Chapter 116: Melted Tower
I felt the soft, cold grass shift beneath my feet as I practiced martial arts. The warm wind washed over my skin, and the movements flowed like a dance. Mid-way through, I used the Dancing Jade Armour Technique to form it into a faceless jade soldier standing in front of me.
The new jade soldier was a translucent man resembling a wooden doll. I even added intricate detail to its armor, depicting a dragon's head on its chest, and translucent green bear heads were used as shoulder pads on its shoulders.
Did this improve the technique in any way? No, but it looked much cooler than some stickfigure-like construct. I was working on making a face for the gut, but it was hard.
He tried to punch me. Sadly, I hadn't figured out how to make it attack automatically. So, since his attack came due to my order, I knew where the punch would come from.
But I stood my ground as the translucent jade fist approached my face. Just before the hit, the Qi around my face turned soft and cushion-like, absorbing most of the attack's impact. I barely felt the punch.
"Damn, not as good," I grumbled.
I was trying to create the automatic response I had achieved while fighting against the assassins. But it was hard to get into the mindset when my life was not on the line. Instead, I had to consciously turn my jade-like hard Qi soft to absorb a blow.
Perhaps what I was trying to achieve wasn't possible... However, in a weird way, that made it more fun.
Thinking about my Qi reacting automatically before my mind can excited me.
Well, it would be useless against higher-stage cultivators since they would break through it with brute force. But it would make me unbeatable in my own realm. The ultimate defense!
After withdrawing the jade soldier and gaining back some of the Qi I had used in creating it, I returned to practicing martial movements.
I had read about many martial arts in the library. While they were mainly used to train the body, they were also an excellent way to relax as I got used to punching with this new power. I was also trying to test how strong my newly Qi-imbued fist was and how fast I could go through the forms.
It was like a game of cat and mouse as I tried to surpass my previous record by half a second or more. Though it sounded easy, it was much more complicated than it seemed because I had to moderate the Qi flowing through my body to strengthen only certain parts.
For example, when I punched, I would strengthen my whole body. But that was amateurish as certain parts in the body, like the muscles that were supposed to stop the first from moving a certain way, would create a slight resistance. But strengthening only the calves, a small repulsion of Qi at the top of my feet, and some more Qi to defend my hips from breaking through the rotational movement of the punch... Anyway, by the end, I could throw a devastating punch.
Thankfully, through cultivation, my strengthened body could handle these things without tearing muscles or ligaments so easily.
It has been so long since I have had so much fun practicing.
At least after the green-haired guy had left without saying a word, bringing me some ease as I trained, even if he had left his fishing rod rooted in the ground next to the pond.
Though I was having a good time, it wasn't as good as it could have been because I felt like someone was watching me. It was a weird feeling, like a deep emptiness in my stomach. It was hard to put into words, but instinctively, it felt like someone was watching me.
Of course, this could also be a delusion. After all, I was in the Song Clan Compound as a "guest"; of course, they were watching me. Perhaps my mind created this weird sensation to make up for how I couldn't sense my observers.
Even though that feeling didn't go away, I kept practicing. Worrying about things I couldn't change was useless.
"You are training hard as always," said a withered voice behind me.
My heart jumped, and I hurriedly turned to face the presence I only now sensed.
How long had she been there? What was it with these people that allowed them to slip through my senses so easily?
I had been quite proud of my Qi-sensing powers before this. But with the green-haired guy and now this, it had been a bit of a wake-up call.
I turned around and saw a familiar old woman. With a hunched back and so many wrinkles that she looked like a worm, she looked like a fragile old woman with a foot already on her deathbed. This was the same granny who had questioned me when I had been in prison. That felt like an eternity ago, though it hadn't been a year since then.
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Was this granny also from the Song Clan? I didn't remember her name, so I didn't connect her to the clan in any way. I was pretty sure she was Song Song's teacher.
Before I could even greet her, the granny said, "Song Song has been imprisoned."
When I heard that, I clenched my fist but quickly let go and regained control over my emotions. Given what was happening, I needed to calm down and avoid such a blatant reaction.
Song Song had ended up in this position while trying to help me. How could I feel nothing about it? But now was not the time to let my feelings get the better of me.
Perhaps hiding my emotions was needless since her own teacher might not be against Song Song. But I was too weak to show such a blatant reaction. There were people here who liked to eliminate issues before they became problems. They might see my anger as a future problem. I had to stay calm and composed.
"How long is she going to be imprisoned?" I asked, hoping for more of an answer than the green-haired guy gave me.
"She will be in there until the Song Clan Leader decides it is enough," she stated.
Once again, the weak were at the mercy of the powerful. Fearing my emotions would slip through my words, I kept my mouth shut after that.
The granny and I just stared at each other, the awkward silence growing in the building, cut off from the outside by weather conditions and sound.
I looked for any signs of what she could be thinking. But her hands were steady, her fingers and purple nails didn't even twitch, and the deep blue eyes behind her wrinkled eyelids showed very little.
Her body language showed nothing; perhaps I was too bad at reading it.
"It would be nice if you came to visit Song Song with me," the Core Elder finally spoke.
"Sure," I nodded and immediately walked into the house, rummaging for anything I could wear.
Right now, I was wearing shorts and nothing else. This was not a way to go outside in a Sect full of cultivators looking for a reason to beat someone up.
The room I had woken up in had nothing more than a futon.
After rummaging through some drawers in the neighboring room, which looked messy and dilapidated, I found some casual brown robes that looked like uniforms. There were wooden planks on the ground and missing parts of the floor.
As I put the clothes on, I winced and realized something.
I think I accepted her offer a bit too fast and might have come off as too eager.
A pair of boots was also at the house's exit, and there was a ragged wooden door with inscriptions all over the entrance hallway. This would lead to the road outside, and from what I could tell, these arrays were not here to stop me from going outside but to defend against intruders.
The green-haired guy seemed to have been a paranoid man when he used to live in this place.
The boots were a size too big, but I cared little about minor inconveniences like that.
I returned to the yard and said, "I'm ready."
Usually, the Sect had strict uniform standards to show where disciples and elders belonged. But I was with a Core Elder and doubted anyone would cause trouble for me.
The granny looked me up and down, and for a second, I thought she might send me back to try and find other clothes to wear.
"Stand next to me," she said.
I did as I was told, and that was when I felt a monstrous amount of Qi released from her. It felt like I was standing next to an erupting volcano!
But almost immediately, the Qi was back under her control, forming into a translucent, elegant, feminine hand that gently grabbed me. That was followed by a feeling of blurriness as we shot toward the sky like a rocket!
It felt like an instant, but we had moved quite a distance from the outskirts of the Song Clan compound and landed in front of some weird tower. I was left disoriented; everything was blurry, and my brain felt mush.
The granny released her hold on me, her Qi dissipating until it was barely sensible.
Now that I was no longer enveloped by her Qi, I felt the chilly air and took a deep, comforting breath. That helped calm the weird sensation of moving at such speeds.
I took this small moment to enjoy the smell of winter and the snowy ground. Who knew how long I would spend in that building I had been assigned?
We were in front of a large tower. Though it looked like it had melted a bit, almost as if it had been hit by something hot enough to turn the stones into lava, it still somehow held its rough shape.
The tower had a small, normal-looking wooden door at its root, and the granny approached it with me one step behind her. She took a short dagger from her storage ring, made a small cut on her thumb, and pressed her finger against the door.
The normal-looking door pulsed as red lines spread like veins around it, and it creaked open. The inside was dark, illuminated only by a handful of flickering candles.
As we walked in, I got a better look at things. There was another person in here with us: an unnaturally tall woman. I was pretty tall myself, and I barely reached her bosom. The woman sported a dark cloak and held a crimson-red thorny whip in her hands. She wore dark lipstick, had pale skin, blue eyes, and long blonde hair with a red tint.
There was a look in her eyes as she glanced at me that sent chills down my spine. Then, the tall woman bowed her head and said, "Honorable Core Elder of Beauty, Master Xing. Are you here to see Song Song?"
What was up with that long title? Also, this granny was the Core Elder of Beauty? What did that position even mean?
I did my best not to stare at the granny and kept a calm facade. It was easier than usual since I was primarily concerned with seeing Song Song.
"Yes, we will be going now," said the granny as she walked past the tall woman without a care.
I followed along and respectfully bowed my head toward the tall woman. She smiled when she saw this.
Instead of going upstairs, another opening led downstairs and we walked in. The lighting was even shittier here.
This was a prison, right? I couldn't help but wonder what a prison made by the Song Clan looked like.
Walking down the stairs, we finally saw what this prison was like.
The whole underground part was a giant cylindrical hole the size of an apartment building. Stairs ran along the walls like a spiral, leading to the unseen dark bottom of the prison. Along the stairs, there were countless cells.
This place was huge, though eerily quiet.
"I would advise you not to look in the cells," the granny said as we climbed down the stairs and were about to encounter our first cell.
But due to my curiosity, I couldn't help but glimpse the cell as we passed.
I had built a tolerance for bloodshed... at least, that was what I had thought... But this was a whole other thing.
It made me want to throw up.
What kind of prison was this?
Chapter 117: Madness in Power
What in the actual fuck was I looking at? What was this?
A shaky breath traveled up my throat as I laid eyes on what could only be described as the result of pure madness!
In the first cell we were about to walk past was a thin, corpse-like man. His stomach was open, with his intestines spilling onto the ground. One of those intestines was wrapped around his mouth as a gag to stop him from saying anything.
Flies had gathered around him, and for a second I thought he was dead. However, his body twitched, showing that he was still alive.
Cultivators often had strong vitality and could survive injuries no mortal ever could. I always saw that as an advantage in most cases. Yet, this... death would be better than whatever this was.
Despite the shocking sight, I was left in a trance and followed the Core Elder behind. But my eyes were glued to the cells as the following figure appeared in the second cell.
It was a prisoner with his limbs burned off, just a thin torso and a head. He had a dead-eyed look as he stared at the ceiling, the only sign of life being the rising and falling of his chest as he breathed.
As I walked, I fell into a daze, feeling like I could no longer control my body. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Yet, more and more brutal sights greeted me.
Next was a person stuffed into a tight barrel too small for a human with dried blood on the ground. He resembled a sludge of flesh. His face crunched and crushed as he looked around in terror, unable to do anything.
And so the horrors continued unimaginable cruelties that no sane mind would ever conjure. It was like looking at insanity itself. As we climbed down, about to reach the ground floor at the bottom of the prison, I was returned to my senses.
That was when I caught sight of a hook piercing through both biceps of a man, holding him in place by the ceiling. Only the meat of his arms held him up. As I walked past his cell, I could hear him breathing heavily, trying to endure the pain without screaming.
Then came the last cell. It was a man tied to a chair, looking at a mirror with a sense of bottomless terror and despair. The top of his head was scalped open, with the top of his skull, bone, and hair nowhere to be seen. He stared at himself in the mirror as a rat gnawed at his brain.
The brain didn't have pain receptors to feel pain... but seeing a rat eating his brain...
The sound of footsteps was the only thing I could hear.
They wouldn't dare do something like this to Song Song, right? After all, it was illogical to cripple someone as talented as her.
But by now, any hope that whoever had made this place worked with a logical mind was thrown out the window. My heart was in my throat, and the only thing I heard was a buzzing sound in my ears.
No, perhaps they didn't need to cripple her. After all, this world had healing pills and artifacts. A chill went down my spine at just the thought of how far someone could go with torture without crippling someone.
This was what happened when a fucked-up person gained ultimate power. This wasn't a prison; this was torture!
Cold sweat ran down my brow as I struggled to calm down.
My goal was to reach Foundation Establishment, where I could read peacefully without anyone bothering me. But would Foundation Establishment be enough to keep me from ending up like this?
...
After some unknown amount of time, the granny walked around the bottom of the prison. The place was dark, and it was often hard to tell where one was going. I could barely see anything and just followed the granny's Qi.
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There was the sound of a creaking door and something opening. It was a large door, big enough to fit a giant, and inside, it led to a place with some light. With how dark it was down here, this light was a welcome sight.
I stayed a step behind the granny as I followed her in. As soon as we were both past the doors, they slammed shut behind us with a thundering sound that startled me.
With no escape in sight, I realized something crucial about this ordeal. I didn't really know this old granny that well. What if she had lured me in here with fake promises? Perhaps Song Song was not even here; this could all be a sick game for them.
But such thoughts disappeared when I saw something. It was a woman's body, tightly draped in dark bandages all over. She was on a cross with nails running through her wrists, blood dripping down the nails and onto the ground, forming a small pool.
Before the cross became a Christian symbol of faith, it was known as a method of torture. Jesus Christ was nailed on the cross as a form of torment. Even Julius Caesar used a similar method against pirates who had captured him. But in this world, it had no religious connotations; it was just pure torture.
The body looked like a doll, and nothing about it was recognizable. The only indication that it was female was the figure's bosom.
Song Song was quite well endowed in that area, though she never showed it since her uniform was loose and thick.
There was no need to speculate much longer as the crucified woman gathered Qi in her maw and shot it outward, creating a hole in the bandages around her mouth.
"Teacher, did you finally decide to come and try to put up those torture arrays?" Song Song asked nonchalantly, her voice a little raspy. She shrugged before adding, "I will admit, it would kind of break the monotony around here. Can we start with the lightning torture arrays? My muscles are sore since, as you can see, I couldn't move my body much."
The granny frowned when she heard that, though I couldn't help but crack a smile.
Right, I had been worried for no reason. Whether they tortured her or not, this was Song Song I was worrying about. She would yawn mid-torture and give some advice to the torturer.
"No, we are here to talk," said her teacher. "Also, torture arrays didn't work on you as a kid either when you killed that concubine. So it would be useless to use them now."
Was she talking about that rumor that Song Song killed one of the Sect Leader's concubines?
"Why are you here then if you're not going to add some torture arrays? It's boring around here, but not boring enough for me to want to listen to you talk. I would rather take the torture," Song Song sighed. "Wait, is your talking going to be the torture method? Can we please not do that and move to the good old tradition of ripping off my nails or something like that? There's only so much of your ranting I can take before I explode the Qi at the back of my throat and kill myself."
Even in these moments, she was being sarcastic. I puckered my lips, trying to hold in the chuckle that almost escaped me. She made me forget what I had seen outside the doors for a second.
"Some people are worried that you might do something thoughtless, like try and escape," the granny said, nudging me forward. "Even your friend came here to advise you against this."
When she heard that, Song Song's mocking smile slipped away. Even though her eyes were covered by those dark bandages, I felt she could still see me.
I stared at the granny and wondered when she last spoke to a normal person. She was clearly out of touch.
What the hell, granny? Did she expect me to just tell Song Song to be a good pet and stay put after everything I saw? How could she even be so calm after this whole ordeal?
Right... She was a monster who had lived hundreds of years. I was looking at this all the wrong way. She must know the people who came up with a place like this. After all, she knew the place intimately. How often had she been here? Hundreds? Thousands of times?
I looked at Song Song and then at her bleeding wrists. What should I tell her? Should I twist the truth and lie since the Core Elder granny was here? Perhaps I could twist my words where they had a hidden meaning that only Song Song would understand.
But... this was how she ended up because she tried saving me. If I caved in now at the slightest bump, then I would regret something like this for the rest of my life. Also, I owed it to her to not lie. She had always been honest with me.
"Let's destroy it all after you are out of here," I said.
The granny's eyes widened when she heard that, and she, before I could even blink, quickly put a hand over my mouth before I could say anything more. She looked at me with a bewildered gaze.
But Song Song wasn't surprised at all. Instead, she agreed, "Yeah, sure. Though rebuilding from the rubble sounds like a chore, I will leave that to you."
I tried to push the granny's hand away to answer back. While her grip was not painful, it was firm, and it felt like I was trying to move away an immovable metal statue. That kind of strength could easily rip my head off.
Though her eyes were covered, Song Song seemed to understand that I couldn't answer, so she said, "When I'm outta here, I will give you access to the entire Song Clan Library. You can nerd out while I go and kill a couple of people."
After a few seconds of silence, Song Song seemed to read my mind and started laughing maniacally. "Hahahaha! We're gonna kill so many people together! We will leave behind a mountain of corpses of anyone who crosses us!"
The granny paled. Whatever plan she had by bringing me here... Well, it had backfired spectacularly.
Chapter 118: No, I'm Not Scheming
Drip!. Drop!. Drip!. Drop!.
Song Song's blood dripped from her pierced wrists onto the dirty floor of the dark room. Aside from my breath and heartbeat, it was the only sound I could hear.
Though I couldn't see the rest of her face, she wore a knowing smirk, as if privy to the punchline of a joke only she knew.
The door behind us cracked open before another word could come out of Song Song's mouth. A strong breeze burst in, almost throwing me off my feet. With the wind came a stench of blood, rotten corpses, and much worse.
The granny tugged me from the back of my clothes, keeping me steady and dragging me back. I could do nothing despite my instinctive urge to resist being dragged along. Her overwhelming strength made me feel like putty in her hands.
Despite her age and appearance, this granny could fold me like paper.
Judging by how ancient she looked, the old lady was likely on the weaker side of Core Formation Cultivators regarding raw physical strength. But between us, there was still an extreme difference in physical power.
The door slowly closed again to Song Song's haunting chuckles. Even though I couldn't see well, I knew the granny was undoubtedly worried about the outcome of this meeting.
As the doors to Song Song's cell closed, the granny held onto me like an iron vice. But unlike what I expected, she didn't yell, scream, or say anything. She didn't even reprimand or hit me.
The old woman crouched down and tightened the grip on the back of my uniform. The next thing I knew, it felt like someone had hooked me up to a rocket.
She had jumped up!
In an instant, we covered the whole distance and reached the top of the prison where we had entered. The granny kicked the door open leading to the reception area, and the tall woman looked at us wide-eyed and startled.
The tall lady couldn't even say a word as the old woman took me out. The clear winter afternoon wind bristled against my hair.
As the granny took a deep breath, the air around her shifted, and the snow was pushed away by the Qi bursting out of her. My knees buckled as I felt an overwhelming pressure on my shoulders. Despite the powerful burst of Qi, I realized she had it all under control, as the snow that was pushed away formed a perfect circle around her.
She shifted her position, and we were in the air in a split second. I dangled in her grip like a rag. Hopefully, these clothes were durable, or I would turn into a smudge on the ground below!
Despite the cold wind brushing against my skin and pushing a chill into my eyes, this time, I was prepared. From such a great height, I caught sight of the Song Clan Compound.
The place did not look like a compound and was closer to a small town. Even the roads were built by stone, and a training field was on the western corner with an arena next to it. Every house I saw was quite big and like a mini-mansion. Plus, that big castle-like manor in the distance should be where someone important stays, likely the Clan Leader.
As we approached the building where I was staying, the momentum she had built slowly lessened, and so did the harsh cold winds beating against me.
I rubbed my hands together to generate some heat, though with the barrier around this place, the cold was no longer a problem. But with how fast we had moved through the cold winter air, I felt like I had almost gotten frostbite.
The granny kept staring at me, saying nothing, and making me nervous. I kept rubbing my arms and acted like I didn't notice what she was doing.
In my last life, I learned a crucial lesson: to keep my mouth shut if I had nothing to say.
There was a shift in the air that I was growing familiar with, and the granny flew off the next second. She flew without a flying sword or any other artifact.
I let out a sigh of relief as soon as she was out of sight. It seemed like I was safe for now.
Though with her gone, I returned back to my usual shenanigans. She had flown without an artifact. Was that a Core Formation Cultivator thing, or just a martial technique? While I couldn't see her movements, I could still sense them, and it was scary how fast she moved.
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However, I was still surprised at how she did nothing to me. Why was that? Was she scared of what Song Song would do once she grew stronger than her? Or was it something else?
It seemed like the granny had little time left anyway. She didn't need to be worried about what Song Song might do decades from now.
No, perhaps I was reading it wrong. Just because a cultivator was old didn't mean they were close to death. There could be many factors at play here I wasn't seeing. I stopped thinking about these things for now. Since I wouldn't get an answer, it would be mostly speculation on my part.
At least I was away from that place.
I clenched my teeth and started walking around the house. From the room I had woken up in, to another room that resembled a kitchen, and every other room, I was in a haze of motion, searching for something to get those heavy thoughts away.
After looking around a bit in the kitchen-like room with only some cabinets and what looked like a heating artifact resembling a pan, I finally found what I was looking for. A book was next to a tea set in one of the cabinets.
I took the book and read the title, "Etiquette of Tea Ceremonies?"
Whenever I had heavy thoughts, I liked to read something to distract myself. Preferably, it would have been a book about martial techniques, but I had to make do with what I had.
I walked out to the yard and lay on the cold grass, with the sun brushing against my face. I opened the book and began reading.
It really was as the title said—the book did not contain an array or hidden technique with secret contents. The book mainly talked about the mundane parts of being Cultivation Royalty, which was the Song Clan. There were ceremonies and different ways to drink tea.
This confirmed what I had already been suspecting. That green-haired guy, Song San, was definitely not just some servant. Also, those arrays at the front door showed a cautious nature.
I put the book on my chest and rubbed my chin while thinking—what were the chances of that guy having a hidden room in here somewhere?
What did rich paranoid people do? They usually built secret rooms and weird dungeons. This place probably had one. A sense of excitement washed over me at the thought of going on a mystery hunt. The room might even have some books. Anything would work, even mortal-grade techniques at this point!
But as soon as such thoughts came to mind, I put them aside. If there was a secret room, there would definitely be some traps there.
I was in an uncomfortable position in life where even reading books wasn't going to help me. Interfering with things that involved Song Song was always too dangerous, something I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. But I gained a new perspective on things recently.
I could only read without worry if everything returned to normal. Or whatever the hell "normal" meant in this world.
Either way, I needed Song Song out of that hellhole. While she could handle staying down there, I needed her out of there. When she came out, she could do her own things and handle whatever issues popped up.
Having Song Song around was the best security measure I could ever wish for.
I grabbed a handful of grass and ripped it out of the ground. Standing up, I stretched my neck and felt every joint pop.
Getting Song Song out of that place would take a lot of work. I would have to talk to the Song Clan Leader.
Just recalling those cells sent a chill down my spine. I immediately dismissed the idea of meeting that man.
If there was one person even Song Song couldn't shield me against, it was her father. Clearly, the dungeon was in the Song Clan's territory, so it was a safe bet that the Song Clan Leader was heavily involved with the miseries there.
I calculated every choice I had, which wasn't much... No matter how hard I tried to think of something to help me with this, my mind always went to what I couldn't do instead of what I could.
I cared about Song Song as a friend enough that I even risked my life for her on multiple occasions. But approaching her father would be stupid. The kind of man who had a whole torture dungeon just for fun was not the kind of man I could read. I had no idea what he might do next.
No, I had to play it safer and not try to convince a maniac I couldn't predict. Still, to release Song Song, I needed to find someone powerful enough to force the Song Clan Leader's hand.
Who would do that?
There was only one person I could think of. But there was no free meal in this world. I needed to offer that someone something that would make it worthwhile to butt heads with the Song Clan Leader.
What could I offer?
With my thinking done, a scheme slowly formed in my mind. I was dancing with fire here, but I wasn't as scared as I thought I would be for some reason.
Those torture scenes played in my head...
I was playing a very dangerous game here.
...
Another week passed with me holed up in this place. Very little had changed.
I sat on the warm wooden porch, shirtless, and looked at the wound where my arm had been cut off. There were no longer any stitches, as they had fallen off on their own, and there was no longer any redness around the wound. A cultivator's regeneration was quite something.
There had been no news of Song Song's release this week, which was worrying.
I sat down in a meditative position and felt the Qi inside my body. A chill went down my spirit roots as the Qi around me was sucked in and filtered.
Like always, progress was slow. It might take about ten years of rigorous cultivation to reach the peak of Qi Gathering with my talent. I was far from breaking through to two-star Qi Gathering.
But I was confident that if I worked hard enough, I might be able to reduce that time to nine years.
I sighed and opened my eyes.
I was a hostage in all but name here and had zero authority. I needed to find a way to meet up with someone who could challenge the Song Clan Leader's power. I was just barely a Qi Gathering Cultivator.
"Yo, how have you been?" a familiar asked, leaning against the tree close to the pond.
Like always, he had slipped past my senses. I didn't know how he did it, but some type of technique was definitely involved. I was pretty sure even elders couldn't usually hide their Qi like this.
Song San stared at me with a smirk on his thin lips that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Chapter 119: A Brother's Heart
Song San wiggled around to find a comfortable spot, leaning against the tree, then sat down. He closed his eyes and turned toward the sun as if trying to get a tan.
"How have your last couple of days been? I haven't been able to visit much. Did the servants leave the food in front of your door like usual?" Song San asked.
This guy didn't have much going on in his life if he was willing to loiter around with someone essentially under house arrest.
"Everything was okay," I answered, pausing my cultivation.
It was somewhat true, as there was nothing to worry about here. I have yet to get any news about what was happening with the Beast Waves. So perhaps ignorance was bliss on that part, or there really was little to worry about. The only thing I was even remotely worried about was Song Song.
I glanced at Song San and wondered whether I should play my cards now. There wasn't much time left, and the longer Song Song stayed in that prison, the worse it would get for both of us.
Either way, I never thought I would go through this life without taking some reckless risks at least once or twice. But that didn't mean I had to like it.
"Can you get me in contact with the Sect Leader?" I asked, trying to gauge his reaction. That question came out of nowhere, but Song San was as calm as always, acting as if I had just asked him about the weather. "I have some new strategies for the Sect."
Song San opened his eyes, and his deep green eyes turned toward me. He raised a questioning brow.
Was he still going to play the part of a servant?
"What's in it for me?" he asked, his reaction and body language indicating that arranging a meeting with the Sect Leader might not be too hard for someone of his position.
Wait... this guy wasn't Song Song's father, right? Because that would be terrifying.
"You will help the Blazing Sun Sect massively and likely end the war sooner, so fewer people die," I said passionately.
This guy was from the Song Clan, so I held little hope that such words would sway him. But I needed to get a better read on what kind of person Song San was.
"Even if the Beast Wave was big enough and strong enough to destroy the whole Sect and massacre all the Song Clan, it would only be an inconvenience," Song San shrugged as he stood up and walked toward me with measured steps. "There is no way I would ever do anything if there weren't at least some benefits."
There was not even a twitch or change in expression as he said all that, which likely meant he was not bluffing. He really didn't give a shit about the Sect or the Song Clan.
"What do you want?" I asked. There was no need to play games any longer.
"Give me the poison formula you used on the town you were managing. I heard quite some rumors about it but never caught wind of what it exactly was," Song San said.
I almost breathed a sigh of relief when that was all he asked. But I kept a composed expression and tried to show nothing.
"I will go get some paper," I said. But before I could stand up, he waved his hand, and a piece of paper appeared between his fingers.
A storage ring? But there were no rings on his fingers.
"Here," he said, placing the paper down. He then took out a thin brush and handed it to me, along with an ink bottle. "During the last couple of weeks, I couldn't get a wink of sleep just thinking about this."
Okay... I didn't see why he felt he needed to tell me that latter part.
I began writing down the poison formula while the guy loomed over me. Different from what he was expecting, it took little time to write down the formula. He took the paper as soon as I was finished.
While he read it, he frowned. "The poison is simple and nothing advanced. You even had to use Qi to keep the poison afloat; quite amateurish."
"Poisons were never my specialty," I said, trying to hand the thin brush back to him. However, he kept reading the poison recipe like a madman, as if trying to find secrets in the recipe. But there were none.
"Tch, this looks more like an overcomplicated array than a poison," Song San sighed, and the paper disappeared from his hand, likely into whatever storage artifact he was using. "How did you keep the people in town safe then? I heard of no genocide in the town you managed."
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
I broadly explained how the battle had transpired. By the end, Song San looked like a conservative parent whose son had just come out of the closet. He looked like his soul had been crushed.
"This poison recipe is useless unless the user is a half-decent Array Conjurer," Song San sighed before grumbling, "I'm not good at arrays. Even then, it's not worth the effort learning arrays for a poison like this."
I shrugged. I hadn't made this poison with thoughts of how everyone would be able to use it. I created it thinking of how to make something deadly with the resources I had on hand. The poison was lethal but nothing special, and if a pro looked at it, they could probably make an antidote in a day or two. But I had been fighting against monstrous beasts, and they had no poison specialists.
"You will still keep your part of the promise, right?" I asked, just to be sure.
Song San sighed and nodded. "I will take you to the Sect Leader. But whatever happens after that will be on you. The Sect Leader might decide not to hear you out."
He would be a fool not to at least listen to me. After all, I was an outsider with no ties to the clan who had been in the midst of the Song Clan compound. I doubted the Sect Leader was too fond of the Song Clan after Song Song had killed his concubine. I should at least get a meeting in hopes of unveiling Song Clan's secrets.
Whatever guided him to give me a chance, I didn't care as long as he would listen to me. Unless, of course, he took my friendship with Song Song the wrong way. And there were those rumors about our relationship... the guy might just decide to take revenge for his concubine.
Fuck, this was why I never liked reckless plans based mostly on unproven assumptions.
A giant green leaf the size of a car appeared next to Song San. His Qi flowed into the artifact, and for the first time, I could sense his presence. His Qi slowly imbued the leaf until it floated a foot off the ground. I got a rough estimation of his cultivation: Song San was in the upper levels of Foundation Establishment, around six, seven, or at most eight-star. He was definitely not the Song Clan Leader. Either that or he was very good at hiding his Qi signature even when using Qi.
"Get on," Song San said as he jumped onto the leaf-like artifact and sat down.
I followed his actions and did the same. The leaf was surprisingly comfortable, though too soft for my liking, as it felt like I might fall through at any minute.
The leaf artifact shook, and then, with an explosion of Qi, it shot off into the distance. Though slower than the granny, it was still fast.
Song San had the common courtesy to form a spherical barrier around the artifact to protect us from the strong winds generated by our speed.
As I looked at the green-haired guy, I couldn't help but wonder who he really was. After all, he had just appeared out of nowhere.
"No need to answer if it's uncomfortable. But who are you exactly? What's your position within the Song Clan?" I asked.
Though I held little hope he would answer, he seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn't do something without some benefit.
"I'm a Core Disciple of the Blazing Sun Sect and the son of the Song Clan Leader. Though I guess you would be more familiar with Song Song's brother," he said nonchalantly.
Song Song had a brother? They looked nothing alike!
Though I guess it made sense. They might be from different mothers. Powerful cultivators, especially male ones, were known for their vast harems. Song Song probably had many more siblings, though most of them might not have the talent to cultivate. Either way, Song Song didn't seem like the kind who would be a loving sister. She never even mentioned her siblings once.
"So... how is your relationship with Song Song?" I inquired, curiosity getting the better of me. Also, if this guy and Song Song got along, I could use him for my plans.
"Well," Song San rubbed his chin, seemingly thinking about how to explain. In the end, he just shrugged and said, "I tried to poison her a couple of times when we were younger. But overall, I don't think our relationship is so bad. I haven't tried to kill her even once in the last eight years."
What? How could he say all of this with a straight face?
"When you say poison, do you mean like a prank poison where her birthday cake was spicy or something like that? Or do you mean the deadly kind of poison?" I asked.
"The deadly kind, obviously," he looked at me like I was the weird one.
Wow, okay. That was something. This family was all kinds of messed up. But in a weird way, there was still hope he and Song Song could get along. After all, he hadn't tried to kill her in a while. Perhaps he had grown up and understood that hurting his little sister wasn't the best way to live his life. Growing up in a place like the Song Clan, this was the best one could expect.
"At least you didn't try to poison or kill her during the last eight years, and that means something," I tried to spin this on a positive note, planning my following words carefully.
This guy was an unlikely ally but an ally all the same as long as I could play on his brotherly protective instincts.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Song Song started living with her master eight years ago. Poisoning her became really hard after that."
Oh... so that was why he stopped.
A man had to know when to give up. After learning all this, it was easy to tell there was no chance Song Song or any of her siblings would become allies. This guy only stopped trying to poison her after it became too difficult and tedious.
After that mess of a conversation, I stayed quiet and thought about what I could tell the Sect Leader. There were some military strategies from Earth, but...
Carpet bombing, or saturation bombing, describes the bombardment of a given area with bombs, destroying as much as possible in the given area. Like a carpet that covers the floor, bombs should cover the area. Carpet bombing is usually done by dropping a large number of unguided bombs. The planes could be replaced by disciples on flying artifacts, throwing down explosive artifacts or potions.
Sadly, that was no good because of flying monstrous beasts. In the worst-case scenario with carpet bombing, we might make the monstrous beasts learn from them and become much more dangerous. After all, while monstrous beasts could move their armies, we couldn't move our cities.
The plan of acting like we were retreating so we could encircle the enemy was useless, too. They were monstrous beasts; they would break the encirclement easily, and flying monstrous beasts would attack relentlessly. It might be effective initially, but it was not good enough.
No, my plan would only work based on the logic of this world. It was something original that I came up with, and it would not work on Earth. But here, it was perfectly logical with what I knew.
It should work... hopefully.