Master, This Poor Disciple Died Again Today

The sea of bamboo fell away, and they emerged into a field of wild grass. An inn stood beside a three-way intersection, alongside a small farm and the beginnings of a broad pasture. Chickens pecked at the earth, and a farm dog roamed in the distance, watching the herd. The little outpost settlement stood alone, three small houses and an inn at the shore of the lonely bamboo. Despite that, a few wagons already docked at the inn’s stables, proof of a thriving trade route.

Ahead, the road wound into a thick forest. At the pasture’s edge, tangled overgrowth and saplings sprung up, quickly building into broad, tall trees as the gentle hills wound away. The trees grew gargantuan in the distance, nearly large enough to rival Mount Mu… ‘s saplings, Hui amended mentally. Even the biggest ones are still babies compared to Mount Mu, that mountain of a tree.

The remnants of Mount Mu’s inheritance stirred in him, stimulated by the thick wood-elemental qi emanating from the trees. Another energy flowed on the air, dark and rancid. Hui raised his hand and coiled some of the dark energy within. It seethed in his hand, bubbling.

Hui frowned. That’s not death qi. It’s almost like… rot. Mold. Decay.

A duck bill emerged from his palm and gobbled up the energy, disappearing along with the energy.

Licking his lips, Hui stared at his empty palm, then lowered it. I don’t know what I expected.

Hui turned to take in the scene, mentally routing escape plans and noting anywhere he could take cover in. An open field… a pasture… the forest is the source of that dark energy, and the bamboo is too tight to flee far inside without cutting through the bamboo. Mmm… if I had to choose, we’d press on! But I don’t get to choose, do I.

The driver gave a grunt and hopped off the wagon. “We’ll rest here for tonight. Everyone, rest well, because we’re going to press through the Forest of Death tomorrow.”

Hui shuddered. I don’t like the sound of that.

The laborers groaned. “Tomorrow?”

“Come on, boss, we can’t get a day or two?”

“My poor feet…”

“The Forest of Death with four guardians? I’ve said it was suicide from the start!”

“Yeah, especially with that one weakling…”

The driver glared, turning slowly to stare each one in the eye. “We’re doing it tomorrow. The delivery’s already a week late. We can’t slow it down any further.”

The grumbling continued, the laborers glancing amongst themselves.

Edging subtly toward Hui and the trio of All-Heavens cultivators, the driver glared down at his laborers. “If you disagree, say it to my face!”

At that, the mutters fell off, and the laborers wandered away, dispersing. Lu Lintei, Zhi Ahn, and Ding Qinwen shared a nod, then split up. Zhi Ahn and Ding Qinwen headed off toward the left and right of the forest respectfully, while Lu Lintei yawned and wobbled for the inn.

Before she could get there, Zhi Ahn spun on his heel and glared at her. Lu Lintei hesitated, then sighed and wandered off toward the forest instead, though not without casting a longing glance the inn’s direction every few steps.

Ying Lin drew close to Hui. She glanced after the other three, then met Hui’s eyes. “Master, should we help?”

Hui shook his head. “You need to focus on your training, and I have my own tasks. We’re better off leaving the professionals to their job, and instead completing our own objectives.”

Ying Lin nodded. “I understand! Master is indeed wise.”

In any case, I’m not approaching that dangerous forest until I give it a good examination from afar. There’s no chance I’m letting Ying Lin anywhere near it until I know it’s… relatively safe!

He headed toward the inn, quickly reserving a room for himself and Ying Lin. Though he was tempted to reserve two rooms, the exhausted laborers behind him exuded dangerous, fierce energy, so he backed down and only took one in the end. Both Ying Lin and I will be meditating, so it’s not as if anything… untoward will happen. It does mean a maiden will have to share a room with me, but I’m not going to do anything, and… mmm, I still feel bad about it. I don’t want to accidentally ruin her chances at marriage. Maybe I’ll meditate on the roof instead, or something. Isn’t that something cultivators do? Meditate on roofs?

No, I think I’m mixing them up with other light novels.

Hui considered, then shrugged at himself. There’s always the hallway. Not like it bothers me. All I need is a space to sit in quietly. I’m quite used to ignoring noise and chaos, after all. My past life’s apartment… well, let’s just say paper might have made better walls.

Emerging, he found Ying Lin meditating under an old tree in the inn’s front lawn. She unfolded her legs and stood as he approached. “Master?”

“I’ve secured us a room in the inn,” he informed her, passing her the key. “Go inside any time you please.”

“What about you, Master?” Ying Lin queried, taking the key.

Hui turned to the forest. A shiver ran down his spine, but he forced it back. I can’t run away from it. I have to examine it now, before we head into it tomorrow. A known enemy is an enemy half-defeated, or something.

Besides… besides, I’m a clone! I’m not afraid of death! Yeah, like Sixth, it’s fine if I sacrifice my life to save the main... the rest of the bodies! Yeah!

…Shit. I don’t want to die. Even this small clone doesn’t want to die, dammit! I might have Sixth’s memories, but I’m not Sixth.

He touched his chest and once again felt the gap, the hole that would never again be filled. We lost something when Sixth died. He didn’t simply perish as a clone and reassimilate with the rest of us, the way Healer did that one time, but died completely. Even though we’re clones, there’s still pieces of us that belong to the original, and if those are destroyed, we lose them forever.

All of us know, now, that there’s no such thing as a free meal. Clones can be killed. We must remain vigilant.

“…Master?” Ying Lin asked, tilting her head. Around her neck, Zhubi tilted his in sync, the cuteness overflowing from both of them.

Belatedly, Hui realized he hadn’t replied. He lifted his hand and pointed at the forest. “I’m going to examine the forest in my own way. You focus on cultivation, and leave the worrying to your Master.”

“You certainly do enough of it for both of us,” Ying Lin commented.

Hui looked at her from the corner of his eyes, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“Exalted Master! Your servant wishes to express that your prowess in thinking ahead is truly incredible. This servant wishes to one day achieve such heights as being able to—”

Hui raised a hand to stop her, sighing. “Practice your flattery. You’ll never sweet-talk your way out of a battle at this rate.”

Ying Lin cupped her hands and retreated, sitting under the tree once more.

Hui looked around. The All-Heavens cultivators had long since vanished into the forest, and the laborers and driver all wandered around, taking the chance to relax. He ran toward the forest, bouncing over the ground. The decay aura grew stronger as he approached. Within his dantian, the ducks stirred, suddenly hungry.

At the very least, there’s an opportunity to grow the ducks, which should help benefit first. I haven’t forgotten about sending him resources. Still… the fact that the ducks are excited means this decay energy I’m feeling is evil, or at least dark in nature. This forest isn’t called the Forest of Death for no reason.

He carefully approached a tree at the forest’s border and laid a hand on its bark. Cool to the touch, the rough bark bit at his fingertips, but no evil energy overcame him. Circulating the remnant inheritance from Mount Mu, Hui reached out to the tree, using it to project his mental energy into the forest. Speeding forth, his mental energy jumped from tree to tree, connecting them the way his clones connected their golden trees.

Using this technique to turn the forest into a temporary net should be less detectable than sending my own mental energy or qi into the forest. It takes a lot of energy, and I can’t sustain it for long or project it indefinitely, but it’ll give me a more complete picture of the situation in return.

The other clones cut Mount Mu’s inheritance out of them entirely, and no longer can use this technique. Although I ended up with a few side effects like needing to photosynthesize, I think this technique is worth it! After all, I sit out in the sunlight most of the time, anyways. Ah, well… and I almost lost myself to the inheritance, but… but it was worth it!

I never would have done it if I wasn’t sure I was a clone, though.

The forest flashed before his eyes. As tree after tree connected, he sensed their status intimately. Which side received more sun, where the woodlands creatures had buried into their trunks, whether the tree had an illness or a missing limb. Most of the information proved useless, but there was no ignoring it. The nature of the tree-net was to connect the trees through mental energy, meaning their ‘minds,’ too, got connected, flooding him with the extraneous data of a tree’s life. At the same time, he could see the forest immediately around the tree, and tell the status of the energies and lives around it. The technique gave him an understanding of the entire forest’s state, both the trees and the land around them.

He caught glimpses of Ding Qinwen and Zhi Ahn proceeding cautiously through the forest. Lu Lintei had instead found a quiet nook and settled in for a nap, well outside of either of her compatriots’ range of awareness. Hui snorted. What a lazybones. Then again, I can’t complain. Her complacency has saved me more than once.

The deeper he got, the more the trees clamored for sunlight. A chill spread from tree to tree, their roots uncomfortably dark and cold. This deep in the forest, little woodland life remained. Most had fled, vanishing from the deeps.

But why? Hui wondered.

The trees had no answer.

His head began to ache as the spreading technique took its toll on his mental energy. Hui pushed it, reaching a little bit further. What is it? What’s in the heart of the forest? Come on. I need to know!

More and more trees connected. The dull ache built to a splintering, sharp pulse of agony. Still Hui pressed on, furrowing his brows against the pain. A little further. Just a little further. Surely one of these trees has something useful around it! Something…

One of the trees shook slightly as he connected, and he felt an alien mind connect to his. He and the mind regarded one another warily, each silently watching the other. Hui licked his lips nervously. A vegetation spirit?

The mind replied with a warm emotion, almost familial.

Does it recognize me as a fellow vegetation spirit, due to my current body and Mount Mu’s inheritance? Hui wondered. He considered the spirit, then replied, Spirit, have you seen anything strange?

The spirit paused. A wave of fear overcame the connection, deep, icy, existential fear. The fear of death and obliteration. A fear of something it could not comprehend.

Hui instinctively clamped down on it, nearly cutting himself off, but held off on his instinctive reaction at the last second, forcing himself to remain connected. That’s not my fear. I’m not afraid. It’s fine. I’m safe.

He took a deep breath and focused, narrowing his connection to only the line of trees that connected him to the spirit. Without the burden of the entire forest, the pain on his mind lessened, and his connection to the spirit strengthened. What are you afraid of? What is it?

Black. Long hairs. Spindly legs, too many joints. Eyes, so many eyes. Scuttling. A thick, clingy net, blocking out the sun.

A shiver crawled up Hui’s spine. I don’t like any of that. I know I’m wandering this region looking for my benefactor, but… maybe she isn’t in that direction. Maybe I’m not fated to travel in this direction.

But if she is… isn’t this my best chance to cross the Forest of Death, with three All-Heavens cultivators to fight off whatever’s in its depths? It’s not as if I can simply cast about and find some fourth- and fifth-stage cultivators. Besides, they only came to gauge the thing’s strength. Surely they wouldn’t guide the caravan in to abandon mortals in the depths of the forest.

Then again, it is All-Heavens Sect. I didn’t get the impression they worried much about the affairs of mortals. Not that many cultivation sects do, but… especially not All-Heavens.

Hui took a deep breath. With a polite farewell, he released the technique and retrieved his mind from the forest, sitting down at the edge of the woods instead. He crossed his arms, closing his eyes to think.

I’m not the kind of heartless guy who can allow mortals to simply throw themselves in harm’s way and die because some cultivators don’t want to fight. On the other hand, the All-Heavens cultivators are afraid of whatever’s in that forest, and they’re at the same level-ish as me. Three of them, one of me… whatever’s in there, isn’t something I can face alone, even assuming I’d want to. I’m willing to bet that the driver wouldn’t listen to me and turn back, even if I warned him, and on the other hand, if I used my qi, I might drive it off… but I might attract it and ruin everything.

What can I do? What solves this? I want to keep the mortals safe, but not fight it alone; I can’t rely on the All-Heavens cultivators, though it’s better to have them than to not. What to do, what to do…

In times like these, where I can’t figure it out, it’s best to call for help! Hui nodded to himself and raised his hand. A leaf sprouted in his palm, and he quickly plucked it and scribbled a formula. With a swish of his hand, he activated it.

“Bai Xue, can you hear me?”

There was a long pause. Hui cleared his throat. Did she not hear me? Maybe the talisman didn’t work. I came up with it on the fly, after all. “Bai Xue—”

“I hear you,” Bai Xue replied breathlessly, with a gruff, male voice. “Xiao Hui, can it wait a moment?”

“Eh? Who’s talking?” a female voice replied.

Hui’s face burned. I—I didn’t think! I should have scheduled a time! I—

“A friend?” a second female voice giggled.

“Bai Xue, do you really have time for friends?” a third woman laughed. Sheets rustled.

Hui scowled, forgetting his embarrassment. Never mind! Bai Xue, you licentious furnace, three women at once? You’re the one at fault, not this pitiful single dog! “It can wait, you damn horny—”

“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine, I was almost done anyways. Everyone, same time tomorrow?” Bai Xue said politely, his voice reverting to its usual tone.

A chorus of voices replied in the affirmative. Sheets and clothes rustled. A door slid open, then shut again.

Bai Xue sighed aloud, settling back in the bed once more with the creak of wood and the swish of silk. “It had better be important, Xiao Hui.”

“It is. Bai Xue, I—”

“Or were you merely lonely? I haven’t put my robes back on yet, you know…” Bai Xue added, his voice turning deep again.

“Bai Xue! Put your robes on!” Hui insisted.

Bai Xue chuckled. “They’re on, they’re on. I was only teasing.”

Hui sighed. Thank goodness.

“Or was I?”

“Hey!”

Bai Xue chuckled again. “So? What was so important that you had to call me right at this moment?”

“Er, my apologies, Bai Xue, I didn’t know you were… otherwise engaged,” Hui stuttered. “In, in any case, I’m currently in a bind.” He explained the situation quickly to Bai Xue, as simply as he could.

“Hmm… I’m in the middle of consolidating my realm, or else I’d come. It sounds interesting,” Bai Xue said. He shifted, silk hissing over silk.

Is that what you’re calling it, now? ‘Consolidating your realm?’ Hui mocked silently. Out loud, he asked, “What do you think?”

“Forest of Death… I haven’t heard of it before. It must be the mortals’ name for the area… if we even have a name for it. Some kind of monster that even fifth-stage cultivators fear… Hmm. That seems like something I would have heard about. A monster… fifth stage… forest…”

“Still nothing?” Hui asked. It is a fair distance from Twin-Elemental City, and it’s not as if Bai Xue knows everything. Still, it was worth an ask.

“No. I’m thinking, but…” Bai Xue rolled over. “Xiao Hui, did you get away? I thought I smelled your weird plant blood, but… well, I suppose I should have known my little Hui wouldn’t be so easy to kill.”

“No, I died,” Hui replied.

“Eh?” Bai Xue said.

Hui took a deep breath. “Bai Xue, I’m a clone. The me you interacted with was Sixth, the latest clone to wake up. Aside from him, there’s another six of us, including First, who we didn’t know about until after we named Sixth… in any case, even though we’re clones, Sixth died a true death. Even if another clone was born, we… that is, Xiao Hui, can never regain the parts of him that made up Sixth.”

Silence. There was a quiet shifting. “Xiao Hui,” Bai Xue said softly.

Hui shook his head. “Bai Xue, don’t worry. I’m not—not too bothered by it. It’s better to lose some of me than for all of me to die eternally. In essence, I created these clones to take my place, and even die if necessary. Though none of us want to die, we all understand what it means to live under the thumb of All-Heavens Sect. Death can come at any moment. Ah, in this case, it wasn’t All-Heavens, but—”

“Six… Xiao Huis,” Bai Xue said, his quiet voice suddenly full of longing.

Hui paused. “Bai Xue?”

“Six of you? Six? Xiao Hui, when can I meet you? All of you? At once?” Bai Xue asked breathlessly.

“Er… Bai Xue, we are… kind of… hiding from All-Heavens Sect. We aren’t going to all show up in one place at once,” Hui replied.

Bai Xue clicked his tongue. “All-Heavens Sect… All-Heavens Sect! Damn you! Just you wait. Bai Xue is coming for you. You won’t keep me and six Huis apart!”

“I haven’t even agreed to anything,” Hui muttered.

“I believe in you,” Bai Xue said confidently.