Master, This Poor Disciple Died Again Today

Hui jumped forward, surging ahead of Zhang Ming. Seconds before Zhang Ming stepped through the barrier, he crossed over it, landing with a thump on the far side. He sighed out, looking around. Alright. What does this city look like?

He stood in darkness. Only a single light blared, directly on top of him, illuminating his entire body, but nothing else.

Uh oh. This doesn’t bode well.

A second light cut on. A desk stood opposite him. Dressed in fine cream, with gold under-robes providing a subtle contrast, a woman sat behind the desk. She looked over her half-moon glasses at him and gave him a done look. “Next.”

Hui looked around, then stepped forward. He nodded at her, looking her robes up and down. Is this what they call quiet luxury? Or am I just fashion-blind after being surrounded by gaudy gold Inspectors and completely un-luxurious peasants for too long?

Er, not that I’m a fashionista or anything, but so far, Immortal fashion has been, er, how to say? Unsubtle. She’s a break from the fashion I’ve seen so far!

He walked up to the Immortal’s desk, putting his hands behind his back. “Good morning.”

“Name,” she said flatly.

“X…Zhang Ming,” Hui said.

She glanced at him. Her qi swiped over him. Hui stood still, letting her scan him. I should look like Zhang Ming right now, not that she’d know what Zhang Ming looks like. But the point is, I shouldn’t look like Xiao Hui, whom that terrifying golden Immortal is looking for!

The Immortal nodded. She lifted a brush and noted something down on a long scroll. “Go ahead.”

Hui looked at her. That’s it?

She looked up at him. She raised her brows. “Do you need something?”

He shook his head and quickly scurried off. If she’s letting me go, why am I standing here and letting her question me? I need to go, go, go! Time to go!

A few steps into the darkness, he paused. Wait. Time to go where? Looking left and right, all that stood out in the darkness was the desk and the light that had shone on his head earlier, which now illuminated nothing.

The Immortal at the desk kept writing, paying him no mind.

Er, I guess I’m doing this right? He shrugged to himself and walked on.

Wait, hold on. How come she didn’t notice Zhubi or Tian Lan? I mean, you can consider Zhubi my pet, but Tian Lan is just a dragon I picked up moments ago. Did she not notice them? Not care? Er…

He stared ahead into pure black.

I’m starting to feel a little nervous…

Once again, he walked on. The desk faded away, then vanished. Nothing but shadow surrounded him on all sides. On and on, seemingly eternal.

Time passed. Nothing happened. He walked on into the darkness. A day passed, and then a night.

Hui put a hand on his chin. Alright, I’m clearly going nowhere fast. This isn’t working. I need to find another way out.I don’t know if I got rejected, or what, but this is clearly some kind of punishment state.

Still, given that the punishment state seems to be a secret realm… I can probably wiggle my way out of here. As long as the city itself doesn’t check to make sure we didn’t enter the punishment state on the way in, I’m golden! After all, if the punishment state is eternal walking, the city probably assumes that anyone sent to this punishment state will never exit it. Why bother to check if someone got marked for no-entry, if the punishment for that is to never enter the city?

Given how they send their criminals to ‘mortal villages’ to live out their lives, it doesn’t really surprise me that the city’s entry fail state is eternal walking. Actually… given that the Inspectors check the mortal villages every thousand years or so for new Immortals, I wonder if they send those who failed to enter the city here for a thousand years, then go dump them into the villages?

Although… it’s odd that I’m left to sit here, rather than directly collected by the Golden Immortal. Previously, he always came immediately the second I did anything to attract his attention. If he’s the reason I’m locked here, why is he just leaving me here?

Or did I violate something else? Attract someone else’s attention? This certainly doesn’t seem like the Golden Immortal’s MO…

Hui pursed his lips, then shrugged. The point is, I need to break out. As long as I break out soon, it shouldn’t make a difference from succeeding the gate’s entry check.

He extended his divine sense, but found no walls. His brows furrowed. How can I break out of this secret realm if I can’t even find the walls? I’m standing on the floor, but… He put a hand on the ground and sent qi into it, but received no response. The floor was a thin layer of qi that stretched on infinitely ahead and behind him, but as far as he could spread his qi through the floor, he couldn’t sense any other intersecting walls.

Wait, hold on. Is that the challenge? I have to break out of the secret realm without finding the wall! Hui took a deep breath. He entered a lotus pose, hovering in midair in the darkness. Focusing deeply, he spread his divine sense as far as he could. Since I can’t find the wall, let’s just observe the state of this realm from the realm I can sense. If I know enough about the realm, I might be able to break free without finding the wall.

I can break out using the void, but that’s not a great idea right now. The Immortal—the Gold Immortal, I guess I’ll call him—knows how to find me if I enter the void. I need to avoid traversing the void, and instead directly return to the Immortal world.

Which means I can’t simply use the void technique. I need to find a way to escape this realm, and only this realm.

And the way to do that… is to study this realm!

--

“You found her?”

A man in long blue robes strode toward the azure palace. The enormous lily pad rocked gently under his feet, swaying with the motion of the lake. He slung a coat off his shoulders and held it out. A servant, hurrying alongside him, took the coat and vanished.

“Yes.” A woman in cream and gold robes nodded. She floated beside him, checking a scroll she held. “A man named Zhang Ming brought her into the city.”

“Is he still being held?”

She nodded. “Whenever you’re ready.”

The man took a deep breath. He nodded at the woman. “I’ll go immediately. Was she in good health?”

“Yes,” she replied.

His eyes narrowed. “She’d better be.”

Leaping off the ground, he left the palace behind and hurtled toward Heart Lotus City.