Book 6: Chapter 50: The Ruins (5)
As pets go, its really creepy, said Misty Peak.
Sen gave her a level look. Its not a pet.
It acts like a pet. It follows you around all the time.
By that logic, youre my pet. Should I be scratching you behind the ears?
The look of blind outrage on Misty Peaks face was too much for Sen. He burst into laughter, which didnt help things at all. She stalked toward him with bloody vengeance in her eyes. It was a challenge to duck and dodge all of the punches and kicks she threw his way while he was still laughing, but Sen wasnt one to let small things like debilitating laughter get in the way of saving his own life. By the time the fox woman got tired of not landing any blows, Sen had his amusement mostly under control. Mostly.
Stop smirking at me, said Misty Peak with barely restrained fury.
My other pet isnt nearly so demanding. Did you see how it just quietly waits for me?
I will cut your throat in your sleep.
Alright. Alright. Ill stop poking fun, said Sen taking up position by the door leading back outside.
Its better for your health that way.
Youre in a terrible mood. Did I forget to feed you today? asked Sen before darting out the door.
Sen crouched in a shadowy corner behind a building while Misty Peak hunted for him, shouting his name, and issuing very graphic death threats. He decided then and there to leave out the part of the story where he ran away and hid in any future telling of the tale. He glanced up at a soft chittering noise. The spider was clinging to the wall above him. While Sen couldnt be entirely sure, he felt like the spider was giving him a reproachful look. He eyed the spirit beast.
What? asked Sen in a quiet voice. She had it coming.
When Misty Peaks anger seemed to have subsided, Sen and the spider cautiously emerged from hiding. They tracked the fox woman down, who was leaning against a wall, arms folded across her chest, and staring at Sen with eyes narrowed so much they were barely slits. As Misty Peak looked like she was about to say something, the spider abruptly moved sideways to put some distance between itself and Sen.
Traitor, muttered Sen before he announced in a loud voice, well, important business to be about. Spatial treasures to find.
The fox stalked right up until she was standing nearly nose-to-chin with Sen, glaring up at him.
Dont imagine for one second that were anywhere near done with the whole pet discussion. We are not.
Sen formed a mental fist and seized all of the comments that sprang to mind which he was certain would lead to instant bloodshed. He promptly crushed those thoughts and looked for anything less inflammatory to say.
Yeah. I figured.
With one last glare, Misty Peak spun on a heel and started walking away. Sen gave her back a curious look.
Where are you going?
To find that spatial treasure.
Do you know where it is?
She stopped and turned around to look at him like he must be stupid. Really? A powerful cultivator treasure tucked away in a sacred city. I thought I might start with that huge building at the center of the city that looks like a giant temple.
Sen looked past the fox and toward the inner part of the city. There was, in fact, a large structure rising above all of the other buildings. It did seem to fit with what Sen had seen from other temples. He gave the building an unhappy look. For some reason, it hadnt been visible from outside the barrier, which made Sen nervous. Having dealt with illusions just recently, he wasnt certain how much he should trust what he could see inside the city. But she had a point. It probably was the best place to start the search.
Oh. Well, yes, that would make sense.
You hid from me for nearly two hours, said Misty Peak while rubbing at her forehead. What were you thinking about if not where to find the treasure?
I was thinking about hiding!
Misty Peak threw her hands into the air, made a noise that did an unreasonably good job of telling Sen how unimpressed she was with him right then, and stalked away. Sen looked over at the spider, which had been steadily putting more and more distance between them. Sen rolled his eyes.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
She wasnt mad at you, he said and started off after the fox.
The city wasnt massive, but the trip took longer than Sen expected. Part of it was that Misty Peak couldnt seem to let go of the mystery hed discovered. She kept stopping and walking into buildings she seemed to pick at random. Sen opted to wait outside while she did those things. No reason to provoke her, he thought. Every time she came back outside, she looked less happy.
That one too, she said, breaking the silence for the first time in a while.
I sort of thought it might be like that, said Sen.
Any ideas?
Nothing Id be confident about saying out loud, said Sen before he stopped and gave their surroundings an angry look.
What? asked Misty Peak.
This is taking too long.
I wasnt taking that long in those buildings.
Sen shook his head. Not that. This trip to the center of the city is taking too long. We saw this whole place from the outside. It cant be more than a few miles across, but that temple is barely any closer. I havent sensed any kind of qi techniques at work. What about you? Are you sensing any illusions?
The fox looked from Sen to the still-distant temple. Her eyes went briefly out of focus before she shook her head.
Theres nothing nearby that I can sense. This is all real as near as I can tell.
Sen took a moment to saturate the ground around them with earth qi. He focused on everything it was touching, and all he got back were normal impressions of stone and, much deeper, soil. He repeated the process with air qi in the surrounding area and didnt find anything out of place. Not sure what else to try, but convinced that something was wrong, Sen summoned a cheap dao hed taken off of someone hed killed along the way. He walked to the nearest intersection and drove the sword down, burying the tip of the sword in the stone below. Misty Peak came over and tapped the sword with her foot.
Whats this supposed to do? she asked.
We need some kind of visual landmark that isnt part of this city. Something out of place that can serve as a reference point. If we are actually moving in a line toward that temple, the sword should remain behind us at all times.
You think we arent?
Sen rocked his head back and forth a little. I think that something is going on here that were not seeing. Probably something were not meant to see. Something designed to keep us away from that temple. At least, thats my good theory.
Is there a bad theory?
The bad theory is that this city is bigger than it looks and that spatial treasure your grandfather wants so badly has warped it somehow.
Misty Peak considered those options. Okay. I see your point. Im hoping for the first choice.
Sen took the lead in their walk and kept glancing back to see if the sword was still there. For a short time, it was there. Then, it was gone from behind them and Sen could see it down a street to his left. He came to a stop and simply pointed to it. Misty Peak gave the sword an unsettled look before she finally asked a question.
Did you even feel the environment change? she asked.
I didnt. You know more about manipulating what people see than me. What do you think we should do?
Sen waited while the fox paced back and forth a few times with her brows furrowed. Whatever was happening to them was well beyond his experience, and he knew it.
We keep going, at least for a while. Maybe we can piece together enough information to understand how this works. Right now, this feels like a trap, and I know I dont want to be stuck in here forever.
No kidding, offered Sen. Ive got a few years worth of food, but Im not feeling good about what happens after that. I havent seen anything like food in here so far. Have you?
A few years worth of food. What kind of disaster were you planning for?
All of them, I guess. You cant ever really have too much food.
Sen decided not to mention that he could get by without food if he had to do it. Hed done it before. He just didnt want to subsist entirely on qi, even if it would probably prove easier and easier to do so over time. That was just a step too far removed from humanity for Sens tastes. He knew that, if he ascended, there was a good chance that such things would be commonplace. It didnt mean he felt a rush to embrace it. His teachers hadnt, after all. Pushing away the distracting thoughts, Sen eyed the sword and then their ultimate destination. He gestured to Misty Peak.
Lead the way. Maybe youll have better luck than I did.
For the next hour, Sen paid very close attention to his surroundings. Despite the temple always appearing as though it was directly ahead, the sword exposed that lie. It would appear and increasingly disappear from their sight, sometimes to their left or right, sometimes behind them, but slowly growing more distant. Sen picked an intersection and drove another sword he knew hed never use into the street. As they set out, Sen decided to take a different tack. He cycled for earth qi and used it to displace part of the road as they traveled over it. From time to time, hed give the spider a look, but it was just walking after them seemingly unconcerned about their current situation. Either thator it wasnt able to follow the conversation enough to understand what's happening, thought Sen. This might all just look like human madness to it. After another hour of watching the new sword appear and disappear seemingly at random, Sen figured that it was probably time.
Lets stop here for a minute. I want to check something, said Sen.
What is there to check?
Our trail.
Without bothering to explain himself beyond that, Sen formed a qi platform and rose up over the city. He kept expecting to find the barrier above, but he didnt. He wasnt sure if he just didnt get high enough or if it was somehow open at the top. He assumed it was the former, otherwise that barrier would just extend up into the sky forever. Sen understood the qi consumption of formations rather well, so he knew that an open barrier like that wasnt realistic just in terms of what it would cost in energy. He was able to get high enough to get a better sense of the city, which was perfectly circular. Yet, looking down on it, the city did look bigger than it had from outside the barrier. That started a sense of unease, but it was looking at the visual trail hed left behind that truly gave Sen pause. They had been weaving a complicated path through the outer edges of the city. When seen from above, though, that path in combination with the circular design of the city looked vaguely familiar. He stood on that platform for quite a while as he tried to dredge up whatever memory was associated with that pattern. When it finally clicked, he lowered himself to the ground.
You took your time, said Misty Peak. You also dont look very happy. What did you figure out?
What do you know about mandalas?
That they exist. Thats about as far as it goes. Why?
Because Im pretty sure were stuck in one.
This chapter is updat𝙚d by f(r)eewebn(o)vel.com