“Pfft!” The man on the pine tree spat out a mouthful of wine. The priceless celestial brew, golden in color, described an arc in the air before landing on the ground. The originally green pine tree became even more vibrant!
“No…impossible.” The black-robed middle-aged man exclaimed in shock, taking a step back instinctively. He seemed to refuse to accept this scene.
The red-robed man sat on the ground, his face full of bewilderment. “This young one…he crossed the 500-meter checkpoint without any hindrance?”
The white-robed man opened his eyes, a hint of amusement flashing within them.
“The good show, is only just beginning,” he said.
The Apothecary sat cross-legged facing the scholar. They found dried tea leaves from the surrounding bushes and brewed them with the scholar's portable teapot. In a short time, a cup of tea, not hot but full of flavour, was ready.
They could not advance even a step past the 400-meter to 300-meter mark, but they were not bothered at all, instead, they focused their extra energy on appreciating the endless autumn scenery.
“On such a fine day! We might as well use tea instead of wine and compose poems!” The Apothecary exclaimed excitedly. He looked at everything glittering under the sunlight with great excitement. He never thought that after meeting Mo Yi, a fellow "aspiring hero" with a sister complex, he would actually meet someone who shared his interests!
The scholar before him burst into laughter. He took a long drink from the teapot, then stood up, waved his hand with a confident demeanor, and recited, "Light, light, the autumn wind, the Dongting waves and the fallen leaves!"
"A fine 'Dongting waves' of autumn! Today, the autumn wind is strong!" The Apothecary clapped his hands in approval. He casually took the teapot from the scholar, raised it for a drink, and then sang aloud to the heavens, "The autumn wind rises and the white clouds fly, the grass and trees turn yellow and the geese fly south!"
The scholar's eyes flashed with brilliance, and he praised, "Good words! Good verses!"
"We met for the first time, yet we feel like old friends! Why don't we make this celestial mountain our witness, the Jade Path our proof, and become sworn brothers?" The Apothecary's face flushed with an unnatural redness, as if he were drinking strong wine instead of tea.
"Good! Since Brother Apothecary has this intention, this one humbly agrees! I am slightly younger than Brother Apothecary, so this one will be the younger brother and address Brother Apothecary as elder brother from now on!" The scholar was also a generous man. He threw his headband aside, grabbed the teapot from the Apothecary, and placed it on the ground.
They knelt on the spot, with the teapot placed on the jade steps, they clasped their fists and bowed to the heavens, shouting in unison, "Heaven above, earth below, Apothecary and Zhao Zhui pledge to be sworn brothers here today, sealing our pact with blood. In the future, we will share in our fortunes and endure hardships together. If anyone violates this oath, they shall be pierced by a thousand arrows and die a miserable death."
They looked at each other, smiled, and then bowed three times to the teapot!
One bow! Sharing our fortunes!
Two bows! Enduring hardships together!
Three bows! Woah, where's my teapot?
The Apothecary almost cried out. He discovered that the teapot in front of him had vanished. He looked straight ahead, and in the distance, a graceful figure was swaying as they walked. Within a few breaths, the figure turned a corner and disappeared from sight.
"Brother! Lend me a few sips of your water, I'm tired…damn, I should've not sung while climbing the mountain." A familiar voice floated down to the Apothecary's ears. The Apothecary shuddered and exclaimed, "Brother Mo Yi?"
When the Apothecary regained his senses, the figure ahead was gone. Only a faint fragrance of lavender lingered in the air.
"Brother Apothecary." The scholar was dumbfounded. He looked at the Apothecary, unsure of what to do. "That person was…"
This guy, who appeared from nowhere, actually surpassed them effortlessly! On the Pan Yu Celestial Path, where they exerted all their strength yet could not advance, this young man casually jogged, as if he were strolling in his own garden.
The Apothecary stared fixedly at the place where Mo Yi disappeared, and after a while, a sense of relief appeared in his eyes, followed by unrestrained, hearty laughter. "Hahaha! A true man, should be like this! Brother Mo Yi, none of us imagined that on this long celestial path, the biggest monster would be you!"
"Monster?" The scholar looked at where Mo Yi disappeared, lost in thought. This chasm that he couldn't cross, that unknown man casually walked past, seemingly without encountering any obstruction whatsoever!
"Truly…a monster!" The scholar chuckled bitterly. For the first time, he saw an unattainable gap in someone else, a difference between heaven and earth. He could only touch the phantom that he saw but could not reach.
"He's called Mo Yi, he's my brother." The Apothecary raised his teapot and finished it in one gulp!
"You unscrupulous Celestial Venerable?!" The red-robed man was dumbfounded. "He just went through?!"
"Genius! Genius! He crossed the 300-meter checkpoint without any hindrance, such talent." The black-robed middle-aged man lost his composure. His fingers trembled, and judging from his appearance, his face was already red as blood, a sign of excessive excitement!
"No…it's impossible!" The red-robed man was dumbstruck.
"The Celestial Path has never been wrong for thousands of years, why would it be wrong today? Want to cheat on the Pan Yu Celestial Path? Even the Heavenly King wouldn't be able to do it!" The voice from the pine tree sounded solemn. "Accept it, we've encountered…an unadulterated monster today!"
"I said, the bet, has just begun," the white-robed man said calmly.
The green-robed man glanced at the white-robed man and said nothing, but there was a flicker of unusual light in his eyes as he looked at Mo Yi on the Celestial Path.
"And those two celestial seedlings are brother and sister!" The red-robed man said.
"Brother and sister, if such talents can be acquired…" The black-robed middle-aged man's gaze shifted between Mo Luo Xue and Mo Yi on the Celestial Path. A flame named desire burned in his pupils.
The white-robed man gently waved his sleeve, "Everything is destined."