1050 Chapter 1050 In the Vault
We’re back with Kat. This is just after Lily was thrown at Lian.
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Kat frowned as she was carried through the teleportation, biting back the worry and unease in her stomach. Despite the smooth transition, Kat was certain she’d never felt more uncomfortable using teleportation. *God? If you’re real, please make sure Lily stays safe. I want to trust her. I NEED to trust her. I’ve seen how fragile her confidence has become, and as much as I want to protect her from everything…
I know she needs to stand up for herself. She needs to realise that she can become a powerful and fearsome mage in her own right. She wants nothing more than to stand beside me and if I keep growing in strength and Lily can’t keep up, neither of us will be happy. Lily will forever be at risk, and on her end, she’ll think she can’t help me properly. Even if she’s the brains and I’m the brawn, if a Rank 5 can sneeze on her and kill her… I’ll never be comfortable and she might start to hate herself.*
Kat stepped out of the light in a daze, barely ready for a fight as the emotions swarmed around her stomach. She felt ill, and every instinct she had was screaming at her to tear her way back through space and time to stand beside Lily. To make sure she was safe. Even if intellectually Lily was probably safer where she was. Lily wasn’t HERE and that was an issue.
Kat couldn’t help but mentally eye the closed link between her and Lily. It was still there, it still existed. Even with no traffic it comforted Kat deeply. She wanted to rip open the connection, to KNOW that Lily was safe… but that wouldn’t be TRUSTING her would it. *It would be as good as telling her that I don’t trust her. Even worse if I tried to hide the fact that I was watching without letting her check on me. She’ll ask, I’m sure. Perhaps not immediately… but she’ll figure it out. No. I have to leave it closed. I have to trust her.*
Kat sucked in a deep breath and walked forward, with purpose in her step she didn’t really feel, taking in the room. Kat was almost certain she heard a faint sigh… then she realised something. The room was small. It was barely a corridor in truth. A painting hung on the right, and a vault door took up space on the left. The floor was densely packed ice covered by a layer of glass, and the walls were painted green.
And there, staring at the door, with slumped shoulder was Fake Meng. Kat watched as the woman slowly turned to face Kat with a frown on her face. Kat walked slowly forward, letting her be watched until they stood a few paces apart. There was that sigh again, and Kat realised it was the woman in front of her. “Um… hello?” said Kat with a touch of confusion.
“Hello Kat,” said Fake Meng, making Kat raise an eyebrow, “oh don’t give me that look. A demon bodyguard? Bodeir that overprotective fool WOULD do such a thing. I know who you are, I know that well. I was all but certain you’d come eventually, though, I must ask, how did you find out it was a trap?”
.....
*This is a surprisingly polite conversation.* “True sight,” admitted Kat, seeing no reason to hide it.
The woman cackled. It was a bitter, painful thing, as tears leaked out of her eyes. It was like hearing the sound of broken animal, knowing the end was near. It was… strange to Kat’s ears. She didn’t know if this would be a fight to the death… but Fake Meng seemed to think she’d already lost, horribly. “I can’t believe it. Decades of work… and all because an overprotective father happened to get lucky with his demon guard!”
Fake Meng shook her head, “I told my partner it wasn’t worth it. We even checked in with our superior, saying we should cancel the plan. That it was too dangerous with everything that has been going wrong lately… fucker told me I was going soft. Yeah? Well FUCK HIM TOO. I was RIGHT. God I can’t believe this. How old are you by the way?”
Kat wasn’t sure why Fake Meng wanted to know, but it was an easy question to answer, “Eighteen, though, I think my birthday is coming up soon? Days get a bit blurry when I’m on a Contract,”
Fake Meng nodded, “Yup. Bested by an actual child! Fuck I don’t even know what I want to do now,”
“Um… what do you mean?” asked Kat.
“Do I bother fighting you?” answered Fake Meng, “I’m not sure I could win, and even if I do, I’m not sure it would matter. At this point I’m sure Sue, your partner, has already informed the servants of Bodeir Sr that I’m a fake, and that my partner likely is as well. Dammit. Would it have been so hard to stick to the original plan? But NOOO the hostages are too valuable they say. Talents of the generation they said. Worth the effort they said. Well FUCK that old codger, it clearly wasn’t worth it now was it!”
“Huh…” said Kat, unsure how to take this.
“What’s got you so confused?” asked Fake Meng.
“Well… all the other cultivators I’ve fought have this whole ‘DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR'” said Kat, shouting the words in the best cultivator voice she could manage, “so I haven’t exactly had an experience where a cultivator just… isn’t interested in fighting to the death? Or at least, trying there best and running when it turns out I can stop them. The fact you don’t even want to try… well…”
Fake Meng nodded, “I see, well, you can call me Meng,” ‘Meng’ paused at Kat’s raised eyebrow, before answering the unspoken question, “it’s actually my name you know? A lucky chance, though my partner ISN’T really called Bang. I’m not going to rat them out if you haven’t seen them yet… but my name is Meng… and I raised that girl,”
Meng pointed sadly at the door. “Wait what?” asked Kat shocked. “But… but you look nothing like Bing or Fang,”
Meng nodded, “Oh, I’m not their biological mother but I replaced her months after the birth while she was weakened because of it. Bang, the real one that is, didn’t even fucking notice. Biggest disappointment of my life. He wasn’t even MY husband and I still felt disgusted by the fact he didn’t notice his WIFE HAD BEEN REPLACED. I’m not EVEN A WIND CULTIVATOR.” Meng was breathing hard, chest heaving. “That useless PRICK didn’t notice when ‘I’ was replaced, and I took great joy in poisoning and replacing him eventually. I might have felt bad, but he was a shit father, and a worse husband.”
Kat’s mouth was open, gaping in shock, but Meng was on a roll now, “So when I say, Bing is MY daughter, I bloody well mean it. I raised that girl. I cared for her. I loved her. I don’t fucking care what the pricks up the chain of command think, ‘Don’t get attached’ they said, ‘It’s for the mission’ they said, ‘You’ll get your revenge it will all be wroth it’ they said. FUCKING ARRAGONT SON’S OF WHORES!
“I didn’t fucking WANT revenge on the stupid sect, I wanted a family. Why would you give the barren spy a FAMILY! What did you think was going to happen? That I’d just happily hand them over to you fucks after I fought and bled for them! That I’d let you take my daughter from me? My son? That I’d just be a good little doll?
” ‘Oh it’s what you were trained for’ they’d say if they knew. Pricks. Fucking hopeless chucklefucks that don’t understand the idea of empathy if it bit them on the ass. Well guess what? Pretty sure I’m ready to take a few bites myself!”
*I have no idea what’s going on anymore. I’m so confused. Do I like… take the opening and disrupt her momentum? Point out how silly she’s being? Or just let her rant? Honestly I have no idea what I’m meant to do here.*
“Um… why keep working for them?” asked Kat, not really sure what the results of her question would be.
“Because I still hate this shitty sect. Have you heard the shit they say about my second daughter? Lian? I wouldn’t normally admit to that, but you already know Bing isn’t biologically mine, so I can fucking claim them both if I want it! Those stupid mortals didn’t know what they were giving up I tell you! Lian is such a dutiful daughter, and she tries not to show it, but the little scraps of affection I felt I could get away with slipping her mean so much to her.
“It breaks my heart every time I do it. She shouldn’t NEED to fight for scraps of my affection. I just want to hug her and squeeze her and tell her it’s alright. That I know what’s going through. I was an illusionist specialised in seduction. I know what people say about people like us. BUT NO. I’m MENG, MATRIACH OF THE HOLY ICY WIND SECT. WHAT WOULD SHE KNOW ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF A HATED CULTIVATION AFFINTY. FUCKING NOTHING APPARENTLY.”
*Welp. I officially have no idea how I’m supposed to navigate this fucking mess. *
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