All Things Are Contracts

“Come on, show me your research,” Zhanyue said, having learned to be smarter this time. He wouldn’t give up anything without seeing results.

“A-alright,” the old man didn’t refuse and led Zhanyue to his home.

After circling half the city, Zhanyue finally saw the old man’s home deep in an alley. To his surprise, it was a sizeable courtyard. In the Academy Town where land was incredibly valuable, owning such a large yard was rare.

“This is your home?” Zhanyue asked, looking at the large but dilapidated courtyard.

“Yes, my ancestors were once a wealthy family. I even have a title, though people have probably forgotten about it by now,” the old man replied, having forgotten what his hereditary title even was.

“What’s your name?” Zhanyue asked, following the old man into the courtyard. It was in disrepair, long uncleaned, with fallen leaves everywhere and moss-covered stones.

“I’m called Bai Bole, but now everyone calls me Old Eccentric Bai,” the old man answered, leading Zhanyue towards the largest main house.

Zhanyue followed him in, sighing at the empty room. The furniture had probably been sold off long ago. “Do you live alone?”

The old man nodded, “That’s right. I was married when I was young, but my wife couldn’t bear it and left me.” As he spoke, he touched his head. His white hair turned out to be a wig, under which was greyish hair.

A dead contractor refers to those whose contract objects have shattered, reverting them from contractors back to ordinary people. They were even more pitiful than common folk, as ordinary people still had a chance to become contractors, while dead contractors not only had strength comparable to ordinary people but also no chance of rising again, making them the lowest in status. This was Zhanyue’s first time seeing a dead contractor, as it was extremely rare for a contractor to survive the shattering of their contract object.

“Ah, in my youth, I reached the Profound Realm. But somehow I offended someone I shouldn’t have, ending up in this state, my cultivation wasted, and my wife gone,” the old man said dejectedly.

“How did you manage to keep such a large property?” Zhanyue looked around. Could an ordinary person without cultivation really protect such a large estate?

The old man was puzzled, “What do you mean keep? No one has come to trouble me.”

“No one has bothered you in all these years?” Zhanyue asked, confused. Land in the Academy Town was extremely valuable, and this courtyard was quite large. It didn’t seem like something an ordinary person could protect. The old man saying no one had bothered him for so many years suggested something more complex was going on.

“Never mind, that’s a minor issue. Come with me,” the old man turned a wall sconce, which was actually a mechanism. As it activated, a secret door appeared in the wall. Entering it and descending the stairs, Zhanyue came to a basement. The basement was lit by illumination stones, not dark but very cluttered, filled with various strange objects.

“This is for researching personal flying devices,” the old man pointed to something resembling a rocket backpack.

“This is a half-finished magical device I invented. Even ordinary people could use it, theoretically with great power,” the old man pointed to a half-assembled object resembling a sniper rifle.

“Look, this cage houses a Nightmare. It’s possessing a rat and can’t escape. I paid a high price to have a Profound Being help me get this for research,” the old man held up a covered cage to prevent illumination stone light from reaching it. Inside was a rat, or rather a rat’s mummified body that could move freely, possessed by an extremely weak Nightmare somehow sealed inside it.

Seeing these things, Zhanyue was convinced the old man wasn’t entirely lying. He really seemed to be doing research.

“So in all these years, haven’t you developed anything truly useful?” Zhanyue asked, puzzled.

The old man said with a bitter expression, “I don’t know what’s wrong. At first, I’d be very interested in a topic, even forsaking food and sleep. But as soon as I’m halfway through the research, I suddenly lose all interest and abandon it. Even though I know it’s wrong, I can’t control myself. Then I immediately find a new research topic, and this keeps repeating, ultimately achieving nothing. It’s as if I’m cursed. Over the years, I’ve sold almost everything valuable in the house and can only seek sponsorship outside, but few are willing to sponsor me.”

“Cursed?” Zhanyue’s eyes lit up. The Illumination Goddess had mentioned before that this old man was under a curse, so hearing these words made him sensitive. “You say you abandon everything halfway through, no matter what you do?”

The old man nodded, “Before, I was happily using your money to research Nightmare habits, but one day I suddenly lost all interest. I found a broken piece of armor that no one wanted in an antique shop, discovered it was an ultra-ancient relic, and started researching it.”

The old man took out the armor from a box under the table. It was made of steel, now completely rusted. Though called an antique, it didn’t look particularly special.

“What’s there to research about this thing?” Zhanyue picked up the broken breastplate, examining it closely but finding nothing unusual.

“You naturally can’t see anything just by looking at it like that.” The old man took out a glass bottle containing a dark red liquid and poured it on the armor. A bloody smell spread.

“What’s that?” Zhanyue asked.

“Beast blood,” the old man answered.

The metal armor, soaked in beast blood, suddenly moved, absorbing all the blood. Then its texture became soft, changing from metal to something like beast hide.

“What? What is this?” Zhanyue asked in surprise.

“I found some clues in ancient records. This thing might be active armor from an ultra-ancient civilization. I don’t know more than that. I want to research and understand this thing, but unfortunately, I don’t even have money to buy more beast blood,” the old man said regretfully.

As he spoke, the beast hide-like armor turned back into metal form, showing no signs of its extraordinary nature.

“Truly amazing,” Zhanyue thought for a moment. He didn’t lack money, and what if this thing could be useful to him? “Take this money for now. When you run out, contact me again. Just tell the guards at the gate.”

Seeing the large bag of purple gold coins, the old man’s eyes lit up. He didn’t love money, but research required it. “Thank you, thank you, young master.”

“This time, you can’t abandon it halfway through,” Zhanyue added.

“Certainly, certainly,” the old man nodded repeatedly, though he had no confidence in his heart.

Leaving the old man’s house, Zhanyue felt even more puzzled.

“Sister, did you figure out this old man’s identity?” Zhanyue increasingly felt that this old man wasn’t ordinary.

“He indeed has no cultivation and is a dead contractor, but… someone is protecting him in secret. He might not even know it himself,” the Illumination Goddess naturally sensed the hidden presence.

“Someone protecting him in secret?” Zhanyue wasn’t surprised. “Of course, how could an ordinary person protect such a large courtyard? Someone must be protecting him in secret, he just doesn’t know. Who could it be? Has someone else also seen this old man’s extraordinary nature? Or could it be the wife he mentioned who left him long ago?” Zhanyue could only think of these two possibilities, but there was no need to investigate further now. He’d come back to check on the old man’s progress when he had time.

“Ancient active armor? Interesting, it seems to be something very old, even you don’t know about it, sister,” Zhanyue murmured. It was a decent discovery.

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