Novel: I attained the Dao through Music, accompanied by Twin Sugar Mommies?
Chapter: 005 (Wasn't a Dream, Meets Luo Yu)
In a certain white-walled cave of Emptiness Butterfly Clan's Ancestral Mountain, a lady with the appearance of a twenty-five-year-old performed a dance to no music, a hand fan in each hand.
Each of her movements would seem simple yet graceful to mortals but those with high enough attainments on the arduous path of cultivation would realize that she was practicing a certain Martial Art. Every movement of hers had the potential to cause pin-point accurate damage to things and opponents.
A pond away from her, Jing's eyes opened and after the blurriness faded, the white roof of the cave came into his view.
"So, it wasn't a dream huh…" he muttered as the events from earlier—the transmigration, inheritance of a fallen regressor's thoughts at his final moments, and the glare of said regressor's father that overwhelmed him into losing consciousness.
Recalling the red-haired Emptiness Butterfly Clan Patriarch, he shuddered.
Dongfang Qincang, having not bought into his act back then, wouldn't let him off the hook, right?
'It's already a great miracle that he didn't directly attack my soul or something.'
[Host doesn't need to worry about that Zenith Heaven discovering anything peculiar about your soul. My creator's handiwork cannot be so shabby. Even Chaos Gods wouldn't find any anomalies.] the system reminded Dongfang Jing of its presence. [Unless they employ an Ultimate Origin artifact to do so… Which is both irrational and impossible.]
Dongfang Jing heaved a small sigh of relief as he slowly sat up, "Then as long as I…" he started but trailed off.
Standing before him was a lady in red robes with light brown moon-shaped eyes and ponytail-styled hair. Gone were the hand fans she had used in her training earlier as she stood a few feet in the air, staring down at him silently.
Taking in her features, a name appeared in Dongfang Jing's head. 'Luo Yu.'
From the predecessor's memories, he learned that the person before him was one of the predecessor's only two real friends. Unlike the others who followed the predecessor merely due to his position, she and some other fellow called Di Shan were genuine.
She was the daughter of the clan's Eastern Protector, Feng Hua, and a high-ranking Elder in the clan's Alchemy Mansion, Luo Cang'an.
'The earlier parts of the Predecessor's memories that I do not have… with her cooperation, my chances of being discovered will be a lot lesser.' During their brief, impromptu, silent, and awkward staring contest, he thought it through, weighing the options of whether to keep up the act of amnesia or come clean to her. 'However, it's hard to say what her reaction will be when she finds out that one of her dearest people has been body-snatched, even if I play the "I have inherited his memories and will" card.'
In the end, he sighed inwardly as he chose to stick to the safer route. "Who are you…?" he begun, cocking his head slightly to the side. "You seem so familiar… yet not at the same time."
"…" Luo Yu remained silent, her expression unreadable.
Dongfang Jing grit his mental teeth and continued. "Do I know you?" He slowly rose to his feet and approached her with pleading and yearning in his gaze. He pointed at himself. "Do you… Do you know who I am?" His gaze swept the surroundings. "Where we are?"
Luo Yu's silence remained.
The knot in the transmigrator's stomach tightened, some worry creeping in as he wondered what verdict the red-haired clan leader had come to. If, as the system assured, Dongfang Qincang could not discern that his soul was not his son's, then what did the Patriarch think had happened?
Dongfang Jing reached out and grabbed Luo Yu by her shoulders, bringing his face so close to hers they could feel each other's breath on their skin. He shook her left and right and muttered, "Not speaking… Beauty, could you be some sort of Puppet or Golem?"
Luo Yi's lips remained sealed, her hazel gaze locked onto him, following his every movement.
Dongfang Jing stepped back away from her and started to walk around, exploring the place. "Right… where did that old man with hair like blood go? He seemed to know me. Could he be the puppet's owner?"
Following the winding path of the cave, he soon arrived at what appeared to be the exit and the afternoon sky came into view.
"Eh…?" He was surprised to find that he could not get out. "A barrier?"
Luo Yu who silently trailed after him had no idea that while he outwardly seemed so calm and curious like a child who woke up and found themselves in a strange but intriguing place would if they didn't give in to panic, crying for their parent, the same was not the case inwardly.
'What's with the silent treatment? What is she thinking?' he wondered. 'Eh… wait a minute. Since I am not dead and everything I saw before blacking out was not a dream, doesn't that mean that the Evil Heart wasn't a dream either?'
His eyes widened into saucers.
'Hey! System, I completed the task you gave me! I chose a theme; the Ancestor-in-Ring one! Hurry up and give me the solution I was promised as a reward! Before the Evil Heart takes over!'
[Unfortunately, Host, you didn't finish your order for theme selection before you were interrupted by your father's arrival.]
'That… is true.' He recalled while continuing to push on the barrier, channeling his Immortal Qi to empower himself. 'Fine, I choose it now. I choose the Ancestor-in-Ring theme! There, I've said it now.'
[Unfortunately, Host, the previous day has ended. It's a different day. It's been sixteen days to be exact.]
"Sixteen…?" shocked, he couldn't help but mutter aloud. Quickly realizing his mistake, he used his Immortal Sense to probe the expression of Luo Yu, stealthily of course.
Seeing no great change in her expression, he realized there was no need to panic. From her perspective, he had simply muttered a number. She wouldn't immediately connect it to the number of days he's been unconscious... right?
Reminding himself to not accidentally speak aloud when communicating with the system, he continued. 'Then, I can't choose from those draws and instead have to make new ones?'
[Yes, that is correct. Would you like to commence the draws now?]
In tandem with the system's voice, a familiar window appeared before him, showing him that he had over eleven hours until the next midnight and three available chances to make draws.
'Use up all three draws.' He ordered as he sat cross-legged before the barrier, muttering, "What is going on here, exactly? How did I end up here? Wasn't I… what was I doing before coming here?" He exhaled deeply. "Mother is probably worried about me right now."
Luo Yu, who stood behind him, frowned upon hearing this and stared down at him wordlessly for half a minute before closing her eyes and pulling out a communication talisman.
Dongfang Jing noticed this but pretended otherwise, his gaze focused on his draws for the day.