Chapter 214 - 213: Unexpected Development

Chapter 214: Chapter 213: Unexpected Development

In less than a minute, Lin Wu regretted it, but it was too late.

"I can swear I’ll never betray you! I’ll do anything you ask. Can we... not sign this thing?"

Lin Wu stared at the Soul Contract before him, feeling like he could just die.

The words floating in the air shimmered, and upon them was written—Loyalty Contract, contents as follows.

Party B swears on their soul to be forever loyal to Party A from the bottom of their heart, to never lie, to never backstab, to always uphold Party A’s interests, and to take it as their personal duty to eliminate Party A’s enemies...

Violation of this contract will result in the soul shattering, never to be reincarnated.

"It’s just a contract. I promise you’ll still be you," Gu Qingyin coaxed. "Otherwise, how can I completely trust you? After all, you even betrayed your own master."

"Or... would you rather go back to the Mystic Association and experience their *real* methods?"

Lin Wu shuddered. The last time he was captured by the Mystic Association, he hadn’t been seriously harmed thanks to Dongfang Ran looking out for him behind the scenes.

But he knew what they were capable of. He had heard the interrogations of other prisoners with perfect clarity. Their bloodcurdling screams seemed to ring in his ears even through several walls—it was beyond terrifying.

On the verge of tears, Lin Wu said, "I’ll sign."

Since he had made his decision, Lin Wu didn’t intend to leave himself any way out. He directly split off a wisp of his soul and signed the contract.

Gu Qingyin was satisfied. She put away the contract and looked at Lin Wu.

Lin Wu looked back at her, carefully sensing the changes within himself. Physically, he felt the same as before; the main changes were psychological.

He deliberately tried to think about helping his master deal with Gu Qingyin, and his head immediately began to throb as if it were about to split open. The pain was so frightening that he quickly stopped.

Then, he tested thinking about helping Gu Qingyin by acting as a mole against his master. After a few seconds, nothing happened.

He couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

’In short, if I do a poor job, I’ll die, but if I do a good job, there’s no reward. What’s the difference between this and being a slave!’

Lin Wu couldn’t help but say, "Doesn’t this kind of thing violate the Mystic Association’s regulations? Does no one do anything about it?"

Gu Qingyin looked at him in surprise. "You actually know the Mystic Association has regulations? Then you must also know that regulations, well, they’re bound to have loopholes."

"I just developed this contract, and I haven’t registered it yet. I was just using you for an experiment. It seems the effects are quite good," Gu Qingyin said with a grin. "As long as you don’t go around blabbing, how would the Mystic Association ever know I broke the rules?"

Lin Wu swallowed. "Understood. I definitely won’t say a word."

Gu Qingyin nodded in satisfaction, swiped her Fire Burning Stick, and untied Lin Wu’s bonds.

Lin Wu rubbed his stinging wrists and asked with a hint of resentment, "If you had this contract, why didn’t you take it out at the beginning? If you’d just had me sign it from the start, we wouldn’t have needed this whole troublesome interrogation."

Gu Qingyin sighed. "This contract only works if it’s signed willingly. If I had taken it out at the beginning, you definitely wouldn’t have wanted to sign."

Lin Wu was speechless. ’So this was all a game of cat and mouse. You’ve really got it down to an art form.’

A short while later, Huo Xingchen and Chad returned from interrogating the two Heavenly Masters. Their answers were basically the same, proving that Lin Wu hadn’t lied earlier.

Gu Qingyin looked at him with a complicated expression. "You really have no loyalty to speak of."

Lin Wu felt incredibly wronged. ’It’s not like I didn’t want to defend my master, but that stick in Huo Xingchen’s hand gave me no choice!’

"Qing Yin," Huo Yunjing, who was staring at the Soul Mirror, called out. "The analysis is complete."

Gu Qingyin’s spirits lifted. She leaned in for a look, then drew out her own soul power and infused it into the Soul Mirror, simulating the fluctuations of Lin Wu’s soul power.

It was done in a moment.

Gu Qingyin exclaimed in admiration, "A Divine Artifact is a Divine Artifact, after all. So useful!" She put the item away. "Let’s go! To the beach!"

Once they reached the beach, Gu Qingyin took out the Array Plate. She activated it using the imitation of Lin Wu’s soul power she had just created, and deliberately blocked the video feed, transmitting only audio.

Lin Wu’s eyes widened. "It has that function?"

Gu Qingyin widened her eyes right back at him. "Isn’t it obvious?"

Lin Wu fell silent. He had never noticed, probably because he had never really studied this Array Plate.

A connection was quickly established. A lazy, slightly questioning voice came from the Array Plate, "Lin Wu?"

Gu Qingyin motioned for Lin Wu to answer.

Lin Wu didn’t know what to say, so he just grunted, "Mm." The wind on the beach was strong, and it distorted the sound.

Yin Bo, on the other end, heard him and asked with a gloating laugh, "Failed? On the run?"

After two seconds of silence, Lin Wu retorted, flustered and angry, "You wouldn’t have done any better if you were here!"

Yin Bo gave a short laugh. "Is there a follow-up plan?"

Lin Wu snapped, "Everyone got caught, what plan could there be? Those Werewolves are so unreliable. They ran faster than anyone. I have no idea why Master decided to work with them."

Yin Bo didn’t answer, only saying, "In that case, come find me. There’s something back home that I need your help with."

"You’re back in the country?" Lin Wu was both surprised and jealous. "Isn’t Master worried something will happen to you?"

"Mm, we came back together," Yin Bo said pointedly. "Some things have been dragged out for too long. It’s time to resolve them."

Lin Wu didn’t understand and felt like he was being left out, but he couldn’t help asking, "What things?"

"You wouldn’t understand. Just get in touch when you’re back."

With that, Yin Bo cut the connection, and the Array Plate went dark.

"Fuck!" Lin Wu cursed irritably. He hated how secretive Yin Bo was, never telling him anything. ’How the hell am I supposed to understand anything!’

No one paid any attention to his mood. They were all wondering what Xian Yu Fei was planning to do back in the country. From the sounds of it, it wasn’t something small.

"I’m taking this Array Plate," Gu Qingyin said. "From now on, use the spare one in your Storage Belt. When you two talk, I’ll use this one to listen in. Try to get as much information out of him as you can."

Lin Wu nodded with a grim expression.

Gu Qingyin lifted her chin. "You can go now."

Lin Wu walked a few steps, took a small inflatable speedboat out of his belt, pushed it into the sea, got on, and sped away.

"Are we going back home?" Huo Xingchen asked.

Before Gu Qingyin could answer, Chad exclaimed in panic, "You can’t leave!"

Gu Qingyin explained, "Xian Yu Fei has returned to his country, so his cooperation with Amos is most likely off. I’ll give you a batch of talismans. Gather your people, and with the evidence we collected tonight, it should be enough for you to take back your inheritance."

Chad still felt uneasy. For some reason, he suddenly threw an arm around Huo Xingchen’s shoulder. "Then leave him behind!"

Huo Xingchen was utterly confused.

Gu Qingyin said, "Fine. Cut the previously agreed price in half, and just give it directly to Xingchen."

Chad readily agreed.

Huo Xingchen stared at his mom in disbelief. ’She just sold me off like that?’

Gu Qingyin encouraged him, "This commission isn’t particularly difficult. It’s about time you got some training."

Huo Xingchen blinked. Understanding dawned on him. ’This is my mom’s way of testing me!’ He instantly grew serious. "I will do my best!"

Gu Qingyin nodded in gratification. "Come on, let’s go back and rest for a bit. We’ll head back at dawn."

This was Huo Xingchen’s first time handling a commission abroad by himself, so he was still a little nervous. He followed Gu Qingyin, asking about this and that.

Chad thoughtfully gave the mother and son some time for the handover.

Just then, Huo Yunjing walked over and said in a chilling voice, "I hope Huo Xingchen returns to the country completely unscathed."

Chad shuddered and all but raised his hand to swear an oath. "I guarantee it!"