Slowly, Xiu Ya awoke. She lifted a hand to her face, clumsily wiping away the venom residue. Her eyes blurred, struggling against the too-bright sunlight. A silhouette crouched above her, a friendly smile on his face. As her eyes cleared, Li Huang, her fellow servant, slowly came into focus.

Xiu Ya furrowed her brows. Blearily, she propped herself up. “Li Huang, we… what…?”

A terrifying pressure slammed into her back, forcing her back to the ground. Along with it came the swirl of icy cold energy that chilled her to the bones, emanating an aura of death and decay. Xiu Ya trembled uncontrollably, unable to control her own limbs. She stared up at the man above her, the man who could not be Li Huang.

This… this demonic cultivator, did he—did he kill Li Huang and wear his skin? How brutal! Rage welled up in Xiu Ya’s heart, but she quashed it just as quickly. This man could kill me with a thought. I’m merely lucky he decided to wear Li Huang’s skin, and not mine!

Gritting the words through clattering teeth, she forced out, “Ex…exalted Immortal, who are you?”

Whoops. I’m really not used to suppressing people with my pressure. I only meant to scare her a little, not flatten her, Hui thought to himself, embarrassed. He reigned in his pressure a bit, and Xiu Ya breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

The Exalted Immortal coughed into his hand awkwardly. “You have transgressed. Do you know how you have transgressed?”

“Attacking the girl?” Xiu Ya guessed.

The mysterious man smiled and said nothing. A long silence stretched.

Sweat dripped down Xiu Ya’s brow. What is he going to do to me? Is he going to kill me? No—he, he’s left me alive so far. He must, he must have some other plan in mind for us. But what? Perhaps… something more terrifying than death?

“What is the head of the Fu Clan planning?” the Exalted Immortal asked.

Xiu Ya prostrated herself on the floor. “Forgive me, Exalted One! I do not know! I only know that he hired us lowly rogue cultivators to act as servants and protect the family until the banquet.”

Hui frowned slightly. What’s a fifth-stage cultivator doing hiring Foundation Establishment, second stage cultivators? Cultivators who can barely stand up to Ying Lin? Surely anything they could handle, Fu Renyi could handle himself. It’s not as if this is a huge sect with thousands of disciples. He has all of four disciples. There’s no reason to hire these thugs.

“Exalted Immortal?” Xiu Ya asked, peeking up at him.

Hui frowned at her.

Xiu Ya pressed her forehead against the ground, not daring to look upon the Exalted Immortal any longer. “Please forgive me!”

Huh? Forgive what? Hui frowned deeper at the girl, then continued his chain of thought. Anyways, I didn’t mean to take out two servants, but I’ve done it now. Ying Lin and I can replace them. After all, we needed a route into the banquet... not as if that was going to be difficult, but still. But… what to do with the servants?

Hui hummed. “If I had a sleeping spell…”

“I have a sleeping spell, Exalted One!” Xiu Ya cried.

Hui’s eyes widened. That’s right! To think, I’ve forgotten Master’s advice! One of his parting pieces of wisdom. “You know… spells?”

“Y…yes?” Xiu Ya said, voice shaking. What cultivator doesn’t know spells?

Hui nodded to himself. “Give them to me.”

“Give them…?”

“All of them,” Hui confirmed.

“Eh?”

“And your storage treasure. In fact, those robes of yours…” Hui looked them over and nodded to himself. They’re weak dharmic robes, barely even equal to what Starbound Sect gave its disciples, but they’re better than the nothing Ying Lin has. My snakeskin can heal, but it can’t defend. If I get her some defenses, the snakeskin can last longer, too.

“Wh…whatever you wish, Exalted One!” Xiu Ya removed her robes, instantly swapping them with ordinary mortal robes from her storage treasure, silently cursing the Exalted Immortal the whole time. If only I was stronger! What’s he doing anyways, bullying weaklings like me? What’s even the point? All my spells will be far below his strength. All my treasures, too.

Is it for Ying Lin? But why? Why is the Exalted Immortal protecting her? She’s just an ordinary servant…

Wait! Is she his secret child? Xiu Ya peeked from the corner of her eyes at Ying Lin, who stood to the side, idly kicking at a pebble. After a moment, she swallowed. How would I even tell? He’s wearing Li Huang’s face right now!

Ah, dammit, dammit, dammit! Just my luck! I take one small job and end up accidentally pissing off some wandering demonic expert! This confirms it, the heavens want Xiu Ya to be a lone wolf! I’m never working for anyone again! No matter how good the pay is, it isn’t worth it!

Hui held out his hand. “Well? I don’t have all day.”

“Of course, Exalted One! Right away, Exalted One!” Xiu Ya handed over her storage ring. “All the manuals I have are inside there. Techniques, spells… including the sleeping spell. I couldn’t decode it, but—but one as illustrious as yourself, naturally could!”

Hui nodded and took it. He peered through the ring, then drew out the sleep spell and flicked through it. Hmm… it is pretty elementary. Still, simple doesn’t mean bad. Memorizing the spell, he put the manual back away and flicked his hand over, growing a long, narrow leaf. He scribbled the spell on the leaf and pasted it on Xiu Ya’s forehead. Xiu Ya’s eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the floor, asleep. The leaf slowly smoldered, ever so slowly burning up as the spell got spent.

“Ying Lin, can you carry her to the hut? Be careful not to disturb the talisman on her forehead,” Hui warned.

“Mhm! You were very impressive, Benefactor,” Ying Lin enthused. She looped her arms through Xiu Ya’s armpits and dragged her toward Hui’s hut. As she dragged, she nodded at Li Huang. “Him too?”

“Wait. I haven’t dealt with him yet.” Hui kneeled down and slapped Li Huang’s cheek.

“Eh? He isn’t dead? I thought immortals always killed their opponents,” Ying Lin asked.

“What about Xiu Ya, then?” Hui asked.

Ying Lin shrugged. “She’s a lady?”

Hui scoffed. He shook his head. “In any case, I’m against killing. There’s no need to kill when we don’t have to! Killing only begets wicked karma. Vengeance and blood! No, no. Killing should always be a last resort.” After all, this small cultivator doesn’t want anyone to come after my head for a stupid kill I didn’t need to make! No killing, no revenge, and no one tries to kill me! Or… less people do, anyways.

“Then… you’re waking him up to…?” Ying Lin prompted.

Hui stood upright and stuck his chest out, then flicked his sleeve, looking down at Ying Lin. “My Master once said: when you burgle a house, take the whole house, from the topmost tower to the deepest foundation stone. When you steal a tree, take the taproot to the highest leaf! I can’t let this man off so easily. He still has plenty of loot—ahem. As a righteous cultivator, how could I let this demonic man go without punishment?”

Ying Lin frowned. It seems wrong, but… somehow, right?

Li Huang twitched. He blinked and touched his nose, then winced.

“Hurry up, put the girl away! He’s about to wake up,” Hui urged her.

Li Huang murmured to himself, blinking around.

Hui took a deep breath and exerted a little less of his pressure. He crouched down and smiled at Li Huang, gesturing for Ying Lin to hurry up at the same time.

Ying Lin jumped and grabbed onto Xiu Ya, quickly pulling her into the hut.

Li Huang glanced around, then narrowed his eyes at Hui, squinting as though he couldn’t see clearly. “Eh… what? I… me?”

“Good morning,” Hui greeted him with a smile.

Li Huang screeched, pointed at Hui, then himself, and directly passed out again.

Hui clicked his tongue and lifted his hand to slap Li Huang awake again. People in this world, so mentally weak!