# 1404
Chapter 1405
Burning Contract
"Back when Great Xia had no deities to guard it, for the Destroyer Brahma, it was absolutely the best piece of uncontaminated land to strike. So he took Yuehuai as his agent, upheld his will, and established the Church of the Ancient Gods within Great Xia's borders, attempting to gather numerous evil gods in Great Xia and tame Great Xia's citizens into their Believers. With this, they planned to make a comeback and fight their way back to the Heavenly Temple."
Li Kengqiang clapped his hands together and smiled. "But now that the Gods of Great Xia have all awakened, with Yuehuai dead and the Church of the Ancient Gods crumbling, his plan is destined to fail."
"So that's where the Church of the Ancient Gods came from." After hearing this explanation, Lin Qiye and the others suddenly understood.
Li Kengqiang glanced at the sky. "I heard you killed a Makara. Very well done. Go rest tonight. Tomorrow, Tang Yusheng should continue your potential training."
Recalling the scene of Tang Yusheng transforming into Bai Ze and thrashing Yuehuai just moments ago, everyone couldn't help but shudder.
They exchanged glances and苦笑 replied:
"...Understood."
After the crowd dispersed, An Qingyu immediately returned to the forest, dragged the black crocodile's dismembered corpse back to the air-raid shelter, and began preparing various surgical instruments for a long-awaited dissection.
Seeing this, Lin Qiye and the others consciously took a detour back to their rooms. Once An Qingyu started his dissection, he wouldn't stop mid-way. Judging by the current time, he was probably going to pull an all-nighter.
Lin Qiye lay back on his bed but didn't fall asleep immediately. Instead, he sank his consciousness into the Asylum of the Gods in his mind.
It was late at night, and the asylum was deathly silent.
The staff dormitory lights were already off, all the lights in the patient buildings were extinguished, and in the dark, empty courtyard, Lin Qiye, draped in a white coat, walked straight toward the director's office.
He opened the hidden door leading to the Dungeon and walked in quickly.
Walking through the dim corridor of the Dungeon, looking at the empty cells on both sides, Lin Qiye felt a long-unfamiliar sense of familiarity.
Ever since his strength had grown, the [Night Watch] had rarely received missions to deal with "Mysticals." Most of the time, they were dealing with various divine kingdoms and agents in the mist, so it had been a long time since a new "Mystical" had been locked in these cells and became one of his staff.
From Li Kengqiang's words earlier, Lin Qiye already knew these black crocodiles came from Indian mythology—the Makara—a bona fide Divine Beast. While its combat power couldn't compare to the Thunder Beast he already possessed, it was好歹 a special combatant with eagle-eyed vision. If he could recruit it as a staff member, it could prove unexpectedly effective in many situations.
After a moment, Lin Qiye slowly stopped in front of a cell.
Behind the cell, a shadow that nearly covered the entire floor materialized, transforming into a black crocodile with two eerie green eyeballs extending from its tail. Its size was several times smaller than in the outside world.
Lin Qiye glanced at the panel on the cell wall:
"
Sinner: Makara
Choice: As the mythological creature you personally killed, you have the right to decide its soul's fate:
Choice 1: Directly annihilate its soul, causing it to be completely erased from existence.
Choice 2: Have its 'Fear of You' reach 60, and you may hire it as an asylum staff member. While caring for patients, it can provide you with protection to a certain extent.
Current Fear Value: 62
"
Seeing the Makara's Fear Value, Lin Qiye's eyebrows lifted slightly, seemingly surprised.
In his impression, it was indeed true that he personally killed the Makara, but being a Divine Beast, how could it have generated fear so easily? He just chopped the creature to death with his sword and guillotine—it shouldn't be that fragile, right?
Had he done anything else that would make it feel fear?
Lin Qiye thought for a moment, and suddenly recalled the image of singing to it in the dim forest, dominating its soul...
Hiss...
Lin Qiye cleared his throat, his expression somewhat awkward.
In any case, the Makara's Fear Value meeting the threshold was a good thing. At least he didn't have to resort to using Wangcai, that devastating weapon.
Lin Qiye skillfully grabbed at the air, and a contract appeared in his palm. Thanks to the Fear Value, after a little coercion and inducement, the Makara relented and tremblingly raised its paw, ready to press its handprint onto the contract.
At that moment, something unexpected happened!
Before the Makara's claw could even touch the contract, the latter suddenly burst into a ball of scorching flames and rapidly burned in the air!
The scalding flames burned Lin Qiye's fingertips. Frowning, he quickly released the contract. The burning contract gently drifted to the ground, turning into black ashes that scattered and vanished without a trace.
"How could this happen?" Lin Qiye's brow furrowed tightly, his eyes full of confusion.
A self-igniting contract—this was the first time it had happened in the asylum.
Could it be that this hospital didn't want him to contract with the Makara?
Lin Qiye cast a suspicious glance at the Makara behind the bars. The latter seemed to sense the odd atmosphere and instinctively retreated several steps, letting out a low hiss.
Lin Qiye refused to accept this. He grabbed another contract, but before he could even bring it before the Makara, it ignited again!
Lin Qiye watched the contract continuously burn to ashes on the ground. For some reason, a faint sense of unease stirred in his heart.
He glanced at the Makara in the cell again. After hesitating for a moment, he gently raised his hand: "Forget it. You may as well disappear."
The Makara was a species under the Destroyer Brahma, and the Destroyer Brahma was a bona fide evil god. Perhaps this species' soul itself had problems and couldn't be recruited as a staff member. Lin Qiye wasn't going to force it.
After all, the asylum already had an extremely large number of staff members. One Makara wasn't much to Lin Qiye.
The moment the words fell, the Makara inside the cell suddenly swelled up like a balloon being inflated, then exploded with a thunderous bang.
Bloody flesh splattered across the cell walls, then quickly vanished without a trace, as if invisible mouths were devouring its body.
Watching the Makara's remains disappear bit by bit, Lin Qiye felt his unease diminish somewhat. He stood in place for a long while before turning to walk out of the Dungeon.
Under the pitch-black night sky, Lin Qiye, draped in his white coat, walked step by step through every inch of the asylum—the patient building, the staff dormitory, the courtyard... even the large iron gate at the entrance.
Peaceful, tranquil, without the slightest hint of anything amiss. Standing at the entrance of the staff dormitory, he could hear Li Yifei's earth-shattering snoring, giving him an inexplicable sense of safety and temporarily dispelling the last trace of doubt in his heart.
Lin Qiye suppressed the urge to haul Li Yifei out of bed in the middle of the night and have a drink with him. He wandered about the courtyard for a while longer before withdrawing his consciousness from the Asylum of the Gods.