Chapter 157: The Power of a Wife-Spoiling Madman
The Dragon Lady’s car screeched to a halt beneath the Sunshine Apartment. Now, one would think it was unusual for a sixteen-year-old to be behind the wheel, and indeed it was! The original owner of this vehicle was a pitiful yet detestable man, currently laying at the bottom of a river, serving as a fish buffet. Why was he detestable, you might ask? Well, this unfortunate soul was out at 2 AM trying to pull something inappropriate on a lone girl walking home.
Moments later, Zhao Mingyue, sporting her small backpack, came downstairs and spotted the Dragon Lady, scrunching her nose in irritation. Just when she was ready to drift off to dreamland, Bai Yu jumped in with, “Don’t sleep yet! We need to head to Eternal Life Village with the Dragon Lady. It’s super important!”
The mere thought of “Eternal Life Village” coupled with “Dragon Lady” made Zhao Mingyue sigh heavily. But, pushing her complaints aside, she obediently changed her clothes and headed down, backpack on her shoulders.
“Oh wow, little vinegar jar, you look pretty good today!” The Dragon Lady leaned against the car, her arms crossed, eyes sizing up Zhao Mingyue with mock amusement.
“Ugh! Stop calling me little vinegar jar! Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson, you smelly girl!” Backpack bouncing, Zhao Mingyue lunged at the Dragon Lady, who swiftly sidestepped and swung open the back door, grabbing Zhao Mingyue by the collar and toss-stuffing her into the backseat like an overstuffed burrito.
It was an expertly executed maneuver—she really knew how to counter Zhao Mingyue’s attack style.
Stuffed into the car, Zhao Mingyue blinked in surprise, her teeth grinding in frustration.
“Alright, quiet down for a bit. We don’t have much time; we need to get to Eternal Life Village ASAP. We must arrive before midnight!”
Once buckled in, the Dragon Lady hit the gas, and the car launched forward with a screech.
“By the way, please fasten your seatbelt! Your sister here doesn’t have a driver’s license.”
“Wait, who are you calling ‘sister’?! If you don’t have a license, why the heck are you driving?!” Zhao Mingyue fumbled to strap herself in, gripping the front seat with panic bubbling inside.
As expected, dealing with this nutcase would lead to no good!
The Dragon Lady smirked, clearly enjoying this chaos. While she might have misspoken last time in the park, she realized her emotional highs and lows weren’t exclusive to being around Bai Yu; they arose just as much in the presence of Zhao Mingyue.
“Don’t worry! I might not have a license, but I’m an experienced driver!”
With an exhilarating push on the accelerator, the car transformed from a modest vehicle into a rocket ship, roaring like a beast. Zhao Mingyue could feel the engine’s growl through the door as they breezed past other vehicles.
At this speed, what should have taken over forty minutes might be cut in half!
The stark contrast between the Dragon Lady’s sweet appearance and her reckless driving style was jarring, giving Zhao Mingyue a case of the giggles despite the situation.
With her foot glued to the pedal, the Dragon Lady seemed to know the roads to Eternal Life Village like the back of her hand. Zhao Mingyue could only watch in awe as every turn was executed with absolute confidence, no hesitation in sight.
“You’ve spoken with Bai Yu, right? Do you know why we’re going and why you seem so relaxed, little girl?” The Dragon Lady peered back at Zhao Mingyue through the rearview mirror.
“Isn’t my age technically older than yours? If we’re going to call names, shouldn’t you be addressing me as ‘sister’ instead? And by the way, don’t you think calling me little girl is rude?” Zhao Mingyue huffed, crossing her arms.
“Alright, alright! No more little girl. How about Miss Mingyue? Now, Miss Mingyue, would you care to answer my question?”
“That’s more like it!” Zhao Mingyue settled back in her seat. “Bai Yu just mentioned we have some things to take care of.”
“I see. Well, never mind then, it’s not a big deal. Don’t worry about it.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Bai Yu’s voice echoed in Zhao Mingyue’s mind. This time, without any need for loud plotting with the Dragon Lady: ”Mingyue, we’re heading to Eternal Life Village to resolve an issue you’re facing. I plan to detach the Burning Heart Goddess from you and fill your body with my power.”
Zhao Mingyue froze. She hadn’t expected that!
“What side effects are we talking about here?”
“You might feel cold, your skin will turn pale and unhealthy, you’ll start avoiding sunlight in favor of the night, sleep less, and generally feel empty, like something’s missing. In short, your body will start evolving towards a ghostly nature.”
“Really? Those don’t sound too terrible! Becoming a ghost isn’t always a bad thing, right?”
“Oh, it is!” Bai Yu’s tone grew serious. “You’ll gain all the ghostly drawbacks but none of the advantages. However, you’ll be able to control those red sinewy threads in my body for combat.”
Zhao Mingyue’s eyes sparkled. “Wait, if I can control the bl**d threads, does that mean I can share a bed with you every night?”
“I mean, kinda?”
“Oh, this will be fun!”
And then, suddenly, she burst out, “But wait! If you’re putting part of yourself into me, what happens to you?”
Bai Yu was tough, but Zhao Mingyue couldn’t accept the notion of her getting weakened just to empower her.
“Bai Yu, seriously, don’t push yourself! If it’s too much for you, we can wait. There are more missions later, right?”
“I’m fine; I can recuperate after. Trust me.”
“But—”
“It’s fine! Once I’ve succeeded, I’ll chow down on the Red Clothes and restore myself,” Bai Yu fibbed. While she could regain her strength from consuming Red Clothes, the void in her body would take ages to fill again. Yet, she downplayed it, knowing it wouldn’t affect her too severely.
“Now, Bai Yu, don’t be stubborn! I can sit this one out! There will always be other missions down the line!”
“Just trust me, Mingyue. Once we get to Eternal Life Village, your job is to keep your head clear. No matter what you see or remember, even the most terrifying images, just remember: I’m here.”
“Okay!” Zhao Mingyue knew she wouldn’t be able to sway Bai Yu anyway and nodded resolutely.
She felt a pang of regret. She had been hasty, looking to flex her muscles on a four-and-a-half star mission. Had she kept quiet, Bai Yu wouldn’t have felt compelled to make this choice—one born from her own determination.
And truth be told, this Evil God within her hadn’t shown its face many times. The only time she remembered clearly was back at the Huang family’s place when it had awakened prematurely due to her encounter with Feng Xi.
This Evil God had only been awakened for a week or so.
Little did she know, Bai Yu was going to make her move so soon.
Under Bai Yu’s guidance, the Dragon Lady didn’t head straight to Eternal Life Village. Instead, she took a detour to the hospital, determined to wake the Burning Heart Goddess and restore some of her strength.
The plan was simple: give her hope, so she wouldn’t lash out at Zhao Mingyue in desperation.
A cornered beast fights back, and without an exit, the Burning Heart Goddess wouldn’t easily give up her hold over Zhao Mingyue’s body. But with a shred of hope, how could she be expected to abandon this potential host?
Arriving at the hospital, Bai Yu had Zhao Mingyue act casually, not overly absorbing Feng Er’s power.
Feeling the rising energy within Zhao Mingyue, Bai Yu remained silent, making a knowing look at the Dragon Lady.
This decision of the Dragon Lady’s was what prompted her to enhance the Burning Heart at the hospital.
Strengthening herself while putting pressure on the Burning Heart, she hoped that as it weakened, it would notice a flaw in the Dragon Lady and would act instinctively.
Unlike Zhao Mingyue, Bai Yu didn’t worry about the Burning Heart taking over her; she knew the willpower of the sisters was vastly different on a deeper level.
“Your soul is just a fragment,” the Dragon Lady claimed, but even if that were true, that piece of a soul possessed strength more powerful than many.
The ride remained silent, and in less than twenty minutes, they rolled into the outskirts, heading towards the deep into the Eternal Life Village’s concrete road.
“We’re here!”
The vehicle halted at the village entrance, and even before stepping in, the eerie difference from the outside world was palpable. The village was silent; if one strained, whispers could be heard, and the darkness seemed to beckon.
As they exited, the Dragon Lady glanced back at Zhao Mingyue.
Zhao Mingyue took a breath, her gaze low, but when she raised her eyes again, they were pitch-black, radiating a drastically different aura.
“Let’s go.” Bai Yu possessed Zhao Mingyue, striding towards the village center.
The reason for this destination was simple: it puts the maximum suppression on the Burning Heart’s ability.
Bai Yu intended to keep the Burning Heart’s power within Zhao Mingyue, purposely isolating its consciousness. Only Eternal Life Village could facilitate this.
In other areas, the risk was that the Burning Heart’s consciousness would emerge, taking its power with it.
“I’m curious why you’re suddenly in such a hurry.”
“White Day Amusement Park.”
“You mean the task site discovered by the Sky Fox?”
“Exactly! I want Mingyue to have her own experience.” As Bai Yu strolled down the village’s main road, the left and right villages lay surprisingly quiet, with not even a wax corpse in sight.
The atmosphere thickened with cursed energy—that if things continued as they were, within six months, the village’s powers would collapse. The trapped Evil Gods would explode out, spreading their curses.
“Tsk, quite pitiful. Bad luck running into you… No, running into us,” the Dragon Lady mused.
Of course, Zhao Mingyue was still the protagonist. The Evil God within her was a fitting challenge for such a role. After all, she was the leader of the Four Goddesses. In a game world, the Burning Heart would be akin to a major boss, one of the top three.
Without their meddling, Zhao Mingyue and Lu Liangting would be left to tackle it alone, taking who knows how long. Meanwhile, the Burning Heart would be growing with terrifying strength before Lu Liangting, their main character, eventually took it down.
In that time frame, people might perish, including Zhao Mingyue herself.
And now, barely a week since the major boss awoke, here was a little loli ready to pick a fight.
All because someone wanted the main character to catch up on the amusement park battle two days away.
Is this what they call the most tragic boss demise?
Sure sounds like it. Bai Yu wasn’t the main character and wouldn’t hold back against a boss for the sake of plot development. For her, if the boss dared show its face, it was simple—good luck dodging.
She was just a notch below, maybe third on the k*ll chart; but the Burning Heart had devoured at least ten souls already.
As they walked, Zhao Mingyue suddenly halted, shivering as tendrils of black smoke curled from her body.
Her lips moved, but two utterly different voices issued forth.
“Get out!”
“Do you even know what you’re doing? This body will d*e because of you!” The Burning Heart’s voice was a jumbled mess—indistinguishably unpleasant.
“Just shut up.”
“Try that again, you pitiful little worm! I’ll crush you!”
Zhao Mingyue staggered, forcing her eyes shut and raising an arm… only to quickly press it back down with the other.
Bai Yu fell silent as Zhao Mingyue’s mouth opened and closed, while the Burning Heart could only hurl nonsensical insults like “worm” and “you’re dead!”
Then, the absurdity turned physical, thick crimson threads began erupting from Zhao Mingyue’s body in droves, covering her skin in a veritable explosion of bl**d threads—expanding into the night sky, connecting earth to heavens.
All around, those bl**d threads surged forth, and the Dragon Lady leapt to dodge the monstrous onslaught coming her way, her mouth agape in shock.
This sheer volume was unimaginable! A single Red Clothes couldn’t possibly yield this much… even squeezing ten of them together wouldn’t yield such a result!
The cursed energy from both left and right villages recoiled in fear, not daring to linger as ghosts and wax corpses scattered for cover from the “monster” emerging at the village’s heart.
The bl**d threads began to weave and congeal, forming a pulsating crimson sphere around Zhao Mingyue.
“No! You madman, you’ll k*ll her!”
“Are you going to watch her d*e?!”
“Wait! Just hold on!”
The Burning Heart seemed to gain control, using Zhao Mingyue’s body to scream, but the bl**d threads only continued their work, ignoring her pleas as they spun away.
Gradually, a dense mist of bl**d began to diffuse around them—a harbinger of Bai Yu’s intent and malevolence from past kills.
And it was in that moment, the Burning Heart finally fell silent, ego fading as she recognized the reality.
This ghostly entity roared like a raging storm, and she realized it was very possible she might not stand a chance after all.
