Chapter 385: Mortal

Chapter 385: Mortal

Mortals 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 Huis control. It pitched its mind against Huis mental energy. Hui narrowed his eyes and intensified his energy, using the extra mental energy theyd gathered from the ward in Chen Xiguis room to prevent the spider from escaping. It thrashed another dozen times, then went still.

Hui flicked his fingers. The spider straightened, then stood upright, stretching all eight spindly legs to their limits. He twitched his hand again, and it dropped low, then skittered to the right. A thin line of rot qi connected his hand to the spider, transmitting his gestures to the beast.

It became simpler once I understood the spider needs rot qi to survive. From there, all it took was adapting my old ghoul-puppeteering technique to use rot qi and connect to the spider, instead of the ghouls. If I didnt have that influx of extra energy, it would have taken much longer to bend the spider to my will, but thanks to the extra mental energy He grinned. Ive recruited our first senior!

For as long as you have rot qi, anyways, Rogue pointed out.

Hui waved his hand. Ive gathered plenty of it. I should be able to handle the spider for a prolonged battle. And besides, if we need it, we can always station a clone here and have them be a conduit to recharge the rot qi.

Sounds like a fun job, Rogue muttered sarcastically.

Try that sarcasm again after you hang here for a while, Mortal replied, rolling his eyes at Rogue. If anyone has the right to send a clone to this hellhole, its me!

Or we could just leave you there Rogue suggested.

Mortal pressed his lips together. He lifted his hand and formed a blade, cutting through the spiderweb. He landed on the ground and stretched, glad to be free at last. Han Qin is distracted, and Ive acquired the spider. For the rest, I can continue to comprehend it while I continue on my way. Its far past time for us to repay the debt we owe that woman. He gestured, calling the spider over.

Are you going to send that into the node? Rogue asked.

Im sending it to Peak Lord. Peak Lord, whos on the peak, right? Hui said slowly, narrowing his eyes at nothing.

Im on the peak. What was that about?

Nothing, Hui replied.

Again, the trees came and went. Hui turned away, but this time, the figure sat on the opposite side of the road. It looked up.

Hui whipped his head around and turned the other way, whistling to himself. I dont see a thing. What mysterious figure? No, no. Let me walk on. Let me walk away.

Time passed. Hui walked on, and on, and on. He rested at night, and walked during the day, exactly like a mortal. As the days passed on, he withered his body, pretending to grow thirsty. By the third day, he moved at the pace of a crawl. As the third day ended, he flopped to the ground within the line of sight of the figure, though far enough that the figure would have to stand and walk over to reach him. Lying there, he reached out his hand, pretending to beg for water, then went limp, letting out a final dry croak.

There. How do you like that? You trapped a mortal in your stupid spatial loop and killed him. Im dead. I died. Now get up, go somewhere else, and let me go! Hui raged. I just spent forever hanging in a spiderweb. I can lie here for ages. Wait me out. See how that goes for you!

The sun rose and fell, rose and fell. The figure sat by the roadside, and Hui sprawled in the middle of the road. The two refused to acknowledge one another, both waiting the other out.

Hmm. Should I extract my core and creep away underground? That might work. Theres no reason hed expect me to do that but its very possible that the space is looped in all directions, and theres no escape, in which case I would have given up the ghost that Im not, in fact, dead, for no gain.

But if I dont, Im stuck here, still unable to repay my debt.

Hui scowled internally. He glared at the figure. Give up on me! Let me go! Im dead, Im dead, okay? Move on. Go somewhere else!

A week passed. The figure continued to sit, and so did Hui.

Hui gritted his teeth. I cant give up now. Ive gone this long! Maybe hell give up in another moment. Maybe another day!

A second week passed. A month crept by. Huis body decayed, and the figure sat quietly, waiting.

For the first time since Hui had arrived in the looped space, the figure moved. They sat upright, then turned their head, looking at Hui. Abruptly, they jumped to their feet, then walked over and squatted over Hui.

Yunxu, the Sect Master of Black Asp Sect, once-disciple of Sect Master Lan and once-Sect Brother to Lan Taijian, looked down at Hui, exasperated. So? Are you coming, or not?

Not coming! Not coming! Read the room, Senior! Im not coming! Hui cried silently.