Chapter 539: Furnace Scum

Chapter 539: Furnace Scum

On the far side of the smoke, searing heat blasted out of the furnace. Hui blocked his face with his hands, peering through his fingers at the crack in the furnace.

Inside, flames danced over a glowing ball about the size of two fists put together. As the flames burned, the glowing ball turned from a brilliant, scintillating pill into a lump of charcoal. Black char crawled behind the flames, leaving nothing of the medicinal value of the pill. The black smoke billowed out from the flames.

Hui waved his hand, calling the pill toward him. It isnt completely destroyed. Maybe I can still

The pill trembled, then began to vibrate urgently. Faster and faster, fiercer and fiercer. The flames burned brighter. Vibrations emanated from the pill, and began to resonate with the walls of the pill furnace.

Whoops. Er time to get out of here! Hui stopped calling out to the pill and spun, flying as fast as he could into a corner. He put as many pill furnaces as he could between himself and the exploding furnace and hunkered down, curling up tight. I could flee outside, but I dont know whats out there! In this mysterious realm hidden beyond the limits of the Underworld, I need to exercise extreme caution! I shouldnt do anything rash, like bursting outside blindly or or reaching for random pills

Ahem. Anyways. Its never too late to realize your mistakes, after all!

Across the room, the pill furnace began to whistle fiercely. It trembled so hard that it began to rumble and grumble aloud. Waves of energy burst through the air, slamming into the other pill furnaces. They wobbled in place, tipping up on two of their feet, then smashing back down. Heavy pressure bore down on Hui, and then the wave of energy struck him. It lifted him up bodily and slammed him into the wall.

For a moment, he hung there, stunned. Slowly, he fell out of the him-shaped hole in the wall toward the ground. Inches from the earth, the stun broke.

Huis eyes widened. Running away isnt enough! I need more protection! As he fell, he curled up into a crouch, and struck the ground as a small, hunched-up version of himself. Reaching out, he scrawled talismans all around himself shuffling around in a slow circle as he went. Flicking his wrist, he activated the Hundred and Eight Layers, the gold walls tight around him.

The overloaded furnace emanated bright light. Its walls began to glow, the bronze red-hot from the intense heat. It rocked back and forth, jumping in place, then burst all at once, hurtling molten bronze across the room.

The explosion threw all the other room-sized furnaces into the air. It slammed into Hui, throwing him and his barrier into the wall once more. The second it struck him, the first layer shattered. The second layer barely had time to form before Hui struck the wall. As the explosion continued, layer after layer shattered. Molten bronze splashed into the barrier, threatening to melt into his body if it struck him. He balled up tighter, already drawing a smaller, tighter version even closer to himself where he was pressed against the wall. Fuck! Its going to burst through to me. I dont want to die, I dont want to die!

Before the fiftieth layer snapped, the explosion ended. Hui dropped down from the wall. Cautiously, he leaned to the side, peering around the other furnaces at the exploded one.

Only the four legs and the very bottom of the furnace remained. Waves of thick black smoke rolled out from the little that remained, seemingly as endless as the ocean. In moments, the black smoke blanketed the floor of the pill furnace workshop. Bits of molten bronze dripped down the walls of the workshop and of all the surrounding furnaces. Some had been flung with enough force to pit the walls of the nearest furnaces, despite their toughened exteriors.

Hui let out a low breath. He shook his head at himself. Those who do not seek death, wont die. I should know that, and yet I still recklessly touched a pill furnace. Pill furnaces are full of danger, utterly full of it! Accidentally brewing poison instead of elixir by some tiny mistake, exploding at the slightest mishap, creating pills full of impurities that block your future no, no! This small Hui knows better than to touch one. And yet, I still reached for that pill!

Eh, come to think of it why did I reach for that pill? Its not like me. Its not even like I often use pills or elixirs. I used to use them to heal, but I havent even done that in a long time, now that I have my crystal and plant body cultivation techniques. As for using them to advance, Master would scoff at me from the Heavens if I dared so much as think that! So why reach for the pill?

Almost ready? In what world is blackened ash almost ready?

Well, I guess if youre a ghoul, and youre already dead, why not have your pills be dead, too? And what is ash but the ghost of pills? It doesnt really make sense, but it does kind of make sense, in an illogical sort of way.

Scanning the room again, the ghoulish pill cultivator halted. He limped over and knelt, then picked up Huis seed. Frowning, he turned it over in his hand. Where did you come from, huh?

Im not stupid enough to fall for that trick! Im dead, Im dead as a seed can be! Leave me be! Hui thought, pulling his death qi even tighter.

The ghoulish pill cultivator turned the seed over again, then shrugged.

Thats right, Senior. Im just a seed. Theres no need to

Experimentally, the pill cultivator bit the seed.

Hui stiffened. He shuddered, utterly disgusted. That sensation. The cold sticky saliva, the gross, clammy tongue, the rotting teeth Thats it, its over. Ive been tainted. My entire body is contaminated. Im never going to be clean again.

Damn. Its too hard. Spitting the seed out, the ghoulish cultivator turned and whipped it through an open window.

Wrapped up in a wad of decaying saliva, Hui barely resisted the urge to scream and scrub his entire body. Ugh, ugh, ugh, so gross! I have a high tolerance for disgusting things, but theres a limit, theres a limit to everything! Yuck, yuck, yuck. Let me land in a clean river or a babbling brook! Plunge me directly into the waters of the Yellow Springs! I need a pound of soap and a strong scouring brush, right this moment!

He arced through the skies and plopped down into water. Hui let out a sigh of relief, feeling the wad of saliva dissolve away. Phew. So where did I end up?

Lifting the lid of the seed, he peered out and stared directly into a pair of loose, floating eyeballs.

Hui bit back a second screech and recoiled, withdrawing himself into the seeds shell. His withdraw swung his weight enough that he fell backward into the water and bumped into something else. Hui started to turn, but then stopped himself. No, no. I know this trope. I got startled by something spooky, so when I turn around, Ill be face to face with something even scarier! The only way to win is not to play. Dont turn, Hui! Dont turn!

The thing he bumped into drifted forward, into his range of vision from the crack in the seeds shell. A severed head with empty eye sockets and a bloated tongue floated into his vision. Blood colored the water pink around its gaping eye sockets and severed neck.

Alright, thats enough. Im getting out of here!