Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 48/52 🎸) (Patreon)

Author’s Note:

Thank you for being the best readers on Patreon! Here is the link to the Google Docs for those who prefer it.

Part 48

The box’s enchantments were better than I thought possible from this backwater continent. The one I wanted to remove was one that prevented it from being placed inside a different space. But there was another that would explode the contents of the box if it was forcefully opened. And it wouldn’t be a minor explosion either. It would take out half of the South Peak and made me think twice about forcing it open.

Basically, this box was more dangerous than anyone mentioned.

There were also several enchantments that just made the locking mechanism possible. From them, I could tell that it had something to do with music and bloodline. If someone of the incorrect bloodline tried to open it using the right song, it would detonate. However, if someone from the right bloodline even got it partially correct, it would open.

There were so many other enchantments on it.

I had finally worked out a way to remove the enchantment that prevented it from being placed in a spatial ring when the eagle fucking dropped me.

I’d been too focused on solving the problem and hadn’t realized that we’d arrived.

Lord Bountiful’s mansion grew as I headed toward it. I’d guessed this was where the bird was headed.

“Ha!”

As if I’d let it drop me where it wanted.

I created a pillow of divine sense and jumped toward the main city. 

For a second, I flew through the air. Until my shield vanished and my face slammed into an invisible wall. 

“Motherfucker!”

I dropped and landed gracefully on the ground. I absolutely did not land on my ass out of shock and have to jump to my feet.

But even if I did, who could blame me? Because if the wall was what I thought, I was fucked.

To confirm, I pressed my palms forward. They stopped. I tried to enter the space without the box, but nothing happened.

Shit…

“A goddamn space lock?!” And one that prevented me from sending or receiving messages. If I’d known about this, I would have contacted the brat and told him where the eagle was taking me. 

“Yes,” a familiar voice said from behind me. “It was very expensive, but, as you can see, it was worth every spirit stone. I knew you had a tool on you that allowed you to teleport, so I couldn’t let you wander about with a weapon so destructive.”

I turned around to come face to face with Lord Bountiful. He wore black and gold robes that were made out of high-quality spiritual silk that would help him take attacks. He also had several defensive tools on him and spatial rings. The man was decked out and ready to fight.

He smiled at me, but there was no warmth in his eyes. “How are you doing, Fairy Lin?”

“I’ve been better.”

He gestured to the box. “You’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain.”

“Unwillingly.”

“Oh, I think you’ll hand it over quite willingly.”

I scoffed. “What? You expect me to just give you the scroll?”

“No, Fairy Lin. I expect you to die... if you don’t.”

I paused. That phrase sounded almost familiar… like something trying to avoid copyright infringement.

Whatever.

I shoved the box into my robe and pulled out my guitar. Apparently, this space lock was damn cheap, since it did nothing to prevent spatial items. “Try me.”

He started walking like I wasn’t a threat. “Before you get physical, perhaps you should see this?”

I scoffed. “And walk into your trap?”

He smiled. “Aren’t you curious about what’s happening with your student?”

Ah, fuck.

***

I followed him, past the various spiritual beasts in cages, to reach a familiar seaside cliff. 

He whistled, and two body cultivators dressed in his estate’s uniform lowered a massive fishing pole over the shark pool. When it was parallel to the ground, the drape covering the top fell off. An illumination pearl at the tip lit up Three Drops Silent Toxin as he struggled against his bindings. Then he noticed me and slumped.

“Teacher Linlin! Save yourself!”

Slashes of sword Qi from the sharks below attempted to slice him, but they hit a shield. One that dwindled with each strike. It wouldn’t last long.

He yelped and started to struggle again.

Goddamn it. How dare this fucker mess with my students?!

Unfortunately, between this bountiful fucker, his spirit beasts, and his servants, there was no way I was getting out of this alive. 

While it was possible that the cheap-ass space lock was set so no one could leave but that people in Foundation Establishment and under could enter, that didn’t mean anyone would come for me. I was on my own here.

And once I was dead, well, they could easily take everything off my corpse and get the scroll then.

Right now, I had the feeling that the only reason I wasn’t dead was because he liked toying with me. Mostly because he thought he’d already won.

Damn it. He kind of had.

“The more you think, the longer it will take. If you don’t give in fast, your precious student will lose his life.”

I sighed. “Why are you doing this?”

He smiled. “I believe you left me a message with the word ‘No’ on it.”

I winced.

“What a simple phrase to leave. It conveyed your betrayal so well.” A vein bulged in his neck. “You really shouldn’t have messed with me, Fairy Lin.”

“If I hand it over, who are you going to give it to?” If it really was the Alchemists’ Guild then I’d hand it over right away.

“The incense stick is burning.”

“Answer the question.”

“At this point, that’s no concern of yours.”

“Then what about payment?”

“You can’t still expect payment, can you?”

“We signed a contract.”

He laughed. “Well, unfortunately, I had to use the spirit stones I set aside to purchase your teleport to buy this space lock tool.”

This fucker. I doubt he ever planned to fulfill his end of the bargain. 

The shield protecting Three Drops was getting closer to falling apart. 

Goddamn it. Why did I have to go and start taking in such awesome students? Ones I just couldn’t let die.

I fucked up once in my past life. In this one, I would never abandon my students who learn my Dao of rock!

I pulled out the box and lifted it above my head. “Release him or I’ll blow us all up!”

He laughed.

“This box has a trap on it that will explode an area four times the size of your mansion.”

“I very much doubt you’ll do anything. You’re a member of a righteous sect.”

I grinned. “My student and I are about to die anyway. I don’t have anything to lose, do I?”

Seriously, was this where I was going to fall in this life? On a backwater continent in front of an egomaniac like this?

Could I get lucky another time and have a third rebirth? Doubtful. But it could happen. Haha. Hahaha. Muahahaha!

“You’re crazy!”

I frowned. “I’m perfectly sane. Just ask any of my students.” I turned to Three Drops. “I’m sane, right?”

His eyes grew wide, and he nodded a little too quickly.

“Then what about the loss of life? My city is right down there.”

“Oh, but this is where you messed up. You see, this space lock will keep the explosion contained nicely. It’ll make sure your buildings turn into smaller pieces of rubble while your innocent civilians stay safe.”

His face turned red. “You have to be joking! No one from the righteous faction could be so reckless!”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m not a good person. Now get my student down from there or we all go boom.”

He paused. I could tell that he didn’t believe I’d actually do it.

I took out my sword and stuck the tip in between the lid and the bottom. If I applied enough pressure right there, I would trigger the explosion.

I stared him down.

His jaw tightened.

He let out a breath before jerking his head toward his henchmen. They nodded and brought my student back in.

After they untied him, Three Drops limped over to me. “Teacher! What did he mean that you’re from a righteous sect?”

“We don’t have time for that. Get behind me.”

He nodded and did as I asked, with no questions.

We slowly walked over to the mansion as I faced this fucker. If there was a way to undo the space lock, it would be in there. Most likely in the shape of a spiritual tool. I could think of several designs that existed in this time period. Only one was inexpensive enough that a Golden Core cultivator might be able to purchase it if they had the wealth of a city behind them.

It would work in a tiny area and be very limited. Now I just had to use those limits against this fucker.

A black vine darted out from the door I was heading towards. It wrapped around the box and wiggled between my fingers and the wood. I adjusted my grip, but it pulled the box right out of my hand!

The fuck?!

I turned to see a demonic cultivator with straight black hair come out of the mansion holding the box. His eyes glowed with an evil pink color as he studied me and then he dismissed me as a threat. “Lord Bountiful. You’re playing with your pets’ food. It’s taking too long.”

[Image Link]

Ah, shit. He made a deal with the demonic cult? I knew he wasn’t a good person, but I thought he’d at least not be an amoral idiot.

Bountiful casually waved his hand in the direction of the unorthodox sect. “We have plenty of time, Demon Lord Xu.”

The evil cultivator scoffed. “I’ve already sent out the army to collect the life energy from the Irrepressible Beast Blood Sect. If I want to gather enough energy to reach Nascent Soul without alerting their only Immortal Bone Creation expert, I need to use this scroll.”

The city lord shook his head. “Well, it’s not like you can open that box. If you try to, you’ll blow yourself up and everything around it. But I suppose you could always send one of your slaves to open it in the middle of their sect.”

What? Did this fucker think this was no big deal since it was just the lives of unorthodox cultivators getting killed? 

Apparently, even in this universe, exceedingly rich assholes were extremely out of touch with reality.

But this also explained some things. To Lord Bountiful, the Irrepressible Beast Blood sect hurt his bottom line. So much so, he’d rely on the damn demonic cult to get rid of them. Add in whatever they were giving him for the scroll, and it was a no-brainer for someone with no morals.

Xu shrugged and fiddled with the box. “That’s none of your concern.”

Ah, shit. He was going to blow us all up, wasn’t he? I needed to get that box back. Unfortunately, I could feel that this guy was not only a step away from Nascent Soul, but he was also far stronger than the pink-haired fuck I’d run from earlier.

Fighting him would not be easy. Fighting him with Lord Bountiful and his pets as backup was impossible for me. Well, if I was in Golden Core, I could take them. 

“Alright. You have your box. Now, give me what I requested.”

With Three Drops behind me, I slowly made my way over to the mansion’s other door.

Demon Lord Xu grabbed a bag from his waist and tossed it to Lord Bountiful. “We’re done here.”

The city lord casually peered inside. A grin contorted his handsome face into something that looked grotesque.

“Sister Linlin!” Dread Lotus’s voice was so loud and clear it reached everyone’s ears.

I turned to see my friend and Little Spring pass through the space lock.

Damn it. While I was glad they were here to help, I’d almost made it inside with Three Drops. The only way we would get out of this is if we stopped that damn tool.

::Sister Lin!:: I heard the worry in his mental voice.

::Little Spring!::

::Sister Lin!”

::Yes?::

He said my name again.

::What?! This isn’t a good situation.::

::I’m just happy you’re still alive!::

::For now.::

Gold String Delicate Touch arrived just after the first two, and lastly, Azure Melodic River. My whole band came to save me!

Seriously, my heart couldn’t take this. I never thought anyone here would risk their neck to help me.

I looked over, hoping to see Noxious Fangstrike and Pearlescent Rose.

The poison master slammed into the isolation barrier of the space lock and visibly cursed. He pulled out his cauldron and used it to batter the invisible wall.

Just as I thought. It limited entry to those below Golden Core.

If we were going to survive this, that space lock had to get taken out. But I was too eye-catching and couldn’t be the one to do it.

I pulled out one of my few remaining Foundation Establishment defensive talismans and slapped it on Three Drops’ back while simultaneously throwing him inside the mansion.

::You need to find the Spiritual Tool responsible for this space lock and turn it off.:: I then sent him information on what it would look like and how someone as weak as him could make it stop. 

Turning off an advanced tool like that without the key would normally be impossible for a weak Qi Condensation cultivator. Frankly, it would be futile for anyone except an expert toolsmith.

Unfortunately for Lord Bountiful, I just happened to be one.

I used Impossible Leap to run over to my band members and martial brother.

“You guys shouldn’t be here. But I’m glad to see you. We might even have a chance to stop these two.” I gestured to Pink-eye Xu and Lord Bountiful-assholery.

Gold String narrowed his eyes on the two Golden Core men and the several henchmen that gathered around them.

Xu gestured to us. “Lord Bountiful. Your beasts’ food is starting to get uppity. Please get rid of them while I’m being nice. And then let me out of this isolation barrier. I have to join my army.”

“Sure, Demon Lord. It was a pleasure doing business with you, as always.”

Ah... that explained his absurd wealth for being a mere City Lord. He’d been in league with these fuckers the whole time.

And the worst part was the way they both casually dismissed us. It showed how they didn’t see us as a threat.

::Everyone Get into Battle of the Bands Formation 7!::

Even as my friends moved into position, I pointed at the pink-eyed fucker. “Never take a rock band lightly, asshole.”

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Author’s Note: 

Thank you all for reading! You are the best readers a writer could ask for!

I had too much fun with this chapter. I included spy movie jokes and even snuck in a subtle Inuyasha joke. Fortunately, it is a normal-sized chapter. The previous two combined had the same word count as 3.5 chapters, which should make up for there not being a chapter out on the week of the 29th.

I do apologize for getting this out late. My boy’s cough seems to be getting worse and keeping us both up at night (which is doubly shitty since I have a hard time getting back to sleep due to my insomnia). 

I did take him to a doctor recently. Unfortunately, his lingering cough is from a virus, so there isn’t anything I can do besides what I have already been doing: warm honey water, soup, cough syrup, Tylenol, humidifier, keeping him warm, and other things like this.

That said, I am coming down with a cough myself. I would not be surprised if I get very sick this week with a cold, so plan for the next chapter to be released very late Sunday PST this week. If I can’t get one out this week due to a cold, then the next chapter will be out on December 7th. (I’ll be sure to keep you all informed) 

I do hope it’s just a mild cough this time and not a brain-fogging cold. I hate not giving you guys the chapters you deserve on time.

Thank you! You all are the best readers ever!