Chapter 2: Signing the Contract!

“Disperse now. Yuhu, quickly take the Wang family boy home, don’t let him catch a cold,” Li Si said as he approached the group of children, addressing Yu Hu.

“Mr. Li!” Yuhu exclaimed, somewhat agitated.

Li Si raised an eyebrow and said coldly, “What, do you want to start a fight in front of me? Should I give you a reward?”
“No, no, I wouldn’t dare…” Hearing Li Si’s words, Yuhu became sheepish. He pulled up the child still on the ground and ran away with the group of children.

After the group of children had gone, Li Si approached the lone little boy. The boy was wearing plain-colored clothes and had a somewhat wooden expression. As Li Si walked over, the corners of the boy’s mouth seemed to curl up slightly, then disappear, looking somewhat strange.

However, Li Si’s body had slightly poor eyesight and didn’t see clearly.

Looking at this delicately carved little boy, Li Si lifted the hem of his long robe and squatted down, saying softly, “Where are your parents? How did you end up here alone?”

The little boy looked at Li Si, tilted his head as if seeing something particularly interesting, and revealed a happy expression, grinning. He seemed no different from ordinary children. But his smile grew wider and wider. Then his neck split open with a “pop” like torn cloth, revealing the bones and flesh inside.

Li Si was dazed, a chill running from his tailbone straight to his head. At this moment, he even suspected his hair was standing on end. He had never imagined he would be so unlucky, having just been reborn without even getting a chance to properly see this world.

He had just stepped out and encountered a ghost.

At this moment, he also remembered that earlier when the Wang family boy fell, he had fallen forward and sprawled down, not backward as one usually does when bumping into someone.

That Wang family boy was also a child from a nearby poor family, not one to cry easily. He must have known he had bumped into a ghost, which is why he cried so hard.

At this moment, Li Si’s adrenal glands were secreting frantically, and he suddenly understood the whole situation clearly.

These thoughts passed in an instant, not even taking a few seconds.

Li Si’s expression became serious as he admonished the little boy, “Go home quickly, don’t let your parents worry.” After speaking, he forcefully pressed down on his slightly trembling legs to stand up and turned left to walk towards his own house.

It was just a few steps, but Li Si felt like years were passing. His heart was in his throat, and he clearly felt the little boy behind him staring and smiling, following him.

Heavens! He had lived for over twenty years, and today he had really encountered a ghost!!!

“Pat.” Li Si felt something tap his right shoulder. His body froze, and his head turned slightly to the right, his eyes glancing towards the lower right corner. He discovered a head resting on his right shoulder, his eyes meeting directly with the pitch-black eyes of that head. Goosebumps immediately covered his entire body.

“You have encountered a low-level ghost creature—Beheaded Ghost. Do you want to sign a contract?”

Suddenly, a message entered his mind, and Li Si was stunned. He suddenly remembered the game he was playing before his death. Did he still have the player’s abilities from the game?

Sign contracts with ghosts, buy items, strengthen ghosts.

Li Si was about to open his mouth to say “sign the contract,” but he found that he couldn’t move his body. He wanted to open his mouth, but it didn’t move at all, as if his mouth didn’t belong to him!

Li Si’s eyes were filled with fear. He desperately shouted in his mind, “Sign! Sign the contract!! Sign the contract! Hurry up!!! Damn it!!!”

“Signing this ghost requires 20 soul points. Your soul points are 0, unable to sign the contract.” The message was coldly emotionless.

Li Si’s face turned pale, his eyes revealing a desperate look. He watched as the ghost head opened its large mouth, a long tongue slowly falling onto his neck and beginning to wrap around it. The wet tongue made his skin break out in goosebumps.

In his heart, he cursed the game thoroughly. Why did they set up this soul point system in the game? Where could he get these now?

Soul points were values that could only be obtained after destroying ghosts, but where could he get such a thing now?
Should he use love to slay this Beheaded Ghost now? And then use these soul points to sign a contract with this ghost?

Now Li Si’s brain was like paste, all sorts of chaotic thoughts emerging.

“Do you want to exchange 20 years of lifespan for 20 soul points?”

“Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! Quickly sign the contract with me!!!” Seeing the only hope for survival, Li Si immediately discarded his messy thoughts, overjoyed, and shouted in his mind.

“Contract signing successful. You have paid 20 years of lifespan in exchange for 20 soul points. Your current remaining lifespan is 5 years, 2 months, and 15 days. Soul points: 0.”

Li Si lay paralyzed on the ground, not caring about the muddy water, and burst into laughter.

Afraid of being heard by nearby neighbors, he covered his mouth with both hands, emitting suppressed laughter.

However, as he laughed, tears flowed from the corners of his eyes. These twists and turns had nearly killed him. He didn’t like this world at all, but he couldn’t go back, couldn’t return to his original safe world!!!

Fortunately, before this, the people in this alley had all gone home, otherwise, they would really think that the kind Mr. Li had become a madman.

“Dong! — Dong!” “Dong! — Dong!” “Dong! — Dong!”

After a while, the sound of the night watchman suddenly came from afar, along with a voice: “The weather is dry, be careful with fire and candles.”

Li Si hurriedly got up from the ground and ran into the house. His disheveled appearance was like that of a clown.
After stumbling into the house, Li Si ran to the backyard, stripped off all his clothes, and washed the mud off his body with clean water from the ceramic vat in the backyard.

Then, completely naked, he crawled into the blanket, turned to his side, and stared intently at the boy standing in the doorway.

Beheaded Ghost
Ghost Level: Low-level ghost
Abilities: Ghost Candle Blowing; Etherealization; Long Tongue;
Current Relationship: Contracted.
Current Soul Strength: 20

Ignoring the Beheaded Ghost staring at him from the doorway, Li Si shouted in his mind, “Open the store.”
Li Si remembered there was a store in the game, so he wanted to confirm if he now possessed this feature. If he did, his chances of survival in this world would be much greater. If not, he could consider ending his own life, otherwise, he would die miserably in this world.

Fortunately, he was not disappointed. Nine items appeared in his mind.

Flame Yang Peach Wood Heart Sword: A peach wood sword made from the heart of a 9000-year-old peach tree, capable of slaying ghosts with the scorching yang energy absorbed over thousands of years. Exchange price: 3000 soul points.

Eight Trigrams Purple Yang Mirror: Can absorb yang energy from heaven and earth to nourish ghost creatures, and can also convert the absorbed yang energy into purple yang fire to burn ghost creatures. Exchange price: 1500 soul points.
1 Year Lifespan: After exchange, can increase lifespan by one year. Exchange price: 200 points.

Ghost Strengthening Liquid: A liquid composed of pure soul power, can increase a ghost creature’s soul strength by 10 points when consumed. Exchange price: 12 points.

“Mystic Tortoise Record”: A cultivation method created by imitating the divine turtle, after mastering it, movements can be slow or fast, using speed to counter slowness and slowness to counter speed. Exchange price: 85 points. (Special price: 3 points)

Eight Trigrams Mirror: An ordinary Eight Trigrams mirror, can see the death appearance (true form) of low-level ghosts and monster creatures. Exchange price: 18 soul points (Special price: 1 point).

Long Sword: The long sword of the ancient swordsman Luye Qiu, one of the world’s rare treasures. Exchange price: 13 soul points (Special price: 1 point).

Protective Charm: A protective charm written with an unknown red liquid, preventing high-level ghost creatures and below from harming the wearer. Becomes ineffective after 30 days of wear. Exchange price: 60 points (Special price: 2 points).

Low-grade Death Jade: A mixed jade wrapped in resentful energy, can be used as a container for ghost creatures. Ghost creatures staying in the death jade for a long time will slowly increase in strength. Exchange price: 30 points (Special price: 1 point).

Next item refresh time: 14 days 22 hours 56 minutes 16 seconds.

Note: Special price items only appear for the first time, they will not be available again in the future.
Seeing the exchange price for lifespan, Li Si was filled with mixed emotions. The system’s greed was truly beyond measure. But thankfully, there was a function to exchange lifespan for soul points, otherwise, he would be dead by now.

At the same time, he was somewhat speechless. The original owner was only in his early twenties, yet he only had twenty-five years to live, truly a short-lived ghost. Now, even more frustratingly, he only had five years of life left.
…
Li Si shook his head, skipping over the items he couldn’t afford right now, and fixed his gaze on the remaining five special-priced items he could buy.