Book 2: Chapter 6: A Brother’s Oath

Book 2: Chapter 6: A Brother’s Oath

Today has been a busy day. After curing Zhang, I decided to plan a quick celebration for him with Su Lin and the others. The villagers, though, seem to have gotten the news and had decided to chip in, leading to a bit of a crazy rush to get the part ready, without letting Zhang in on the news.The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.

I stirred a batter around in the bowl in front of me, reading and scratching out the trial and error recipes written upon it. You’d think after making literal magic bombs from herbs I would have an easier time with something as simple as a cake, but as it’d turn out, magic-cooking skills did not translate all that well to actual cooking, especially without any modern tools whatsoever.

“Pass me the sugar Labby,” I asked my assistant. Labby perked up, white powder splattered over her face, as she hurriedly passed me the bowl of sugar. I glanced at her, and Labby slowly retreated from powdered bowl of whipped cream I’d made through a lot of effort.

Mixing the sugar into the batter, I continued to mix, before I found the consistency to be just right. Moving my bowl over, I quickly walked through my lab, near the kiln that’d been made for my cauldron, as I transferred the batter into my cauldron. With a flick of my wrist, I set the flames on, and all that remained was to wait.

Stepping back, I took a seat near Labby, wiping the sweat off my brow.

“Is this cake really so good?” Labby asked, leaning over the counter as she looked at the cauldron curiously.

“It’s pretty good, yeah. Though what I’m making is sponge-cake since manufacturing baking soda artificially was a bust, but it’s good. Though maybe not as good as a pizza, which I should also make one of these days.”

“Pi za?” Labby asked.

“It’s a thing. Back from my home. I think you’ll like it,” I told Labby, who kicked her legs around from her chair and hummed happily.

We sat for a while in silence, as I focused on controlling the flames and heat. After I felt it had been long enough, I moved to the cauldron and took off the lid.

“Alright, it’s not a goopy sludge or a charred husk this time, so progress,” I said out loud, before poking at the cake once. The cake itself was firm, though there was no real bounce to it, which I wasn’t surprised by. Using a knife, I took out the cake form the cauldron in all it’s rounded top glory, before quickly setting it on a tray.

“Okay! You’re up Labby!”

“Squeak!” Labby jumped up at the task, grabbing the spoon and the bowl of whipped cream. With a smooth cut of my knife, I evened outthe cake on all sides, before spinning the tray around steadily.

Labby took the cream on the spoon, before bringing it near the cake as she began to coat it on all sides. Different smaller bowls had different colors that I’d made with the help of ground herbs, primarily spirit herbs for their brighter colors, and I watched Labby now play around with the colors freely, her eyes intently focused on the cake.

A knock on the door interrupted me, and I sent a pulse of Chi to open the door.

The door opened a crack, as Yan Yun poked her head inside. “Is it ready yet?”

“We’re on it,” I replied, as I continued to spin the tray around.

“Zhang is outside, so be quick,” Yan Yun said, walking out.

And then he cut the cake.

Qi shuddered and pulsed, circling around Zhang before sinking into him. I felt the tie that connected us, strengthen into a powerful bond, as the Oath found it’s purchase and broke Zhang into the first realm, flaring his Qi out brightly into the world.

“The wish was meant to be for you, silly,” I said, smiling, before I went in and gave the boy a hug. We remained that way for a few moments, as I felt the weight of Zhang’s words settling on me. Trying not to get the mood too weighed down by heavy emotions, I separated, a smile still held on my face. “Though I don’t seem to be the only one who wants to meet you today, Zhang,” I added, turning around.

The gate to my house opened, as the villagers walked in, holding all sorts of gifts and trinkets. The gift giving custom had taken on pretty quickly, and even the children had decided to join in, bringing in flowers and whatever they could find.

I smiled as watching as one by one everyone came in and handed in their gifts, thanking Zhang for whatever he’d done to help them.

Stepping back, I guided everyone in through the party. Su Lin, Yan Yun and the village head’s daughter Yin helped me through the setup. Yin had been a great help with the preparations, but somehow I hadn’t been able to talk to her. I’d noticed her eyeing the cake I’d made and looking at me, as if she wanted to say something, but if she did, she had never asked.

Time flew past in a rush, as the people came, and ate, congratulating Zhang. Taking my chance, I slipped out for a brief moment to catch some fresh air, a glass of liquor that I sipped on, though it did nothing to intoxicate me. A celebratory mood filled the air, as I walked through the people of the village, finding their hesitation and boundaries starting to melt.

No more, was this a gathering of cultivation of mortals and cultivators. Instead, this was the gathering of the village Taizhou. My new home. And I had a lot to do to ensure I could protect it.

I sensed something stir behind me and sighed.

“It’s time, Lu Jie,” a voice echoed from behind my back. I turned around to face the voice and found Elder Tian Feng, now wearing robes carrying the mark of Lord Zhou standing behind me.

“I don’t really see a carriage,” I asked with a light chuckle.

“I see you feel merry, but I suggest you don’t make the Lord wait on your first day,” the Elder said, taking a glance around at the village.

“Right, I shouldn’t piss off my boss on the first day of work. That’d get me fired real quick,” I replied, smiling.

Tian Feng nodded, as mist burst around the man, a spectral carriage forming behind him.

I let out a whistle at the display, impressed by the pair of pristine horses with manes that turned to mist.

"I'm heading out for a while," I sent to Zhang. I sensed the boy's surprise, likely both at being able to hear my voice like this again, and the message, but I soon received his acknowledgement. Glancing back, I took a look at Labby, contemplating for a moment if I wanted to bring her along with me.

Hearing her squeals and laughs of joy as she tumbled and tussled with the kids, I decided to leave her be, as I stepped into the carriage.

“Let us depart,” Tian Feng said, stepping into the carriage behind me, as the world began to zip past in a blur.