All Things Are Contracts

Zhanyue moved swiftly, leaping onto a large tree in the village. The tree crown was massive, allowing Zhanyue to hide within, undetectable to outsiders.

The sound of “dong dong dong” rang out as someone was designated to beat a basin to spread the news. Soon, the villagers gathered. There were about fifty young and strong men, while the rest were the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled.

“Let them hide in the back mountain, we’ll buy them time!” Yu Dayou arranged.

“Alright,” two men in their late teens, holding sickles, led the elderly and children towards the back mountain.

“Not good, the path to the back mountain is blocked!” Someone quickly reported back. “There are crossbowmen lying in ambush there. I just went to scout, and if I wasn’t lucky, I might have been shot dead.” A man with a darkened face walked over.

“What?” Yu Dayou hadn’t expected these bandits to split into two routes, cutting off their retreat in advance, likely using a remote path.

Zhanyue looked into the distance. A group of about a hundred people was approaching, all wielding steel blades, each looking fierce as wolves and tigers.

“These fifty-odd villagers are no match for a hundred bandits. It’s likely to be a bloody battle. Yu Dayou is extremely strong, but I wonder if he’s willing to expose his true strength,” Zhanyue thought.

Soon, the bandits reached the gate of the fence.

“Fire arrows!” About twenty archers lit their arrowheads and shot towards the inside of the fence. Though the fence was made of heavy wood, it couldn’t withstand so many fire arrows. The first line of defense was easily breached. Those responsible for guarding the fence didn’t dare to defend and retreated early. The disparity in weapons made the first line of defense seem like a joke.

“Bandits? With so many archers? Their strength is unusual,” Zhanyue frowned.

Without further ado, the burly bandit leader, wearing a mask, raised his blade.

“Kill them all, leave no one alive!” he ordered.

“Kill!” The bandits behind him poured in, murderous intent palpable.

“What’s going on? No words, no demands for wealth, just direct action? They’re here purely for a massacre?” Zhanyue was quite surprised. This was completely different from what he had imagined.

Yu Dayou stood alone in front of everyone, protecting them behind him.

“Get the hell out of here!” He shouted, scaring the bandits who hesitated to advance.

“What are you afraid of? He’s just one person. Shoot him dead with arrows!” The bandit leader spoke again.

The twenty archers came forward again, drawing their bows and shooting. Instantly, arrows rained down. Yu Dayou grabbed a large wooden pot lid from someone behind him, maneuvering through the arrow rain. He blocked all the arrows, which densely filled the pot lid. Then he gripped the lid tightly, pulled out the arrows, and threw them back.

In an instant, the terrifying force caused these broken arrows to pierce through seven or eight people’s bodies. For a moment, everyone was stunned, not expecting Yu Dayou to have such strength.

“Stand back, I’ll play with him!” The bandit leader couldn’t sit still anymore. He wielded a large chopping knife and personally entered the fray, while Yu Dayou only held a firewood chopper. The leader’s skills were unremarkable, like a trained fighter, each move powerful. However, he was no match for Yu Dayou, who took only five moves to cut down the bandit.

“What’s going on? The plot shouldn’t be like this. How could such a useless bandit leader possibly kill Yu Dayou?” For a moment, Zhanyue was confused. However, an unexpected change occurred.

A sudden gust of wind blew up, raising a cloud of dust. A charming voice sounded.

“What a useless fool, can’t even handle such a small matter.” Then a fair-skinned man walked out, with a snow-white fox perched on his shoulder. His speech was neither masculine nor feminine, and his handsome face was filled with murderous intent in his eyes.

“Die for me!” As he acted, countless flying needles shot out from his sleeves.

Yu Dayou used the pot lid to block, but the flying needles pierced through the lid, shooting through his body. Enduring the pain, he charged towards the androgynous person, but the person’s movements were strange, dodging all attacks, then casually kicking Yu Dayou flying.

“I didn’t want to act personally, but I didn’t expect you to have some skill, inheriting a bit from your father,” the man said.

“You… you knew my father, are you from the palace?” Yu Dayou’s eyes widened.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, you can’t live,” The man attacked again, this time aiming directly at Yu Dayou’s heart.

Zhanyue was hesitating whether to intervene, as this androgynous man’s strength was too terrifying. He could instantly kill Yu Dayou, and Zhanyue likely wasn’t his match in a direct confrontation. After all, he was just the Saint of Thieves, not a war god.

Suddenly, a flying dagger came from nowhere, rushing towards the man.

The man moved his internal energy, and this palm didn’t touch Yu Dayou but still sent him flying. Then he caught the flying dagger between two fingers. The dagger suddenly exploded, releasing a red mist.

The man leaped back, leaving the mist area, using his sleeve to cover his nose and mouth. Then he waved forcefully, his terrifying internal energy dispersing the poison mist.

At this moment, a black-clad man was holding the injured Yu Dayou. It was he who had just intervened, but unfortunately, he was still too late. Even though that palm hadn’t touched Yu Dayou, the terrifying internal energy had already shattered his heart.

“I’m General Yue’s man,” the masked man in black said.

Yu Dayou took out the wooden box from his bosom and handed it to the man. “Take this to General Yue.”

The masked man took the item and instantly fled into the distance. The fair-skinned, strange, androgynous man saw this and hurriedly gave chase, determined to kill him.

“Who is this masked man? Could he be the person from General Yue they mentioned in their conversation earlier?” Zhanyue wondered. At this moment, a voice sounded in his ear.

“Yu Dayou has died. Task failed. Task scenario will be reset shortly.”

“This… he died just like that?” Zhanyue had underestimated the strength of that effeminate person. Even the powerful Yu Dayou had died. It was good he hadn’t rashly intervened. With his world’s best lightness skill, it was uncertain whether he could survive under that person’s hand.

“Task scenario has been reset. Special note: Your task scenario has overlapped with another trial participant. Please be careful.” This voice indeed came from the identity token.

“What… what does that mean?” Zhanyue was stunned. This hadn’t happened before. After the task reset, his scenario overlapped with another trial participant? Meaning someone else had also come to this world? Who could it be? Didn’t the Heaven Book Spirit say they wouldn’t meet? How to explain this?

Not only was Zhanyue confused, but even the Heaven Book Spirit, who was secretly watching these twelve trial participants, was puzzled. “Hm? After his task failed, how did he end up in someone else’s task world? Strange, could there really be such a coincidence?”

Zhanyue didn’t think too much about it. Looking at his current position, he had returned to where he first woke up.

“My task is to protect Yu Dayou from dying. Those bandits were just a front, and that death eunuch behind the scenes is the key, right?” Zhanyue deduced. That man was neither masculine nor feminine and came from the palace, making it hard not to believe he was a eunuch. And it seemed reasonable for a eunuch to have such high martial arts skills.

Meanwhile, on a cliff of Yunmo Mountain, a withered vine hung down. The vine was very tough, and currently, a graceful figure was hanging from it – it was Huang Xueqing. She had a bamboo basket on her back and was picking medicinal herbs on the cliff face. Suddenly, a voice interrupted: “Another trial participant has entered your task world. Your tasks may intersect or conflict. Please be careful.”

Huang Xueqing’s expression froze, and she expressed the same confusion, “Didn’t the Heaven Book Spirit say that we trial participants wouldn’t encounter each other?”

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