At last, Han Qin stopped before a small hut at the back of the compound. He nodded at Hui and pushed the door open, gesturing for him to go first.

Hui bowed shortly to Han Qin and stepped inside, looking around the hut. Dirt floors, a simple cut, and not much else greeted him. He smiled. So this is where I die.

“So, what do you want to know about? Remnant auras? Her internal energy circulation?” Hui asked, turning to face Han Qin.

Han Qin smiled back at him. “Ah, I was hoping Sir Physician would give me a explanation of everything you saw, without anything from me to cloud your knowledge.”

Hui looked around him. “Is… there anywhere to sit? It might take a while.”

Han Qin bowed. “Forgive my hut. I live an ascetic lifestyle. Please, if you must, take a seat on my cot.”

His fingers twitched as he spoke. Although no mortal would have noticed it, Hui felt a barrier rise up around the outside of the cot, cutting them off from the rest of the world. Similar to the barrier Fu Liyu had cast yesterday, the barrier prevented any sound from passing through. Nothing he did or said here would have any effect on the outside world.

Yep, I’m going to die here. Hui licked his lips and took a deep breath. He glanced at the cot. I’d rather not die on another man’s bed… Taking in the room, nothing stood out to him as better or worse to die atop, so he simply stood where he was.

“So? What is it you saw in Fu Liyu’s… internal energy?” Han Qin asked, his eyes glinting with a slightly-more-than-professional interest.

Speaking excitedly, as if he suspected nothing, Hui began to explain what he’d seen, starting from the simplest, most boring symptoms and working his way in. Internally, he circulated the reverse-plant art, becoming flesh again. With that, my blood should be red. What else? Hmm, if I’m running the reverse-plant art, it should be easy to swap back to the plant art. This body is a clone in the first place, so even if it dies, it shouldn’t be a problem for me. However, I bet I can salvage it as long as I leave the body’s core—that is, its seed—as a plant, and in the worst case, burrow away after my death and regrow my body.

He nodded to himself. Alright. I have a plan. Let’s go ahead and do this. After all, I can use this to probe and find out if other people are involved in this, too. He looked Han Qin in the eyes. “Actually, Learned Sir… I noticed something very strange inside Fu Liyu.”

“Oh?” Han Qin asked, arching a brow.

Hui nodded. He leaned in conspiratorially, as if he had no idea about the barrier arcing over the little hut. “Has Fu Liyu ever been in battle? Is there reason for someone to want to harm her?”

“Naturally. Immortals live such long lives. Clashing, and the accumulation of hatred, are both inevitable,” Han Qin replied.

Hui wrinkled his nose subtly. Huh, that’s worthless. Well, I already knew Han Qin was at least part of whoever put it in her, but such a dispassionate reply suggests that he, and likely any co-conspirator, if he has one, didn’t do it out of hatred. They’re really making my life hard, aren’t they?

“Then, perhaps… that seal I saw wasn’t put in her to harm her?” he mused, glancing at Han Qin.

Han Qin gave him a carefully calculated surprised look, as if he’d been waiting for a while to put on this exact expression. “The seal?”

Oh, he definitely already knew about the seal, Hui thought to himself. And the fact that he didn’t immediately explain it means it wasn’t there to help her, either.

It doesn’t hurt her nor help her? Or could it be… that its effect isn’t directly injuring or assisting her, but the goal is something else entirely? Something else that’s so important that they consider whatever happens to Fu Liyu secondary?

But… what could that be?

The image of the sixth peak flashed through his head. He frowned for a moment, but shook his head a second later. If Chen Wuya’s left another soul-sealing spell here, I’m really going to have to sit that man down and ask him what he did with his life.

In any case, I don’t really think that Senior actually had anything to do with this situation. Instead, what’s similar is that if you asked if the sixth peak helped or hurt the sect, I’d say neither, but nonetheless, the sect was compelled to continue supporting it out of the fear others would find out about it.

Though, if that were the case… Hui glanced at Han Qin. I feel like I’d already be dead. Instead, he’s still waiting. He wants to know exactly how much I’ve figured out. That means there’s still another secret to be unearthed. Hmm, if I play my cards right, I could probably still leave alive!

…but alive, without any leads on what that seal is, exactly. At this point, I’m not doing it for Fu Liyu. I need to know more about that seal. The more I understand about soul-based seals, the more I understand about the seal that’s keeping all my sect’s souls alive. If I have other examples of soul-seals, with an explanation on what they are, I’ll be able to advance in my comprehension of the sect’s seal by leaps and bounds.

Of course, I could wander off and study my memories of Fu Liyu’s seal without putting myself in danger, but what if it takes me years, decades, centuries to comprehend? My sect only has a decade. Thus, the only solution… is to stake my own life on it!

My own… clone’s life. But it still feels like staking my life, dammit!

Han Qin cleared his throat expectantly, and Hui realized he’d drifted into silence. He smiled and cleared his own throat, giving Han Qin an apologetic bow. “Sorry, sorry. I was contemplating what I’d seen. It was so complex, I really had no idea what it was doing. After all, I’m no immortal.”

Han Qin relaxed a hair at that. His smile turned a touch more genuine.

So he is concerned about what it does, more than what it is! Press on, Hui, press on! Putting a hand on his chin, Hui continued, “But it seemed to be doing something with souls…?”

A flash of light burned across his vision. The world spun and whirled around Hui, and the next thing he knew, his own feet appeared in front of his eyes. In the next second, his body staggered, then fell down, crumpling beside his head.

Oh, hey! I didn’t even learn anything yet! Hui protested in frustration.