Rogue stepped out of the realm and into the fog. The ducks swirled around him, flying a neat figure-8 around his body. He tilted his head, listening, then threw his arm out. A half-dozen ducks flapped off into the dark. The fog swallowed them up, but they remained connected to Rogue. He shut one eye and watched from theirs as they spread out, burrowing through the fog.

Oh. Ghouls. Ha! It’s time to feast. He waved his hand, and the rest of the ducks burst from his side and vanished, leaving him alone.

Want to come help? I’ve got a beating stick and nothing, Sectgoer complained.

Eh? I thought you preferred solo play, Rogue replied, smirking to himself. Besides, you should be familiar with beating a stick, don’t you do it every ni—

Where’s the mods? Someone needs to ban Rogue from chat. Forget me, he’s the real heart-demon, Sectgoer grumbled.

I’m doing fine, Peak Lord replied.

Ahhh, yeah, of course you are! You’ve got talismans and Bai Xue. What more do you want? Sectgoer said.

Guysssss, Sectgoer is raging, someone mute him, Rogue said.

Just draw talismans. It’s not that hard, Peak Lord replied.

‘Just draw talismans.’ It’s… huh. Yeah, I guess… Sectgoer mumbled to himself.

Rogue shook his head. He spread his hands, and the ducks spread out, darting in all directions. Let’s check on Sectgoer, in case he’s actually having a hard time.

It seems like that heart-demon is really troubling him right now… He can’t even think straight! How troublesome, how troublesome. Calling me a heart-demon… ptui. I never get that worked up. Just because I like teasing a little… ah, we’ve always liked to tease! We just keep it inside, that’s all.

Although… this small clone is pretty sure I got a double-serving of whatever it is inside Hui that makes us able to incite heart-demons in other people with our words…

The ducks cried out in the distance, signaling for Hui to look through their eyes. He adjusted his attention toward those ducks.

Thick yin qi simmered in the fog, completely surrounding the ducks. Ice accumulated on their wings as the temperature dropped. The familiar scent of death and the cold aura of death qi rolled on the air, mixed in with the yin.

In the depths of the fog, something moved.

Approach carefully. That’s no ordinary ghoul, Rogue cautioned the ducks.

The ducks quacked in acknowledgement. Swooping high, they drew closer to the shape.

A figure leaped at the ghouls, dressed in black, black hair flying wildly, eyes wide open and wild. A clawed hand dripping venom swiped at the nearest duck. The claws passed through without injuring the immaterial construct, but the duck squacked nonetheless and backpedaled in the air, flying higher in shock. All the other ducks took to the sky, instinctively fleeing the attack.

Ah… so that’s where Jin Xian got to. Hui raised a hand to his chin, then nodded to himself. You know… let’s not bother her. She’s been moody and hungry lately. Let’s leave her to her own devices.

Moody… and hungry… she’s not pregnant, is she? Peak Lord interjected.

Hui smirked. Don’t project what you did to Bai Xue onto every other girl you meet.

Oh, hey! What do you mean? I slept with her once! Once! She isn’t necessarily… necessarily…

So, what should we name the child? Hui mused, amused by Peak Lord’s flustered mumbling.

Stop it, Peak Lord grumbled.

Ignoring Peak Lord, Hui raised his hand to his chin. Good to know that Jin Xian is doing fine. Let’s go find Sectgoer. And maybe Zhubi? I miss that little snake.

A quiet quack drew his attention. Hui turned his attention again. In the ducks’ vision, a somewhat funny-looking man smashed at a ghoul with a thick metal rod. A tiny bell jangled at the end of the rod.

“There he is. Let’s go,” Hui murmured, lifting a hand to his hip height, palm down. A huge duck came up beneath him and lifted him off the ground. He sat cross-legged on the duck’s back as massive black wings carried him through the fog.

We really should have dedicated some time to focusing on the ducks before now. Certainly, we used them before, but it wasn’t until I focused on the ducks alone that I discovered I could condense them into a larger duck and ride on them, or learned to fully share my senses with them. Ah, though I suppose it would have been hard to ride them before I had a strong mastery of life qi, since they are nothing more than constructs made of death qi, after all.

Trailing the other ducks after him, Hui quickly came up on Sectgoer. He patted the duck’s back, and with a beat of its giant wings, they dropped out of the sky.

“Sectgoer, it’s me—”

Sectgoer toppled onto his face, instantly playing dead.

Hui pressed his lips together, looking down on Sectgoer. “Don’t do that. It’s so embarrassing when someone else does it.”

“Well, excuse me, Elder Brother. Don’t startle me if you don’t want me to play dead!” Sectgoer said, pushing himself upright.

“Good to see you’re doing fine,” Hui said, looking around. He scanned the fog visually, casually flicking his sleeve to send the little ducks swarming into it.

Sectgoer looked him up and down. “…Rogue? Why?”

“Don’t why me. I’m allowed to be concerned about other clones,” Hui replied, shaking his head.

“I’m fine. Aren’t I the heart-demon, anyways? You shouldn’t worry about me,” Sectgoer said, waving his hand.

“Hmph. Naturally, I’ll worry about you. I’ll worry about all the clones. You’re all part of our precious life!” Hui declared.

Sectgoer looked at him, then shook his head. “You’re very different in person.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hui asked.

Sectgoer waved his hand. “Anyways, shouldn’t we continue to find ghouls?”

“Or we could hide and wait. Is the trial to kill them, or to survive?” Hui mused.

“It’s… huh.” Sectgoer paused, putting a hand on his chin. “I certainly don’t want to fight something I don’t have to…”

“I’ll send the ducks to scout,” Hui replied. Without him having to make a move, the ducks rushed out into the fog.

Sectgoer watched them go. He frowned, then looked at Hui. “Want to use my ducks?”

“Sure,” Hui said.

Closing his eyes, Sectgoer called out the ducks from within him. Hui waved his hand, drawing the ducks into his flock. They flapped around him, spinning like a whirlwind, then flew out into the fog. His net expanded by half again.

Sensation whirled into his brain. A thousand images, the location of a hundred ghouls, all roaring and reeking. A flash of light rushed by him as a distant cultivator unleashed a technique. The hum of wind, the softness of the air on his wings. Hui stumbled, then dropped into a lotus pose, meditating to handle the sudden influx of information. I’m not used to having so many ducks connected to me. It’s a bit hard to deal with! Ah, this small cultivator might have bitten off more than I can chew…

Sectgoer blinked, then stood over Hui, his beating stick raised high. “Do you need to borrow my mental energy, too? I can help you process it…”

“Just… a moment, Elder Brother. I need a second, that’s all…” Hui grunted. His brow furrowed in intense concentration. Veins stood out on his forehead as his mind strained to handle the hundreds of input from all the ducks. Blood leaked from his nose. He bit his lip and focused, pushing his mental energy to the limits.

Sectgoer nodded. He turned back to the fog, slowly circling Hui. A ghoul lurched out of the darkness. Sectgoer brandished his stick. “One step closer, and I’ll beat you to death!”

Ignoring Sectgoer’s warning, the ghoul lurched closer. One step, another. It froze. Its sunken eyes locked onto Hui. Mouth opening wide, it launched itself at Hui.

Sectgoer stepped forward and smashed it out of the air, hammering it to the ground. He gracefully strode ahead, then lifted his foot, stomped it down and pinned the ghoul to the floor. Raising the beating stick, he slammed its skull in, hitting over and over until it stopped moving.

Sectgoer wiped his brow and stood. Ah, I admit it. Senior Chen Wuya’s Seven Footsteps or whatever is useful for aggressive footwork! After all, Bai Xue’s movement technique is well-suited to Bai Xue, which is to say, to flighty, magical battle that keeps your opponent at a distance.

Chen Wuya’s movement technique is suited to close-quarters fighting and melee battle. Although I’m far from a master, I can already feel the power of the footwork and the sturdiness of my legs. Ah, ultimately, I must agree with Li Xiang. Bai Xue’s movement technique is not suited for sword cultivators!

Not that this small cultivator is a sword cultivator. No, no. I understand my talents. Even with the heart-demon, I wouldn’t dare be so bold! It’s plain as day that I have no karma with the sword. But at least the footwork is something I can handle!

Sitting on the floor, Rogue began to tremble. Blood streamed from his eyes, ears, and mouth as well as his nose. Images flickered through his mind, smells, sounds, sensations. His mind struggled, on the verge of being completely overwhelmed. His mental energy stretched thin, and a heavy headache beat at his brows.

Process them all. Scan through them and discard the useless. Only absorb the useful information. I can do it. A little more!

Healer butted in. Rogue, try using life qi on your mind! It worked to enhance my body. Maybe it’ll work for your mind, too!

Rogue furrowed his brows. Life qi into mental qi…?

No. Life qi to enhance my physical mind. All this time, I’ve neglected my physical capacities. After all, I’m bleeding, not bleeding qi!

He paused a moment, then sent his memories into the node. In case things go wrong… hold onto this!

Got it, Healer replied.

Rogue drew out his life qi and fed it into his mind. His mind shuddered, and the headache grew worse. Ugh. Not like that. But maybe…

Taking a strand of life qi again, Hui separated it out to the barest filaments. One strand of life qi became a thousand strands of filament, each one finer than a hair. Focusing on those delicate threads, he fed them into his mind, weaving them through his neurons. The life qi strengthened the neurons and stood alongside them, constantly strengthening his physical mind.

His stronger physical mind instantly exuded more mental energy. The blood stopped flowing out of his seven apertures. Instead of overwhelming him, now the sensations the ducks sent him made perfect sense.

Rogue coughed up stagnant blood and bolted upright. He pointed ahead of him. “Dead ahead, there’s something massive.”

“Should we take a look?” Sectgoer suggested.

Waving his hand, Rogue summoned the massive duck again. “Let’s go. Oh—circulate your life qi, or it might infect you with death qi.”

Sectgoer paused, mid-mount. He licked his lips and regarded the duck with sudden, extreme caution. “Warn me earlier, Elder Brother!”

“It’s you who forgot the ducks were made of death qi,” Rogue pointed out.

“Well… I didn’t think we’d be so bold as to ride the death qi around!” Sectgoer returned.

Rogue waved his hand. “Bold? Hardly. Don’t be like Peak Lord! There’s no need to project your internal troubles onto everyone else. It’s perfectly safe, as long as we circulate life qi.”

Sectgoer shook his head at Rogue. “Calling me the heart-demon…”