Hui’s eyes flew open again. He spat out a mouthful of impurities and wiped his mouth. “Is that all the further I can go?”

He turned his attention internally. With Zhubi’s help, he’d broken open another meridian, but that was all he’d accomplished in another month of practice. Four meridians opened, his dantian as expanded as four meridians would allow it, but he could go no further. Any further, and actual death loomed before him.

This can’t be as far as this manual goes. He drew the manual again and flipped it open. Staring at the pages, he immersed himself in studying the manual.

The images appeared before his eyes again. The cultivator killing his qi, then guiding in new qi. This time, though, Hui noticed a detail he hadn’t the first time. As the cultivator killed his qi, he drew in a different kind of energy at the same time. Instead of drawing his spark down to almost nothing the way Hui did, he masked the spark with the new energy. His body slumped the same as Hui’s, but the spark continued to burn brightly behind the energy.

That energy. What is it? He poured his mental energy into the book, focusing on that strange new energy.

Darkness flowed into his mind. Dark and cold. A shiver ran down his spine, as if someone stepped on his grave. He smelled rot and felt stagnancy.

Is it… death?

Frowning, Hui stared at the manual. Tiny letters crammed together into a wall of black blots. If only I could read the damn writing…

With a sigh, he put it away. It’s been, what, two months? Two months, stuck on this stuffy peak. No one’s come to punish me. I bet Chang Bolin has forgotten me by now.

Besides, Qin Xixing’s pills are almost certainly done by now. I should go visit her. She’s my senior in age, maybe she knows what kind of energy this is.

He stood, then caught sight of his robes. Pulling them away from his body, he frowned at them. I’m a cultivator, supposed to always shine in pristine white robes… so what’s this?

Red bloodstains had darkened to rust-brown over two months, and smeared down his body from the rain. The butt of the robes was splattered with brown mud, down along his legs as well. It looks like I shat myself and… well, and bled all over them, which… He plucked at the robes again. They hung open, revealing great gashes of skin all over. Thank goodness it’s only me on this peak, or I might have scared away all the other disciples.

Shaking his head, he started for the hut, then paused. Wait. Master can clean his clothes with his qi. Surely I, too, can accomplish that?

He closed his eyes. After two months, his control of his qi had accelerated. Alright, let’s do this the modern way! Hit these robes with a steam gun and clean them up! He gathered a layer of qi under his skin. Taking a deep breath, he shoved outward. Qi burst through his pores and smashed into the robes.

His robes burst into scraps of fabric and flew into the air. Delicately, like butterflies, they fluttered back down. Dumbfounded, Hui stared at the drifting fragments. He held out his hand and caught a scrap, turning it over in his palm. Li Xiang was picked out in red thread along its length.

He licked his lips. A gentle wind brushed over his bare body, tickling where it usually didn’t. “Uh. Guess that’s not how you do that.”

Far overhead, a sword flashed, a cultivator riding atop it. Hui covered his shame and bolted for the hut.

Properly dressed in a fresh set of white robes, Hui adjusted his collar, checked himself in a still bucket of water, and headed down the peak. He ducked and picked up his manual as he passed it, the ragged book blasted halfway to the forest by his qi blast.

Ah… I’m going to have to pay Xixing, aren’t I? Maybe I should sneak by Starbound Peak. That’s where the administrative offices are, after all. Say hi to elder sister Mei while I’m at it… ah, my delectable rice congee, it’s been too long. He sighed out, patting his stomach in reminiscence. I miss my delicious free food… who cares if I don’t need to eat? Eating is the joy of life!

So resolved, he turned his feet toward Starbound Peak. I’ll only stop by for a second, just a second!

The familiar path vanished under his feet. Ducking behind trees and around buildings, he dodged the main flow of cultivators and made his way toward the dining hall. With a glance left and right, he dashed across the final path and knocked on the back door. “Elder sister, elder sister!”

The door cracked open. Elder sister Mei stared at him. “You! I thought they banished you.”

“It’s not that easy to get rid of rats,” Hui replied. He bared his teeth and chittered at her, gnashing them like a rat.

She laughed and waved her hand. “What a brave child, risking everything for my rice congee!”

Hui shook his head. “I’m not brave. It’s just, your cooking is that good.”

“You little flatterer. Wait right there, I’ll be right back.” Tutting, elder sister Mei bustled off.

Hui settled down to wait in the corner of the stairs, the same as he had since he was a child. He relaxed and let out a sigh, all the weight falling off his shoulders. It feels like home.

Gazing at his hands, Hui clenched them a little, just a little, then released the tension. So this is what home feels like. Until now, I never knew.

Elder sister Mei backed out of the door, holding a big bowl in her hands. She settled it down gently beside Hui. Congee almost sloshed over the edge. Half a chicken sat in its midst, skin golden-brown. “There you go!”

“Elder sister! This humble disciple can’t accept—”

“Oh shush, you little rat. Eat up, alright? And scurry off when you’re done!” Mei tossed him a wink.

“Wait, sister… could I ask for one last thing?”

“What happened to ‘can’t accept?’” Mei huffed, mock-mad.

Hui gestured her close and lifted a hand to whisper to her.

Mei laughed aloud. “You scamp! Oh, don’t worry, this elder sister will help you.” She shook her head and vanished back inside.

Hui blew a kiss at her back, hugging the bowl to his chest. Ah, Mei, in this moment I could marry you. Although he didn’t have to eat, staring down at this food after two months without, his stomach felt like a gaping hole. He snatched up the bowl and started to devour it. Warmth and qi suffused him from inside out, the congee twice as delectable as he remembered it. He bit into the chicken and tore it apart, swallowing great gulps at a time.

He sniffed, then wiped his eyes. Eh? Tears? Hui wiped his eyes and his nose, shaking his head. No, don’t cry! Ah, it’s no use. I missed you, my beloved congee! Swallowing his tears with the rice, he fell upon the last of the bowl and slurped it away.

Giving his face, eyes, nose, and mouth included, one last big wipe, Hui gazed ferociously at the summit of the peak. You won’t take my beloved congee away from me forever, Peak Lord Lan Taijian! Just you wait. When I hit fifth stage—I’ll unseat you myself!