Gu Xiao and Da Hong relaxed a little. "You just can't figure out what Shepherd Heavenly Venerable is thinking. When he rampaged through Jade Pool, he was so domineering and reckless, but now he's acting all mischievous..."
Qin Mu was all smiles, clasping his hands and raising them high, his right palm pressing on the back of his left hand. His voice boomed like thunder: "Today, I, Mu Qing!"
Loren Shaw adopted a solemn expression and said, "Today, I, Loren Shaw!"
Gu Xiao had no choice but to say, "Today, I, Gu Xiao!"
Da Hong braced himself and said, "Today, I, Da Hong!"
The four spoke in unison: "We swear brotherhood with the three, loyal and true, sharing hardship and fortune, living and dying together, never to be parted! We do not ask to be born the same year, month, and day, but pray to die the same year, month, and day!"
As soon as their words fell, the oath, powered by their vital essence, qi, and spirit, condensed into four sticks of incense in each of their hands, burning slowly and filling the air with fragrant smoke.
Their vital essence was so powerful that the moment the vow was spoken, Law-Following Word Arts took effect—even though they hadn't sworn to Tu Bo or Heaven Duke, the oath became a real, tangible thing.
Qin Mu thought to himself, "Mu Qing is just my alias, so this oath doesn't bind me at all..."
Gu Xiao's eyes flickered. "Heh, it's all just for show anyway. My name isn't really Gu Xiao, so this brotherhood means nothing."
Da Hong's face flushed with satisfaction. He thought, "No one knows my origins. Swearing an oath is no different than drinking a glass of water."
Only Loren Shaw was sincere, his heart full of joy.
Qin Mu called out toward the carriage exterior, "Pi, bring out the little brother in your ear to bear witness!"
Outside, Dragon-Qilin, sitting on the carriage shaft, was a hundred times unwilling, but still did as Qin Mu said, pulling a tiny Tu Bo out of his ear.
This little Tu Bo was created by Qin Mu after he obtained a Creation God-Stone in the Blood-Rust Lands, using visualization arts to experiment and bring forth a tiny life.
After Qin Mu visualized and created this tiny Tu Bo, he mostly ignored it, but Dragon-Qilin kept it close, caring for it and sharing spirit pills with it daily.
Yan'er would sometimes feed it too. Now the little Tu Bo had grown round and chubby, lacking any of the real Tu Bo's imposing presence.
"Be careful," he warned.
Dragon-Qilin took out the tiny Tu Bo and whispered, "None of the people inside are good news—they'd eat you bones and all."
The little Tu Bo landed on the ground and, very seriously, said, "Moo!"
"Don't say a word when you get in there, or you'll get caught out," Dragon-Qilin warned.
"Huh?" The little Tu Bo blinked, a bit nervous.
Inside the carriage, Qin Mu urged him again. Dragon-Qilin had no choice but to let him go. The little Tu Bo, with short arms and legs, swung his tail and clopped his hooves toward the carriage, struggling to climb the steps beneath the beaded curtain, then jumped down and entered.
Inside, Gu Xiao, Da Hong, and Loren Shaw stared in astonishment as the chubby little creature waddled past them, coming in from outside to witness their brotherhood ceremony—a round, doughy little monster!
This little monster actually looked quite a bit like Tu Bo of Youdu!
"The real Tu Bo is vast and terrifying, but shrunk down to this size, he's almost cute," Da Hong couldn't help but laugh.
The little Tu Bo came up to the group and opened his mouth. Qin Mu stuck his incense-oath inside, and the tiny Tu Bo swallowed it in one gulp, then toddled over to Loren Shaw.
Loren Shaw examined him closely, surprised. "Is this a god-sense visualization construct?" he asked, then also stuck his incense-oath into the little Tu Bo's mouth.
The little Tu Bo swallowed his oath, then moved in front of Da Hong.
Da Hong hesitated, scrutinizing the little thing over and over, making sure it had nothing to do with Youdu's Tu Bo and wasn't one of his avatars or incarnations. Only then did he hand over his incense-oath.
The little Tu Bo swallowed that incense too, then came to Gu Xiao. Gu Xiao also inspected him several times before giving up his incense.
After swallowing all four incense-oaths, the little Tu Bo staggered toward the main throne, tried to jump up, but fell short.
The four watched as he jumped five or six inches but still couldn't reach the White Tiger throne, left a foot short.
Landing, the little Tu Bo crouched and tried again, getting a bit higher, but still six or seven inches away.
He jumped several times but never made it, so he started climbing up the leg of the throne.
Under everyone's gaze, the little creature struggled up to the top of the throne leg, hooked a hoof over, then used his tail to pull himself onto the throne, panting heavily.
The four watched as, seated atop the White Tiger throne, the little Tu Bo caught his breath, plopped down, opened his mouth, and let out a stream of incense smoke—the four incense-oaths burning away in his belly.
The smoke condensed before them, forming a single Oath Book.
The little Tu Bo opened the Oath Book, face solemn, and recited in Youdu demon language. His voice was small but awe-inspiringly grave.
Loren Shaw, Gu Xiao, and Da Hong were all shocked. Gu Xiao laughed, "This little thing actually knows Youdu demon language and can produce an Oath Book. That's pretty uncanny. Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, where did you find this little guy?"
Quinn Shepherd was genuinely surprised. He’d visualized the little Tu Bo, but after creating it, he’d barely paid it any attention. He had no idea what Dragon-Qilin had taught the little fellow over time.
The little Tu Bo recited the Oath Book, then promptly swallowed it, stood up, turned around, and stretched one leg over the edge of the seat, trying to touch the floor—but couldn’t reach.
Sweat beaded on its forehead as it tried the other leg—still no luck, couldn’t reach the ground.
It leaned over to look down, got dizzy, started sweating even harder, and kept squeaking, "Scared, scared."
The seat was way too high for it; if it fell, it’d probably end up battered and bruised all over.
Quinn Shepherd reached out his palm beneath its feet. The little Tu Bo landed on his hand and immediately clung to one of Quinn’s fingers, refusing to let go.
Quinn lowered his hand to the ground. Only then did the little fellow get a bit braver, gingerly stretching out one leg, still gripping Quinn’s finger tightly.
Once both feet were on solid ground, it tested its footing a couple of times, then finally let go of Quinn’s finger and waddled out on its stubby legs.
All four people in the carriage watched in silence as the little Tu Bo wiggled its round, bull-like backside to the steps, braced itself with both hands, climbed up, slipped through the bead curtain, and hopped down the stairs.
The four inside the carriage turned their attention back.
Outside, the little Tu Bo waddled over to Dragon-Qilin. Dragon-Qilin whispered, "Those bad people in the carriage didn’t do anything to you, did they?"
The little Tu Bo shook its head. "Scared."
Dragon-Qilin breathed a sigh of relief, tucked it back into his ear, and said, "None of those four are good people—they’re all sly as foxes. You’d better stay away from them."
Inside, the four sat down again. Quinn Shepherd wore a broad smile, thinking, "That little Tu Bo’s Oath Book is going to be useful. It doesn’t restrict any of us now, but when I get back to the future, I can use it to reveal the true identities of Hong Heavenly Venerable and Noel Heavenly Venerable. No matter how they hide, they won’t fool me."
The little Tu Bo he’d visualized might be weak, but the Oath Book itself was powerful.
Even if they used fake names or false identities, it wouldn’t matter in front of the Oath Book.
Quinn’s gaze shifted away from Noel and Hong to Loren Shaw, his expression a bit odd. "The only one who used his real name is probably this big brother from the Grand Void..."
He couldn’t help but get a headache. Loren Shaw was just too naive.
Besides, the timing of Noel and Hong’s arrival was suspicious: right after Quinn Shepherd killed the Five Calamity Luminary Gods and Loren Shaw exposed himself as a Creator, those two showed up.
Clearly, both of them came for those two events.