All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 202: A Bewildering Maze

In a Fox God temple somewhere, White Rat had escaped to after evading Zhanyue. After waiting idly for a long time, a figure completely shrouded in a black robe finally entered.

“You’re finally here. This old man has been waiting for ages,” White Rat’s eyes lit up upon seeing the newcomer.

“How did the mission go?” the black-robed person asked.

“It failed. Your plan had too many flaws. General Yue probably doesn’t believe in any Fox God business. I didn’t dare to stay by his side, and as for that treasure protecting General Yue, I couldn’t find it at all. Could your intelligence be wrong?” White Rat hurriedly deflected blame.

The black-robed figure remained silent for a long while before saying, “Hmph, truly as timid as a rat. Yue Feipeng is lucky indeed. Even the fox spirit’s poison couldn’t take his life. He must have a powerful treasure protecting him. What a waste of such a good opportunity.”

“If it was your poison, why did you provide the antidote?” White Rat asked, puzzled.

“Is that something you should be asking? In any case, if you want us to help rescue your son, you need to accomplish something. Since you can’t return to General Yue’s side, you’ll have to carry out the next mission,” the black-robed person continued.

“What mission? Don’t push this old man too hard,” White Rat asked, having no choice but to comply since they had leverage over him.

“It’s simple. Just go to a place,” the black-robed person said calmly.

“Hell!”

White Rat’s hair stood on end as he ran towards the door at top speed. However, the black-robed person seemed prepared. With a grab of their hand, they pulled White Rat back.

“Dragon Catching Hand? You’re the leader of the Divine Dragon Guard!” White Rat exclaimed in shock, his body involuntarily retreating to the black-robed person’s side.

“Good observation, but you still have to die!” The black-robed person struck out with a palm towards White Rat. If it connected, it would surely kill the old man on the spot.

White Rat used his signature move again, letting out a thunderous fart. The horrible smell spread quickly, making the black-robed person dizzy. The palm strike went off course, only hitting the old man’s arm. In an instant, White Rat vanished.

“Seeking death!” The black-robed person was about to give chase when suddenly, it felt as if a pair of hands reached out from the ground, tripping them. They looked at the ground suspiciously but found it smooth with nothing there. Though puzzled, pursuing White Rat was more urgent at the moment.

White Rat fled desperately, not knowing where to go. The black-robed person’s speed was no slower than his.

“Go to the general’s mansion. Only there is safe,” a mysterious voice appeared in White Rat’s ear. He looked around confused, seeing no one. Though frightened, he thought it over and realized the general’s mansion might indeed be the only safe place. The black-robed person probably wouldn’t dare to rush into the general’s mansion recklessly. At least officially, the general was still alive thanks to him.

White Rat ran towards the general’s mansion with the black-robed person in hot pursuit. Suddenly, another pair of hands emerged from the ground, causing the black-robed person to fall heavily.

The black-robed person stood up, looking at the ground with eyes full of fear. Something was definitely hindering their pursuit, but they couldn’t see anyone.

“Are you human or ghost? Come out, come out now!” the black-robed person shouted.

Zhanyue naturally ignored them. Soon, he caught up with White Rat and carried the severely injured old man towards the general’s mansion. The black-robed person stopped outside Iron Horse City.

“It seems there’s an unexpected variable in the plan. Who is this person?” The black-robed person frowned, but then relaxed. “No matter what, as long as Yue Feipeng falls into the trap, it’s a success. I’d better go back and report.”

The black-robed person vanished in an instant.

In the general’s mansion, White Rat now lay on the bed. Although only his shoulder was struck, the injury was still severe. The black-robed person’s strength wasn’t much weaker than Eunuch Cao’s.

Under Feng Xueqing’s treatment, White Rat soon could sit up. He opened his eyes to find four people surrounding him: Zhanyue, Feng Xueqing, Yue Feipeng, and Deputy General Li.

“Tell us, what’s really going on? I won’t make things difficult for you,” Yue Feipeng asked.

White Rat sighed, realizing he had no choice but to confess honestly. If the black-robed person was unfaithful, they couldn’t blame him for being disloyal. They betrayed him first.

“I am the world’s number one thief king, White Rat. I believe the general has heard of my name. One day, my son and I broke into the imperial palace. My son was caught and thrown into the imperial prison, while I barely escaped. A few days later, a black-robed person found me, saying they could help rescue my son from prison, but I needed to do something for them,” White Rat confessed everything.

“They said General Yue Feipeng had been poisoned by fox spirit venom, which ordinary medicine couldn’t cure. They gave me a gourd, saying it contained the antidote, and told me to use it to save the general. At the same time, they said the fox spirit venom was very potent, and ordinary people wouldn’t survive it. Since the general had held on for so long, he must have a treasure protecting him. They wanted me to investigate and find a chance to steal this treasure while curing him.”

“Later, through a series of schemes, I convinced General Zhang of my divine doctor identity, and he brought me to General Yue. Not knowing medicine, I naturally couldn’t just hand over the antidote directly; that would be too obvious. So I came up with the Fox God curse excuse to make the general drink the antidote. During this time, I didn’t actually find any treasure on the general. After the general woke up, he didn’t seem to believe the Fox God story much. I could sense this, and knew I would be exposed if I stayed, so I found a chance to slip away,” White Rat explained.

“However, this Young Master Zhan is indeed impressive, able to catch up with me. Thanks to Young Master Zhan’s rescue, I was able to escape with my life,” White Rat said gratefully. The black-robed person was too strong; he was no match at all.

Zhanyue fell into thought, then asked, “I have three questions. First, what is ‘fox spirit venom’? Second, why did they poison the general and then provide the antidote? Third, who is the black-robed person?”

“I don’t know the answer to the first question. I only heard the black-robed person say the general was poisoned with fox spirit venom. Could there really be fox spirits in this world?” The old man was also puzzled.

Yue Feipeng’s face darkened. He didn’t want to hear the word ‘fox’ anymore. His mind was in turmoil.

“I don’t know the answer to the second question either. Why they poisoned and then cured. As for the third question, I do have some clues. When the black-robed person caught me, they used the legendary ‘Dragon Catching Hand’. This martial art should only be known to Qian Ren, the leader of the Divine Dragon Guard now, right?” As the old man finished speaking, Yue Feipeng and Deputy General Li drew in sharp breaths.

“The Divine Dragon Guard is the most secret force under the imperial court, answering only to the current emperor. So it was him!” Deputy General Li said through gritted teeth, “This incompetent ruler! Why would he do this to the general!”

“Li Ping! Watch your words!” Yue Feipeng reprimanded.

“The second question, hehe, isn’t it easy to explain?” Deputy General Li’s eyes were bloodshot with anger. “In the past, the Blue Hill Kingdom was frightened by the general and signed a peace treaty with His Majesty. After long peace, he’s now ungrateful, seeing the general as a threat, so he had someone poison him and framed Blue Hill. However, who would have thought the general would be so lucky and survive the poisoning. During your coma, Blue Hill has been amassing troops, seemingly preparing to tear up the treaty. Fearing he had no one to use, afraid a new general couldn’t command us, he had to find a way to cure you so you could guard the border for him.”

Zhanyue frowned, “Isn’t this too childish?”

“Childish? Of course it’s childish. What wouldn’t that incompetent emperor do? It’s all too normal for him to do such things,” Deputy General Li spoke up for his general. The general was loyal, guarding the border for him. When he felt the general was useless and a threat, he planned to poison him. When the poisoning failed and he felt the general was still useful, he sent the antidote. He had always treated the general as just a tool. Such an emperor was truly disheartening.

“Say less. It’s all just your speculation. His Majesty, His Majesty although… might not necessarily harm me. The late emperor’s kindness to me was as heavy as a mountain. I once swore an oath before him that I would guard his kingdom well,” General Yue said, though the shadow in his heart grew deeper. Fox spirit, fox spirit venom… could the secret in that letter be true? If so, what should he do?

Back in their room, the two who had received their missions didn’t rush to leave. This time they had to act separately, and they suddenly felt a bit reluctant to part.

“What’s wrong? Something on your mind?” Feng Xueqing asked, seeing Zhanyue’s furrowed brow.

“The Heavenly Book trial can’t be this simple. I always feel something’s not right. I thought this was just an ordinary martial arts world, but now there’s talk of fox spirits and Fox Gods. It’s strange,” Zhanyue said.

“There was indeed a mysterious power protecting General Yue’s heart meridian, keeping him alive, but whether it’s a treasure is hard to say. But with our current strength, shouldn’t we be able to walk sideways in this world without problems?” Feng Xueqing said.

“No problems is the biggest problem. Now, even if I encountered Eunuch Cao again, he couldn’t do anything to me. Worst case, I could use Earth Traversing to escape. But this way, the trial tasks ahead seem too simple. Helping General Yue win the war – if I wanted, I could go assassinate the Blue Hill commander now, and the task would be nearly complete. And for you, that plague is even easier. As long as General Yue cooperates with you, with enough manpower and resources, controlling the plague is just a matter of time. This trial seems too simple, which is why I find it strange,” Zhanyue analyzed.

Feng Xueqing was speechless. This man – wasn’t it good if the trial tasks were a bit simpler?

However, Feng Xueqing and Zhanyue’s identity tokens suddenly sounded simultaneously. “Unlocking hidden trial task. You will have the opportunity to decide the direction of this world. Please make your choices wisely. Task completion condition: Unknown. Upon completing the hidden task, you can directly complete the trial in this world.”

However, this hidden trial task left the two looking at each other in bewilderment. The task completion condition was unknown?!