Kayako sent Lin Ze and Ba Chi back to his dream world, leaving her own. Ba Chi looked at him with an odd expression. She didn’t know what love was, so she just found it strange.
Lin Ze understood her gaze. After all, her act of kissing Kayako just now would be like seeing a person kissing a tiger in Ba Chi's eyes, and the tiger looked shy. She was already being very respectful of Lin Ze by merely looking at him strangely.
Yet, neither of them mentioned that scene.
“You… aren’t afraid I’ll go back on my word?” Ba Chi pushed the image from her mind and looked at Lin Ze with a hint of menace.
“I believe you won’t.” Lin Ze’s face showed no worry. If she did, he could just call on Kayako again. At worst, he’d just have wasted his breath. That would also show that Ba Chi was beyond saving.
Ba Chi retracted her feigned ferocity. “Sun Wukong encountered the monk, and I encountered you. I just don’t know how things will end…” She felt a strange emotion, one she couldn’t understand. She thought that once she learned about humans, she’d figure it out.
“Let’s go, and fulfill our agreement.”
Lin Ze and Ba Chi opened their eyes simultaneously. The spirit mediums surrounding them had already taken out various artifacts. Qin Zi kept her eyes fixed on Ba Chi to prevent any untoward actions.
Ba Chi glanced at her lightly. Qin Zi met her gaze without fear. They locked eyes for a moment, and Ba Chi was the first to look away. It was pointless.
She turned to Lin Ze, who was beside Qin Zi. “Lin Ze, can you take me down? It hurts.”
She was still nailed to the tree. Upon hearing her, Lin Ze looked at Qin Zi, who asked with a raised eyebrow, “She agreed?”
Lin Ze nodded. “She’s agreed to sign the contract. Take her down, Sister Qin Zi.”
Qin Zi hesitated slightly. For nearly a century, the other party had acted like a madwoman. She had refused to communicate with countless demon hunters, only engaging in combat. She was full of resentment toward humanity. Lin Ze had only spoken with her for a short time before she dropped her hatred? Was she lying to Lin Ze, or had Kayako subdued her?
While Ba Chi didn’t understand human nature, it didn’t mean she didn’t understand their normal emotions. She could see Qin Zi’s hesitation. “What are you worried about? Will I hurt him? Rest assured, even if I wanted to kill all humans, he’d be the last. Besides, didn’t you already set up a barrier? Where could I even escape to?” There was still a touch of mockery in her tone. It wouldn’t be realistic to expect her to be pleasant with Qin Zi.
Qin Zi sneered and made a simple hand seal. The arrows pinning Ba Chi slowly dissolved.
Her wounds gradually healed. Under Qin Zi’s wary eyes, she went to Lin Ze and slowly knelt. “I promised you. I won’t break my word.”
She was still observing Lin Ze. This was the real world. The terrifying presence named Kayako wasn’t here. Her power could easily tear Lin Ze apart.
Lin Ze’s heart had been tempered to be incredibly strong by Kayako and Fu Jiang. He couldn’t see anything unusual. He knew that Ba Chi was currently imitating the Sun Wukong in his stories. So, he didn’t mind playing the role of a big-hearted Tang Sanzang.
“I know. Sister Qin Zi, I don’t know anything about signing contracts. You handle it.”
Though Qin Zi was curious how Lin Ze had done it, she knew what was important. “Ba Chi, which shrine do you want to be enshrined in? I’ll go fetch the corresponding contract.” Qin Zi didn’t want to give Ba Chi a good face either, but at least for now, she couldn’t provoke her.
“Who said I wanted to sign a contract with a shrine? I want to sign a contract with him.”
“What?” x2 Both Qin Zi and Lin Ze were taken aback. Lin Ze was surprised, while Qin Zi was shocked.
“You want to become his familiar? How do you even know about this kind of contract?” Qin Zi was the first to recover.
“Yes, I made a promise with him. And I don’t trust anyone else. I’ll only sign with him. As for how I know… heh… Two hundred years ago, there was a demon hunter who foolishly thought he could make me his familiar. So, that’s how I learned.” Ba Chi found the thought of that clown amusing. He had attempted to take her down with his meager skills. He wanted to bind her with a contract! She had just casually punched him into several pieces, hadn’t she?
Becoming a familiar would mean being commanded by someone. It also meant fighting for them when they faced danger. The terms and conditions were far more numerous than those of a contract with a shrine. The benefits were fewer too. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant thing to say out loud.
But this was a big benefit for Lin Ze. He would no longer need to worry about being hurt by ordinary ghosts. Ba Chi had a physical body. Now, in the real world, Ba Chi would protect him, while in the spirit world, Kayako would be in charge. Lin Ze’s safety would skyrocket. “Okay, you wait here. I’ll go get a new scroll.”
“…Why?” Lin Ze knew what a familiar was. He didn’t understand why Ba Chi wanted to do this.
“You believe in me, and I only believe in you. I’ll only sign with you.”
Ba Chi was the most human-like of them all. Her gaze was serious as she said those words.
Qin Zi quickly fetched a scroll. She wrote down the basic rules and the additional requests Lin Ze had mentioned, then handed the scroll to them.
Lin Ze dripped a drop of his blood onto the scroll. Ba Chi left her aura on it. Their names automatically appeared on the scroll. A small, engraved token flew out. “Alright, this scroll is overseen by Heaven and Earth. If you break your word, even the gods will punish you.”
As soon as Qin Zi finished speaking, Ba Chi started to become ethereal. Lin Ze felt a connection with her in his heart.
“Lin Ze, Ba Chi is a familiar with a physical body. After becoming a familiar, she can become intangible and usually stays in this token. She will only appear physically once summoned. As for how much power she can use and how long she can be summoned, it all depends on the summoner. You’re not a demon hunter, and I can’t see through you, so I don’t know exactly. But it just so happens that this place is sealed off. Let her and me have a try.” Qin Zi needed a baseline. That way, she could better handle any unexpected situations.
“Are you sure?” Lin Ze looked at Ba Chi, who was eager to try, and felt a little worried. He felt it was wrong to use Sister Qin Zi as practice.
While she couldn’t hurt Qin Zi, she was tough. Ba Chi had just been beat up by her. Naturally, she’d like to beat her up to get back at her. She looked expectantly at Lin Ze, but she didn’t speak. After the contract was established, everything would be under Lin Ze’s control, as long as she didn’t break the rules.
Seeing Qin Zi, who didn’t seem to mind at all, and Ba Chi, who was brimming with anticipation, Lin Ze could only agree. Qin Zi covered herself in talismans again. This time, her attack was different. Ba Chi instantly teleported behind Qin Zi. Having learned from the previous lesson, she had gotten smarter. This time, she punched Qin Zi upwards, then instantly flew behind her, trying to keep her restrained in the air.
Qin Zi was unharmed. She even had the time to ponder why Ba Chi could teleport and fly. The area was sealed, and all non-humans were suppressed. Even though Ba Chi had changed her form, from an urban legend to a familiar, she was still a ghost at her core. Why could she ignore the suppression?
In the air, Qin Zi looked at Lin Ze. “Is it because of Lin Ze?”