Chapter Nineteenth: Becoming Sworn Brothers

  Bang! Bang! Two loud noises.

  Mao Feifei's body swayed twice, while Shi Dong swayed three times. Mao Feifei looked at Shi Dong with a strange expression, but Shi Dong remained calm and continued to smile.

  "Ouch! My hand hurts so much!" Ma Feifei let out a loud cry, opening up her palm to reveal a red and swollen fist. She immediately gave Shi Dong a thumbs-up in admiration, "Brother, you're something else! I give up, you're amazing!"

  His stone-moving mouth twitched slightly, that was painful! He slowly opened his palm, pointing to the red swelling on his fist face, and smiled at Mao Feifei: "Brother Mao, my hand hurts too! If it's a little later, I'll admit defeat first!" He also raised his thumb.

  Mao Feifei was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing, her expression joyful to the extreme. Shi Dong also couldn't help but laugh along with her.

  The two men's wrestling match ended in a stalemate, with neither gaining the upper hand. However, Mao Feifei relied on his tall and sturdy build to gain an advantage, causing Shi Dong to stumble three times. In terms of strength, they were evenly matched.

  Mao Feifei laughed loudly while sizing up Shi Dong, thinking that this little fellow was a man of great character, not only clever but also quite capable, and the more he looked at him, the more pleased he became.

  He immediately grasped his hands and said loudly, "Brother, I really can't tell you how much we hit it off! If you don't despise me for being foolish, would you be willing to become sworn brothers with me?" After finishing speaking, he gazed at Shi Dong with burning eyes.

  "Brothers seek it in vain." Shi Dong's heart was moved and his mouth felt hot, he quickly nodded in agreement.

  Mao Fei Fei was overjoyed, and immediately knelt down with Shi Dong, facing the direction of their hometown, knocking their heads and swearing, saying "I don't ask to be born on the same year, month and day, but I wish to die on the same year, month and day. When there is good fortune, we will share it together; when there is hardship, we will face it together."

  The two of them again reported their names and ages. Mao Feifei is fifteen years old this year, Dashi Dong is two years older, so Shidong called him "big brother", he referred to Shidong as "younger brother".

  After the ceremony was over, Mao Feifei held Shi Dong's hands and smiled foolishly at her new sworn brother, unable to express her joy.

  Shi Dong was also deeply moved, previously revealing the truth and gaining each other's trust, but seeing Mao Feifei's straightforward words and deeds, his true nature, he is indeed a good young man worth deepening ties with.

  As the saying goes, at home rely on parents, outside rely on friends. In this critical and treacherous demonic gate, even more need a trustworthy good friend to help out.

  Moreover, Mao Feifei's cultivation base is even higher than his own, with a second-grade qualification. He is about to break through the Refining Qi period and has a Linggui to assist him, making him an ideal friend to befriend.

  Believing that in times of crisis, help will be lent a hand. From now on, Mao Feifei will definitely treat himself with sincerity and kindness. Hearing that he is concerned about himself, Shi Dong's heart feels warm and fuzzy.

  At the moment, both of them had dealt with their own injuries and were fine, but Mao Feifei's Linggui was seriously injured, shrinking in the Lianhun Tower with a dull expression, probably needing to rest for a period of time before recovering. This made Mao Feifei extremely heartbroken.

  Shi Dong slightly pondered and immediately knew that Lei Huang intentionally made it go wrong, with the intention of not letting Mao Feifei compete with him in the upcoming sect mission. So he told Mao Feifei, naturally provoking him to curse loudly, only stopping after a while.

  Then the two sat down and talked in detail about their past experiences in Surabaya, and couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

  Shi Dong mentioned that he had once bought a large iron pot from Mao's blacksmith shop, and was delighted to hear that Mao Feifei was scratching his ears and asking for details, saying that he was helping out in the blacksmith shop at the time and might have even made that very large iron pot himself!

  Later, hearing that the large iron pot finally fell into a deep valley, I couldn't help but shake my head in regret.

  As they talked, both of them suddenly fell silent, thinking the same thing in their hearts: "In this life, when can we return to our hometown and reunite with our family?"

  "Alas!" Ma Feifei sighed, "Younger brother, I just want to go home and take a look. Back then, my father sent me to the Ling Xiao Sect to become an apprentice and learn martial arts. Who knew I'd be captured and brought here...and separated from my father? I really miss them!"

  Shi Dong saw his eyes redden, and his heart suddenly turned sour, but he still put his finger to his lips and made a "shh" sound, looking out the window with a serious warning: "Big brother, never mention going home again! You and I are now registered disciples of Mo Xie Men, we have already embarked on the path of cultivation, how can we still be attached to worldly mundane things? Don't let these words fall into Er Shixiong or Master's ears, lest we bring trouble upon ourselves!"

  Mao Feifei was shocked and speechless.

  Shi Dong smiled slightly and said in a low voice, "Big brother, don't be sad. I've heard that as long as you cultivate well and break through to the Foundation Establishment period... or rather, the late stage of Qi Refining, you can barely rush out of the Ghostly Mountain's underworld yin energy and go to the outside world for experience. At that time... won't it be possible..."

  Originally, Shi Dong had quietly asked Wang Baobao that the only chance to leave Gui Sha Mountain was to cultivate enough high cultivation to resist the invasion of Di Fu's yin energy and fierce ghosts.

  Otherwise, as long as you leave the Demon Gate half a step away, you will be frozen into a zombie by the yin energy and eaten by the fierce ghost until nothing is left.

  And this cultivation requires at least the late stage of Qi refining, and can master a flying magic tool; of course, to be on the safe side, the foundation building period is the most appropriate, that is, reaching the strength of Bai Jin.

  "Really? Then... that's great!" Mao Feifei heard this and was overjoyed, immediately clenched his fist tightly and let out a low shout: "Younger brother, let's cultivate well and later we'll roam the Jianghu together."

  "Alright!" Shi Dong responded crisply, thinking for a moment before adding, "After I've practiced well, I'll annihilate that little rooster!"

  "Little Rooster?"

  "Lei Huan!" Shi Dongmu imitated Lei Huan's proud and upright posture.

  Mao Feifei suddenly enlightened, haha laughed: "Right, right, kill that little rooster again!"

  The two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing, feeling that they shared a deep understanding and camaraderie, making this brotherly bond worthwhile.

  "Hahaha...... Hahaha......" Shi Dong laughed, winking his small eyes as he secretly measured the stone table not far in front of him, surrounded by four stone stools.

  He had written such a big article, wasn't it all for Zhou De Nuo's Gambler's Bible? What kind of excuse could he use to dig up that Gambler's Bible anyway? Thinking about this, his heart was racing wildly.

  But it's absolutely impossible to do so in front of Mao Feifei, otherwise he would be shocked and think that I'm using him to dig up treasure.

  Just as I was hesitating, there was a soft creak at the door and a food box was pushed in. It had already reached dinner time.

  "Hey, I was so caught up in our conversation that it's already time to eat. Younger brother, why don't you go get the food box from your place and we can eat together while continuing our chat?"

  Shi Dong heard the words and secretly rejoiced, just worrying that he didn't have a chance to get rid of him, but now an opportunity came so quickly. He hastily nodded in agreement, but as Fang Yi stood up, he let out a cry of pain and fell back onto the bed.

  "Brother, what's wrong with you?"

  "I... I twisted my foot, can't walk. Would you please help me get that food box over there?" Shi Dong handed his ID card to Mao Feifei while clutching at his ankle with a painful expression.

  "Hah! Let you show off!" Ma Feifei didn't suspect anything, smiled with a smirk, took the waist card and walked out.

  Eyes gazed at the flying hair, just as it was about to leave, the stone moved and jumped up with a "whoosh" sound. It seemed like an agile monkey had leapt onto the stone table nearby, checking the sequence of the stone pedestals before biting down.

  One, Two, Three, Four.

  Extend your palm and strike in sequence.

  After that, time seemed to stand still, yet it also seemed like a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years had passed.

  Just as Shi Dong thought he had failed, there was a sudden rumbling sound, and the pillar of the stone table split open to reveal a dark hole. A gust of cool wind emerged from inside.

  "Brother, brother, I'm back!" Suddenly came the sound of Mao Feifei's voice from the doorway.

  Shi Dong's hair stood on end with tension, and he recklessly stretched his hand in, at that moment, even if there was something dangerous inside the hole, he couldn't care less.

  Luckily, what I felt in my hand was a square box wrapped up in a piece of cloth.

  Shi Dong quickly pulled his hand back and grabbed it into his arms, only to see that it was square in shape and about the same size as a bone ash box. Without thinking much, he patted his waist storage belt, and with a flash of light, it was stored away.

  Lowering his head again to look at the black hole, he was thinking about how to close it, but it had already started to automatically shut with a rumbling sound.

  Just then, the sound of footsteps came from behind, and Mao Feifei's voice suddenly became clear. Without turning around, Shi Dong knew he had already entered, so he hurriedly coughed loudly to cover up the sound of the mechanism closing.

  "Huh? Younger brother, how are you sitting here? Isn't your foot still sore?" Ma Feifei stood behind him and asked in surprise.

  Shi Dong turned his head, looking embarrassed, with an open food box in front of him, chewing and saying: "Big brother, I was really hungry, so I ate a bite first."

  "Haha! You glutton!" Ma Feifei punched him and put the food box on the table, laughing: "Come on, let's eat together!"

  Shi Dong saw that he didn't suspect anything, so he quietly stretched out his hand to touch the pillar of the stone table. The black hole had disappeared without a trace, and there was no seam or crack on it. He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, feeling the sweat on his back.

  The next meal was eaten without any taste, Shi Dong's whole mind was thinking about what was inside the square box, and he couldn't wait to go back and check.

  But Mao Feifei was in high spirits and had to accompany him to chat for a while, only then did he use fatigue as an excuse to return to his own cave.

  As soon as he entered the cave, he first lay down at the entrance and quietly listened to the movements outside. Seeing that there was nothing unusual, he then trembled as he took out a small box from his storage waistband and placed it on the stone table for careful examination.

  It was a square box about half a foot in size, wrapped in black velvet on the outside, looking like an urn.

  The stone moved in his heart, and he picked it up with a creak, feeling its weight, heavy and solid, without knowing what was inside.

  "Damn it, even if there's a human head inside, I'm not afraid!" Shi Dong cursed loudly to boost his courage, and immediately tore open the woolen cloth, revealing a jet-black jade box.

  As I lifted my hand up, my left hand suddenly felt a sharp pain. The map that had been imprinted on my mind earlier suddenly flashed before my eyes and then was projected onto the jade box, emitting a faint glow as it burned.

  Just as Shi Dong was amazed, the dim light burned out and with a "click", the jade box suddenly popped open.

  At a glance inside, Shi Dong was shocked and stunned, his face darkened by the reflection of the object inside.