Hui and the reaper floated in a large practice hall. Unlike the hall he’d seen from outside, darkness clung to this one. Only a few faint lanterns bobbed near the wall, leaving the exposed rafters in darkness. A single cultivator dressed in dark robes stood at the far end. She flicked her bright blue nails, and the blue-flame-cloaked sword yanked itself from the target near Hui and the reaper and flew back to her hand.

Hui’s eyes widened. Ah! It’s Elder Sister Fei Guren! Wait, then… is elder sister Ai Tuzi…

Fei Guren clenched her hand on the sword’s hilt. Her beautiful face scrunched into a grimace. “That damn Ai Tuzi. Stupid rabbit. I’ll get you next time!”

No, no, Elder Sister, it’s ‘this cereal is for kids!’

Wait, no. Focus, Hui. Elder Sister Ai Tuzi is still alive! Good, good. That’s wonderful. I’d hate if both Ai Lingling and Ai Tuzi died. Two sisters dying in the same battlefield might be poetic in a fairy tale, but it’s incredibly tragic in reality.

He looked at the reaper. “Are we here for her?”

The reaper shook her head.

Mmm. Figures. I’d like to reap her, but if it’s not our job, it isn’t our job! I’m not the type to do work that I’m not paid for! I had enough of not getting paid in my first life!

Eh, wait. Hold on. Is Zhu Diyu paying us…?

Fei Guren sighed. She tossed the blade lightly, and it swooped around her head, orbiting her like a flaming star. “How can that rabbit be so strong? A mere beast. Even if her ancestor ascended to the immortal realm, she’s just a rabbit. Rabbits are food, not cultivators.”

Incorrect. She’s a rabbit girl! An adorable rabbit girl. Those aren’t food. They’re incredibly popular back home! Almost as popular as cat girls, Hui thought, nodding to himself.

“Fei Guren,” a seductive voice called. Just the sound of it made Hui want to listen all day. His breath caught, and he whipped around toward the source.

Fei Guren turned. She quickly dropped into a bow, averting her eyes. “Tier Master! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

The Tier Master descended a set of stairs, robes trailing behind her, her long legs peeking through a high slit in her robes with every step. Her hips swung, and a thick braid fell over her shoulder all the way to her tiny waist. An enormous bosom swelled the bodice of her robe.

Hui looked up. And I bet her face is—

A dark cloak hung deep over her face, hiding her eyes, and a veil hid the lower portion. What little Hui could make out of her face past the veil, though, made him catch his breath. He stared wide-eyed, mouth agape.

The reaper stepped out in front of him. “Don’t look. She practices the Dao of Beauty. To stare upon her is to become captivated. If you look too long, you’ll never be able to look away.”

Hui rubbed his eyes. “Thank you for your intervention, Elder Sister.” Never be able to look away? To think, there were still such dangers awaiting me when I’m already dead! I can never let down my guard! Not when I’m alive, not when I’m playing dead, and not even when I’m actually dead!

The reaper snorted. “Men.”

“Eh? Elder Sister, you aren’t looking at her, either,” Hui said, tipping his head.

She harrumphed and crossed her arms. “The Dao of Beauty doesn’t discriminate.”

“Ahhh, hmm, then, isn’t it not ‘men?’” Hui asked.

She rolled her eyes.

From behind the Tier Master, an attendant stepped out. She bowed and cleared her throat. “The Tier Master would like to congratulate you on your recent victory.”

Fei Guren continued to bow.

The reaper glanced at Hui. “She can’t even speak without ensnaring the hearts of all those around her.”

“That sounds like a troublesome Dao,” Hui mused. Much less troublesome than my death-faking! I can still talk and walk around like normal.

Though… my Dao isn’t death-faking, is it? What…

The reaper nudged him. “Don’t drift off.”

The Tier Master made a small, beautiful gesture. The attendant glanced over, then nodded. “However, the Tier Master questions why Ai Tuzi yet lives.”

Fei Guren’s nose wrinkled. “I’ll end her next time. This time, her pathetic sister got in my way. I thought I would use my secret attack to kill her sister and gain the advantage, but instead, she went berserk. I—”

“The Tier Master cares not,” the attendant said, cutting her off. “The Tier Master desires results, not excuses.”

“Yes, Tier Master,” Fei Guren said.

“Can they not say her name, either?” Hui asked, leaning toward the reaper.

The reaper glanced at him. Flatly, she stated, “Calling someone by their title is a term of respect.”

I— of course I know that, of all people! Elder Sister, it was a reasonable thing to ask! Most people can speak and show their faces, you know? It was reasonable to ask if she had more restrictions! Totally reasonable! Ahh, don’t look at me like that… Hui cried in his head, but didn’t say a thing aloud.

The Tier Master whipped around. The attendant glanced at her, then nodded and saluted to Fei Guren. “The Tier Master has lost faith in you. She needs to see success to regain her faith.”

“What can this disciple do?” Fei Guren asked. Her legs trembled subtly.

“The Southern region has recently faced tumult. A new power rises. It would be best if that power did not think itself worthy of challenging the Eastern Alliance. Remind them of their place,” the attendant stated.

Hui startled. Wait, hold on. That’s my homeland! Or at least, the place where my sect and family… families are. Hey! We don’t need to remind us of anything. The Southern Sect Conference knows our place! We understand. We aren’t going to rise up. You’re wasting your effort, wasting it! There’s no need to bring your great self to our lowly land.

“This lowly one doesn’t understand. How can this one accomplish that?” Fei Guren asked.

The Tier Master flicked her cloak. The attendant glanced over, then nodded. “The ascendant cultivators are both women. Women… with children. You understand, right?”

“Mmm. Our Eight Tiers Palace needs new disciples, no?” Fei Guren said. A slow smile spread across her lips.

Hui’s eyes widened. You’re going to kidnap Southern Sect Conference children to hold them against the entire Southern region? How ruthless! I can’t let this happen. I won’t!

Wait, hold on. The ascendant powers are two female cultivators with children? It… it couldn’t be, right? I mean… Bai Xue is a young master with strong talent, and Li Xiang is a once-in-a-century talent with the soul of a sword spirit! I know Bai Xue has… at least one child, probably more than that by now, knowing them. And Li Xiang… probably has my child, based on what the reaper’s said!

Hui rolled his fingers together behind his back, creating another black seed. Alright, that’s it. I’m breaking out of the Underworld. I might not be able to fully come back to life, but as long as I can interfere a little… I’m not going to let Fei Guren kidnap my children!

The Tier Master walked away. The attendant bowed one last time to Fei Guren and hurried to follow her.

“Ah,” the reaper said, looking up.

A shadow dropped out of the sky onto the Tier Master’s back. A long knife glittered in their hand as they jabbed it toward the side of the Tier Master’s head.

“Tier Master!” Fei Guren shouted, darting forward.

The attendant whipped around. She raised her sword.

“Today, I take not just your life, but your Dao!” the shadow growled.

The knife flashed.

The shadow thumped into the wall, splattered into paste. The veil fluttered down. The Tier Master raised her cloak, hiding her face.

Eyes wide, the attendant stared. “Tier Master…”

The Tier Master jabbed her hand out and pinched the attendant’s pressure point. She caught the attendant before she could fall. “Another attendant, ruined…”

The disappointment in her voice crushed Hui’s heart, achingly, tragically beautiful. He gasped, then slapped his cheeks. No, Hui. Don’t fall for her charm! I won’t be trapped by the Dao of Beauty!

Fei Guren gasped. She took half a step forward, as if unable to stop herself.

The Tier Master glanced at Fei Guren, then swept off, vanishing from the room.

Fei Guren stared after her. A few moments passed before she recovered, straightening. She shook her head and wiped her face. “Focus. Focus!”

A shadow darted out from the wall. “My vengeance doesn’t stop here!”

The reaper caught him by the back of the collar. “You’re dead,” she informed him.

“I don’t care! I’ll become a vengeful ghost and destroy her!” the shadow howled, fighting the reaper’s grasp. His eyes darkened, and black fluid dripped down his face.

“Not going willingly?” the reaper asked.

“No. No! I’ll never go! Not before that bitch dies! She killed my sister, simply because she thought my sister was more beautiful than her! I’ve cultivated for centuries for this moment. Centuries! I won’t give up now!”

Hui licked his lips. Not to diminish your efforts, but… but for someone who had centuries to accomplish this, you certainly failed in the first ten seconds of your attack. You didn’t have a backup plan or a second effort to kill her, or sneak her some kind of slow-feed poison, or inflict a heart-demon, or…

If I spent centuries to kill someone, I wouldn’t simply put my all into one rash attack! Layers. Layers! Attacks should have layers! One man can fail, but fifty efforts are unlikely to all fail at once!

Ahem. I might get labeled a coward for it, but… but I also generally get results, so… so! It’s all good in the end!

“You haven’t sown any karma with the ghostly path. Come with me, or your soul will deteriorate,” the reaper stated.

“I don’t care! I don’t care! I have to avenge my sister!” the man howled, fighting the reaper’s grasp.

Hui cleared his throat. He stepped forward, tucking his hands behind his back. “Er, excuse me, Elder Brother.”

The man’s eyes alighted on Hui, and he scowled. “Who are you? Some kind of crane demon?”

The reaper snorted.

Hui looked over his shoulder at the feathered fan. “It doesn’t matter what I am. Elder Brother, I have a question. You trained for hundreds of years to kill Elder Sister Tier Master, yes?”

“Yes! I trained, and trained, and—”

Hui cut him off. “And you failed. Instantly. She killed you with the back of her hand.”

The man fell silent. After a second, he scowled. “I’ll train again! I can—”

“Elder Brother, when you cultivate the ghostly path… that is, any path that uses death qi instead of ordinary qi, you start from zero. You already failed to keep pace with Elder Sister Tier Master when you were a living cultivator who started at the same time that she did. Elder Brother, how are you going to not only keep pace with Elder Sister, but catch up with her, when you’re starting from zero?” Hui asked.

Again, the man’s mouth closed. He opened it a few times, but nothing came out.

Hui stepped closer. He patted the man on the shoulder. “Listen, Elder Brother. This time, you only had so much aptitude with cultivation. But next time, when you reincarnate, won’t you come back with different aptitude? You could have the kind of heaven-defying talent that surpasses Elder Sister in the space of a year! And if you fail to have cultivation talent, then your short mortal life will be over, and you’ll be able to try again for high aptitude much faster. Think of it this way, Elder Brother. You’re only holding yourself back by resisting reincarnation! Have faith in the future you, who will surely overcome the current you!”

The man frowned. Slowly, he nodded. “It’s… a slim chance, but…”

“But it’s better than the zero chance you have right now!” Hui said, nodding.

Looking into Hui’s eyes, the man nodded too. “I understand. My eyes are clear. I’ll go. I’ll go, and kill that bitch in my next life! Even if I forget everything in the cycle of reincarnation, I’ll remember my grudge with that bitch!”

“That’s the spirit!” Hui said. He drew his fan.

“Eh. What’s that?” the man asked.

“Oh. It’s my weapon,” Hui explained. He gently tapped the man on the shoulder with his fan.

The man’s form faded. He passed away, leaving peacefully for the Underworld.

The reaper looked at Hui. She raised her eyebrows, giving him an appraising look. “You have some skill as a reaper.”

“Ah, Elder Sister is too kind, too kind,” Hui said, shaking his head. Behind his back, the black seed finished forming. He caught it in his hand, clenching his fist around it. Now I just need to find a place to drop this seed! Somewhere outside of the Eight Tiers Palace.

The reaper took a step. The world began to fade away once more.

Shit! We can enter the Underworld from inside? No, no! Hui glanced around. He whirled, then threw the seed out the window as hard as he could.

The seed pinged off the glass.

The reaper turned. “What was that?”

Hui looked around, frowning. “What? I don’t know.”

She squinted at him. A second later, she rolled her eyes. “It’s time for us to return. Follow me.”

“Yes!” Hui said, saluting. He stepped after the reaper.

As they faded, the reaper cut a single glance back toward the seed. She frowned, then closed her eyes. I’ll overlook it. Just this time.