire talisman.

If I do it like this… then…

Hui bit his lip. He paused, thinking.

No! The formula is correct. Instead, I need to change the intent. Use the corrosion to seal. Suppress life with death.

Bai Jingwen roared. The force of her roar threw the triplets and Jin Xian back. She glanced around, then charged at Hui.

“Xie Hao!”

“Watch out!”

“She’s coming for you!”

Gu Tian stumbled back, wide-eyed.

Hui climbed to his feet. Reaching out to the scale, he forcibly activated the snakeskin technique. He spat a mouthful of blood, but circulated the technique fully.

It’s a gamble, but if there’s even a scrap of Bai Jingwen inside the monster, even a hint of her soul—!

Long black hair cascaded down his back. A face more handsome than any other hid Hui’s features. Ornate black and red robes covered his worn robes, and a fan appeared in his hand. Bai Xue held his hands out to Bai Jingwen. “Hug?”

Bai Jingwen froze midstep. She stumbled, then slowly took a step forward. Staggering along, she nestled into ‘Bai Xue’s’ grasp.

“H…hug,” she whispered.

Hui smiled, but internally, his heart clenched. I feel bad about this, but—but I don’t want to die! He lifted his hands and held Bai Jingwen close. His bloody finger darted across her back, inscribing the sealing formula directly onto her robes. It bled through instantly, death qi sinking through the petal robes like a hot knife through butter, and seared into her body itself.

Bai Jingwen pushed away from Hui. Betrayal flashed in her eyes. She screamed.

“I’m sorry, Elder Sister. There’s no other way!” Hui apologized. One day, in the far future, maybe I can awaken you… but this small cultivator doesn’t have the skills to wake you up yet.

Bai Jingwen clawed at him, frustrated. She bared her fangs. Even as she did, her limbs weakened. Her body shriveled up, withering under the death qi and the seal.

Hui held her tight, even as her flesh fell away, until the last glob of green and purple gore plopped to the ground. The seal burned through, burrowing through her body. At last, only a black seed remained. The sealing formula branded itself into its side. The seed trembled, but couldn’t escape the seal.

Hui let out a breath. I did it!

“Bai Xue?”

“Eh, that furnace?”

“Xie Hao, do you know about Bai Xue, as well? We tried to catch them…” The third triplet frowned regretfully.

Er, shit! I forgot the triplets knew Bai Xue! Hui laughed. “Who doesn’t know about Bai Xue?”

“That’s true.”

“Yeah, everyone knows Bai Xue.”

The third triplet frowned. “Does everyone know them well enough to perfectly replicate their male form?”

Gu Tian frowned at Hui, looking him up and down. “Bai Xue…? Isn’t that Hong Xue? Or… wait, hold on…”

Hui waved his hand. Quickly, he removed the skin, returning to his usual ghoulskin. “It’s not important, Elder Brothers!”

The last remnants of the black blood splattered on the floor with the shed, ridded from his body as the skin shed. His body burned and ached, but he put up with it. It’s my fault for using the snakeskin too many times.

An alarm blared. Hui jolted. Gu Tian clutched his flute. The triplets stared around, startled. Hui threw his arm out toward Jin Xian. She leaped into the air, transformed into a beam of green light, and flew back into his storage ring.

“Uh oh.”

“Run, run!”

“Get out of here! Huang Yan will be here in no time!”

Hui nodded. He grabbed Gu Tian. “Thank you, Elder Brothers!”

“Welcome.”

“Sorry about your girl.”

“It’s a pity she turned out to be a monster.”

The triplets raced for the exit. Behind them, Hui bowed one last time, then chased after them. He tucked the sealed seed into his storage ring and hefted Gu Tian over his shoulder. “Elder Brother, suppress your aura!”

“Do… what?” Gu Tian asked.

“Just… do your best!” Hui shouted. The wooden tunnel stretched before them. He sped down it, sprinting at his top speed. The end loomed, moonlight glimmering at tis mouth. He leaped down, bouncing from tree to tree, and slammed into the ground, burrowing under. Underground, he pressed a hand on Gu Tian’s chest and suppressed his own qi, as well as Gu Tian’s. Gu Tian struggled, but couldn’t resist Hui’s much higher cultivation base.

“Xie Hao, what…”

Hui lifted a finger to his lips.

Overhead, a dozen auras streaked by. They charged into the wooden tunnel and vanished one after another.

The last one faded. Hui held his breath for another ten seconds, then grabbed Gu Tian and sprinted off again. I’ve got to go! Go, go, go!