Chapter 95
Into the Cradle's Depths
Yue and Liang didn't linger for too long, sneaking out while everyone was investigating what transpired, using the tunnels to weave their way over to one of the nearby forts that hadn't been overtaken. Sounds of distant battles echoed out repeatedly, and though quite a few forts had been taken over, it didn't seem like it would last. No, it was never going to last from the beginning--there were just shy of three thousand cultivators present in the Cradle altogether, spread out across levels and countless forts. Even if the Others managed to take over a few of them for a moment, they would be taken back soon enough.
That was why Yue was grappling with the question of Why?
Though she didn't know much about the Cradle, she studied it, too, a long while back before she learned her talents were nowhere good enough to be sent here. Due to the complex web of tunnels, this place was considered a bit of a haven for criminals who eluded law, and they often conspired with the 'locals' as it were to infiltrate the forts. However, that was mostly for information and to steal supplies, and though she did hear of a few takeovers in the past, none were ever at this grand of a scale.
"Open the gates!" the guards shouted after examining the two's identification, letting them in.
The fort they chose was some ways off the 'main path', but they wanted to put some space between themselves and everything they've known. In truth, they could have reported the General and gotten an enormous award, but the problem was the aftermath--the world would have questions, namely how someone at measly Spirit Creation Realm (and a recently ascended one, at that) was able to not just defeat but wholly trounce and execute someone at Avatar Realm--no, he was actually 'only' at the Peak of Fusion Realm, unlike the actual General Huang.
Even so, there was a massive chasm between the two, one that few legendary figures had ever managed to close, and if they were exposed, there was also a chance that their Master might get exposed too. There was also a decent chance they'd be locked up, or interrogated, or even sent to one of the major Sects, and though they'd be able to avoid it all thanks to either the Void Scroll or the Feather, Yue, especially, didn't want to resort to using her Master's divine treasures if they could help it.
The two quickly rented a two-bed room and went inside, exhausted. Yue uncorked a bottle of fruit juice and poured them both a cup, finally feeling revitalized as the liquid burned through their innards, washing away their malaise like dirt off a table.
"Did you notice it, Yue?" Liang, more and more, seemed to be drifting away from the goofball of a Junior Brother than Yue knew him as.
"Notice what?" she asked, deciding to ignore it. It came with territory of being Master Leo's Disciple, after all. If she freaked out at every little thing that 'drifted' from her perception, she'd be freaking out all the time.
"I don't know," he said. "Something feels... off, though. Try using Master's cultivation method."
Yue frowned but did as instructed, closing her eyes and getting into a pose. Taking a deep breath, she drew nearby Qi towards her slowly, feeling it gently parade through her meridians. However, just a few seconds in, she stopped and opened her eyes, her expression one of shock. She felt it, the difference.
"You're right," she said. "What is that? It's... it's like normal Qi, but... different." That was the best way she could describe, though it was playing fast and loose with the description of 'describe'.
"It's kind of a resonance," Liang said. "I read about them, and heard my former Master mention this a few times. When cultivation methods are particularly compatible with Qi, they form this string-like resonance. Usually, however, it just happens when Qi mutates an element."
"Like someone practicing a water-related cultivation method cultivating near a lake?"
"Hm, not quite. Qi-mutations are an exceeding rarity, and they only occur in extremely significant parts of the world. Like valleys where legendary beasts go to die, or lakes were spirit fae converge. Even so, they are kind of fleeting. Unless you capture that one moment they exist within, you can't really get a use out of the resonance."
"So, why are we feeling it? I mean, Master hasn't really said much about the method," Yue said. "But it doesn't seem to be affiliated with any of the elements."
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"I don't know," Liang assented. "But the feeling got stronger than before. How many feet do you figure we're below the previous fort?"
"Around hundred, give or take a few? Oh, you mean, the deeper we go, the clearer the resonance would feel? We should contact the Fort Master and ask to be assigned to an exploratory team, then."
"Hm. Usually, those spots are reserved, but there's also the way of the duel--we'll both challenge someone actively participating and take their spots. I mean, we'll become hated in the process, but--"
"--what if we hired a guide?"
"Hired a guide?"
"Yeah. Do you remember that guy at the entrance mentioning it? We can hire a guide to take us through the tunnels."
"Will anyone even take us on?" Liang asked. "We're unknowns."
"We can try," Yue said. "And if it doesn't work out, then we can go meet the Fort Master and see about the duels."
As good of a plan as it was, it quickly became evident that they were reaching. Guides were not only few and far between, but they were also all exceedingly expensive, even for just a day. Furthermore, despite being able to afford a couple of them, rather than taking them on, the Guides all laughed in their faces when the two mentioned it'd only be them and nobody else.
It made sense, ultimately; a pair of wet-behind-ears kids with no experience in the Cradle seeking to explore depths... it would be more maniacal if someone did accept their request.
"Alright, I will do it," which was precisely why the two fell into almost comatose silence when their request was heeded.
They all but lost hope before being referred to the last Guide by one of the shopkeepers. Buried deep in the fort's alleyways, near the eastern wall and drowned in shade completely, rested a tiny hut the size of perhaps two or three of those mud huts from back home stacked together. Its chimney blew out tender trails of smoke, and were there any light, it might have seemed in some tiny ways picturesque. However, it was not.
The fence was broken, the courtyard unmaintained, with weeds and roots overtaking everything, the house's exterior was filled with cracks and wood that just about seemed done with life, and the one window that seemed to exist was just a giant hole in the side of the house.
It took about five minutes of them calling out for the doors to open and for a figure to emerge--it was an old man, perhaps in his sixties or seventies, no larger than five feet, if that, draped in shabby attire composed of not one but two shredded overcoats, leather boots patched up with cloth, oversized pants that were patched up with shoddy pieces of leather, and even a skewed straw hat hanging loose on one side of the man's head.
A wrinkled face never showed emotion--not when he saw them, not when he heard their request, and not when he accepted it.
"Why are you two looking so shocked?" the old man asked. "Did you come here wanting a rejection? If so, why would you come here?"
"Ah, no, no," Yue quickly said. "It's just, everybody else rejected us. So, uh--no, we're very grateful that you accepted. I know we can't pay you much, but we're willing to share our spoils from the journey."
"That is quite alright," the man said, closing the door behind him and slowly stepping out through the courtyard toward the wrecked fence. "You must be rather desperate to have come to me."
"Is it that obvious?" Yue asked with a faint chuckle. "Ah, but we don't want to pressure you."
"Perish the thought," the old man chuckled as well, joining them. From up close, he looked even more unimpressive, if possible, yet, there was a strange aura surrounding him that seemed to compel trust in others. Yue didn't know whether she was falling for some sort of spell so she turned toward Liang who met her gaze with dumbfoundedness she hadn't seen in a while. "I seldom get a chance to stretch these old legs these days. Where would you kids like to go?"
"Uh... deep?"
"... the Cradle, broadly speaking, is divided internally into eight layers," the old stopped and faced them from the front, explaining with a level of excitement in his voice. "Only four are named, though, and the remaining four act as 'in-betweeners' of sorts. You have the Crown, the topmost layer populated largely by bureaucratic forts in charge of treasury, personnel, and all the remarkably unfun stuff that causes the old people to die of old age. You have the Brooch, a layer a bit below us where most of the fighting transpires. There are daily raids, expeditions, skirmishes... on average, cultivators spend the most time moving around inside this layer. Layer below that is called the Sword, wholly unsuited for cravens. 's far as I know, there are only two permanent forts built there, and both are populated by either the veterans or the temporarily desperate."
"Temporarily?"
"Someone desperate for something goes there," the old man explain. "And they die within a day or two. Hence, temporarily."
"Oh."
"Ironically, life there is rather peaceful all things considered," he continued. "It's merely that when something does happen, it is deathly beyond description. Last I heard, they were attacked by a wave of a thousand Demonic Beasts with the weakest being at the Spirit Creation Realm. They just barely managed to repel the attack, but you never truly know when the next one will come. And, lastly, we have the bottommost layer, named after the entire place itself--the Cradle. Canyon-like crevices, pathways that go nowhere, land without light, air, or life for most of the year. However, on that celestial day, it floods with waters of unknown source, carrying with it treasures unlike any other. Thus, the rest of the Cradle descends into its namesake, flooding it yet again. Thus," the man took a deep breath and faced them both with a faint smile. "I ask again: where would you kids like to go?"
Yue fell silent, uncertain. Though she supposed they ought to go to the Sword, the mere thought of a wave of a thousand Demonic Beasts at Spirit Creation Realm and above terrified the voice out of her throat. Just as she was grappling with the decision, she heard Liang utter the words that befuddled not just her, but even the elder in front of them.
"Deep," he said. "We'd like to go deep."