Chapter 54: Sworn Brotherhood
It was also under the guise of this drinking session that Xue Pan asked me a question.
“Brother Xin, you know about Li Meng’s situation. Although I, your brother, am not a good person and was lustful in life, I am definitely not the kind of lustful person lacking in morals, you know this. I just want to ask you, Brother Xin, do you have any methods to help Li Meng escape the pain of repeatedly jumping to her death every day?”
“Yes, brother, you see, it’s not easy for this girl Li Meng. If it weren’t for that beast Wu Sheng, Li Meng wouldn’t have committed suicide. If you have a way, please help her.”
Golden Toad also chimed in.
Hearing this, I sighed;
“Alas, this matter, I actually want to help, but to be honest, there’s really no way.”
I glanced at Xue Pan, then turned my gaze to Golden Toad,
“Brother Jin, you are also a cultivator of the Dao. You should understand this kind of matter. The Heavenly Dao is just. It will not help someone because they are weak, nor will it destroy someone because they are strong. At most, it will only increase the difficulty of the trials it sets.
Moreover, as far as I know, any living being that dies by suicide, even if their resentment dissipates, cannot change the process of repeated death. If it were a ghost after an unnatural or normal death, then I would have methods for salvation, but this kind of suicide, even if the Jade Emperor himself came, could not change it.
Alas… no matter who it is, no matter why, if they choose to give up on themselves, then no one can help her, not gods, not buddhas, alas…”
Hearing this, the two lowered their heads dejectedly.
Although Old Dog did not speak, he also sighed with melancholy,
Unwillingly, he lamented, “Can even the heavens not be just?”
Hearing this, I shook my head and smiled bitterly, “Quite the opposite. Precisely because heaven is too just, some rules cannot be broken, because they were set by heaven itself. This is also to tell all sentient beings not to give up on themselves easily, otherwise, even heaven cannot forgive them.”
“Alas…”
The four of us tacitly didn’t speak, raised our wine cups, clinked them together, and then drank them dry.
That night, the four of us brothers got drunk, and our relationship became even closer.
Then we thought about becoming sworn brothers, that is, to become sworn siblings, to share blessings and endure hardships together from now on, to be good brothers for life.
Originally, if we were to go by normal age, then Golden Toad had been cultivating for over three hundred years, he could have been the ancestor of Old Dog, Xue Pan, and the three of us. He would definitely have been the eldest brother.
But I was not convinced. What’s that saying? Live as a hero among men, and die as a hero among ghosts. How could a true man be willing to be subordinate to others?
So I shamelessly said, “Old Jin, damn it! Your mother, you can’t count by your cultivation time! If we did, the three of us would have to be your grandsons, and then add a couple more turns. What the hell are you talking about? You’re over two hundred years older than my grandfather. This doesn’t count!”
“Exactly! Brother Jin, this won’t do! How can you count like that? Aren’t you bullying Old Ghost and me? If we count like that, then Xue Pan has been dead for over a hundred years, so wouldn’t my brother and I be at a disadvantage?”
Hearing me and Old Dog say this, Golden Toad didn’t speak, but Xue Pan responded with a few honest nods.
“Yes, Brother Jin, if we count it this way, then Brother Xin and Brother Gou are at a real disadvantage. By this calculation, it would be considered small for them to be our grandsons.”
I was originally going to take it as a compliment, but as soon as I heard the part about me and Old Dog being considered small even as grandsons, I immediately punched Xue Pan.
“Your father’s old asshole, what are you talking about? Who’s going to be your grandson?”
Xue Pan knew I was joking and didn’t argue with me, he rubbed his chest sheepishly;
“I misspoke, Brother Xin, I misspoke.”
“Exactly, damn it, what are you talking about, you brat? Even if I were your grandson, would Old Ghost be yours? Are you stupid? Old Ghost, I’m not saying he’s the most amazing in cultivation, but I’ve lived for over twenty years. If I hadn’t known Old Ghost, really Panzi, the first time I saw you, let alone fight you, you would have scared me to piss myself just by glaring at me and smiling! Damn!”
“Alright, alright, stop arguing. Since that’s the case, let’s listen to heaven.”
Golden Toad interrupted the three of us.
“What do you mean, Brother Jin? How do we listen to heaven?” Old Dog asked.
“Draw straws! Damn it, let’s decide by drawing straws.”
Upon hearing Golden Toad say this, I thought he was going to break short sticks or write notes for the three of us to draw.
Damn it, who knew this guy would drag the three of us to the riverbank in the middle of the night, then scoop up a pile of sand and stick a stick in the middle.
Holy crap, isn’t this the turtle shell game I used to play with my friends when I was a kid?
Fine, damn it, I’m not very good at drawing straws, but at turtle shell game, I’ve never lost since I was a kid, hahaha.
Of course, I couldn’t say this, so I intentionally asked;
“Old Jin, how do we draw? Tell me the rules.”
Old Dog seemed to have regained some spirit in the breeze, his reaction was remarkably quick. He secretly glanced at me, gave me a mischievous smile, and also said;
“Yes, Old Jin, what about it, what kind of straw drawing is this? Tell us brothers the rules.”
Hearing this, I looked at Old Dog and thought, you’re being wicked, aren’t you! Your look at me betrays you, I don’t believe you never played this as a kid?
Seeing me look at him, Old Dog secretly winked at me.
Xue Pan, seeing Old Dog winking at me, asked puzzledly;
“Brother Gou, what’s wrong? Are you having a seizure from drinking?”
Old Dog reacted and quickly reached out to rub his eyes, “No, no, it’s windy and my eyes are a bit blurry.”
Golden Toad, having noticed nothing amiss from beginning to end, seriously explained to us;
“This game, I played it with a group of my childhood friends. It’s called digging sand. The four of us will take turns digging. Whoever knocks over the stick in the middle is eliminated. The first one to knock it over is number four, then we start a new round, and whoever knocks it over next is number three, and so on.”
Upon hearing this, I was overjoyed, hahaha, damn it, it’s exactly the same as the game I played as a kid, they just changed the name.
“Come on, it’s getting late, let’s brothers start quickly, so we can have a sworn brotherhood drink afterwards.”
I said anxiously.
So the four of us played rock-paper-scissors for a good ten minutes before determining the order.
Golden Toad dug first, I second, Old Dog third, and Xue Pan fourth.
This made the four of us sweat profusely.
It wasn’t that we brothers were arguing among ourselves; this was about deciding our future ranking.
Speaking of which, who wouldn’t want to be the eldest brother?
Take Xue Pan, for example. If he got first place, then he wouldn’t have to call me Brother Xin anymore, nor would he have to call Old Dog Brother Gou.
From now on, I would have to call him Big Brother or Brother Pan, and what could I do? So I focused all my attention, even the attention I used when I was breastfeeding, on this moment.
Golden Toad; “I heh…”
Me; “I ha…”
Old Dog; “Ou ya sha…”
Xue Pan; “En ka ka…”
