Chapter 14: The Contract of the Life-Gambling Specter

"One... two... three!"
The Fate Gambler counted aloud, his eyes locked onto Summer Sky’s, silently influencing his opponent’s mind through trickery to make him throw paper in the next round, while he himself would choose scissors.

As the final syllable of "three" faded, both moved simultaneously.

One threw scissors, but the other didn’t play paper—it was rock.

"Impossible!"
The Fate Gambler’s face twisted in shock, as if seeing a ghost. "Why did you throw rock? I clearly made you throw paper!"

"Because it wasn’t me who made the move." Summer Sky smiled triumphantly.

Suddenly, a head emerged from his shoulder. "I was controlling my master’s body to throw rock for him. Heh, brother, welcome to the team!"

The Delivery Trickster greeted slyly, as if seeing a past self who had been tricked.

"Ah!"
Song Shiqiao screamed and fled the room, suspecting this youth was one of those strange beings—and staying might be dangerous.

The Fate Gambler suddenly pointed at Summer Sky in disbelief. "Could it be you understand my trickery?"

Summer Sky nodded. "Exactly. I know your trickery influences consciousness, so in the final round, I had the spirit within me play instead.

It’s connected to my mind; you wanted me to throw paper, but it knew you’d throw scissors, so it controlled my body to throw rock. Simple as that."

"Impossible!"
The Fate Gambler roared, his face contorted. "It’s my first time in the human world—how could you know my trickery?"

Summer Sky beckoned with a finger. "No point dwelling on that now. A bet is a bet—386 years of lifespan, hand it over!"

"My true form can only convert so much lifespan. I’ll give it all to you and then disappear."

The Fate Gambler never imagined losing; otherwise, he wouldn’t have wagered everything.

If he refused to pay the bet, he’d break the rules and be killed by the power of those rules.

Summer Sky crossed his arms, confident. "If you don’t want to die, sign a contract with me."

The power of a contract surpasses that of rules; only by signing a contract can one break the rules.

The Fate Gambler hesitated slightly. "Fine, my fate is sealed. I’ll sign an equal contract with you."

Summer Sky sneered suddenly. "You’ve got it wrong. You’re about to die. I’m signing a contract with you to save you—it’s a Master contract!"

"You hateful human, you’ve been scheming against me from the start."

"Exactly. Why should you be allowed to harm others but not be harmed yourself?"

As they spoke, the power of the rules wrapped tightly around the Fate Gambler in the mirror, beginning to tear at his form as punishment for breaking the rules.

"I can extend human lifespans; that’s something all humans care deeply about. You’d never want me to die!"

The Fate Gambler let the rule’s power tear at him, his expression resolute. "I will never sign a humiliating Master contract. I’d rather vanish completely."

Summer Sky frowned, realizing the other had a point.

Having the Fate Gambler around meant endless life extension and eternal youth—a dream for all humans.

He couldn’t let the Fate Gambler die no matter what.

Just as he was about to agree, the Delivery Trickster on his shoulder spoke again. "Brother, don’t struggle. Our master can wield legendary forbidden arts and doesn’t care if you live or die.

You know these gold coins here? They’re made by killing one of our kind and converting their netherworld power."

The Delivery Trickster’s words were clearly manipulative.

Summer Sky’s mind stirred. He pulled a paper ingot yet to be converted from his pocket and held it before the mirror.

As the Fate Gambler was torn by the rule’s power, a flood of netherworld energy was released and drawn into the ingot.

"Truly the legendary forbidden art!"

The Fate Gambler’s eyes sparkled with stars.

No gambler dislikes money, and the Fate Gambler was no exception.

The Delivery Trickster continued to coax, "Brother, you’re not the only one who can extend human lifespan. Our master is rich—it’s easy to add lifespan.

Take my advice: the Master contract isn’t so bad. If you keep resisting, our master will watch you vanish, convert your netherworld power into netherworld coins, and then feed them to me.

Look at me—I signed a Master contract, and I just got over a hundred taels of gold!"

Summer Sky’s expression remained cold, but inwardly he admired the Delivery Trickster’s smooth talk.

This guy was good—who knew he had such persuasive skills?

The gold ingot in his hand grew larger, while the Fate Gambler in the mirror faded.

"Fine, I’m willing to sign the Master contract."

After much hesitation, the Fate Gambler yielded.

Having such a master wasn’t bad—at least he wouldn’t lack netherworld coins, which was very appealing.

Summer Sky glanced at the Delivery Trickster on his shoulder and fed him the now fist-sized gold ingot.

He communicated mentally, "Well done. You’ll have netherworld coins to eat every day."

The Delivery Trickster swallowed the gold in one gulp, smiling. "Thanks, master. Signing him was thanks to your charm—I only played a small role."

Ha, a flatterer too!

Summer Sky chuckled quietly and smoothly signed the Master contract with the Fate Gambler.

The Fate Gambler belonged to the Mirror Spirit clan, a special kind of spirit.

It had no physical form, not even a fixed appearance, able to transform into any person or object it had seen.

Its most unique trait was that it couldn’t inhabit a human body; it could only reside within mirrors or similar items.

So Summer Sky shattered the bathroom mirror, selecting a small shard for the Fate Gambler to inhabit, carrying it with him at all times.

To use the Fate Gambler’s trickery, he needed to hold the mirror.

It mastered three tricks: first, "Mirror Immobilization," which temporarily froze an opponent’s legs by reflecting them in the mirror, though it could only affect one target at a time.

Second, "Rock-Paper-Scissors," a rather useless trick. It only worked in the game itself, subtly controlling the opponent’s mind through eye contact to compel them to throw whatever you wanted.

Third, "Lifespan Transfer," which converted the Fate Gambler’s own netherworld power into human lifespan, a self-sacrificial trick similar to the Delivery Trickster’s "Netherworld Delivery."

This last was what Summer Sky valued most.

From then on, he could remain eighteen forever, and barring accidents, might even achieve immortality.

"Ma—master."

The Fate Gambler was still adjusting, barely able to say the words. "There are many of my kind nearby. Would you like to conquer some more?"

"Oh? You can lead me to your kin?"

Summer Sky’s interest piqued.

The Mirror Spirit clan was large, and he recalled one called the Mirror Image Spirit, second only to the Fate Gambler in popularity.

Because it could open a mirror dimension—a kind of pocket dimension inside mirrors for storage or habitation.

Essentially, a portable, mobile space.

If he could contract with one, carrying vast amounts of gold would be much easier.

The Fate Gambler continued, "I can trick them one by one to come over."

"Trick" was a telling word—it showed he intended to deceive his own kind.

"Hahaha, you’re clever. Here’s fifty taels of gold for you. For each one you bring, I’ll give you another fifty."

Summer Sky felt great—didn’t expect contracting the Fate Gambler would come with such benefits.

He thought the Mirror Spirit clan was supposed to be united, yet this guy planned to deceive his own kind. He’d never heard of such a thing in his previous life.

"Brother, you truly are a trickster!"

The Delivery Trickster gave a reluctant compliment.

Suddenly, he felt a sense of urgency—soon he might have a rival for the master’s favor!

Song Shiqiao had already fled, but Summer Sky paid no mind.

He took out his phone and dialed the number on the business card.

After two rings, the call was answered.

"Ms. Song, where’s my billion yuan?"