20: Master-Slave Contract

These words finally roused Zhao Tianyang from his daze.

He scrambled to the counter, his hands trembling as he pushed his black card and identity card across. The sound of his nails scratching the wooden counter was ear-splitting due to his excitement.

"I... I'm here! The money's here! Old Ghost, call someone!!!"

Old Ghost watched this dramatic scene, finally snapping back to reality.

His expression towards Lin Yu had changed from seeing a fat lamb to seeing a monster, or rather, an existence he completely couldn't comprehend.

But he reacted incredibly fast; a businessman's instinct instantly overrode all his shock.

"Good! Good! Esteemed guest, please wait! I have people who can do it!"

Old Ghost immediately picked up an old-fashioned communicator on the counter and dialed a number.

"Hello, Seventh Master? It's Old Ghost. Yes, a small job, a branding... Yes, now, here at my place... I'll pay."

Old Ghost's movements were uncharacteristically swift for an old man.

He hung up the communicator and turned to Zhao Tianyang, who was still kneeling on the ground. The voice from under his bird-beak mask regained its business acumen.

"Alright, get up. Seventh Master will be here soon."

He glanced at Lin Yu again and added, "I'll cover the cost of the branding, consider it compensation for your breach of contract. We're even."

Zhao Tianyang stared blankly at Old Ghost, then at Lin Yu, seemingly still unable to process the immense turn of events.

Old Ghost impatiently waved his hand.

"Don't just stand there, get up and prepare. Seventh Master doesn't like to wait."

Zhao Tianyang finally came to his senses, scrambling to his feet with hands and feet. He stumbled, almost falling again, because he stood up too quickly. He stood to the side, head down, hands tightly clutching the hem of his clothes, like a prisoner awaiting judgment.

Lin Yu stood quietly in place, his cloak completely shrouding him, showing no emotion.

He was just thinking that this fellow called Old Ghost was quite shrewd.

Waiving the contract fee was both a gesture of goodwill towards himself and a complete resolution of the unpleasantness with Zhao Tianyang.

Old Ghost Hall fell silent again, but the atmosphere was completely different from before.

The previous silence was despair; the current silence was eerie.

Old Ghost wiped his bottles and jars behind the counter, but the corner of his eye kept scanning between Lin Yu and Zhao Tianyang.

He couldn't figure it out.

He really couldn't figure it out.

Buy it for 800,000, then sell it for 500,000? The 300,000 loss in between, just to take on a high school student with an uncertain future and a body full of toxins as a subordinate?

This math just didn't add up.

At least in this world... it didn't add up!

A human life wasn't worth 300,000.

Unless... this person simply didn't care about a few hundred thousand.

Or, he had another purpose.

Old Ghost had spent half his life in Yaoren Lane, seen too many crazy things, but this kind of loss-making good deed was a first.

He looked at Lin Yu's mysterious "crow" cloak, and a thought popped into his head.

This person was either a super idiot whose brain was squashed by a door.

Or, he was a true big shot from some prominent family, someone he couldn't see through at all.

The world of big shots might be different from those who wallowed in the mud like them.

A few hundred thousand might truly just be a small venture investment.

If it paid off, he'd gain a potential enforcer in the future.

If it didn't... they could afford to lose that much money.

Indeed, otherwise, why would he unhesitatingly add 300,000 to buy something?

Thinking this, Old Ghost's demeanor towards Lin Yu unconsciously became a few shades more respectful.

Not long after.

"Ding-a-ling—"

The wind chimes at the entrance jingled softly.

An old man with a Tang suit, white hair, and a gaunt face walked in. He carried an old wooden box in his hand and walked silently, like a ghost.

"Seventh Master." Old Ghost immediately greeted him, his face wreathed in smiles.

The old man, called Seventh Master, merely nodded, his gaze sweeping around the shop before finally settling on Zhao Tianyang and Lin Yu.

He didn't ask a single question.

The black market had its rules; he only did business and didn't ask for reasons.

"Who is the master, who is the servant?" Seventh Master's voice was hoarse, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

"I am." Lin Yu spoke.

"I..." Zhao Tianyang also spoke, but his voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, filled with shame and unease.

Seventh Master placed the wooden box on an empty table and opened it.

Inside were no strange or exotic tools, only some very ordinary-looking ones: a small silver knife, a porcelain bowl filled with vermilion liquid, and a few yellow talismans covered in complex runes.

"Hold out your hand." Seventh Master said to Lin Yu.

Lin Yu extended his left hand.

Seventh Master picked up the silver knife and lightly cut Lin Yu's fingertip. A drop of blood seeped out and fell into the porcelain bowl.

The vermilion liquid immediately began to churn, as if alive.

Then, Seventh Master looked at Zhao Tianyang.

"Kneel, and press your forehead against the edge of the table."

Zhao Tianyang's body trembled, and without any hesitation, he immediately complied. He knelt, pressing his already swollen and broken forehead tightly against the cold wooden table edge.

This posture was filled with humiliation.

Seventh Master picked up a talisman, dipped a brush in the liquid mixed with Lin Yu's blood in the bowl, and quickly began to draw on the talisman.

His movements were fluid and swift, leaving only a blur.

Soon, a new talisman was completed.

"This is the Master-Servant Branding. Once etched, life and death are controlled by the Master. Resist, and your soul will burn, unable to even seek death. Have you thought it through?"

Though called master-servant, it was in reality servitude.

Seventh Master asked one last question; it was the rule.

Zhao Tianyang's body trembled violently. He closed his eyes and squeezed out three words through gritted teeth.

"I am willing."

Seventh Master said no more.

He picked up the talisman, chanted something, and the talisman ignited without fire.

He flicked his finger, and the burning ashes accurately landed on Zhao Tianyang's glabella.

"Sizzle—"

A soft sound.

Zhao Tianyang let out a suppressed groan, his body convulsing violently. Veins bulged on his forehead, and sweat instantly soaked his back.

A smell of scorching permeated the air.

Lin Yu felt it too.

The moment the talisman ashes fell, it was as if an invisible thread had appeared in his mind.

The other end of the thread connected to a humble, fearful, yet grateful and ecstatic soul.

He could clearly feel all of Zhao Tianyang's emotions at this moment.

It was the relief of surviving a disaster, the determination to surrender everything, and a loyalty that was almost like faith.

This child... he was truly an honest person.

His family probably was too.

He genuinely believed that Lin Yu was a living Bodhisattva who had saved his life.

The contract was complete.

The entire process took less than five minutes.

Seventh Master put away his things, closed the wooden box, nodded to Old Ghost, and turned to leave, as silently as he had arrived.

From beginning to end, he didn't say another word.

Old Ghost slipped a black card into Seventh Master's pocket, settling the payment.

After doing all this, Old Ghost turned to Lin Yu, rubbing his hands, his face wreathed in smiles.

"Esteemed guest, the contract is settled. He and I, and you and I, are all clear."

"Beep."

The transfer was complete.

Lin Yu's account balance, from over thirty thousand, returned to five hundred thirty thousand.

And the Life Serum, which he had bought for a 300,000 difference, now lay quietly in Zhao Tianyang's hand.

Zhao Tianyang held the silver briefcase as if it were the most precious treasure in the world. He walked in front of Lin Yu and, once again, knelt heavily.

"Master... brother."

He looked up, his face full of tears, but this time, it was not despair, but new life.

"From now on, Zhao Tianyang's life is yours."