Chapter 12: Harvest

In the white light, even in his soul state, Ye Qi still had to use his arm to shield his eyes. When he finally lowered his arm, the sight before him made his eyes widen. A strange wolf with a snake tail, about two meters tall, was sitting in front of him, smiling at him. Don't ask why Ye Qi felt the strange wolf was smiling; he didn't understand it either. He just felt that the wolf was smiling when it stared at him.

Of course, these weren't the main points. The key was the strange wolf's appearance! Although it was magnified many times and transformed from an inanimate object to a living being, Ye Qi was still certain that it was identical to the two magic statues he had in his pocket.

Why are they so similar? Could it be...

From the appearance of the two, Ye Qi instantly thought of something, and a bad premonition arose in his heart.

"Kid, you really are troublesome! To sign a contract with you, I had to go through so much trouble! But I didn't expect someone to have already signed a soul contract with you... Hmm... No, I saw everything you did. If those guys made a move, I should have noticed it first! Could you be the offspring of someone or a reincarnation of someone? But I haven't heard of any unfortunate soul falling... Strange, strange..."

The strange wolf unceremoniously crawled on the green stone floor, rambling like an old man, occasionally glancing at Ye Qi standing in front of it.

"Was all of that just your doing?"

Listening to the strange wolf's muttering, Ye Qi, who had already guessed some of the details, felt a burning fire in his chest and asked with wide eyes.

"Don't say it so harshly. We are now partners who have signed a sharing contract! We should help and support each other!" The strange wolf, half-dead, lay on the green stone floor, glanced at the indignant Ye Qi, and yawned.

"To make me help you find a statue like you, you staged such a grand scene and tricked me into signing that contract?" Not mentioning the contract was fine, but once it was mentioned, Ye Qi remembered the near soul-shattering pressure he had experienced. The anger that had been burning in his chest instantly surged to his head, and he roared at the strange wolf.

The strange wolf's appearance matched the magic statue, and the appearance of a second similar magic statue, along with the clauses in the contract about finding items, quickly helped Ye Qi piece together the situation. He had figured out about eighty percent of what had happened—this strange wolf was likely sealed in the magic statue, and only by gathering all the magic statues could it be freed. As the holder of a magic statue, he was naturally seen as "cheap labor." The contract he had just signed was, of course, the "labor contract." The nearly soul-shattering pressure he had experienced was probably a "deception" to make him sign the contract smoothly.

Although Ye Qi didn't consider himself a genius, being deceived repeatedly had definitely made him angry. Moreover, when he signed the contract, he had been very hopeful about the power he would gain. Now, seeing the strange wolf he had signed the contract with, Ye Qi's heart, which had been full of hope, felt like it had been doused with cold water—could he expect a sealed strange wolf to grant him any powerful abilities? Even if the wolf's former self was a powerful demon or deity, it was now just a hollow shell after being sealed!

Therefore, the anger that Ye Qi had been suppressing burst forth.

"It's not a deception, but a transaction! Don't you believe in the principle of equivalent exchange? You help me find the remaining statues, and I give you the corresponding power. We both get what we want! You often say that a transaction is a process of mutual benefit and satisfaction. As long as both parties are satisfied, the transaction is considered successful! So, it's a transaction, not a deception!" The strange wolf immediately corrected him.

"The problem is that I am not satisfied! A transaction based on lies is a deception!" Ye Qi gritted his teeth and glared at the strange wolf. "And given your current state, you're probably just deceiving a 'novice' like me! As for giving me the corresponding power... hmpf..."

Ye Qi didn't finish his sentence, but his tone of disdain and the final cold snort clearly showed his distrust of the strange wolf. According to Ye Qi's knowledge, no deity or demon had the appearance of a wolf with a snake tail, so he deduced that even if the strange wolf was a deity or demon, it was a weak and obscure one.

"Deception? I have no such intention! Although I am weak now, I can still handle the little bats outside! Alright, let's fulfill the first clause of the contract! Otherwise, if we just wait here, even though time flows abnormally slowly, your body outside will still die! I don't want to wait for thousands of years again because of this!"

Ignoring Ye Qi's disdain, the strange wolf raised its head and glanced at Ye Qi again. Without waiting for Ye Qi to speak, the nine fire pillars in the green stone hall suddenly burst into flames. When Ye Qi came to his senses, he found himself back in his body.

He was still being held in the air by the middle-aged vampire.

"Kid, I am now fulfilling the first clause of the contract!"

The strange wolf's voice echoed in his mind, and Ye Qi suddenly found himself in a special state, different from his soul state and his usual state. This special state was like being between the two, with his soul still in his body but his visual perspective being that of a third party, as if watching a movie.

Ye Qi saw himself, with his neck being squeezed, half-closing his eyes and raising his relatively intact right hand to the vampire's hand that was squeezing his neck—this reaction seemed like a last-ditch effort. This caused the middle-aged vampire to burst into laughter again.

However, the laughter soon turned into a scream. The vampire, who had a mad but dignified appearance, visibly aged at an alarming rate. Or rather, it withered. In contrast, his own wounds from the battle were rapidly healing, and even his broken left arm was mending with a series of "cracks."

As the vampire's strength waned, it became increasingly pale and weak, and its screams grew fainter. When the screams finally stopped, the vampire's tall, imposing figure had shrunk to the size of a five- or six-year-old child.

From the moment the strange wolf said it would fulfill the first clause to the time the vampire was drained, only a few seconds had passed. Ye Qi, who had been in a "movie-watching" state, was full of surprise and hadn't reacted at all. It wasn't until the system's notification sounded in his mind that he came to his senses.

"C-Class Task: Secret of the Statue completed, gained 3,000 experience..."

"C-Class Task: Secret of the Statue successfully completed, triggered S+ Class Task: Collection of Statues. Task completion progress: 2/9."

"Congratulations, your character level has been upgraded to 5. Your injuries and energy have been fully restored; you have gained 7 skill proficiency points, which you can allocate as you wish."

"Congratulations, you have reached the job change standard and can choose a related profession provided by the system!"

"C+ Class Task: Mysterious Expansion completed, please claim the relevant rewards from the task issuer."

"Item: Magic Statue disappeared, Strength +2."

"Item: Magic Statue disappeared, Agility +2."

"Absorbed special energy, gained the special ability: Vampire's Touch."

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