"Uh-huh, I remember it very clearly."
"I see."
Cen Dongsheng crossed his arms, nodding slightly with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Is there a problem?"
She blinked and cautiously asked.
"No, it's good news."
He smiled.
"Since the internal environment of the ghost house doesn't affect you much, it means your body is gradually adapting, and you might soon become a Forbidden Master."
For ordinary people, it's not easy, even if they have the aptitude to refine True Qi, they must also acquire a Curse Prohibition—however, as a future Ancestor, Sister Zhi Zhen was probably not far from awakening her own Destiny, he added in his heart.
"Really? That's great!"
Sister Zhi Zhen clapped her hands joyfully.
"It's really frustrating and annoying to watch you fight, Dongsheng, while not being able to help from the sidelines."
Cen Dongsheng just smiled.
I suppose in the future, I'll be clinging to your coattails.
A single protection can exchange for a great future, there's no better deal to be had—
However, he still wanted to solidify this relationship.
"Sister Zhi Zhen, do you remember a week ago, the afternoon before the ghost house transformation, when we were chatting by the flowerbed?"
"Yeah! You mentioned... the need for like-minded partners, right?"
"I don't know what kind of 'partner' you need, but I think with Sister Zhi Zhen's wisdom, it should be evident that if things like those happening in Xiaokang Building become widespread, it would bring an enormous change to human society."
As he spoke, Sister Zhi Zhen nodded continuously, clearly agreeing with his words.
"Most people are still in the dark; but sooner or later, the truth will out. By then, the world order will be turned upside down... a storm is coming."
Cen Dongsheng's expression turned serious.
"I hope, in the future, we can become partners."
He said.
Not just partners in collaboration, but teammates who can fight side by side, able to rely on and trust each other even in dire straits.
"A lifelong... the only one kind of?"
Cen Dongsheng was taken aback for a moment, but upon seeing the expectant look in Sister Zhi Zhen's eyes, he slowly nodded.
"Would you be willing?"
"Of course I would!" she replied cheerfully, "Rather, I'm relieved to know I can rely on you in the future."
...I am the one who should truly feel relieved.
Although he had anticipated this, Cen Dongsheng at this moment still felt as if a heavy stone had finally settled in his heart.
Finally—
He finally had some tangible feeling, couldn't help but clench his fist, as if holding his future in the palm of his hand.
—Ever since being reborn, he had the real sense of changing his own Destiny, even changing the entire world.
He did not hide this excitement. Seeing the young man's joyful and lively appearance, so different from the calm and brave warrior of the past week, An Zhizhen couldn't help but laugh.
"You seem even happier than I am, how strange, I am the one being taken care of."
She cupped one cheek in her hand, murmuring softly.
"Being with me is worth that much joy..."
An Zhizhen covered her flushed face with her hand. At that moment, she suddenly seemed to remember something and took out a small item wrapped in a handkerchief.
"Oh, right! There's also this item. Since I didn't know what effect it had, I didn't dare to touch it; I just hid it."
When she uncovered it, there lay a small red orb.
"It fell from you."
"This is..."
It was the forbidden item that Kong Yulin and Deng Rong had been desperately seeking.
Cen Dongsheng placed the red orb, his trophy, in his hand and closed his eyes to feel it for a moment.
As True Qi flowed in, the forbidden item immediately reacted, its surface blooming with fine, neat cracks, then unfurled in segments like a small lotus blooming in his palm.
His expression turned peculiar.
"...It turned out to be this thing."
In the past, Cen Dongsheng didn't even have a forbidden item of his own, let alone any designation as a "forbidden item expert," he was just like any other ordinary person, hearing tales of those famous items in the world of Forbidden Masters.
But he didn't know whether to say, "It's a strange coincidence," as this was one such item.
In fact, compared to those Special Class forbidden items with great abilities, it was not renowned for its power, but for the anecdotes associated with it.
This item was named "Blood Contract Medium," as the name implied, it served as a spell medium to establish a covenant between people through flesh and blood, unique in the world.
"Unexpectedly, in this lifetime it landed in my hands..."
The contract required mutual consent; once established, neither party could harm the other, yet there still existed a "master and slave" distinction, with the user as the master and the other as the slave.
While the master couldn't kill the slave, they could give commands that the slave had to absolutely obey. Disobedience would result in immense pain.
And as everyone knew, whether it was Curse Prohibition or Prohibition of Objects, there existed Level Suppression—a lower-ranked supernatural power would be greatly diminished when facing a higher-ranked one, seen as a "Birth Horoscope" disparity.
But what made the Blood Contract Medium special was that it acted upon the body, representing a ritual involving the ancient and primal "blood and spirit" relationship in human history. This "primality" granted it unique properties.
Once, one of its holders, a Class B Curse Forbidden Master, used the "Blood Contract Medium" on a lover of theirs who was just an ordinary person at the time.