Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 17

The Soul Binding Cocoon

Ethel Windlepoons has not been sleeping for two days now. The knowledge of pills and cultivation was something entirely unknown to her and she was fascinated by it. It did not have anything to do with levels, only understanding and comprehension. As long as someone could cultivate and have a cauldron, one could create pills. She had failed more than a hundred times between the two days yet the light in her eyes did not dim.

Even as the sky had turned lighter grey, she had no intention of sleeping. She was analysing the recipe for Low-Grade Rejuvenation Pill when suddenly Connie walked in from the back door with two bodies in tow.

She light-heartedly threw the male in front of the of woman and spoke with a leisure tone. “Put him somewhere safe. He’ll not be able to move for a while but I tied him up just for good measure.”

Ethel raised her eyebrow and dared herself to ask. “Is this the illegal part?”

“Exactly. I’ll be in the attic. Do not let anyone in. Better yet, close the store until I’m finished.”

“I have customers!”

“There is another recipe in it for you.”

Without saying anything else, she held the male assassin by the leg and slowly dragged him away. Connie whistled at seeing this scene. “Quite the strength for such an old girl, my goodness.”

She patted the female assassin on her shoulder. “Relax. I won’t hurt him. For now.”

Connie brought her victim up to the attic where it had been overrun by white silk. The walls and the floors were covered in the stuff while in the middle of the room were two human sized cocoons with gaping holes in the middle. The effect made the once unremarkable attic to look like the lair of an otherworldly creature.

Connie laid the immobilised assassin on the floor carefully, a far cry from the treatment of her male counterpart. She then began to open the assassin’s clothes, peeling them one by one until she was bare, showing her beautiful body. “Can’t have foreign items contaminate the process.”

During the process, Kelly felt so humiliated and powerless that she could not help but shed a tear out of anger. Connie did not care about her feelings, however, and continued.

“Yao-er.” She called out to the small silkworm. She left it to redecorate while she was out baiting the fishes. She had left it with quite a lot of food, but it still seemed to be exhausted and malnourished after such a big job.

Yao-er timidly flopped from atop a small nest onto her right palm and rubbed its little head against her thumb. The action reminded Connie of the little girl when she was asking for praise after doing something good.

“Nice work, Yao-er. I’m going to treat you to a lot of food after this,” She said while rubbing her thumb against it’s cute little head. “For now, we must seal the door to prevent interruptions.”

With an enthusiastic jump, the Golden Silkworm began working on Connie’s order.

The blonde girl left her Contracted Beast to it and began inspecting the cocoon. No blemishes could be left untreated, otherwise all would be for naught.

Kelly, who had been paralyzed for a while now mustered all her willpower and began to speak slowly, concentrating each words with as much anger she could project. What came out was a string of grumbled slur. “What…arr juu…going ju do to me?”

Without glancing towards the pitiful woman lying naked and powerless on the ground, Connie began. “In the beginning I thought of using Ling-zhi to heal the wounds that had ravaged Illumca’s body. But after a little setback, it occurred to me. Instead of healing the body, why not prepare a new body instead?”

She did not gave her an answer. Instead she began to ramble about something incomprehensible.

“If the sickness is in the body, why not change it for something better? After all, what is the body but a vessel for the soul.”

“I suppose it would be easier for me if I can do Soul Extraction like Patriarch Lin Qiufeng. Unfortunately that kind of fiddling with the soul is not my forte,” she paused to take a deep breath. “It would be different if we are simply using the body as a template. Which we can then use the Soul Reversing Sutra to transfer the soul upon ‘death’ instead of letting it return to the Samsara,” Connie laughed at her own shortcoming. “Also, think about it. What is better to polish one’s Dao than to devour the soul of someone strong in body and mind? Someone disciplined and trained. For example -” she laughed as her eyes glanced at Kelly. “ - an assassin.”

Kelly panicked upon seeing the madness of the girl before her and began trying to struggle. But the paralyzing venom still had its hold on her. It is no different than trying to move a brick with your mind.

Then, she heard a feeble voice calling out her target’s name. It was an emaciated creature covered in tattered cloak. Its thin, gnarly arms supported the unsightly thing as it navigated the attic.

“Ah, I can feel the seed began to grow inside you,” Connie nodded approvingly. “The seed of a Dao is a very hard thing to grow. Especially not this fast. You have a talent in cultivation.”

“Who’s…this?” she said. Hearing the voice, Kelly realised that it was a she. Yet the figure was so ugly and deformed that she could not help but feel disgust in her stomach.

“An assassin who tried to kill me. She is crucial for this operation,” Connie said without a care.

“An assassin?!” she exclaimed. “Are you hurt?”

“It’s like being stung by a butterfly. It did not even itch,” she said with a laugh. “Enough of that. Now that you have formed the Seed of the Dao. We can start the process.”

She then began to explain her plan while rubbing her chin with her left thumb. It does not feel right without a beard.

“First, you will enter the cocoon on the right made using my silk and undergo a Transformation. Your body will turn into a Primordial Soup. Which I will then refine to squeeze that deadly poison inside. Second, I will ingest the poison and use the explosion of power to make a breakthrough of in my cultivation and refine her body, which I will put in the other cocoon. Finally, the third. I will combine your soul and her healthy body into one to turn you into a whole new you.”

“I call this technique the Soul Binding Cocoon!” She said proudly. She expected a clap of excitement, yet all she got was a blank look.

“Are you so awed by the sheer genius and audacity of this plan that you could not react?”

Illumca nodded sheepishly. “Ho-honestly I don’t understand most of what you said.”

“Well, just leave the nitty gritty to me. What you need to remember is this. If your Dao, your sense of self loses its path, then you will die. In body and in soul. You will be devoured by this thing’s soul. And I don’t fancy having to fail. So remember what I said about the Dao.”

Illumca repeated the words that she had begun to understand the meaning of. “Understand the self, understand the Dao. I am the Universe and the Universe is me.”

“Also, because this is something I have never done before, it might result in some…deformation. So, I need you to imagine. Imagine the perfect you, what you wish to be. And keep it in your head.”

“I understand.”

“Then, are you ready?” Connie extended her hand.

Illumca gazed at the hand. The hand that pulled her out of her cage. The hand that offered salvation to her suffering. The hand that fed her as she fell into hopelessness.

Her beloved’s hand.

“Yes. I am ready.”

Illumca took Connie’s hand with renewed resolution and stepped inside the cocoon. She did not let go of the hand until the last second as she fell into a deep sleep and the hole closed.

“Your turn now, assassin,” Connie said. She carried her limp body into the left cocoon and as the opening began to close, the paralyzing venom wore off enough for her to scream.

“No. No! No! Derrick! Help me!!”

She screamed for help, but the cold expression on her captor’s face did not change. The darkness of the cocoon enveloped her and soon she fell unconscious.

Now with both bodies ready for the process, she inhaled deeply and exhaled a long one. There was nervousness in her heart, mixed with excitement and giddiness. She felt like she was once again back in her youth, trying to craft a pill for the first time.

What she is trying to do now is workable in theory. However, no one in her past life had ever done this before. To move one soul into another body with existing soul, all the while using the other body to transform into a perfect one imagined by the dominant soul.

Madness. Utter madness.

And within that madness I shall create miracle so great, enough to defy the bounds of Samsara.