Summoning Contract

Qin Luming was filled with doubts, but this was not the first time he had stood in this place. Once he realized it was the scene he had seen last night, he gradually steadied himself.

Where was that voice?

Last night, Qin Luming had kept hearing the haughty voice of a young girl, repeating the words that had burrowed into his mind:

"Are you summoning me?"

"Are you summoning me?"

"Are you summoning me?"

But Qin Luming clearly had not summoned anyone... if anything, his current situation made it seem more like he had been summoned here. He was the one being summoned.

Should he try jumping down?

The thought suddenly arose, startling Qin Luming into taking several steps back. If he jumped, he might end up in another world. He was completely unprepared for that.

Qin Luming raised his head and focused his gaze into the distance. At the end of that void was where he had once sensed the owner of that voice.

But there was no figure there now, only enormous white blocks emitting light.

Upon closer counting, there were dozens of them. Compared with the galaxies and nebulae surrounding him, they appeared especially massive, though relatively thin.

As the somewhat dazzling white light gradually faded, Qin Luming made out tiny, densely packed black marks on those white blocks.

Words!

Those white blocks floating through the vast void that held countless worlds were actually sheets of paper covered in writing!

The papers, seemingly large enough to require interstellar measurements, were stacked one atop another. Then a complex, densely layered rune was stamped onto them.

Each sheet bore an intricate, indescribable rune. Once every page had been stamped, the stack transformed into a streak of white light, passed through the countless worlds around it, and vanished into the void.

"The Summoning Contract has been signed."

The young girl's voice, still fresh in Qin Luming's memory, finally sounded again. It remained cold and imperious, yet possessed an alluring texture, as though it were gently massaging his eardrums.

"What Summoning Contract?" Qin Luming could not help shouting into the void.

There was no response.

"What Summoning Contract?"

Qin Luming shouted again. Though no answer came, his ears uncomfortably picked up a burst of noisy chatter coming from nearby.

He jerked upright and looked around. He had actually returned from the dream and was now sitting in his tent, breathing heavily.

Qin Luming hurriedly felt his hands and body, then patted his cheeks. Unlike after his previous dream, there were no lingering aftereffects of feverish skin, surging blood, or discomfort throughout his body.

It seemed that after visiting such a dream once, he had already adapted to it.

For now, his breathing was merely a little hurried.

Qin Luming recalled the dream he had just had... without anyone to testify for him, he could not even determine whether it had been an ordinary dream anyone could understand, or whether his entire body had crossed into a "dream world" before returning.

Had his body been inside the tent while he dreamed? Qin Luming decided that before falling asleep tonight, he would set up a camera to monitor himself. If his body remained in the tent, then he was merely dreaming. If his body disappeared too, then there really was a physically existing "dream world" that he had crossed into.

What exactly was that voice in his dream? Was it created by his own consciousness within the dream, or did some mysterious person truly exist?

Qin Luming had no way of knowing.

Most importantly, what did "The Summoning Contract has been signed" mean? When had it been signed? Could it be a contract for him to summon that mysterious person? But Qin Luming was certain that he had never prayed to summon any mysterious being to his side, much less signed any contract.

Those sheets of paper stamped with intricate runes were probably the so-called Summoning Contract he had signed.

This had better just be a dream. Qin Luming touched his damp hair and sat in a daze for a while. Gradually, he noticed that the commotion from the neighboring campsite was becoming increasingly uninhibited.

Fortunately, he was already awake and did not have any morning grumpiness. Qin Luming fumbled for his watch as he shifted his body, checked the time, put it on, and opened the little tent window to look at the sky. The weather was indeed good today. Whether it would change later was another matter, but watching the sunrise illuminate the golden dam against the mountains would not be a problem.

Qin Luming had no interest in joining the excitement. As he recalled his dream, he slowly got dressed and combed his hair inside the tent. Only after the group from the neighboring campsite passed near his tent did he crawl out to wash up and prepare breakfast.

The horizon was already ablaze with fiery clouds. Perhaps the crimson glow had taken some of the chill from the mountain wind. Though camping was not Qin Luming's purpose in coming here, waking up in the wilderness felt rather nice. Yang Xiaoyan's group had left their campsite here, so they would presumably return later to rest. Once they were gone, Qin Luming could let Zuozuo and Caicai out and take them around to play here for a couple of days.

The dam was still there, which meant Zhou Nan had not come last night. Qin Luming felt as though he were waiting for a rabbit by a tree stump, though it was hard to say who would be the rabbit about to run into the stump.

The sunrise was beautiful. Qin Luming ate breakfast while watching it. After some time, as the sun gradually rose higher, he unexpectedly saw Che Yun crawl out of a tent at the neighboring campsite. She had not gone with Yang Xiaoyan, Brother Paris, and the others to photograph the sunrise by the dam.

Che Yun glanced at Qin Luming, then expressionlessly took out a yoga mat, found a level spot to spread it out, and began doing yoga to music.

Che Yun had a very good figure. The distant mountain ridges rose and fell in much the same way, while her sunlit face looked full of youthful vigor. She had evidently changed inside the tent, and her form-fitting yoga outfit perfectly displayed the body of a young woman.

Qin Luming smiled. He had absolutely no interest in these ordinary girls of the real world. His only hope was that after his novel got signed and promoted, after it gained the love of many readers, he could abandon it—and then he would have a chance to summon the female lead from the novel he had written...

At that thought, Qin Luming stared with his mouth open in surprise. He finally realized it... he really had wanted to summon someone!

The person he wanted to summon was the female protagonist he had created in his novel!

Could this be a premonition that he was about to personally experience a novel character entering the real world? Qin Luming stared ahead with his mouth open in excitement and disbelief. This was ten thousand times more exciting than secretly observing someone else's novel character!

Wait... weren't those pages covered in writing that he had seen in his dream the novel contract he had signed with the website yesterday? And that intricate rune stamped on the paper—wasn't it the official seal?

At that thought, Qin Luming froze. He suddenly felt that he had been overthinking it... if it were a real Summoning Contract, how could it consist of real-world legal clauses? And if a contract needed a stamp, how could it be the official seal from the website's legal department?

It seemed last night's dream really had just been a dream... the disappointment after his wild joy left Qin Luming utterly dejected. He took a bite of canned New Southwest abalone. It tasted fucking awful.