Chapter 2: Signing the Contract!

“Disperse. Yu Hu, hurry and take the Wang family boy home. Don’t let him catch a chill,” Li Si said to Yu Hu as he walked closer to the group of children.

“Teacher!” Yu Hu cried out, rather anxious.

Li Si raised an eyebrow and said coldly, “What, are you planning to put on a full martial brawl right in front of me? Should I give you a reward for the performance?”

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare...” When Yu Hu heard Li Si say this, he immediately looked somewhat embarrassed. He could not help pulling up the child who was still on the ground, then led the group of children away.

After the children had gone far away, Li Si approached the lonely little boy. The boy wore plain clothes and had a somewhat wooden expression. As he watched Li Si walk over, the corners of his mouth seemed to lift slightly, then disappeared again. It looked rather eerie.

However, the original owner’s body was a little nearsighted, so Li Si did not see it clearly.

Looking at this little boy, who seemed carved from jade and powdered with rouge, Li Si lifted the hem of his long robe, crouched down, and said softly, “Where are the adults in your family? Why did you run here alone?”

The little boy looked at Li Si and tilted his head, as if he had seen something especially interesting. He revealed a happy expression and grinned, no different from an ordinary child. However, the corners of his mouth stretched wider and wider. Then, with a pop, his neck tore open like ragged cloth, revealing the bone, flesh, and blood inside.

Li Si was somewhat dazed. A wave of cold shot from his tailbone straight up to the top of his head. At that moment, he even suspected that all his hair had stood on end. He had never imagined he would be this unlucky. He had only just been reborn and had not even properly seen this world.

He stepped outside and ran into a ghost.

At this moment, he also remembered that when the Wang family boy had fallen earlier, he had fallen forward and landed face down, rather than falling backward as people usually did when they bumped into someone.

That Wang family boy was also a child from a poor household nearby. How could he cry that easily? He must have known he had bumped into a ghost. That was why he had cried so fiercely.

At that moment, adrenaline surged wildly through Li Si’s body, and he instantly figured out the whole sequence of events.

Yet all these thoughts flashed through his mind in only an instant. In fact, only a few seconds had passed.

Li Si’s expression became solemn. He instructed the little boy, “Hurry home. Don’t make your parents worry.” After saying this, he pressed both hands hard against his slightly trembling legs and stood up, then turned left and walked toward his own house.

It was only a few steps, yet Li Si felt as if each day were a year. His heart had leapt into his throat. He could clearly feel the little boy behind him staring at him and smiling, while also following behind him.

Heavens!!! He had lived for more than twenty years, and today he had truly run into a ghost!!!

Slap. Li Si felt his right shoulder being patted. His body stopped. His head turned slightly to the right, and his eyes glanced toward the lower right corner. He discovered that a head had landed on his right shoulder, and his eyes happened to meet the pitch-black eyes of that head. Goosebumps instantly rose all over his body.

“You have come into contact with a low-level ghost creature, Decapitated Ghost. Do you wish to sign a contract?”

Suddenly, a piece of information entered his mind. Li Si froze, then abruptly remembered the game he had been playing before his death. Did that mean he still had the player’s abilities from the game?

Contract ghost creatures, purchase items, strengthen ghost creatures.

Li Si was about to open his mouth and say that he would sign the contract, only to discover that his entire body could not move. He wanted to open his mouth, but his lips did not move at all, as if his mouth did not belong to him!

Li Si’s eyes were filled with terror. He shouted desperately in his mind, Contract! Sign the contract!! Sign the contract already!! Hurry up!!! You bastard!!!

“Signing a contract with this ghost creature requires 20 soul points. Your soul points are 0. Unable to sign contract.” The information was cold and utterly emotionless.

Li Si’s face turned deathly pale, and despair showed in his eyes. He watched the ghost head open its huge mouth as a long tongue slowly fell onto his neck and began to coil around it. The wet tongue made goosebumps rise across his skin.

In his heart, he cursed the game from beginning to end. Why had it set up soul points in the game? Where was he supposed to have those right now?

Soul points were values that could only be obtained after eliminating ghosts and monsters, but how could he possibly have such a thing right now?

Was he supposed to use love to slay this Decapitated Ghost now, then use the soul points to sign a contract with it afterward?

Right now, Li Si’s mind was like paste, and all sorts of chaotic thoughts spilled out.

“Do you wish to exchange 20 years of lifespan for 20 soul points?”

“Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! Hurry up and sign the contract for me!!!” Seeing his only hope of survival, Li Si immediately threw away his messy thoughts, wild with joy, and roared in his mind.

“Contract signed successfully. You have paid 20 years of lifespan in exchange for 20 soul points. Your current remaining lifespan is 5 years, 2 months, and 15 days. Soul points: 0.”

Li Si lay paralyzed on the ground, not caring about the turbid muddy water beneath him, and burst into loud laughter. He was afraid the nearby neighbors would hear him, so he covered his mouth with both hands and let out suppressed laughter. But as he laughed, tears flowed from the corners of his eyes. These twists and turns had nearly killed him. He did not like this world at all, but he could not go back. He could not return to his original safe world!!!

Fortunately, the people in this alley had all gone home earlier. Otherwise, they really would have thought the kind Scholar Li had gone mad.

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!

Before long, the sound of the night watch came from the distance, and a voice came with it as well: “The weather is dry, mind your fires and candles.”

Li Si hurriedly climbed up from the ground and ran into the house. His sorry appearance made him look like a clown.

After Li Si stumbled into the house, he ran into the rear courtyard, stripped off all his clothes, and used the clean water in the courtyard’s earthenware vat to wash the mud from his body.

Then, completely naked, he slipped into bed, turned sideways, and fixed his eyes on the boy standing at the doorway.

Decapitated Ghost

Ghost creature level: low-level ghost creature

Abilities possessed: Ghost Blows Out the Lamp; Intangibility; Long Tongue

Current relationship: contracted.

Current soul body strength: 20

Ignoring the Decapitated Ghost standing in front of the door and staring at him, Li Si shouted in his mind, “Open shop.”

Li Si remembered that there had been a shop in the game, so right now, he needed to confirm whether he had this thing now. If he did, then his chances of surviving in this world would be much greater. If he did not, he could consider ending things himself first. Otherwise, he would truly die a miserable death in this world.

Fortunately, it did not disappoint him. Nine goods appeared in his mind.

Blazing Sun Peachwood Heart Sword: a peachwood sword made from the heartwood of a nine-thousand-year-old peach tree. It can use the blazing yang energy absorbed over thousands of years to slay ghosts. Exchange price: 3,000 soul points.

Eight Trigrams Purple Yang Mirror: can absorb the yang energy of heaven and earth to nurture ghost creatures, and can also turn the absorbed yang energy into purple yang fire to burn ghost creatures. Exchange price: 1,500 soul points.

One year of lifespan: after exchange, can increase lifespan by one year. Exchange price: 200 points.

Ghost Creature Strengthening Liquid: a liquid made of pure soul power. After a ghost creature drinks it, it can increase the ghost creature’s soul strength by 10 points. Exchange price: 12 points.

The Black Tortoise Record: a cultivation method created by someone who imitated the Black Tortoise. After mastering it, one’s movements can be slow or fast, using speed to counter slowness and slowness to counter speed. Exchange price: 85 points. Special price: 3 points.

Eight Trigrams Mirror: an ordinary Eight Trigrams mirror. It can reveal the death appearance, or true form, of low-level ghosts and demons. Exchange price: 18 soul points. Special price: 1 point.

Long Sword: the long sword of the ancient swordsman Luoye Qiu. It is a rare fine sword in the present world. Exchange price: 13 soul points. Special price: 1 point.

Protective Talisman: a protective talisman written with an unknown red liquid. It prevents demons and ghosts below the grade of high-level demon ghosts from harming the wearer.

It expires 30 days after being worn. Exchange price: 60 points. Special price: 2 points.

Low-level Dead Jade: flawed jade wrapped in resentment. It can serve as a vessel for ghost creatures. Ghost creatures kept inside Dead Jade for long periods will slowly grow stronger. Exchange price: 30 points. Special price: 1 point.

Next goods refresh time: 14 days, 22 hours, 56 minutes, and 16 seconds.

Notice: special-price goods will only appear among the first batch of goods. They will not appear again in the future.

When Li Si saw the exchange price for lifespan, mixed feelings immediately welled up in him. This system was truly more than a little black-hearted. But fortunately, it had the function of exchanging lifespan for soul points. Otherwise, he would already be dead right now.

At the same time, he was rather speechless. The original owner himself looked only a little over twenty, yet he only had twenty-five years left to live. He was also a short-lived ghost. What was even more helpless was that Li Si now had only five years of lifespan left.

Li Si shook his head, swept past the goods he currently could not afford at all, and fixed his gaze on the remaining five special-price goods that he could buy.