Mortal’s eyes opened. He sat up in the spiderweb and threw his hands out. Now!

Across the web, the spider stiffened and jolted to a halt. It twitched, fighting Hui’s control. It pitched its mind against Hui’s mental energy. Hui narrowed his eyes and intensified his energy, using the extra mental energy they’d gathered from the ward in Chen Xigui’s room to prevent the spider from escaping. It thrashed another dozen times, then went still.

Hui flicked his fingers. The spider straightened, then stood upright, stretching all eight spindly legs to their limits. He twitched his hand again, and it dropped low, then skittered to the right. A thin line of rot qi connected his hand to the spider, transmitting his gestures to the beast.

It became simpler once I understood the spider needs rot qi to survive. From there, all it took was adapting my old ghoul-puppeteering technique to use rot qi and connect to the spider, instead of the ghouls. If I didn’t have that influx of extra energy, it would have taken much longer to bend the spider to my will, but thanks to the extra mental energy… He grinned. I’ve recruited our first senior!

For as long as you have rot qi, anyways, Rogue pointed out.

Hui waved his hand. I’ve gathered plenty of it. I should be able to handle the spider for a prolonged battle. And besides, if we need it, we can always station a clone here and have them be a conduit to recharge the rot qi.

Sounds like a fun job, Rogue muttered sarcastically.

Try that sarcasm again after you hang here for a while, Mortal replied, rolling his eyes at Rogue. If anyone has the right to send a clone to this hellhole, it’s me!

Or we could just leave you there… Rogue suggested.

Mortal pressed his lips together. He lifted his hand and formed a blade, cutting through the spiderweb. He landed on the ground and stretched, glad to be free at last. Han Qin is distracted, and I’ve acquired the spider. For the rest, I can continue to comprehend it while I continue on my way. It’s far past time for us to repay the debt we owe that woman. He gestured, calling the spider over.

Are you going to send that into the node…? Rogue asked.

I’m sending it to Peak Lord. Peak Lord, who’s on the peak, right? Hui said slowly, narrowing his eyes at nothing.

I’m on the peak. What was that about?

Nothing, Hui replied.

In any case, do I need rot qi to control the spider? Peak Lord asked.

I’ll send you some. You should be able to seal it in a cave and feed it the bare minimum of rot qi, putting it in a kind of stasis until we need it. Because it needs rot qi to function, if we starve it, it should enter a rest period, Hui replied.

Peak Lord nodded. Understood.

The spider reached Hui and bent down, servile. Hui lifted his hand and pressed it on the spider’s head. The spider vanished, sent into the node. At the same time, a huge rush of qi left him.

Hui wobbled in place, putting his hand to his forehead to ground himself and keep from passing out. Phew. Sending large objects is no joke. We should keep in mind that using Senior Spider as a surprise attack will wear on whichever clone does the sending.

Hui reached to his sides, slowly unwinding the spiderweb from the core inside his body. He grimaced, biting his lip against the pain as the web peeled away. Ugh. That’s not a good feeling.

At last, the final scrap of spiderweb emerged from within his body, stained with his green internal fluids. Hui grimaced and threw it away, rubbing his torso as the wounds from extracting the spiderweb closed. Yuck. Glad to be out of that situation.

He set off, striding along down the path. The forest slowly grew less dead as he walked. Dried, leafless trees became aged, wrinkled trunks with a few weary leaves, which gave way to full grown trees, which gave way to saplings.

As the last of the forest fell away, Hui came upon a cloaked figure sitting by the side of the road. Draped in a black robe, little was visible of the figure’s form. They sat slumped in a meditative pose, their head bowed so the hood of their cloak hid their face.

Hui gave the figure a concerned look. A hidden senior? A mysterious swordsman? Whatever it is, meditating solo figures are never a good sign! Hide, Hui, hurry up and hide! He choked back his qi, cutting it to nothing, and crept along as a mortal. Pretending not to see the figure, he walked past it.

The figure sat up as he passed, as if coming to life. It raised a bony hand and crooked a finger at him. Still carrying on, Hui kept his eyes pointed the other way, obstinately seeing none of it. Nope, nope, nope. This small cultivator wants none of that. Mysterious figures pointing the way can find some other cultivator to bother! At best, you’ll impart me a technique I probably won’t ever use. At worst… at worst, you’re looking for a fight! No, no. This small Hui sees nothing.

Hurrying on, Hui left the figure in the dust. The forest fell away, but before long, another one arose. Saplings stood tall around him, then began to give way to grassland. At the very edge, where the saplings met the grassland, another hunched figure sat. As he approached, it straightened and hooked a finger.

Nothing! I see nothing, I notice nothing. Leave this small cultivator alone! I don’t want to play your game, I want to pay off my debt and go on with my small, quiet life! Hui cried, rushing by the figure again.

Yet again, the trees fell off, only to crawl up on him again. Hui looked the other direction, refusing to acknowledge the figure. Dammit, you’re looping space, aren’t you? Leave me alone! I’m a mere mortal! I’m going to loop like an idiot until I die, okay? I’ll die! I will!

Again, the trees came and went. Hui turned away, but this time, the figure sat on the opposite side of the road. It looked up.

Hui whipped his head around and turned the other way, whistling to himself. I don’t see a thing. What mysterious figure? No, no. Let me walk on. Let me walk away.

Time passed. Hui walked on, and on, and on. He rested at night, and walked during the day, exactly like a mortal. As the days passed on, he withered his body, pretending to grow thirsty. By the third day, he moved at the pace of a crawl. As the third day ended, he flopped to the ground within the line of sight of the figure, though far enough that the figure would have to stand and walk over to reach him. Lying there, he reached out his hand, pretending to beg for water, then went limp, letting out a final dry croak.

There. How do you like that? You trapped a mortal in your stupid spatial loop and killed him. I’m dead. I died. Now get up, go somewhere else, and let me go! Hui raged. I just spent forever hanging in a spiderweb. I can lie here for ages. Wait me out. See how that goes for you!

The sun rose and fell, rose and fell. The figure sat by the roadside, and Hui sprawled in the middle of the road. The two refused to acknowledge one another, both waiting the other out.

Hmm. Should I extract my core and creep away underground? That might work. There’s no reason he’d expect me to do that… but it’s very possible that the space is looped in all directions, and there’s no escape, in which case I would have given up the ghost that I’m not, in fact, dead, for no gain.

But if I don’t, I’m stuck here, still unable to repay my debt.

Hui scowled internally. He glared at the figure. Give up on me! Let me go! I’m dead, I’m dead, okay? Move on. Go somewhere else!

A week passed. The figure continued to sit, and so did Hui.

Hui gritted his teeth. I can’t give up now. I’ve gone this long! Maybe he’ll give up in another moment. Maybe another day…!

A second week passed. A month crept by. Hui’s body decayed, and the figure sat quietly, waiting.

For the first time since Hui had arrived in the looped space, the figure moved. They sat upright, then turned their head, looking at Hui. Abruptly, they jumped to their feet, then walked over and squatted over Hui.

Yunxu, the Sect Master of Black Asp Sect, once-disciple of Sect Master Lan and once-Sect Brother to Lan Taijian, looked down at Hui, exasperated. “So? Are you coming, or not?”

Not coming! Not coming! Read the room, Senior! I’m not coming! Hui cried silently.