Master, This Poor Disciple Died Again Today

Walking down a dusty path, Hui whistled a little tune to himself. He followed a caravan full of the local barley harvest at a short distance, a sword visible at his hip. A few other caravan guards stood in the near distance, dressed similarly in ragged civilian wear, not a scrap of cultivation gear on them. They chatted quietly amongst one another, dipping their reed hats toward one another to share whispers. For all the world, they looked exactly like ordinary down-on-their-luck martial artists.

So why do they look so much like Lu Lintei, Zhi Ahn, and Ding Qinwen? If it is those three… what on earth are they doing here?

A red songbird popped into existence beside him. Hui stared, startled. What’s this, a new pet?

Is it alive?

Yeah, why? He reached out and caught the disoriented bird before it tumbled out of the sky. The songbird flapped around in his palms for a few moments, confused and lost, before it righted itself. It perched on his finger, taking in the surroundings.

“Cute,” the girl who definitely wasn’t Lu Lintei commented.

Hui glanced at her. Wary, he quickly cut down on the qi travelling to the node, limiting it to the least qi possible while leaving the node open. His fellow clones’ voices faded, barely audible, not that he was listening. He offered the bird to her. “Do you want it?”

She regarded the bird, then shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

As if it understood her words, the bird took flight.

Hui shook his head. He sighed and stretched, reaching his hands toward the sun. It isn’t that bad, wandering the mortal world, taking my time and enjoying the sights. And I’m helping the team, too, untying our oldest karmic knot. I don’t have to worry about anything. All the other clones are busy doing their own thing, and here I am, just wandering around—

A girl popped out of the sky and dropped onto Hui. He reached out and caught her before she struck the ground. She looked at him, confused. “Who are you?”

“Who are you?” Hui repeated, frowning back at her. You can’t fall out of the sky on a man and ask who he is! Explain yourself, first!

She frowned at him. “Master…? Doctor Xie Hao?”

“That’s me,” Hui confirmed. Is this the disciple Sixth picked up? Why’d he send her to me?

A second later, a sword thumped onto the back of his head. Zhubi hissed a hello as he leaped out of the sky and wound around Hui’s neck, and a handful of talismans and a glass jar dropped down as well. Hui put the girl on her feet and snatched the glass jar out of the air before it could break. Two sparkling magical constructs swirled inside the bottle.

That’s the curse I captured a long time ago, and… also a new array? A soul array… Ah! It must be what Sixth was after. I’ll send it to the others for safekeeping. With a gesture, he sent it back into the node.

Barely a second later, the first clone stole it away. Thank you, Elder Brother. I’ll put this to good use.

Absentmindedly, he grabbed the stack of talismans as it fell and stuck it in his robes. He glanced over his shoulder at the three not-cultivators to find them staring wide-eyed at him. Hui smiled and stuffed Zhubi under his robes, sweat dripping down his back. Oh, shit. I forgot about them. “What fortune! I thought a meat pie from heaven was the best it could get, but here I was delivered so much more.”

“Indeed! How fortunate,” Ding Qinwen said with a broad smile, slapping Hui on the shoulder.

Lu Lintei nodded. “If only I could be so lucky.”

“Wait… you believe that?” Zhi Ahn asked, exasperated.

“Part of a cultivator’s… ahem, man’s prowess is his luck,” Ding Qinwen said wisely.

“Do you really want to waste the effort to investigate it?” Lu Lintei said, rolling her eyes.

Memories suddenly flashed before Hui’s eyes. A surge of qi, life qi, and death qi rolled over him, and at the same time, his body lurched. Blood welled up in his throat. He tried to hold it down, but couldn’t. Hui bucked forward and coughed a mouthful of blood on the ground.

“Eh?” Lu Lintei asked, startled.

Hui turned to the trio and smiled, wiping the blood from his lips. “Seniors, please don’t wor—”

His soul trembled. A deep coldness washed over him. Hui paled as all the strength left his body. He crumpled to the ground. A horrible helplessness and pain washed over him, along with the sense that something had been irrecoverably lost. Hui tried to climb back to his feet, but had no strength, no power left in his body. Everything hurt, every muscle fiber, every joint. The cold grew stronger, and his vision narrowed to a tunnel.

“Master? Master!” Ying Lin bent over him, concerned. She put a hand on his shoulder, and for a moment, he felt a tinge of warmth, but in the next second, it passed. Ying Lin grew pale at the same time.

With effort, Hui managed to raise his hand and push hers away. “You… you can’t.” How do I know her name? What is this? What’s happening to me? I’m dying. I feel like I’m dying. I’m…

Sixth. What happened to Sixth?

Hui reached out to the node, but only icy pain awaited him there, his experience magnified across all the clones. The rogue cultivator fell to his knees, propping himself up with a sword, his teeth grit in pain. Attendants flocked to the slumping miracle healer, fear written across their faces. The righteous cultivator searching for Li Xiang toppled from the sky, his sword flying off to the horizon, while the one in a random sect quickly fell into the lotus pose, sweat streaming down his face. Alone in the immortal cave, the first clone spat blood and trembled, almost losing his meditative state.

We cut off Sixth. Why are we still getting hurt? the rogue cultivator wondered.

The miracle healer waved off his attendants and took a seat, slumping back. There’s only one possibility.

Hui closed his eyes, fighting back the pain. Sixth is dead.

We can’t know that!

Anything could happen. We’re very good at faking our death.

Yeah, maybe he’s even faking his death to us!

Hui shook his head. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself back to his knees. Sixth sent me everything, even his disciple and Zhubi. I… don’t think he survived.

Silence.

If he gave up Zhubi, he must be dead, the rogue cultivator realized.

The righteous cultivator scowled. What happened to him? What happened to kill us? What did we not prepare for?

We already know, don’t we? It’s in his memories. That man, Han Qin. Everyone, be wary. He’s more powerful than we thought, the miracle healer shared, sighing in relief as he stretched out prone on his cushions and a pair of attendants hurried over with chilled wine. Giving them an embarrassed look, he waved away the wine.

Hui furrowed his brows and shook his head. The memories cut off after a point, but one thing remained clear: Han Qin’s aura, growing stronger in the last moments of Sixth’s memories. Shit. And he sent me all his gear? Isn’t that the same as siccing Han Qin on me? No thank you! Argh, but it’s too late!

Oh well. I couldn’t bear it if someone killed Zhubi, after all, let alone his disciple.

A hand appeared in his vision. Hui looked up, expecting to see Ying Lin, but instead, Zhi Ahn offered him a hand up.

The man rubbed his nose, slightly embarrassed. “Er… the caravan’s going to leave us behind.”

Hui took his hand and pulled himself up. The pain lingered, but it had faded enough for him to move. He bowed to Zhi Ahn as he brushed down his robes. “Thank you, Elder Brother.”

Zhi Ahn nodded. He glanced at Hui for a few moments, then cleared his throat. “What happened to you? A qi deviation? An old injury?”

“I tripped,” Hui lied.

Zhi Ahn frowned. “You’re clearly also a cultivator in disguise. Why continue to deny—”

“Zhi Ahn! Stop prying! I don’t want to do any extra work!” Lu Lintei shouted back at him.

“Lu Lintei, stop slacking off! We’re out here until—” Zhi Ahn cut himself off.

Until? Hui wondered. He glanced at Lu Lintei.

Instead of clarifying his unasked question, she waved her hand lazily. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll manage, eventually. Until then, we’re on vacation… I mean, punishment.”

“You—you can’t use your punishment to dodge work!” Zhi Ahn burst, frustrated.

Lu Lintei snorted. “What do you mean? I’m being thorough, thorough! We have to take our time!”

“That’s right, Zhi Ahn,” Ding Qinwen butted in, brows furrowed in indignation. “We didn’t do a good enough job the first time. We cannot make the mistake of being less than perfectly thorough the second time!”

Lu Lintei nodded. “What Elder Brother says is indeed reasonable. Zhi Ahn, we cannot risk such a thing. We must take our time and slack… search thoroughly.”

“That’s—that’s not—” Zhi Ahn gnashed his teeth, annoyed. He threw up his hands and stomped off.

Hui watched him go, then turned to the other two and shook his head. “Ah, the tribulations of youth.”

“Indeed,” Ding Qinwen agreed, stroking his chin with the wisdom of a much older man.

“Far too energetic,” Lu Lintei piled on.