"Ah!"
Another scream echoed from downstairs, causing Jiang Yu to shudder. She had lost count of how many there had been. The ghastly mother was killing people, and once she was done with the others, she would return to kill her.
Facing life and death, Jiang Yu made her choice.
"I'll do it. I'm willing to be a servant."
As the saying goes, a bad life is better than a good death.
Xia Tianqiong seemed to have anticipated her decision and was not surprised.
"Baby, form the contract with her."
The ghostly infant was too young to speak, but after forming the contract, Xia Tianqiong could communicate with it through his thoughts.
"Yiya yiya!"
The ghostly infant glanced at Jiang Yu and then shook its head, its large, adorable eyes filled with disdain.
"What does it mean?" Jiang Yu felt a pang of unease.
Xia Tianqiong chuckled, "It thinks you're useless and doesn't want to contract with you."
Jiang Yu was taken aback. "Tianqiong, can you persuade it?"
The ghostly infant had an equal contract with Xia Tianqiong, so he couldn't force it against its will.
"Be good, listen to me, and form the contract. I'll give you delicious food every day."
Xia Tianqiong carried the ghostly infant to the kitchen. There were still two boxes of the conjured food left uneaten. He picked up a box of braised pork knuckles and fed it to the ghostly infant.
The ghostly infant laughed gleefully, clutching the pork knuckle almost as big as its body and began to gnaw on it. Simultaneously, a wisp of contract energy emerged from it, encircling Jiang Yu.
Xia Tianqiong quickly reminded her, "Now say you willingly form the contract and acknowledge it as your master, and the contract will be complete."
Jiang Yu repeated his words hastily, and the contract was finally sealed. At that moment, the ghastly mother, having killed everyone in the building, suddenly appeared before Jiang Yu.
"Ah! Don't kill me! I've contracted with your child too."
The ghastly mother sensed the contract but looked displeased, glaring at Xia Tianqiong. "Why did you make my child contract with this useless person?"
Xia Tianqiong smiled faintly, "To find a nanny for your child, what's wrong with that? Besides, anyone who follows me won't be useless. Why don't you form a contract with me too? That way, you and your child won't be separated."
"Hmph, you think you're worthy?"
With a cold snort, the ghastly mother vanished, her voice echoing from the void, "Take good care of my child. I will come to check on it anytime."
"Safe travels," Xia Tianqiong called out into the air.
Jiang Yu trembled, asking, "Is it really gone this time? It won't come back, right?"
Xia Tianqiong turned his gaze to the window. Where there had been impenetrable darkness, a faint light now appeared on the horizon.
"The ghastly mother has left, and the eerie domain covering the building has vanished. It's already past three in the morning, nearly dawn."
"She's gone. You won't be eaten."
"Waah~"
Jiang Yu suddenly squatted on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. The fear of waiting for death had been more terrifying than death itself. Since the ghastly mother's appearance, she had been enveloped in this fear. Now, with her survival assured, the relief she felt could only be released through tears.
Xia Tianqiong walked past her. "After you finish crying, go home, take a bath, and change into clean clothes."
Jiang Yu's face flushed with embarrassment. She remembered she had wet her pants in fright and quickly ran back to her apartment.
Xia Tianqiong sat on the sofa with the ghostly infant, contemplating his gains since his rebirth.
Two ghostly contracts: a wild ghost-level food delivery ghost and a fierce ghost-level ghostly infant.
Three ghostly abilities: the delivery ghost's "Door Opening Technique" and "Netherworld Delivery," and the ghostly infant's "Shadow Teleportation."
Sixteen strands of the ghastly mother's hair and a large silver ingot, weighing about a dozen ounces.
"In just two or three hours, I've gained almost as much as I had in my previous life."
Xia Tianqiong sighed softly, feeling hopeful about this new life.
The next step was to contract as many powerful ghosts as possible or hunt them to create ghost currency in the early stages of the ghostly invasion.
A perfect target was coming up. Tomorrow night, a fierce ghost-level entity would appear in Jiuhua City, killing six or seven thousand people in one go. This incident would mark the beginning of the full-scale ghostly invasion, forcing the authorities to publicly acknowledge the existence of ghosts.
This ghost had wreaked havoc for years in his previous life, killing countless people before being defeated and contracted by a ghost hunter with a delivery ghost. Now, with a delivery ghost of his own, Xia Tianqiong could plan to subdue this ghost.
In the early stages of the ghostly invasion, a fierce ghost-level entity was considered top-tier. Contracting it would allow him to dominate.
Jiang Yu returned home, still shaken. She hurriedly showered, changed her clothes, and went back to Xia Tianqiong's room.
"Tianqiong, what's going on? Can you tell me?"
Looking at Jiang Yu with her wet hair, Xia Tianqiong suddenly realized that this maid could be considered another one of his gains.
He had an equal contract with the ghostly infant, while the ghostly infant had a master-slave contract with Jiang Yu. As long as he paid the ghostly infant accordingly, he could use Jiang Yu as he wished, just like using ghostly abilities.
After all, she now entirely belonged to the ghostly infant, which could take her life and soul at any time.
"I can only tell you that the apocalypse is here. Now go pack your things. We'll leave before dawn."
"Where are we going?"
Jiang Yu still hadn't grasped her new role as a servant.
Xia Tianqiong responded coldly, "Just follow orders. When the time comes, you'll know what you need to."
Jiang Yu wanted to say more but dared not, obediently returning to her room to pack.
"Alright, stop eating. Let me test your teleportation ability."
Xia Tianqiong took the half-eaten pork knuckle from the ghostly infant, prompting it to protest with a series of unhappy noises. After some coaxing, it finally agreed, transforming into a wisp of ghostly light and merging into his body.
When a ghost resides within a human, the person can wield the ghost's abilities.
Xia Tianqiong felt a strange sensation as he realized the ghostly infant's "Shadow Teleportation" allowed him to perceive all the shadows within a fifty-meter radius.
It was like having a three-dimensional radar in his mind. He could detect where shadows were, their shapes, and sizes with perfect clarity.
He saw Jiang Yu next door, moving around her room. No, to be precise, he perceived her shadow moving, not her physical form.
Suddenly, a mischievous idea crossed his mind.
Jiang Yu was packing her suitcase, thinking about how Xia Tianqiong seemed different from before. The most crucial thing was that she had signed a master-slave contract with a ghost child, condemning her to a life of servitude. She couldn't fathom how he would treat her in the future.
As she worried, her shadow seemed to flicker, and a figure suddenly emerged from it.
"Ah!"
Jiang Yu clutched her chest, retreating in terror, thinking a ghost had appeared.
"Don't scream, it's me."
Xia Tianqiong quickly covered her mouth. Without the eerie domain's isolation, a loud scream could be heard by the neighbors or people outside the building.
"Tianqiong? Are you... a ghost?"
To Jiang Yu, only a ghost could appear and disappear so mysteriously.
"Of course not. I'm merely using ghostly abilities. Continue packing; I'll check the other rooms."
With that, Xia Tianqiong vanished, leaving a bewildered Jiang Yu behind.
Why did he come to my room? Was it just to scare me?
Jiang Yu guessed correctly. Xia Tianqiong wanted to frighten her, making her aware that he could appear anytime and monitor her, ensuring she wouldn't harbor any rebellious thoughts.
By four in the morning, the sky was beginning to lighten, though the sun had yet to rise. The two quietly left the residential area in an off-road vehicle.
The car had belonged to the burly man they found earlier. Since the man was dead, he couldn't accuse them of theft.
"Tianqiong, are we fleeing?" Jiang Yu asked, unable to suppress her curiosity from the passenger seat.
"No, we're hunting ghosts," Xia Tianqiong replied nonchalantly.
"What!"
Jiang Yu exclaimed in horror, "Ghosts are dangerous! Why hunt them?"
"I'm hunting ghosts. You have a different task."
Xia Tianqiong and Jiang Yu referred to ghosts with different meanings. He couldn't be bothered to explain.
He planned to go to Jiuhua City the next day to subdue the fierce ghost-level entity. But before that, he needed to hunt some weaker wild ghosts to create more ghost currency.
This would help restore the delivery ghost's strength and pay for using the shadow teleportation ability.
If he encountered wild ghosts with useful abilities, he could also contract them to enhance his power.