Xue dashed away. Hui dangled off his shoulder, desperately holding on. “Er, Xue! Where are we going?”

Laughing, Xue shrugged. “A safe place.” He turned around and fired another two slashes of his fan at the trio. They huddled down and cast a barrier between the three of them, seconds before they vanished under the flames.

“Not going to fight them?” Hui asked. That blast of flame was easily at the fourth stage! He could take them all out with no effort!

“I can’t stay out long. This realm doesn’t like it, and anyways…” He glanced up at the sky and flinched. He shook his head. “We have to find a place to hide.”

Curious, Hui sent a small probe of qi into Xue’s shoulder. As Xue had warned, the heat of his yang energy quickly faded, while the cold yin energy rushed up to take its place. Again, Hui noticed the smoke, the cold blotch in the yang. That… it almost feels like…

“Hui—now’s not the time,” Xue bit, distracted.

“Oh—sorry.” Hui retracted his qi. But… I’ll have to ask him. Later.

“Over there! I found—” A blast of fire shut the cultivator up.

Xue ducked into the castle and raced down the corridors at random. Hui craned over his shoulder to see ahead.

“Left, left, go left!” he hissed.

Xue turned left and found a staircase. They bolted up it, into the next level. Near the top of the stairs, Xue paused. “Ghouls ahead.”

“Scare them down the stairs with your fire!” Hui called.

Xue smirked. “Good call.”

Closing his fan, he charged at the ghouls. They turned to face him, opening their mouths.

Xue slashed at the ground behind them. A bonfire lit up where he slashed. Instinctively, the ghouls fled. They rushed past Xue and Hui, down the stairs.

Distantly, the other cultivators rushed into the castle. “Where’d they go?”

“Whoa! Watch out! Ghouls!”

Breathing heavily, Xue ducked into a room. He pressed a hand against the door. “Spark-Flint Fusion.”

Fire seared along the edges of the door. The flint sparked, then merged together.

Outside, footsteps clattered down the hallway. Hui held his breath. Xue pressed a hand over his own mouth and leaned against the wall, listening.

“Damn ghouls!”

“Where’d they go?”

“They have to be in here somewhere…”

“That Gao Trio, lying to us… that was definitely yang-form Bai Xue! And full power at that!”

“But it was Bai Xue. At least they didn’t get that wrong.”

The footsteps faded away.

Hui took a breath. He looked at Xue. “Who are you?”

Xue shrugged at him. “Bai Xue. What else is there to say?”

“Is everyone from Bai clan like you?” Hui asked.

“Can they swap between yin and yang forms? Not everyone, but it's in our bloodline. Many members of my clan can. I told you, it’s a unique cultivation technique only members of my bloodline can practice.” Xue wandered to the window and peeked out, distracted.

“Er… should I call you Elder Sister or Elder Brother?” Hui asked.

Xue shrugged. He ran a hand over his hair and glanced back at the door. A nervous energy ran through his actions. “I don’t care.”

“Xue? Are you alright?” Hui asked.

“It’s almost midnight. I can feel it.”

“What happens at midnight?”

Xue shot a harried glance at Hui. “You deserve to know. Before you die.”

“Xue, come on, tell me,” Hui said, concerned. I liked them better when they were just trying to touch my hair.

He shook his head. “I’m cursed. I—like those idiots out there, a demonic cultivator decided they wanted to use me as a furnace. Our Bai clan… a consequence of our technique is that it purifies our yin and yang energies. To some cultivators, this makes us the ultimate furnaces. Even better, we can swap forms at will, making us ideal for both genders.

“I was born with pure yin energy. It only took me to second stage to purify my yang. Most Bai clan members are fifth stage or higher before they fully purify one of their energies, which gives them a better chance to defend themselves against those twisted freaks. There’s still high-ranking demonic cultivators, of course, but your average cultivator isn’t going to risk it against a fifth-stage cultivator, and by that age, they’ve forged alliances and built powerful friendships.

“I never had that chance. The Bai clan hid me for as long as they could, but it couldn’t last forever. Word got out. And then…”

Hui winced. “That’s horrible.”

Xue shrugged. “I had just broken through into fourth stage. I thought I was invincible. It’s partially my fault for being so reckless.”

“Xue…”

He waved it away. “I went out one night, against the advice of my elders. Ran into a demonic cultivator. I got away, but not before he cursed me. Because of the curse, I fell back a realm… well, my yin form did. Which made my yang form unstable and hard to maintain for long.

“The elders did their best, but they couldn’t break the curse. They reduced it. There’s a few side effects…”

“Is that why… the rope?” Hui guessed.

Xue nodded, glancing at his ankles. “It disguises my gait. And… when I turn…” He shook his head. “The curse only activates at midnight now, instead of eating away at me all the time. It still eats at me, but slower, now. Only when I’m in this form. And… it makes it harder to swap forms.” Xue took a deep breath, then stopped. He pressed his hand to his mouth, thoughtful.

“The curse turns you undead, doesn’t it?” Hui said.

Startled, Xue stared at him.

“Earlier, I sensed death qi inside you. Or… I thought it was death qi. I guess I was right,” Hui muttered, half to himself. “That, and your shuffling gait, and the rope. It’s there to disguise the fact that undead-you can’t climb up stairs or over thresholds, right?”

Xue laughed. He patted Hui’s head. “You are clever.”

“Shut up!” Hui replied. He leaned away, covering his hair.

Xue reached after him, grinning, then flinched back. He put a hand over his face. A shudder crawled over his skin. In the dimming light, his pale skin looked paler. He sucked in a ragged breath. “Ah, shit.”

“What if we open the door? Send you out there to rampage? Those third-stage cultivators…” Hui started.

Xue shook his head. “I turn into a ghoul in many respects—the weaknesses, the stiff limbs—but I maintain my fourth-stage strength. It’s a curse. It’s meant to—to force me to kill those I care about, or force them to kill me. In a situation like this, where the Mysterious Heavenly Forest Sect came to eradicate ghouls… they came equipped to exploit my weaknesses. I only retain my bodily strength, not my skills, spells, or intelligence. They could take me down easily. I’m sorry, Hui, but I must survive. For the sake of my clan.”

“L-last night. You handled it, no problem,” Hui said, remembering.

“I was in my yin form. The curse is sealed there, and I have talismans in my clothes to help me. Now…”

“Can’t you swap back?”

Xue gave him a pained grin. “Wish I could. Not until the yang qi runs out.”

Dammit, then why did you steal so much of my qi? Hui raged silently.