The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

The Bone-Faced General's bone armor also had many cracks on its surface. These cracks were marks left by the repeated lashes from the vines during the pursuit. However, he still maintained a steady attack rhythm, as if he was gradually dismantling a defensive fortification that was on the verge of collapse.

Su Mu saw the main stem of the vine tremble slightly when it was pushed back to the very edge of the territory.

The movement was very light, not much different from that of an ordinary plant being blown by the wind.

But at that moment, a clearer wave of intent emanated from its direction. This time it was more complete than before, no longer just broken fragments, but a more complete exchange proposal... It was willing to accept any form of constraint, as long as it could obtain sufficient protection in return.

Su Mu did not respond to the signal immediately.

He was puzzled. What made this guy think he could save him?

You should know that without using the bloodline of the ancient king, your attributes are not at their level at all.

Didn't you see how utterly disdainful that ghost was of him?

However, Su Mu didn't think too much about it, regardless of whether the blood vine was a conspiracy or if he really had this intention.

Try it and you'll see.

He reached into his backpack, his fingertips touching the edge of the purple box.

The Box of Contracts had been kept deep inside my backpack and had never been used.

He took it out and held it in his hand. The box glowed slightly the moment it touched his palm, as if confirming the identity of its owner.

Then he spoke, his voice not loud, but loud enough for the vine to sense: "If you want me to take action, this is the only way. The Box of Contracts... to forge a master-servant contract. You have no second chance to back out."

General Boneface paused for a moment as he finished speaking.

Beneath his tattered armor, his jaw slowly opened, emitting a very brief sound, as if squeezed out from within his skull.

"You bastard!"

The two words were spoken very softly, as if they were seeping out from between the bones.

He turned towards Su Mu, his empty eye sockets locking onto the human's location for the first time, like a hunter focused on his main target being distracted by an insect that shouldn't be there.

"Even an ant wants to pick peaches."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word carried a compressed, lingering chill, a result of continuous depletion.

He did not stop attacking the Moyun Vine.

While its right hand, covered in bone armor, continued to suppress the main trunk of the vine, its left hand casually waved in Su Mu's direction.

The movement was completely unprepared, without any build-up or preparation, like someone casually brushing aside a tree branch blocking their path...

A grayish-white bone spur shot out from his palm, flying towards Su Mu along an almost straight trajectory.

The bone spur was about half an arm's length long, with a dull luster at the tip and several fine engravings along the edge, like fragments of an old weapon that had been repeatedly polished.

Su Mu sidestepped the bone spike the instant it approached him. The spike grazed past him, its tip making a faint whooshing sound in the night wind, before embedding itself in the ground several meters behind him, stopping only after nearly half its length had sunk into the soil.

The bone-faced general's jaw closed briefly after the bone spike missed its mark.

It was an extremely subtle movement, not like anger or irritation, but more like some kind of confirmation... His casually swung attack was dodged, and the way it was dodged showed that the other party did indeed have a certain level of judgment and reaction speed.

He quickly adjusted his assessment in his mind, but the adjustment was very limited, like changing the classification of an insect from "no need to pay attention" to "needs attention but is still a lower priority than the main target".

His gaze lingered on Su Mu for half a second longer before returning to the direction of the Mo Yun Teng.

The main stem of the vine was continuously oozing dark red sap, and the gaps in its defenses had widened to a certain extent. If it were attacked two or three more times, it would completely lose its ability to resist.

He decided to deal with the main target first, then go back to the bug that had suddenly appeared. It would only take a few more seconds.

He turned around and took another step toward the direction of the Moyun Vine. His right arm, covered in bone armor, was raised again, the finger bones spread wider than before, as if preparing for an attack that could end the battle completely.

At that moment, the branches of the Moyun Vine froze briefly, as if digesting the weight of those words, or perhaps weighing the choices before them...

If it continues to resist, it will be completely defeated in the next few rounds of attacks; accepting the contract means that it will be incorporated into the will of another being.

The remaining branches swayed slightly in the night breeze, but did not respond immediately.

But General Boneface did not give it more time to consider.

During the brief pause of the Moyun Vine, his arm, covered in bone armor, pierced through the last defensive gap on the flank of the main trunk from the front, his finger bones snapping shut, completely tearing apart the branch that was trying to regrow.

The broken vine fragments tumbled briefly in mid-air before falling to the ground, their edges gleaming with a rapidly fading golden sheen.

The vines of the Moyun Vine contracted sharply at the moment the tear occurred, as if a being driven to the brink of despair had finally made a decision.

The nature of that wave of thought changed at that moment... from hesitation to clear acceptance.

Su Mu did not hesitate. The moment he sensed the receiving signal, he immediately activated the Contract Box.

A dark purple light surged from the box, briefly condensed in the air, and then, like a compressed ray, precisely covered the entire trunk of the Moyun Vine, quickly stabilizing after penetrating its interior.

A very thin, constantly flowing dark halo is left on the surface of the vines.

General Boneface's next attack landed as the halo completely stabilized, but this time his finger bones slid slightly when they touched the surface of the halo, as if something had shifted the point of impact of the attack by an extremely small angle.

The aura of the Moyun Vine underwent a subtle change after the contract was completed.

As if some external constraint had been lifted, the few remaining branches readjusted their posture in the dim light. Although their condition was still very poor, their energy no longer leaked out as continuously as before.

At the same time, Su Mu felt that he had gained a connection with that vine.

The connection was weak... the contract had just been completed, and the Moyun Vine was far from fully recovered...

But its very existence signifies that the plant that had survived independently for so long has been incorporated into his will.

Then Moyun Teng's voice rang in his mind.

The voice was soft, weaker than when fighting in the wilderness, as if someone had finally managed to speak after a long and arduous ordeal. "...Master..."