Gui Yutong put her hands up, shaking her head. “No, no! I’m grateful to Xie Hao for healing Wu Fanyun. Whatever Fellow Daoist had to do to accomplish that, naturally, I trust in your arts.”

Her eyes flickered to the crow on Hui’s shoulder. She opened her mouth, then shut it again. Her brows furrowed.

Hui tucked his hands behind him and did his best to exude a scholarly air. “Of course.” Elder Sister, please don’t ask about the crow. I truly could not explain it to you if I tried.

“How could I repay you?” she asked, running over to his side. She looked him up and down and licked her lips, unsubtly adjusting her robes.

Elder Sister, you know your Wu Fanyun there just woke up from deep injury and shouted for me not to touch him due to you! Is this right? Is this the way the world is?

Ah, well, I don’t know their situation. For all I know, it’s one-sided admiration from Wu Fanyun.

In any case, I’m not interested in Gui Yutong’s body! I need spirit stones, techniques, new comprehensions and qi, and a way to enter All-Heavens Sect, not a woman!

Rather than acknowledge her, Hui turned and gazed at the wall. The line of his sight pierced through the wall to land on the distant location of All-Heavens Sect. “There is only one thing I desire in this world, and you, Gui Yutong, possess the right to grant it.”

“Oh?” Gui Yutong straightened up, no longer posing seductively.

Hui lifted his finger, pointing through the wall. “Admission to All-Heavens Sect! As a healer, I’ve long admired All-Heavens’ healers, but unfortunately, I wasn’t chosen or admitted to All-Heavens Sect, no matter how I tried. Could you, possibly… gain me admittance to the sect?”

Gui Yutong hesitated. “I… not directly, but…”

“But?” Hui asked. I’ll grasp at any thread. Even a one-in-a-thousand chance is enough for me! I’m desperate, and I’m not afraid of getting dirty or hard work!

“All-Heavens is about to hold an admittance trial for higher-realm cultivators. You must be at least fourth-realm to enter… ah, which I see Fellow Daoist Xie Hao is. However, I cannot guarantee your success… or even favorable treatment. My father and I, we…” She took a deep breath. “It may be that my referral is a stumbling block, not a stepping stone.”

Hui shook his head. “Elder Sister, please allow this small cultivator to attempt the trial. Even if your father opposes me, I’ll simply perform so well the sect can’t ignore me!” After all, I’m used to being stepped upon and looked down on. No one ever believed in me. In fact, even in Starbound Sect, I faced a great deal of trouble in progressing through the hierarchy. At this point… I might feel stifled if the Seniors weren’t attempting to stifle me!

Gui Yutong took a deep breath and shook her head. “I’d feel terrible if you failed due to my influence. To repay your gratitude with my father’s viciousness…”

Hui waved his hand. “If you really feel so concerned, then give this small cultivator spirit stones and talisman techniques as well, but please, put my name in to that selection trial! Even if I fail, to simply get my name out there is enough for me.”

At that, Gui Yutong hesitantly nodded. “I… I understand. I agree. I’ll put your name in to the trial. But… I’ll see if I can find some techniques for you. Talismans?”

Hui nodded. He rubbed the side of his head awkwardly and gave her a small smile. “Ah, this cultivator struggles to comprehend techniques that aren’t in talisman form. It’s a small mental barrier I face.”

“That sounds troublesome indeed! But… wait. Are there many healing talismanic techniques…?” Gui Yutong asked, murmuring the last bits to herself.

Hui coughed. “That… those are simple comprehensions. They don’t even rise to the level of attack techniques.”

“But… no one else could heal Wu Fanyun,” Gui Yutong muttered.

“No, no. It was simple, simple! In any case, small cultivator prefers talismans, but I’ve gained a habit of transforming other techniques into talismans as well. Any fifth- or sixth-level technique is enough for me,” Hui said.

“Transforming techniques… but that requires immense comprehension of the technique at hand,” Gui Yutong murmured, lifting a hand to her chin.

“No, no, no, Elder Sister. Have you ever tried it?” Hui asked.

Gui Yutong shook her head. “No, I must confess… I never dared to second-guess the masters who created the technique or taught it to me.”

Ah… maybe that’s why. Because no one teaches me, I have to learn on my own. Perhaps that’s why I’ve become so strangely formed as a cultivator! Hmm, I should take more care with Ying Lin to ensure she doesn’t slip off the proper path.

Hui cleared his throat. “In any case, it is far simpler than you might suspect, once you try it once or twice. Immense comprehension? No, no. Immense comprehension is what is required to create a new technique from whole cloth. I wouldn’t dare claim to be capable of such a thing.” And there are stages beyond that, such as Master, who took a further step beyond in comprehension and required no techniques to craft effects from the Dao itself!

“If you insist,” Gui Yutong said, somewhat hesitantly.

Wu Fanyun’s eyes flickered. His lips moved, and a faint voice emanated from his throat.

“Wu Fanyun!” Gui Yutong rushed to his side. She stroked his still-damp hair back from his face. “Wu Fanyun, how do you feel?”

“I… Gui Yutong, you… you saved me,” Wu Fanyun murmured. He leaned his face into the palm of her hand and took a slow breath, as if the scent of her brought him back to life. “Gui Yutong… I had a terrible dream. This man, he…”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better. If not for this Senior Xie Hao, I don’t know what might have happened to you,” Gui Yutong continued, casting a warm look at Hui.

Hui coughed into his fist. “It was nothing, nothing.”

Wu Fanyun jolted upright. He jabbed a finger at Hui. “You!”

“He healed you!” Gui Yutong said, smiling.

“You, you—you… you, your qi…” Wu Fanyun scowled.

“I used my life qi to heal you. If I hadn’t, your qi passages would be in tatters right now. The morals of this realm aside, would you rather be dead, or allow me to use a healing technique on you?” Hui asked, arcing a brow.

Wu Fanyun threw his arm out. “I never let any of those cultivators from All-Heavens Sect touch me with their filthy—”

“In the first place,” Hui interrupted him, somewhat tired, “the problem was the Immortal qi infecting your body. Given that your body was already infected with someone else’s qi, is it not the lesser evil for me to use my qi to heal you? Especially since there was no way to cure you otherwise.”

Gui Yutong grabbed his hand. “Wu Fanyun, please. Healing is one of the fundamental uses of life qi. What this Senior did was nothing strange. All he did was to save your life. You can’t be such an absolutist about this forever!”

“Immortal qi—that wasn’t someone’s qi,” Wu Fanyun argued.

“Did you not see the jade arm reaching from the Heavens? It was obviously that Immortal’s qi,” Hui replied, crossing his arms.

“That… that was no man. That was a Heavenly phenomenon,” Wu Fanyun said.

Hui turned and met eyes with Gui Yutong over Wu Fanyun’s head. Gui Yutong sighed and shook her head silently.

Ah. So he’s a real hardliner. All the more surprising that Gui Yutong offered to, er, rest with me earlier. Unless they aren’t romantically involved, but… the longer I see them together, the more it seems to be true. They are very intimate. If nothing else, they’re definitely close partners.

Wu Fanyun crossed his arms. “I will not let anyone’s qi invade my body!”

After a moment, a blush spread over his cheeks and he glanced down. “Anyone… but Gui Yutong…”

Gui Yutong shook her head at him. “Wu Fanyun, grow up. You can’t rely on your sister forever.”

“But Elder Sister…” Wu Fanyun whined.

“Eh,” Hui said, startled. He looked between the two of them. There is… a certain resemblance... then, is this one of those infamous incest romances?

No, no! In this world, Sister and Brother can refer to martial compatriots. It isn’t necessarily biological. Even I often refer to my fellow cultivators as Elder Sister and Brother without any biological connection. Surely, this is…

Turning to Hui, Gui Yutong bowed apologetically. “Please forgive my brother. He’s been like this since he was small.”

Hui cleared his throat. “Then, you two… biologically, you…?”

“We share a father. A father who does not want to recognize his son, the child of a mere mortal dancer,” Wu Fanyun spat, his brows twisting in disgust.

“Wu Fanyun,” Gui Yutong said quietly.

“What? It’s true. He’s the one who impregnated her and abandoned her! He deserves to die. Ah, but… Elder Sister, for your support… I’ll always appreciate you,” Wu Fanyun finished, his expression softening. He reached out for her hand.

“Ah,” Hui said, nodding slowly. Oh, this small cultivator understands. You’re a pervert.

Now everything makes sense. Gui Yutong sees Wu Fanyun as a brother and offered him sisterly love, but Wu Fanyun somehow misinterpreted it as romantic love. Wu Fanyun has fallen in romantic love with Elder Sister, but Elder Sister doesn’t know how to break him out of his illusion without shattering his glass heart… his glass heart that could be broken by something as simple as getting involuntarily infected by an Immortal’s qi.

People in this world… so mentally fragile!

Thus, perhaps… perhaps Elder Sister thought that sleeping with this small cultivator in an obvious and above-ground manner would clear things up with Wu Fanyun… ah, perhaps she even thought that I would take the brunt of his anger, instead of herself! Luckily, this small cultivator is careful, very careful. By refusing her, I avoided a potential death scene for me!

Excellent, excellent. A lesson to remember, for certain! Everyone has ulterior motivations. And after all, who would want to sleep with a small cultivator like me? Clearly she had another goal in mind, and clearly, I avoided it with great speed and alacrity! Stay wary, Hui, stay wary, and cling to this small life of yours!

Peak Lord cleared his throat. What about Bai Xue?

Bai Xue has the clearest ulterior motives of all! Bai Xue… likes sleeping with people! Hui proclaimed.

Oh, well, that doesn’t sound so bad, Rogue commented.

Peak Lord coughed, but said nothing.

Gui Yutong casually lifted her hand out of his grasp before he could grip it, and pushed a bit of hair behind her ear. She smiled at Hui. “I didn’t mean to trouble you with my family’s difficulties, but here we are anyways.”

“No, no. Please. This small cultivator doesn’t mind,” Hui said, waving his hand. Continue, continue! Ah, but maybe you can leave out the incest-y parts. Come to think of it, Wu Fanyun should shut up, but Gui Yutong, please keep speaking!

“Ah… although I’m no fan of my father, I believe that he was truly in love with the dancer—that is, Wu Fanyun’s mother. However, circumstances…” Gui Yutong said. She glanced down.

Circumstances? Go on! Hui shouted silently.

“Circumstances? What circumstances! He abandoned my mother, plain and simple!” Wu Fanyun burst out, frustrated.

“No, that… I certainly agree, but…”

“There is no but,” Wu Fanyun snarled, crossing his arms.

Hui narrowed his eyes at Wu Fanyun, annoyed. Could you please stop interjecting? This small Hui is trying to comprehend your family drama to figure out Gui Delun’s weaknesses, okay?