Chapter 388: Gold and Heavens

Chapter 388: Gold and Heavens

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, Im 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, Im so nervous! I have to do this right, do it right! Come on, Hui. What do you say when you pay someone back? Er, Im done? I did it? Here, take your money? None of those sound right, though!

The woman stared up at him. She shrank back, her eyes wide as dinner plates, her whole body trembling in fear. Hui abruptly realized he was standing silently over her, staring at her with his mouth twisted into a frown. In my worry, II already arrived here! Ah! Oh no! Ive scared her! What do I do? What do I say?

You can do this, Mortal! Start with introducing yourself, Healer guided him.

Hui took a deep breath. He smiled at Xiao Dong and bowed. Elder Si that is, Seni er, belove Honorable Mother! There! I did it!

Xiao Dong still stared at him. She stopped trembling, though, and her brows faintly furrowed. Mother?

Okay, keep going! Keep going, Hui! He smiled gently. Im Mortaler, er, er, Im, Im Xiao Hui. Xiao Hui, do you remember me? A a few decades ago, you

Xiao Hui! Xiao Dong jumped up and threw her arms around him, holding him tight.

Hui stood there, his hands awkwardly in the air, not sure where to touch. After a long moment, he carefully put his arms around her. Warmth filled up his chest and swirled into his heart, hotter than any qi. He closed his eyes, smiling earnestly.

This warmth reminds me of Sis Mei.

After a long moment, Xiao Dong abruptly pulled away, throwing her arms up. Ah! Apologies, apologies. I wasnt thinking. It wasnt proper for me to

No, no. Please. This small Hui doesnt mind, Hui replied, shaking his head. He reached out and took her hand, folding a perfume sachet into it.

She closed her hand around it. This?

Mother, Xiao Hui entered a sect. I became the inheriting disciple of a powerful cultivator, and Im now a proper righteous cultivator myself. Please accept this. Its a small repayment for everything youve done for me, in setting me on this path, Hui said, looking her in the eye.

Its a special spatial treasure I had Sectgoer buy in Twin Elemental City a long time ago. Unlike other spatial treasures, it opens even when the user doesnt insert their qi. Instead, it locks onto the signature of the first person to open it, and will only open to that persons hand ever again.

It cost far, far too much, but but its all worth it!

Xiao Dong opened the sachet and reached inside, then kept reaching. Her arm vanished to the elbow. The deeper her hand went, the wider her eyes got. How how much

Hui smiled. Its all for you.

Hui froze. He licked his lips, then took a slow step away from Yunxu. Er Senior wasnt reading my thoughts this whole time, no?

Yunxu smiled.

Huis eyes widened. Shit! No wonder my playing dead failed! He listened to me narrate the whole thing! Argh, I need a technique to block my thoughts from thought-reading Seniors when I play dead! As high as my realm is, thats rapidly going to become a serious threat to my death-playing!

Hmm, I seem to recall a technique to use my mental energy to rebuff those attempting to read my thoughts but that only works if Im awake and alive. I need a technique to guard my thoughts even when Im dead! A technique that makes it look as if my mind is empty of thoughts, exactly as a dead man would be!

It did make your denial somewhat ridiculous, when you were thinking things like in my original world the entire time, Yunxu added, tipping his head and resting a finger against his chin.

Senior, I do quite a bit thats entirely ridiculous, Hui replied with a straight face.

Yunxu sighed deeply. He shook his head. None of this is going how I expected it to go.

Mmm, isnt that wonderful? Youre getting to experience so much! Hui said encouragingly.

Yunxu narrowed his eyes at Hui. I dont want you to encourage me.

Ah, my apologies, Senior, Hui replied sincerely, bowing.

Right. Just follow me, Yunxu declared. He strode back toward the village with big steps, putting some distance between himself and Hui.

Hui hurried up, following perfectly at Yunxus heels. He swept his hands behind his back and walked with a learned smile on his face, putting on a scholarly, if somewhat toady-like, air.

The village stood deserted when they returned. All the villagers had fled, and no one remained. Even the stray dogs had vanished. The two swept through the town, nothing but the wind and the dust joining them.

Yunxu stopped before one of the huts. He gestured at it and stood back.

Hui looked it over, then turned, crouching down. Yep, this is the view I saw when I entered this world! Ill never forget that sight. He looked at Yunxu. Senior is indeed impressive! Small cultivator couldnt have found this hut so easily. Has Senior been watching me for that long? Impressive, impressive! Creepy stalker. You get arrested for watching children like that in my world.

Yunxu narrowed his eyes at Hui, who smiled in return, his eyes squinting so hard they almost vanished. He shook his head. I lost track of you in the rush of souls. I was not even sure I had properly summoned an otherworld soul to this world. It was only when I saw you, and sensed the faint traces of otherworldly energy on your soul, that I knew for certain I had succeeded.

After I had confirmation that Id succeeded, I searched the world for the matching otherworldly energy. It took years before I discovered this place, and the energy still clinging to this hut. The Immortal nearly lost faith, but when I found the energy

Ah, so thats why it took so long for you to call on the Immortal. You werent sure I was an otherworlder, and once you were convinced, you still had to convince the Immortal. Calls to the Immortal Realm must be quite expensive, no? Its not as if anyone can pick up the phone and contact Heaven. Hence, you wanted to be completely sure yourself, and completely sure you could convince the Immortal, before you attempted to contact Heaven. Thus why it took so long for you to seek me out and bring me here, Hui said, nodding to himself.

Yunxu stopped dead in the middle of his explanation and scowled at Hui. Could you stop?

Eh? Many apologies! Small cultivator knows not what he did wrong! Hui said, bowing repeatedly.