Wei Ying opened his eyes to see a red, evil spirit cackling like a mad man, resentment energy pouring off him in waves.

"I knew it!" Yao Wang laughed again. "You thought you could get rid of me! So predictable!"

"But that dagger, you said it belonged to YanLou!" Hui Gai said, watching him carefully.

"It was given to him, but he never used it. It's a special dagger, when it was forged, the creator made it so that if infused with spiritual energy, it would belong to the person who killed with it, and only that person." Yao Wang laughed again, looking at their faces. "And now, I will exact my revenge on the useless spawn of my rival." Yao Wang shot forward.

His body of energy transformed into a spear shape, and like an arrow, pierced Hui Gai's body.

Before Wei Ying could warn his friend, Yao Wang had entered inside the body of Hui Gai.

HUI GAI?? ARE YOU THERE? SAY SOMETHING? Wei Ying shouted in his mind, trying to reach him through their mind connection, but there was no answer.

"Lan Zhan! I have to go in!" Wei Ying said, desperately. "We have to perform Empathy...it’s the only way!"

"Mn. I will be your support." Lan Zhan picked him up and sat him opposite himself. "Be careful."

"I promise." Wei Ying burned the promise through the intensity in his silver eyes. He leaned forward and kissed Lan Zhan softly. "I'll come back to you."

Together they sat in a triangle, Wei Ying’s palms resting against Hui Gai's and Lan Zhan's, and he closed his eyes.

*******

Hui Gai was inside of himself, of that he was sure, but he was also sure that there was another presence here, a maleficent one.

Hiding.

"What? Still scared?" He mocked.

Hui Gai searched all around until he found the energy source he was looking for.

"Of you? Don't make me laugh!" Yao Wang said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, if you won't come out by yourself, what else am I supposed to think?" Hui Gai had never been in this sort of position before.

But every situation was an opportunity to learn something, however difficult...

With his awareness gradually solidifying, Hui Gai saw green tendrils of his energy move towards the place Yao Wang was hiding. With a single snap, they brought him out of his secret place.

The look of surprise on his face alone, was worth it, but he replaced it within seconds.

"I'm not impressed with your magic tricks." Yao Wang shouted.

"Oh, but I am!" Hui Gai said, feeling a familiar sense of excitement now. "Imagine my elation at being able to test my powers. Perhaps I should be thanking you now?"

"You can't hurt me! I no longer have a physical body for you to cause me any pain." Yao Wang threw back his head and howled with laughter.

"Let's see about that...and if you could help me out with my research, that would be even better. On a scale of one to ten, how much does this hurt?"

Hui Gai pierced his red energy body with one of his green ones.

Yao Wang screamed.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you what the scale means. Silly me!" Hui Gai tutted. "One for extreme pain, ten for nothing, five for not affected..." He waited until Yao Wang had reduced himself to whimpers. "Are you with me yet?"

Another voice rang out in the dark.

"Hui Gai! Are you...Are you alright?"

Hui Gai grinned at the sound of Wei Ying’s voice.

"Never better...though feeling a little dirtied. Must be the close proximity to scum."

"I'm here if you need me, my friend." The voice was stronger now, sounding surer.

"Actually...if you could do me a favour?" Hui Gai had a sudden thought.

"Anything." Wei Ying promised.

Hui Gai switched to their mental connection, not wishing to let Yao Wang know what he was planning.

Could you please wait outside? Be ready with something to suppress him, because as he rightly said, his body is made up of pure energy now, albeit resentful energy. We cannot destroy him like this, he explained.

What are you going to do then?

Have a little fun. I think he's definitely due some care and attention.

Wei Ying huffed out a laugh. Alright, see you on the other side.

Laters.

Hui Gai waited until he was sure Wei Ying was out. What he was about to do, he didn't want any witnesses.

This...this was just between him and Yao Wang.

*********

Wei Ying opened his eyes and found himself looking into golden ones filled with concern. He smiled warmly.

"I am alright, Lan Zhan. And Hui Gai doesn't need us in there, but we have to be ready. He will need us to suppress the spirit of Yao Wang when he is expelled."

"Mn." Lan Zhan summoned Wangji and began playing a few notes, gently easing into their song.

Wei Ying shifted closer, Chenqing in hand as they waited. He looked at Hui Gai's body, his eyes were closed and he appeared to be resting.

*********

Hui Gai was anything but resting.

Since Yao Wang was refusing to participate in his experiments, Hui Gai was having to judge his pain level based off of his screams, which ranged from high pitched to whimpering moans.

Hui Gai had learned to channel his thoughts until they became something tangible, an energy to be controlled. His was a deep green power, and could be coiled like a serpent about to strike, or piercing like an arrow. He could go in and out of the red energy mass, much like a tailor sewing a piece of cloth. Each time, depending on what he was thinking, he had managed to make Yao Wang produce a symphony of notes, all drawn out against his will.

"All of your efforts are in vain..." Yao Wang panted out.

"You're right, at least partly." Hui Gai replied. "Neither are you shutting up, and I'm getting bored. However, as a training exercise, it's excellent. Look! I can do this!" He curved his green energy into several darts and simultaneously pierced the red energy.

Yao Wang was also tiring...but he had been right when he said he could not be destroyed.

One final scream later, and Hui Gai kicked him out.

Get ready, Pengyou. He had called out once before grabbing the red energy mass and forcibly expelled him.

The moment he was out, Wei Ying slapped an array on him, glowing red in a mandala of power. If Yao Wang was made up of resentful energy, then this was the Grandmaster of Demonic cultivation, an expert at his craft.

Lan Zhan watched his silver eyes turn the familiar ruby red as he began sending out waves of blue suppression energy.

But Wei Ying...Wei Ying was something to behold. Black and red robes fluttered as he called forth his power, putting his lips upon Chenqing, commanding and authoritatively. Black tendrils of resentment energy began flowing from his body, wrapping around the red energy of Yao Wang.

Swirling and turning, his power joined that of WangJi, and together they battled down the fighting spirit.

Suanni stood up then, and released a mighty roar. With the deepest breath, he unleashed a golden celestial fire, adding to the suppression, until Yao Wang was rendered weak.

Next to them upon the ground, a fissure opened up, blasting them with a blinding white light. Four figures stood in front of Hui Gai and bowed down low.

"Our Great Lord and Master, Diyu WangZi! Welcome to your kingdom. Pray, tell us how we should punish the usurper?"

Hui Gai raised a brow at Wei Ying, who grinned back. He was too busy checking out the four demons who had come to collect the spirit of Yao Wang.

They wore a silver armour over their red scales, and their faces were apathetically fierce. Their tails resembled Hui Gai's but there the similarities ended. They had energy spears, with golden rings of fire. Together, they unleashed the rings that bound the red energy, giving Wei Ying and Lan Zhan a break.

Suanni huffed and settled back down again.

"Where is the worst place?" He asked them, quite seriously.

They looked at each other before turning back to him.

"We don't know. What does 'worst' mean?"

"So obviously, there are some places which are good, and some which are bad...right?"

They nodded as one, furtively glancing at one another.

"So which is the worst one?" He asked again.

"We cannot say." They replied, faces full of innocence.

"Why not?" Hui Gai asked with a touch of irritation.

"Well, they're all pretty much the same. Would our Lord and Master like a tour?"

Wei Ying thought they were kind of cute in their own way, and they were obviously not lying; they really had no idea what Hui Gai was asking of them.

"Maybe you should go?" He interjected when it looked like Hui Gai was about to refuse.

"Why?" Hui Gai looked confused.

"Two reasons." Wei Ying grinned at him. "One, you can make sure he's in the right place, and two, it looks like a spot opened up, just for you. A job vacancy. That needs to be filled."

Understanding dawned slowly...

"Go on. Might be an eye opener." Wei Ying smiled encouragingly.

Hui Gai nodded to the four little guys and then the six of them disappeared.