Chapter 837: Revelation is a mother-!
*Bing-Bong.*
We interrupt this chapter to inform the reader that the following scene has been removed because it has been deemed, to quote, “too damn boring and repetitive at this point.”
To those wondering what was going to happen, Zhen Tai was going to attempt to talk Rachel (Razorstella) again, and get completely ignored, until Rachel simply got up from her seat and went to go do something else entirely.
With his spirit deflated, Zhen Tai would get comforted by his cousin, Zhen Guo, and the two of them would go on to meet Simone (Screamira), who would help direct them to some compatible aether arts and skill books.
She would then go on to provide the two of them some sagely advice which translated to: confidence in oneself is how one gets a partner…or something like that.
We will now be shifting the story back to…Zhen Liu entering the interrogation theater.
The one that contains his mother and a distressed Spring Brawler.
Thank you.
…
You got that sick of writing dialogue, huh?
|Look man, we already spent longer than necessary on what may or may not be a side plot at this point, I am going insane.|
Then get better at determining end points!
|MOTHER-|
BRING IT ON!
*Bing-Bong!*
________________________________________
“Mother? What are you-”
“Oh hello, darling! Spring Brawler here was telling me of all your displays of ‘psychological torture’ and how strangely effective it proven. Honestly, if I had known a little smoke and mirrors were all I needed to get someone to talk, I wouldn’t have memorized the most sensitive spots to stab someone in order to maximize their pain.”
“Hello, ringmaster. I’m sorry.”
When Zhen Liu learned that his mother was about to interrogate his prisoners, he wasn’t entirely what to expect…but he could make some educated guesses based on what Jin Fang did in the past.
While she never whipped out her “special case” for anything beyond covering crime scenes, he had noticed certain…implements…that were designed to make grown men squirm and scream.
It was the kind of implements that Zhen Liu had seen used in the family’s torture chamber, but modified to be a touch more vicious.
Based on this information, Zhen Liu expected to find his mother having somehow train a small contingency of zakos to act as her new personalized torture squad, with specialized tools and weapons to match, and using them to extract information from the trio of dumbasses that somehow broke their dicks while inside the library.
Instead, he found his mother currently sitting on a little stool next to Spring Brawler while the two of them were watching what appeared to be an illusionary projection screen displaying recorded footage of a previous interrogation session that Zhen Liu had organized before.
Logos and Pathos had apparently been keeping video records of Zhen Liu’s “kaijin lord shenanigans”, much to his extreme embarrassment.
He always knew he acted cringe whenever he pretended to be an evil mastermind cultivator, but this was the first time he got to see it in third person, with a questionable narrator on top of that.
A part of Zhen Liu hoped that this was the first, and only time, someone outside of the kaijin had seen him act like an unnecessarily pompous fool.
…
=Yes, but we also didn’t tell the girls that they could access this footage either.=
=Agreed.=
…
Regardless, with his mother apparently being privy to everything and then some, Zhen Liu figured he might as well go for broke and ask something that had been bothering him since the first time she name-dropped Nepherage out of nowhere.
“Mother…how much do you know?”
“How much do I…ah. You mean how much do I know about the kaijin, [Chaos], the Library and you?”
“Just about…yeah.”
Up until Zhen Liu asked this question, Daria Nerisa-Zhen had been carrying this zen, almost empty minded quality that made it hard to determine what she was thinking about at any given time.
But now that Zhen Liu asked this particular question, something about her demeanor had suddenly changed.
Granted, this change in demeanor did not prevent Daria from teasing her son a bit while she answered his burning questions.
“For starters, you can confirm that I have most definitely learned about the kaijin and [Chaos] prior to you being born and definitely before my marriage with your father,” Daria answered, which prompted Zhen Liu to roll his eyes in disbelief at the exaggerated statement.
“Alright, that gives me a when…mind telling me the why and the who?”
“Honestly, both of those questions could be answered with a single story…a story, that I wish I would never have to share with you…but I’m going to try my best.”
“Should I be here for this or-”
“Spring Brawler, stay seated. This may be relevant to you.”
“Ominous…”
“Now where to be begin…ah! Probably around the time I first met MeteorHorn.”
“Who?”
“Wait…perhaps even further back…back to your…other family.”
“Is…is this the part where you tell me your family name isn’t actually,’Nerissa’?”
“Partially.”
“Of course…”
________________________________________
|Nascent traces of [Temperance] and [Patience] have been detected. Incorporating into spirit body. ETA has been reduced by one hour.|
________________________________________
Once upon a time, in a land where endless desert sands was broken up by warring oasis kingdoms, there was a clan.
A clan that was famous for having connections and relations with over a thousand different factions all across the desert and beyond even that.
Sects, cults, mercenary forces, it didn’t matter, this clan seemed to be associated with them even if some of these factions were at each other’s throats.
How were they able to maintain these relations?
Simple, they made use of the bonds of matrimony.
Whether it was through brides or grooms, the clan seemed to make it a point to always provide the perfect version of either type of spouse to whatever faction they deemed strategically or socially necessary.
Needless to say, rarely were any of these marriages based on love or mutual happiness… especially with the type of training these young brides and grooms to be received while growing up.
However, not every child of this clan accepted this way of life so easily.
One day, a young woman who was all set to be married to some religious leader, a prophet of some sort, decided to run away and never look back.
Was it because he wasn’t her type?
No.
Was it because of a very noticeable age gap?
No.
Was it because this so-called prophet was a charlatan who made use of his status for personal gain?
No.
It was because, in this clan of humans where love was always considered an afterthought, someone inhuman as possible, taught her what love was…or what it could be at least.
…
“Huff…huff…just a bit…further!”
“Mistress, where are you?!”
“Milady, now is not the time for silly games! The prophet waits for you!”
“Wait a minute…look! She’s over there!”
“Shit!”
With nothing but the moon and stars as her guide, a young woman ran through the desert while being pursued by a group of men dressed in religious robes and iron armor.
The woman was dressed in what appeared to be a traditional bridal garb made of white silk and adorned in jewel encrusted golden chains. If anyone were to see this scene unfold in the distance, they would assume she was a runaway bride…which wasn’t too far off the mark.
“Come on, mistress! Prophet Itzel cannot be left waiting and wanting for his future bride! Don’t you want to fulfill your duty and obtain eternal happiness?!”
“Fuck you, fuck my duty, fuck that ‘eternal happiness’ bullshit and fuck the prophet! If he’s so lonely he can take it up with his six other wives, three husbands and thirty sex slaves!,” the young woman managed to shout back while still running. “I’d rather not end up as soulless and cold as the rest of my so-called kin!”
Understanding now that diplomacy wasn’t going to work, the knights simply opted to put even more of their effort into running after the woman who had done the same after telling the “sacred” tincans to go and fuck themselves.
Eventually, the woman and her pursuers found themselves running atop solid stone, across a rock formation that jutted out of the desert like a giant’s finger pointing towards the heavens.
It was here that the young woman found herself back into a corner.
“Nowhere to run, mistress.”
________________________________________
“Wait a minute… mother?”
“What is it darling? You’re kind of interrupting my story here.”
“I think you might have skipped over some details.”
“I did? Like what?”
“Well for starters, you didn’t tell me the name of your original clan. The ones that seemed to think marriage was a funny word for alliance and as a means to exchange people for food?”
“No I…wait…oh shit, I did. Let me start over.”
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS
Mizako
I am sneaking in character art into the chapter.
shh!
