Chapter Five: The Pact

“What!?” Qin Changsheng instantly tensed up. He thought he had already shaken off the mysterious figure wearing the emoji mask, never imagining that the person could catch up so quickly.

They hadn’t left any clues along the way, had they? How did the mysterious person manage to get so close so fast?

The countdown suddenly didn’t seem as frightening as before. What pressed on him now was how to escape the relentless pursuit. No matter what happened when the countdown ended, if he died here, nothing afterward would matter.

Chen Yuanyuan’s sugar figurine ability might have fooled the mysterious person the first time, but now that the stranger had seen it, it probably wouldn’t be effective anymore. If the two faced off directly, the outcome would be catastrophic.

Qin Changsheng anxiously grabbed a handful of his hair. His day felt like a curse so profound, it was as if misfortune itself had taken up residence at his door.

First, he failed the college entrance exam. Then he was hunted by a mysterious figure. Just when he was rescued by a beautiful girl and briefly enjoyed a moment of peace, danger closed in again. The mark on his arm throbbed faintly, adding insult to injury.

“Damn!” Qin Changsheng clenched his hand harder, pulling out another handful of hair.

This was his most hated bad habit: whenever stress overwhelmed him, he couldn’t help but tug at his hair. During the high-pressure days of exam preparation, this habit was largely why his once-thick hairline had receded so much.

And now, facing life or death, the habit resurfaced.

Gripping the clump of hair tightly, Qin Changsheng gasped for breath, trying to calm himself.

Suddenly, something odd caught his attention.

The hair he’d just pulled was from his forehead. In his panic, he hadn’t realized it, but now it dawned on him.

He had a receding hairline! How could he have bangs!?

If that was so, then what exactly was he holding?

Qin Changsheng looked down and saw a clump of black hair in his hand. But the next moment, the hair began to twist and writhe.

“Wha—what is this?” he instinctively tried to fling the hair away, but as soon as he loosened his grip, the strands coiled back around his hand.

Panicking, he flailed his arm, yet the black hair only tightened its grip, crawling up his entire arm. The texture shifted—no longer hair but a cold, slimy substance resembling tar.

From the tar-like mass, a white hard block gradually emerged. Qin Changsheng stared, and to his shock, it was a set of square, gleaming white teeth!

A human-like mouth formed from the black tar. Just as his heartbeat surged to its peak, the mouth slowly opened.

“Hey!” The voice that came from the mouth was indescribable. “You, my, master?”

“What?” Qin Changsheng was stunned, stopping his frantic arm movements.

What was this tar ball saying?

“You, master, and I, contract, sign!”

The tar’s speech was awkward, as if it was unfamiliar with the language it was speaking.

Yet Qin Changsheng understood perfectly. He realized this shapeless tar creature could communicate with him.

What did it say just now? Sign a contract? Wasn’t that just like what Chen Yuanyuan said about the Shanhai Beast?

Could this be a Shanhai Beast too?

To be cautious, Qin Changsheng decided to ask, “I can sign a contract with you, but first, tell me—what exactly are you?”

“I, not thing,” the tar replied slowly, “I, Shanhai Beast.”

“I, Ink Demon, Momo!”

In an instant, Qin Changsheng made up his mind.

Though initially scared, Chen Yuanyuan’s explanation had greatly increased his acceptance of the Shanhai Beasts. He understood this power was essential to escape their current predicament.

The contract with a Shanhai Beast was not a physical item. The moment Qin Changsheng’s mind made the decision, the contract was automatically sealed in his consciousness. A white sheet of paper inscribed with unfamiliar characters appeared in his mind, and in the blink of an eye, his name was signed neatly at the bottom.

At that moment, the contract was formed. Qin Changsheng felt something within himself bind firmly with the Shanhai Beast Momo before him. Instantly, vast amounts of knowledge flooded into his brain.

He understood everything!

Nearby, Tang Qianxiang trembled and whimpered softly.

Chen Yuanyuan knew they couldn’t stay any longer. She turned and grabbed Qin Changsheng’s arm, urging anxiously, “Changsheng, stop dazing off! Let’s hurry—he’s almost here!”

She tried to pull him to run, but no matter how hard she tugged, Qin Changsheng didn’t budge.

Startled, Chen Yuanyuan looked back at him and found his expression strangely different—completely unlike before. His lips curled into a smile.

Chen Yuanyuan’s heart sank. Was he losing his mind?

After all, anyone would be under immense psychological pressure after suddenly finding their life turned upside down like this.

But now was not the time to break down. The terrifying emoji-masked stranger was closing in fast!

In desperation, she slapped Qin Changsheng across the face. “Changsheng, snap out of it!”

Unbeknownst to her, Qin Changsheng had never been in a better state.

The slap landed lightly, because mid-air, Qin Changsheng caught her wrist.

“Qian…qi?” Chen Yuanyuan’s eyes widened. The person gripping her wrist looked so different from the Qin Changsheng she knew. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Qin Changsheng replied calmly. He released her wrist and—fixing her with a steady gaze for the first time—looked into her eyes.

That look almost embarrassed Chen Yuanyuan.

Strangely, it was the same face—but somehow, he looked even more handsome than before.

“If you’re fine, let’s go!” Chen Yuanyuan quickly turned away, eager to pull him along.

But just as she moved, Qin Changsheng stopped her with a single sentence: “We don’t have to run.”

“What?” Chen Yuanyuan froze, turning to him in disbelief.

Her Shanhai Beast had fought the mysterious man before, so she knew all too well the adversary’s strength. They stood no chance.

Not running now would mean certain death.

Yet Qin Changsheng’s voice was filled with certainty.

“We don’t need to escape,” he said with a confident smile, standing taller than before. “I have a way to deal with that freak.”