With human energy, we’ve gained cultivation level. After all, this is the Contract Book of a Local Deity of Proper Land. If it’s really dug up, I’m afraid it would..."
CLANG!
Qiu Luoye flipped the bed over.
"Listening to your endless prattling makes me angry! The Contract Book has been found, so why on earth shouldn’t we dig? Madame Wuqin is already dead. If we don’t dig it up, should we wait for others to come and take it?"
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Dozens of crossbow arrows shot out from under the bed. Qiu Luoye couldn’t be bothered to dodge, letting the arrows pierce his body. Then he pulled them out and tossed them aside.
WHOOSH!
A torrent of flame erupted, scorching Qiu Luoye.
Qiu Luoye wiped the soot from his face and continued digging.
A large swarm of mud loaches flew out, clinging to Qiu Luoye, trying to burrow into his flesh.
Qiu Luoye plucked the mud loaches off, threw them on the ground, and stamped them to death. He still kept digging.
He endured dozens of traps without dodging, testing each one, and finally dug out the Contract Book.
Seeing the Contract Book, Qiu Luoye was speechless for a while. Shui Yongquan was also surprised.
The Contract Book was arched, the same style as theirs.
But this Contract Book wasn’t a single piece; it was two pieces.
Logically, all Local Deities’ Contract Books came in two pieces—one held by the Local Deity, the other kept in Inner State.
But why were both pieces here?
Qiu Luoye didn’t know the reason, and Shui Yongquan couldn’t figure it out either.
Both pieces of the Contract Book had the same eight characters on the front: "Hundred Miles of Land, Hereby Witnessed."
Like other Contract Books, these eight characters also bore traces of blood.
Turning them over to the back, Qiu Luoye blinked and fell silent for a long time.
Shui Yongquan laughed, "What’s wrong? Too many words, can’t recognize them all?"
Qiu Luoye shook his head. "There are no words."
Shui Yongquan frowned. "If you can’t recognize them, just say so. It’s not like I don’t know you. Did you think I’d laugh at you?"
Qiu Luoye handed one piece of the Contract Book to Shui Yongquan and the other to Li Banfeng. They examined them and found that, indeed, there wasn’t a single word on the back of either piece.
According to Shui Yongquan’s deduction, a Contract Book from Proper Land should have recorded many things. This included how this territory was formed, who the previous Local Deities were, and what significant events had occurred, especially regarding wars. Whether they won or lost, gained land or lost land—all of this should have been clearly written down.
But after scrutinizing it for a long time, there really wasn’t a single word on it.
Qiu Luoye said, "Could this Contract Book be a fake?"
Li Banfeng said nothing; he couldn’t tell if the Contract Book was real or fake.
Shui Yongquan stared at the Contract Book, repeatedly examining its Craftsmanship Method and material. "This Contract Book should be real. I’ve seen them make Contract Books in Inner State. There are some Craftsmanship Methods only they can perform, but the origin of this particular Contract Book is hard to say."
Qiu Luoye laughed heartily. "Isn’t that obvious? It was buried in Wuqin Village, so naturally, it’s Wuqin Village’s Contract Book!"
Li Banfeng handed the Contract Book back to Qiu Luoye. "Big Brothers, just drip your blood on the Contract Book, and this territory will belong to you. We agreed beforehand: half for each of your families."
Qiu Luoye felt somewhat ashamed. "Old Qi, the three of us fought for this. If just the two of us divide it, I won’t feel right."
Li Banfeng chuckled. "My cultivation level is still at the Earth Skin realm; it’s useless for me to take it. If you two serve as Local Deities here and let me manage the businesses, I won’t be at a loss either."
Qiu Luoye sighed. "Old Qi, you’re too kind-hearted. I don’t even know what to say."
Li Banfeng laughed. "Big Brother, we’re both kind-hearted; otherwise, we couldn’t have hit it off so well."
Shui Yongquan nodded. "We just killed people. Let’s not talk about kindness while dividing the spoils. Qiu Daxiang, this territory is yours; I won’t take a share."
Qiu Luoye frowned. "What now? Why are you being so difficult?"
"Nothing much, I just want that clay pot." Shui Yongquan felt uneasy. A piece of Proper Land had suddenly appeared before him, and he hesitated to reach for it. Besides, this Contract Book felt a bit sinister.
"Take that clay pot and get lost!" Qiu Luoye snapped, drawing a knife. He cut his palm, ready to drip his blood onto the Contract Book.
Shui Yongquan said, "Hold on a moment!"
"What’s the matter? Having second thoughts?"
Shui Yongquan shook his head, pouring some water from his Water Gourd onto the two pieces of the Contract Book.
The water moved across the Contract Book, quickly wiping away the existing bloodstains.
Shui Yongquan said, "We still don’t know if Madame Wuqin is truly dead or alive. If your blood mixes with hers on this Contract Book, you might end up bound to her in the future. Clean her blood off, we’ll add a Paper Contract, and then this territory will belong solely to you."
Qiu Luoye frowned. "Another Paper Contract is needed?"
"Let’s make one. When Inner State enfeoffed territories, there were always Paper Contracts. Local Deities, whether winning or losing battles, also used Paper Contracts. Having one is safer."
A Paper Contract is simply a contract document made of paper.
Qiu Luoye had lost a battle to Shui Yongquan and conceded thirty miles of land to him. At the time, they had made a Paper Contract, sprinkling their blood upon it within the conceded territory to make the land transfer effective.
From what Shui Yongquan just said, it appeared that Local Deities also needed a Paper Contract when they received land at their investiture. It seemed that Paper Contracts and Iron Tokens had some kind of special connection.
Shui Yongquan found some paper and a brush in the house. Qiu Luoye picked up the brush, pondered for a moment, and asked, "What should I write?"
Li Banfeng suggested, "Since the original owner’s blood has already been wiped from the Iron Token, just write ’Qiu Luoye seized Wuqin Village.’ It’s better not to write too clearly from whom it was seized."
Shui Yongquan was still cautious. "The word ’seized’ isn’t good. Just write ’Qiu Luoye obtained Wuqin Village.’"
Qiu Luoye was satisfied; the seven characters were not too difficult, except for ’obtained.’
After Shui Yongquan demonstrated it a few times, Qiu Luoye learned the character for ’obtained.’ He picked up the brush, finished writing the Paper Contract, dripped his blood onto it, and then onto the land of the territory.
Qiu Luoye said to Shui Yongquan, "You put in the most effort in this battle, and I can’t just take advantage of you. The territory is mine, but we’ll split the human energy fifty-fifty. When you want some human energy, just come to me and get it."
"In my territory, and now Wuqin Village as well, Old Qi is the landlord! He can do whatever he wants, even run wild in these two territories from now on, and I won’t get angry in the slightest!"
Shui Yongquan laughed. "Qiu Daxiang, I wasn’t wrong about you!"
Li Banfeng said, "Don’t worry, Big Brother Qiu. I’m a good person."
Qiu Luoye then dripped his blood onto the two pieces of the Contract Book.
Two lines of text appeared simultaneously on the back of the two Contract Books.
The first line: Qiu Luoye obtained Wuqin Village.
The second line: Territory area: three thousand one hundred eighty-eight square units.
Qiu Luoye was startled. "This Contract Book can display text? Why wasn’t anything visible before?"
Shui Yongquan shook his head. "I’m also unclear about the reason."
The Paper Contract and the Iron Token truly had a connection, a connection activated by Qiu Luoye’s blood.
But a Hundred Miles of Land normally comprises ten thousand square units; why were there only just over three thousand here?
And who had erased the previous text on the Contract Book?
This matter was a puzzle for the moment. Li Banfeng said to Qiu Luoye, "Big Brother Qiu, first find a good place to bury the Contract Book. I’ll go dispose of Qiao Shaofen’s corpse to avoid arousing suspicion."
Qiu Luoye praised him repeatedly, "Old Qi, you always think of everything."