All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 24

The outpost named ‘Scattered Stars Inn’ was much larger than Zhanyue had imagined. These outposts were very important on the crisscrossing transportation routes of human territories. Not only did traveling merchants rest here, but nearby refugees and temporary military camps also chose to stay here.

The inn was brightly lit, with a huge formation made of illumination Stones operating normally at night, protecting this area, shining like a small boat in a vast night sea. Besides the areas covered by illumination Towers, these inn outposts were the safest places in the wilderness.

The stables next to the inn were full of warhorses. Cheng Lu frowned at these horses, not knowing which army they belonged to. He led everyone to the inn’s temporary warehouse, where they stored all the illumination Stones, then dismissed the troops, leaving only four people to guard the warehouse in shifts, while the rest went to rest.

“Big Brother Cheng, it’s so lively here,” Zhanyue said. In the army, Zhanyue called Cheng Lu ‘Captain’, but in private, he called him ‘Big Brother’. Cheng Lu had taught Zhanyue a lot of knowledge and survival skills along the way, which Zhanyue was very grateful for.

“Indeed it is. Scattered Stars Inn is close to Sun City, with many merchants coming and going. It’s always been this lively,” Cheng Lu walked into the inn’s main hall, where the tables were fully occupied. He scanned the room and found his target, then led Zhanyue over.

“General Song, it’s indeed you,” Cheng Lu said as he approached a table where a bald, burly man was sitting. The man was exceptionally muscular, still wearing armor, with sharp, piercing eyes. More interestingly, a fist-sized spider was perched on his shoulder.

“Captain Cheng?” The man surnamed Song looked at Cheng Lu, but wasn’t very surprised. “You’re escorting goods again?”

Cheng Lu sighed, “My abilities are mediocre, I can only lead troops to do some odd jobs. How can I compare to you, General Song, fighting on the frontlines and guarding the peace?”

General Song laughed and patted Cheng Lu’s shoulder, “Don’t be discouraged. The City Lord still values you highly. Once you break through to the Star Profound Realm and become a Profound Being, you can naturally become an official general too.”

Cheng Lu smiled slightly and introduced Zhanyue, “This is Blood Spider General Song Yi, a proper patrolling general of Sun City, quite different from a captain like me.”

Zhanyue looked at Song Yi and then at the blood-colored spider on his shoulder. This burly man exuded a powerful aura, likely a beast contractor at the Profound Realm.

“And this is?” Song Yi was quite curious about why Cheng Lu was so close to a new soldier at the third stage of Spirit Contract Realm.

“A new little brother I’ve taken a liking to. We get along well. By the way, General Song, what brings you here?” Cheng Lu asked curiously.

Song Yi nodded, glancing at Zhanyue but not paying much attention to him. He answered, “There are two villages about fifty miles from here, not far from each other – Cloud Family Village and Yu Family Village. We received news that over 200 people in Cloud Family Village, from the elderly to infants, have all fallen victim to the Nightmares. I’m here to exterminate those Nightmares. This place is so close to Sun City, I didn’t expect the Nightmares to be so brazen.”

Hearing this, both Zhanyue and Cheng Lu paled. Over 200 lives lost just like that?

The area covered by illumination Towers was ultimately limited, and not everyone had the privilege to live in safe zones. There were still large and small villages scattered outside, usually near outposts. They could only rely on illumination Stones to get through dangerous nights.

“This is a major case. Haven’t those Nightmares retreated?” Cheng Lu asked further.

“You know how greedy the Nightmare race is. After devouring the people of Cloud Family Village, Yu Family Village is waiting for them. When they’ve digested enough, they’ll set their sights on Yu Family Village. I plan to set up an ambush in Yu Family Village to completely annihilate them,” General Song said, then fed a finger to the spider on his shoulder. The spider bit the finger and sucked the blood.

“My little one is good in every way, except it still can’t live without fresh blood. It’ll be better once it advances to the next realm,” Song Yi gently stroked the small spider.

“Now every household has night lamps made of illumination Stones, not fearing ordinary Nightmares. How could such a tragedy still occur?” Zhanyue asked, confused.

Cheng Lu patiently explained, “Illumination Stones can deal with low-level Nightmares with low intelligence, but not with mid-level Nightmares that have high intelligence. Low-level Nightmares even fear all light sources, even candlelight can scare them away, but mid-level Nightmares aren’t so easy to deal with.”

Seeing that Zhanyue only half-understood, Cheng Lu explained in detail, “The Nightmare race has habits similar to ants and bees. High-level Nightmares rarely act, but are nurtured by mid-level and low-level Nightmares. The vast number of low-level Nightmares hunt for souls of living beings at night, with humans being the preferred prey. Generally speaking, illumination Stones can dispel low-level Nightmares and have a suppressive effect on mid-level Nightmares, but mid-level Nightmares have enough intelligence to have many ways to counter illumination Stones. For there to be so many deaths this time, there must be mid-level Nightmares leading the attack.”

Above high-level Nightmares, there were king-level, lord-level, and grand lord-level, but these were beyond what Zhanyue could encounter at his current stage.

“Young brother, you haven’t been on a real battlefield yet, have you?” Song Yi looked at Zhanyue and smiled. “Perfect. To completely annihilate them, I don’t have enough manpower. I’m worried there might be some that slip through the net. Brother Cheng, I’m afraid I’ll have to borrow some of your men.”

“This… this isn’t quite appropriate. My mission is just to escort the illumination Stones,” Cheng Lu said, somewhat troubled. He couldn’t casually dispatch soldiers.

“I knew you’d be inflexible. Look at this,” Song Yi took out a token with an eagle engraved on it.

“The City Lord’s token? With this, you can temporarily mobilize any troops you encounter, with the token bearer’s mission taking top priority,” Cheng Lu breathed a sigh of relief, no longer troubled. “I brought forty men this time. We’ll leave ten to guard the illumination Stones. The rest, including myself, will follow General Song’s orders.”

“Good. Your thirty men plus my fifty men will surely be able to surround those fiends completely. This time we must annihilate them all,” Song Yi said happily, then smiled at Zhanyue, “Young brother, aren’t you curious about how the Nightmares harm the common people? Why not see for yourself?”

Zhanyue nodded. He was indeed curious about how mid-level Nightmares could wipe out a small village. Zhanyue picked up a lamp and played with it. There were two ways to activate illumination Stones: one was through these special lamps, which could activate the stones just by placing them on top – the only way for ordinary people to use illumination Stones. Contractors could directly use spiritual power to activate illumination Stones. The invention of these lamps had eased the urgent situation for humans, allowing ordinary people in the wilderness to use illumination Stones to resist Nightmares. Unfortunately, the wilderness was still very dangerous.

“Sun City is densely populated, and the surrounding satellite towns are also extremely crowded. No wonder that little cart driver spoke so proudly of his father. His father, through his own efforts, brought their whole family into Sun City, away from their precarious life. I just don’t know what happened to his missing father. I hope he’s still alive,” Zhanyue could only pray and bless.

The next day, Zhanyue joined Song Yi’s troops along with Cheng Lu. Just from their demeanor, it was clear that Song Yi’s soldiers were much more elite than those under Cheng Lu’s command. But despite Song Yi’s rough appearance, he was very cautious. This time, the Nightmare race’s village annihilation had truly angered him, and he vowed to catch them all in one fell swoop. Cheng Lu’s soldiers were all contractors, more than capable of dealing with low-level Nightmares.

The troops marched to Yu Family Village and set up camp, blending in with the villagers’ homes, waiting at ease and setting up a trap. As Song Yi had expected, they came two nights later.

Zhanyue was staying in a family’s house. The family of three huddled fearfully in a corner. Zhanyue’s task was simply to protect these civilians; others were responsible for the actual fighting. The illumination Stone on the lamp shone brightly, illuminating the entire house. Zhanyue didn’t know how the Nightmares would bypass the illumination Stones to attack humans. However, he soon got his answer.

After a wolf’s howl, the scent of blood approached. A huge wolf broke through the window with its sharp claws and rushed in. Zhanyue warily watched the wolf, which only glared at him fiercely but didn’t attack. Instead, it grabbed the lamp on the table with its mouth and leaped out the window.

“It’s alive. This wolf is definitely a living creature, not a corpse possessed by a Nightmare. The Nightmare race actually knows how to use these beasts to solve their illumination Stone problem?!” Zhanyue was shocked. The small village, originally illuminated by illumination Stones, was now plunged into absolute darkness. The illumination Stone lamps in every household were forcibly taken away by one wolf after another. When the night completely enveloped the small village, the real Nightmares finally launched their attack.