Fluorite Valley.
Inside a hotel suite.
After the Acrobat disappeared, Yue Shi ignored Ghost's incessant questioning.
He walked to the center of the suite's living room and used the 【Replication Bead: Reflection】.
The dark red bead flashed with a faint light, and the coordinates of the Curse Aggregate's birthplace were reflected into the room.
At first, everything in the room remained normal, with no unusual phenomena occurring.
But soon, a foul and resentful aura began to permeate the air out of nowhere.
The temperature in the room plummeted, and the light grew dim.
Then, the air began to twist and thicken, and a mummy wrapped in pitch-black bandages slowly emerged from the distortion, transitioning from illusory to solid.
The Curse Master.
“Holy crap!” Ghost jumped in surprise. “How did this guy show up here?!”
The Curse Master ignored Ghost, his eyes fixed sinisterly on Yue Shi. “Kid, you’ve got some nerve.”
Both were old foxes; some things didn't need to be spelled out.
The Curse Master already understood the reason. Yue Shi must have obtained the item from that hunched-back old man, replicated the coordinates of his birthplace, and exploited a loophole in the Earthbound status to temporarily “summon” him here.
“Aren't you afraid I’ll kill you?” the Curse Master asked in a chilling tone. He hadn't forgotten being splashed with filth by Yue Shi during their last encounter in the lab.
Yue Shi's expression remained unchanged. “If you had the ability, you would have acted already. Why waste your breath?”
The Curse Master snorted and didn't dwell on the topic.
He turned his head, curiously scanning the surroundings.
Yue Shi asked him, “Being trapped in one place forever... it doesn't feel good, does it?”
The Curse Master looked back. “Did that old man tell you everything about my origins?”
No, Yue Shi had seen it through his own Insight. However, he didn't deny it, simply saying, “If I’m not mistaken, the only reason you worked for that old man was for freedom. You didn't want to be trapped in that tiny space forever.”
“Does it matter who you work for? Why not come and work for me instead?”
“Hahaha!” The Curse Master burst into loud laughter.
“Kid, we were just fighting to the death not long ago, both of us desperate to kill the other. Now you come here to recruit me, wanting me to join you? Do you trust me? Or do you think I’ll trust you?”
Yue Shi looked at him with a strange expression, as if he had just heard something bizarre. “Trust? What use would I have for such useless garbage?”
The Curse Master's laughter stopped abruptly.
Yue Shi continued, “Emotions, trust, loyalty... these ethereal things are all trash to me.”
“Only direct interest-based binding creates the most solid and lasting partnership.”
“I need your strength, and you need the freedom I can provide. With such an exchange of interests, our relationship will naturally be stable and reliable.”
The Curse Master was silent for a moment, then nodded. “Well said. You’re much more interesting and practical than that smelly old man who was always trying to play the emotional card with me.”
Yue Shi raised an eyebrow. “So, you agree?”
The Curse Master said, “I still need to think about it.”
Yue Shi sneered. “Stop pretending. You’re actually very tempted.”
“Otherwise, if you wanted to leave, I couldn't stop you. The fact that you’re willing to stay here and listen to my nonsense is the answer in itself.”
The Curse Master was momentarily choked for words, a muffled voice coming from beneath the bandages. “Do you have to be so blunt? Don't you know how to be a bit more tactful?”
Yue Shi said candidly, “You’d better get used to it quickly. I’ve always been straightforward; I don't like beating around the bush.”
Curse Master: “No, you’re not being straightforward. You’re being caustic.”
“Interpret it however you like,” Yue Shi said indifferently.
“When we fought in the lab, I felt you weren't using your full strength at all. You were slacking off most of the time. I imagine you must have been quite dissatisfied with that old man who only knew how to make empty promises.”
“Whatever that old man could give you, I can give. What he couldn't give you, I can give as well. I can do better than him.”
The bandages on the Curse Master's body fluttered without wind. After thinking for a long time, he still didn't agree directly but instead made a demand:
“Words are empty. If you want me to work for you, fine. But you need to sign a contract with me.”
“Oh? Did you sign a contract with that old man too?” Yue Shi asked.
“No,” the Curse Master answered truthfully.
Yue Shi's tone grew cold. “Then why do you want to sign a contract with me? I don't accept being treated differently.”
The Curse Master didn't back down an inch. “The nature of the situation is different. You are much more dangerous than that old man, and the things you want to do will definitely be even more dangerous.”
“I don't crave brief and restricted freedom. Do you really think you can drive me to risk my life for just a few moments of liberty? You’re dreaming!”
“What I truly need is to find a way to escape my Earthbound status.”
“That dead old man talked a big game, promising his lab would pour all its resources into helping me research how to gain freedom.”
“In reality, he was very wary of me. He only ever let me operate in the depths of the lab and never allowed me contact with the outside world, fearing I would lose control.”
“That's why I didn't help him sincerely. When you were destroying the lab, I just went through the motions.”
“Some losses only need to be suffered once. I don't want to continue being someone else's hired muscle for free.”
“So if you want me to work for you, I need a guarantee. You have to give me enough time to explore the outside world, and you cannot interfere with or restrict my actions like that old man did.”
“No problem,” Yue Shi replied without any hesitation, his answer crisp and decisive.
The Curse Master was visibly stunned, a bit taken aback. He had thought Yue Shi would consider it for a long time and then haggle over the terms.
“I am sincerely recruiting you. Your demands are not excessive.” Yue Shi's lie came out effortlessly, without even needing a draft.
The Curse Master laughed. “Good! Since you’re so decisive, I won't dawdle either.”
The pitch-black bandages wrapped around his chest unraveled on their own, revealing a small area.
It wasn't flesh and blood there, but swirling black mist.
The black mist condensed into a piece of paper, and text quickly appeared on it, listing the contract terms:
Party A, Yue Shi, must periodically summon Party B, the Curse Master, to the real world, and provide the freedom and convenience to explore the outside world without unwarranted interference. During this period, Party B, the Curse Master, must respond to Party A's summons and work for Party A.
The Curse Master was the first to sign his true name on the contract.
The contract had no unfair clauses or penalties for breach; it seemed extremely loose. His Insight vision saw no abnormal information either, only displaying 【Contract Curse】.
But Yue Shi still didn't trust the Curse Master. The contract was provided by the Curse Master, and there was no telling if he had the authority to tamper with its contents.
However, Yue Shi wasn't afraid.
He had the 【Oath of Luoshui】.
And...
“How about it, finished reading? If there’s no problem, sign your true name,” the Curse Master said impatiently, his gaze frequently sweeping over Yue Shi's forehead.
“No problem.” Yue Shi pulled out a signing pen.
He signed three words on the contract with a flourish.
Xin Mufeng.
Rate on N.U.
