Chapter 161: A Blood Contract?

With Yang Feiyue’s methods, if He Han were still alive, he might have been able to withstand them.

But a mere He Yuanxin? The debts out in the open alone were already suffocating him, to say nothing of how the Five Poison Sect and Blackwind Stronghold had completely cut off the escort agency’s way of making a living.

With more than a hundred mouths to feed from top to bottom, how was Qingfeng Escort Agency supposed to survive?

Whether or not He Yuanxin had noticed Yang Feiyue’s true purpose, he could not break this trap. Naturally, someone would raise the matter and ask the Yulong Gang to step in.

The group moved all the bodies from the official road onto the horse-drawn carts.

Among the many corpses, Wangchuan saw Instructor Yu’s body. His whole body trembled, and he silently closed his eyes.

Instructor Yu could already be considered one of the Warring States Game Studio’s upper management, yet he had still died on this mission.

Death had begun to reach even First-Rank martial artists.

If even a First-Rank martial artist could not keep himself safe… then could anyone?

He really was not strong enough.

If he wanted to live, he had to break through. He had to become stronger.

Bai Yuhui and Hong Kaibao clenched their fists. Their eyes were red, shot through with blood vessels, and they instinctively kept their distance from the cart carrying Instructor Yu’s body.

“…”

Yang Feiyue stood on the riverbank, staring at the boats on the water that were salvaging corpses.

On those boats were the bodies of two Yulong Gang elders and a group of inner disciples.

At that moment, Yang Feiyue’s back looked bleak and solitary. Several strands at his temples had turned snowy white, and his posture seemed to bend of its own accord.

As for Qingfeng Escort Agency’s people, there was no need to say more. Those who had found their relatives wailed until their throats were raw, while the rest lowered their heads and cried in silence.

Only after every last body had been recovered did the team return to the county seat.

Dozens of corpses shook Huishui County to its core!

After learning of the Five Poison Sect’s atrocities, the county seat erupted in curses.

By the time they returned, night had already fallen.

Yang Feiyue instructed Wangchuan to take over all of Qingfeng Escort Agency’s affairs and personnel as quickly as possible, and to stay on guard in case the Five Poison Sect pressed its advantage. Then he escorted “Feng Shaoguang” to the Water Stronghold.

Only at this moment did the direct clash between Huishui County’s forces and the Five Poison Sect finally come to a temporary halt.

Wangchuan left the hall to be overseen by Wang Yuehui, Chen Ergou, and Captain Zhao Heiniu, then logged off without pausing for even a breath.

He wanted to know what had happened to Instructor Yu.

Instructor Yu was not like Heipi, Old Li, or the miners of Tianshui Village…

Instructor Yu was a ranked martial artist!

If a game character died, would the person die in the real world as well?

The moment he stepped out of his room, he saw a robotic security guard blocking the doorway.

“Warning!”

“The company is handling an emergency incident. All employees are to remain on standby in their rooms. Until the special status is lifted, no one is permitted to leave their room.”

Wangchuan’s eyes widened in alarm.

He knew the so-called emergency incident had to be related to Instructor Yu’s account deletion. But as long as he was still an employee of the game studio—bound by the contract—he could not openly violate the company’s orders. If he became a target…

He did not want to end up like Old Li and Heipi.

Su Wan had said that spirit realm was a game handed down from above, and every studio acted according to the will of those higher powers. To prevent the public from learning about it too early, every threatening factor would be strictly controlled and sealed away.

That was also why no information about spirit realm could be found on Douyin.

With the robot blocking the door, Wangchuan could only shut himself back inside. He took out his phone and called Instructor Yu…

But the number on the other end already came back as disconnected.

Wangchuan’s face turned deathly pale, as if his blood had nearly frozen solid.

“Damn it!”

Cursing viciously, he nearly slammed his phone onto the floor.

Su Wan had moved far too quickly.

They had already begun erasing every trace that Instructor Yu had ever existed.

That meant that even a First-Rank martial artist like Instructor Yu could not escape the tragedy of dying in reality.

He immediately called Lin Xun.

This time, the call connected.

Lin Xun’s deep sigh came through the line.

“Hello.”

It sounded like a bellows in a leaky weapons room—weak and breathless.

“Will Instructor Yu die?”

Wangchuan went straight to the point. This was the most direct question he had ever asked.

The other side hesitated for a full ten seconds before finally forcing out a single word.

“He will.”

Wangchuan collapsed onto the bed. His five fingers clawed messily through his hair as he said, “There is no way to reverse it? Not even one?”

“Right now… there isn’t.”

Lin Xun sighed.

“I have been in the game for a year. In any case, I have never seen anyone survive for more than two days after their game character died.”

“How did they die?”

Wangchuan pressed.

“Have you ever read novels?”

Lin Xun suddenly asked a question that seemed unrelated.

Wangchuan froze.

Lin Xun explained in a heavy voice. “That sort of blood contract. In novels, once someone completes a blood contract, their soul is bound to it as well… I suspect that when we entered the game, we used a blood contract to bind our bodies to our game characters.”

Wangchuan’s mind shook.

Lin Xun’s explanation was startlingly new.

But when he thought about it carefully, it did seem to make sense.

“In our daily lives, through the interference and influence of the blood contract, we obtain enhanced attributes and abilities from our game characters, little by little making our real selves stronger…”

“And then, in reverse…”

At this point, Lin Xun’s voice began to tremble.

“Once our game character dies, under the interference and influence of the blood contract’s power, the host of that game character will wither and die!”

“So now you understand. Instructor Yu’s death is irreversible, unless we can find a power that can reverse the blood contract—or a power that surpasses the blood contract.”

When Lin Xun reached this point, bitterness seeped into his voice.

“Actually, it is not just you, or Instructor Yu, or me. Everyone in the game studio is searching for an answer, searching for the power to undo the blood contract—or to surpass it.”

“A power that surpasses the blood contract…”

Wangchuan’s eyes narrowed in thought.

“What is a power that surpasses the blood contract?”

“I do not know… Some people say it is Ninth Rank! Others say it is beyond Ninth Rank!”

Lin Xun sighed on the other end.

“Even someone like Captain Bai cannot break free of it. I think, in this lifetime, I probably have no hope. As long as I can stay alive, that is enough. I am not greedy.”

But…

Now all of Huishui County was shrouded beneath the Five Poison Sect’s shadow.

Surviving was not a simple thing!

Especially with the Yulong Gang standing on the front line against the Five Poison Sect. Lin Xun, as a Yulong Gang elder, and Wangchuan, as a hall master, both had to face the Five Poison Sect’s edge head-on.

“Do not worry about Instructor Yu anymore.”

“This time it was an accident—a tragedy.”

“Captain Bai and Supervisor Su have already gone in person to talk it through… The upper levels will provide more guarantees. There is no need to worry about his family.”

“We should think about how to withstand the Five Poison Sect’s next wave of attacks, Wangchuan! When I logged off, the gang leader sent a carrier pigeon message saying he wanted to make a move on Heilong County—he is preparing to seize all of Qingyi Sect’s people and territory! Sigh, the situation is getting more chaotic by the day. Let us keep a close watch inside the game! We cannot afford another mistake!”

After saying that, Lin Xun hung up.

“Beep, beep, beep…”

Wangchuan let out a deep sigh.

CLICK HERE to Rate/Review