Chapter 32

Meetup

 

Now that my bitches have finally returned, with my money, we can go back home.

Zo Ro) 'UNCLE! THEY'RE BACK!'

The big Silver cat rushes off like a rocket, to escort them safely for the last couple of miles of their current journey. He probably passed 250 mph there (400kph), so practically like a rocket. Though not literal, there was no exhaust. I stow the final upgraded shining purple gold in my tail's storage ring since he's not around for now.

?1) "Quick, now that it's gone we can capture the fox."

?2) "He won't escape my net!"

?3) "Be careful with those herbs. One is Grade 3, the other Grade 4."

?1) "I know, just hurry. The Silver Tiger will be back soon."

?4) "Just hold it still for me. I have the talisman ready."

Even 100 feet up isn't always safe, it seems.

With the net coming for me from the right, I put a Barrier around it to carry it over and drop down on the area our 2 herbs are temporarily planted. While that's falling, I launch a few fire Qi arrows toward the one with a talisman, hoping to hit it and damage it. But he turns out to be too squirrelly to easily hit. Swinging himself on nearby branches to change his direction and position like an experienced gymnist.

So I toss out a dozen more at once, to put him on the defensive. This works, as he needs to use a Qi shield technique. The shield works well enough to block 2 of the Qi arrows, while the other 10 fly past in each direction.

That was my plan. As he is now stopped, while they turn toward his back.

?4) "GAAAAAhhh!!" As he falls from the tree, hitting a couple smaller branches on the way down.

At the same time, the net lands on the one at our herbs. And sounds something like a taser, or a Tesla coil.

"AAAAGH!!"

The one who threw the net has nearly closed the distance, but I put up a wall type Barrier between us. He slams into it like the cartoon coyote. The last one turns to flee, but I put up another Barrier to 'waterslide' her to the ground. Then I wrap net guy's Barrier around him, like a net, and jump us down to the herbs. A hover Barrier to slow my fall at the end.

All that multitasking training I've been doing has been paying off.

I pull the taser-net off and stow it in my ring. Then restrain all the attackers/thieves with a ring shaped foot-Barrier holding them up about 8 feet (2.4meters) in the air, above a hand-Barrier. Dismissing most of the others.

Z) 'Are there more of you?'

. .

Z) 'While we wait for my friends to come back, a question. What is the difference between a human cultivator and a bandit?'

. .

3) "Some sort of riddle? What is the answer?"

Z) 'So you don't know either.'

An arrow whizzes in, from the foliage at my 8 o'clock.
*CLANG*

It's a good thing I still kept a metal-Barrier around myself. The arrowhead ricocheted off.

Z) 'There you are.'

Once I knew which way to look, my Eye could just pick out a hidden aura about 150 yards away. Deploying another hand-Barrier in that location, I picked up the hidden archer/assassin and had her join her friends.

By this time, Uncle and the bitches were close enough to hear the arrow ricochet. So they came running full speed.

Kara) "Are you alright, Master?"

Z) 'Yeah, just caught a few troublemakers. They were looking for a bouquet and a friendly pup. Instead they found me and our little garden. Now I want your opinions on how to handle them.'

K) "Death by a thousand cuts."¹this is as much a form of torture as it is an execution. A tiny piece of the victim's body, like a knuckle, is severed. Then cauterization or otherwise seal it.
and another piece.
and another piece.
and another piece, etc.

Nani+Doko+Dare) """Same."""

Uncle) 'Let me devour them.'

Z) 'Well, we could actually do both. Or enslave them. So then, how do you lot think we should handle you?'

2) "Please let us go! We won't tell anyone!"

U) 'Without at least a Celestial Vow, we won't even consider letting you off.'

Z) 'Oh? What can you tell me about this Celestial Vow?'

3) "You make a Vow to the Heavens, and if you ever break that Vow for any reason, you suffer a lethal Tribulation, destroying your soul." (several nods)

Z) 'Huh. Well, despite being the victim of your assault, I'm inclined to be lenient and spare your lives. But you must each choose how you will be punished. You can choose to become my slave. Or you can leave behind everything but the clothes you are wearing as well as make a Celestial Vow of secrecy about what happened here today. I'll give you a short while to decide.'

Z) 'Kara, how much did you bring me.'

K) (bow) "Master, There are 20,020 Grade 1 Qi Stones. This is after purchasing a larger storage ring to hold them, as well as an herb storage ring with nearly 400 batches of herbs for your pill refining. 110 for Bone Strengthening pills, 60-80 for the others. And 2,000 Qi Stones' worth of ingots at Grade 2 or better."

Z) 'That's a bit better than I expected. Sorry for not mentioning this earlier, but next time I'll need you to fetch a few hundred taels of purple gold. Now how about the batch of pills I refined?'

K) "They were Grade 4, Purity 9 and sold for 1,120 Qi Stones."

Z) 'Good job, keep 300 each for your three sisters to cultivate with and 500 each for yourself and Uncle for now.'

1) "I'll be your slave!"

5) "Me too!"

2) "I . . can't. I'll take the Vow."

3) . . "Vow."

I realize I haven't heard from the fourth one since he fell after being hit by my Qi arrows. So I take a closer look. He seems to have passed out from blood loss. He also has deep injuries to his back, likely damaging some of his vital organs. And one Qi arrow happened to sever his spine, about the same level as his navel. Even if he miraculously lives, he'll probably never walk again.

Z) 'I'll have to keep him as my slave, or else I won't be able to treat him. Otherwise, he will die before tonight.'

Z) 'Uncle and Kara, take their Vows and their stuff, then let them go. The rest keep watch on the other two. I'll get started on him.'

After pulling him out of sight, I take out the last of my Blood Clotting paste, and use some of it to cover his open wounds. Putting the remaining half down, I bring out the nutrition paste, giving him 2 spoonfuls, pushing it down his throat. Then quick as I can, carve, bleed and activate the original slave seal upon his forehead. Since he's Tier 2, the same as me, a carved spell will be permanent without splicing in a tail.

{MY TOTALLY LOYAL
AND OBEDIENT SLAVE}

I hurriedly use the paste to seal up his newest wounds, then finish up with a simple, non-carved version of a new spell.

{REGENERATION}

The regeneration spell should fully heal the injuries, as well as restore his lost blood. Using the Nutrition paste as material. But it may take a while, good thing it'll last about a week or so. If it doesn't last long enough, I'll just renew it. The reason I don't just carve it in, is because I might want to use another spell later, but having his skin knit itself at the same time would prevent that.

Now I check how the others are along.

They must've finished the Vow while I was busy. They already laid down a pile of stuff and are turning to leave.

. .

Z) 'So what can you tell me about these new storage rings?'

K) "The first one I had wasn't big enough to hold all your Qi Stones. So I bought a larger one for 50 Stones. It has about 5 times the capacity of yours and mine.²I didn't mention this before, but the one I had been using, and the one she had which I didn't take from her as she needed it to carry the stuffs were both 3 meters cubed. that's 3m X 3m X 3m = 27m³. the new one is 5 meters cubed, making it 125m³. The other Herb Storage ring is designed to safely hold live growing plants and herbs, while they can keep growing as if they were planted in a garden."

Z) 'Almost time to go, Kara take this stuff. (indicate junk pile) And trade me that bigger ring with all my Stones. (I empty some stuff from my old storage ring from my tail, then take it off.) And give me the herb ring so I can store the good herbs. Nani and Doko go retrieve our new friend. But be careful with his back, it's still in two pieces. Wrap a large sheet around a pair of spear-shafts, then gently place him on that.'

I wear the 2 new rings on my middle tails. Then fill the regular ring with my pile.

Z) 'There's some armor in that ring, but only for your sisters for now.'