Healer strode the halls of his compound, unable to keep his foot from tapping. It’s only been half a day. Patience, patience. Gui Yutong likely has paperwork to fill out and bureaucracy to wade through before she can get me that pass. I shouldn’t be expecting it so urgently. Patience, Hui!

The doors to his compound burst open. Hui turned, instantly putting on his customer service smile. “Gui Yutong! You’ve returned!”

“Xie Hao! Thank goodness. It’s desperate. I’ve found another!” Gui Yutong cried out. Wu Fanyun followed her, carrying a ragged-looking female cultivator in his grasp.

Hui frowned. “Another?”

Rather than reply, Gui Yutong gestured for him to approach.

Hui crossed to the female cultivator and pressed two fingers to her forehead. His hand had barely made contact when immortal qi jumped up at him. Startled, Hui jumped back. He looked at Gui Yutong.

She nodded. “I found her passed out in the forest nearby. Luckily, we came across her on the way to the sect, or else who knows if she would have survived? Can you heal her, too?”

“I…” Hui paused. Actually, I have plenty of liquor, and if I upgrade it all to be Immortal qi liquor… well, if nothing else, I bet that sells at a fabulous price! He nodded. “I can.”

“Then, please,” she said.

Although she sounded desperate, her motions were anything but. She gazed around, searching the building all around Hui, clearly looking for something else.

Hui cleared his throat. “Can I help Elder Sister?”

“Oh… oh, no, no. Please ignore me,” Gui Yutong said. She fell back, gesturing for him to take the female cultivator.

Plus, I can extort—that is, get the female cultivator to pay for treatment! Now that I’m thinking on it, I don’t mind this at all, not one bit! The only difficult part will be gathering the qi to move that bottle around… ah, but this place has an above-average qi flow. As long as I meditate and use the void technique, I should be able to accumulate enough qi in a few hours, maybe a day. Although it was more convenient to use the surplus qi from that barrier, ultimately, it’s not such an overwhelming amount of qi to move that bottle that I can’t gather enough, given enough time. Hui took the female cultivator and hurried off to the treatment room.

Chen Wuya leaped off of the distant nook he’d been perched in and flew over after Hui. “Doing it again, are we? Soon you’ll be as good a distiller as Zui Jiu.”

“I’d… rather not follow in her expertise,” Hui said. He drew out the gold needles and set them with a wave of his sleeve.

“Hmph. I wouldn’t mind if you did,” Chen Wuya said, adjusting his feathers.

Right, and that’s why I don’t fully trust you, Senior! Hui cried silently.

Chen Wuya glanced up. He tensed. Hui flinched, expecting punishment, but instead, Chen Wuya let out a cawing laugh. “That’s right. You shouldn’t trust me. You’re wise for your age, boy.”

Hui closed his eyes and settled in to meditate, preparing to draw in the qi to summon the bottle.

In the middle of his meditation, an hour or so later, a loud crash disturbed him. Hui jumped up and ran to the door, quickly dispelling the barrier to peer outside. “What’s going on?”

“N—nothing! I have it handled!” Gui Yutong shouted back, her cheeks flushed a bright red.

“Are you sure, Elder Sister?” Hui asked, concerned. For her to be that flushed… she must be in the middle of a fierce fight!

Gui Yutong jumped away, and Bai Jingwen slammed into the floor a second later. The lotus beast grinned and shot after Gui Yutong, catching her by the ankle.

Hui’s heart jumped. He leaped out of the room. “Elder Sister!”

Rather than slam her into the floor, as Hui feared she would, Bai Jingwen drew Gui Yutong in close and hugged her tight. Gui Yutong’s cheeks grew redder. She turned her head slightly away, but her cheek still brushed the beast’s soft chest.

A bear hug? I don’t want to see Gui Yutong crushed to death! Hui waved his sleeve. “Lotus beasts!”

“No, no. I have it handled!” Gui Yutong insisted. She hesitated, then almost reluctantly broke free of Bai Jingwen’s hold. She jumped back, biting her lip. “A fierce beast like this… it’ll take all my might to control her, but I’ll hold on for as long as it takes. All night, if necessary!”

“Eh? But it’s daytime,” Hui said.

Gui Yutong frowned. “Oh, right. Right, yes.”

“Did she use a mind-afflicting technique on you? I can step in! I’m used to battling lotus beasts,” Hui offered.

“No, no. No. It isn’t necessary,” Gui Yutong insisted.

Bai Jingwen flicked her braid, her black eyes watching Gui Yutong intensely. Gui Yutong stared back.

Is this some kind of mental battle? I suppose I really shouldn’t interfere… Hui thought to himself, backing up.

“Gui Yutong! Get back, you fierce beast!” Wu Fanyun howled.

Bai Jingwen turned. A scowl passed over her face, and she flicked her hand. A black seed flew out and smacked Wu Fanyun in the forehead, and he toppled backward, foaming at the mouth.

“Bai Jingwen!” Hui shouted.

“No, no! This is my fight! My opponent! Bai Jingwen… what a beautiful name. We’ll take this outside,” Gui Yutong insisted. “There’s too many interruptions in here.”

Bai Jingwen tilted her head, then, to Hui’s surprise, obediently leaped backward, heading toward the rear garden.

“No! That’s where my disciple is,” Hui shouted, rushing over to block the way.

“I’ll keep her safe!” Gui Yutong declared. “I have a unique barrier formation that doesn’t allow anything to escape, not sound, not light, nothing. I’ll battle her inside, and keep your disciple entirely safe.”

“Even so…” Hui said, hesitant.

Bai Jingwen charged past him, tossing him to the side. Gui Yutong chased her out with a furious howl, and the two leaped into the air and exchanged blows. Quickly, Gui Yutong set up her barrier. She and the lotus beast vanished as a huge black cube appeared in midair.

Hui looked up at it and shook his head. You’re ruining my all-white style, Elder Sister! Out loud, he called, “Ying Lin. Ying Lin, are you there?”

“Right here, Master!” Ying Lin called. She swooped down on Gu Tian, flying under her own power for the first time. Leaping off, she beamed at him. “Look! I can fly now!”

Hui smiled. “Congratulations! Ah, but be mindful of that black box. Gui Yutong fights a fierce opponent inside.”

Even as he said it, Gui Yutong flew backwards out of the black box. She stopped herself in midair and wiped her mouth, her breath coming short. “You filthy beast! I won’t let you win!”

“I thought you said nothing could escape!” Hui shouted at her.

“Ah? Oh. Well, of course the caster can leave,” Gui Yutong replied.

“A high-realm user-only permeable barrier? Elder Sister! You have to teach me!” Hui called, suddenly excited.

Gui Yutong glanced at him, a somewhat strange expression on her face. “Later. I’m busy now.”

Hui nodded. “Right, right. After you defeat the lotus beast.”

“Yes. She’s a lively foe, but I can handle her energy!” Gui Yutong replied, clenching her fist. She charged back into the darkness.

Ying Lin tilted her head. “Are Elder Sister’s cheeks always so red? And why was she breathing like that?”

Hui rapped her gently on the head. “Stop thinking with your romance novels. Elder Sister is fighting hard. We should respect her, not objectify her.”

“Eh… but…” Ying Lin said, tilting her head.

Gui Yutong went flying out of the barrier again, her robes twisted and half-undone. Her eyes had a slightly glazed look to them, and she rolled around in midair and charged into the barrier immediately. “I’m not done yet!”

“Are you sure, Master? I think she and the lotus beast are…”

“Nonsense! They’re fighting. They’re obviously fighting,” Hui replied, though he suddenly felt less certain. Although my robes often get messed up when I fight, are they usually messed up… like that?

The barrier ejected Gui Yutong again. This time, her lips were red, strange bugbite-like marks marred her neck, and her hair was mussed on top of her disheveled robes. Ignoring Hui and Ying Lin below, she cast the barrier a warm look. “Come back here. I’ll make sure you feel it!”

“Is this indecent? Should we be watching this?” Ying Lin asked, putting a finger on her lips.

Hui cleared his throat. “It’s only a fight, Elder Sister. Anything else is your mere imagination. Ah, in any case, we should practice inside today. I have a patient to heal, and it looks like you’ve mastered your swordflight! Today, you can practice mind-cleansing arts.”

“But… what if I want to watch…”

Hui grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her inside. “There’s nothing to gain by watching this,” he muttered grimly to himself. Nothing but the further mushification of my disciple’s romance-addled mind! Gui Yutong, do you have to pursue the lotus beast in my complex, in front of my disciple? I’ll charge extra, I will!

Get a room, you two! One with walls you can throw each other up against, since you seem to enjoy doing it so passionately!

You know who else enjoys doing it passionately, Rogue chuckled under his breath.

Hui rolled his eyes. Haven’t we had enough of teasing Peak Lord? He was just a bit lonely and went to visit a friend. Isn’t that right, Peak Lord?

There was a long pause.

Peak Lord…?

Eh? Huh? Oh, yeah. Uh huh. A wave of pink-colored emotions transmitted through the link, though Peak Lord quickly shut it again.

Hui cleared his throat. Internally, he thought, Dammit! Don’t go get all distracted by a certain Bai Clan member the second I try to defend you!

Rogue coughed. Ah, well… I guess we’ve become men, now.

The complex door shut behind them. Ying Lin cast a last curious glance back, but Hui quickly yanked her onward, turning her away. “Disciple, I’m thinking that you need to practice some heart techniques and mental exercises. You might end up growing a heart demon at this rate.”

“A heart demon? But Master, isn’t it healthy for a young girl to be interested in romance?” Ying Lin asked innocently, tilting her head.

“That… that is true, but… it’s excessive! Simply excessive. Here.” He led her to her room and set her down in the center. Flicking his sleeve, he called a lotus beast into the room. It looked at him, then sat down obediently against the wall.

Ying Lin waved. “Hello!”

The lotus beast tilted its head at her, then looked up at Hui.

“Ying Lin, your task is to sense the lotus beast with your mental energy. If you sit in the center of the room, by the time you sense the lotus beast, you should be able to sense the whole room with your energy. When your mental energy is that robust… you should be less weak to the temptations of the flesh!” Hui finished mightily, putting his hands on his hips. Well, that’s a whole load of bullshit, but whatever! Ying Lin should start training her mental energy. I think we gain divine sense at sixth stage… since that’s when all the seniors start reading my mind.

Ugh, that can’t come soon enough. Not that I want to read others’ minds… well, true, I would like to know when people want to kill me, but to have a way to protect myself against seniors reading my mind is fantastic! After all, upgrading my mental energy to the next step—that is, divine sense—I should be able to protect myself more easily, right? It makes sense! That’s how it usually works in my novels.

Ying Lin frowned. “How does growing my mental energy protect me from the temptations of the flesh?”

Even without mind-reading, my disciple has a built-in bullshit detector? Oh well, that’s wonderful, wonderful! After all, that means my disciple will be harder to trick once she goes out into the real world. He waved his hand. “Don’t worry about that. Once you strengthen your mental energy, that should become obvious.”

“Hmm…” Ying Lin said.

“And there are a great deal of other benefits to growing your mental energy as well! Like keeping mysterious Seniors from reading your mind, and being able to scan larger areas without moving. With greater mental energy, you can see attacks coming at your poor little life from much further away!” Hui added, raising a finger.

“Oh! I bet you can attack with mental energy, too. Does it raise your comprehension speed, as well?” Ying Lin asked, excited.

Hui coughed. “Yes, yes. Of course. I was about to say that.” Er, whoops. I totally forgot about the ordinary uses of mental energy. After all, this small cultivator is more concerned with keeping his tiny life than with attacking others!