The Ascension of Contracted Spirits

Chapter 34 - 33: Desert Witch_1

In a shadowy corner of the passage, Jiang Haowen’s ceaseless discourse suddenly came to a halt.

He heard the sound of footsteps, the echo of shoe heels striking the ground, which is particularly distinct in this enclosed space.

Were there other visitors?

Jiang Haowen rolled his eyes and instinctively looked towards the left corridor.

Jiang Meng, Ye Shu, and Zhou Nijie, all three of them reacted belatedly, their gazes shifting along.

"Huh?" Barely two seconds later, as the passerby appeared, Jiang Meng, blinked her big pink eyes and suddenly smiled:

"Lord Han, so you didn’t leave, you’re also exploring the remaining floors?"

"Yes, just taking a look." Responded Ye Hanjun with a slight nod and a calm countenance.

He paid absolutely no attention to the four of them, merely made a cursory greeting, then quickly turned his head.

To the right, fifty meters away, there was a solitary prison cage.

Occupying the same two hundred square meters, with the same metallic grid, a standard structural design.

Yet, the creature imprisoned within drew Ye Hanjun’s gaze upon a single glance, he simply couldn’t look away!

"Desert Witch..."

"The Rehabilitation Center... actually has this species too?"

"Lord Han, are you also interested?" Jiang Haowen appeared surprised.

This enigmatic newcomer of a Patron, who faced the life-threatening attack of a Solitary Shadow Wolf with considerable composure and caution, unexpectedly found the Desert Witch intriguing? This was somewhat unexpected...

"Lord Han, the Witch Clan is rare, indeed it’s hard to spot in the Giant Frog Marsh."

"But don’t get your hopes up too high, this witch has problems all over."

After their experience with the Solitary Shadow Wolf, they had formed a bond tempered by shared adversity.

Jiang Haowen was afraid that Ye Hanjun would make a mistake.

After all, he was just a freshman with no contract experience, this implied that his understanding could be limited.

"This witch, the complications related to her flaws, even the star mentors are left shaking their heads."

Jiang Haowen elaborated in detail:

"There are rumors that even a vice-principal-level figure once paid a secret visit."

"But even he left with nothing but comments like ’no solutions’, ’leave it to fate.’ Thus, the witch’s ’indefinite sentence’ was settled."

"Is that so?"

Ye Hanjun repeated in a murmur, electing not to comment.

The Desert Witch of his impression, wore a black wizard’s hat, a white and black gradient mini dress, her arms bound with sky-blue striped silk ribbons.

In addition to her breathtakingly proportioned long legs and the cool and handsome pincers, she was certainly a stunning sight in the desert regions.

However, the creature currently reflected in Ye Hanjun’s eyes was petite and pitiful.

She appeared malnourished, while Desert Witches of the same level would normally have a height of 1.2 meters, she was just around 1 meter.

Her slender limbs, barely protruding chest, and dull yellow hair... all further indicated that the witch’s body was suffering from significant issues.

"Even if other Fond Spirits lose their mental balance, they’re just restricted by chains around their feet, limited to a certain range of movement."

"Why is it that only this witch has to be impaled with a chain? It looks so cruel..."

Jiang Meng asked softly, a flicker of pity evident in her pink eyes.

Indeed, the figure of the Desert Witch, who was already slender and weak, huddled in the corner, not moving an inch with her eyes closed.

Yet her chest was actually pierced by a chain as thick as three fingers.

The upper part of the original witch’s dress was white, fresh and natural, exuding the unique purity of a young girl.

But now the dress was torn and tattered, completely stained with bloody yellow, and one could faintly see the exposed snake scales that were fragmented and unbearable to look at.

"I’m not too sure about this."

Jiang Haowen pondered and then slowly said:

"I heard from a friend that when the witch had just arrived, she suddenly lost control and injured volunteers at the rehabilitation center. Many people were almost killed because of her."

"Of course, the witch didn’t fare any better. She struggled on the verge of death for a long time before gradually recovering."

"Could it be that this chain not only restricts her movements, but also serves calming and protective roles?"

The new Patron named Ye Shu cautiously gazed at the Desert Witch and daringly speculated:

"Throughout our tour, we have hardly seen similar cases."

"The treatment of disabled Fond Spirits by the Rehabilitation Center is always friendly."

"For an individual who is utterly unmanageable, they would choose to release them in the end...For individuals who are incurable and in extreme agony, euthanasia might be the choice..."

"This witch is not only confined to the seventh floor, but also restrained in this manner. It can’t merely be cruelty, there must be other reasons."

The more she speculated, the more certain Ye Shu’s tone became.

Jiang Haowen, Jiang Meng, Zhou Nijie, all three agreed and quietly discussed the possibilities among themselves.

"Lord Han, what do you think?"

Jiang Meng spoke a few words, her attention half on Ye Hanjun.

Seeing his engrossed look, she couldn’t help but ask.

"This is a specially made metallic chain..."

Murmured Ye Hanjun, "If my guess is correct, it’s mixed with several kinds of rare metals."

"When combined, they almost certainly realize the effect of ’energy plundering’."

"Energy Plundering?" This phrase was so unfamiliar that even Jiang Haowen was confused.

The conversation between the four abruptly stopped, their gazes collectively focused on Ye Hanjun.

"The energy within this witch appears to be unstable."

"This chain seems to be continuously draining her energy at a constant rate."

"In this manner, the energy within her is always in a deficit, causing the witch to be in a state of long-term weakness, preventing her from going berserk and thus, eliminating the possibility of harming herself or others..."

"Wow!" Jiang Meng, her eyes wide in astonishment, marveled, "You were able to deduce all this simply by observation?"

Zhou Nijie was the first to be skeptical, "You’re joking, right? That sounds too mystical..."

On the basis of a few fragments of information, both Ye Hanjun and him were new to the academy.

Such a hasty judgment was certainly overstepping boundaries.

Even the formal mentors at the academy might not necessarily possess this level of insight, so who was he to assume?

"Is your authority related to sensing or observing?" Ye Shu ventured a question,

"Or is it a smithing authority that allows you to precisely judge the material of metals?"

Ye Hanjun paused slightly, his whirlpool of thoughts in his mind calming down quietly.

He disengaged his gaze from the Desert Witch, a cynical smile playing at the corners of his lips as he casually stated,

"That is indeed my conjecture. Believe it or not, that’s up to you."

"Hmm..." Had it been any other time, Jiang Haowen would definitely have scoffed and thought Ye Hanjun’s words to be pure nonsense.

However, after the Solitary Shadow Wolf incident, Ye Hanjun’s label as "extraordinary" was officially established.

The deeper he thought about his deduction, the more reasonable it seemed to Jiang Haowen.

"Perhaps it’s true."

"It seems that the students who visit the help center only see the wounded and bleeding Desert Witch, her chest always penetrated by the chain."

"As for rumors of her being out of control and mad, other than hearing about it once at the very beginning, there haven’t been any other instances."

"Could that be true?" Zhou Nijie gaping, the look in his eyes towards Ye Hanjun was a mixture of astonishment and bewilderment.

"In the end, this ’Grey Flash’"

"Inherent bloodline issues, any mishap during growth, none will cause a surprise."

Jiang Haowen sighed regretfully,

"All we can do is express our sympathy at most; there’s nothing else we can do."

"The best end for this witch probably is spending the rest of her life in the help center."

"There are no predators here, no danger, no need for a life-risking existence; this place should be quite good for retirement, right?"

Ye Shu and Zhou Nijie gently nodded, agreeing with Jiang Haowen’s statement.

Jiang Meng couldn’t bear it and wanted to express her own view but was stopped by Jiang Haowen.

"Meng, remember, upon embarking on the journey of cultivation, one must detach themselves from unnecessary sympathy."

"You are already feeling this way about the pitiful spirits you saw in the help center."

"But do you know, birds of a feather may flock together, but outside of here, in true nature, the principle of survival of the fittest is all there is."

"Think about the Solitary Shadow Wolf, if the assistant had not arrived in the nick of time, wouldn’t we have been done for?"

"In this world, the reality is harsh. The weak will be eliminated, there is no second possibility."

"I understand..." Jiang Meng lowered her head, silent as though she was a student who had made a mistake.

"Well, there are many more strange spirits in the back, albeit not fit for a pact, they can broaden your understanding."

Jiang Haowen patted Jiang Meng on the shoulder as a slight consolation. Ye Shu and Zhou Nijie, who were accompanying him, naturally chose to follow him.

Only Ye Hanjun remained where he was, his composed facial expression giving nothing away about his thoughts.

"Oh, no need to mind me. I’ve already looked around and will be leaving soon."

"That’s good, we’ll catch up another time."

Jiang Haowen nodded, and as a formality said,

"I hope you find your soulmate spirit soon. Once you formally start on The Path of Controlling Spirits, you will surely shine in Canghai Pavilion."

"See you later!" Jiang Meng waved her hand. Her sweet smile was not as natural as before, suggesting that she hadn’t completely recovered from the thought process induced by her first real-life experience.

...

Once the four people gradually moved away, Ye Hanjun withdrew his gaze.

At that moment, the dim light danced, and the shadows surged like raging waves.

Ye Hanjun, standing on the border between light and shadow seemed more silent than usual.

"Grey Flash... it means no contractual value?"

"I suppose, genetics, bloodline science, biology, mutation science... they are all famously complex."

"The more backward the place, the more limited the knowledge one can acquire..."

A touch of inscrutable amusement faintly appeared on his lips.

The depths of his eyes, far darker than the darkness, filled up at a rapid speed.

Ye Hanjun tilted his head to listen, confirming that Jiang Haowen and the others had gone far away and there was no one spying around.

After glancing at the helter-skelter lines on the ground, and after a moment’s thought, he stepped forward.

"You have been in human society for several months."

"Even if you can’t speak the human language, understanding about it shouldn’t be a problem, right?"

Standing about five meters outside the metal railing, Ye Hanjun spoke clearly and calmly.

However, after patiently waiting for several seconds, the Desert Witch, cornered in a corner, didn’t utter a word or even move an eyelid, she was as cold and numb as a dead body.