Hands pulled at his robes. Hui startled awake and swatted blindly, reaching for his sword before his eyes opened. His head banged against the wall, and pain burst out across his skull. The pain echoed inside his head, a hangover from the ghoul’s venom. Hui rubbed his head and cringed, wincing. “Ow…”

“Ah, sorry. I thought you were dead.”

He opened his eyes.

The white-haired beauty straddled him, still holding his robes with one hand. Their faces nearly touched, red eyes gazing right into his, her full red lips hovering too close. Startled, Hui crawled away, only to bang his head on the wall again.

“Ow, dammit,” he muttered, rubbing his head.

The beauty laughed and let go, showing him her open hands as she backed away, giving him space. “I didn’t take anything.”

Eyes narrowed, Hui patted down his robes. Pills, talisman, swords… gold. Quietly, he muttered, “Zhubi? She take anything?”

The snake bobbled against his neck, shaking its head.

“Ah! How cute,” the beauty said, smiling. Her peach-blossom eyes glittered, white eyelashes long and graceful. He stared, momentarily dumbstruck.

“What… what is a beauty like you doing here?” Hui managed, finally putting his thoughts in order. He fixed his hems and sat up, but stopped there as his head pounded. I’m not sure I can stand right now, and I’m kind of afraid to find out. Best not to let her know how weak I am.

“Same as you, taking shelter from the night. Little did I know I’d find my fellow interloper in this cave!” She laughed delicately, hiding her mouth with her hand.

Hui patted his chest and arm. Both had stopped bleeding. His qi had regenerated as well. Aside from the hangover from the poison and the recent bashing of his own head against the wall, he’d recovered.

He leaned forward, then slowly climbed to his feet. His head wobbled, but he managed to hold his balance. A few years older than him, the white-haired beauty stood six inches taller than he did, tall even for a man and well taller than his fifteen-year-old self.

Already hit your growth spurt, huh, Hui grumbled silently.

He bowed. “Xiao Hui greets elder sister.”

“Ah, haha, no need for such formality. We both broke in, after all. That puts us on equal footing as interlopers.” She lifted him from his bow and smiled. “Bai Xue. Call me Xue, fellow interloper.”

“I’m honored. Please, call me Hui,” he replied, smiling back.

She peered back over the threshold stone. A light flickered behind her head, and now that Hui had a moment to condense his thoughts, he caught sight of a moth made of flame, fluttering along after Xue’s head. Outside of the light the moth cast, pure darkness consumed the tunnel.

The remains of the ghouls he’d killed laid scattered over the cavern. The undead cultivator slumped against the opposite wall, his skin intact, but his mouth and eyes hollow, charred holes. Soot streaked from the ghoul's empty eye sockets and up over his soft, boneless cheeks from his slit of a mouth. Curious, Hui crossed over to him and knelt.

“There’s nothing on him. I already checked.”

Ignoring Xue, Hui bent and patted down the ghoul. Charred bones crumpled at his touch, and the ghoul slumped, little more than a bag of skin.

Ghouls really are weak to fire, Hui thought, twisting his lips. He grabbed the body by the ankles and stood, giving it a good shake. Black ash fell out of the ghoul’s mouth. Its skin wobbled flexibly, soft and fleshy.

This… isn’t this almost like Xixing’s pig-skin mask? Except his whole body, not just the face.

If I could make a full-body ghoul-skin mask, then I wouldn’t have to worry about the ghouls eating me anymore! They don’t eat each other, after all.

Hui drew out the pig-skin mask and pushed his qi inside, investigating the mask for any hint of how it was constructed. Lips pressed together thoughtfully, he tilted his head

“Um, excuse me, but… what are you doing?” Xue asked, peering over his shoulder.

“I want to make a ghoul-skin mask,” Hui blurted.

“Eh? What for?” Xue asked, tilting her head.

“To… hide from the ghouls,” Hui said.

Xue frowned. “Won’t they see through it? The higher-level ones can sense qi.”

Hui waved her concerns away. “I can’t fool the higher-level undead regardless. Being able to walk freely in this realm is enough.” As long as it’s enough that the low-level undead everywhere don’t try to eat me when I play dead, it’s good enough for me.

“Mmm, fair enough.” She sat down beside him. “Have you ever made one before?”

“A… human-skin mask?”

Xue nodded.

“Of course not! That’s demonic cultivation,” Hui replied, insulted. I’m not a demonic cultivator! I’m just a little interested in human-skin masks and death qi, okay? This little Hui is on the path of righteousness!

“Of course, of course.” Xue smiled gently, almost mocking him.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

Abruptly, Xue shivered. She clutched an arm around herself and jerked away from Hui, other hand over her mouth. Her jaw quivered, almost in fear, but not quite.

“What?” Hui asked. He frowned at her, then checked his butt. Master’s medicine wore off long ago, right? My stomach hasn’t gurgled in a while…

“N…nothing. Ah, I’m tired. Mind if I rest for the night?” Xue asked, yawning exaggeratedly. She ducked her head slightly so her hair fell in her face, hiding her eyes.

Cultivators at your stage definitely don’t need rest. Hui frowned at her, then shook his head. Everyone has their circumstances. Maybe she practices an odd style or got injured, like I did. “As you please.”

“Wake me in the morning.” She smiled at the floor, eyes still hidden, then raised her hood. He caught a glimpse of a talisman fluttering down from the roof of the hood, and then Xue turned away and curled up. Only her ankles poked out, bound by thick red silk rope. Her feet crossed over one another, delicate pale ankles and white slippers somehow unstained despite the dust outside.

Hui frowned at the rope. She can’t run like that, can she? Can she even walk? Her legs are bound so tightly… Is this part of her cultivation technique?

Xue shifted. Her long skirts flopped over her ankles, hiding them from view. The flame moth fluttered over to him, dimming its light to a low glow, and Xue fell into the shadows.

Shaking his head, Hui turned back to the pig-skin mask. He threaded his qi into it again, careful, wary of the delicate circuits in the mask’s spell.

Xixing’s qi welled up to meet his. Instinctively, Hui flinched away, but instead of assaulting his meridians, hers merely mingled with his. Right, right. She made this artifact, but it’s not like she’s on the other side. She isn’t going to attack me or anything.

Reassured, he continued his examination. Unlike the talisman, the qi hadn't been pushed in all at once, in the shape of a single technique. Instead, spells layered upon spells, each layer positioned so that all the layers together created one great formation. Spells for preserving the skin, for fitting it, for attaching to a face, for releasing a face, for moving along with the face and transmitting emotions, chewing, shifting, all layered and hammered into the material until the pig skin came alive. Pills, too, went into its creation. Hui felt the residue from where the skin had been bathed in pills for months until the pig skin grew its own qi circuits and could hold qi.

He touched the ghoul’s skin. I don’t need to worry about that, do I? It was an undead cultivator. Its skin should already hold qi.

Pushing qi into the ghoul’s skin, he confirmed what he suspected: it held his qi, the same as the pig skin did after Xixing’s treatment.

Hui smiled. Perfect. Let’s give this a try!