radicalducati Chapter 46 Paying Homage to Guan Yu at His Humble Abode 3: Sworn Brotherhood
Chapter 46 Paying Homage to Guan Yu at His Humble Abode 3: Sworn Brotherhood
Harry set up an altar at the Burrow, lit sandalwood incense, and prepared plenty of fruits and vegetables, intending to become sworn brothers with Ron and Hermione.
Both of them had been through thick and thin with Harry, and there was absolutely no dissent between them.
Everything is ready except for the sacrificial offering of three kinds of animals.
At the crack of dawn, Fred went to the Muggle village, slaughtered a yellow cow and a white sheep, and returned home with his head wrapped in a cloth.
Now, regarding the pig's head, there used to be an earthen pen behind the Burrow, where three or five pigs were kept. When Arthur learned that Harry wanted the head, he rolled up his sleeves, grabbed his knife, and went to get it.
"Harry, leave this to the adults. A little wizard like you would probably faint from fright if you saw that kind of scene."
Seeing his enthusiasm, Harry couldn't dissuade him and could only say, "Please, Director."
Hearing this, Arthur laughed and said, "Harry, just call me Arthur. The Muggle Prohibition Department only has two people."
Arthur, holding a foot-long cleaver upside down, darted into the pigpen, spotted a fat, droopy-eared, bloated beast, and pressed the tip of the cleaver against the soft flesh under its throat.
Unexpectedly, the creature let out a strange howl, kicked up a huge clod of mud with its hind legs, twisted around, and charged towards Arthur again, nearly smashing his spine into eight pieces.
Fred and George clung to the railing, shouting and urging Arthur to get up quickly; Percy closed his book and told his father to use his wand immediately; Ginny was worried sick, fearing that Harry would look down on the Weasley family.
The commotion disturbed Mrs. Weasley, who grabbed her wand and spatula and rushed out. Seeing Arthur fighting with the pig, she was instantly enraged.
"Arthur Weasley! Wasn't messing around with your Muggle stuff enough? Now you're fighting with pigs!"
"When will you be able to set a good example for the children?"
Arthur was scolded by his wife and felt ashamed for a while. He took out his wand and cast a stun spell, which finally made the blockhead stop moving.
Seeing his disheveled state, Harry knew this man was someone who had never lifted a finger in the kitchen. So he grabbed a sharp knife, jumped over the fence, and shouted, "Chief, please rest! I'll slaughter this beast myself!"
When they wanted to escape disaster at Shizipo, the shrewish Sun Erniang was the most skilled at dismembering and dissecting.
Whether you are a passing merchant or a penned chicken, pig, cow or sheep, all you see is the whirling of the knife like a snow wheel, without a sound of bones breaking, and in an instant, blood becomes blood, flesh becomes flesh, and the offal flows into the wooden basin with a splash.
Harry was working as a helper at the chopping board at the time, and the shrew was his sworn sister, who had long since taught him all her skills in dismembering and gutting.
Although the pig was under the Stunning Curse and lying on the ground, it was no longer a whole animal in Harry's eyes. He could clearly see the three-inch air vent in its throat, the two cartilages under its ribs, the silver line in its spine, and the tendons wrapped around its four hooves.
He plunged the knife into the neck, draining the foul-smelling blood, and then carefully guided the tip of the knife down the neck.
Where the knife passed, skin was skin, fat was fat, and the two ribs gleamed like ivory. The dragon bone was removed, the blade slicing through the tailbone; hooves were hooves, ribs were ribs, and the flesh of the rump trembled like creamy cheese.
Harry worked swiftly and efficiently, and in no time, the over 100-pound pork belly was dissected. Heart, liver, intestines, two ribs, pork hock, trotters, and fat were all clearly distinguished, a feat that would make even the most skilled butcher concede defeat.
Poems as proof:
Hari's sword, like a screen, moves with the spirit of a dragon and snake through the gaps in his bones.
Tendons and bones were severed like falling snow, and a hundred-pound fat pig turned into smoke.
After he finished killing, the Weasleys were all stunned, staring blankly.
Hermione and Ron were also taken aback, never expecting him to have such a skill in killing.
"Harry..." Hermione said hesitantly, "You can even butcher pigs?"
Harry laughed and said, "Let alone slaughtering an animal, I can also dissect a living person and tell them exactly how to eat, cook, and sell them, everything is provided."
Hermione knew Harry often said strange things, but this talk of human flesh trading really shocked her.
"Harry! Don't say such scary things."
Percy joked, "Harry, did you go to some kind of ogre colony?"
Arthur couldn't help but wink, "Harry, are you still eating people?"
Harry said seriously, "I only sell this stuff; I would never touch it myself."
He meant to comfort them, but instead made everyone's smiles stiff.
How come this sounds more and more true?
After the ceremony, Harry took the pig's head and the two heads of the cow and sheep and arranged them together. Seeing that all three sacrificial animals were present and the offerings were complete, he decided to take advantage of this auspicious day to become sworn brothers with Ron and Hermione.
Ron looked at the imposing statue on the altar—a figure as red as a jujube, clad in green robes and golden armor, holding a crescent-shaped sword upside down—and asked in confusion, "Harry, who is that?"
Harry exclaimed, "Brother, don't you know? Among all the righteous men in the world, who doesn't submit to Guan Yu? Only when Second Master sits in the presence of Guan Yu, his face red, burning incense and pouring wine, can we truly show the sincerity of our sworn brotherhood."
Ron could only scratch his head, as everything Harry said was unheard of.
He looked to either side of Guan Yu and saw two empty seats, wondering who they were for.
"Harry, aren't these two sides a bit too empty?"
At this point, Harry sighed deeply, "Brother, please don't mention it again. Zhou Cang and Guan Ping were supposed to guard these two sides, but unfortunately, we can't find them in Chinatown, so we had to give up!"
Ron pondered for a moment, then went inside and took a statue of the wizard Merlin, placing it to the left of Guan Yu.
"Since there are still empty seats here, why don't we have Merlin be our witness?"
Harry exclaimed, "Wonderful! I've heard that Merlin is a powerful wizard, one in a thousand years. He's certainly worthy to sit at the same table as you, Second Master."
Hermione, seeing that both of them had invited deities to worship, wanted to fill the vacancy on the right. She searched all her pockets, but found them empty.
She hesitated for a long time, then picked up two tree branches from the ground, tied them together with a thin rope to make a cross, and placed them to the right of Guan Yu.
"Well, then I'll have Jesus as my witness, even though I'm not a Christian."
Harry said, "I have heard that Jesus was willing to suffer humiliation to save the world and went to the cross. He is truly a hero who fed the tiger with his body and a Buddha who cut off his flesh to feed the eagle."
After Hermione placed the crucifix on the altar, the three of them knelt down together.
"By the grace of Guan Yu!"
"Merlin on the left!"
"Jesus is on the right!"
"Today, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, though of different surnames, vow to become sworn brothers and sisters, working together to help those in distress!"
"We don't ask to be born on the same day, month, and year, but we ask to die on the same day, month, and year!"
Ron and Hermione had known Harry for a long time and knew him to be upright and a man of his word. Seeing his resolute and solemn expression this time, they joined him in reciting the same words.
The three men lit incense, swore an oath of blood in wine, and bowed eight times to the heavens.
After the oath was sworn, they drank the blood wine in one gulp, smashed the bowl on the ground, and heard three crisp sounds, which marked the completion of the sworn brotherhood ceremony.
There is a story of three heroes who swore an oath of brotherhood, not relying on magic or vows to forcibly bind their hearts. Their sincerity shines as bright as the sun and moon, their loyalty is the bond that holds them together. Their hearts are as one, their bond stronger than true gold. To find out what happens next, please read the next chapter.