Toward evening, a party of cultivators left Danding City through the West City Gate. Chen Lin was among them.
Once they were outside the city, Madam White Bone spoke. "From this moment on, we live and die together. If anyone wants to act alone, you can leave now. Consider it an act of kindness that I brought you out. If you stay, you must obey my commands until we finish breaking through the encirclement. No leaving the party halfway!"
Everyone exchanged glances, but no one spoke.
"Good!" Madam White Bone nodded in satisfaction. "Since no one objects, let's sign a Soul Contract!" As she spoke, she took out a sheet of dark red paper.
Standing at the back of the crowd, Chen Lin's eyes flickered at her words.
Just as he had expected, Madam White Bone would never trust a hastily assembled team without some means of keeping them in line.
And she was no soft touch. Enjoying her protection without contributing was out of the question. If anyone had dared leave the party just now, they would probably already be a corpse.
The others' expressions darkened as well when they heard they would have to sign a Soul Contract.
A portly Foundation Establishment man could not help saying, "Fellow Daoist White Bone, we're only teaming up. Surely there's no need to sign a Soul Contract? Splitting one's soul is a serious matter, and the contract itself must be quite valuable. Why waste it here? Why not swear an Inner Demon Oath instead?"
Chen Lin frowned at this.
He had prepared ways to deal with several kinds of contracts, including Blood Pacts and Soul Pacts, but he had no way of countering an Inner Demon Oath. He could not let this man ruin things.
With that thought, he immediately spoke