62 Soul contract

"So what do you want?" Ming Yahui asked stopping his attempts to free himself. He was completely powerless against this guy. Even his trump card, his grandfather's amulet, had been useless against him.

"I wanted to kill you first. But there is no reason to waste a good resource. I think we can work together."

"What do you want?" asked again Ming Yahui.

"I had some plans for you. But after your recent actions, I cannot trust you anymore. So there are would be some conditions." Nie Li continued impassionately.

"What conditions?" asked relieved Ming Yahui. He had expected to be killed today actually. But surviving under some conditions can be even worse than dying.

"I want you to become a spy for me." Nie Li said. "So to rule out any chance of betrayal, we will create a soul contract."

"A soul contract?" Ming Yahui asked again. He hadn't heard of it before.

"More advanced form of soul brands" Nie Li explained. "It can't be applied without the consent of the person."

"You want me to become your slave?" asked Ming Yahui angrily.

"Hmm… practically yes, but I'm not planning to work you to your bone. It's just to make sure you won't betray me. And this is the only way to avoid death for you."

"Sometimes death is better than being a slave." Ming Yahui said stubbornly.

"Okay then." Nie Li said and prepared his bone sickle moving towards Ming Yahui.

"Wait! Wait! At least tell me who you want me to spy on?" Ming Yahui backpedaled seeing Nie Li's decisiveness.

"The Dark Guild." Nie Li said.

"What, are you joking? How can I spy on them?"

"Further details after you agree. So what's your decision? Death or agreement?" Nie Li asked.

"No, I need more details than that. You want me to spy on the most dangerous criminal organization" Ming Yahui exclaimed.

"So it's a death then" Nie Li sighed solemnly and readied his bone sickle and put his other hand on Ming Yahui's shoulder as if to pierce him in the chest.

"Wait! I agree! I agree!" shouted frightened Ming Yahui. As much as he boasted that he would prefer death over becoming a slave, he really didn't want to die. Because the death was final. He may be able to find a way out of other bad situations if he is alive.

"Good choice," Nie Li said and let go of him. He immediately started to draw the array around Ming Yahui. A soul contract could be signed without an array too, but not with his current cultivation.

"My grandfather warned me not to get involved with the nobles. I should have listened to him." Ming Yahui said looking resigned.

"He was right. I am one of the nicer ones. Others would have killed you even for a hint of suspicion." Nie Li said nonchalantly continuing to draw the array. Ming Yahui could only partially turn his head so he couldn't see the entire array. Even if he saw, he wouldn't have understood what it was.

Nie Li finished the array and went to stand in front of Ming Yahui. He linked their minds.

"Do you agree to sign this soul contract with me?" Nie Li asked. Through the connection, Ming Yahui could feel Nie Li's intent and thoughts related to the contract.

"I… ugh" Ming Yahui groaned in pain.

"You can't lie about your agreement to the contract. You can feel my thoughts through the mind link about what is considered an agreement. So you know what you are signing up for. You can refuse, but you can't lie. The Soul Contract will not allow it."

After some time of struggling and failing to find a solution Ming Yahui sighed "I agree."

Array flashed. The first step was finished. Now Nie Li could access more of Ming Yahui's thoughts. Through them, Nie Li could have read Ming Yahui's entire life story, but he just skimmed through them to avoid more resentment from him by reading the memories of his deepest secrets. Also, this master-servant soul contract was one-sided, and Ming Yahui could read only what Nie Li allowed him to from his memories.

"Now the second part: Do you agree to follow my orders?" This time Ming Yahui struggled even more. He didn't want to follow orders, even though he could feel through the mind link that Nie Li wasn't planning to order him some menial tasks. His orders would only be related to spying. In the end, he still agreed, because the alternative was death.

"The third step: Confidentiality clause. You cannot share my secrets in any form and shape. If you try to do that you will die?" Ming Yahui struggled with this condition most. Because even the thought of betraying Nie Li caused pain. It was an almost foolproof contract. After Ming Yahui agreed to the final condition, Nie Li let go of his imprisoning technique releasing him.

Ming Yahui sighed and stretched his joints. His entire body was stiff from being stuck in a very awkward and uncomfortable pose. He didn't try to attack Nie Li again because any attempt to attack his new master would have very dire consequences for him.

"Now I can answer your questions. Ask away." Nie Li said nonchalantly sitting in his armchair.

"You said that I would spy on the Dark Guild. How do you expect me to do that?" Ming Yahui asked looking skeptical.

"That's easy. You will join them."

"Ohh, that makes sense," Ming Yahui nodded sarcastically then turning grave continued "Now, how the hell I will do that? Do you think I can just go to them and ask to join them? I don't even know where to find them!"

"I will tell you where to find them. And don't worry about not being accepted. If you show a decent talent they will invite you themselves."

"Decent talent?" Ming Yahui asked looking at his amulet in Nie Li's hands. "I don't think my talent is that good."

"No, not on its own" Nie Li agreed with Mong Yahui's words about his talent making him grumble. "But I can provide you with enough cultivation resources to reach the Silver rank until exams."

"Oh." Ming Yahui was curious about those resources. "You know that I am not even a 5-star bronze yet, don't you?"

"Yes, but if you work diligently you can reach the Silver rank easily in that time. Then we will provide you with an alibi. You will steal something or commit some other crime that will force you to join one of the gangs that serve the Dark Guild."

"And you know which gangs work under the Dark Guild?" Ming Yahui asked skeptically.

"Of course." Nie Li replied. Through the intelligence from Kaize, Nie Li knew enough about Glory City's underworld.

Ming Yahui frowned. The fact that his captor knew about which gangs worked for the Dark Guild didn't bode well for him. This confirms his thought about Nie Li's great background. It may be even more serious than just Alchemy Association.

Of course, Nie Li could be bluffing. But what's the point in that? He was already Nie Li's slave in everything but name. He could feel the power of this so-called soul contract. Even the thought of betraying Nie Li brought pain. He didn't doubt that Nie Li's warnings were serious. Ming Yahui looked at the two corpses of Wu Ya's guards. They were still pinned to the wall by ice spikes. He didn't want to end up like that.

And he was sure this kid wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he considers him useless. Taking into account that no one came to the cabinet or even knocked on the door despite the clamor that happened here, Nie Li must have killed or somehow incapacitated the entire gang in this base. Most likely the first, because Ming Yahui would have done the same in his place.

It wasn't like he was worried about the fate of the gang. Even though he had spent three years in the gang, he never considered them friends or someone to care about. They were just stepping stones to him. Just like Heavenly Marks Family could have been, if his plans succeeded. But he failed, underestimating just one kid. He again cursed his greed and carelessness that brought him here.

He should have just ignored the situation when Nie Ruogang approached him with his offer. He should have known that no one will operate with millions of yaolinbi (demon spirit coins) if he didn't have a serious background.

Now that his fate was sealed, he must lay low and wait for an opportunity to free himself. Maybe he will have a chance at revenge. His soul contract inflicted him with serious pain at the thought of revenge.

Nie Li also could read his thoughts. Every time his servant thought about betrayal despite the distance Nie Li got a warning about it. But Nie Li wasn't worried. Breaking the contract was almost impossible and the conditioning through the pain will teach the kid to be wary of him.

"Is it necessary that I commit a crime before joining a gang? Because I don't want to cut my ties with the city entirely." Ming Yahui asked trying to think about something else.

"When your mission is finished your name would be cleared. I may even void the contract if your performance would impress me."

"Ha. Do you think I would believe in that? No one frees their slaves just because they worked well. I know I wouldn't"

"You are not a slave in a traditional meaning. You are an indentured servant until you pay back for your actions against me."

Ming Yahui just snorted. But even a small chance for freedom was better than nothing. "What if you die before my mission is finished?" he asked.

"If I die before ending the contract, you will die as well." Nie Li stated, making Ming Yahui curse and then hiss in pain. The contract was acting again. "And cutting ties with the city is not as tragic as you think. There are many other settlements in the world. And the Dark Guild lives in one of those."

"Other settlements?" Ming Yahui asked astonished. They were taught that Glory City was the last refuge of humanity in the world. "Why no one knows about it?"

"Higher-ups know. They just don't want to advertise it."

"Fu**ing nobles." Ming Yahui cursed.

"It's not completely for bad reasons. Can you imagine how many idiots decide to find those settlements? How many of them will succeed? Losing so many people would be detrimental to the safety of Glory City. It must have happened in the past." Nie Li shrugged.

"You said that the Dark Guild lives in one of those. It must not be far from the city."

"It's underground, called Nether Realm. Not a very pleasant place. But the factions there are very powerful. If they knew about Glory City we wouldn't have a chance against them."

"And the dark Guild?"

"From what I understand they are just a small fish there. But their main base is located there. If you show an adequate talent and will have an arrest warrant in the city they will be forced to send you to Nether Realm. I can't wait to have a spy there."

"Hmm," Ming Yahui said. He also wanted to see those lands. "How are we going to contact each other?"

"I will provide you with a long-distance communication device. Maybe implant it into your body so no one will be able to take it away?" Nie Li showed him a small coin-sized cellphone.

"Implant? How does it work?" Ming Yahui asked.

"Don't worry about it. I will teach you later. Now, about the cultivation resources, I was talking about. Pour your force into this soul crystal."

After checking his soul characteristics Nie Li offered the guy a suitable second-class technique. Nie Li wasn't worried about giving such a powerful technique or so much information to basically a traitor. With the soul contract, he won't be able to betray him anyway. In the future, he will see what to do with him. Maybe free him if he is sure of his trustworthiness. A good spy was always useful. Or he could just kill him after the Dark Guild is dealt with.

"Only your cultivation may not be enough. They may test you with some not entirely moral tasks to check your resolve. But I don't think that would be a problem for you." Nie Li said looking at Ming Yahui

"What do you mean?" asked Ming Yahui feigning cluelessness.

"Also the leader of the Dark Guild, who calls himself Demon Lord, is a peak legend rank expert." Nie Li said ignoring Ming Yahui's acting "But I don't think you will meet him until you're at least a Black Gold rank yourself. They put a soul brand on every member of their organization."

Hearing it Ming Yahui became distraught. Another soul brand!

"Don't worry. Because you're already under a much more powerful soul contract, the soul brand would not stick." Soul brand was quite primitive compared to a Soul contract. They didn't have much functionality except for killing the traitors from a distance.

"That's enough for today I guess. Take these pills" Nie Li gave him the remaining two portions of pills. He didn't use pills himself and Ye Ziyun and Xiao Ning'er bought their pills themselves. He also quickly fine-tuned Ming Yahui's amulet. It drained some type of energy from nature and the user could release it. Quickly in the form of attack or slowly as a resource for cultivation. But it was slow and inefficient, nowhere near the abstruse gemstone Nie Li used. Nie Li just adjusted the attribute of the energy used.

After returning his amulet to him Nie Li told Ming Yahui to leave. Ming Yahui hesitated a bit before leaving. They can talk about the small matters later. Nie Li already told him the important pieces.

Walking through the empty hallways of the building Ming Yahui became even more spooked. There was no sign of struggle as if everyone just abandoned whatever they were doing and left. There were even some half-eaten food and half-empty tea cups on the tables. Completely scared, Ming Yahui quickly walked out of the building. He will try his damnedest not to get this monster's bad side.

Nie Li cleaned the room, removing the corpses and other traces of his actions. Then turned into his void form and left the building through the front entrance. There was only one thing to do before returning to his dorm. He reached the nearest City Guard hall and left a letter with information about the remaining two bases of the Bloody Crows gang. In one of them, there might be half a dozen slaves.

Nie Li is going to leave it for the City Guard to deal with. The base was on the outskirts of the city and it will take too long for Nie Li to deal with it personally. And Nie Li can't help everyone personally anyway.