Chapter 23: The Pact of Shared Honor and Decay_1

Pei Ye's perceptions of Black Chi and Black Chi's intentions towards Pei Ye seemed to diverge significantly.

Pei Ye maintained his doubt and wariness from the very start. His principle was simple and plain, exactly as he told Lu Youcai: "Just because I'm nothing more than a destitute man now, I can clearly understand everything."

Unable to repay the kindness, dare not accept favors. Some people might think that being a poor guy, they're not worth someone's attention. They might decide to simply accept everything without second thoughts, choosing to deal with any repercussions only when the time comes. Pei Ye thought that Grandfather Yue was one of those people.

However, as for Pei Ye himself, precisely because he couldn't figure out what made him desirable, he became even more cautious and skeptical in the face of these unusually generous benefits. The more he received and the more he was given, the more he wondered at the cost that might be demanded in return.

Above all, what deepened his suspicion was the activation method for the Quail Head.

"Yes," Pei Ye admitted.

"We can communicate openly — why?"

"Is this your purpose?" Pei Ye asked in return.

"What?"

"To let that gourd enter my body."

"Why would you think that? Wasn't revenge your own choice? Wasn't killing that man your own effort?"

"..."

"Do you think I'm manipulating everything as if it were a plaything?"

"I don't know," Pei Ye confessed. "Your appearance seems tied to them. I feel used, particularly since the method to activate Quail Head was that handprint."

"...I really can't answer your last question. It's a mystery to me too because Quail Head is not my ability, I am just... temporarily possessing it," Black Chi chose his words carefully. "As for your two other doubts, I've been open to you from the very start. 'I help you, then you help me', remember?"

Pei Ye slowly nodded, "I remember. You saved my life last night, and today my blood feud is avenged thanks to Quail Head. Regardless, I will repay this favor."

"Good, how about we make a pact between us?"

"...What?"

"This will be how you help me."

"I don't understand."

"In our case, we're born harboring Mysterious Qi. We can only gather external Qi if we make a life pact with humans. To put it plainly, I just want to take in a bit of your Qi, benefit from your life's fate so I can control the Mysterious Qi — how do you humans say it? 'Control the Mysterious Qi,' right? In return, you can also reap benefits from me."

Pei Ye contemplated and asked, "If it's a mutual benefit, how does this count as helping you?"

"Because I am in a dangerous situation right now and need this pact to strengthen myself even more. This pact is called 'Shared Fate of Prosperity and Decadence,' which means if I encounter danger, you will also suffer heavy losses."

"So you want me to help you?"

"You can't help, making this pact is enough."

"Then... why choose me?" Pei Ye finally asked. "Or did you have any specific criteria for the person to make this pact with?"

"Fateful laws."

"..." Pei Ye obviously wasn't satisfied with this answer, "What does 'fateful laws' mean?"

"Since it's a life pact, naturally, the life's destiny needs to match. Different beasts have different types of people for life pacts. This is a sort of mysterious selection. If you require me to express it in human language, it would reluctantly be 'young', 'sword', 'clear state of mind', 'resolute'."

"I wouldn't be young forever." Pei Ye asked with a spirit of serious inquiry.

"It only represents the choice of this moment and place."

"Hmm."

"Any other questions?"

"After your crisis passes, can this pact be dissolved?"

"It's tricky, but yes."

Pei Ye breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright, since you saved my life first, I'm willing to take the risk for you — how do we make this pact?"

"Good question," Black Chi responded without any change in its tone, "To form this pact, both parties must intertwine their lives. Only entrusting their lives to each other can form it."

Pei Ye suddenly realized, "You saved me once last night, I'll find a way to save you once. This is how the pact can be formed?"

"You've already saved me once."

Pei Ye was taken aback, "When?"

Black Chi turned its huge head. For the first time, Pei Ye lay his eyes on this creature's appearance—it was majestic, deep, splendid. It was exquisite and light-hearted without the horns but with a bit of delicacy. Each detail was intricately carved, every scale was glowing with a jade-like sheen.

Amidst its majestic appearance, a pair of lucid blue eyes quietly met with his own.

Pei Ye lost his words in shock, "You are that—"

"Not completely," Black Chi turned its head away, "Don't bother applying the medicine anymore."

"Then…how do we form the pact?"

"It's simple, you just need to say 'Pei Ye, Quail Head'."

"Pei Ye, Quail Head," Pei Ye attempted.

"Mysterious Fire, Truly Sunken," Black Chi responded.

Pei Ye felt something connected.

In his Dantian, a shadow of Chi starting circling around the faint blue sphere, he clearly felt that Quail Head was within it. This god-given ability was consolidated in his Dantian through the shadow of the Chi.

"Is this good?" Pei Ye didn't feel any change.

"It's good."

"If you had said earlier that you were that cat..."

"You would trust just because of a cat that accompanied for two days?"

"Hmm, it would be a bit more intimate, plus I really like it."

"You better not arbitrarily treat others as pets."

"…I'm sorry."

"Since our lives share the same prosperity and decay, may I ask you a question?" Pei Ye paused for a while, "What exactly is happening to my body?"

In this dream, he could introspect his body. The good news was that his internal injuries were completely healed and the traces left by the dragon's heartworm-like larvae had completely disappeared. The bad news was that his Dantian seed vanished, only a solid faint blue sphere was left in the Dantian.

"To put it simply, you achieved his original objective," Black Chi pondered a bit. "But I don't know what you can do with such a body."

"Will I turn into that kind of monster?" Pei Ye raised his arm full of blue patterns.

"No, but it will still somewhat transform your body to a certain degree. This transformation, should achieve Zhushi Sect's original plan, but for you, it might be a blessing or a curse,"

Black Chi pondered for a while and said, "To my guess, the Mysterious Qi sphere in your Dantian should be the nutrients for a seed to grow."

"A seed? The Dantian seed? But my Dantian seed has already been melted by it."

"Yes, an ordinary Dantian seed could only serve as fertilizer," Black Chi analyzed while pondering. "Therefore, I assume that what could grow here should be a more powerful, unique seed."

"...I have never heard of the Dantian seed being replaceable."

"No?" Black Chi expressed some surprise. "Why do I feel like this is something quite common?"

It fell into thought for a while and said somewhat vexedly: "…I have lost a lot of memories."

Pei Ye gently patted the huge body under him.

"But I should be correct," Black Chi finally asserted, "You need to find that seed, Zhushi Sect must know where it is."