Crisis Looms

The Zhen brothers swallowed nervously, the gentle and easy-going image portrayed by Ye Mo in their hearts shattered. He looked more like the devil.

Fear clutched their throat ruthlessly as they stared at the blood dripping from the iron sword, the same weapon would end their lives, they had many regrets, they should have listened to their Fifth Brother. Sometimes taking extreme measures was necessary, they couldn't refute that truth. If word got out about that technique, no doubt the whole world would hunt him down.

"You... Young master Ye..". Zhen Ai called out nervously.

Ye Mo kept his hand bowed, what was going through his mind, they had no inkling to.

"Young master Ye, I promise you that we will definitely take this secrets to our graves." Zhen Ai bowed pleadingly.

"What promise? Dead men keep secrets best. Don't you know that?" Ye Mo asked with a smile, his focus solely on the blood dripping sword.

The Zhen brothers were terror-stricken, cold sweat poured out like a broken dam from their body.

"Young mas..." Zhen Pao stuttered, fear crept into his face. They didn't want to die now, they still had a lot left unaccomplished; their Fifth Brother was still waiting for them. They secretly blamed Ye Mo in their hearts, he rattled off the secret without care in the world, they couldn't control what they heard, their innocent ears have committed a very serious crime.

"Young master Ye, we swear on our lives that the secrets will never see the light of the world." the brothers bowed and said in unison.

"Oh! Swear on your lives?! Why should I trust you? The human heart is incomprehensible. Swear on your lives? This is not a child's play." said Ye Mo, his head lowered stroking the blood dripping sword with love.

The brothers were scared shitless, Zhen Ping wanted to plead again but was nudge by Zhen Yu to keep silent.

Zhen Yu stepped forward with a solemn face, the severity of his face would make one think that the gravity of the world was resting on his shoulders.

"I, Zhen Yu, hereby take an oath today that all I have seen and heard today will forever remain with me. If I ever divulge this secrets, may the Heavenly Lightning strike me to death." A drop of blood flew out from his finger and was swallowed by the earth.

The brothers were shocked, that was the Heavenly Lightning Oath, it was a sacred vow, one dared not break it. The Heavenly Lightning Oath was influenced by nature, so if the oath was broken, the forces of nature will trigger a heavenly lightning to strike that oath breaker wherever he might be. It was a dreadful oath, failing the oath was basically seeking for death. Cultivators dreaded it like a plague, no matter the situation they encountered, cultivators avoided making that oath. The brothers were scared but it was their last resort if they wanted to leave the Wild Forest alive. And should they fail to keep the oath, they would be struck dead even if they run to the end of the earth.

Zhen Ping clenched his fist and step forward, "I, Zhen Ping, vow that what I have seen and heard today, a word of it shall not come out from my mouth. And if another man knows of this secrets through me, may the Heavenly Lightning smite me to death." A drop of blood was again swallowed by the earth.

"I, Zhen Pao, swear that all that I have seen or heard today, will not be said or leaked to another and if I fail to uphold this promise, may the Heavenly Lightning strike me!"

"I, Zhen Ai, swear that all that I have seen or heard today, a word of it shall not come out from my mouth, and if I ever renege on my words, may the Heavenly Lightning smite me dead!"

Two more drops of blood was swallowed by the earth. Ye Mo watched on silently, 'this world surely has its wonders'. He had read from a book in the library that the oath was always valid and immediate in effect.

Their drops of blood did not even touch the earth before it disappeared mysteriously.

He nodded his head in satisfaction, "Good! Good!! As the saying goes a man can never be too careful, I have to ensure my safety first, and please I hope you guys will keep this among yourselves, I wouldn't want my dear friends to be strucked by lightning. I hope we meet again in the future". Ye Mo smiled happily, his previous demeanor vanished into thin air.

The Zhen brothers hurriedly nodded their heads.

"Of course young master, we wouldn't want to die for naught,". They chorused.

Ye Mo breathed a sigh of relief, he walked up to the old lady's corpse and removed the small pouch hidden under their sleeve, he glanced at the badge and after considering for a while, he picked it up. 'it might come in handy in the future.'

"You should quickly leave this forest since you have gotten what you needed". Ye Mo suggested.

"Yes, Young Master Ye". They acknowledged. "Thank you for your help Young Master Ye, we will forever remain indebted to you".

Ye Mo waved his hand in dismissal "No formalities, no formalities. You should get going".

Zhen brothers bowed in unison expressing their gratitude and bidding farewell.

Watching their departing back, Ye Mo exhaled a turbid breath of air.

After making sure they've walked a very long distance, Zhen Ai voiced out suddenly, "Sigh, what a life! But Young Master Ye was kind and generous, luckily he didn't didn't kill us, he was only trying to get a cover for himself as we barely know each other, it was okay for him to be wary of us".

" Yes, I emphatize with you, any other cultivator might not necessarily spare our lives even after taking the oath. And I liked his personality, he was kind, handsome and generous". Zhen Ping seconded his brothers.

"Listen to me". Zhen Yu said in a slightly heavy tone, "As of today, we know nothing of Ye And I don't want anyone mentioning his name again. His life is at stake already. Even in a moment of death, dont you have a relationship with him, it would fasten your demise".

"Yeah! That's true, he offended such a monstrous force, all those who has relation with him will be killed".

Although, the Zhen brothers were righteous, they were not foolish. Offending such a powerful force, they had no confidence in Ye Mo surviving the cries and catastrophe coming his way. They felt sad, but there was nothing they could do about it. The wind blew in different directions perhaps that was his fate.

Ye Mo glanced around him, he cleared all evidences and the formerly rugged ground was in perfect shape, even the fallen trees has been sighted out. The corpse of the old lady and Su Zhao's we're nowhere to be found, he disposed them at two different places.

After erasing all traces of the fight, he went to seat cross-legged near the river on the cave, his mind flashed back to all he had done, he had no regret killing three people in a day, he tried hard to put up a strong and domineering front but he was nervous inside, his body was slowly acchmatizing to the killing, he felt tired and exhausted in his mind, he needed a mental rest. Hard time calls for extreme measures, since his coming to this world, he only had one hope, 'to live this life in peace and serenity.

The old system voice sounded in his heart, " Congratulations on the improvement of your mental strength. Why did you let the Zhen brothers go? You could have killed them to have peace in your mind".

"I am not unsettled, beside I'm not inhumane to start an unnecessary killing spree, dont turn me into a bloody monster". Ye Mo answered sarcastically.

"That's good, I also don't want a host who is a bloody killer but you have encountered trouble, I just checked your luck and it be ominous. You have to cultivate faster to reach the eleventh stage really soon". The system reminded.

"Okay". Ye Mo nodded, closing his eyes, entering a meditative position.

The elder in the system nodded gratifyingly, he didn't want the lad to be complacent but his luck was both Ominous and Auspicious, as the saying goes: amid great danger, comes great fortune.

Spiritual energy from the surrounding flowed into his body, his mental stress was relieved, his pores greedily sucked the spiritual energy which in turn concentrated towards his brain. His brain experienced the feeling of being washed and cleansed thoroughly, some sort of shackle broke on his head. His five viscera's were further strengthened and polished. His explosive outburst was steadily rising, his body was giving off a mountainous aura, the oppressive was stronger as the minutes passed. His face was serene, his brain was working twice as fast as before.