coobybook Chapter 37 Thieves
Chapter 37 Thieves
To explain the origins of the Eight Extraordinary Techniques, one cannot bypass the thirty-six individuals who were hunted down by the world of supernatural beings.
During the Jia Shen year (1644), a group of extraordinary individuals from prestigious and righteous families defied public opinion and swore brotherhood with Wugensheng, the leader of the Quanxing sect!
They called themselves the Thirty-Six Righteous Men, and formed a sworn brotherhood in Tongtian Valley, but the world of supernatural beings referred to them as the Thirty-Six Thieves.
Zhang Xilin is one of them.
Zhang Chulan was startled.
My grandfather really did have connections with the Quanxing!
[Perhaps you don't understand why forming a sworn brotherhood with members of the Quanxing Sect has such a huge impact, even to the point of hunting them down across the world.]
[Those familiar with history should know when the year Jia-Shen (1644) occurred; it was a significant period in Chinese history.]
Among the viewers of the video, someone commented in the live chat.
"The last Jia Shen year was 1944!"
Anyone who has been to school knows what the situation was like in China in 1944.
In the past, while there were no direct battles between the various sects in the world of supernatural beings, the relationships between them were still extremely hostile.
Even conflicts between righteous factions are commonplace; the differences between sects are exceptionally pronounced.
In that particular era, almost all the sects put aside their past grudges and formed an alliance for one goal: to resist the invaders.
Any individual who might undermine this alliance will be punished to the fullest extent of the law!
[Wugensheng, the leader of the Quanxing Sect, was a man of great personal charisma. Unlike other Quanxing disciples of his time, he never committed any evil deeds. Under his charisma, a group of disciples from prestigious and righteous sects formed deep friendships with him.]
But if this friendship is just that—friendship—as long as it remains hidden from the world, there won't be any problems. That's what they themselves think.
One day, under Wugensheng's organization, a group of disciples from prestigious sects met him in Tongtian Valley.
[This gathering not only includes the most outstanding successors from various sects, but also the heads of several sects who have come in person.]
[Among them were disciples from over twenty different factions, large and small, including Dou Hong, the leader of the Wulou Vajra Sect, Dou Ruchang, the head of the Danqing Sect's Secret Painting School.]
[The people Wugensheng invited were all genius disciples personally recognized by him; they had all been selected by Wugensheng based on both their character and abilities.]
Even those few in the Quanxing sect who were utterly loyal to Wugensheng were not invited by him, because they did not have Wugensheng's approval.
Golden Phoenix in the mountains watched the video expressionlessly.
Xia Liuqing, who was standing nearby, kept comforting her.
"Jin Feng, don't listen to the nonsense in this video! What does an outsider like him know!"
Jin Feng looked at the chattering Xia Liuqing and pushed him away.
"You're so noisy, you old man, get out of my way."
Under the influence of alcohol, these young talents swore an oath of brotherhood under the moonlight, becoming sworn brothers and sisters.
Perhaps in their view, this sworn brotherhood merely signifies their sworn brotherhood with Wugensheng himself, and not with the Quanxing sorcerers.
After their sworn brotherhood ceremony, they left the valley as usual. Once the effects of the alcohol wore off, they consciously distanced themselves from the ceremony of the previous night.
But just a few months after they left, something unexpected happened.
The list of 36 sworn brothers has been leaked by someone!
Everyone watching the video was on edge, vaguely aware of what was about to happen.
The various sects were furious upon learning the news. They were shocked to see their disciples sworn brothers with the Quanxing sect's demon, and even more so with Wugensheng, the sect leader himself!
However, those involved were all the most outstanding disciples from their respective sects, and they were neither aware of nor willing to deal with them in this way.
When the leaders of several major sects proposed to meet together to discuss how to handle the situation, their initial thought was probably how to deal with their disciples leniently, since no one wanted their disciples to be punished so easily.
Something unexpected happened.
[Hu Tu, the leader of the Shuzi Sect, actually carried the corpse of Hu Haiwang, one of the Thirty-Six Thieves and also his own son, to this meeting.]
Looking at Hu Haiwang's corpse, the sect leaders knew there was no turning back on the handling of the Thirty-Six Thieves!
Not only ordinary people, but even a large number of people with supernatural abilities had never heard of this secret news.
The character "术" (shu) is used in this context.
The disciples of the Shuzi Sect looked at Chen Jinkui, the current sect leader who sat high at the head of the table, and they never imagined that the Shuzi Sect had such a history.
The former sect leader was so heartless!
He could even harm his own son!
At this moment, the video's comments section exploded.
"This Hu Tu sect leader really lives up to his name; how could he do such a thing?"
"Yes, it's all the sect leader's fault. If it weren't for him, would those thirty-six people have been hunted down by the whole world?"
After the meeting, the leaders of each sect issued a unified order: to hunt down and kill all their own disciples who had participated in the sworn brotherhood, and no one was allowed to plead for them!
[Thus, the pursuit of the Thirty-Six Thieves by the world of supernatural beings officially began. At this time, the purpose of the pursuit was merely because they had sworn brotherhood with the Quanxing demons; it did not involve the Eight Extraordinary Techniques, which had not yet been created.]
One by one, the disciples from various sects who had participated in the sworn brotherhood died as their fellow disciples pursued and killed them.
[In the secret painting, Dou Ruchang cuts out his heart to prove his sworn brother's innocence, Liu Deshui of the Martial Arts Hall jumps off a cliff to commit suicide, Wei Shufen of Miao Jiang falls off a cliff during a chase, and Tian Xiaodie of the Wuhou Sect is killed by her husband's brother. Under the unified pursuit of the supernatural world, most of the supernatural beings are killed on the spot.]
Some major sects, unwilling to witness the deaths of their disciples, would secretly capture them and bring them back to their sects, where they would be placed under house arrest while publicly announcing that they had been executed.
Dong Chang and Xu Xin, who participated in the sworn brotherhood of the Tang Clan, were captured on the spot by Tang Bingwen, the then leader of the Tang Clan, at the very beginning.
To protect his disciples, Tang Bingwen made Dong Chang and Xu Xin swear an oath to sever all ties with Wu Gengsheng and his associates, and to kill them on sight if they ever met again.
[If they agree, their lives will be spared, and they will be given the risk of learning the Dan Shi technique. If they survive, they will be permanently confined to the Tang Sect and forbidden from leaving!]
However, Dong Chang was unwilling to agree to the sect leader's conditions; he did not want to betray his sworn brothers and was ultimately executed by Tang Bingwen.
[Xu Xin, another participant in the sworn brotherhood, finally realized how rash his decision to become sworn brothers with Wu Gengsheng had been after witnessing his brother die before his eyes; it was a farce that should never have happened.]
He agreed to Tang Bingwen's conditions and immediately learned the Tang Clan's Dan Shi technique.
[After that, Xu Xin remained hidden in the Tang Clan's Pill Tomb, never leaving it for a single moment.]