Gui Delun’s eyes stopped on Hui. A low sigh escaped him. “I should have known. Your ‘love’ for my daughter was only political maneuvering, wasn’t it. Did you ever love my daughter, Xie Hao?”

“No!” Hui declared fiercely. That’s Bai Jingwen’s job, not mine!

“A loveless, faithless man. Is this who you choose to follow?” Gui Delun asked, shaking his head in disappointment.

Hui opened his mouth to retort, but before he could, a sword light shot toward Gui Delun from behind.

Gui Delun turned. He raised a hand and snatched Tang Fei out of the air. Tutting, he shook his head. “You, too? Has everyone betrayed me? And I suppose Liu Guang, as well?”

Tang Fei struggled in his grasp. She reached into her robes. “You no longer count as my Master. The only man I recognize as Master is—”

Before she could draw whatever it was she was reaching for, Gui Delun tightened his grip. Qi pulsed into her, freezing Tang Fei on the spot. Turning, he looked at Hui, nothing but disappointment in his eyes. “Then I suppose I’ll start with her.”

“No!”

Ying Lin burst from where she stood. Before Gui Delun could react, she darted past him. Tang Fei plunged toward Hui.

Gui Delun staggered back, startled. “What?”

Startled, Hui ran forward. He caught Tang Fei. “Ying Lin!”

Ying Lin looked down at him, a regretful look in her eyes. Light poured down from overhead, and lightning crackled all around, so thick he could breathe it in the air and feel the tingle in his lungs. “Master… I wanted to stay and see the final battle with you. But it seems… I’ve reached my limit.”

Gui Delun gaped. “You… who are you? How can you be on the verge of ascension? I’ve never heard of you—never seen you—who—?”

Ying Lin’s eyes lingered on Hui one more moment, before she turned to Gui Delun. Derisively, she met his gaze. “I’m Weiheng Lin. The first disciple of Weiheng Hui!”

“You… huh? Weiheng…” Gui Delun frowned, lost.

“That’s right,” Hui declared. Now is the time. He ripped the snakeskin off his face, revealing his true appearance. “I, your son-in-law, am in fact… Weiheng Hui! From the start, the man who wed your daughter, the father of your grandson… is the man you despised, whose sect you crushed beneath your heel!”

Gui Delun staggered back. He put his remaining hand to his mouth, but couldn’t stop from coughing up blood. The pressure he’d been exerting on the disciples around Hui lessened as he lost control of his cultivation. “You… you…”

“I, and the one known as Xing Huang!” Hui declared.

Behind him, the disciples gasped. The light in Song Wei’s eyes changed from respectful to worshipful.

“And I, as well!” Rogue shouted, tearing off his snakeskin.

Healer looked at him. Rogue looked back, then shrugged. Yeah, I know no one really cares about me. I barely even used a fake name. But hey, it’s all about momentum, right?

“Your tyranny ends here, Gui Delun!” Healer declared, thrusting his hand forward. His disciples charged from around him, racing toward the staggered Gui Delun.

In his arms, Tang Fei stirred. Healer looked down. “Tang Fei, you’re safe now.”

Tang Fei pulled her hand out of her robes. Hui’s heart sat in her palm, perfectly crystallized. “Don’t you… need this?”

Hui stared. He took his heart from Tang Fei carefully, utterly delicate with it. This… my heart, I…

Subconsciously, I gave up on getting it back. I think I knew… no. I know. I know that I’ve lost too much of myself. No matter what, I can never go back to being the original Hui. Not as I was. Not with so much of myself dead. But… but as long as I have this, then… then at least, with my true body, I can—

He looked at Tang Fei. “How… how can I repay you?”

Tang Fei smiled. She shook her head. “You already have.”

“Master!”

Hui looked up.

Ying Lin ascended into the Heavens. Lightning struck all over her body, but she barely seemed to notice. “Master, I’m so sorry!”

“What have I always said, Ying Lin? No—Weiheng Lin! Don’t hold yourself back for Master’s sake! Go forward. Charge into the Heavens! And… and if you meet a man named Weiheng Wu, greet your Grandmaster properly, understood?” Hui called after her.

Ying Lin nodded. Tears glistened in her eyes. “Yes!”

Without hesitating any longer, she turned up, facing the Heavens, and charged into them. A bolt of lightning, fiercer than any Hui had seen before, flashed around her, and then she was gone. Ascended.

Hui smiled after her. Ying Lin… I knew you’d do it.

Expression turning serious once more, he looked down at the heart in his hands. Sectgoer.

I know. Heading to our body!

Hui clenched his hand around the heart, and it vanished, reappearing in Sectgoer’s hands far, far away from the battle. A second later, he sent Tang Fei as well. Before you go, take her, too! Let’s keep Tang Fei with the main forces.

Right, right. There was a short pause. I sent her over with Xixing. She’ll be safe.

He faced Gui Delun, calling forth his most powerful weapons and talismans. Without Ying Lin… this battle is going to be much harder. At least… until Chen Wuya and Fen Long show up!

Gui Delun wiped the blood from his mouth. Standing up, he shouted. A burst of power emanated from his mouth, throwing all the disciples back. At the same time, disciples flew up from the Inner Peaks, rallying around him. He glowered down on Hui. “All your petty tricks and pitiful traps amount to nothing. You are a mere fifth-stage cultivator. I am seventh-stage, and powerful enough to destroy your Sectmaster. Do you think you can overcome my power?”

Hui shook his head. “No, no. Of course not!”

“Then why do you oppose me?” Gui Delun thundered, annoyed more than anything.

“Because, Senior… I have a great many powerful friends!” Hui said, grinning.

From Zhang Minyan’s peak, a huge pill furnace on the brink of exploding came hurtling toward Gui Delun. “Ha! Don’t forget about me, you old coot!” Zhang Minyan shouted, her voice echoing over the peaks toward him.

Gui Delun harrumphed. He waved his sleeve, deflecting the pill furnace upward. It burst high above, harmlessly exploding in the sky.

Hui swallowed. Well… so much for that.

“Did you really think I would be unprepared for the trap I myself set?” Gui Delun scoffed.

“Senior Wolf!” Hui shouted.

“I don’t recall you bringing me my husband yet,” she said, tossing her gray hair.

Gui Delun laughed. His forces massed behind him, thick enough to blot out the sun. “Is this all? Is this all the more you’ve brought against me? A few disciples and some cheap tricks?”

Healer glanced over his shoulder at the rot spider, but didn’t gesture it on. It’s better against masses of cultivators, not one single higher realm cultivator. Which leaves…

Sectgoer! Healer shouted silently.

They’re almost there. I’m still a ways from the sect. We were almost there when I turned back!

Okay. Stall for time. I can do it! Hui nodded to himself. He scowled up at Gui Delun. “There are a great number of people who hold grudges against you, Gui Delun. You’ve enforced your own false righteousness for too long. Don’t you feel any guilt?”

“Guilt? Why would I feel guilt? All righteousness is subjective. Is there anything more correct about your righteousness when compared to mine?” Gui Delun asked, crossing his arms. “You may disagree with me, but that doesn’t make me objectively wrong.”

Hui shook his head. “Senior, is your comprehension of righteousness so lacking that you think one man can one-sidedly declare what is righteous and what is not? Even I understand that righteousness is not decided by one man. One man can decide, in the moment, that his own actions are righteous or demonic, but it is the world, the population, who judges afterwards whether his actions shall be recorded as righteous or not.

Hui tilted his head. “Senior Gui Delun, how do you think the world will record your actions?”

Gui Delun harrumphed. “The world decides what is righteous or not? You are the one who lacks comprehension. If I declare something to be righteous, I declare that it is recorded as righteous. I write the history. I control the narrative. Your pitiful insurgence will go down as the pathetic mewling of a powerless, demonic brat, and there is nothing you can do about it!”

“Senior, is ‘demonic’ the only insult you know? It’s long since lost its bite, you know,” Hui said, clicking his tongue.

“Enough. You die, here, and nothing more will come of this thoughtless uprising,” Gui Delun said, raising his hand.

Ah, shit. I’m out of time. Sectgoer, how close…

I’m heading back to the sect, dammit! I have no idea!

Lighting a candle for Healer, Rogue said.

As if you aren’t going down with me, Healer returned darkly.

Red light gathered in Gui Delun’s palm, building into a roiling ball of fire. It grew and grew, until the fireball itself stretched larger than all the disciples Healer had massed.

Healer gulped. He threw out his most powerful talismans and set them hovering in the air in the shape of a spell formation, preparing to activate them all at once as soon as Gui Delun launched his attack. “Retreat, everyone retreat!”

Behind him, Rogue threw out his own set of talismans, layering barrier talismans on top of barrier talismans. He quickly created a wall of barriers between Gui Delun’s attack and the disciples.

Is it enough? Healer asked.

Rogue rolled his eyes. Your guess is as good as mine. All we can do is grit our teeth and bear it!

Healer stared up at the fireball and let out a dry laugh. Bets on who sees Elder Sister Reaper first?

Gotta be you. You aren’t even trying for defenses, Rogue returned.

Ha! Your comprehension is lacking! You’ll see, Healer said.

Will I?

… You might. If I’m lucky.

The fireball raged hotter, so hot that Healer, slightly closer to it, began to wither. Gui Delun smiled darkly. “Prepare yourself for death.”