novelraw Chapter 524: Soul Contract
Chapter 524: Soul Contract
The lowest price among the offers from the higher demons was for a sand worm—one hundred complete souls.
Ruth turned her face toward the wind chimes on the tavern door and remained silent.
“How long will it take to get to the other side of the mountain?” Lu Li asked the sand worm’s owner, a four-armed demon covered in purple spikes.
“130 hours.”
The four-armed demon quoted an extremely long time.
“Why so long?” Lu Li asked, frowning.
The Black Rock Volcano was only about 150 to 200 kilometers in diameter; even with obstacles, it should have been possible to cross it on foot in less than 130 hours.
“Kid, are you trying to go through the Death Wind and the Great Chasm?” The four-armed demon’s voice was as sharp as the spikes on its body. “To reach the other side of the Black Rock Volcano, you have to go around.”
“What are the Death Wind and the Great Chasm?” Lu Li asked.
This information wasn’t valuable; any being who had lingered near the Black Rock Volcano for a while would know about them. A helpful humanoid demon spoke up, “The Death Wind is an aura of destruction that shrouds the central part of the Black Rock Volcano. Any soul that enters it will be utterly annihilated, leaving nothing behind, but it cannot harm powerful souls or demons.”“The most dangerous part is the Great Chasm. It stretches across the other side of the volcano, almost completely severing the Black Rock Volcano from the land. It wasn’t always so treacherous; bridges were even built across it once. But a few hundred years ago, a bottomless, gloomy aura began to spread there.”
“Power, space, everything there becomes distorted, meaningless. Not even the most powerful devils and demons of Hell can cross that bottomless Great Chasm.”
“How long would it take to go around the Great Chasm by the fastest route?” Lu Li inquired.
“The eagle demon and that winged demon,” the humanoid demon glanced at their respective owners, “they can get you to the other side of the Black Rock Volcano and the Great Chasm in 70 hours.”
Lu Li clearly didn’t have 70 hours.
He might not even have had seven.
The Devil’s much-lauded offspring wouldn’t grant Lu Li another seven hours.
“What if I cross the Great Chasm directly?”
“No demon will take that deal unless you buy a mount outright. But I doubt you can afford the steep price.”
“So, how long?”
The humanoid demon’s black eyes stared at Lu Li with indifference for a few moments. “Three hours. Maybe less.”
Lu Li nodded and announced in a voice that all of Hell could hear, “I need a mount that can take me through the Death Wind and the Great Chasm to the other side of the volcano.”
There was no response, though a few demons eyed Lu Li.
“Just getting me to the Great Chasm will do.”
The humanoid demon watched the scene with interest. After ten seconds, the stone demon sitting opposite Ruth rumbled, “What can you offer for it?”
Its mount was a skeletal horse; Lu Li clearly remembered the creature of bone standing outside the tavern.
Without looking at Ruth—she had already done enough—Lu Li thought for a moment before saying calmly, “I am a medium.”
The eyes of many of Hell’s denizens in the tavern focused on him again, and Lu Li could clearly feel the undisguised greed in many of their gazes.
They craved what Lu Li could do—or perhaps, they craved him himself...
“Only a living human could possess such a pure soul-force,” the humanoid demon chuckled, as if he had known all along.
Lu Li continued, “If there is anything I can do for you, please tell me.”
“Including your soul!” a wavering, hoarse voice cried out.
The humanoid demon told Lu Li, who was searching for the source of the sound, “That’s a formless demon. He’s always like that, no ill intent.”
Lu Li looked away and shook his head, replying, “There’s no point in that.”
“He meant your soul after you die,” the humanoid demon added. Lu Li considered it for a moment but still decided to refuse.
Whatever the case, paying with his own soul was too high a price.
“When you return, summon me to the human world.” The stone demon suddenly stood up, its head nearly touching the tavern ceiling. “If you can do that, my skeletal horse will take you to the Great Chasm and protect your soul from the Death Wind.”
“You’re not some soul-devouring devil, why would you want to go to the human world!” one of the other demons jeered.
The flames in the stone demon’s cracks flared instantly, bursting from beneath its skin, but they soon subsided. It snorted gruffly, “Is there something wrong with wanting to see a new landscape?”
This dispelled some of Lu Li’s hidden concerns. After waiting a little longer to ensure no one else would join the bidding, Lu Li said to the stone demon, “How do we make the deal?”
“A contract,” the humanoid demon said, snapping his fingers lightly.
A black cloud appeared over the counter, dissipating to reveal a scroll of parchment.
“The parties agree on the terms of the deal and record the contract. The one who breaks it will be stripped of their soul, and not even a devil can bear the burden of violating the contract.”
The stone demon left its table and approached Lu Li.
Although the stone demon suppressed its flames and aura as much as possible, Lu Li could still feel a searing heat radiating from it.
Lu Li and the stone demon agreed on the terms. The stone demon would lend Lu Li its skeletal horse to help him safely reach the bridge of the Great Chasm. The stone demon would tell Lu Li its true name, and Lu Li, upon his return, would have to find a way to summon the stone demon to the human world.
The stone demon’s demands were surprisingly lenient, not even binding Lu Li to absolute completion, which left him some room to maneuver.
But it also seemed perfectly logical; all the beings in Hell seemed used to it—after all, it was just a stone demon.
Lu Li and the stone demon each left a drop of blood on the soul contract, and the black cloud once again swallowed the parchment, signifying the deal’s successful conclusion.
“Something may have happened on the surface. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to do it,” Lu Li told the stone demon.
“My treasure already knows. You can go straight to it when you leave,” the demon said, waving a dismissive hand before returning to its seat.
Then, the stone demon excitedly boasted to its companion that it had made a soul contract with a medium.
Perhaps the stone demon didn’t care if Lu Li could actually bring it to the human world; it just wanted another story to tell for the next few hundred years.
“I don’t know why you’re in such a hurry. Is it worth it?” the humanoid demon asked Lu Li with some confusion after the deal was done.
“It’s incredibly important,” Lu Li replied.
The humanoid demon summoned another parchment and pulled a yellowed handkerchief with a scorched corner from under the counter.
“If you make it back to the surface, give this handkerchief to someone from the Pas-Joseph family.” A hint of reminiscence seemed to flicker in the humanoid demon’s black eyes. “In exchange, I’ll take care of a few minor annoyances for you.”
His gaze swept casually over some of the demons who had previously shown their greed toward Lu Li.
“Thank you,” Lu Li said.
After leaving two more drops of blood, a second soul contract was sealed.
“You were supposed to say, ‘Pleasure doing business.’”