Sighing, the reaper kicked him up, then caught him over one shoulder. “I don’t know what happened up there, but I can guess. Si Wang?”

“Mhm. I think… he redirected my emergence from the Underworld, then captured me,” Hui explained. He hung there limply, tired. I’ve given up on figuring out what’s happening, but I’m not being stepped on anymore, so that’s nice. Hopefully Elder Sister isn’t kidnapping me someplace horrible.

Haa, I’ve spent a long time being kidnapped today.

“Si Wang is the most familiar with the Underworld of the three of us. It doesn’t surprise me that he successfully redirected you. What did he do once he had you?”

“He dragged me along for a while, then attacked me,” Hui said honestly.

“That madman,” the reaper muttered. She shook her head. “Zhu Diyu ought to have put him down long ago.”

“Why hasn’t he?” Hui asked.

“They’re old comrades,” she said, shrugging.

“Is that all?” Si Wang said so, but I can’t exactly trust him.

The reaper sighed. “I think… Zhu Diyu did something, a long time ago, that Si Wang cannot and will not forgive. I don’t know everything, but I know this: when Zhu Diyu became Lord of the Underworld, Si Wang was already dead.”

“Oh,” Hui murmured. That unforgivable thing… could it be that Zhu Diyu killed Si Wang? I’d find it pretty hard to forgive my killer!

Though… who was my killer?

Oh, right. It was me. Me and my own bad decisions.

Er…

Well, you know. Forgive and forget, and all that. Hui nodded to himself, putting the matter behind him.

The reaper shook her head. She leaped into the air, carrying Hui as she flew. “Can’t he give up and reincarnate, already? I’m tired of seeing his face. If you aren’t going to do your job, go home.”

“I agree, Elder Sister,” Hui said, nodding. The Underworld passed by beneath him, almost sickening. After a few seconds of watching it flash by, he shut his eyes. I don’t want to puke on Elder Sister. If nothing else, I need to keep what remains of the Underworld water I have inside of me to suppress the flames!

Abruptly, the world shifted around him. He opened his eyes in midair as the reaper tossed him away. Flying backward, Hui gave her a betrayed look. Elder Sister, throwing me away?

He splashed down and sank. Icy black water closed in over him. Watching silvery bubbles drift away, Hui hung in the water for a moment, dumbstruck. Eh…?

Ah! The Sanzu! He opened his mouth and gulped down water. The flames in his gut died back down, suppressed once more. Kicking his feet, he swam for the surface and burst free with a gasp, shaking his hair out of his face. Mopping it back with one hand, he untied the ribbon holding his ponytail up, then shoved his hair up and retied it more firmly.

“Have you suppressed the flames?” the reaper asked. She dropped down, delicately landing atop the dark water.

Hui nodded. He leaned back, grinning at the reaper. “Elder Sister, want to go swimming?”

She scoffed. “What you’re doing would be impossible if you remained a mortal. Even most Immortals would struggle to overcome those waters.”

“But I can do it right now, so why not?” he asked, offering her a hand.

“Spending time around Si Wang has rotted your brain,” the reaper muttered.

“Elder Sister, I was already wasting it thinking useless thoughts. What’s the difference?” Hui asked.

At that, the reaper laughed. She shook her head at him and walked off. “Even for us, the Sanzu can erode our conscious and soul. Although it served to join your soul together, too much medicine becomes poison. Don’t spend too long. Once you’ve finished suppressing the fire, you should leave.”

Eroding my soul…? I just healed it! Hui bolted out of the water and landed atop the river. He ran after the reaper. “Never mind, never mind. I’m coming!”

The reaper looked back, waiting for him to reach her. When he did, she nodded. “We’ll postpone your first solo reaping for later. After Si Wang intercepted you, I don’t want to give him the opportunity to intercept you again so easily. I’m more practiced at entering and leaving the Underworld. If he tries to redirect me, he’ll fail… and if he succeeds, I’ll give him a good thrashing.” She clenched her fist, and a light gleamed in her eye.

Er, it seems… Elder Sister holds a bit of a grudge against Si Wang.

Though, to be fair, if someone harassed me as retaliation against a third party totally unrelated to me… I’d… not hold a grudge, but I completely understand holding one! Thousands of years is far too long to be a middleman in two men’s grudge!

Mmm… I think I prefer a Fen Long and Chen Wuya sort of grudge to this rivalry! At least the two of them didn’t bring anyone else into it.

…Probably. I don’t… er, what they do in their private time is not my concern! I certainly can’t throw stones when it comes to involving others…

Anyways, I feel like I’m busy thinking useless thoughts right now.

“So then, what should I do?” Hui asked, tilting his head.

The reaper looked at him. She paused, thinking, then sighed. “Haaaa. And here I wanted to push off some of the work onto someone else, at long last…”

“I’m sorry, Elder Sister,” Hui said sheepishly.

She waved her hand. “No, no. It’s better than you being corrupted by that useless Si Wang. After I give him a thrashing or two, he ought to give up.”

Well… I wouldn’t mind meeting him again. If nothing else, we haven’t resolved the situation with the resentment demon yet. I don’t have a good way to capture the resentment demons, but Si Wang does. But… he attacked me last time… he might attack me on sight, now. It’s unlikely, but then, it’s not likely to attack someone over a single accidental insult where I’m from!

Plus, he mentioned something about the phoenix fire… I don’t want him to try stealing the fire from my stomach! It won’t come out, it won’t! Ugh, he’s going to try to cut my stomach out of me, for sure! He’s a madman, after all.

No, no. If I keep thinking of him as a madman, it’ll slip out again! No, no! Think of him as something good. Something good, Hui! A… a rogue reaper! Yes, yes. I’ll call him a rogue reaper in my mind from now on to avoid calling him a madman!

Hui sighed. “Is Si Wang always this hard to deal with?”

“Yes,” the reaper said.

Hui sighed again, deeper this time. “Elder Sister, you’ve dealt with this for centuries?”

She snorted. “It isn’t always this bad. I think he’s aggravated because you’ve replaced him as the second reaper. He gets annoyed every time—”

Hui waited, but she shook her head, refusing to finish her sentence.

“Every time?” Hui asked.

The reaper shook her head.

“Every time a new reaper arrives? How often does that happen, Elder Sister?” Hui asked. Why is she acting so suspicious about it? There’s nothing odd about there being other reapers before me who passed on into the next stage of their lives… unlives, but the way she cut off… now I’m curious. Why not say it outright?

“It’s not important,” the reaper said. She turned on her heel, dark hair swirling behind her. “You stay here in the Underworld. Feel free to wander the town… or hide in your quarters, as usual. I’ll go deal with the reaping and handle Si Wang. I’ll let you know when it’s safe to return to the surface again.”

Hui nodded obediently. “Yes, Elder Sister!”

Hmm, suspicious. I’ll have to poke around after she leaves! I can’t let this stand. I need to find out. If my poor little unlife is in danger, I’ll have to address that before anything else!