36. Small Mysteries

Ahead of him, Bai Xue shuffled along. Awkward and graceful at the same time, her short steps caught on the rope, then yanked her back foot forward and repeated the process. Every few steps, her form would flicker, wavering like a mirage, except that the secret realm remained a comfortable low temperature. Silently, Hui focused his qi-enhanced vision on her, waiting for the next time she flickered.

Before his eyes, her body shifted suddenly, form wavering. An energy he didn’t recognize welled up in her body—no, Hui realized. It didn’t well up. It was always there, it just… swapped, like a flipped card.

The energy swapped back, and her form solidified again, a pace ahead of where his eyes tracked her.

Hui stretched out his legs and operated the technique as quickly as he trusted himself to manage, and caught up to Xue. “What is that? That energy.”

She glanced at him. “That energy?”

“The… thing that swaps when you do the wavering step,” Hui tried, not sure how else to explain it.

Xue narrowed her eyes at him.

Wait, did I overstep? Is that the part I wasn’t supposed to be able to see? Hui put his hands up apologetically. “Forgive this disciple. I saw nothing. It must have been a trick of my eyes.”

She laughed. “No need to be so nervous. I’m simply surprised you don’t recognize it. It’s yin and yang energy. My clan practices the Twin Elemental Mirrors cultivation technique, which requires a cultivator to swap between the two at will. Without our bloodline’s disposition, it’s almost impossible to learn.”

“Oh,” Hui said.

“Still, I’m surprised you saw through it so quickly. You must be talented in magical techniques.”

“Ah… I, I have invented a technique,” Hui tried. A technique for faking my death. Does that count?

“Really? That’s incredible,” Xue said, amazed. “What kind of technique? Can you demonstrate it?”

“Er, it’s… it’s very situational, I…” Hui grimaced. Am I supposed to show off my ability to play dead? She’s expecting a fireball, or some kind of ferocious offensive spell, or impressive spell array, but instead, I’ll plop over backward… Even I have some dignity left in me! I can’t embarrass myself like that.

“Forgive me, now I’ve overstepped. Of course you wouldn’t want to reveal a technique you invented yourself to a stranger,” Xue apologized.

“Oh, no, no, it’s just… I, er, it, it isn’t very impressive,” Hui muttered.

“Are you sure? For you to invent a technique… at Foundation Building, you can’t have practiced more than a few hundred years…”

“I’m… fifteen,” Hui said. Kind of. But it’s not like I learned magic in my past life, so… And I only properly started cultivating a few months ago, but… I was learning the foundations before that, so… anyways, let’s just say fifteen.

Her eyebrows flew up. “You—are you joking? Fifteen! You’re a genius!”

“Me? No, no. I’m no genius. Ah, forget it. It isn’t important,” Hui said, raising his hands. Not compared to Master. And besides, I’m not sure what I’ve done even qualifies as a magical technique. I shouldn’t have brought it up.

“Isn’t important? Not at all. I had no idea we had a genius in our midst.” She wrapped an arm around him and scruffed his ponytail. “Xiao Hui, our clever little genius.”

Hui blushed and pushed her away. “Let me go!”

Xue laughed. She released him and backed away. “Such a flatterer, but you’re weak to flattery.”

Hui undid his ponytail and tied it back up. He pulled a face at her back. Shut up! Shut up.

They ran on. The slate spires rushed past, little more than blurs on the gray background. Hui followed Xue, on through the desolate void.

All at once, Hui drew to a halt. “Xue, wait.”

She stopped. “Hmm?”

“Don’t you think it’s strange that we haven’t seen any cultivators or undead yet today?” he asked.

Xue frowned. “Now that you mention it…”

“And that outcropping up ahead… I think it’s the same one we sheltered in last night.” Hui pointed. In the distance, the large outcropping loomed out of the fog.

“Ah, how clever! I knew it, you are a genius.” She shuffled over to him, steps deceptively fast, and reached out for his hair. Hui ducked away, operating his movement technique in return.

“I am not,” Hui grumbled.

Xue’s eyes glittered. A teasing smile played over her face. “So humble, so humble.”

“Stop it. We’ve got to figure a way out of here first. This has to be some kind of befuddling array, right?” Hui guessed.

“Which means there’s two ways out: one, to find a way to dispel the array, or two, to find the proper path out,” Xue replied.

“Or… what if we brute forced it?” Hui suggested.

Xue wrinkled her brows cutely at him. “How do you mean?”

“It’s a befuddling array, but it’s set up in an open area, and it’s not meant to be unsurpassable for cultivators at our level, so I think it’s quite possible. What if we marked the slates as we passed them and kept travelling in a straight line?” Hui pointed out into the emptiness, between the two large slate outcroppings. “We can use the outcroppings as our guides. Here, between the two, we can see both, and that way, we can ensure we don’t travel in a circle.”

“Oh, good idea, good idea!” She pounced at him, hands out for his hair.

Hui ducked into a roll and popped up beside a slate. “I’ll mark it with my blood. I don’t have anything else…”

“Why don’t you rely on your elders instead?” Xue suggested, eyes slit in a coy smile.

He looked at her, then bowed. “Does the Venerable Bai Xue have an idea?”

“Oh, I could get used to that. Venerable Bai Xue…” Chuckling, Xue slapped the slate. A patch of ice crawled over the spire’s face.

“Excuse this small Hui for questioning Venerable Bai Xue’s judgement, but… won’t that melt?” Hui asked.

Xue clicked her tongue. “Not until I desire it to. And even if I lose control or contact with it, it won’t melt for days.”

“Many apologies,” Hui replied, bowing again.

Xue laughed and reached for him. “Let this Venerable play with your hair, and the great me will forgive everything.”

“I’m afraid that would go beyond politeness,” Hui replied stiffly, backing away.

“What? Nonsense. It’s a custom in our clan for higher-ranked members to freely play with the hair of lower-ranked members,” Xue replied.

“Bullshit,” Hui shot back.

She shook her head disapprovingly, her own snow-white hair lashing around her face. “How impolite. This Xiao Hui thinks he’s better than the venerable me?”

“Of course not,” Hui said, shaking his head.

“Then… you will let me play with your hair, yes?” Xue asked, edging closer. A slight melancholy played across her face, as if he’d truly deprived her of something.

Hui hesitated for a moment. It’s not actually a custom, right? I mean, clans are weird. They’re a lot more… er, should I say, esoteric than sects, since they’re based around a family… it’s easier for strange customs to arise.

Her eyes sparkled. Xue leaped at him, melancholy expression vanishing.

What am I thinking? It’s just this madwoman who wants to touch my hair! Hui dodged neatly away from Xue.

Xue clicked her tongue. “It almost worked.”

Hui cowered away from her, covering his hair with his hands. Stay away! It’s my hair, you lunatic!

Xue smiled, resting a hand on her chin. “Aww, too cute.”

Oh, no. What have I gotten myself into? Hui wondered, backing away slowly.