Hui backed away slowly. Lifting a hand to his shoulder, he set Chen Wuya down on the bench and pivoted away from it, afraid of involving the crow more than anything. Bai Jingwen is bad enough. The last thing I need is to aggravate Senior, as well!

He held Moonlight Cutter before him, his eyes locked on Bai Jingwen’s. “To what do I owe the honor of Elder Sister’s presence?”

Bai Jingwen strode toward him silently. With each step, fresh ripples spawned on the pond’s surface. The other lotus beasts shied away, vanishing under the surface of the water or retreating into the depths of the back yard’s vegetation.

Hui, too, backed away. He cast a longing glance at one of the retreating lotus beasts. If Elder Sister wasn’t so locked on me, that would be me, melting into the depths of the shrubbery!

“Elder Sister, please. Let’s talk it out. Words… words are a wonderful human invention, and I’m sure the two of us can find compromise, if we simply talk it out,” Hui said closely watching Bai Jingwen’s footsteps.

Bai Jingwen paused. She lifted a hand and pointed at Hui.

Hui raised his sword.

In the next instant, Bai Jingwen slammed into it. Green blood flew. She darted back, then charged again. Hui’s eyes blurred trying to track her movements. He backstepped, drawing on his movement technique to freeze time for a moment. Bai Jingwen hung frozen in midair, her arm snaking around to jab at his soft belly. Sucking a breath, Hui spun Moonlight Cutter, putting the blade in the path of Bai Jingwen’s clawed hand. Green blood flew again.

Bai Jingwen cried out, pained but not afraid. She whipped around, pivoting around her long legs, and slammed her heel toward Hui’s head. Her braid snapped after her, her originally-black hair now a dark pink. A tiny gold tree-shaped charm glittered from its tail end.

Hui backstepped again. In the moment of frozen time, he flipped Moonlight Cutter, putting the blade in the way of her ankle. Her leg collided with it, and her foot flew off into the back yard.

“Elder Sister, you see? If we fight, we’ll only get hurt. Words, words are a wonderful thing! Let’s speak like civilized—”

Bai Jingwen kicked her leg again. A foot grew from the dripping green wound, and she looked up at him, smiling viciously.

Ah, dammit. She’s a lotus beast! She has all the hideous vitality of the beasts, and a viciousness all her own! There’s a reason she was one of my primary fighters!

He glanced around. Is it time to call Jin Xian? I’m a bit nervous about loosing Elder Sister upon my own compound, but… but this small cultivator can’t afford to lose another clone! Not when I’m so close to gaining access to All-Heavens Sect!

Behind Hui, a door creaked open. Gui Yutong gasped. “Xie Hao! Are you okay?”

Hui glanced back. His eyes widened. Elder Sister, of all moments to come… why now? I can’t use Jin Xian when there’s a blood-and-flesh cultivator nearby! She’s been hungry lately, and—and even I would prefer meat to vegetables, let alone a hungry jiangshi!

Bai Jingwen’s eyes widened. She jumped back, executing a neat flip. Treading the air, white lotuses blossomed under her feet.

Hui fell back, standing in front of Gui Yutong. He quickly scanned her with his mental sense. Peak fourth stage… still, she can’t handle Bai Jingwen, a fifth stage! I have to keep her safe! “Elder Sister, stand back!”

“Eh? Xie Hao, what’s happening?”

Bai Jingwen rushed in. Hui grit his teeth and slammed a barrier talisman down, but in the moment before he activated it, Bai Jingwen zoomed in, rushing to his side. Hui gulped. “Elder Sister, your conflict is with me alon—”

With a precise strike, Bai Jingwen severed Hui’s head from his neck. She moved to Gui Yutong.

No, no, no! It’s fine to kill me, but please don’t kill my ticket to All-Heavens Sect! Hui grabbed his head before it could fully fall off his neck and circulated his life qi, closing the wound as swiftly as he could. He whirled, raising Moonlight Cutter even as he turned. “Gui Yutong, save yourself—”

Bai Jingwen stood before Gui Yutong, her eyes wide. She raised a hand and gently put her hand through Gui Yutong’s hair. Leaning in close, she put her forehead to Gui Yutong’s and took a slow breath, staring into Gui Yutong’s eyes, hand still tangled in Gui Yutong’s hair.

“Gui Yutong, flee!” Hui shouted, but even as he did, he furrowed his brows. Eh? What’s Bai Jingwen doing? If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think it looked…. uh, ‘non-threatening?’

Gui Yutong gulped. She stared into Bai Jingwen’s black eyes, paralyzed. A shiver ran down her back.

“Is it a mental technique? Gui Yutong, circulate your mental energy! Don’t fall to it!” Hui shouted. He sliced at Bai Jingwen, desperate to separate the two. Whatever Bai Jingwen’s doing—I can’t let her do it to Gui Yutong! Anyone but Gui Yutong, my ticket to All-Heavens Sect!

Bai Jingwen delicately removed her hand from Gui Yutong’s hair. As she drew it back, a small lotus bloomed just above Gui Yutong’s ear. She kicked off the ground and surged into the air. In midair, she spun herself around, backflipping over Hui. Hui stared, eyes wide. He turned, but by the time he whipped around, Bai Jingwen had vanished, leaving only the faint scent of lotuses behind.

Hui glared after her. Ah, too bad I can’t chase her. It’s a pity, truly a pity, but I am forced to protect Gui Yutong, not chase after madmen like that lotus beast! Yes, yes, it isn’t because I don’t like fighting. No, no. I must protect Gui Yutong! What if I gave chase and Bai Jingwen looped around behind me to strike Gui Yutong again? Until Gui Yutong takes me to All-Heavens Sect, I won’t allow a single bug to so much as bite her skin!

He turned back to Gui Yutong and quickly examined her. “Are you alright, Elder Sister?”

Gui Yutong raised a hand to the flower, and a blush spread over her cheeks. Staring after Bai Jingwen, she stepped forward almost involuntarily, as if she could chase after Bai Jingwen. “Ah… what’s her name?”

“Bai Jingwen. She’s an Elder Sister with a grudge against me…” Eh, come to think of it, why did she attack me? Is it because she’s an unpredictable lotus beast? Is it because she remembers her grudge over me stealing Bai Xue away? Is it just because Elder Sister was bored and wanted to hit something?

Ah, please don’t be the last choice! I’m not that fun to hit, I’m not fun to hit at all! Leave this small cultivator alone, you lascivious lotus beast!

Gui Yutong licked her lips. Staring after her, she whispered gently, “Bai Jingwen…”

“Yes. Please be alert, Elder Sister. She might attack you for associating with me. Ah, please accept my apologies. I never meant for you to be bound up in this grudge of mine,” Hui apologized, bowing to her.

No, but what grudge! Bai Jingwen, this small cultivator demands an answer! At least tell me why you want me dead!

Gui Yutong touched the lotus again. “I wouldn’t mind to be bound up in this grudge.”

“No, no! Elder Sister, please. Giving me a route to All-Heavens is repayment enough. You don’t need to fight on my behalf as well,” Hui said, shaking his head.

Gui Yutong looked at him, a blank look in her eyes. After a second, she shook her head and forced herself to focus. “Fight? Huh? Oh… oh, I mean… yes. No, I wouldn’t fight that beautiful… that is, I understand. I have no desire to fight that Elder Sister. She’s far beyond my strength, after all.”

“Good, good! Ah, it looks like Elder Sister is experiencing some aftereffects from the mental attack Bai Jingwen used on you. You should rest. Do you need assistance back to your room?” Hui asked, offering her a hand.

“Ah… no. I think I can find my way back myself.” With a final wistful gaze after Bai Jingwen, Gui Yutong turned and left.

Hui looked at her, then shook his head. Gui Yutong was acting strange. That mental attack must have been fierce, indeed! I’ll have to guard against it in the future.

Still, I don’t recall feeling a surge of mental energy around Bai Jingwen when she attacked Gui Yutong. Could it be…? Hui furrowed his brows. He looked at Gui Yutong’s slow retreat, gazing over her shoulder every few steps, then toward where Bai Jingwen had vanished. He slapped his fist into his palm and nodded. A stealth mental attack! One that even I could not sense. How horrifying, how truly horrifying! An attack I couldn’t sense… how do I guard against that?

Clearly, my mental energy is lacking, greatly lacking! I need more training. I wonder if there’s a more effective way to train mental energy than simply projecting it for prolonged time? After all, that’s such a slow fortification method. Perhaps I could ask Senior Chen Wuya about it?

Hui glanced at the bench, where the crow sat quietly, still snoozing off the booze. He sighed, then walked over and collected Chen Wuya, setting him on his shoulder before he followed Gui Yutong back into the complex. I’ll have to ask him in the morning, once the alcohol wears off. I have no desire to find out what happens when I wake up a drunken Chen Wuya! I’m sure getting clawed to death will be the least of my worries!

Gui Yutong glanced back as Hui walked and slowed, letting him catch up with her. “Fellow Daoist… you seemed acquainted with that beau… that… Bai Jingwen?”

Hui nodded. He took a deep breath. “To be entirely honest… I, er, this small cultivator… may have stolen her fiancé?”

Gui Yutong raised her eyebrows. “So she’s single?”

“Eh?” Hui asked.

Gui Yutong coughed. “Nothing. That is, what a surprise! I didn’t take Fellow Daoist Xie Hao as the kind to get embroiled in romantic drama.”

Hui shook his head. “It wasn’t by my intention. Her fiancé was unhappy, and didn’t want to be with her any longer, but… you know how families can be. Their mother refused to call off the engagement, unless they found a better fiancé. Ah… not that this small cultivator considers himself better than Bai Jingwen! No, no, far from it! But… but, to put it simply, it was at the will of her fiancé, and so, I ended up playing the role of the homewrecker…”

“Ah. So Fellow Daoist Xie Hao… that is, you’re a cutsleeve?” Gui Yutong asked, tilting her head.

Hui blinked. Eh? What part of that indicated that I was…

…the part where I stole a woman’s fiancé! Argh, I must be tired, to not realize such an obvious mistake!

Shaking his head, Hui waved his hands. “No, no! Er, have, have you heard of the Bai Clan? Those of the main bloodline can swap genders. I’m no cutsleeve. I—that is, I prefer women!”

“Oh, I see!” Gui Yutong said, nodding.

She leaned in. At a whisper, she added, “Please don’t worry, Fellow Daoist. Everyone has the right to make their own choices in life. No matter what you chose… ah, love is a powerful force! It’s hard to deny it, once you feel that heat inside you! Like a wave, crashing over everything, or a fierce wind, blasting through your heart, throwing aside everything you thought was right and replacing it with one truth…” She turned and stared toward the doors behind them, her eyes misty and distant.

Hui nodded slowly. Is she talking about being a cutsleeve, or being a homewrecker? Both? Er… in any case, I think it’s best if I simply don’t clarify! After all, it doesn’t matter what she thinks of me, as long as she recommends me to All-Heavens Sect. And if she stops coming onto me, this small cultivator will have that much less to fear for his poor little life!

He nodded and put his thumbs up. “That’s right!”

Hidden around the corner, Wu Fanyun furrowed his brows. What on earth am I listening to? I thought this Xie Hao fellow was trying to steal Gui Yutong from me, but he stole a woman’s fiancé instead? Am I the one he’s targeting, instead? But he prefers women? Huh? Then, that woman must have been… or… it’s getting too complicated for me to follow.

He rubbed his head, confused. Maybe I really do need to rest. My mind must be addled. Nothing I hear makes any sense.