The sunlight illuminated the greenery outside. Painting a picturesque view from the living room. But Li Jiangsu could only see the abyss in front of him. He had to force his racing mind to calm down. He slowly breathed in and exhaled.

The white-robed man smiled and said. “Sigh, I sound so evil. I suppose no one here wants to die today. Let me at least offer some encouragement. The mission is very simple.

“The Lighthouse Foundation has begun to expand their operation and is now looking for new hires. You guys will be joining them. Don’t worry about trivial stuff like the chance of getting the job. If you accept this mission, I will make sure you guys get hired.

“Easy enough right? You guys only need to earn the trust and friendship of the chairman.”

Li Jiangsu asked. “When is the mission considered completed? Friendship and trust are too vague. What if he died before we could befriend him? Would you come and kill us then?”

“I will consider it to be completed when next year arrives. Even if you guys fail to build a relationship with him.” The white-robed man grinned mysteriously.

Receiving this answer, Li Jiangsu, Xia Jiang, and Xian Er fell into contemplation. The white-robed man wouldn’t have told them this is a high-risk mission if it was so easy to carry out. This can only mean one thing: We will face danger before the year’s end.

Once Li Jiangsu discovered the pitfall behind this ‘straightforward’ mission, he gave the white-robed man a glare. By telling us that we could die any time in the next few months if we are not careful. Does he want to mentally torture us?

The white-robed man didn't mind the look from Li Jiangsu. He continued to speak. “I will use the Pledge artifact to make sure we are bound to our agreements. I’m sure you guys know what it’s, right?”

He rolled the three papers in his hand and threw them to Li Jiangsu. Then he took out one more paper as well as a fountain pen out of his robe. The paper was completely black and had a considerable thickness. While the fountain pen’s body is entirely snow-white.

The white-robed man sat down and began to write on the black paper using the white pen. After a moment, a third of the paper was filled with white ink lines. The white-robed man carefully read what he had written and then cut his own finger with the knife so he could drip the blood onto the paper. The blood ‘boiled’, releasing thick steam despite the small amount of it. When the steam had disappeared the white-robed man said.

“Come and sign this Pledge one by one.”

The trio felt helpless in face of this situation. They could only comply with whatever they were told to do. Li Jiangsu read the content of the paper before he signed it with his blood.

“The Pledge between the Lord and the three Servants.

The Servants shall not cause harm to the Lord. Whether directly or indirectly. Unless it contradicts with the rest of the Pledge.

The Servants shall try to build relationships with Yan Xiang of the Lighthouse Foundation.

The Lord shall not directly cause harm to the Servants.

The Pledge between the Lord and Servants shall last until next year.

Oh, Lord of Aberrations! We pray for your acknowledgement.

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May the Lord of Aberrations be a witness to this Pledge.”

After everyone had signed the Pledge, the black paper glowed with white light before disappearing completely.

“I am looking forward to a pleasant cooperation.” The white-robed man bowed slightly. “Now it’s time to take care of this place.”

The trio could only force out a thin smile. They watched as the white-robed man retrieved the money bag inside another room and started pouring clear liquid around the house. Li Jiangsu wondered, How could he fit so many things inside that robe?

He was a bit amazed by how much stuff the white-robed man carried around. He had seen a few artifacts back in the Nine Heavens Empire that had this storage capability but it was never in the form of clothes. But what he saw next made his jaw drop.

The white-robed man reached deeply into his robe and pulled out a humanoid-shaped black mass. Its size is similar to Cheng Zhu’s body. He then pulled another one out and this time the size-matched Cheng Yuan’s body.

“It’s a habit of mine to prepare things like this. Very useful in situations like these.” The white-robed man smiled and took out another artifact once again. This time it’s a transparent glove with complex patterns that grow and shrink at regular intervals. “Oh, I nearly forgot. Here’s some money for you guys.”

He threw a small but fat wallet to Li Jiangsu. Li Jiangsu caught it but he didn’t count it right away. He watched as the white-robed man brought Cheng Zhu and Cheng Yuan to them.

“Don’t be shy, come and hold on to me. Unless you want to remain here, however that’s fine for me as well.” The white-robed man lit up a matchstick and flung it toward the area with the clear liquid. In a blink of an eye, the area was set ablaze and continued to grow.

Once the trio saw this, they didn’t hesitate any longer and grabbed the white-robed man. The white-robed man stretched out his hand with the transparent glove; grabbed the air; twisted his hand a few degrees and then ripped the ‘air’ apart like tearing a paper.

This resulted in a large hole that showed a scene of an alley somewhere, suspended in front of them. “Let’s go through it.” The white-robed man said and walked into the hole while carrying the couple. The trio followed behind while holding onto the robe.

When they stepped into the hole it didn’t feel any different from going through a door. It’s just that they had to raise their legs a bit higher. Otherwise, it was uneventful. The hole shattered into ‘pieces’ and vanished after everyone got to the other side.

After checking that they are alright, the trio let go of their hands and cautiously distanced away from the white-robed man.

“I recommend you guys to run away from this place as soon as possible. Those Tigers might come here any moment now.” The white-robed man looked at them with a smile. “Hopefully, we’ll meet again.”

Li Jiangsu didn’t reply as he watched the white-robed man create another ‘hole’ and entered it. This time the other side was dark and Li Jiangsu couldn’t make out any details. A few seconds after the white-robed man disappeared, all of them could finally release a loud sigh.

“Let’s get out of here, he probably wasn’t joking around.” Li Jiangsu suggested.

“Um-hum” Xia Jiang and Xian Er replied.

***

20 minutes after the trio had fled the scene, a person appeared. He had white hair and innocent brown eyes. His skin is as soft as a newborn baby. Anyone who saw him would unconsciously speak in a higher pitch than normal and immediately turned more friendly. This is a peculiar reaction, considering he’s a giant compared to most people.

The man walked down the alley until he suddenly stopped at a particular point. He said with a child-like voice. “Miss Shi Yan, I was right! Yes, now you owe me ice cream.”

He didn’t stay there long before he went back the same way he came.

***

“Officer Lan Yi! Officer Lan Yi!” An old-looking man's scream shook the whole room. “There’s an emergency case! Emergency!”

The woman with mesmerizing purple eyes punched the screaming man on the face and said. “If you say another word I’m going to really kill you, old man.”

She reached down and snatched the paper from the old-looking man. She quickly read through the summary and put on her outer robe. The thin robe was scarlet red with a metallic insignia in the shape of a tiger’s fang attached.

“Officer Zhang Bin, please prepare a carriage to the Nightflower street. This seems to be an arson case with casualties.” Officer Lan Yi said.