Contract of Deceit! Inescapable Devil's Claw

  "No way!" Several people spoke out in unison, exchanging a glance, and said coldly: "Master, we can't let you lead that person away alone. We disagree with this idea of yours."

  "Really! You're so weak, you can't even withstand a single blow. How are you going to travel alone? Not to mention the people who want to kill you, but even if it's just the spiritual beasts in this forest or some mercenaries with ill intentions, you'd die ten times over."

  Tang Xin glanced at him and then her gaze fell on the few people, her clear and cold voice carrying a tone that brooked no disobedience: "This is an order."

  Several people clenched their fists, but they didn't dare to resist. Her orders were the only ones they had ever obeyed. Even if they knew she was doing it for their own good and that she would be putting herself in danger alone, they couldn't ignore her commands! This was what she had strictly required from the first day they started following her. If they didn't obey orders, they would lose their qualification to guard her side!

  "Master, if you won't let them follow, then let me follow you!" Mo said, his blood-red eyes gazing at her seriously.

  Tang Xin glanced at them and let out a soft sigh: "I know you all want to follow me and protect me, but with your current strength, you can't even deal with cultivators. I told you to follow Ta Ba Ye out of the forest because I hope that after leaving the forest, you'll find a way to enter the immortal gate and learn some skills. Only then can you become stronger. And don't you trust my ability to take care of myself? If you insist on following me, not only will you be unable to help, but you'll also distract me. Is this really what you want?"

  "Master..."

  They knew that although she didn't have martial arts skills, her actual strength wasn't weaker than any of theirs. Would following her really put her in danger? If so, they'd rather let her be alone; at least they believed she wouldn't easily be killed!

  On the side, Tuoba Yu listened to her words and couldn't help but look at her deeply. After a while, he stood up with a bright smile: "Haha, I've seen subordinates being sent to be slaves, but I've never seen a master who wants to be a slave himself! You're really thinking for your subordinates, great! Just because of these words, I, Tuoba Yu, will definitely help you bring these people out of the forest safely!"

  "Then thank you." She looked at the dizzy Xia Xue and said, "Take good care of Xiaoxue for me. The poison has been resolved, but it will take some time for her wounds to recover."

  "Don't worry about this, just let someone carry her and she'll be fine." Ta Ba Ye said, taking out a stretcher from his spatial ring: "We're not lacking in these things, when we go out, everything is prepared in abundance. Just have the few of you carry her on this stretcher!"

  Ba Sha glanced at the stretcher and then looked at Tang Xin before saying, "Master, are you planning to leave now?"

  "The sooner we part ways, the better."

  "What about our master then? How will we find him in the future?" They gazed deeply at her, a hint of reluctance flashing across their eyes.

  "Since we're making a name for ourselves here, why should we be unknown?" The stunning beauty had an captivating aura about her, and the confidence in her eyebrows made their hearts skip a beat. She smiled slightly: "As long as you all make a name for yourselves in the future, what's to worry that we won't meet again?"

  "We will never let Miss down!" They said firmly with sparkling eyes.

  "Take good care of Xiaoxue, among all of you, she's the one I worry about the most."

  "Yes."

  She had them put Xiao Xue on the stretcher, and then said to Tuoba Hong: "In that case, we entrust her to you. If we meet again someday, I will definitely repay your kindness today."

  "Haha, alright, alright, stop nagging. It's just a matter of bringing a few more people, what's the big deal? By the way, if you need any help in the future, go find me at the Tuoba family in Xiangcheng!"

  "Good." She nodded and glanced at them before taking Fengfeng to the other side of the forest.

  In the forest, Tang Xin led Fengfeng along, thinking for a moment before saying to it: "Fengfeng, from today on, you will go inside the spatial ring."

  "Why? Fengfeng wants to stay with her mother." He looked up at her in puzzlement.

  "You're a spiritual beast, capable of transforming into human form. Your cultivation shouldn't be low either. So, you can serve as my secret weapon. Even if I really fall into danger, you can come out and rescue me, right?"

  He nodded vaguely: "Oh, I see."

  "Then go ahead! If you get bored inside, you can have Ziyou keep you company and talk to you."

  "Alright." He responded with a single word and instantly entered the spatial ring.

  So, Tang Xin walked alone in the forest, this was not only an opportunity for them to temper themselves, but also allowed her to exert the potential strength hidden within her body in a dangerous environment. Although she gave people the feeling of being very weak, her strength was absolutely hidden, and ordinary people were not her opponents at all.

  As the night grew darker, a low growl of a spirit beast occasionally came from the forest. She lit a fire under the tree and sat by it with her eyes closed to rest. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she faintly heard a hissing sound coming closer and closer. Immediately, she opened her eyes and sprang up from the ground with a whoosh.

  "Hiss..."

  She cautiously looked around, was this voice a snake? Her gaze swept over the trees, but the dark light made it hard to see clearly. Suddenly, a swift sound came from behind her, she quickly turned around and saw a slender snake with blue light emanating from its body rapidly approaching her, and the crystal on the snake's head displayed six words that told her this was a sixth-level spirit snake!

  "Whoosh!"

  She drew out a dagger and dodged to the side, the spiritual snake pounced into thin air, falling onto the ground, coiling its body, raising its head, opening its mouth, revealing two sharp poisonous fangs, making a hissing sound as it occasionally darted towards her.

  She carefully sized up the snake, its blue body covered with scales like fish, shining beautifully in the night, its ferocious eyes exuding a bloodthirsty aura, its flat head slightly protruding, an embedded blue crystal on top, if someone saw it now, they would definitely cry out in surprise.

  Because this is not an ordinary spirit snake, its rank is only sixth grade, but it is the most poisonous species of snakes, blue spirit snake! Adventurers or mercenaries who explore the forest will try to avoid it and not confront it head-on. After all, the blue spirit snake is extremely toxic, and a single drop of its saliva can kill a giant spirit beast. Its speed and reaction are also extremely fast, and most people who encounter it have only one way to die. Therefore, it is also called the venomous spirit snake by mercenaries.

  "Hiss..."

  With a sudden movement, the snake's head led its body to swiftly lunge at her and bite. She dodged it, just as she was about to swing her knife down. However, the spiritual snake quickly turned around with incredible speed, opened its mouth, and spat out venom. When the venom landed on the ground, it corroded even the earth. Seeing this extreme toxicity, her eyes suddenly lit up, and a strange glow flashed in her eyes. The corner of her lips curled up as she put away the dagger in her hand.

  "Since you still have some use, I won't kill you directly." She said in a low voice, putting away the dagger and slowly approaching the snake.

  The blue spirit snake itself was intelligent, and it suddenly put away its knife, but instead of retreating, it probed its head to look at her as she approached step by step. The sinister and cruel gaze belonging to the snake swept over the bloodthirsty aura in the next step, and with a sudden pounce, it flung itself at Tang Xin, which was exactly what Tang Xin had expected.

  She saw her strange movements flash, one hand accurately pinched the snake's head, and the other hand buckled the snake's seven-inch place. With a forceful hand, she warned: "Move again, I'll pinch you into two segments!"

  It was unclear whether it was due to being captured or intimidated by the fierce look in Tang Xin's eyes, but the blue spirit snake struggled for a moment before becoming completely still, allowing her to grasp it. Occasionally, it would swing its tail in an attempt to escape, but it would be pinched at the seven-inch mark and feel pain, not daring to move again.

  Her bright eyes shone with excitement, staring intently at the spiritual snake in her hand. She tied it up with a tree vine and hung it upside down from a tree branch, its mouth wide open and unable to close. From the spatial wristband, she took out a bottle and pinched the snake's head with one hand. Her gaze was fixed on the snake as if it were a treasure, and she smiled brightly: "Come on, come on, spit out some saliva for me, this is a treasure!"

  But unexpectedly, the blue spirit snake didn't respond to her, opening its mouth but not producing any saliva. Seeing this, Tang Xin's eyes narrowed and she picked up a small tree branch to press down on the snake's tiny tongue: "Since you won't cooperate, I'll have to do it myself." Ignoring the snake's struggles, with one press of the branch, the saliva started dripping out.

  When the bottle was filled to the brim, she finally released the spiritual snake and took out a small knife with an eerie smile as she approached: "Alright, now you're of no use either, all that's left for you is to be killed. At least it'll let me taste the flavor of roasted spiritual snake meat."

  A sharp little knife was swishing on the blue snake's body, praising: "This snake skin is very beautiful, blue, and scales are shining, it's really a spiritual snake! Your snake gallbladder is also extremely valuable for medicine, after I peel off your skin, take out your snake gallbladder, and roast the snake meat."

  The blue spirit snake seemed to have understood her words, and its suspended body suddenly struggled violently, constantly swaying on the tree, but its mouth was stuck with a branch by Tang Xin, unable to close. Unexpectedly, Tang Xin also scraped its snake skin with a small knife, smiling: "Don't be afraid, once you're dead, you won't feel pain." Her small knife moved slowly, coming to the seven-inch place on the snake's body, raised it, and was about to stab in when Fengfeng's voice came over.

  "Mother, why must you kill it? Wouldn't a contract be better?" A flash of light appeared, and the plump Fengfeng stood in front of her with a puzzled expression.

  "Huh? Contract?" She raised an eyebrow, paused for a moment, and looked at him.

  "Yes! Spirit beasts can all be contracted, and the more contracted spirit beasts there are, the stronger Mother's powers will become! Although this Blue Spirit Snake is not of a high rank, it has the advantage of being small, so Mother can bring it with her as a precaution, isn't that better than killing it?"

  "Contract?" Tang Xin's eyes flickered, sizing up the blue spirit snake on her body. Was she supposed to contract with this snake? It didn't seem bad, but she seemed unable to contract...

  "Fengfeng, what's with the contract?"

  "Mother, close your eyes and feel it, I'll pass on the methods of those few contracts to you."

  Tang Xin closed her eyes, and all she felt was the terms of the contract flashing through her mind. She silently absorbed it for a moment before opening her eyes: "Feng Feng, what you made with me is a life-and-death contract?" This little demon actually made a life-and-death contract? That's a contract that binds them together in life and death!

  As soon as he heard this, the little guy looked down in embarrassment and played with his fingers, saying in a low voice: "Fengfeng is Mother's destined contract beast." The destined contract is one-of-a-kind, even if she contracts many more spirit beasts in the future, there will never be another destined contract beast.

  Tang Xin's mouth twitched, the stronger the life contract was, the better. If the life contract beast died, she wouldn't be able to survive either. Although it was said that being able to transform into a human form should also be considered strong, but... really wasn't underestimating him, this little guy looked white and chubby, how strong could he be?

  Feng Feng didn't know what was going on in her mind, or else she would have been choked to death. To think that the majestic ancient divine beast was actually suspected of lacking strength by her?

  "Little snake, how is it? How's our contract?" She asked the snake with a smile, the spiritual snake had some intelligence and knew what she was saying, so asking for its opinion wasn't out of the question.

  But little did they know, that fierce and bloodthirsty snake's gaze still held a glimmer of its savage nature, with no intention of submitting.

  Tang Xin smiled: "No contract? Well, I'll just pull out your teeth first, then peel off your skin, eat your gallbladder, and gnaw on your flesh." As he spoke, the sharp little knife flashed in front of it, heading towards its open snake mouth.

  The spirit snake tensed up its body, wanting to retreat backwards, but Tang Xin took a step closer, the small knife pressed against its mouth. The spirit snake stiffened, not daring to move, its ferocious eyes fixed on Tang Xin. After a while, it nodded its head in agreement to the contract.

  "Knowing the right time is crucial, isn't it?" She smiled and put away the small knife, placing one hand on the crystal on its forehead, reciting the contract's incantation. As her lips moved in a soft chant, a faint glow slowly emanated from her hand, enveloping the blue crystal of the spirit snake, until... The contract was complete, and a golden light sank into the blue spirit snake's forehead, only to reappear once more from the snake's head.

  "Huh? How is there this golden mark?" She looked at the snake's head in surprise, where a golden pattern resembling a lotus petal was visible.

  "This seems to be a unique mark of yours, Mother. I had it when I first made my contract too, but mine is a Golden Lotus." Feng said, suddenly revealing the hidden mark, which indeed was a Golden Lotus.

  Tang Xinyu's eyes flickered slightly, this golden lotus, is the same as the one behind her, what connection does it have? Could it be related to her origins again?

  "Master." A cold voice came, the blue spirit snake that had just been contracted was hung upside down, and its ferocious eyes, which had lost their bloodthirsty aura, were staring at Tang Xin.

  "Hmm? What's your name?" She looked at the blue spirit snake hanging upside down, raised an eyebrow, and at the time of the contract, she already knew that this was not an ordinary spirit snake, but the most venomous species among snakes. Having such a snake by her side didn't seem bad either.

  "Master, I'm Xiaodan." The voice came, seemingly cold and emotionless, but Tang Xin knew that this was the nature of snakes, snakes were naturally cold-blooded animals, and their cool demeanor was a given.

  "Ah, Xiao Dan, now that you've contracted with me, from now on, you're my spirit beast. You can just shrink down and coil around my hair." With a flick of her wrist, the small knife in her hand cut through the rope suspending it, and Xiao Dan's body flashed with light as it transformed into a tiny snake about the length of a finger, coiling around her raven-black hair like a hairpin, motionless, just like an exquisite hair ornament.

  "Mother, with Xiaodan following you outside, Fengfeng can rest assured. Fengfeng has gone in." He said, his body transformed into a wisp of smoke and entered the spatial bracelet.

  She walked to the edge of the bonfire and sat down, with one hand supporting her chin, thinking that she had to leave the forest quickly and find a way to enter the immortal gate for cultivation. Otherwise, with her current strength, it would be too weak to deal with the cultivators.

  At dawn, the first ray of sunlight filtered through the dense leaves and fell to the ground. Tang Xin, who had rested under the tree for a night, stretched his waist and stood up. The bonfire had gone out at some unknown time. Alone, with nothing to carry, he could walk or stop as he pleased. He took out a few cherries from space and ate them for breakfast, tossing two to Xiao Dan before continuing on into the forest.

  When she had walked for a while, she saw a group of mercenaries resting in the forest ahead, seemingly still asleep. She took a glance and then walked past them from the side. She didn't know that every group of mercenaries in this forest would be upright people. However, when she walked past them, the vigilant mercenaries suddenly stood up from the ground with a swoosh, drew out their swords from their waists, and scanned around. When they saw Tang Xin's stunning face in her green clothes, they were all stunned in amazement.

  What a beautiful woman, with eyebrows and eyes like a painting, skin as white as snow, a face that can topple cities, a slender waist like a willow tree, dressed in light green clothes, what an exquisite and elegant woman!

  The leader of the mercenaries, who had been stunned for a moment, regained his composure and stepped forward to block Tang Xin's path, leering: "Miss, are you alone?"

  Tang Xin raised her eyes, her gaze narrowed slightly, and a faint smile appeared on her face: "Mm, alone."

  "Miss, this forest is quite dangerous, how can you come in here alone? Why don't we do this instead? You follow us and we'll ensure your safety." As he spoke, he actually stretched out his hand to touch Tang Xin's hand, but she dodged to the side and avoided him.

  "This doesn't seem right, does it? You're dozens of big men, how can I possibly follow you." A soft voice with a hint of a smile, clear eyes scanned the group of mercenaries, about fifty people, each with a sword at their waist, looking like warriors. And on their waists, in addition to the swords, they also had a gray bag tied around it, she knew that was a乾坤袋 (a type of spatial storage bag), which was relatively cheap compared to spatial rings and bracelets, so it was more common.

  "There's nothing wrong with that, one more of you won't make a difference, brothers, don't you think?" The leader of the group turned his head and shouted, and the fifty or so people on horseback laughed loudly in response: "Yes!" However, those pairs of colored eyes were fixedly gazing at Tang Xin's enchanting body.

  It was as if she hadn't seen their gaze, Tang Xin's eyes flickered and she said, "Well, I'll disturb you then." As she spoke, she walked towards them.

  Facing such a rarely seen beauty, it was undoubtedly a long-awaited refreshing rain for the men who had been training in the forest for several months. They were overjoyed and all gathered around Tang Xin's side to pay their respects.

  "Is there anything to eat? I'm starving." She smiled shyly, as if she was very embarrassed.

  "Yes, yes, we still have some barbecue left from last night. Here you are." They then took out the barbecue from their pockets and were about to hand it over to her.

  Tang Xin shook her head: "It's still early, I only drink soup." She glanced at the large pot by their fire and said: "Since you have a pot, why don't you go get something to cook, and I'll make some soup for you to drink. How about that?"

  As soon as she spoke, everyone's eyes lit up: "Great! We'll go right away, you wait here, and we'll be back soon." With that, several people quickly headed into the forest, while others gathered firewood, lit a fire, poured water into the pot to boil it, and then one by one gazed at Tang Xin with admiring eyes, all wanting to sit next to her.

  "Miss, where are you from? Are you following the mercenary group or is your family sending you out for training?" The leader of the mercenaries sat beside her, his gaze becoming more and more infatuated as he looked at her closely.

  So beautiful, really beautiful, he hasn't seen any woman more beautiful than her, where did this woman come from? Can't be a child of some big family, right? Want to make a move, but also worried, after all, there are many young masters from families who have come out to practice in the forest, if you accidentally offend someone you shouldn't, then it's them who will regret it.

  "I'm a human being." Tong Xin smiled and saw that the few people had brought back some wild game, so he stood up, dodged them, and curiously walked over, exclaiming in surprise: "You guys are amazing, you've actually managed to bring back food so quickly!"

  Being praised by such a beautiful woman, the mercenaries were delighted as if they had eaten honey, and they quickly handled the game, cutting it into small pieces and putting it in the pot to cook. One of the mercenaries was stirring constantly on the side. Tang Xin just walked over, tasted the flavor, and asked them to add a bit more seasoning until it was cooked, then let each of them have a bowl to eat.

  Mercenaries who have been through thick and thin, the contents of their universe bags are all-encompassing, in addition to the things they need for their journey, there are also the spoils of this trip. Therefore, they are extremely cautious about the universe bag they carry with them, never leaving it behind, nor letting others touch it.

  Tang Xin sipped the meat soup, a faint smile on her lips, and a subtle light flickered in her clear eyes, but no one noticed. Until she finished her soup, the mercenaries sitting next to her suddenly fell down one by one. Only then did she stand up with a smile: "What's wrong with you?"

  "What have you done?" The crowd was shocked, this seemingly harmless woman had rendered them all powerless and lying on the ground. Was there something wrong with the soup? She herself had also drunk it, why was she fine?

  "I just added some ingredients, how is it? The taste isn't bad, right?" She smiled lightly and walked over to refill a bowl: "I really haven't had any soup for the past two days, my lips are all dry, drink more don't waste it." In front of everyone, she held her bowl and drank slowly until she finished, only then did she walk towards them.

  The dagger in her hand shone with a cold light, and the mercenaries' faces turned pale one by one. She smiled lightly: "Are you trying to survive or seeking death?"

  "Spare our lives, of course, spare our lives! Miss, please let us go! We haven't done anything to you, you can't treat us like this." The leader of the mercenaries said weakly, looking at the dagger with a cold glow, his heart trembling with fear.

  "What did I do to you?" Tang Xin raised an eyebrow: "Who was it that just now had a pair of eyes gleaming with interest, scanning me up and down? Hmm? Do you know what happened to the last person who stared at me like that? I dug out their eyeballs and cut off their tongue as well. Want to try your luck?" With a flick of her wrist, the dagger flashed downwards towards the person.

  "Ah! Don't! Miss, madam, spare my life, spare my life......" The man screamed in panic, so scared that he urinated his pants.

  "Tsk, you're really mercenaries? So useless? I'd be ashamed to kill you." She snorted, taking the Qiankun bags from their waists: "I'll let you off this time, but if I see you again... Hmph, you know what will happen."

  With a glance, he smiled and said: "Don't think I don't know what kind of evil ideas you're harboring. Let me tell you, if I dare to walk alone in this desolate forest, I have the ability to kill all of you!"

  Everyone listened, and they couldn't help but swallow their saliva. They blamed themselves for being infatuated with her beauty, which had lowered their guard. Otherwise, they wouldn't have ended up in this situation. However, her words also made them break out in cold sweat. Before, they all thought she was weak and harmless. But think about it, who without any power would dare to enter the Ghost Forest alone?

  The Qiankun bag doesn't need to recognize its master, as long as it's opened directly, it's done. After Tang Xin collected their Qiankun bags, she directly threw them into the spatial ring on her wrist, glanced at them, and then turned around to leave.

  Watching her take their things and leave in front of them, the mercenaries were both angry and resentful, but also helpless.

  On the other hand, Tang Xin rummaged through the spoils of war and hummed a little tune as she walked through the forest. She had just taken a look and found that there were many crystal stones inside, which could be sold for a good price if taken out. Thinking of this, her mood improved greatly. It seems that this Youming Forest is indeed "the early bird catches the worm".

  Actually, she didn't want those things in the first place. But since those people came to her and looked at her with that sly gaze, if she didn't teach them a lesson, how could she face herself?

  "Clang!"

  The sound of clashing swords came from the woods, Tang Xin's footsteps paused, looking for the direction of the sound, wondering whether to go and take a look. The foot that had just stepped out was withdrawn again, forget it, don't interfere in other people's business, those who meddle in others' affairs always die early, she'd better mind her own business, why bother with whoever is fighting to the death up ahead?

  She didn't head in the direction of the voice, but instead those fighting were coming towards her, clashing as they approached. She watched as the two groups of people and horses ran and chased each other, raising an eyebrow involuntarily as she tried to avoid them.

  "Nowhere to escape!"

  A shrill cry entered her ears, she turned around to see a girl in pink clothes stepping closer and closer, fiercely chasing after a man. At the moment their blades clashed, the girl's hand condensed, a water column shot out from her palm, striking the man. With a whooshing sound, the water column pierced through the man's body, his body stiffened, blood spurted out of his mouth, and he fell straight down.

  She was taken aback, watching the water pillar in the girl's hand disappear without a trace, and couldn't help but feel astonished. Could it be that this was the attribute technique cultivated by the cultivators of the True Way? It could actually condense water into a sharp blade that could pierce through the body. Who exactly was this girl?

  It seemed that Tang Xin was sizing her up, and the girl raised her head, with their eyes meeting. When she saw Tang Xin's stunning beauty, a hint of jealousy flashed in her eyes, and she shouted coquettishly: "Who are you?"

  "We're both people in the same forest, what kind of person do you think I am?"

  Tang Xin looked at the girl fearlessly, and saw a woman wearing a black veil walking towards her with over a dozen girls. Her eyes flickered slightly as she secretly sized up the veiled woman, but couldn't see her face clearly due to the veil, only catching a glimpse of a pair of cold and majestic eyes. The woman wore a loose grey robe, held a whip in her hand, and Tang Xin's gaze paused on the hand holding the whip, noticing that the skin was slightly wrinkled, suggesting that she was an older woman. Behind her, the over a dozen girls all had delicate faces, with varying amounts of bloodstains on their bodies, seemingly from a certain sect, leading their disciples into the forest for training.

  "Back off, Xiao'er." The woman in black veil glanced at the girl in front of her, her hoarse voice making the girl who was about to get angry dare not to be presumptuous, and respectfully retreated to the side.

  Those icy eyes quietly sized up Tang Xin, and when they saw Tang Xin's stunning face, no one knew that at this moment her blood was racing with excitement, eager emotions, making it almost impossible for her to control her feelings. She slowly opened her mouth: "Little girl, this Nether Forest is fraught with danger, how are you walking alone here?"

  "I was originally with a group of mercenaries, but we got separated later." The woman wondered why she looked at her with such a strange gaze. Although the fleeting expression was too fast to be noticed, she still caught the excitement that flashed in her eyes.

  What was she excited about? Intuitively, she knew that the woman in front of her had extraordinary abilities.

  "Oh, I see. Are you willing to join us on our journey?" The woman with the black veil spoke again, her eyes still fixed on Tang Xin, paying attention to her expression. Seeing that she was deep in thought, she continued: "You don't have to worry, I am the master of Qing Yi Men and they are my disciples. This time, it's to bring them out for training."

  "Since that's the case, I'll bother you then." She smiled and agreed, because she knew that if she refused at this time, it would inevitably lead to this woman's interception! And she also wanted to figure out what her main idea was. From the surprised expressions of the disciples behind her due to her words, it could be seen that she was not a kind-hearted person.

  So, what will it be because of?

  Digression

  Dear ones, can you imagine what this woman in black is thinking? It seems like I'll be going to bed early tonight... so I'll just update my blog ahead of time.