Xu Yang trudged forward with the rest of his squad, silently questioning why he had agreed to come on this mission at all. He let out a quiet sigh and kept pace with the group.
He hadn't wanted to be here. There were far better uses of his time than escorting a group of juniors into some dusty tomb. But his senior brother — who also happened to be the Task Hall manager — had called in a favour. Or more accurately, he hadn't given Xu Yang much of a choice.
Staying on good terms with the Task Hall manager meant easier missions and better rewards. So Xu Yang had agreed.
The request was simple enough: accompany his junior sister on a tomb exploration mission alongside a few other disciples. The reason they had specifically asked for Xu Yang was due to sect regulations — a Level 3 tomb exploration required at least two Golden Core disciples and three Foundation Establishment disciples. Xu Yang, being a peak Foundation Establishment disciple, filled the last spot on the roster.
The timing hadn't helped either. Most of the sect's other disciples were occupied with a secret realm opening, leaving the roster thin.
And so he found himself here, assigned to explore a newly discovered ruin known as the Moon Shrine Tomb.
The tomb had been stumbled upon by a group of Qi Condensation disciples returning from a routine mission. Curious and reckless, they had ventured inside. A team of five had entered. Only one walked out — barely alive — and that survivor had returned to the sect with a pale face and a shaking voice.
The sect had then dispatched their team.
At first, Xu Yang hadn't thought much of it. A preliminary inspection with two Core Formation cultivators in the group felt more than adequate. Whatever was inside, they could handle it.
That confidence didn't last long.
The moment they entered, they were set upon by a swarm of flying beasts. Most were only at the Foundation Establishment stage, but their numbers were overwhelming. Before the team could even reach the second chamber, one of the weaker disciples had already fallen. Xu Yang bit down his irritation and cursed under his breath.
Useless.
The second chamber brought something far worse — a beast unlike anything Xu Yang had ever encountered. It was a grotesque, unsettling creature: four arms, a head that perpetually leaked a poisonous mist capable of corroding stone, and a wide, gaping mouth split across its stomach.
Just looking at it made his skin crawl.
Xu Yang and Senior Dai Qing'an — the early-stage Core Formation cultivator of the group — took the front, engaging the beast directly. Meanwhile, the other Core Formation cultivator, Mei Xue, provided support from the rear.
Mei Xue. The junior sister of the Task Hall manager.
She had long black hair and dark eyes, her expression composed and unreadable. Her figure was nothing exceptional, but she was undeniably striking — the kind of woman whose calm made you uneasy rather than at ease.
She was casting illusions on the beast to throw off its senses, allowing Xu Yang and Dai Qing'an to engage without being detected. The plan was working — until it wasn't.
Midway through the fight, the beast suddenly zeroed in on Senior Dai Qing'an. It stopped reacting to the illusions and unleashed a concentrated blast of poison gas directly at him. Caught off guard, Dai Qing'an fell back to detoxify, lowering his guard just long enough.
Xu Yang seized the opening. He thrust his sword into the beast's head. The creature couldn't dodge in time, letting out a grotesque howl from the mouth on its stomach as it swiped its claws in his direction.
Then Xu Yang noticed something odd.
The beast still couldn't sense him. So why had it suddenly locked onto Dai Qing'an so precisely — as if something had revealed him?
He turned to look back.
Just in time to see Mei Xue hurl a massive fireball — not at the beast, but at Dai Qing'an's back.
The blast connected. Senior Dai Qing'an was torn apart in an instant. Under normal circumstances it shouldn't have been possible, but he had been retreating with his guard completely lowered, one hand already rummaging through his storage pouch for medicine. He hadn't stood a chance.
The air went still.
Xu Yang slowly withdrew from the beast, his eyes narrowing as he turned to face Mei Xue. The other Foundation Establishment disciple did the same.
Mei Xue looked back at them, calm as ever.
"What?" she said flatly. "Can't you see that was an accident? Now kill the beast before it recovers."
A chill ran down Xu Yang's spine.
Before he could respond, the other foundation disciple stumbled forward, his face pale and his voice breaking.
"You… how could you— why—"
He lunged at her.
From the way he moved, from the grief behind his eyes, Xu Yang could tell — this disciple and Dai Qing'an had been close. The lunge was all emotion and no technique.
Mei Xue raised one hand.
Another fireball. Another body, scattered across the chamber floor.
Xu Yang forced himself to focus. The beast was still alive. Mei Xue was right behind him. He dodged another swipe from the creature and rapidly weighed his options.
Then a sword cut through the air — past him, past the beast — and sliced it cleanly in two.
Xu Yang looked back at Mei Xue. Her arm was still extended, the flying sword returning to her side. Her aura had shifted. It wasn't early-stage Core Formation anymore.
Mid-stage.
She had been hiding her cultivation level.
They stared at each other in silence. Then she spoke.
"You're welcome."
Xu Yang lowered his head in a stiff bow. She ignored it entirely and walked past him, collecting the storage pouches from both of the men she had just killed. From Dai Qing'an's pouch, she withdrew a small token — a character for entry etched across its surface.
Xu Yang watched but said nothing. He kept his guard up.
"Senior," he finally said. "Are you not going to kill me?"
She glanced at him.
"Not unless you plan on telling anyone what happened here."
He didn't believe her for a second. But he kept his expression steady.
"I wasn't born yesterday," he said. "What do you want in exchange for my life?"
Mei Xue stared at him — and then she laughed. Not a small smile, but a genuine, full laugh, the kind that made her bend slightly at the waist. When she straightened, there was something almost approving in her eyes.
"Not a complete idiot, then," she said. "Fine. But I don't trust easily, and you've already seen too much. So I'll give you two choices."
She held up a finger.
"First — sign a soul-binding contract swearing you will never speak of what happened here to a single living soul."
"And the second?"
"I wipe your memories of this entire event."
Xu Yang grimaced. Memory erasure at this level could permanently damage the soul and mind. That option wasn't really an option.
"Is there a third?" he asked.
Mei Xue smiled pleasantly.
"Of course. You walk over here and let me kill you. I'll make it painless. I promise."
Xu Yang considered it all for a moment.
Stay alive. That's the priority. Sign the contract now — deal with her later. There are ways. Black market bounties. Intermediaries. She won't be untouchable forever.
He met her gaze.
"I'll take the first option."
A scroll appeared in Mei Xue's hand, haloed in faint blue light. She wrote the terms with a brush stroke, and the contract drifted from her fingers to his.
Xu Yang read it carefully. The terms were clean: he would remain silent about the events of this tomb; in return, she would allow him to live. Violation meant his soul would detonate. Standard soul-binding language. Nothing unusual.
He pressed a drop of blood from his fingertip onto the surface.
The moment the blood touched the parchment, the scroll shifted.
The characters swirled. The layout warped. The words he had read were gone — replaced by something else entirely, something he had never agreed to.
He had been under an illusion.
The contract's true terms floated before him, written in ink that seemed almost smug:
The signing party shall obey the other party unconditionally and without reservation.
Xu Yang stared at the scroll for a long moment. Then he slowly looked up at Mei Xue.
"…So this was a slave contract."