Famine 98: The Oath of Alliance

“……”

Si Zhiyan sipped his coffee, gazing intently at the Divine Vein Maiden.

“Before anything else, there’s something I must ask you first, Miss Wako.”

“What is your view of your sister above—of Aiko? Do you still wish to believe in her, to fight for her?”

[Absolutely not,] Wako replied. [Aiko has traveled too far down the wrong path.]
[If you are willing to take her place, become the [Eye], and grant her the release she was destined for, I would be eternally grateful.]

“Very well,” Si Zhiyan nodded. “In that case, we are not enemies.”

Yet he did not touch on “becoming the [Eye]”, but instead asked, “Miss Wako, how much do you truly know of the [Main God]’s true form?”

Wako tilted her head, thought for a moment, then shook it.
[No more than you do. In fact, I know nothing at all.]

“No, you know more than nothing,” said Si Zhiyan. “Think again.”

“The Main God is shrouded in mystery. Our interactions with it are few and rare, and we are only barely able to survive its casually laid games. Yet I’ve always believed that nothing in the world escapes basic reason and logic. Highly intelligent life does not act in vain; if something exists, it must have a use.”

“If we have no clue what it wants, what it needs, or what its weaknesses are… then perhaps we should look at what it has done.”

“The Main God granted us the enhancement shop, because it needs people to evolve and become its successors; it creates one trial after another to select a worthy lifeform from among countless individuals…”

“So, if the Main God divides off a fraction of its power to sustain the [Eye], then surely it has some need for the [Eye].”

“What is that need?” Si Zhiyan inquired softly, his tone gentle and persuasive.

The Divine Vein Maiden lifted her hollow gaze, pitch-black eyes bottomless: [Sight.]
[If there is any purpose for the [Eye], it can be nothing other than… to see.]

“Very good. That is the correct answer.”

Si Zhiyan nodded.

“In the past days, I’ve been observing the [Eye]—for convenience, let’s call her Miss Aiko now. After all, her physical body and faith-body have both been shed; she has become a completely specialized, gigantic Eye.”

“Whether it was the High Priest’s challenge years ago, or my own battle, she suffered heavy wounds—blood wells from her pupil, scarlet streaks spread across the sclera, and it’s obvious she’s in severe pain. For a next challenger like myself, it would be entirely possible to use her old wounds and finish her off… Yet she never once closed her eyes to rest, seldom even blinked.”

“A wound that does not heal is dangerous. The [Eye] is clearly tense around challengers; it’s not that she doesn’t want to rest, but that she cannot.”

“Who could forbid the [Eye] to rest?”

Wako looked out the window at the giant, bloodshot eye that had stared down day after day for centuries.
[…It can only be the Main God.]

“Exactly,” said Si Zhiyan. He stood up, stretched lazily, and walked to the window.

“Combining these two facts, we arrive at a very important inference.”

“The Main God must rely on the [Eye] to watch and observe this world—and there is something about the [Eye] that it cannot forgo, not even temporarily.”

Whoosh!

The night wind howled, blowing the curtains up and carrying the metallic tang of blood from beyond the doomsday.

The Divine Vein Maiden’s black voids widened suddenly.

In the clear moonlight, Si Zhiyan lifted a finger to his lips—his red eyes reflecting the moon’s glow, dark as an abyss.

“I imagine you’re also curious what would happen to the Main God… if it lost the [Eye].” @For the best novels, visit Jinjiang Literature City

“Will you lend me your strength, Miss Wako?”

[——]

Wako seemed for a moment unable to speak.

She stared into Si Zhiyan’s calm, gentle eyes, and for that instant, was utterly speechless.

In that moment, she saw with perfect clarity the intentions behind the farm owner’s gentle, almost mocking courtesy.

From the start, he had never planned to meekly face trial after trial by the [Eye], nor to become the new [Eye];
nor even to win the Main God’s game and become the next successor.

He was plotting…
To destroy the Eye, and drag the god from its throne!

That slender thread of madness pierced Wako’s mind, making her shoulders begin to tremble.

“I do not think Miss Aiko is an evil creature.”

Si Zhiyan lowered his gaze slightly,

“You, her, the High Priest, the other candidates and specters, the [Eye] above, and the sacrificed townsfolk—we have all killed each other for so-called destiny. We are told the candidates must compete, specters must slaughter humans, humans must exterminate the specters…”

“But—who decided this? Who permitted it? Who gave us this so-called [fate]?”

The Divine Vein Maiden tried to speak, only to find her own voice quivering: [It was the Main God…]

“No.”
Si Zhiyan smiled and crouched before her, meeting her gaze.

“The Main God is nothing more than a powerful enemy.”

“I won’t abide by its rules, completing missions and exterminating specters; nor will I follow the path it laid for us, locked in endless struggle for the [Eye] or succession.”

“I will do as you have done—shatter the fate disk, and amid that debris, piece together a new road forward.”
@For the best novels, visit Jinjiang Literature City
His voice was as ever—gentle, measured, and serene.

“I do not intend to deceive you, Miss Wako. I have no guarantee of victory. As you see, I cannot even be sure my judgment is correct. I have never truly harmed the Main God; all I can do is move forward, taking things step by step.”

“If you wish to turn away, so be it; if you walk with me, a single misstep may mean annihilation. But this much I promise you: I will do everything I can to ensure that every effort, every sacrifice, is meaningful.”

“Even if I fail, the lessons I leave behind will belong to the next generation—my knowledge and my legacy would be inherited by those who follow.”

“And you, Miss Wako?”

“What is your choice?”

—What is your choice?

In that instant, countless images surged up like a tide: her father’s letters that would never come, the shrine maidens’ twisted, broken forms, her beloved birds lying small and bloody in her palm, her sister’s strange and terrifying face among the shrouding mists… From the moment the Main God descended, every second had been filled with agony. The pain, blood, and torment all rose in a flood that threatened to engulf Wako.

She could not utter a single word more. Smoothing her kimono, she bowed deeply to Si Zhiyan, giving him the highest honor a shrine maiden could offer.

That ritual was called the [Oath of Devotion].

Once, the only thing worthy of such an offering was the magnificent Rule of Divine Fate within the great hall of Tenman Shrine itself.

Now, Wako was bowing before Si Zhiyan, the farm owner who met her gaze as an equal—reflected in the spotless window behind him.

[If this ruined body can serve your great cause, it would be the greatest honor of my life.]

“Excellent.” Si Zhiyan smiled as he helped Wako up, extending his hand, and clasped hers. “I look forward to working together.”

Hum!
Suddenly, a crimson radiance sprang up around them. Tiny flecks of red light, like fireflies, rose and circled them both.

Si Zhiyan looked around, a little startled.

[This is the rule of this land—the radiance of the Oath of Alliance,] Wako said softly. [Like sunrise and sunset, it is part of the world’s laws.]

[To be blessed by the Oath of Alliance is to have pure and undivided hearts. Those bound by it will surely see their wishes fulfilled.]

“What a lovely blessing.” Si Zhiyan laughed.

The oath was concluded, and with promises made, it was time to proceed with real action.

As Si Zhiyan said, the farm’s next task was—

Not to pass the trials, but to act first and wipe the [Eye] from this world.

The first step sounded like a fool’s dream.

But Si Zhiyan pondered quietly. He did have some ideas already.

“Forgive my curiosity, Miss Wako—are you familiar with something called a [Terrain Lure]?”
“It serves as the core of the sacrificial array at the Hot Spring Pavilion.”

To his surprise, Wako shook her head.

[Terrain Lures only appeared after the Main God’s game had been going on for some time—after Tenman Paradise was devastated.]

[They do not differ much in appearance: variously colored flowers just under a foot high, appearing in stable or populous areas, imbued with strong magic. Humans and specters both seemed drawn to them, instinctively—everyone loved them, clamored for them…]

[The first time they appeared, Aiko deciphered their nature in the temple. The term [Terrain Lure] was coined by her. She came out and told us they could be used safely by the people. But what they actually are, I do not truly know. She never revealed her interpretation to anyone.]

[I only remember that, the day she emerged from the temple, her expression was deeply complex… She seemed quite comforted, yet also somewhat sad, with tears glinting at the corners of her eyes.]
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[Months later, Aiko proclaimed the “Sacrificial Decree” destiny tablets to all the world.]

“I see…” Si Zhiyan’s eyes fell. “No problem. That matches my own suspicions.”

Wako asked: [Then what are the Terrain Lures?]

“All I have now are guesses. When I can be certain, I’ll tell you more.”

Si Zhiyan stretched, re-settled in his chair, and absentmindedly laced his fingers—a gesture he always adopted while thinking.

“If I’m not wrong, the [Terrain Lure] may be the key to defeating the [Eye]—and the fundamental difference between us and her.”

[I see,] Wako replied, a troubled look on her face. [But Tenman Paradise is destroyed; every settlement used up its Terrain Lures before falling… There are likely none left now. As to where they are, I simply have no idea—it would be difficult to find them.]

“I don’t plan on searching for them.”
Si Zhiyan lifted his head, smiling.
“I want to try… to create them.”

[What—!]
[How could that be done?]

“That will depend on what our advance team brings back…”
Si Zhiyan spoke as he gazed off in the direction of the volcanic region.
“My children will not disappoint me.”