Hui crossed his arms, gazing ahead to the horizon, standing boldly atop Moonlight Cutter. His long ponytail streamed in the wind, matched only by the blue ribbon that floated alongside it. He flicked his hair and closed his eyes for just a moment, feeling the breeze on his face, then opened his eyes again. A profound expression passed over his face. Damn, I wish I still had Gu Tian to fly for me.
Ying Lin gazed up at him, her eyes sparkling and her pretty pink robes twisting on...
2022-11-24 18:59:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
With a somewhat forlorn expression, Hui watched the final cultivator go. There was still more alcohol to flavor with Immortal qi… Ah, oh well. I gained a lot, both in terms of the content of the alcohol, and in terms of other treasures!
“Xie Hao, good afternoon,” Gui Yutong greeted him.
Hui turned with a smile. “Elder Sister! Do you have another patient for me?”
“Not today. Today… I bring you invitations.” Gui Yutong held up a pair of wood tokens, th...
2022-11-23 18:00:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
A week passed. Ying Lin studied, and Hui desperately ran around his compound, as patient after patient came into his compound infected with Immortal energy, in greater or lesser states of deterioration.
For the fiftieth time, Gui Yutong charged in. “Healer Xie Hao! We found—”
“Another patient?” Hui asked, frazzled.
Wu Fanyun followed her in, a mildly irritated expression on his face as he carried yet another patient into Hui’s compound. He lifted his hand and tos...
2022-11-22 17:11:33 +0000 UTC
View Post
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....
2022-11-21 18:00:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
The sun beamed down on Unrivaled Under Heavens Peak, illuminating the slender tendrils of mist that clung to its upper reaches. Trees and greenery clung to its sides, lending it the appearance of an immortal paradise. A lone wolf wandered the peak, its hoary shoulders shifting powerfully under the noon light. It raised its head and howled, the sound echoing off the peak and through the blackened valley of death outside it.
All the surrounding peaks hung dead and gray. Death qi curled da...
2022-11-20 19:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
At long last, Hui made it back to his room. Rather than meditate, he laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. I’m too tired. I think what I need tonight… is a full night’s rest!
It only took a few moments after his eyes shut for him to fall asleep. For the first time in a long time, Hui slept.
In his dream, he sat on the porch of a run-down apartment. His thin t-shirt blew in the wind. Cars blew by, leaving the air choked with exhaust. The summer sun burned down, b...
2022-11-19 14:46:27 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hui backed away slowly. Lifting a hand to his shoulder, he set Chen Wuya down on the bench and pivoted away from it, afraid of involving the crow more than anything. Bai Jingwen is bad enough. The last thing I need is to aggravate Senior, as well!
He held Moonlight Cutter before him, his eyes locked on Bai Jingwen’s. “To what do I owe the honor of Elder Sister’s presence?”
Bai Jingwen strode toward him silently. With each step, fresh ripples spawned on the pond’...
2022-11-18 17:59:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Abruptly, Wu Fanyun coughed up blood. He put a hand to his mouth to catch most of it, but some splattered over Gui Yutong’s robes. Eyes wide, he began to climb off the stone bed to clean her robes.
Hui grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him back down. “Who just coughed up blood due to aggravating their internal injuries? Good patients should lie there quietly and wait to heal!”
“But… but Gui Yutong’s robes…” Wu Fanyun said, visibly fighting down another bout o...
2022-11-17 19:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
Gui Yutong put her hands up, shaking her head. “No, no! I’m grateful to Xie Hao for healing Wu Fanyun. Whatever Fellow Daoist had to do to accomplish that, naturally, I trust in your arts.”
Her eyes flickered to the crow on Hui’s shoulder. She opened her mouth, then shut it again. Her brows furrowed.
Hui tucked his hands behind him and did his best to exude a scholarly air. “Of course.” Elder Sister, please don’t ask about the crow. I truly could not explain it t...
2022-11-16 19:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
“In any case,” Chen Wuya said, cleaning the blood off his claws, “I can teach you how to seal that immortal energy, if you have something for me in return.”
Hui pressed his head back together, circulating his life qi to heal it shut. “What would Senior like?”
“Ah, now you’re learning. I sensed you entering Xui Jiu’s realm earlier. How was she doing?” Chen Wuya asked.
“Eh? You know Senior Xui Jiu?” Hui asked. Come to think of it, she indicated that...
2022-11-15 19:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hui led the way into the next chamber. A white stone bed awaited him. The lotus beast set Wu Fanyun down atop the bed, then stepped back, standing quietly in the corner. Black seed eyes stared into infinity.
“What manner of beast is this?” Gui Yitong asked, peering at the beast.
“It’s a lotus beast. Ah, pay it no mind. You can consider it a subordinate of mine,” Hui explained.
“No, no, please. Spirit beasts are a fascination of mine. I studied with Azure Fang Sec...
2022-11-14 19:00:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
With a crack, the jade bird at Healer’s hip shattered. He sat upright, sweat running down his back. Putting a hand to the pieces, he looked around. Who died?
Mortal lived up to his name, Rogue replied.
Healer rubbed the back of his neck, quietly reviewing the memories. He shook his head. Fuck.
It’s a lot, Rogue agreed.
Heaven is after us. The Heavens. That’s why we have the character “Heaven” on our hand. That’s why w...
2022-11-11 15:59:59 +0000 UTC
View Post
Ignoring Hui as he bowed, Yunxu waved his hand. An enormous spell array appeared in the air above him, red threads twisting together into an ornate formula. The sky blackened, and a faint scent of blood swirled in the air. The red threads began to glow. As the darkness grew deeper, so too did the formula grow brighter. Powerful emanations beat at the air, battering Hui’s body. Yunxu and Hui’s hair and robes whipped around them, the emanations creating a fierce wind that whirled left and r...
2022-11-07 17:59:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
Feeling their eyes on her, Xiao Dong turned away. Hui took a deep breath, then stepped forward. He walked over to her like a mortal, allowing his feet to sink into the mud of the earth. His chest tightened, and his palms began to sweat.
For the first time… for the first time ever, I’m going to repay a debt!
Even with the Heavens themselves conspiring against me, even with a villainous elder at my side, at long last, this small Hui will finally pay off his debt! Ah...
2022-11-06 18:22:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
Back to my home. If he’s correct, and he should be, then he’s guiding me back to where I first crossed over into this world. If someone noticed me entering this world… that would have been where they lost track of me. Then, is this… some kind of trap? Hui cut his eyes at Yunxu, suspicious.
“Ah, did you realize already? Yes… that voice lost track of you. This is the last place he knows to look for you. I was told to bring you back here. And yet, you sought it out you...
2022-11-05 16:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hui continued to lay there. I’m dead, I’m dead…
“Hmm… if this really is a corpse, then I suppose I shouldn’t waste it. I’ll take it home and refine it into a ghoul,” Yunxu mused, reaching out to pick Hui up.
Hui jolted upright. He ran a hand over his hair, fixing it, and smiled, casually circulating life qi to rejuvenate his withered body. In a few moments, the dried-up and cracked corpse became a fresh-faced Hui once more. “Ah, haha, what a coincidence ...
2022-11-04 16:59:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
Mortal’s eyes opened. He sat up in the spiderweb and threw his hands out. Now!
Across the web, the spider stiffened and jolted to a halt. It twitched, fighting Hui’s control. It pitched its mind against Hui’s mental energy. Hui narrowed his eyes and intensified his energy, using the extra mental energy they’d gathered from the ward in Chen Xigui’s room to prevent the spider from escaping. It thrashed another dozen times, then went still.
Hui flicked his fingers....
2022-11-03 15:59:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
In Chen Xigui’s City
Healer strode down the streets, Ying Lin close at his heels. Occasionally, she bounded off to spar with some cultivator or another, only to bounce back to his side a moment later, slicking the blood off Gu Tian. She hummed under her breath, alive with the spirit of battle.
Gu Tian looked at Hui, giving the treasured sword at his hip a long look. This is what it means to be a sword. I feel sorry for you, fellow sword.
“Master...
2022-11-02 16:59:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
Darkness. Hui reached out his hand, not sure whether to move or let the darkness carry him. “Zhubi! Zhubi, are you here?”
A little hiss answered him. Scales wound around his tiny body, keeping him safe. Hui grabbed onto one of Zhubi’s coils with both arms and clung for dear life.
The two of them blasted out of the darkness and into the sky over the grassland. They rolled a few times, then came to a halt, Hui still clinging to Zhubi.
Slowly, Hui stood up. He wiped his f...
2022-11-01 17:01:04 +0000 UTC
View Post
Fire burst from each of the talismans. In an instant, the room became a sea of flames. The seals on the bottles burned up, and the liquor within caught fire. Glass cracked and snapped. Flames licked at the wooden floor and walls.
“No!” Zui Jiu twisted free of Hui’s grasp and sprinted into the conflagration.
Hui raised a hand to his chin, quietly surveying the room from the heart of the inferno. Huh. I half-expected that to fail. After all, that’s high-realm alcohol, an...
2022-10-31 15:59:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hui cleared his throat. He lifted the vial to his lips. “Mmm… delicious. It’s too bad you’ll never get to taste this wine.”
“You—!” the giant woman screamed.
Zhubi gave Hui a shocked look, glancing from his mouth to the vial.
Oh! Oh, right. Hui subtly shook his head. Leaning in, he whispered, “I’m not actually drinking it, Zhubi. It’s the liquor flavored with me, as well. I’m disgusted by the idea of drinking it, too.”
Zhubi nodded, r...
2022-10-30 15:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
The giant woman growled. Gripping the bottle in both ends, she upended it and shook it upside down, trying to shake Hui out the neck of the bottle.
Hui flew up to the top of the bottle and pressed himself against the bottom, hugging it so he moved with the bottle rather than getting smacked repeatedly against the bottom and sides. “Are you sure? If you break this delicate vial of mine, you’ll lose all your liquor.”
“Shut up! Give it back,” she snarled. She spun the bottl...
2022-10-29 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hui laid there in the liquor, slowly leaking qi. He closed his eyes. Hey, Healer…
Hold on, Healer muttered, distracted.
Hey, what’s the rush? You getting drunk? Might as well, right? Hey, don’t die of alcohol poisoning, Rogue teased, laughing.
Awkward silence. All the Huis sat there silently, not sure what to say.
At last, Hui sighed. Rogue…
Fuck, come on. It was a joke. Can’t we laugh about it now? It was a whole...
2022-10-28 18:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Oh? Don’t you worry. You’ll distill into a fine wine, too.” A giant hand closed around Hui and lifted him into the air.
Hui struggled, desperately fighting against the hand, but it held him tight. His fists bounced off its flesh like stone. He dragged out a void talisman and pointed it directly at the hand, but the hand didn’t flinch. Eyes still sealed shut, Hui couldn’t tell if he’d done any damage to the hand, but when he patted it, the skin remained intact.
D...
2022-10-27 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hui waved his hand. “Putting aside the seniors I know…”
“Putting them aside,” Han Qin muttered under his breath.
“This space is relatively small, it’s just twisted. We can easily reach the ends of this current subrealm, but at that point, the space starts to loop in on itself and repeat itself. In which case, if we wander around circularly at the looping point of this space—that is, the point at which we stop getting further from the starting point, we can...
2022-10-26 18:05:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
After all, I wasn’t lying when I said I escaped a place made by the same person who made this one. I’m pretty sure Fen Long was involved in the creation of this place somehow. However, when I broke the realm Chen Wuya was stuck in, I… well, it’s not like I had no role, but Chen Wuya did lay quite a bit of the groundwork.
Though I suppose it’s possible that this mysterious senior has also laid the groundwork for her escape. Still, I feel as if she has different goa...
2022-10-25 17:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hui slowed to a halt and watched Han Qin soar out into the infinite space. He smirked, lifting his hand to his chin and striking a bold pose as he allowed his tiny body to swell back up to its usual size. Excellent! I’ve accomplished it. Han Qin’s clone is sealed, and I can go about my day!
He gestured, summoning his items back from his storage node, then flew over to retrieve his beating stick. From on high, he surveyed his various tunnels he’d carved to infuriate Han Qi...
2022-10-24 18:08:51 +0000 UTC
View Post
Han Qin’s flames burned through the pitiable earthen wall Hui had put up behind him. A horrible scream rang out as his flames swept over the odd, plantlike body of his adversary. Han Qin sped to the scene, already expecting what he found: a corpse replete with death qi, frozen in the moment of a horrible death. A hole split the corpse’s chest, the corpse’s hand stained with its own green fluids.
He kicked the corpse, disgusted. Sloppy. At least make it look like you died of fl...
2022-10-23 15:00:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hui peered ahead, searching. I’m almost there. Just a little further. A little further!
“Get back here!” Han Qin snarled. He thrust his hand out, blasting a ray of fire at Hui.
Hui dodged out of the way of the heat. The fiery ray turned around and looped him in, forming a U shape. Slashing with the beating stick, Hui broke the U in its loop, making sure to shake the bell a few times to be sure Han Qin heard it.
Han Qin clapped his hands over his ears and scowl...
2022-10-22 20:00:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hui flew at top speed into the wilderness. Away from the city. Away from Li Xiang. I want to be as far as possible, so he doesn’t even think to connect me to the city or anyone inside it!
And, if I can get far enough, maybe I can…
He gazed at the distant horizon and sped up, passing some of his qi to Gu Tian so Ying Lin could keep up.
If Han Qin doesn’t come… then… then, I guess… I’ll just head back home? If he doesn’t show up, then I’...
2022-10-21 18:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
