Chapter 08
I woke up in a soft bed with a masked woman by my side. Immediately, I recognized her as my mother. The last few moments of consciousness I remember being stabbed by Jade due to her not wanting me to touch her despite our enjoinment in marriage. I hate that girl. She should have just told me.
“Son… you’re okay! Son!”
Mom hugged me while I was in bed. I could tell she was worried as her gentle touch covered my shoulders.
“Mommy was so worried! My son… your father is dead. Your father died of poisoning. You have no place to live with the mortals anymore, so you need to live here in the sect with mommy. Mommy will take care of you son, Mommy promises no one will ever hurt you again. Mommy, be here for you.”
She’s talking to me as though I’m a toddler, despite me being a grown man. I’m not sure why, but it makes me cringe just a bit.
“Thanks,” I said.
Mom’s expression could easily be seen in her eyes and the mouth that was shown. Her face was behind a mask that hid most of her beauty, yet somehow I could tell she’d be stunning without it. I wonder sometimes when I looked in the mirror since coming here why I didn’t get some of her good looks. Was it because my dad’s genetics were more dominant in my face?
Mom immediately carried me princess style. I felt like I was lifted as a feather.
“Mommy is taking you to your room now, son,” she said. “Get used to it and the room will protect you. There a well with a water spirit in here who will make sure you can always have water. All that you will have to wait for is your meals to be brought to you when you’re in here. There is also a pot to poop in.”
I said nothing since I was basically nothing to her. She brought me to the room where there was a small hole in the ground, some water and a bed. The walls of the room were in a transparent box around with the top covered by a thin cloth that let the sunlight in so I could tell the time of day. There were no windows. It felt more like a prison than a room.
“Mommy is sorry you have to stay in a room like this,” she said. “There is a curse on you now, son, because you couldn’t get married and consummate before your father died. Your birth was part of mommy’s cultivation, and so this is all mommy’s fault. Mommy is sorry… this is all mommy’s fault…”
She suddenly cried in my presence while still carrying me. I try to let her know to put me down by pushing on her arms so she lets me down. I hugged her as she cried with the tears rolling down the mask.
Cultivation was always strange, even in fiction. There were always so many weird rules and often I couldn’t follow the novels because the author would just pull something out whenever the plot needed to go forward. I always knew this as plot armor, but in this world cultivation is weird, so I’m sure there are a lot of weird rules as well. One of them in this sect is the cultivator being able to control the gender of the child and whether they get pregnant.
“It’s fine, mom,” I said. “It’s fine.”
I put my arms around her neck. She was the same height as me and would always wear that mask. I couldn’t really say anything to her when I considered the fact that I really didn’t know her. Still, she has to stop using the word ‘mommy’ every time she refers to herself. I’m not a toddler.
“Can you put me down, mom?”
“Oh sorry, mommy was carried away in her own sadness.”
Mom gently puts me down and I find I can walk with no problems. It was nice that I didn’t die, but I’m now supposedly cursed. I don’t even know what this curse is or how it’s going to affect me. This room however is peculiar, as it had a transparent box lined up against all the walls.
“Mommy hopes you like this room. Mommy tried to put in things you’ll be comfortable with in here,” she said. “Mommy will make sure you eat well and bring you food every day. You can’t leave this room without mommy by your side as it’s too dangerous. Mommy has to protect you whenever you leave.”
Wait, what? I can’t leave this room? I’m a bit surprised and not sure how to take it, but I have to get her to talk normally to me.
“Mom, can you stop calling yourself mommy every sentence? I’m not under ten years old anymore. I should be an adult now.”
“Oh, sorry, son. Mom — I get carried away. It’s just I never got to be around you growing up and never got to baby talk to you. I always wanted to take care of you… to love you… to hold you… I’ve never been in love before… and never kissed before either… and so you’re the closest person… to me…”
A strange gaze comes over her eyes as her arms come around me. My body is pulled into a tight hug and I’m not sure what to think as she presses me into her chest and I feel just how large they are under the clothes. Mom is really a beautiful woman, isn’t she?
No, wait… this isn’t right… she’s my mom. Not some stepmom, but my blood-related biological mom. I can’t think that way!
An older looking woman comes to the door. She seemed to have some propriety towards her and wore robes associated with the sect. She definitely had a status as those who guarded the doors all bowed their heads in respect in her presence.
“Risless,” the woman called. “The Progenitor will awaken soon and you can consult.”
“Thank you Elder Liu,” mom said. “Also this is my son, his name is Dong Chen.”
“I already know his name, Sect Master Risless,” Elder Liu replied. “Please let him be in the room for now. We need to prepare to talk.”
“Son, stay here,” mom now tells me with a guilty look. “There are things about the curse we need to learn about. You already know that you were born because of my cultivation that goes with my Fate. In order to protect the sect and take care of those who took me in I had to give birth to you, but it should have ended with you marrying and consummating with your wife on your wedding night. I don’t know as much about this curse son but I promise I’ll be there for you, it’s just right now I have to keep you in this room to prevent the curse from spreading to others. Please don’t question it right now and let us figure this out, okay, son?”
She stroked my head as she spoke. Her hands were on my back and her face was close to mine. Even with her mask on, I could tell she was blindingly beautiful underneath. Again, this is my mom. As beautiful as she is, I can’t do anything with her.
“Yes mom, I’ll stay in here for now.”
“Thank you, son,” mom says and kisses me on the forehead. “We’ll get rid of the curse, I promise you. It’s my fault, so I will take care of you.”
Mom goes away with Elder Liu, who takes a quick glance at me. She doesn’t seem all that interested in me but looks to Mom. I’m guessing Elder Liu must have raised her as a little girl and so she finds herself attached. It is kind of strange how mom has an attachment to me although she hardly knew me growing up.
I was always of the belief that Sect Masters were powerful individuals who didn’t care for mortals. Reading many of those stories, the impression was that they would easily sacrifice their own family if it meant that they could get a power up of some sort. The Cultivators I’ve seen so far have strange abilities, but I as a mortal can’t gauge their actual abilities or power.
Anyway, my mom’s name is Risless, and that’s Elder Liu. I’m assuming the sect has a lot of other elder’s but this one is the closest to mom. I’m still getting used to this world, but Sects don’t operate within the same rules as the mortal world. They all have their own rules, yet I’m the only mortal here.
For now, it’s like I’m in a prison.
This sucks!
The heck is going on?
I never agreed to any of this! I thought I would get to marry a beautiful fiance, live my life out with my father watching over me and my mother visiting but now I realize my mother and father never loved each other. I’m cursed because I didn’t get to do it on my wedding night and now I’ve got mom telling me I can’t ever leave this room.
I’m going to be a virgin for life then, aren’t I?
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