Life Expectancy Halved

The Contract Land has never officially appeared in the game, so Bai Wei had never met anyone from Contract Land. However, when the envoy from the Contract Land appeared, Bai Wei recognized him immediately.

The reason is simple: Bai Wei sensed an extremely familiar aura emanating from the other party—the power of the corpse fragments. This doesn't mean the messenger possessed Visas' Corpse Pieces, but rather that he was also under the influence of the corpse fragments' rules.

And this rule is naturally the "contract" of that Ring Finger.

In Blasphemy, the Contract Land doesn't officially appear, but the developers, perhaps to generate buzz for DLC, released some of its lore. The most crucial element is that the Contract Land is actually built around the rules of a fragment of Visas's corpse— the Ring Finger —and these rules are the "Contract."

However, the official explanation of the rules is unclear, which means that even though Bai Wei has become Visas himself, he still doesn't know what each of his body parts is for, which is a complete blunder.

But that doesn't matter. Since the name is already "Contract," we can guess what it is. All we have to do now is verify it. So Bai Wei used Lai Er's body to meet him and blocked the messenger before he came into Isaiah's sight.

"Follow me," Bai Wei said casually.

The envoy noticed nothing, but his eyes suddenly became unfocused. Then, he turned around naturally and silently followed Bai Wei, walking out of the Nameless Town.

When the messenger finally came to his senses as if waking from a dream, he found himself in an alley he didn't recognize at all, where a young black marketeer was smiling eerily at him.

"Hello, envoy from the Contract Land," Bai Wei said leisurely.

The envoy was momentarily stunned, then suddenly realized that he was being attacked, and immediately raised his hand, attempting to attack Bai Wei.

Bai Wei stood leisurely in place, without moving, while the envoy was tightly bound by several Magic Chains that suddenly rose up and attacked from behind him.

"Cough cough cough..." The envoy realized that the other party's strength was not on his level, so he quickly pretended to be stupid. "Who are you?! Why did you attack me? Damn it, you want to double-cross me, huh? Fine, all my things are here..."

The messenger could only speak halfway through his sentence when Bai Wei tightened the Magic Chains, nearly snapping his neck.

"You should know very well that talking nonsense is pointless," Bai Wei said with a smile. "Tell me, what are the plans of the Contract Land? Where is your gathering? If you are willing to tell me, just nod and I will let you go. If you are not willing, I will not force you. You might as well die and be reincarnated sooner."

The envoy stared intently at Bai Wei, not understanding how his identity had been exposed.

Could it be those shady dealers? Impossible, they're clearly bound by the contract too.

The Magic Chains continued to tighten, while Bai Wei watched him quietly. Bai Wei could see the desire for life in the messenger's eyes, and he knew that this was not a man of great integrity.

But the other party never bowed his head, no matter how much pain or struggle he endured. It was as if he was bound by some kind of force, preventing him from "betraying" the Contract Land, not even from nodding slightly.

Is this the power of a contract?

But it should be more than that.

Bai Wei cleared his throat, and then slowly uttered a phrase completely different from before, which sounded like an ancient incantation.

"Tell me."

Rules [govern].

Come, Bai Wei gazed at the messenger.

Let me see if you can still uphold the contract under [Domination].

Upon hearing this, the messenger's expression immediately turned ferocious, as if two opposing forces were fighting wildly within his body, like boiling water.

But soon, Bai Wei sensed a change in the water.

He realized something, so he immediately stepped forward and repeated the command in a low voice.

"Tell me!"

"Master, the Warden is already waiting for you."

At the Contract Land, the servants bowed respectfully to Diana, the bowing so deep it was as if they were about to kiss the earth.

"Yes, I understand." Diana gently stroked her Ring Finger and nodded slightly.

If she remembered correctly, this was the fifth time the Warden had summoned her this month.

Before this month, she had only met the Warden four times in total.

For millennia, the Contract Land remained stagnant, its seal unmoved, and thus, untouched. Only this month did things begin to change; even the Warden, who had lived for countless years, began to stir.

But this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, at least not for Diana.

Diana tidied herself up and was about to follow her servants to see the Warden when her Ring Finger suddenly twitched.

Her pupils narrowed slightly, then she stopped calmly, asking the servant to wait a moment.

Then she closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, she was staring at a strange man in a deep alley.

The man spoke slowly, his words carrying a power that was familiar to her.

"Tell me!"

Diana's eyes widened as she realized her body was starting to spiral out of control. Under this supreme command, her throat, which had been bound by chains and was in excruciating pain, was actually struggling to move, like a worm desperately trying to break free of its cocoon.

She opened her mouth involuntarily, about to answer.

But suddenly, a "ding" sound rang out, like a snapped string.

And so everything returned to darkness.

The words that made people want to submit, and the impatient and fierce face, all vanished in an instant.

When Diana opened her eyes again, there were only servants kneeling at her feet, too afraid to move, as if the brief scene from before had been a hallucination.

But Diana knew it wasn't a hallucination, because the "string" she had just heard was one she had broken herself.

She voluntarily banished the Contractor, thus severing the contract.

Once the contract is broken, there's no way to reconnect; she has lost that Contractor forever.

But there was nothing she could do. Although the time was short, Diana knew that if she had been any later, the Contractor would have broken the contract with her. At that point, she might not even have the ability to break the contract.

Diana's eyes narrowed little by little.

Without a doubt, the only thing that can invalidate a rule is another rule, and when combined with the way the opponent uses power, that rule becomes quite obvious.

The control of the tongue.

In other words, the man she just saw through the Contractor's Eyes was the same "Tongue" she had met in Peach Blossom Paradise.

Diana never imagined that she would meet him in this way.

But why was he there?

Diana began to pace slowly as she pondered.

The servant at her feet wanted to remind her that the Warden was still waiting, but when he looked up and saw Diana's tightly furrowed face, he hurriedly lowered his head again.

In the rules of the Ring Finger, servants are expected to give everything to their master, including their life and memories.

In other words, if Diana wanted, she could not only command hundreds of servants to die for her at any time, but also freely invade their minds and read their memories. Therefore, before severing the contract, Diana already knew who the servant was, and had read a part of his memories, seeing the scene of "tongue" forcing "herself," as well as the questions asked of herself, which was the location of the gathering.

But why does the "tongue" need to find a place to gather?

Hmm... not really surprised, after all, this gathering was for the purpose of hunting him down. Apart from those few from Peach Blossom Paradise, probably no one else knows that "Hand Eye" and "Tongue" are two different people, and two enemies at that.

So, while being hunted by "Hand Eye," "Tongue" was searching for a meeting place... Did he intend to use the power of the Eight Great Churches and the Contract Land to get rid of "Hand Eye"?

It seems that this is indeed possible. Judging from the previous experience in Peach Blossom Paradise, "Tongue" was driven almost crazy by "Hand Eye" and even went so far as to propose the foolish idea of giving up a piece of the body for everyone to share equally.

If that's the case... then what can I gain from this?

Diana stopped and began to think seriously.

Her first thought was whether the "tongue" also knew that she was the one who was up to something.

But she quickly dismissed the idea, since the rules of the Ring Finger have always been top secret. Even the Forbidden Book does not record the [contract], so unless it is Visas herself, no outsider could possibly know what her rules are.

It seems that she is still operating in the shadows, while the "tongue" is completely transparent to her.

Thinking of this, Diana couldn't help but smile.

"I never expected such a pleasant surprise," Diana said softly.

"Master?"

"It's nothing." Diana shook her head. Although she wanted to start thinking about the plan immediately, the Warden was still waiting for her, and she couldn't waste too much time. So she said to her servant, "You couldn't find me earlier, so I was a little late, understand?"

The servant shuddered, but dared not argue. He simply lowered his head further and obediently replied, "Of course."

Diana hummed in agreement and prepared to go see the Warden first.

But before he had taken two steps, he suddenly remembered something, turned to look at his servant, and said, "The Star Remnant delegation is in the Black Merchant's Nameless Town, is that right?"

"Yes, yes," the servant replied. "This is the Warden's arrangement. Once we have the meeting place ready, Jeff will lead them in... Is there a problem, master?"

Diana did not answer, but only frowned slightly.

The delegation from Xingyi is in Nameless Town, and "Tongue" is also in Nameless Town. Could this be a coincidence?

No, this can't be a coincidence.

Could it be that there are also holders of body parts among the Star Relic delegation?

This is not wishful thinking; it would be impossible for one of the Eight Great Churches not to have body parts. The only questions are which part they have and whether the other party has even arrived here.

But since the "tongue" has already found its way there, does that mean it already knows who the other person is?

Could it be those people from Peach Blossom Paradise? If they start fighting first, wouldn't it be troublesome if I didn't know anything?

Diana narrowed her eyes slightly, pondered for a moment, and then said to her servants, "Send a few more people to the border to keep a close eye on the Star Remnant delegation."

The servant opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Diana turned and left, leaving him to bury his doubts in his heart, and then he lowered his head again.

"Yes, my master."

Bai Wei stared at the mummified corpse in front of him, remaining silent for a long time.

Bai Wei could sense that the messenger in front of him had suddenly displayed an aura that did not belong to him at some point, so Bai Wei used [Domination] on him once again.

Then his breath ceased, and with it, the messenger's life ended.

Almost in the blink of an eye, a perfectly healthy person became a dried-up corpse, as if suddenly stripped of their life force.

Is this what a "contract" is?

Bai Wei had already grasped the general idea.

So this is how the Contract Land keeps secrets; it's truly powerful.

Bai Wei fell into thought.

Just now, after realizing that he was facing the Ring Finger, he immediately used [Dominate] again, just to make sure that Ring Finger could see it and thus deduce his identity—"Tongue".

The fact that Ring Finger quickly severed the contract shows that she had already received this message.

In this way, he established a connection with this Ring Finger, and he believed that this restless Ring Finger would try every means to "hunt" him.

Bai Wei smiled, "I didn't expect there to be such a pleasant surprise."

Before that, however, he still managed to pick out a golden seed from the mummified corpse in front of him, which was the totem of the Contract Land.

Now, he is... oh, to be precise, Lai Er, Lai Er is the representative of the Contract Land.

So, where the Xingyi delegation wants to go next is entirely up to him, isn't it?

Bai Wei revealed a satisfied smile, but the smile quickly turned into confusion, as if he had just woken up from a dream.

"What... ah?" Lai Er was startled by the desiccated corpse in front of him. "What's going on? Mr. Visas?!"

"Don't rush," Bai Wei said lazily. "I've already taken care of everything. Now you just need to..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lai Er suddenly clutched his throat and began coughing up blood violently.

In a matter of moments, blood was everywhere.

Lai Er's face was filled with panic. "Mr. Visas, what's wrong with my body?! Did you do this, Mr. Visas?!"

Seeing this, Bai Wei couldn't help but click his tongue.

I completely forgot about that.

If an ordinary person uses [Domination] several times in a row, conservatively speaking... their lifespan will be halved.