Apocalypse Cultivation 2, ch 31

The three of them walked unopposed toward the mysterious double doors to the forbidden, private area.  On the way, Jake reflected on the fact his escape plan had gone to hell.  The Clay Bat might still be able to teleport, but he wasn’t sure if Bartok was completely healed yet after getting shot to hell.

Slim walked at his side.  The normally chipper, unflappable man plodded along, gingerly nursing one arm.

Behind them, a clean and serene Nag Geru followed.  He carried two large bags over his shoulder.  The usually serene man and fussed a little over Jake and tsked over all the blood covering him.  After he’d realized how little of it was Jake’s, he’d quickly stopped caring.

Jake wondered if Nag Geru was strange, or just a regular inhabitant of the Murim World.

The off-limite door was usually flanked by two golem guards.  They were currently nowhere to be seen.

A suspicion of sorts had been growing in the back of Jake’s mind, and now it was getting stronger.  The three of them stood silently before the door for a while, just looking at it, waiting for something to happen or some challenge to be called.

Nothing happened.

Jake had already formed several plans to deal with the golem guards here.  Most of them involved hiding in shadows and flash stepping behind them to attack their weak spots, or going alone to sneak through the doors.  His hope before reaching the doors a few minutes ago had been that the apparent non-involvement of the golems in Jailtown might extend to going through the doors.

Seeing no guards at the door was a little anticlimactic.

The three of them all looked at each other, shrugged, and moved forward.  As soon as the door opened, Jake was seeing a part of the Web Burrows that had been locked away the entire time he’d been a prisoner.  He was excited despite himself.

Some of the excitement was tempered a bit when the area behind the doors was revealed to be just another tunnel.

Jake led the way grimly.  From this point on, they would all be improvising.  Before setting out, he’d asked the other two men to follow his lead.  Slim was still wounded, in a great deal of pain, and had readily agreed.  Nag Geru had been as enigmatic as usual and just shrugged.

At least Slim hadn’t had any problem with Nag Geru coming along.  The three of them had been living near each other for years, and Slim had dealt with him before, too.

Being stealthy was a lost cause now, so Jake just confidently walked forward.  It was too bad that he couldn’t take a more careful approach but he knew he reeked of blood and death.  The two following him were not exactly the stealthy types, either.  It was better to be bold right now.

They finally came to another set of double doors, this one also unlocked.  Jake pushed the doors open as quickly as he could without making noise.  Beyond, he saw what looked like a mansion, all golds and velvets, gilt and brocade.

Despite their lack of stealthy movement techniques as a group, the three of them were still individually trying to walk as quietly as possible.  Jake wasn’t sure how useful it would be, but it seemed better than just clomping and stomping around everywhere without a care in the world.

Hopefully they wouldn’t run into Lady Brima at all.

The palace was absolutely enormous.  Jake looked into a few rooms, and almost started out of his skin when he saw a golem in one.  Behind it, he noticed that this was the first room that actually had stuff that might be worth stealing, a few chests and drawers and such.  Jake’s suspicion grew.

When the three of them passed another room with dressers and a closet, Slim wanted to explore.  The inhumanly ugly man seemed to forget all about his many injuries and probably internal bleeding once greed kicked in.  It was an interesting transformation to watch. The man’s silent smile turned into a comically big frown after Jake shook his head.

He quietly mimed a stompy golem and jerked a thumb back where they’d just come from.  Slim seemed to understand.

The golems might be letting the three of them pass, but if they started stealing things, the noninvolvement might abruptly end.  It wasn’t worth taking the risk.

Jake cringed when he suddenly heard singing.  The signing itself was quite good, but what it represented…  And of course, the only obvious way forward was through a hallway

He waved the other two to a stop, but hadn’t needed to.  Both of them were standing still, in a daze, obviously entranced.

Of course they are, Jake thought.  He had to suppress an irritated snort.  There were too many unknowns in this situation.  He didn’t know if Lady Brima was aware of exactly where he was, but he ad to assume she was.  Whether through reports by the golems or her own senses, it seemed likely.  Jake also had a hard time believing she just sat around singing hypnotic songs all day just in case someone came by, sneaking through her house.

The fact he wasn’t affected didn’t particularly surprise him that much.  Jake wasn’t even sure exactly what he was these days, and he’d done something he definitely was not supposed to do back when he’d been in the Silver Stage of Body Refinement.  This wasn’t the first time he’d noticed himself being more resistant to attacks on the mind or spirit than others.

So now he had to figure out what to do.  Fighting directly was out of the question, as was trying to sneak past.  He knew he had about zero chance of that.  Not only that, leaving his companions behind didn’t sit well with him.  The fact it wouldn’t make a bit of difference meant it wasn’t even an option.

He doubted that he’d be able to harm Lady Brima with his own strength…to say the least.  She’s said before the she was a Seeking Enlightenment Cultivator.  Jake actually knew what that meant, now.  She was past Soul Hardening, Meridian Refinement, Three Stages of Dao Manifestation, Power Refinement, and Eternal Mastery.  

Lady Brima, if she was telling the truth, was a true immortal.  She would never die of old age.  And with her cultivation level, she had the power to destroy a country.  Easily.

Even in the Murim World, most cultivators didn’t make it out of the Foundation Pillars stage, the stage after Reforged Body.  Lady Brima could destroy Foundation Pillars stage cultivators without moving a finger.

If Jake were to attack her head on, regardless of what stage she was in the Seeking Enlightenment stage, it’d be like picking a fight with a hurricane.

But maybe he could distract her.  If he were lucky, maybe he could even hurt her.

It was probably far too late for it, but Jake entered the shadows, trying to hide his presence.  He focused on it intently, bending his will and using the new, half-dao he’d glimpsed before.  He might have imagined it, but he thought he heard Lady Brima’s voice falter for a half second while he did so.

It’s probably been on purpose.

Then he crept forward, trying like mad to come up with a plan.  The singing got louder down the hallway until he could actually see what lay beyond.  He couldn’t actually see Lady Brima, but she had to be only a short distance away.

Jake crouched low, desperately trying to come up with something, anything he could do.  This situation had never been part of any potential scenario he’d planned for.  If things had gotten too dangerous, he’d resolved to retreat.  But he’d also assumed he’d be trying to escape on his own, and hopefully find a place to teleport with the Clay Bat.

But the bat was still damaged, and this place was harder to get through than he’d assumed.

He firmed his jaw.  There wasn’t anything else he could do, so maybe he actually should attack her.  Blooming Honor was a truly potent weapon, but Jake wasn’t sure that he would even get an attack in with it.  So maybe…  Yeah, that might work.  He used Phoenix Piercing Talon to open up access to his storage ring barely enough to review the contents.

Maybe if I dump a few thousand tonnes of rock on her… He still had quite a bit of the rock in his storage ring.

Jake’s head swam as he began to exert himself, pushing the hole open winder.  It grew.  He knew that if he could pull out some of the rubble, he could jettison it out, and the way the pacial power worked in the storage ring, once one item in a “stack” came out, he could keep sending the rest out…like a garden hose.  In effect, he was taking advantage of how the item worked to exploit it.  If he could fit the smallest rock out of the hole he was forcing, the massive, car sized chunks of rock should follow without a problem.

He was almost there.  Jake closed his eyes, forcing all of his attention and focus on the task at hand.

The singing suddenly stopped.  A voice rank through the entire house, clear as a surround sound system.  “Jake, immediately please stop what you’re doing.  I can feel some of it, and I can imagine you have something nasty to take out of your storage that might damage my house or make a mess.  If you insist on continuing, I will be forced to pluck your ring out of your heart and destroy it.  That will unfortunately kill you as well.”

Then Lady Brima went back to singing.

Jake felt a chill that went all the way up his spine.  He carefully let go of the pressure he’d been exerting on his Endless Storage Ring and sighed.  The gig was up.  At least he’d made his jailer stop singing her little song for a minute.

He stepped out of the shadows, walked forward at a regular pace, and entered the den to the side of the hallway.  Lady Brima was reclined on a huge divan against the far wall.  A fireplace crackled merrily to one side.  The spider woman’s large rear end was resting on a solid layer of pillows.  She stopped singing and began picking at an instrument as Jake came into view.  The lights around the room brightened a bit, but it was was still dim.

Jake’s friends came in behind him, almost like they were sleep walking.  Halfway across the room, they seemed to completely wake up, though.  Nag Geru’s eyes widened in surprise, which for a normal person would have been a shout and a freak out.  Slim almost fell over, and his mouth kept opening and closing.  He looked around, frantic and disoriented, his focus eventually fell on Jake.  Slim scurried over and practically tried to hide behind him.

Lady Brima gestured at some cushions on the floor.  “Sit.  Rest.  I rarely have guests.  We should snack.”  She grinned, and the effect was absolutely terrifying.  Jake decided she must be aware of it and probably enjoyed it.

Golems entered from a hidden alcove, moving far more quietly than they had any right to.  Each bore two trays full of drinks and little hors d’oeuvres.

This meeting was not going how Jake had expected.

He spoke up, saying, “Lady Brima, thank you for your, uh, hospitality, but I would like to bring up–”  He almost said the “elephant in the room,” but that was a metaphor from Earth.  Instead he said, “--the reason the three of us are here in your home.”

“It seems fairly obvious to me,” said the spider woman.  She plucked a stuffed quail egg off of a golem’s plate with long, dextrous fingers.  “You were trying to escape the Web Burrows.”

Jake couldn’t help but just watch her eat for a moment.  It was fascinating.  Her mouth opened too wide, she had too many mouthparts hidden away, and her teeth flashed as she chewed.  Jake got a feeling there was something more past a facade, too.  Something monstrous.  What he could already see would have been nerve-wracking enough during his first life.  But now he was unphased, just curious.

Of course, that was because she was restraining her power.  If she let it loose, he would have a hard time thinking.  All in all, Lady Brima was being quite polite, especially the circumstances.

Things would probably be different if Jake had tried to dump a mountain of stone on her head.

Slim kicked Jake’s foot, nudging him to answer.  He said, “Well, yes.  We were trying to escape the Web Burrows.”

“And you very nearly attacked me.”  The spider woman picked up her long stemmed cigarette holder from a tray on a table and blew a smoke ring.  “While you didn’t actually do it, I could kill you all for even preparing for it.  Nobody would blame me.”

Jake’s eyes went flat.  He spoke with the best pronunciation his inhuman teeth would allow.  While his tone was still polite, his words were clipped.  “Lady, you could already kill us at any time you want. Even though you said you don’t want to be at odds with my sponsor, I bet if you really felt it was necessary, you could delete me.  But you took away my freedom for ten years and yet I stopped what I was doing immediately when you called my name.  I think we are even.”

She waved a hand.  “This is a point.”  She thoughtfully nibbled her egg.  “Once you reach my level of cultivation ,you don’t need food anymore.  It’s still fun to eat sometimes, though,.  I think it’s one of the main, real reasons why the greatest masters in the world even entertain company or invite anyone to their home.”

Then she changed the subject , seemingly in mid thought.  “Do you know why the Web Burrows exist, Jake?”

He was tempted to say something snarky in response, but only said, “No, Lady Brima.”

“A long, long time ago I was in a sect.  It was called the Skull of Secrets sect.  After I moved here, to what is my own domain now, I was asked for help.  The request was to send worthy candidates to my old sect.  However, my name would be attached to all of these initiates, of course, so I had to ensure good quality for my own reputation.”

“So all of this is just a big, elaborate recruiting scheme?” asked Jake.

“More or less.  There are other benefits in it for me, but they could be accomplished in different ways.”  The spider woman tapped ash of the the end of her cigarette.  “Nag Geru, you can go back now.”

“Yes, My Lady.”  The mysterious man bowed, turned, and gracefully walked out like he didn’t have a care in the world.  Jake spared himself one glance.  Slim gasped and began to start after Nag Geru, but Jake caught his shoulder.

“Don’t.  He’s a plant.”

Lady Brima blew out a cloud of glittering, melon-smelling smoke and adjusted one of her big spider legs.  “You knew?”

“Suspected.  But yes.”

“They why bring him?”

“Because on the off chance he was a real prisoner, I still wanted to help him.”

The mysterious woman smiled and pointed her cigarette at Jake.  “I do not like all of your titles, I definitely don’t like your cultivation roots and your past teacher, but I must admit you are an interesting young cultivator.  Sometimes that which is entertaining is as good or even better than that which is ideal.”  She seemed to believe she’d said something good because she sat back with a pleased expression and tapped her cigarette stem against her teeth.

Jake glanced at Slim to see how he was holding up, and the man was visibly shaking.  His mouth was moving, like he was trying to say something.  He apparently thought better of it and shut his mouth, but gave Jake an imploring look.

I’m doing everything I can to help us survive this, trust me, Jake thought.  He turned to their dangerous host and sketched a bow as he saluted with a hand over his fist.  “I think I understand, and I am glad I could be interesting, although I am not sure what you mean.  Also, apologies for my companion.  He is just overwhelmed.”

Lady Brima laughed.  “No, he is afraid I am going to destroy his soul and devour his body.  It is not a completely unfounded fear, but you are quite lucky today, Luo Chong.”

Jake raised his nonexistent eyebrows.  “That’s your real name?  I thought it was Meng Hao?”

“Just call me Slim,” the lanky, blocky-teethed man answered.

Lady Brima gestured over one of the golems and sampled another delicacy.  It looked like something made with chocolate.  She waved the treat and said, “The truth is both of you are quite interesting.  Now that you have seen this place and you have been past the door, you must be aware it is impossible to escape without my permission.

“Prisoners disappear from the Web Burrows all the time, and most are just dead, but some have been through my mansion.”

Jake felt like he’d been hit in the forehead with a brick.  He’d never considered that.  His mind moved quickly, turning the new information over, thinking about some of the cultivators that had tired to escape and wound up back at Jailtown later.

He said, “You must have unknown rules for who you will let pass.”

“Yes, and of course they are unknown, otherwise the Web Burrows would not be nearly as good for what it does.  The prisoners could just game the system if they knew how the system was rigged.”

Jake was so curious, he had to ask, “So what are some of your criteria to let prisoners pass, to become new disciples of your old sect?”

Lady Brima leaned back.  She set down what she had in her hand and steepled her fingers.  Then she gave Jake a level look.  “You both will never repeat this, clear?  Swear on your cultivation base.”

Oh shit!  Jake inwardly cringed.  He’d heard of this sort of oath but never actually experienced it before.  Lady Brima didn’t do anything that Jake could notice, but he felt an immediate change as the Web Burrows restrictions were lifted from him.

“I swear on my cultivation base that I will not share what you are about to tell us about the Web Burrows rules,” said Slim.

Wow, that bastard didn’t even hesitate, thought Jake.  His enigmatic, inhuman host turned her glittering eyes to him.  Fuck.  He didn’t see any way to get out of it, even though making such binding oaths made him uncomfortable.  Plus, he was curious.  Jake said, “I swear on my cultivation base that I will not share what you are about to tell us about the Web Burrows rules.

He immediately felt power wrapping around him.  Cultivation Oaths were only possible at the Second Foundation Pillar stage and onward, same as an exponentially greater set of supernatural senses.

Cultivation Oaths were a common practice in the Murim World.  They could only be sworn if someone was not under duress and of their own free will, and at least one party was of the Second Foundation Pillar or higher.  Both parties usually tried to be as specific as possible, because if one broke a Cultivation Oath, it would severely damage an immortal’s cultivation base.  The severity of the betrayal corresponded with the punishment, up to and including shattering one’s dantian, or even death.

When the power wrapped around his spirit, he instinctively knew how to accept the oath, and held his words and intent while he did so.  Then he felt the oath settle into his soul.  It didn’t actually feel nearly as bad as he thought it might.

“Okay, good.”  Lady Brima smiled.  “There are a few ways that a prisoner of the Web Burrows can, ‘escape,’ and become a new disciple of the Skull of Secrets sect.  The first is to kill more than one person in self defense.  The second is to protect more than two people who would otherwise be murdered by another prisoner.  A prisoner can also defend their own life or belongings, lethally, at least twice.  The fourth is to protect several miners from demon beasts for no reason other than they feel it is the right thing to do, and to achieve a reputation for it.  Yet another way to catch my attention is to learn part of one of the great Daos that are scattered throughout the Web Burrows in hidden locations.  The last surefire way is to either rob or trade to become one of the three wealthiest prisoners in the Web Burrows.

“But how the Challenge takes place matters, too.  The Challenge is that name I give the actual act of the prisoner attempting to escape.  A prisoner who makes a big fuss about it and announces their future attempt to escape, or who the rest of the prisoners know is going to make the challenge is held to a higher standard.  They must be well known and feared among the other prisoners, generally known as outstanding or they will be automatically rejected even if they meet the normal requirements.  Those who challenge quietly, secretly, must only meet one of the requirements I’ve already mentioned.  But I can make exceptions for anyone I feel deserves, them, of course.”

She smiled.  “Jake, you meet almost every requirement.  It is unclear whether your challenge is secret or public, but that does not matter.  You have left an outstanding trail of stories behind you, even including the first enlightenment of a great Dao.

“Luo Chong, you have done the same.  And you have protected other prisoners from demons beasts from the shadows.  They didn’t even know.”

Jake frowned.  “I thought you couldn’t fight.”

“Not like you, I can’t, Boss,” the ugly man mumbled.  “But there are other ways of fighting.”  Slim turned and faced Lady Brima directly.  He was still visibly afraid, but he asked, “Lady, you intend to let us pass, but we will have to become members of your old sect?”

“That is what I said.”  The spider woman didn’t try to hide her amusement.

“What kind of sect is it?”  Despite his trembling, Slim’s eyes were steady and Jake was reminded of what Brima just said about the man protecting others.  “You mentioned a number of ways that someone can escape, or be chosen I guess, but some are noble.  Some are terrible.  What kind of sect are you recruiting for?”

“Now that is an excellent question!”  Brima picked up her cigarette again thoughtfully.  “There are only a few truly neutral sects in the entire world.  The Skull of Secrets sect is one of them.  Neither light nor dark, conventional or unconventional.  The Skull of Secrets Sect can interact with all other sects–Demonic, Orthodox, and Unorthodox.  Each approach to cultivation is represented and taught in the Skull of Secrets sect.”

Jake crossed his arms.  “That seems unlikely that all the other sects would tolerate the Skull of Secrets.  If the sect really does have aspects of every cultivation approach, that means all the other sects would be enemies, not allies.  So why would the rest of the Murim World tolerate a neutral approach sect?”

“Usefulness,” said Lady Brima.  She took a draw off of her cigarette.  “The Skull of Secrets sect has some of the best array smiths and other crafters on this side of the world.  We have been doing trade with all other sects for thousands of years.”

Jake slowly nodded.  “So what now?”  He could see how this was going.  Lady Brima was going to send them to her old sect.  He couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here.  It had already been ten years but he hadn’t forgotten about Master Zi’s granddaughter.  Now that he actually knew where she might be, and maybe how to get there, all he had to do was get his freedom.  “Are you going to teleport us to your sect?”

The powerful spider woman chuckled.  “Of course not.  Do you know how expensive that is?  No, you’re walking.  I’m going to give you both a letter of introduction that should speed you right into the inner sect.”

Jake got his hopes up.  This was even better.  The moment he got into the outside world, he was going to go far enough away to leave Lady Brima’s area of influence and then run away.  The Murim world was still dangerous as hell, but Jake wasn’t trapped on Mater Zi’s hellacious mountain range anymore.

“I have another question,” said Slim.

Jake carefully kept his face calm and tried to keep a relaxed vibe.  He could have strangled the idiot, though. They were so close to freedom.  Just shut the fuck up so she’ll let us go!  He wanted to yell so badly it was all he could do to keep from glaring.

Lady Brima blew out a cloud of smoke that turned into two stick figures having an animated duel with swords.  “Go ahead.  It is not often I get two prisoners succeeding in their Challenge at the same time like this, much two interesting young cultivators with such rare titles.  Two at once, both on their second lives.  Fascinating.”

Jake blinked and filed that one away for later.  Slim was turning into a fountain of surprises.

“I understand that we are going to join your sect, but we–I–was in the Web Burrows for a long time.  Is there any reward, or compensation for getting this far?”

Lady Brima’s eyes grew dark.  Her sclera, what little of it there was, disappeared.  “I will admit, my first instinct just now was to destroy you for impertinence.  However, actually, I might have something that would be appropriate and would serve as… hmm–” her voice trailed off and she lifted a finger.

A moment later, two coins drifted through the air from another part of the house and one hovered before Jake and Slim.  “Go ahead.  Take them.  Both are tokens to choose a treasure from the sublime treasure storage in the Skull of Secrets sect.  This should keep the Treasure Guard on his toes!”  She chuckled.

Slim quickly pocketed his.  Jake was slower.  He couldn’t wait to leave and escape but he was starting to get a bad feeling.  A really bad feeling.

“So now!  I think it is time to say goodbye.  The two of you have been very interesting to watch.  Jake, you in particular are extremely unpredictable, capable of great righteousness but also extreme ruthlessness.”

Is she finally going to let us go? Thought Jake.  His stomach was flipping like an Olympic Gymnast doing tumbles.  

“Now then, it’s time for the last bit of a formality before I get you go!”

Yes, yes, let us go! Thought Jake.  He was looking forward to being free so strongly, his fingertips tickled.

“Now you will both swear a Cultivation Oath that you will find the Skull of Secrets sect and become inner sect disciples.”

“God dammit,” whispered Jake.

“What was that?” asked Lady Brima.  Her tone was clueless, but her eyes twinkled.  Jake wondered how old she was.  She must get her ancient rocks off dangling hope in front of innocent people like this.  

Asshole old spider lady, he thought.