Bang!
After smashing the Corrupted Corpse's head with a hammer, Liao Ji quickly relocated, hiding in the shadows at a tunnel corner. He was covered in blood now—though all of it belonged to the Corrupted Corpses. Clutched tightly in his right hand was his only weapon: a broken water pipe he had torn off.
After putting distance between himself and Stia, the Contract indeed no longer retaliated against him on a mental level. But likewise, he could no longer restrain the nun's actions. These frenzied Corrupted Corpses rampaging through the sewers in search of him were all Stia's doing.
Stia was smart, and she understood the principles of the "Contract" very well. Of course she did—after all, she was his "first" contractor.
Rather than coming to capture him herself, the nun continually used Corrupted Corpses—using "third parties"—to wear down what little strength he had left.
When he could no longer hold on and lost consciousness, even the Contract would become useless.
Liao Ji understood that as well, so he changed his strategy. He deliberately gave Stia the impression that he was trying to escape, but in truth, at the next turn in the tunnel, Liao Ji quietly changed course. He had no intention of heading for the exit at all. He intended to use the sewers' complex terrain to continually conceal his tracks and wage a guerrilla battle against Stia.
As for the purpose of stalling for time with this guerrilla warfare—
Taking advantage of this brief respite to catch his breath, Liao Ji turned over his palm, and the two Brands belonging to the Great Emperor's Relic emerged.
So it really was this.
In fact, from the moment he had seen the mutant Corrupted Corpses' unusual method of evolution, Liao Ji had already guessed what the Brands Father Gelong