Dragon of Rochester
patreon
Story 10 - The Spy Who Rocked Too Hard (Part 20 đ¸)
🕑 Added 2024-02-17 05:41:40 +0000 UTCAuthorâs Note:
Thank you for being the best readers on Patreon! Here is the link to the Google Docs for those who prefer it.
Part 20
By the time I finished talking to Winter Fox, Little Spring had been pulled into a poison-concocting competition. Classic Xianxia. A main character couldnât go five chapters without getting into something.
A borrowed cauldron steamed in front of him as he mixed various ingredients. He kept glancing at Water Viper and the girl from earlier, as if he was trying to figure out what order to put each toxic herb in.
Wait, was he copying these alchemists because Iâd told him to keep a low profile? Very good!
Off to the side, Little Teasing Mouse quietly cheered them on while jumping up and down on the balls of her brocade slippers.
It didnât take too much longer before large billows of purple vapor wafted from each cauldron. With a hand seal, the two regular disciples sent the misty poison to collect into a pill in the air.
Now that was an unusual pill-forming method!
Little Spring had been using the hand seals I first taught him while hiding it behind the old ones. Once he reached this point, he created a seal on the cauldron with his spiritual energy and then twisted his fingers into our pill forming seal. Beads of sweat covered his forehead.
Once they finished, Water Viper collected his pill into a jade bowl and brought it to a disciple who must have been nominated as the judge.
The judge rolled the pill around the bowl while he used a technique on his eyes Iâd never seen before. âOh, my! Look at the color and clarity! This is a high-quality Three Lines Decapitation Toxin. Its poison efficacy is 76%! Absolutely deadly.â
Now that was an interesting technique! It was hard to get exact numbers in this time period, so something used to examine a pill accurately was valuable. Iâd have to learn it while I was here.
The girl sniffed disdainfully. âThe last time I concocted this recipe, I had an efficacy of 80%.â
Water Viper snorted. âDonât lie. That one was only at 70% at most.â
She handed her bowl to the judge.
His eyes glowed as he looked down at her submission, then shook his head. âYour pill has an efficacy of 72%.â
Water Viper sneered. âSee, I told you Iâd be the better poison arts teacher for Little Teasing Mouse.â
Little Spring gave the judge his own blow. âIâm undeserving of being Little Teasing Mouseâs poison arts teacher. But I will take the contribution points you promised me, seniors.â
The two looked at him like they couldnât believe he thought he had a chance.
âBut I donât think Iâll be too much better than you, since this is my first time concocting this pill.â
The judge narrowed his eyes on the purple pill. âWait. That canât be right.â It looked glossier and clearer than the other two. âHold on.â
Oh, noâŚ. Did this brat forget to keep a low profile after all?
::You didnât create a pinnacle pill right?::
::Of course not! Even you have trouble creating one your first time.::
Sure, but logic didnât always work when it came to this kidâs protagonist halo.
âThis pill⌠has 81% efficacy!â
Everyone in the room stared at Little Spring with wide eyes.
âWhoa!â
âImpossible!â
::That low? You must have worked hard.::
::Thank you, Sister Lin! I tried my best to add a few minor imperfections that match the ones my fellow disciples were adding. Sadly, our superior hand seals increased the quality too much.::
They did that. ::Regardless, I think you did an excellent job of keeping a low profile while not looking weak.::
::Thank you, Sister Lin!;;
::Return to your space once youâre done here. Iâm going to teach you to craft a new instrument!::
::A new one?::
::youâll like it. Itâs called a Majestic Kick-Ass Aluminum Keyboard of Many Sounds - Lesser Version.::
He paused for a second. ::Thatâs an interesting name.::
::As you can see, Iâm very good at naming things.::
::...:: He sent me a brief disbelieving glance. From that, I was sure it meant he couldnât believe how awesome my naming style was.
Little Teasing Mouse ran over and hopped excitedly. âI told you that heâs a genius!â
âThis has to be some kind of mistake!â Both Water Viper and the girl said in unison.
The judge huffed and crossed his arms. âIf you donât trust me, then donât ask me to judge.â
Little Spring held up both hands. âPlease donât complain. Itâs obvious that I was just lucky. Itâs Senior Water Viper who deserves to be Little Teasing Mouseâs poison teacher.â
Water Viper crossed his arms. âWell, youâre right about that.â
The brat held his palm out. âWhile I canât teach her, I will take those contribution points, seniors.â
Little Teasing Mouse grabbed Little Springâs sleeve. âI knew you could do it!â Then she turned to her friends while wearing an adorable smile. âSee! I said he was a genius! Now I get to be taught by a genius! This is so lucky!â
The kidâs eyes widened and briefly darted to me in panic.
::But I already said I couldnât do it. Why is she ignoring me?::
::Uh. I canât deal with her.:: She was too disgustingly cute. If I went over there, I might say something logical and aggressive that would make me the enemy of everyone in the room. Just like what always happened in my past life with Bloodswordâs wives. It was not something we needed while we were undercover. ::Youâre going to have to get out of this on your own. Weâre here to spy on this sect. If you spend all your time teaching that idiot how to concoct pills, you wonât be able to contribute to getting our asses home.::
His jaw tightened. ::Iâll take care of it.::
Bloodswordâs fucking braindead wives were the worst.
***
My large crucible with an exact mixture of spiritual metals flew into the furnace to melt. That was the signal. Little Spring automatically took over control of the flames. Next, I brought over the two special molds I had spent an hour preparing while I waited for the brat to enter his space.
Frankly, he should have returned sooner, but apparently, it was difficult to get away from his new friends. They had kept him way too long when I had a lesson planned.
I was not fucking happy. But, as his teacher and older martial sister, I wasnât sure what to do about it.
Once the metal finished melting, I used a technique to lift the crucible and shake it.
âRemember, the metal for this instrument should be shaken, not stirred.â
âWhy is that?â
âSo that the metal becomes softer and more malleable on the inside, and harder on the outside.â
Before its perfect consistency was ruined, I poured it into each frame box. While I counted down until the boxes had cooled, Little Spring took care of the crucible.
âQuick, bring the hammers over. Itâs about time you practice that new technique.â
âYes, Sister Lin!â
The big and little hammers flew into the furnace.
I broke the seals on each box, exposing the steaming silvery metal to the air. With a flick of my wrist, I sent both sides of the keyboard into the forge.
I grabbed a handful of gold powder and threw it inside while controlling it with my spiritual energy. It formed the base for several enchantments and drew perfect lines between where each key would go and the slots for the recording crystals.
âHit each line with the little hammerâs Long Dragon Tapping method.â
The kid closed his eyes and his hands moved. I could see the hint of an illusory dragon behind him before the hammer struck each line in quick succession.
God damn protagonists. When did he reach this level of forging? Didnât I just fucking teach him this technique not too long ago?
I grabbed a handful of the local spiritual chrome powder and casually threw it into the furnace, so it covered the exterior of each side.
âNow, take the big hammer and use Hard Strike to harden it until it has a mirror finish.â
His brow furrowed as he concentrated. Then the big hammer crashed into the keyboard, causing it to bend.
The kid froze for a second and glanced over at me with wide eyes, checking my reaction.
Fuck. I didnât let any shock show on my face. Usually, he did everything near perfect the first go around. Maybe his new friends were distracting him? Very calmly, I said, âFinish it perfectly.â Because I didnât want to spend more money and time on this project.
âRight away!â
He used the big hammer to bend it back, then carefully hammered each side while looking very stiff. But he managed to finish it.
I pulled the two sides out and set them on a stone table to cool. Fortunately, I could tell by how each side settled onto the table that the bend had been fixed. Still, I needed to find out where his head was at.
âSomething you feel like telling me?â
âThe thing is... to get out of teaching alchemy to Little Teasing Mouse, I had to... promise to play together tomorrow.â
â...â A vein bulged in my forehead.
I could tell from the heat wafting off the two sides of the Keyboardâs aluminum frame that theyâd cooled to the point I had to work on them again. I pulled out the bag of recording crystals and began slotting them into the round sockets made just for them. The kid grabbed a handful and helped from the other side.
âI know you warned me...â
âSo you do remember!â
He winced, but continued to place the crystals inside the slots. âSister Lin...â
âWhatever.â With a clack, I set the last crystal inside the slot.. âJust limit your time with her and donât forget what I told you.â
âDonât be mad. I couldnât teach her alchemy, so I had to make up for it somehow.â
This fucker. If my physique wasnât improved with body cultivation, Iâd have a headache. âYou did not need to âmake up for itâ. It sounds like you fell victim to some manipulative tactic.â
He winced. âThatâs⌠You didnât see the way those seniors glared. If I hadnât made that promise, it would have started a fight. And beating up so many people stronger than me wouldnât be low key at all.â
With the bottom of the base completed, I pulled over the bin of keys weâd created and began painting their top with a glossy spiritual paint Iâd concocted using several of the ingredients I had ordered earlier.
âPlus, I think going around the sect with Little Teasing Mouse will be a good excuse to search for more clues about the scroll.â
âOnly if you can figure out a way to get an invitation to the second level of the treasure pavilion.â
âIâll do that! I promise.â
When I finished painting the last key, I set my brush down and crossed my arms.
I did not like this. But the kid hadnât done anything stupid in a while... aside from almost fucking up my instrument. Not that Iâd ever admit it to him, but in some ways heâd been more responsible than me. Especially while my brain hadnât been quite right back when I first time traveled. Of course, thanks to my cultivation, I was now perfectly sane. Muahahaha!
In the end, while I didnât trust that mouse girl, I respected Little Springâs ability to make a logical choice.
âAlright. Letâs finish this keyboard. Tomorrow weâll have to record all the sounds.â
âYou need my help for that?â
âNo, but you should know how to forge one of these by yourself. By the time we complete it, youâll be the second smith in the universe who can create a Majestic Kick-Ass Aluminum Keyboard of Many Sounds - Lesser Version.â
The kidâs eyes filled with determination. âIâll do my best, Martial Sister Lin!â
***
With Little Springâs help, it took only half a day to get the various notes and sounds I needed. Mostly because I had him stretch out a wire so I could hit it with a hammer while recording. It made things go much faster than doing everything by myself.
He also convinced Xiao Bai to bork at different pitches for some alternative sounds. Once I played his voice back to him, he tilted his head adorably, then howled along.
We next visited my students, who had continued to learn new songs. I recorded Three Drops Silent Toxin as he demonstrated each individual drum sound and had Shadow Panther play every bass note.
The two grinned when I played back the sounds theyâd help with.
Recording like this was something I liked to call a Sound Wave Scavenger Hunt.
It wasnât perfect, but it was fast.
Once weâd finished collecting the last notes we returned to the space. I finished the final adjustments to the instrument causing an illusory silver dragon to appear above the keyboard before vanishing.
Finally! Weâd finished. Muahahaha!
It looked so good and performed perfectly. This was going to make Melodic River look so cool.
Little Spring hesitated. âSister Lin, are you sure some of those sounds were even necessary?â
I paused. âNo. But I need this instrument to sound more complex to snag another bandmate.â
He looked exasperated, as if questioning why we had to go through all that.
âIt will help us heal, Ghosty. Anyway, be grateful that this is a lesser version. I spent a whole month collecting sounds for the full Immortal rank keyboard once.â I stroked the smooth silvery surface of the instrument. âThis one has merely reached sky rank. But itâs good for our current cultivation.â
He seemed to struggle for a bit. âSpending that long gathering sounds would be very frustrating.â
âIt wasnât terrible. I had all my Dao of Rock students help me with it. Theyâd kept coming up to me, wanting to add more sounds to it. They were all very proud of their contribution towards it. When you work together on a project like this, itâs fun.â
He grinned. âI agree.â
âNow that itâs complete, want to hear it?â
He nodded.
I grinned. âThen meet me outside my immortal cave as soon as you can.â
***
I exited my temporary home to find Melodic River drinking a small bowl of medical wine under a nearby tree. Her languid posture made her appear damn cool. She really would make a fantastic member of my rock band.
âThere you are!â She smiled. âIâve been waiting for you. Did you finish what you needed to?â
I pulled out the silvery keyboard and inserted my spiritual energy into it until it hovered at the perfect height for playing. Since I was a master weaponsmith, it had been simple to add a flying tool enchantment to the instrument. Especially since this was a tool for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Melodic Riverâs eyes widened. âYou didnât mention that it could fly!â
I grinned. âThatâs part of the fun. If you get good enough, you can even play it while itâs above your head.â
âI think you might have been underselling it. Could you play for me?â
âIn a moment. An⌠Older Martial Brother of mine is coming to listen in.â
âOh,â she seemed slightly disappointed. But then grabbed a gourd filled with wine and shook it. âHow about we drink until they get here?â
âIâm underage.â
Her eyebrows furrowed as a skeptical expression crossed her face.
I shrugged. âIâm a little younger than I look.â While also being much older than I was physically. Time travel was weird. And it made things like drinking age and when to treat myself as an adult fucking awkward.
I had been an adult in a childâs body for the first 9 years of my past life. Technically, this was my second time going through this kind of age awkwardness. Frankly, it was one of the reasons I avoided romance at the beginning of my first life here. By the time Iâd become an adult, comfortable in my own body, Iâd seen too much of this fucked up Xianxia world I lived in and decided to swear off romantic relationships altogether. They werenât worth it. Not when someone could betray me for a heavenly treasure, sell me for their own benefit, or try to use me as a cultivation cauldron. Fuck that shit.
She sighed. âIt would have been nice to know that earlier.â
âWell, itâs more good wine for you.â
âSo it is!â She grinned.
I heard Little Spring call my name. I turned to see him running over, followed by Xiao Bai and Little Teasing Mouse.
God damn it. I had to deal with her again? Ghosty better appreciate the amount of frustration I was dealing with to heal his ass.
I raised an eyebrow at the brat.
::Sorry, Sister Lin. She followed me.::
Authorâs Note: Thank you all for reading! You are the best readers a writer could ask for!
Thank you so much for your patience as well. This illness really kicked my ass. Last week, since I ended up not improving much, I ended up going into urgent care where they gave me antibiotics for bacterial bronchitis and two inhalers due to low oxygen levels.
I am now feeling much better! By Tuesday this week I was able to start editing, but it went a bit slower than Iâd like since I was still recovering. I actually still have a little bit of a cough.
Comments
SinCinnamon
Yes! Iâm with you!
ScarletIce
I got the distinct impression that Melodic River's disappointment wasn't about Lin not being able to drink...
Aruj
Being a minor mattering for... anything really feels like a novel concept for a xianxia.
ScarletIce
Am I the only one who wants Lin to take Little Mouse under her wing and put her through boot camp hell? Either she'd be traumatized and run away (problem solved) or she'll learn some actual self-sufficiency which is Lin's biggest issue with her. It's a win-win scenario.
Lola
Iâm glad youâre feeling better! I really hope Teasing Mouse doesnât follow them home, too. The only of Bloodswordâs wives I like so far are Fairy Garlic and Fairy Jubejube.
![[Image Link]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/996145339650293891/1208285904012316702/20_copy.jpg?ex=65e2baf0&is=65d045f0&hm=0c4d9933097300543ca9b37427796248d9eaf76d5bb54d6bd02585a60f7cf35a&){kind=link}