Chapter 132: The Oath of the Peach Garden
"Only the two of you are not worth the sacrifice." He said.
His face was a little dazed, and his voice seemed to be coming from a far distance.
When they heard his words, the three were shocked.
Jiang Yue gaped at the person while Yu Nianzhen narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
Li Futian came to and smiled furtively, "my master said that the two of you are important for my Cangxing world."
Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue didn’t know what to say to that.
They looked at each other, and thousands of thoughts crossed their mind.
However, one thought was fore in both their minds.
’Is this related to our death and transmigration?’ They wondered.
For a long time, they felt their death was a bit strange.
Although the direct cause was their stupidity, their state of mind was a little suspect back then.
No matter how they thought about it, the two weren’t prone to overexcitement. That they uncontrollably got into a chicken game was difficult to wrap around.
Also, what was the force that grabbed them when they were on their way to drink the soup of forgetfulness?
These questions had been lingering at the back of their minds, but they had no answers for them.
All they could be sure about was that they came to the Cangxing world for a reason.
They didn’t know the reason, but they always had a sense of urgency that was unrelated to their plans.
Now when they heard Li Futian speak, they suddenly recalled all the strangeness in their lives.
’Could our purpose for transmigrating be related to the map and the Cangxing world?’ Jiang Yue wondered and looked at Yu Nianzhen.
The black-haired swordsman was deep in thought and was thinking along the same lines as Jiang Yue.
However, his thoughts had gone a little further.
Although he couldn’t tell why, he felt old man Cang was more involved than they knew.
For one, the mission he left turned out to be closely related to an organisation that was the bane of the Cangxing world.
’Was he subtly guiding us to fight the Death Flower Ascension Front?’
The more he thought about it, the more Yu Nianzhen felt that this was the old man’s purpose.
’Why though? What exactly is the purpose of the Death Flower Ascension Front? More importantly, who was old man Cang?’
These questions fluttered in his mind and left him frustrated because he found no answer.
’It looks like we need to be more careful in the future.’ He was just thinking this when a voice broke through his active thoughts.
"As I thought, brother Yue and brother Yu are the treasures of our Cangxing world." Xuan Ke said.
His voice was intentionally half joking, but his eyes glinted with a solemn light.
When he saw this, Yu Nianzhen tensed.
He could see no malicious intent from the monk, but this matter was not easy to say to others.
He looked at Li Futian and wordlessly inquired, "junior brother Yu and junior brother Yue don’t have to worry."
"Even my master knows only this much and won’t say it to other people." He assured.
However, Yu Nianzhen was not assured.
After all, Li Futian had directly said such words in front of Xuan Ke.
Although they had cooperated for a while, they were still in the stage of knowing each other.
They didn’t know enough about each other, and the monk was clearly not as simple as he usually acted.
When he saw their scepticism, Li Futian chuckled.
"Don’t worry about this matter." He said but didn’t explain more.
Yu Nianzhen frowned but didn’t mean to be at ease for the time being.
In the end, Li Futian was also a stranger.
Even though he was from the Celestial Sky sect, this was not a guarantee that he didn’t hold ulterior motives toward them.
"Why don’t we make an oath of brotherhood?" Xuan Ke suddenly said.
He looked to be the most easygoing of the lot, but he was actually the most thoughtful.
Most everyone assumed the Buddhist temple was a clean place untouched by mundane desires, but this was not the case.
When he was five years old, the village he lived in was attacked by evil cultivators, and Xuan Ke was the only survivor.
He was saved by a travelling monk and brought to the Thunder God temple to take the vows.
Since then, he lived in the temple and experienced all kinds of intrigues.
In the early years, he ate many dumb losses, but his mind had gotten sharper and more intuitive as he grew older.
Maybe it was because of this, but his subconscious had long found something special in both Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen.
He couldn’t tell what it was, but his curiosity led him to follow them rather than acting alone like he always did.
"Oath of brotherhood..." Jiang Yue was a little excited when he heard this.
His face was nostalgic, and Yu Nianzhen was tempted to roll his eyes when he saw it.
Even without saying a word, he knew what the other was thinking.
It wasn’t that Jiang Yue was particularly excited about becoming brothers with the others; he was just interested in the oath itself.
"Let’s do this." Jiang Yue immediately agreed.
Yu Nianzhen sighed in despair and felt a little resentful.
’Why do I have to become sworn brothers with others?’ He complained.
Unfortunately, his opinion didn’t count in this matter.
Jiang Yue wanted to do it, and his role in this was to follow his sweetheart in whatever he decided.
Thankfully, Li Futian and Xuan Ke were both acceptable brothers.
Although he didn’t know them well, he hadn’t observed any bad habits since they met.
’This is also fate.’ He thought and agreed to the matter.
"I also agree." Li Futian said.
It wasn’t obvious, but if one looked closely, they would notice his manner was a little agitated.
His eyes twitched behind his closed eyelids, and a tick fluttered at the corner of his lips.
However, these symptoms were momentary and quickly dissipated.
"Good." Xuan Ke said.
In all honesty, he had said it on a whim and didn’t expect them to agree so readily.
After all, sworn brotherhood was not a simple matter.
Just like owing and giving favours, brotherhood links also had cause and effect.
If one link in the brotherhood cultivated merit, the others would benefit, but the opposite was also true.
It was because of this that powerful cultivators avoided such relationships that carried heavy cause-and-effect ramifications.
’This is also fate.’
Without knowing it, Xuan Ke thought the same words as Yu Nianzhen.
Only Jiang Yue didn’t think too much about it, while Li Futian seemed to have expected this development.
"Since it’s decided, let’s not waste any time."
"I will prepare the oath." Jiang Yue offered, and this time, Yu Nianzhen did roll his eyes.
As he thought, Jiang Yue’s acceptance was all about the oath.
It was just another one of those ’I always wanted to say this but never had a chance’ things.
"Brother Yue has thought of something good?" Xuan Ke teased, and Jiang Yue chuckled.
In fact, he wasn’t just wanting to say certain lines.
He also had his considerations and wasn’t resistant to the other two young men.
It wasn’t the same feeling he had for Nianzhen, but he always had a feeling their fates would be entangled for a long time.
Fortunately, this fate felt positive.
’Having sworn brothers is having lifelong allies.’ He thought.
"I have some words." Jiang Yue answered.
"If that’s the case, let’s do it now."
The others agreed, and Jiang Yue produced a green jade from his storage ring.
The jade was half the size of a palm, but it carried a strong spiritual aura.
Jiang Yue closed his eyes, and his qi covered the jade tablet.
Soon after, writing began to appear on the jade and didn’t stop until the entire tablet was covered.
When he was done, a fine sweat covered his brow, and Yu Nianzhen leaned in to wipe it.
Jiang Yue looked at him thankfully and then waved his right hand.
On cue, the jade split into four equal pieces, and a piece flew to each of the gathered people.
At the same time, Yu Nianzhen released four wine cups from his storage ring. He poured wine into the cups and placed them in front of them.
"These are powerful words." Li Futian said.
"Indeed." Xuan Ke agreed.
"Aren’t they?" Jiang Yue felt proud.
Yu Nianzhen took his jade tablet and quickly read the words.
’As expected.’ He thought.
A moment later, four voices echoed around the tent.
"We four-Jiang Yue, Yu Nianzhen, Xuan Ke, and Li Futian- though of different surnames, swear brotherhood, and promise mutual help to one end. We will rescue each other in difficulty and will aid each other in danger. We seek not to be born on the same day, in the same month and in the same year. We merely hope to die on the same day, in the same month and in the same year. May the heavens and earth attest to what is in our hearts. If we should ever do anything to betray our friendship, may heaven and earth strike us dead."
