Yang Su, who was previously looking at Xi Shen with a worried expression due to his previous question, had his eyes light up before he stood up and said, “As your assistant, your wish is my command young master. I’m willing to swear any amount of blood oath’s as need be.”
However, Yang Su’s excited expression suddenly fell, before he asked slightly embarrassed, “Um, young master, what exactly is a blood oath?”
Though Yang Su was unaware of what exactly a blood oath was, and why Xi Shen wanted him to make one, he was still somewhat excited that he was finally able to carry out one of Xi Shen’s orders.
Seeing Yang Su going from excited and having conviction to being embarrassed, Xi Shen couldn’t help but chuckle at his child-like behavior before he answered his question.
“In simple terms, you can say blood oaths are a type of promise. But unlike promises that don’t always have consequences if they are broken, in the cases of blood oaths if someone breaks one of theirs then something extremely bad would occur to that person. For example, they could find themselves having stagnated at a cultivation bottleneck and having their cultivation come to an end. But small punishments like that are for cultivators in lower realms, for cultivators in higher realms, if they break a blood oath they could die either by being struck to death by constant lightning or having their cultivation base regress to the point that they shrivel up and died. Many outcomes could happen if a cultivator breaks their blood oath, it just depends on your cultivation level and how serious the blood oath is.”
As Xi Shen finish explaining what a blood oath was, he saw that Yang Su had a terrified expression on his face.
Seeing this, Xi Shen realized he might have frightened the kid a bit too much.
With the intent to comfort him Xi Shen said, “It’s not that bad, as long as you abide by the blood oath you swore then everything will be fine.”
Hearing Xi Shen's words, Yang Su thought about it and realized that it wasn’t so bad. If the blood oath was something his young master and also his elder brother wanted him to take, he wouldn’t even think about breaking it even if the consequences weren’t that severe.
Yang Su's expression then turned serious as he asked, “Young master, please tell me the blood oath you wish for me to make and I’ll immediately carry it out.”
Seeing Yang Su acting so formal in this situation, Xi Shen waved his hand and said, “There’s no need to be so formal, we're the only ones here. As for the blood oath, I want you to swear to the heavens that you’ll never betray me by acting against my wishes or reveal any of my secrets you’ll see in the future. You also have to swear to never reveal the existence of your Six Elemental Qi Dao Foundation to anyone, unless I permitted you to do so or you come to the conclusion on your own that you have no other choice.”
Hearing Xi Shen’s words, the air around Yang Su became slightly less formal before he firmly nodded his head in confirmation.
After Yang Su nodded his head, Xi Shen step closer to him and said, “Stand still and don’t move.”
Yang Su did as he was told, and after approaching Yang Su, Xi Shen bit the tip of his right index finger and drew blood, after which he drew a simple character for the word 'blood' on Yang Su’s forehead.
After that was complete, Xi Shen said, “Now hold up your dominant’s hand index and middle finger, then make the blood oath to the heavens.”
Yang Su without hesitation holds up his left-hand index and middle finger before he began making the blood oath.
“With the heavens as a witness, I hereby make a blood oath to never betray my young master and elder brother in any shape or form, either by going against his wishes or revealing his secrets to outsiders. I also swear to never reveal the Dao Foundation he has given to me without his express permission, or I am left with no other choice but to do so.”
As soon as Yang Su finished saying the blood oath, the blood character on his forehead glowed red before it seeped into his forehead and branded itself onto his soul. A clap of thunder flashed across the morning sky that caused a few disciples on the Sword Division mountain to jump, including Yang Su himself.
Seeing that Yang Su completed the blood oath without mistakes, Xi Shen nodded his head before he turn to sit at the stone table and reached for the pot of tea to pour himself a cup of what he assumed to be the green tea he saw within the mansion.
However, before his hand could reach the pot of tea, Yang Su who saw this quickly picked it up as he was closer to it while saying, “Elder brother, I should be the one to do that for you.”
After saying that Yang Su started pouring the fragrant green tea into the second cup that was situated in front of Xi Shen.
While pouring the tea, Yang Su curiously asked, “Elder brother, I was wondering what the hand sign you made me do meant. Is it some kind of requirement to complete the blood oath?”
Hearing Yang Su’s question, Xi Shen shook his head and said, “It’s not really a requirement for cultivators to do it, but it’s more of a barely used custom when making blood oath.”
Yang Su finished pouring the tea and sat down across from Xi Shen.
Xi Shen took a sip from the cup before he continued and said, “As for its meaning…”
Xi Shen placed down the cup of tea and raised his five fingers for Yang Su to see. He then pointed at his thumb and said, “Your thumb represents your family..”
Xi Shen then pointed at his pinky and said again, “...Your pinky finger represents your children...” He continue to his ring finger then said, “...Your ring finger represents your partner.”
Each time he pointed at a finger and say what they represented he folded them so now only his middle finger and index finger were left standing up.
After a slight pause, Xi Shen then said, “Your last two fingers, your middle and index finger, represent you and your siblings.”
Yang Su who was intently listening to Xi Shen’s explanation had the tea in his hand spilled over slightly, due to his body quivering when he heard what the last two fingers meant.
Not minding Yang Su’s reaction, Xi Shen calmly said, “When doing a blood oath, one would hold up the finger that represents their self and the relationship they have with the other party they're taking the oath with. But, I said in the beginning that this custom is hardly ever used since it’s created biasedly for when cultivators make blood oath involving people close to them and not acquaintances or friends.”
Hearing Xi Shen’s explanation, which he had already deduced, Yang Su couldn’t help but get slightly emotional at Xi Shen's meaningful action of placing himself in a position that represented himself as his sibling. Even though it might seem small and insignificant to some people, it still meant a lot to Yang Su who saw himself as a lowly commoner.
Even though Xi Shen allowed him to call him his elder brother, at the back of Yang Su’s mind, the thought of Xi Shen going out of his way to help him during the Disciple Selection Ceremony was only done to have someone to use and exploit, before eventually being thrown away, had crossed his mind multiple times over the past few days.
However, the way Xi Shen treated him since he had made him his assistant had caused that little bit of fear he held towards Xi Shen to lessen dramatically, with this being the final nail in the coffin to completely put his entire trust in Xi Shen wholeheartedly.
While Yang Su held his head down holding back his tears, and Xi Shen calmly sipping away at his tea, a knock suddenly echoed from the front gate of the mansion interrupting the morning silence.
*******
The representation Xi Shen did for his five fingers is used in China, though my three hours of research didn't tell me how often that is, but I did find out that this is their version as to why the ring finger is known as the ring finger.
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