Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 22 🎸) (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 22

I rested my arm on my guitar. “So, what happened?”

Dread Lotus sighed. “What you’d expect. I went on a sect mission and it didn’t end well. To save myself and my fellow disciples, I used a forbidden technique that further damaged my health.”

I gestured toward where her maid brought the pill bottles. “But with your resources, you could easily find medicine to help you get better.” Though it would take some time.

“Heh.” She looked up at the ceiling. “That... you’re not wrong. But it’s an endless cycle of improving my cultivation, then pausing to stop my declining health, only to return to cultivating. Over and over again. Nothing changes!” Her voice cracked.

“Cultivation can often be painful and life-threatening. But the rewards are worth it.”

“Immortality is only useful if you enjoy life.”

That was true... but it was an odd fucking thing for someone who’d just joked around with me to say. Just how poor was her health?

I scanned her with my divine sense. What I saw made me want to grab her and shake her.

Many of her organs were on the verge of failing. Almost all of her acupoints were nearly clogged with impurities. She had lingering injuries that should have been easy to heal. To end up in this condition, she couldn’t have used any of the medicines her uncles sent to her!

Also, there were signs of long-term damage. It was a pattern I recognized that was caused by a rare special constitution called the Myriad Songs Body. Frankly, this condition sounded like something the shitty author of this universe just made up on the spot, but it was actually a double-edged-sword-type special constitution that was often seen in Xianxia. It made a musical cultivator an unbelievable genius; however, it cursed their body to grow weaker and weaker. The fact she practiced a body-weakening unorthodox method compounded the issue.

But that was just the obvious external shit.

Dread Lotus was fucking lucky to be born into the family she was. She had the resources to help her live a fairly normal life, even without a permanent fix for her constitution’s problems. Life shouldn’t be so hard that she’d want to give up. As a cultivator, she should have a strong mind that would prevent her from taking a dumb way out. Especially when she had such a supportive and loving family.

So why… Ah! I saw what was going on here. The forbidden technique injured her soul. This wasn’t unusual. The fact that Rose wasn’t able to heal her meant that her soul-based wound was tricky and was made worse by her diminishing health.

However, there was a straightforward and easy path to prevent her body from worsening. “Have you considered other cultivation methods?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve already tried everything this sect has to offer. I have no talent for anything other than demonic music. Except I was never healthy enough to try poison body cultivation.”

“Then you need solutions from outside the sect.”

“Do you think all my aunts and uncles haven’t already brought me everything they could think of from outside? Nothing has helped!”

She started coughing and her maid ran over with a handkerchief to prevent her from getting blood on her dress.

Damn. Her soul’s condition was even worse than I thought. She’d completely lost the most important thing a cultivator needed to reach immortality — an indomitable will.

I straightened my spine and looked down at her. “You’re forgetting something.”

She pursed her lips and waved her maid away. “What is that?”

I used my thumb to point at my chest. “I’m a fucking genius. Why else did your master send me here?”

“Because she’s desperate?”

Oh, come on. “Your master is a good woman who cares enough about you to trust me with your recovery. Which also means she’s very intelligent.”

She frowned. Her blue eyes studied me with suspicion.

“I will help you... However, I need some incentive to do my best.” Because if I had to remove the weaknesses in her constitution, it would take an immense amount of effort. Even if I owed Pearlescent Rose, this wasn’t something I could do for free.

Her eyes narrowed. “What? Are you asking for my spirit stones, treasures, and contribution points? Because if you can actually cure me, you can take them all.”

“No. What I want is something much more involved.”

She brought her hands protectively to her chest. “I won’t do anything weird.”

The fuck? Why would she think I’d want her to do something weird? Did I sound like a damn charlatan or something? Whatever. “I want you to join my band and help me heal others!”

Because Ghosty was even worse off than she was. She at least had a body as bad off as it was.

“Oh.” Dread Lotus thought for a second and then slightly shook her head. “Stop. I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to show me I have a future when I don’t. Others have attempted cures before. They’ve always failed.”

Motherfuckers! If I ever found the assholes who lied to her, I would beat to death. They made helping her so much fucking harder. Because now she was resistant to the idea that she could get better and she was suspicious of everyone offering a helping hand.

“I wouldn’t call myself an expert in special constitutions, but I know a thing or two. And you have one called the Myriad Songs Body. It’s not a disease, so it can’t be cured. What we can do is change it into an advanced version that increases the positive effects and removes the negative ones. And I happen to know how to do that.”

She scoffed. “You said it yourself. You’re not an expert. You’re also too young to be one.”

Cheeky brat! This was what I got for pretending to be humble.

She needed a good flick on her glabella. Sadly, she was too weak for that.

Since I couldn’t wake her up the normal way, I played a power chord. It must have done the trick since her eyes widened.

“Listen up! I’m going to sing you a badass rock song. Afterward, if you still feel like allowing yourself to waste away — I won’t bother you anymore. I can’t help you if you don’t want to fight for yourself. But if you feel like trying, then I’ll make you the healthiest girl in this damned sect!”

Her expression went back and forth between hope, suspicion, and anger. I half-expected her to throw me out.

As I watched her fight against herself, I wished Little Spring was here. He’d always been so much better at convincing people. I was positive his protagonist-haloed-ass wouldn’t have had to jump through so many conversational hoops to get her to agree.

Eventually, Dread Lotus sighed. “Since you were brought here by my master, the least I can do is listen to a song and give you a chance. Besides, I’ve heard her talk about your Dao of Rock, so I’m a little curious.”

“As you should be.” My Dao of Rock was profound, after all.

The question now was what this girl needed to hear to heal her broken soul and stop her from giving up.

Her brokenness stemmed from her health and her belief that she could never get better. From her perspective, she’d essentially suffered from an incurable disease that could only be managed.

I needed to play a song that could encourage her. Something meaningful that would make her want to see the future. To try again and keep moving forward. But above all, I needed a song that could heal her injured soul.

First, I thought of original songs by Irritating Ghost Pepper and Drowning Melody. But, in the end, the best songs for healing still came from those inspired by Tool’s music.

I’d actually written the perfect song with several of my students. It was called ‘Walking the Spiral to Immortality,’ and had been heavily inspired by Lateralus.

It almost seemed like fate that a song we all worked on together could help the next generation of rockers… or would this count as the previous generation? Whatever. I knew my students would be proud either way.

I inserted my spiritual energy into my guitar and picked out the very long and slow intro. “Before I sing, let me first introduce some concepts to you. Things you’ve seen but may not be aware of. Truths about our universe that will blow your fucking mind.”

She rolled her eyes, but I could see I had her attention.

”Everything that exists is connected. Yin and Yang, plants, even the measurements of your face. All are influenced by a concept observed in certain numbers and ratios. This connection can even be seen in the way our planet rounds a sun that speeds ever forward as it travels through the stars around a spiraling galaxy.” Wait, while this was true for my original world, it might not have been correct for this one. Well, I was either right or horrifyingly wrong since Xianxia could get weird and make no scientific sense. Whatever. I wasn’t an astronomer and Dread Lotus wouldn’t know anyway.

“Even in cultivation, you see it. Because we walk along a continually growing spiral to reach immortality. A spiral of ever-increasing energy.” Mathematically speaking.

“Once you break the concept down into numbers, you’ll notice it in the music you hear. And it is especially prevalent in this particular song.”

As if to prove my point, smoke from the medicinal incense twisted into a spiral above us.

”But I’m not here to give you a lecture on mathematics. Instead, as I sing this to you, I want you to close your eyes and relax. Open your mind up to possibilities, just as you’ve discovered the profoundness of the spiral and its connection to everything.”

Dread Lotus closed her eyes.

I lifted my hand high into the air and brought it down heavily. Intense notes filled with energy reverberated through the room. They reached inside her so deeply she would feel the vibrations in her soul and bones.

Dread Lotus sucked in a deep breath.

That was when I sang to her a song that spoke of beautiful discoveries, opening oneself up to possibilities, and using them to walk along a spiral of opportunity toward immortality.

It touched on the concept of embracing the truth of the heavens to fight against their will. And the need to keep going. Because, regardless of what happened, if one walked along their path of cultivation, they had to keep moving ever forward. To live and grow. To become powerful! But, above all, be human. Because it was the human things that made an immortal life worth living. A profound truth that only someone like me, who had reached the peak and returned, could impart.

[Image Link]

With one last echoing chord, I ended the song. Dread Lotus opened her slightly watery eyes. The tip of her nose had gained a bit of color.

I tossed my guitar back into my ring. “Touched?”

“No!”

I grinned.

Look at this fucking liar.

Her maid stepped over and wiped the moisture from her eyes.

She glared at me. “Why does a song about something so stupid make me feel so...”

“Inspired? Like if you keep living, you’ll see things that will make you want to live forever.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t. Because I’m going to help you get back on your feet... and you’re going to join my band so we can heal others together.” Muahahaha!

It was good to see that the Rock my students and I created was as effective as I remembered.

She swallowed. “Do you really have a cure for my… special constitution?”

“If I didn’t have a way to help you, I wouldn’t have said anything.” As the best goddamn alchemist on this world, I knew that if I couldn’t fix her condition, no one could. “But before we get into that, you need to decide on a secondary cultivation method that will support your current one.”

“I already told you, I’m not skilled in anything else.”

I ignored her. “Your choices are to learn orthodox alchemy or body cultivation. Because, if you’re going to remain the healthiest girl in the sect, you’ll either need to know which pills will help you or have a body that won’t break.”

The maid frowned. “How dare you suggest body cultivation to someone as frail as the young miss?!”

Dread Lotus shook her head. “Not alchemy. While I can memorize songs, I can’t do the same for plants. I’ve tried. I even wrote a song to help me, but ended up forgetting the lyrics.”

“Then body cultivation it is. I was hoping you’d choose that.” I wondered if she’d be willing to be a drummer.

“Young Miss!”

She sighed. “It’s fine. If I’m the healthiest girl in this sect, as Fairy Linlin says I will be, then I’ll be able to practice body cultivation.” A grin spread across her face. “I’m actually looking forward to it.”

The maid hesitated and then backed down.

Yes! Final band member get!

I put a jade slip to my temple and created a list of all the ingredients I’d need to fix her constitution issue, bring her to full health, and have her start on her journey of body cultivation. Since I couldn’t use my cauldron while I was here, I also included a request to borrow a decent one.

With a flick, I sent the slip over to her maid who grudgingly caught it. “I’ll need these.”

Dread Lotus nodded to the girl. “Tell my maternal uncle that I need everything right away... and let him know that he can visit if he brings them himself.”

“Yes, miss,” the maid bowed. The corners of her lips had curled up.

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Author’s Note: Thank you all for reading! You are the best readers a writer could ask for!

The next chapter will be in Little Springs POV and there will be lots of fun with Xiao Bai. I had debated whether I was going to include his POV in this story or not. I tend to focus on Lin because she knows everything but she is also an unreliable narrator. So it’s good to see other people’s perspectives.

I just couldn’t resist referencing another Tool song in this story. Especially when I’d already connected it in my mind to cultivation. Because numbers can get a writer into trouble I never specify them (if I can help it), but I think you could approximate how much spiritual energy is required for each increase in Qi Condensation layer by the Fibonacci sequence. That’s also why the lower realms of cultivation are closer together, while the higher ones are further and further apart.

I also referenced a video similar to this one… talking about how we are spiraling through space. It’s a fun concept.

By the way, if you want to know if I (the story’s shitty author) made the Myriad Songs Body constitution up on the spot... I will admit nothing. Just kidding. I’ll explain what happened for those interested:

The part with Dread Lotus actually changed a lot from my first outline of it. I’d originally planned to have something much darker almost happen to Dread Lotus during her mission.  Pearlescent Rose would have taken revenge... but it would have still harmed Dread Lotus’ mental health and soul. But, in the end, WIAFTTTTA, is a mostly light-hearted comedy. It doesn’t need super dark shit to muddy the waters. Mere slightly dark shit is enough.

After that, I went through a few other ideas on what her backstory could be. Eventually, I changed it to her being weak and her doting uncles and aunts being too overprotective. This was to the point she wanted to rebel and prove she could do things on her own. So she went out on a sect mission where she encountered a problem and shamefully had to ask her family to bail her out, completely disheartening her.

This was a little too shallow but I wasn’t sure how to fix it.

Then as I wrote this part, I guess my recent health issues inspired me so I thought of making her someone who had essentially been dealing with constant health issues and finally had a setback that made her think of stopping her fight against it. Actually, Dread Lotus reminded me a bit of my stepfather who had suffered from heart troubles all through his life. He was a man who knew he wasn’t in good health and could die at any time but he still joked around with the doctors. He had a truly amazing attitude when it came to life and his condition. I wanted Dread Lotus to have a similar outlook. At least she had originally before her soul was injured. That’s why she joked around with Lin at first, because that’s who she normally is.

In the WIAFTTTTA universe, the soul holds the memory and personality of a person. It’s the software. So a soul that is damaged has an effect on a person’s personality and memories. The body is the hardware. So an injured body will affect how well the personality and memories run.