The Blood Oath

Seeing that Li Huowang was listening, the doctor’s heart leaped with joy, and he grew increasingly animated as he spoke.

“Li Huowang, it was because your subconscious mind heard the sound that your conscious self happened to wake up at just the right moment to meet Yang Na. So you see? It’s not a coincidence. There aren’t that many coincidences in this world.”

“When you wake up, it’s not because something happened in that hallucination over there. It’s because you yourself wanted to wake up. That’s what causes the hallucination over there to change.”

“What the hell are you—” Li Huowang started, but then he abruptly froze. A gleam of joy gradually spread across his face.

“Right! You’re right, the logic is perfectly sound! So that means this world really is real! This world is real!”

“Huh?” The doctor scratched at his wig. The patient seemed to accept this reasoning, but something felt distinctly off.

“It’s fine, as long as he accepts it.” The doctor looked at Li Huowang before him and continued. “See, if we look at it dialectically, doesn’t that mean the world on the other side—the hallucination—is fake?”

“No! That side is real too!” Li Huowang declared, his tone brooking no argument. “My subconscious sensed I needed to wake up over here, so the Innate Pneuma inside my body loosened its hold, letting me return to this world! So none of those were coincidences!”

The doctor, listening to Li Huowang’s ravings, was utterly stunned. What the hell was ‘Innate Pneuma’? How was this patient adding new terms to forcibly prop up his own logic? You can’t just casually change the rules!

“No, no, no. Li Huowang, listen to me, about this matter—”

“No! You shut up! You listen to me! Maybe this Innate Pneuma inside my body isn’t just a part of the Heavenly Dao. It could also be a key to both worlds! Just like Zhuge Yuan! We’re both of the ‘Heart’ generation! It’s perfectly logical!”

“Yes! That’s right! Maybe when part of the Heavenly Dao in that mad world shattered, it tore through spacetime and jumped into this world, and attached itself to me! That’s why I have the special ability to travel between two worlds!”

“This world is real! That world is real too! There is no fake one! They’re both real! Both of them!”

Innate Pneuma? Zhuge Yuan? The doctor’s face was a mask of confusion as he listened, utterly lost.

While he was still stunned, Li Huowang rushed up and gave him a huge hug. “Thank you! Doctor! Now it all makes sense! Everything around me is trembling… I think I’m about to go back. Let’s talk more when I have a chance next time!”

The excited Li Huowang had just finished speaking to the astonished doctor when the flesh on his face began to peel away, bit by bit, until he became nothing more than a flayed dog standing on its hind legs.

The brightly lit surroundings suddenly plunged into darkness. Li Huowang was back in the dim forest.

He took a moment to calm his racing excitement. As much as he wanted to share this thrilling revelation with Li Sui, he knew she wouldn’t understand a word of it.

“Calm down, calm down. Stick with it, keep cultivating the truth. Even if that side is real, I can’t give up. I still need to save Zhuge Yuan!”

After taking a few deep breaths, Li Huowang looked at the flayed dog with its tentacles and asked, “Li Sui, why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to go with your mother? Where is she?”

“Dad, Mother is behind you.”

Li Huowang whipped his head around and saw Bai Lingmiao standing there. He let out a sigh of relief.

Holding Zhuge Yuan’s spine-sword in his hand, he walked over to her, a hint of displeasure in his voice. “Why did you follow me again?”

“Brother Li, you said those Zuowandao who can disguise themselves are spying on us. I was afraid that after being apart for so long, you might have been swapped out. So I brought Li Sui and secretly followed.”

After Bai Lingmiao finished her soft explanation, Li Sui chimed in, “Mother also said that if you were in danger, we could help.”

Seeing Bai Lingmiao bow her head in guilt, Li Huowang let out a soft sigh. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, gently stroking the waist-length white hair on her back. “Forget it, no more talking. As long as everyone’s safe.”

When he saw Zhuge Yuan and the others standing in the distance, silently watching him, Li Huowang cleared his throat. He led Bai Lingmiao back toward the carriage.

The chaotic night was over. Despite some rough spots, things had finally been resolved, and Li Huowang was reasonably satisfied.

By the time the sun was high in the sky, Li Huowang, who hadn’t slept all night, was carrying three swords on his back. He arrived at a grassy hill beside a waterfall.

He looked down at the yellow earth at his feet, then took in the beautiful scenery. He nodded with satisfaction.

“Brother Zhuge, the feng shui here is pretty good, isn’t it? How about I bury your corpse here?” With that, Li Huowang drew his Purple-Tasseled Sword, ready to start digging.

“Brother Li, Brother Li, no need to rush.” Zhuge Yuan stopped him.

He stared at the spine-sword that had once been his own back, which Li Huowang now carried, and said, “Brother Li, since this sword has come into your hands, keep it.”

“What? I can’t do that!” Zhuge Yuan raised his folding fan, blocking off any retort Li Huowang might have made.

“Brother Li, you risked your life to try and save me. I am deeply grateful. Every time you escaped disaster by a hair’s breadth, it pained my heart. If this mere shell of mine can be of even the slightest help, it would ease my mind.”

Li Huowang held the sword in his hand, silently gazing at the miniature head of Zhuge Yuan embedded within it. He had to admit; it was a very powerful magical artifact.

If it had been anything else, he wouldn’t have hesitated for a second. But this was forged from the spine of his best friend.

“Brother Li, a man who achieves great things does not balk at trifles. You are surrounded by powerful enemies. If you were to die for want of a single magic tool, I would have to follow you in death as well. Even if this sword were buried here, I would not be able to rest in peace.”

Hearing Zhuge Yuan put it that way, Li Huowang hesitated no longer. He slid the broad spine-sword back into its sheath on his back.

He dashed back to the carriage and rummaged around until he found two bowls. He filled each halfway with water, then bit his own finger and dripped his blood into both. After that, he raised the spine-sword and dipped it into the bowls to soak.

Li Huowang held the blood-stained bowl up high toward the figure of Zhuge Yuan hovering in the air. “Come! Brother Zhuge! Let us become sworn brothers! I, Li Huowang, swear this oath here and now: I will find a way, by any means necessary, to bring Zhuge Yuan back to life!”

Zhuge Yuan, his face solemn, stood there. When he saw the bowl of blood-water Li Huowang poured onto the ground before him, he cupped his hands as if holding a drinking vessel and tipped his head back as if to drink.

Just as Li Huowang lifted the bowl of blood-water and gulped it down in big swallows, the faceless, eyeless Zuowandao, standing off to the side, sang out in a strangled voice, “We two brothers, we do not ask to be born on the same day, in the same month, in the same year… but we ask to die on the same day, in the same month, in the same year!! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha~!!”