Chapter 175: The Summoning Ritual

"Wonderful, wonderful!!" Li Yifei exclaimed, excited like a 200-pound child. "I don't have to wash clothes or dishes by hand anymore! You have no idea how many calluses I've gotten on my hands during this time! It's been so hard!"

Lin QiYe looked at the Cube, which was washing clothes at an incredibly efficient pace, and nodded in satisfaction.

This caretaker was definitely worth hiring...

Li Yifei then turned his gaze to the shy Ah Zhu standing off to the side, filled with anticipation, and asked, "What about you? Do you have any special skills?"

Ah Zhu tilted his head, thinking for a moment. "I... can sleep?"

Li Yifei: ...

Li Yifei turned to Lin QiYe. Lin QiYe shrugged. "He doesn't know anything, but he has potential. You can teach him."

Li Yifei sighed in disappointment. He had hoped the boy would be as skilled as the Cube, but it turned out he was just an ordinary boy after all...

But at least there was someone to help him out now. He was satisfied with that.

He scrutinized Ah Zhu for a moment, then mysteriously pulled Lin QiYe aside, speaking quietly. "QiYe, isn't he a bit too young? Isn't this like hiring child labor?"

Lin QiYe gave him a blank stare. "Don't worry. He's probably old enough to be your dad. Besides, this law is meant to protect people, not mysterious creatures. It doesn't apply to them."

Li Yifei widened his eyes. "What kind of black-hearted boss talk is that...?"

Shaking his head, Li Yifei walked over to Ah Zhu and patted him on the shoulder. "Ah Zhu, right? Don't worry. From now on, your big bro Fei will take care of you. It's fine if you don't know anything now—just take your time and learn."

Ah Zhu blinked, obediently nodding.

"By the way, how are the others doing recently?" Lin QiYe asked.

"Nix is still the same. He just sunbathes and talks to himself. Merlin… well, his frequency of turning into a starfish has decreased a bit, but he's still a pain. Though recently, it seems like he's gotten into reading. He's been in the reading room all day and doesn't come out." Li Yifei reported truthfully.

Lin QiYe nodded. "That's fine. Remember to make sure they take their medicine regularly. These two guys are your responsibility now. From now on, you're the head caretaker, so look after them well."

Li Yifei's mouth twitched slightly. "I get it, but 'head caretaker' kind of sounds like a terrorist title..."

Lin QiYe ignored his complaints and, with a thought, left the mental hospital.

After Lin QiYe left, Li Yifei glanced at the Cube that was still washing clothes and, sneaking up to Ah Zhu, whispered:

"Ah Zhu…"

"Mm-hmm?"

"Do you know how to play mahjong?"

"Mah-jiang?" Ah Zhu thought for a moment. "Mah-jiang... is that the kind of sesame paste you can eat?"

Li Yifei: ...

"QiYe, QiYe! Wake up!"

Baili Pangpang stood excitedly at the side of Lin QiYe's bed, shaking him awake. "The scores for yesterday's exercise are out! You came in first!"

"Oh." Lin QiYe lazily responded.

"Oh?" Baili Pangpang widened his eyes. "You got 19 points, two points higher than second place! Aren't you excited?"

Lin QiYe replied with surprise, "Why should I be excited? Isn't that normal?"

Baili Pangpang: ...

"Guess what? How many points did I get?" Baili Pangpang asked eagerly.

Lin QiYe looked at his expectant eyes and said with a strange expression, "You're not the one who came second, are you?"

"Haha, you figured it out!" Baili Pangpang put on a proud face, hands on his hips. "But I'm tied for second place with someone else."

Lin QiYe sat up in bed, glanced at the time, and walked out of the dormitory.

"Where are you going? Don't you have training today?" Baili Pangpang asked, puzzled.

"Just taking a walk."

Of course, Lin QiYe didn't tell him that he was heading somewhere to conduct a summoning ritual. The energy contained in the Cube's corpse might dissipate with time, so he had to complete the ritual within the next couple of days. Fortunately, his Summoning Magic specialization allowed him to skip most of the necessary materials, but he still needed to find a secluded place to carry out the ritual.

Lin QiYe had originally planned to conduct the ritual inside the mental hospital, but since external objects couldn't be brought into the facility, that idea was scrapped. He needed to find a secluded spot in the training camp since there was no training today. The camp had to be the best option, so he decided to find an isolated place to perform the ritual and slip away during the night.

After wandering around the camp, Lin QiYe finally settled on a secure location: the weapons storage warehouse.

The training camp had three warehouses without surveillance cameras. One had been blown up by Shen Qingzhu yesterday, and another was next to the instructors' dormitory. The last one was the warehouse Lin QiYe and the others had broken into the day before to gather weapons.

The metal door of that warehouse had been blown off and hadn't been replaced yet. It was now sealed with a folding door for the time being. Given Lin QiYe's abilities, it wouldn't be difficult for him to quietly slip inside.

He had considered using the dormitory's rooftop, but the summoning process would emit light, which would be hard to conceal. After weighing his options, the warehouse seemed like the best place.

Nightfall.

Lin QiYe's figure moved like a shadow, silently slipping out of the window and landing on the ground. Dressed in black, blending perfectly with the darkness of the Darkest Forbidden Ruins, he disappeared into the shadows. With light steps, he swiftly moved toward the weapons warehouse.

He nimbly scaled the folding door and landed inside the warehouse. Moving quickly, he cleared away the boxes filled with weapons, making enough space in the center of the room.

He crouched down and pulled a charcoal pencil from his pocket, meticulously beginning to draw on the floor.

The complexity of dimensional summoning magic was far beyond that of a random summoning spell, and since it was Lin QiYe's first time performing the summoning, he also needed to include a contract-signing process. This made the procedure especially intricate. Once he had signed a contract with a creature, summoning it would require only blood as a medium, saving him from the hassle of drawing complex magic circles.

After all, in the heat of battle, there was no time to draw out an entire magic circle.

About ten minutes later, Lin QiYe stopped drawing and stood up to examine the massive summoning array he had created. Each line was perfectly interwoven, forming a grand circular pattern that showcased geometric beauty at its finest.

"Almost done." Lin QiYe muttered to himself, then emptied the Cube's shattered pieces into the center of the array. He bit his fingertip, drawing blood and smearing it on one corner of the magic circle.

The summoning ritual was ready.