Chapter 39
“Hey Boss, we have some serious questions for you.” Caroline was first to rush into the diner and said to Jianmen sternly.
“Yeah. We really need to talk.” Jason followed Caroline, but his eyes quickly turned to the bandages on Jianmen’s arm: “Woah, what happened there Boss?”
“Excuse me, I owe them an explanation on something.” Jianmen said to Uncle Bu in Mandarin, then pointed in the direction to the basement.
When Caroline and Jason closed the Basement door behind them and turned around, they saw that Jianmen was bowing to them.
“I am really sorry. I thought I had more time.” Jianmen said, without his usual riddles, arcane references and snark, “I should have taught you more.”
“Um… that’s okay…? I guess?” Caroline clearly did not expect this, so she could not find the right thing to say for a short while.
“Get up, Boss. You’re the master, you don’t bow to your students.” Jason saw that Caroline was stunned, so he chimed in to save Caroline from the embarrassment.
“Okay.” Jianmen struggled a bit to straighten his body, “I think it goes without saying, I owe you two an explanation.”
“Yeah, sure. Go ahead.” Caroline said while crossing her arms.
“So, I was in an underground tunnel, which is why I didn’t get all your calls and messages.” Jianmen proceeded to explain: “I was dealing with a sort of large scale incident. Probably saved millions of people’s lives there. Even if you discounted all the car accidents.”
“Car accidents? What happened? What did you do?” Caroline asked hurriedly, “Did you cause the accidents?”
“Not directly. But I can explain it in due time, when you are ready.” Jianmen coughed and said: “Simple answer is that I wiped an underground monster from existence. And this arm? It’s because of that fight. ”
“What kind of monster was it? ” Jason asked: “How did it hurt you like this?”
“Nah, it was not strong enough to hurt me. This is just some aftermath of me trying to clean up its mess.” Jianmen shook his head and coughed again: “As I already told you, I will explain it to you in full detail when you are ready. It’s no benefit to you if I told you now. How about this, let me give you something else: three questions for each of you. I’ll answer and explain honestly. Just don’t ask about the things I told you you’re not ready to hear.”
“Ok, is Jianmen Yu even your real name?” Caroline asked while staring at Jianmen with a judgmental look on her face.
“Yes. You now have two questions. Way to waste your opportunities.”
“How old are you, Boss?” Jason asked.
“I am 157 and counting.” Jianmen answered without hesitation while rubbing his right shoulder, “You just wasted your chance on an inconsequential one.”
“What? How is that possible? Are you kidding?” this answer made Caroline put down her arms.
“You wanna waste another question here?” Jianmen asked Caroline with an insinuating voice and his right eyebrow raised.
“No. Um… Okay...” Caroline thought for a short while: “Tell us how powerful you are, with your way of measuring power layers and levels, and make it understandable to us.”
“Very good, Caroline, a nuanced and complicated question. One that asks for ample information and context.” Jianmen gave Caroline a proud look and a point with his finger, “Okay, how do I fully explain this… So first, there are nine layers of cultivation. I think I have already told you that. And if one wants to reach for a higher level than the ninth layer, they can go for the tribulation of the Dao and become immortal. And I was a pre-immortal layer nine before my jump. I have not tested my full power since I got here. But before the jump I could easily slice the sun in half and cook my smores with its core. My greatest enemies bowed down before me and begged for my mercy after I threw their entire planet into a black hole. My powers were greatly weakened after the jump, but do know this, that you will be safe as long as I am alive ...”
“Okay, okay, okay, so you were god tier powerful.” Caroline couldn’t help but roll her eyes: “I assume you already know about the limbo and the ghosts from the hotel? I would like a full explanation of the situation in terms we can understand and a solution to the situation.”
“No, I don’t know much about the details. And since I got injured, I can’t fully use my powers outside the premise of the inn. Actually I’ll need you to explain what you saw in the limbo you just said to me later. Another question.”
“Are you really from China?” Jason raised his hand and asked.
“Yes and no. I was from China, but not the China here. I traveled to the world where I learned the arts of cultivation. Then I ended up here after the jump.”
“What was the jump?” Caroline asked out of instinct, then quickly realized she had no more questions left: “No! I take that back! I have another question!”
“No you can’t.” Jianmen had a sly smile on his face: “The jump was an attempt to go home. And alas, I ended up in a place very close to my home but is actually not my home.”
Both Jason and Caroline were stunned by the answer, and they stared at Jianmen as if he was talking nonsense.
“What? You want an honest answer. It is an honest answer. Haven’t you heard about the multiverse theory? It is very accurate, good for the scientist, unlucky for me.”
“Wow. Okay, this is … disturbing.” Caroline commented.
“And kinda cool… and yes, disturbing.” Jason was excited at first, but then he saw Caroline’s face and had to agree to her sentiment.
“What? Don’t sweat it! You fought some superpowered mutant guy before. Why is it so hard to accept that I am from another world? At least I am not trying to kill you!”
“Ask him about this cultivation business.” Caroline gave out a long exhale, then turned to Jason.
“Tell us about this cultivation business. What is it really? How does it work?” Jason nodded and asked.
“It’s a way of understanding the world, the flow of a certain kind of energy called Xuanli. You can call it Arcane Energy, Spirit Energy, magic or Chakra or whatever - it is a special kind of power. ” Jianmen snapped his finger and said: “Of course, you will become stronger through the process, you will live longer and have a grasp over the power. Through spells that I will teach you, in due time, you can have your own superpower of sorts. And yes, this is a freebie answer: it does work in your world. The fundamental laws are somehow mostly the same.”
“Ah, okay, a lot of very confusing information and not super helpful.” Caroline said sarcastically.
“You had me at ‘superpower’.” Jason chuckled and said, and when faced with Caroline’s judgmental look: “What? Like any other answer’s going to change anything?”