Xue released him. He plopped to his hands and knees, only just catching himself before he hit the ground. She looked around, surveying the forest around them.

Climbing to his feet, Hui copied her, equally lost. Forest spread in all directions. Trees rose high around them, canopies reaching to the heavens. Dim twilight light softened the day to near night. Thick undergrowth, tangled with briars and thorns, hinted at a lack of human activity.

Xue huffed. “Dammit. It looks like we were spat out in random directions. I wanted to teach those assholes a lesson.”

“Probably best we were,” Hui replied, adjusting his robes. Spare a thought for this poor second-stage cultivator, okay? They’d murder me!

The world spun around him, and he staggered and barely caught himself. Hui propped a hand against his forehead, staving off the pain that stabbed into his temples. Ah, shit. The aftereffects of using that talisman formula… it’s not a spell meant for the second stage.

“Hui?” Xue asked, tipping her head.

He waved her off. Shaking his head, he straightened. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Xue patted herself down, then lifted a small white jade ornament dangling from a red thread. Carved in the shape of a qillin, it rotated slowly, then pointed to the left.

She retracted the ornament and tucked it into her robes. “Let’s part ways here.”

“So soon?” Hui asked. Elder sister, please don’t leave this small cultivator alone.

Xue nodded. “My clan is nearby. You know the way back to your sect?”

Hui froze. Er… “Would you believe me if I said no?”

She sighed and walked over to him. “Starbound Sect, right? Here…”

Crack.

Simultaneously, they froze. Before either could react, pressure weighed down on both of them. Hui’s knees buckled, and he staggered into Xue’s arms. She barely held him, her own shoulders bowed with the weight of the pressure.

The scent of blood and something rotten filled the air. A horrible sensation tugged at Hui’s mind, threatening to undo it. Heavy footfalls sounded, slowly growing closer.

Run. Flee! Hui shouted at himself. His legs trembled. His feet twitched, pinned to the ground. His whole body shook against his will.

Bad. This is bad. I’m going to die.

“Oh? What’s this? Two little mice?” a high-pitched voice asked. Though it sounded distant, Hui could hear every word with pointed clarity.

“De…demonic cultivators!” Xue hissed, her own hands balling into fists in Hui’s robes. Tense, her voice pulled taut, a thread ready to snap. “I can’t see through their cultivation.”

If she can’t see through it, they’re at least fourth stage. Probably more like fifth or sixth stage. Hui bit his lip, then made up his mind. His lips moved, forming words.

Xue, do you trust me?

Xue blinked. She inclined her head an inch.

“If I can’t have you, no one can!” Hui shouted suddenly. Drawing his new sword, the one he’d found in the realm, he stabbed Xue in the chest.

Her eyes went wide. Betrayal played over her face. Clasping a hand to her chest, she stumbled away from him, then fell backward, unable to resist the pressure any longer.

Trust me! Hui mouthed again. He lifted the sword again and sucked in a breath. Shit. Shit. This is going to hurt. It’s going to—hurt less than getting tortured to death by a demonic cultivator! “My love, I join you in death!”

He plunged the sword into his chest as well and crumpled on top of Xue.

“What’s this? What’s this?” the high-pitched voice asked, unable to hold back a note of excitement. A dark-robed form peeked around a nearby tree, trembling with delight.

Used to it by now, Hui killed his qi. At the same time, he reached into Xue and stifled hers, cutting it off at the source.

Startled, Xue struggled. Her qi smashed against his.

“T…trust,” Hui muttered, spitting blood. His body shook, real damage quavering through him. Shit, Xue, you’re a whole realm ahead of me! Don’t kill this small disciple, I’m trying to save your life!

Xue hesitated, then relaxed. Hui lunged and killed her qi as well, pressing it down to a spark. From her illusory yang side, he drew out death qi and wrapped it around their sparks. Like that, he maintained enough qi to fight the demonic cultivator’s pressure, unlike in the library.

“Oh! Oh! How beautiful! I should document this scene,” the demonic cultivator quavered. A slender middle-aged man bounded out from behind the tree, silver streaks in his tight-pulled ponytail. Yanking out a notebook, he scribbled over it, glancing over the edge at the two of them every few seconds.

Go away! I can’t do this much longer, Hui thought, his vision already fading. Maintaining a hold on his and Xue’s qi at the same time drained his focus. His mental energy struggled, barely able to keep up. He spat blood again, body shuddering involuntarily.

“Erlan don’t keep me waiting,” a deep voice said quietly from behind Hui.

Startled, Hui barely kept from jumping. Forcing himself to keep his eyes still, he felt a hand touch his skin, cold as jade. All the hairs on his body prickled at the touch. Wrong. Bad.

“Isn’t it wonderful, Your Eminence?” Erlan chirped, hugging his sketchbook to himself. He shimmied with excitement. “Oh! If only I could lock this moment away forever…”

“Your hobbies are as bad as ever,” the deep voice replied, chuckling.

A thread of qi wound into Hui. His body twitched, his own qi wanting to expel it. Forcibly, he clamped down on his qi and hid it away, pulling the death qi closer. I’m dead! I’m dead, I swear! Leave me alone!

Cold burned into his body, the man’s qi so cold he felt as though he’d freeze at a touch. A snakelike sensation coiled through his veins, clammy and unpleasant, unlike Zhubi’s friendly coils. His body twisted where it touched, as if the foreign qi was poison. Hui resisted the urge to shiver, forcing himself to turn boneless.

And yet, the qi felt familiar.

Familiar? How?

“Oh?” the deep voice asked, surprised.

“Your Eminence Yunxu?” Erlan asked, looking up over Xue and Hui.

A light laugh. The figure stepped over Xue and Hui. In Hui’s dimming vision, a youth a few years older than him appeared, barely an adult. Bangs cropped in a sharp line at his cheekbones and parted at the center, the rest of his hair hanging around his jaw, a bright red mark stood out in the center of his forehead. Brilliant eyes, bright as the moon and equally silver, shone at Hui. With a disarmingly pleasant face, the smile the cultivator turned toward the two bodies before him remained as bright as though he smiled at a child in the town square. Aside from his black robes, there was no sign he practiced demonic cultivation.

His black robes, and the deadly chill in the air around him.

“Ah, nothing. A small surprise, that’s all.” He reached down and pushed Hui’s hair out of his face, tipping his head to get a better look.

A bad feeling crept up Hui’s spine. Why’s he looking at me like that? Unless… did he see through my disguise? His qi twitched, prepared to release at a moment’s notice.

Yunxu glanced away, dismissing him. “Shall we go?”

“Your Eminence, do you mind if I take a moment? I want to preserve these bodies forever,” Erlan asked.

“I’m in a good mood, Erlan. Let’s not change that,” Yunxu replied lightly. He leaped and vanished into the sky, little more than a black bolt.

“Ah—as Your Eminence wishes!” Erlan cast one last glance at the two of them, scribbled desperately, and leaped after Yunxu.

For another few seconds, Hui held still. Only once he was sure the cultivators were long gone did he release his hold on Xue and himself.

“Pfwah! Oh, that feels awful,” Xue muttered, stretching. As she stretched, the white in her robes turned black, her hair darkening as well.

“Eh?” Hui asked, almost forgetting to meditate. His qi lurched, reminding him, and he quickly assumed the lotus pose and circulated his qi. Qi rushed into him as wildly as ever, though out here in the forest, less of it rushed to him than on his master’s peak.

I suppose it’s not like everywhere has as much qi as master’s peak, Hui reasoned.

The qi raged through his veins, pouring into him. Gathering it up, Hui punched it at his next meridian, the way he’d grown accustomed to doing. Pressure resisted him, more than usual with less qi to attack the meridian. He focused, pushing harder, slamming it all at once into the center of the meridian. His meridian burst open, and the qi quieted.

Letting out a breath of impurities, Hui opened his eyes. That’s five now. Three more to go.

“What an interesting cultivation method,” Xue commented, his voice much deeper now.

Hui looked at him. “You… you don’t get a rush of qi afterwards?”

Xue frowned at him. “Why would I? Killing your qi is the opposite of good cultivation. If I did what you did, I’d pass out, with no benefits. I might even end up with a qi deviation. Is it something about your technique? Or maybe… an inborn trait?”

A jolt ran through Hui’s gut. He scowled. I do have a special constitution, I knew it! Dammit. Who gave me a constitution that can only cultivate after I nearly die?

World? Is this your idea of a unique cheat? You can have it back! This disciple wants to live a long life, okay?

“Anyways, why’d you swap?” Hui asked, changing the topic rather than admit his suspicions.

Xue crossed his arms, tipping his head. “Hmm… I guess there was some yang qi in what you sent into me. It’s nice to be yang-form again, anyways.” He patted his chest, still wet with blood, then popped a pill. “You really startled me there. I thought you’d stabbed me for real, for a second.”

“I aimed for a non-lethal blow. Sorry, there wasn’t any more time to warn you,” Hui replied, tossing back a pill of his own.

Xue waved his hand. “I understand. Still… I wonder who those two were.”

“Bigshot demonic cultivators? Someone we should stay far away from,” Hui replied.

Xue snorted. “I understood that much without your help.” He stretched, then patted Hui on the back. “Shall I walk this little you home?”

“There’s no need, this little cultivator isn’t worthy,” Hui replied, bowing.

“It’s too late to be formal with me, isn’t it? Let this Great Bai Xue take you home. After that, I don’t feel comfortable abandoning you any longer.”

“As if you were able to stand against them!” Hui replied.

Xue laughed. “Ah, but if I go with you, your master might show up if you’re in mortal danger.”

“Oh—who’s walking who home, now?” Hui asked, narrowing his eyes.

Xue ruffled Hui’s hair with a smile. “Let’s not worry about that, and follow me, hmm?”