The Clown Was Me All Along?

"BOOM!!"

Following an angry roar within the valley, a visible storm instantly razed the entire area to the ground.

Massive swathes of trees and boulders were sliced in two in the blink of an eye; the terrifying lethality was simply hair-raising.

In an instant, the screeching of the monkeys throughout the valley came to an abrupt halt.

"It's over."

Casually summoning a Flying Blade to pierce through the Old Monkey King's head, Yang Zixuan, with a hollow expression, slowly opened an umbrella. "Splatter, splatter..." A rain of bright red blood poured down.

Such terrifying power naturally could not escape the principle of equivalent exchange.

As the system notifications regarding the weakening of his strength rang incessantly in his ears, Yang Zixuan frowned. He took a silver vial from his Prop Catalog; this potion was clearly similar to the [Yellow Talisman Water] that Mad Dog had given to Xu Tong, both possessing the effect of dispelling negative status effects.

However, the one in his hand was clearly far superior in both effect and grade to the [Yellow Talisman Water].

After downing the potion in one gulp, he glanced back at the nearby woods, then sat on a rock with a cold face, as if waiting for someone.

In his spare time, he didn't forget to take a cigar from his Prop Catalog and sniff it lightly under his nose.

The unique aroma of the cigar gradually eased Yang Zixuan's cold expression.

He then unhurriedly took out a lighter and toasted it slowly until the cigar was evenly carbonized. With a raised brow, he flicked the cigar forward.

The carbonized tip drew a fiery red arc through the air, landing precisely in Xu Tong's hand.

As Xu Tong and his group stepped out from the woods, Mad Dog and the others couldn't help but gasp at the sight of the leveled valley.

Xu Tong held the cigar to his nose and took a sniff. Unlike the smell of cigarettes, the scent of the fermented tobacco leaves was as mellow as a cup of hand-ground coffee.

Yang Zixuan took out another cigar and began to toast it unhurriedly. "I'm a lender. I've seen plenty of poor wretches, mistresses, third parties, bosses, students, people in need of emergency cash, luxury goods sellers, and those begging for their lives. I can take one look at someone on the street and judge them with ninety percent accuracy."

Yang Zixuan seemed completely indifferent to Xiong Tao, who was on Mad Dog's shoulder. He took a deep drag of his cigar and fixed his eyes on Xu Tong. "I didn't expect that I would actually misjudge someone like you."

As he spoke, Yang Zixuan actually began to laugh. There wasn't a hint of anger on his face; instead, he laughed from the heart, staring at Xu Tong as if he were looking at a rare treasure. "Come back. From now on, you're number three. Furthermore, I can make the call to give you another three hundred Script Points and two Prop Cards."

To show his sincerity, he specifically took out two Prop Cards and held them in his hand. The cards shimmered with an unusual luster, clearly bearing the unique markings of rare Prop Cards.

At this, even Mad Dog's jaw dropped, his mouth watering with envy. Faced with such generous terms, he feared he would have nodded in agreement himself.

What is this guy playing at? You killed number three, undermined number two, and made him suffer a huge loss, yet he wants to recruit you? It must be a trap.

Envy aside, Mad Dog couldn't understand why Yang Zixuan would do this. Shouldn't he be rushing over to skin this guy alive? That would be more like him.

Xu Tong ignored Mad Dog's words because he knew this was an inevitable outcome.

When he first joined the Jie Team, Yang Zixuan had sized him up, but he had been sizing up Yang Zixuan just the same.

He was a qualified player, but also a shrewd businessman. As the captain of the Farming Team, the gains and losses he calculated were always about profit.

Cutting losses in time, or even turning a loss into a profit—that was what Yang Zixuan prioritized.

Of course, such peace was built on the condition of equality. If he hadn't bound Yang Guanjin, Mad Dog, and even Old Bart and the still-unconscious Captain Wang to his side, and if he hadn't held the two trump cards of Zhou Huasheng and Xiong Tao, he believed that what awaited him now wouldn't be a cigar, but that razor-sharp Flying Blade and Xiong Tao's iron fists.

"Let's talk about the price you intend to pay to buy back your teammate."

He placed the cigar in his mouth, and amidst the clouds of smoke, he found he actually quite liked the stuff. He opened his hand, revealing a Paper Doll in his palm.

The soul of Xiong Tao was bound within the doll. If he wanted to kill Xiong Tao now, a single squeeze of his fingers would be enough to end him completely.

"A protocol, 200 Script Points, and one special prop."

Yang Zixuan threw out his chips without hesitation, as if he had already calculated the price of his miscalculation while he was toasting his cigar.

He produced a pale gold agreement.

"This is... a contract prop!" Mad Dog was somewhat surprised. While not rare, these weren't things one could just get whenever they wanted.

"It's my fault. If I had used this earlier, you really wouldn't have had a chance to escape my grasp."

Yang Zixuan clutched his forehead with a wry smile. It was his own fault for misjudging the situation, thinking this guy was just a timid piece of Livestock and that a simple temporary team contract would suffice.

If he had noticed even the slightest hint of something wrong back then, they wouldn't be in such a sorry state now.

"Fair enough."

Amidst the swirling smoke, his gaze scrutinized Yang Zixuan. He was calmer and more composed than he had imagined, but...

Like him, he didn't like working under others.

Yang Zixuan tossed the contract over, and Mad Dog picked it up to take a look. The rules were already written out.

A non-aggression pact. Once both parties signed, they would truly be unable to take action against each other.

This wasn't as loose as a temporary team contract; it carried immense binding power. Not only did the signers have to put up fifty Script Points as collateral, but more importantly, the penalty for breach was so severe that no one could afford it.

Not only would all prop abilities be sealed, but the earnings for this Script World would be reduced to 10%, and an alarm would sound every two minutes, alerting everyone to their location.

The moment one attempted to break the contract and attack, a judgment would be made instantly. If you were the breaching party, all your prop abilities would be sealed immediately. If you were judged to be the victim, you would receive a one-time random teleportation to escape the battlefield and save your life.

Of course, the cost of the random teleportation would be paid by the breaching party—using those fifty Script Points.

The agreement would last until the end of this Script Space. Upon completion, both parties would have ten Script Points deducted, and the remaining forty would be returned.

Yang Zixuan's handprint was already on the contract. Now, all Xu Tong had to do was press his own.

"Press it, we've made a killing!"

Mad Dog shoved the Contract in front of Xu Tong, his face unable to hide his growing excitement as he whispered into his ear, "We've made a fortune this time."

Xu Tong took it and casually pressed his thumbprint onto the page, not forgetting to smile at Yang Zixuan, "This thing has a nice flavor. Where did you buy it?"

As he spoke, he took out a bell and gave it a light shake. The Paper Doll in his palm trembled a few times before a wisp of green smoke rose up and returned to Xiong Tao's body.

"My apologies, it's a private collection. But if you like them, I'll give you this box of cigars. If you're willing to consider my proposal, I guarantee that for top-tier cigars like these, I have as many as you want."

Watching Xiong Tao gradually climb to his feet, Yang Zixuan smiled brightly as he brought out a box of cigars, handing it along with the Prop Card to Xu Tong.

He certainly wouldn't refuse a gift delivered to his doorstep. He tossed the Prop Card and the cigars into his Prop Catalog and casually handed the Contract to Mad Dog, who was standing to the side.

"Your turn."

"Ah, I have to sign too??"

Mad Dog was stunned, clearly not expecting Xu Tong to suddenly hand the Contract to him.

Seeing the look of astonishment on Mad Dog's face, Xu Tong narrowed his eyes into slits. He took a puff of his cigar, and as he exhaled the smoke, he looked at Mad Dog with a mocking smile.

He pointed to a blank space and said, "Of course. Look, there's still room here. They are a team, so it counts if the captain signs, but you and I aren't on the same team, are we?"

That single sentence made Mad Dog's face flush red and then turn pale. He looked completely bewildered, never having expected Xu Tong to say something like that to him.

He glanced at Yang Zixuan, only to find Yang Zixuan's gaze fixed on him as well. "That's right, brother. Since you two aren't on the same team, you naturally have to sign this contract too. Unless... you have something to hide!"

Hearing Yang Zixuan's words, Mad Dog let out a cold snort through his nose.

He had been running for his life, going through all this trouble and taking such huge risks to gamble with Xu Tong, only to realize at the very last moment that the clown was actually himself?

Looking at the Contract in his hand, Mad Dog couldn't help but sneer. "Fine, just fine. I thought we had a bond forged in life and death, but I never expected... I never expected you to be waiting for me here."

Yang Guanjin and Old Bart were standing behind them. They couldn't understand the conversation between Xu Tong and the others, as if some force had naturally shielded their dialogue from being heard.

But seeing Mad Dog's expression grow increasingly ugly, Old Bart was about to step forward to intervene, only for Yang Guanjin to reach out and grab his arm, shaking her head to signal him not to get involved.

"I'll sign!"

Mad Dog let out a long sigh and slowly reached out his hand, as if he weren't signing a reciprocal contract, but rather accepting some inexplicable humiliation.

However, just as his finger was about to touch the Contract, Yang Guanjin, standing behind them, suddenly seemed to sense something. Her pupils constricted, and she looked up toward the nearby jungle. "Watch out!"

The moment her voice fell, a powerful sense of suffocation washed over them.

Xu Tong whipped his head around and saw, about forty meters away, a massive bow aimed directly at him.

The spine of the bow appeared to be crafted from a giant black bull's horn, and the ghastly white bowstring was clearly made from the thick, raw sinew of a beast, stripped away while still fresh. It was nearly as thick as a human thumb.

The bow was drawn to a full moon, the arrow nocked, and the string pulled taut. The hand gripping the giant bow had tendons and bones protruding sharply, and the arrow was aimed straight at his chest!!!