Death Contract

"I never expected a Thousand Household from the Western Depot."

A woman from the Demonic Cult took Min Ning's waist token, then looked over her face.

"Quite a pretty one, too."

Another member of the Demonic Cult, carrying a sword, said coldly:

"No matter how pretty, she's still a dog serving the Resentment Devil Master."

"Liu Shi is right. However fine their features, the Resentment Devil Master's people are nothing but flesh city, turbid water."

The elder spoke indifferently.

Chen Yi watched Min Ning with a smile.

Min Ning glared viciously at Chen Yi, wishing she could cut him into a thousand pieces.

"You-you're actually a member of the Demonic Cult! You'll die a horrible death! A horrible death!"

Min Ning cursed him.

"Noisy."

With that, Chen Yi sealed her mute acupoint.

Min Ning could only whimper, unable to utter a word.

"Song Shengbao, how do you think we should deal with this person?"

The elder asked slowly.

"Elder, she's a Thousand Household of the Western Depot. We can't keep her here for long, or we'll attract the Western Depot's attention and ultimately expose our location. But if we rashly kill her here, the Western Depot will investigate that, too."

Chen Yi glanced at Min Ning and continued:

"Rather than that, we should take her out to the remote hills beyond the city and finish her with a single stroke. That way, they won't trace it back to us."

The elder nodded. Chen Yi's suggestion was precisely what the Demonic Cult had always done.

"In that case, you, Liu Shi, and Ma Deng will escort her out of the city together. Remember to bury her body properly."

Outside Capital City, in a dense stretch of woodland.

Liu Shi and Ma Deng walked ahead and behind, constantly on guard against Min Ning suddenly attacking.

With the powerless Min Ning on his back, Chen Yi walked step by step toward the burial site they had chosen in advance.

Along the way, he could feel his superior's knife-like gaze from time to time. If looks could kill, he would have died hundreds upon thousands of times already.

"This Western Depot Thousand Household has a fine face. Too bad she's a Thousand Household, or we'd be better off selling her to the Green House."

Ma Deng looked at Min Ning and said furiously,

"Damn the Western Depot! Who knows how many of our brothers have died at their hands!"

Liu Shi said flatly:

"These Embroidered Uniform Guards are all flesh city, turbid water. They spend all day slaving for the court and still think they're impressive."

Hearing these words, Min Ning looked indignant, but there was nothing she could do.

"They're just lowlifes. They're convinced the court will treat them like people, but who would treat a pack of beasts like people?"

Remembering the Demonic Cult brothers who had died not long ago, Ma Deng's eyes grew increasingly furious.

At the burial site, Chen Yi slowly lowered Min Ning from his back.

Min Ning stared fixedly at him without blinking, as though she meant to become a vengeful ghost after death and claim his life.

"Look, this Embroidered Uniform Guard still won't submit."

Seeing her gaze, Ma Deng spoke and moved to strike.

"What does it matter if she won't submit? She still has to die. She has only herself to blame for straying down the wrong path instead of embracing the righteous way. People like her will fall into the Five Darkness Pit after death and never find release."

Liu Shi's eyes were cold as he spoke.

Despite their repeated abuse, Min Ning remained defiant. She looked at the two of them before returning her gaze to Chen Yi, her eyes bloodshot.

"Still staring? What are you staring at? Once you're dead, I'll gouge out your eyes and let you keep staring!"

As he spoke, Ma Deng drew his saber. Beside him, Liu Shi watched the scene indifferently.

This Thousand Household was going to die anyway. There was nothing wrong with letting them vent their anger before she died.

Chen Yi turned his head and said:

"Hurry up and kill her."

Ma Deng nodded emphatically and raised his saber high.

The next instant, Chen Yi suddenly moved.

Slash!

With a clean, sharp sound, a gaping hole opened in Ma Deng's abdomen before he could react. Blood gushed out as he was gutted like a chicken.

Pressing a hand against his head, Chen Yi asked:

"You were really going to kill her?"

Min Ning's eyes widened.

Not far away, Liu Shi started in horror and frantically drew his sword.

But Chen Yi had already stepped forward. True qi circulated through his meridians, and his blade swept down with the overwhelming momentum of a strike meant to slay a jiao.

Before Liu Shi could raise his sword, a line of blood appeared across his neck, and the sword in his hand fell to the ground.

[Liu Shi possessed a total of twenty ordinary years' worth of foreign true qi.]

[Ma Deng possessed a total of thirty ordinary years' worth of foreign true qi.]

Chen Yi suppressed the surging foreign true qi, casually wiped the blood off his saber, sheathed it, and then picked up the sword.

Watching this, Min Ning was completely stunned.

A moment ago, she had all but offered her neck for execution, and her life had nearly finished flashing before her eyes. Yet everything had suddenly changed, and Chen Yi had turned around and killed his two accomplices...

Weren't they... his accomplices? Wasn't he... a member of the Demonic Cult?

Carrying the sword, Chen Yi strolled toward Min Ning and said with a grin:

"Thousand Household Min, out here in the wilderness, it seems we have time for some red waves surging."

A flush rose over Min Ning's pale face, and fear flickered in her eyes.

[Negative emotions: 80]

[Grudge Yin-Yang Art, beginner level. Of fifty years of foreign true qi, thirty percent can be absorbed, yielding seventeen years of true qi. Min Ning's negative emotions reward: three years of true qi.]

[True qi remaining: sixty years.]

Chen Yi glanced at the panel and nodded in satisfaction.

He raised his hand and unsealed Min Ning's mute acupoint.

Min Ning stared uneasily at Chen Yi, panting heavily. For the moment, she could not work out what he was thinking.

What exactly was he going to do? Kill me, or...

After a long while, Min Ning steadied herself and spoke in her usual tone:

"Hundred Household Chen, release me immediately, then give me a proper explanation..."

Before she finished, the sword swept behind her. Min Ning froze, her eyes round.

A searing pain spread across her firm buttocks.

He had spanked her!

"Thousand Household Min, aren't you being a little too bossy?"

Chen Yi tapped her with the flat of the sword.

"If you're relying on me to do something, could you use a nicer tone?"

Min Ning's scalp tingled, and her face turned crimson. She forced out a few words:

"...We can talk this through... What do you want?"

Chen Yi asked with a smile:

"You want to kill me, hmm? You've been following me for a while, haven't you?"

The valiant-looking woman's face grew even paler. Then, as though she knew her death was imminent, she sneered instead and said fiercely:

"Yes, I want to kill you! You threatened my sister. I'll kill you!"

Neither sorrow nor joy showed on Chen Yi's face.

"Then what if I told you... your sister would willingly give herself to me?"

"How could she? She isn't that kind of person." Min Ning was instantly stunned.

"For your sake, she would be."

Chen Yi spoke coldly.

"You... Stop wasting words! If you're going to kill me, do it!" Min Ning shouted angrily.

With that, she stretched out her neck. Chen Yi turned away instead, cut the heads off the two corpses, and wrapped them in clothing.

"What are you going to do?"

As though answering Min Ning's question, Chen Yi declared:

"Young Hero Min possessed exceptional martial prowess and extraordinary intelligence. Her earlier surrender was merely a deliberate ploy to lull the Demonic Cult into complacency. Then she suddenly struck, fighting three opponents alone. The Demonic Cult villains Liu Shi and Ma Deng both died to her Jiao-Slaying Saber Technique. Only Song Shengbao escaped with his life to bring back the news."

As he spoke, Chen Yi slowly approached and placed the two wrapped heads before Min Ning.

Min Ning immediately realized something.

"A saber takes lives; a sword spares them. I'm holding a sword now, so I won't kill you."

Pointing at the two heads, Chen Yi said flatly:

"Once the drug wears off, take these two heads to the Eastern Depot. That way, the Eastern Depot and the Demonic Cult will have openly broken with each other."

Her phoenix eyes widened as Min Ning stared at Chen Yi in disbelief.

"That way, the remnants of the Demonic Cult can be wiped out completely. That's what you want to see too, isn't it?"

Chen Yi's voice was quite enticing.

Min Ning swallowed and managed a nod.

Could he... really not be a member of the Demonic Cult? Was everything he had done merely to wipe out its remnants?! Had he schemed against both the Demonic Cult and the Eastern Depot for that purpose?

She felt that she... could not quite understand this man!

"What if... I don't take them back?" Min Ning asked instinctively.

"In a little while, I'll be going to the Hundred Flowers Tower for some wine and company, and to listen to a few songs..."

How could Min Ning fail to hear the threat in those words?

Despite her reluctance, Min Ning still uttered one word: "Fine."

Having calculated when the drug would wear off, Chen Yi returned to Capital City.

He did not go to the Hundred Flowers Tower. Instead, he went into an alley no one knew about and drew his Embroidered Spring Saber.

"Whew..."

Chen Yi took a deep breath.

Aiming the Embroidered Spring Saber at the side of his abdomen, where there were no organs, he employed the Jiao-Slaying Saber Technique and stabbed hard!

Blood flowed freely, and Chen Yi's face drained of color.

Liu Shi was dead, Ma Deng was dead, and he alone returned completely unscathed. Who would believe that?

He had to add a few injuries, and the cuts had to be ones left by the Jiao-Slaying Saber Technique.

As he thought, Chen Yi cut wounds into his arms, calves, and other places.

"The Eastern Depot intends to protect the Holy Maiden's emergence... Where did this news come from?"

Xue Youge's face was grim.

"It spread everywhere overnight. Some fools who don't know what's good for them have even started singing rhymes. Something about 'The Eastern Depot rules the Bright-Dark Divine Sect; the Demonic Cult's Holy Maiden has the Eastern Depot's protection.' What are we supposed to do?"

Li Hundred Household could not help feeling nervous.

As a secret-police bureau, and with a eunuch as its director, the Eastern Depot had always had a poor reputation among Capital City's populace. It had never gotten along with the civil officials and ministers either, and people often made up stories about it.

In the past, the Eastern Depot had generally paid no attention to such stories. This time was different, however, because they really were colluding with the Demonic Cult.

"Where did the secret leak?"

Xue Youge murmured,

"Could those members of the Demonic Cult have gotten clever with us, thinking they could use this to pressure our Eastern Depot into doing more to keep them safe?"

Hearing this and recalling Chen Yi's words, Li Hundred Household immediately felt his hair stand on end. He hastily said:

"I think that's entirely possible!

"The Demonic Cult wants to protect the Holy Maiden's emergence, so they're borrowing our fearsome reputation to cloak themselves."

At Li Hundred Household's words, Xue Youge's expression grew even darker.

"A pack of fools.

"I think all that worship of the Great Ming Venerable Buddha has addled these Demonic Cult idiots' brains!"

Xue Youge rose angrily. After calming down a little, he said:

"For now... cut off some of our contact with these Demonic Cult members and give them a warning.

"Also, send men to keep a close watch for news of the Holy Maiden's emergence. If it's true, our Eastern Depot... will have to strike first."

Just then.

Min Ning appeared in the Eastern Depot's main hall, carrying a blood-soaked bundle.

After applying medicine and returning home, Chen Yi stood before the water vat and washed his face.

It would be difficult to turn the Eastern Depot and the Demonic Cult directly against each other. To some extent, they were still partners. Thus, Chen Yi's aim was to make them suspicious of each other, first opening a rift so that each would hesitate to act for fear of the consequences, then widening it until they finally broke completely, leaving him to reap the rewards.

The more suspicious the two sides became, the more favorable the situation would be for him.

Besides...

He still had Min Ning as a useful helper.

Chen Yi pushed open the door and entered his home.

"...Master."

Yin Tingxue sat in the entrance hall. After hesitating for a moment, she stood and called softly.

Chen Yi watched her with a broad smile.

Yin Tingxue felt a flicker of foreboding.

Then she watched Chen Yi enter the study, take something out, and finally set it before her.

Yin Tingxue froze for a moment, then felt her hair stand on end.

"Sign this Death Contract."

Chen Yi spoke the cruel words gently.

Servants' indentures were divided into fixed-term contracts and Death Contracts. The former had a set duration, which, under Great Yu Law, could not exceed eight years. After eight years, unless they signed another contract, servants had to return to their registered place of origin.

A Death Contract, as its name suggested, lasted until death, whereas the one she had signed last time was a fixed-term contract.

Yin Tingxue trembled uncontrollably.

"From now on, you'll live under the name Yin Jiaoyu. In private, I'll still call you Tingxue. Once things blow over, I'll change your name back."

Looking at the frightened Yin Tingxue, Chen Yi softened his voice a little.

But... the girl did not relax at his tone.

Goosebumps rose on her beautiful skin, which had turned as deathly pale as snow.

[Negative emotion: 85]

[Yin Tingxue's negative emotion rewarded three years of True Qi.]

"Have I upset you?"

Yin Tingxue was silent for a long while before saying in a trembling voice:

"Why? Why are you treating me like this?"

Chen Yi kept his gaze steady and teased:

"Did you think that after serving me for eight years, you could regain your freedom and live a carefree life?"

Yin Tingxue kept backing away. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor.

Chen Yi, however, stepped forward, his tall shadow enveloping her.

Her eyes were filled with panic and fear.

Perhaps she was thinking that serving an enemy like him for the rest of her life was even more terrifying than falling into Buddhism's World of Ignorance.

Chen Yi took Yin Tingxue's hand and made her hold the wolf-hair brush.

"Sign it and put your mark on it, or else..."

Yin Tingxue abruptly raised her eyes, brimming with tears, and said resolutely:

"I won't sign. You... just send me to the Laundry Bureau!"

Chen Yi merely said coolly:

"Silver Terrace Temple."

At the mention of the temple her mother often visited, Yin Tingxue froze. At first, she was confused, not knowing why Chen Yi had brought it up. Then she heard something cruel.

"I wouldn't mind burning it to the ground.

"Just as you burned all three thousand taels' worth of banknotes to ashes."

Looking at his enemy, Chen Yi spoke coolly.

[Negative emotion: 90]

[Yin Tingxue's negative emotion rewarded five years of True Qi.]

Yin Tingxue's face was very pale. She seemed never to have heard anything so outrageous. She remained wooden for a long while, something rising in her throat. She wanted to speak, but seemed unable to make a sound.

In the end, she, who had always been so resolute, lowered her head and silently signed the Death Contract, then pressed her mark onto it.

Chen Yi put away the Death Contract.

Tomorrow, he could go to the government office and find someone to act as guarantor. Though it did not follow procedure, his position as a Hundred Household of the Western Depot allowed him to disregard many procedures.

Besides, even if Yin Tingxue knew, she would not dare report him to the authorities.

The only thing she would dare do...

Was run away.

Chen Yi drew a breath and reached out to pat her head.

Surprisingly, she did not swat his hand away as she had at Silver Terrace Temple. Instead, she obediently leaned a little toward him. She said nothing, remaining silent.

This was so unlike her. She was preparing to run away-Chen Yi understood that.

Early the next morning, Chen Yi locked the door securely.

Looking at the tightly shut door, Chen Yi took a deep breath, then turned away.

Previously, he had never locked the door, because Yin Tingxue would never have run away back then.

But now, he had pushed her too hard. He reckoned this Holy Maiden had already begun thinking about escaping.

Leaving the courtyard at an unhurried pace, Chen Yi headed toward the Western Depot.

Not long after Chen Yi left.

An Embroidered Uniform Guard with handsome features and a tall, slender figure appeared outside the courtyard gate at some point. She looked around, as though scouting the place.

Looking at the tightly shut door, Min Ning hesitated.

After a long while, Min Ning took a deep breath and walked over to the paper window of the inner quarters.

Min Ning licked her finger, reached out, and poked a hole through the paper window, then peered inside.

As ill luck would have it.

Beside the desk, a girl whose complexion outshone frost and snow was biting her finger open and writing something in blood on a sash.

She raised her eyes in surprise and suspicion, meeting Min Ning's gaze at that very moment.