The Sect Master left. Lan Taijian followed after him, and in the distance, beams of light shot up with them as the Peak Lords gathered.

The second the Lan father and son left, Hui stood from behind the other disciples, shedding the scholar skin as he stood and replacing it with a snakeskin replica of himself wearing Starbound Sect robes. The other cultivators murmured amongst themselves. Rather than a righteous anger or a fury, a quiet uncertainty hovered over the disciples. A few murmured amongst themselves, but no one spoke loudly. No one knew what to say.

Li Xiang stared after Lan Taijian for a long moment, then stepped off the practice field. The disciples instantly cleared a path for her. She strode off over the peak, her eyes distant. No one dared to follow her, not even her most devoted fans.

Hui looked after her, then turned and walked off. I think I know where she’s heading. I’ll meet her there.

The sun burned hot overhead when Hui stepped out of the forest into the little outcropping that overlooked the world below, the same one Li Xiang had shown him years ago, when he’d only just met her. She stood at the edge of the cliff, looking out at the mountains around them, the lesser peaks that built to the five primary peaks. She glanced at him as he stepped into the clearing and nodded, just once.

He stepped up beside her. “Li Xiang…”

“Are you going to stay?” she asked quietly.

Hui looked at her. He nodded.

“Why?”

Hui shrugged. I won’t tell her it’s because of her. She wouldn’t accept that.

She turned back to the view. “It doesn’t seem like you.”

“Elder Sister, I’ve only ever belonged to Starbound Sect. How could I…”

“Didn’t you run off and join a demonic sect not long ago?” Li Xiang pointed out.

Hui fell silent. It was stupid to try to bluff Li Xiang, anyways. He shook his head. “I guess I did.”

“If you stay, will you fight?”

Hui looked at her. He nodded. “I will.”

She snorted, then nodded as well. “We have a difficult fight ahead of us. If they decide to attack us, I don’t know that we can win. It may be that all that lies ahead of us is death and defeat. Even so, I’m determined to stand by the sect until the end.”

“If we talk like that, isn’t it as if the sect was already destroyed?” Hui pointed it.

Li Xiang laughed. “That’s true. We should believe in the sect, instead. I just wish… none of this had ever happened.”

“It’s not your fault. Tang Fei attacked on her own. They were forcing the issue,” Hui said, half to himself.

“I know. I never thought it was,” Li Xiang said. She looked him in the eye. “It’s not your fault, either.”

“Ah… you noticed?” Hui said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

Li Xiang smiled. “I’m very familiar with your fluctuations. I sensed your qi, even if no one else did. Thank you for saving me, Hui. I’m glad you moved. Even if it starts a war, it’s better than dying to an assassin’s blade.”

Well… that’s true. If I didn’t stop Tang Fei, she would have assassinated Li Xiang, and then… how could Starbound Sect have allowed them to get away with that? Maybe they planned to kill Tang Fei to show how she acted on her own… but then Starbound Sect would have only ended up in a worse place than before: unable to righteously fight back or keep pushing the issue, and yet down one of their inheriting disciples. Sometimes, there’s no winning scenario.

He sighed and reached for his throat, quietly petting Zhubi. Zhubi twined gently through his fingers, comforting him. “Maybe nothing will happen.”

“Maybe. I can only see truth, not the future,” Li Xiang said.

“All we can do is get stronger,” Hui said, clenching his fist. The permeable barriers. Practicing Zhu Diyu’s technique. Finding more ways to play dead! If I could have had Li Xiang play dead there, we could have averted this entire mess. I need to figure out ways to force other people to play dead… and maybe not even just one person, but a whole group of people!

“Right. Stronger,” Li Xiang said. Silver lines burned upright in the depths of her eyes. If he looked closely enough, those lines looked... like swords!

Hui took a deep breath, then nodded. Without another word, the two of them parted, both seeking strength in their own way.

Right. As long as I’m here, I’ll stop by the sect’s administrative sector and see if they have a way to send messages long distances in this world. If Bai Xue’s father, Bai Luoren, already knows a formula for permeable barriers, that’ll save me some time. He headed back up Starbound Peak, toward the administrative city. It stood the way it always had, no different than it had been when he was smaller. Hui hesitated, then chose one of the buildings at random. They’ll probably point me somewhere else, anyways.

There was a nervous energy to the clerk that hadn’t been there before. He gave Hui a look, distracted. Hui cleared his throat and leaned in. “Er, is there a way to send long-range messages?”

“Get in line,” the clerk said.

“Huh?” Hui asked.

The clerk nodded behind Hui. He turned. A line stretched across the back of the building, curling around in that corner. “They’re all in line to send messages to other sects, same as you. Everyone wants out. Who’re you going for? Azure Fang, with that spirit beast of yours?”

“I, er… huh?” Hui said. That many people are leaving, already? So little faith in Starbound Sect… well, I suppose it’s better not to have people who will abandon the sect this easily in the battle to come.

“No need to hide it. There’s no shame in getting out of a bad situation. It’s not like Starbound Sect is only made up of warriors and sword cultivators. Pill cultivators and plant cultivators have their own place, you know?” the clerk said, shrugging.

Hui nodded, then paused. Come to think of it… what kind of cultivator am I? Certainly not sword or pill. Not plant either, nor beast. Er… death-faking cultivator? Survival cultivator? Is there such a thing?

He cleared his throat. “Actually, I was thinking of sending a message to the Bai Clan…”

The clerk whistled, looking Hui up and down. “Dang, I guess you do have a chance. Hey, if you get in, put in a good word with one of the girls for me, hmm? Or hey… you think you might be able to get a few seconds with Bai Xue? Imagine that, standing in the presence of the number-one beauty of the gorgeous Bai Clan…”

Hui frowned at the clerk, then shook his head and pushed off the desk. Have a chance? Get a few seconds? This poor cultivator is begging to have less of a chance, dammit! Bai Xue won’t stop harassing me! If you knew what it was really like to have that beauty’s hands on you, you wouldn’t think the same!

A memory of softness and lips replayed in his mind, and a faint blush passed over Hui’s cheeks. Er, well, I guess… it isn’t all bad…

He coughed, pulling himself back to the present. “Thank you. I’ll come back later.”

The clerk nodded. “Don’t worry. Once the rush is done, there will still be jades for you.”

I’ll go check with Master. Master seemed close with the Bai Clan… or at least, he has some kind of relationship with them. He might be able to send a message. Nodding one last time to the clerk, he set off for his own peak.