Dragon of Rochester
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Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 42/52 đž)
🕑 Added 2024-09-23 06:28:08 +0000 UTCAuthorâs Note:
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Part 42
Since I was there, I listened to my band members individually and corrected them on our battle songs. Also, I made doubly sure everyone could play the song that melts faces correctly. After that, I had promised to meet up with my little students.
Three Drops Silent Toxin had moved into a courtyard with Shadow Panther so they could practice together. When I flew there, they were doing their own things.
The first thing I did after I landed was check Three Dropsâ body cultivation progress using my divine sense. Thanks to the cure Iâd found, heâd reached the equivalent of the sixth layer of Qi Condensation. That was shockingly fast.
âKeep up the good work, and youâll be joining the inner sect in a year or two.â
He looked excited. âThank you, senior!â
Next, I went over to the massive table outside to check on Shadow Panther. Bone pieces and spiritual silk threads were spread all over the surface. She was in the middle of creating a second human-shaped puppet based on the first one weâd put together. She proudly held up a joint.
âTake a look at this.â
âYou need to shave off a couple of micrometers right here so it can move easier.â
âH-how can you tell?!â
I grinned. âDivine sense, and many years of practice.â
She marked the section I pointed to with a stick of charcoal and frowned intently at it.
âAlright, you two. Pick up your instruments!â
While I waited for them to set up, I threw a handful of formation flags into the air and used my spiritual energy to send them flying. They landed in a near-perfect soundproof formation around my students.
When they looked at me, prepared to practice, I grinned.
âI already told you about the battle of the bands.â
âYes, senior.â They looked nervous.
âAre you ready to fight for your teacherâs honor?â
They glanced at each other, then shook their heads.
I expected a more enthusiastic response, but... âThatâs fine. We still have a week to prepare. Now, letâs hear why youâre not ready and see if we canât solve those issues.â
Shadow Panther cautiously said, âSenior Linlin, we just started learning. How can we possibly go up against musicians whoâve been practicing for decades?â
Three Drops nodded like it was obvious.
If we went by their logic, then a Xianxia protagonist with a year of training and cultivation shouldnât be able to beat a young master with a decade of practice and the best pills. But it happened all the damn time. Including in this fucked up universe.
With my hands behind my back, I began walking around them. âAge doesnât matter. Experience, while important, doesnât matter.â
They both looked at me like I was crazy. These fuckers.
I stopped and pointed toward them. âWhat matters is that you have immense talent and the ability to play the best songs in the Dao of Rock! Ones that will outshine anything musicians at your level can perform.â I grinned. âCan you trust me?â
âYes, Senior!â
I knew I could count on these two!
***
The rest of the week passed in a blur. I did not have a single moment to rest or meet up with Little Spring. Instead, I had to spend every waking minute preparing. I concocted various pills, checked on my badass band, and used my knowledge of my past-past lifeâs technology while applying it to the spiritual tools I developed in this one to create a super kick-ass hologram.
Oh, I also checked in on my studentâs two-man-two-puppet band from time to time. They werenât perfect, but they were steadily improving.
It was a wild fucking week.
The few times I did see Little Spring, he was busy with his own war preparations. From what I saw, that was mostly practicing the sword techniques I taught him, and working with Xiao Bai to become a better beast trainer. Or something.
Actually, I wasnât too sure. While heading to another practice session, Iâd seen him playing fetch, so I assumed that was what he was doing.
Once Xiao Bai had returned with the big stick Little Spring commanded him to sit, which the dog did while looking heart-stoppingly adorable. After feeding him a treat, Little Spring pointed to where Ghosty chatted with the gold dragon. The not-beast ran up to him and bit his arm.
Well, it was more accurate to say he attempted to bite his arm and instead just flew through his projection a few times before getting grumpy and trotting back to the kid while sulking from his perceived betrayal.
Just a normal boy doing normal things with a completely mundane pet. It had been nice to see.
Wait! Goddamn it! The not-dog was getting into my head again!
Aside from the fact that the puppy was definitely not normal, I couldnât help but feel like I was forgetting something. Well, whatever. I was sure Iâd figure it out later. I wasnât too worried since Iâd already completed everything on my âLinâs Badass List of War Preparations For a Safe-ish Time.â It only took hard fucking work and a week with absolutely no sleep or rest.
***
On the morning of the festival everything that we could do at the last minute was done. At that point, there was only getting through the day and doing our best before a goddamn war started. Because even if the Wild Hoof managed to trade the evil-ass scroll for the cure, we knew it wouldnât end so simply. Especially once they found it locked inside a box that they couldnât open.
We had a reason to believe that the scroll was on the second floor of the treasure pavilion. Rather than focus on following the junior sect leader â who might not have the damn thing â Little Spring and I decided to pick up our recording tool and check to see if someone was caught taking the evil thing out. That meant we had to pull it out from under everyoneâs noses.
It was time to spy!
We walked up the stairs together toward the second floor of the pavilion.
::Sister Lin. The security here is no joke. We wonât be able to call it to us and expect no one to notice.::
::Donât worry. Iâll distract them. You just need to grab the tool.::
::How are you planning on distracting them?::
I straightened my spine. ::Thatâs easy. My existence is enough of a distraction.::
::... Uh, Sister Lin, I donât think it works that way.::
::Just stay behind me and call for the tool when everyone least expects it.::
He nodded, and I took the lead.
A Golden Core cultivator stood between me and the second floor. She crossed her arms and glared down at me as if she dared me to come up. So I did. I didnât stop until I was two steps from the top.
âThe only ones allowed up here are those with approval or with a token. Do you even have one?â
I grinned. âNo. But Iâm working with Poison Master Noxious Fangstrike. You wouldnât prevent his assistant from entering the second floor, would you?â
She glared down at me and scoffed. âI havenât heard anything about that.â
âImpossible! Everyone knows I fixed the sectâs Beast Blood Bath.â
âNot me.â
âWell, if you werenât stuck up here, then maybe you would.â
Her eyes narrowed on me. âYeah. No. I think youâre that girl who hurt our Little Teasing Mouseâs feelings.â
âAre you saying one childâs emotions are more important than the entire sectâs wellbeing?!â With how they protected that girl, it was like the genre switched to a damn Otome Isekai novel. Was I going to encounter a psychotic Duke of the North with black hair and red eyes or something?
That rat girl certainly had the halo for it.
âWhat Iâm saying is that you canât come up here until you have approval or until you get a token!â
âI see. So you really want to upset Senior Noxious Fangstrike?! Do you know how furious heâll be?â
Crack! A loud noise sounded from the doorframe as a tiny ball the size of a bead flew through the wood and into Little Springâs hand.
Fuck!
I punched the door frame, causing it to shatter even more and hide the path of the tool.
Little Spring tugged on my robes. âJunior sister Linlin! Please calm down! We can just talk to Senior Noxious Fangstrike! Theyâll have to let us in then.â
The Golden Core cultivator pulled out a whip. I formed several hand seals, creating a shield that glimmered like a thousand interconnected stars shining within a blue nebula. The whip struck, causing it to shatter.
My stomach dropped as I fell backward down the stairs. My back slammed into the kid and we plummeted to the bottom floor. My bony elbow must have struck his diaphragm because he groaned.
Everyone in the pavilion turned towards us with wide eyes.
Awkwardly, I rolled off him and jumped to my feet. While straightening my robes, I yelled, âYouâll be hearing from me again!â
Little Spring stood, and I grabbed his arm. ::Letâs get the fuck out of here before they make us pay for damages.::
The Golden Core woman started casually walking down the stairs. Her eyes filled with rage and her hands clenched into fists.
She absolutely planned to beat us up if we didnât leave.
Motherfucker. If we were going to save this sect, then we didnât have time for this shit.
::Sister Lin, letâs run!::
We both used Impossible Leap to reach the pavilionâs door in a flash.
The woman followed us like a serial killer who knew she could catch us at any moment. She didnât even bother running.
Gold String suddenly entered the crowded pavilion. The kid and I shared a look, silently agreed, grabbed the bassist under both arms, and ran out.
His eyes went wide. âWait. Sister Linlin! Whatâs going on?!â
âNowâs not a good time to buy a spiritual tool,â Little Spring said. A few yards outside, we released him and hopped onto our flying swords.
I pointed to Gold String. âHey, Iâll see you before the concert. Get ready to kill it out there.â
âSister Linlin. Weâre playing healing music. That is the opposite of killing it!â
Goddamn it. That was just slang!
I waved him off as both Little Spring and I raced towards my immortal cave before the Golden Core cultivator decided if she wanted to run after us.
***
We entered the space right in front of Fairy Lake. Since there was no time to lose, I held out my hand. The kid placed the recording tool on my palm.
I used a hand gesture to stop the recording and increase it to a reasonable size. With another gesture, I had the video play in reverse.
I saw the two of us fly backward towards the pavilion. We stepped off our flying swords, grabbed onto Gold String, and pulled him toward the door where we released him. Then we suddenly appeared in the stairwell.
The kid grimaced as the image on the sphere showed us fumbling awkwardly on the ground. Yeah, that could have gone better.
âIsnât there a way to make it go faster?â
âNot if we donât want to miss the person picking up the scroll.â
In the video, we floated upwards towards the top of the stairs. A whip attack struck, causing the Starfield Shield to form around it and solidify before vanishing. I formed the seals in reverse.
Damn, I created those perfectly.
âHere, watch this.â
I played it forward and in slow motion so he could see how beautifully I completed the shield and learn from it.
He gave me a look I couldnât figure out. âSister Lin. We need to find the guy fast.â
âSure, but you can still learn from me. Really, I should use these videos in your training sessions more often.â
âSister Lin, please?â He looked at me with his big eyes and slightly flattened puppy ears.
The kid used an adorableness attack. It was super effective.
âAlright, letâs keep going.â I reversed the video.
Its perspective moved as it slammed through the wood of the doorframe and embedded into the wall. Then we waited several boring minutes until someone with blue hair walked backward onto the upper floor. He reached the counter, where he pulled a giant spiritual fan out of his bag and placed it on the countertop. The short guy acting as a clerk picked it up and brought it to the back room.
âI guess thatâs not him.â
I nodded.
The video kept playing in reverse and the man left.
Shortly after that, the security guard jumped behind the counter and gazed lovingly into the eyes of the small clerk. His face turned a deep red, then he hugged the tall Golden Core woman and... I shielded Little Springâs eyes.
Seriously? They were a couple?! Scandalous. Not that I gave a shit or was actually offended. I just wasnât big on watching a private moment between loving partners.
âSister Lin, why canât I watch?â
âBecause this shouldnât be spread around.â
After the gratuitous make-out session, the two separated and returned to their posts.
I lifted my hand off the kidâs eyes right as a black-haired man walked in holding onto a long thin box.
I paused it.
Why was someone carrying something out and not putting it inside their spatial ring? That was just asking for someone to steal it.
I kept playing until I reached the part where he came in. Then I played it and used a twisting knob gesture to turn the volume up.
He placed a gold token on the counter with a clack. The little clerk glanced down at it and paled.
âI thought the sect decided not to take this out? What aboutââ
âAs you can see, the junior sect leader changed his mind,â the manâs cold voice echoed through the room with finality.
âY-yes. Iâll...â He licked his lips. âIâll bring it out right away!â The clerk rushed into the backroom.
I focused on our targetâs back and memorized what he looked like from behind. Since Little Spring needed to know this too, I pointed out the odd way the man stood and the way he tapped two fingers on the counter as he waited impatiently.
A few minutes later, the clerk returned holding the same box I saw earlier and set it down while picking up the special token. He bowed deeply, and the suspicious man turned to leave. I paused it to get a better look at the guyâs face.
He had black hair, cold yellow eyes, and panther ears on top of his head. I memorized his face which was fairly generic and not very attractive. As he walked away, every step held so much power that I was sure he was a Golden Core cultivator, at least.
I focused on the box. We had to grab the right one because there was no way I was letting this thing get into the hands of the demonic sect.
Little Spring leaned down and also studied the image. âHey, Sister Lin, does this have an enchantment on it that prevents it from entering a storage bag?â
I smoothed a strand of his white hair. âGood work noticing that! It does, which means that this guy will have it on him right now.â
âIf thatâs the case, then we just have to find him before the handoff and steal it!â
âOf course!â I grinned. Though that would be easier said than done.
âActually, can we go have fun at the festival while we look for him!â
Well, it would be nice to take a break before the shit hit the flying spiritual fan. It had been a long fucking week with no time for rest.
âAlright, letâs do that.â
The kid jumped in excitement and accidentally bumped into my hand, causing it to move slightly. The video played again.
âThis is bad... this is really bad,â the small clerk said while biting his nail. âEven if we give the demonic sect that scroll, there is no way theyâll let us go. And in the off chance they do, we wonât escape from the wrath of those stupid righteous sects...â
âHush, I know. But donât worry. Iâll be here to protect you.â
âOh, Senior Sister!â They embraced.
And that was enough of that. I turned it off.
We both pretended that we hadnât seen that last part.
Authorâs Note:
Thank you all for reading! You are the best readers a writer could ask for!
Thank you for your patience! I apologize for the late chapter. I managed to get a terrible stomach ache Friday night that kept me up through Saturday morning and prevented me from finishing my edits. As a gift, I made this chapter about 700-800 words longer than usual. So itâs about a third longer than a normal chapter.
I also wrote a little over two pages at the beginning of the chapter today because we needed to catch up on Lin's students and see how they were doing before the festival.
I had a ton of fun writing this part originally, with the chaos that happens at the pavilion and then the review of it going up to finally seeing the guy who has the Maguffin Scroll. I hope you all had just as much fun!
Comments
nugitoBambino
Lmfao when Lin went to replay the video as a teachable moment I started cracking up on the train. When Lin invents Lins Badass Super Awesome Focusing Pill (Adderall) she will truly be greater than mount tai! Tftc!
![[Image Link]](https://i.imgur.com/8QLn2pM.jpeg){kind=link}