The Contract of Life Extension

When one's lifespan is exhausted, death is as inevitable as a lamp going out—this is an unchangeable rule of the world. Yet, there are always those who cling to life. Deep within a desolate, shadowy old city lies a secret and eerie stronghold. It does not treat illnesses or save lives; it deals in only one cold and fair trade: exchanging contracts for life, borrowing years to extend one's lifespan. Once you sign this contract, you are no longer purely alive; you must fulfill a series of eerie, inexplicable debts for your employer. The youth Lin Yan was destined to die young, his life ending unremarkably. To escape this fate, he signed a life-extension contract in desperation, and from then on, his life became an endless ordeal of the bizarre and the macabre. He discovered that all who signed such contracts met no good end. Worse, the contracts of all life-extenders are interconnected, forming a vast web that spans decades and covers the entire city, slowly emerging from the shadows. After a narrow escape from death, Lin Yan finally understood that repaying debts is essentially an endless sacrifice; the whole city is a cage for harvesting lifespans. Hidden in the cracks between heaven and earth, the Xuzong headquarters manipulates the lifespans of all beings. Life extension is merely a harvesting method used by Xuzong to mend the Heavenly Dao and permanently keep humans in captivity... — Description from novelcodex.org