**Chapter 163: The Evil Ghost Queen Bai Yu**
“You guys are going to the Ghost Gate!?”
In the dead of night, Li Tianan nearly spat out his beer. He glanced at the clock—11:40 PM, not 11:40 AM.
At this hour, Zhao Mingyue should be asleep, not acting crazy and trying to check out the Ghost Gate.
He suddenly regretted letting that ghost king disturb Bai Yu earlier. That guy must have tipped Zhao off, and now she was all fired up to go on a ghostly adventure.
“Yeah, Store Manager, I’ll be at the convenience store in a bit. Are you there now?”
“I…I’m here. Whatever, just come over, we need to talk.”
“Okay, thanks, Store Manager!”
After hanging up, Li Tianan sat in silence, pondering whether this was a good or bad idea.
If it were a different ghost, he might have agreed, but given Bai Yu’s personality, wouldn’t she end up wrecking the Ghost Gate?
Wait—if it were another ghost, he still wouldn’t let Zhao Mingyue go. If she wasn’t at Bai Yu’s level, it would be extremely dangerous. Only top-tier ghosts in red would be fine, but really, places like the Ghost Gate? Better to avoid for the living!
Before long, the Dragon Lady slammed on the brakes with a squeal, her flashy drift landing her car smoothly at the convenience store entrance. The passenger door swung open, and out stumbled Zhao Mingyue, clutching her chest like she was about to vomit, barely able to stand straight against a lamppost.
This wasn’t a side effect of merging with Bai Yu; she was just recovering from the Dragon Lady’s wild driving! While in the car, she had been contemplating how Lu Liangting also loved to speed. If he had raced his flashy car against the Dragon Lady’s old clunker, he’d end up chasing shadows!
“Ha ha ha, bye-bye, little vinegar jar! I’m off to get my beauty sleep!” the Dragon Lady chimed, flooring the gas pedal and zooming away.
*Ding ding!*
As the door swung open, Zhao Mingyue took a seat in the lounge area, where Li Tianan waited with a look of resigned confusion.
“Mingyue, who was that?”
This was the first time the Store Manager had seen that car and found it odd—definitely didn’t look like a taxi.
That wild driving style, and she was a girl? Absolutely ridiculous!
“She’s just an annoying brat!” Zhao Mingyue grumbled, clenching her teeth.
Throughout the ride, the Dragon Lady had been teasing her about her “happy” future with Bai Yu—how they could sleep together shamelessly without being human or ghost anymore, implying some naughty escapades.
She pressed her cheek against Bai Yu’s and claimed that doing strange things together wouldn’t harm their bodies but would make their souls mesh beautifully.
These words, despite their boldness, were oddly comforting.
If there was ever a chance, trying it out wouldn’t be out of the question.
But why was this brat so bold about it, flaunting it like that? Acting all grown-up!
“Mingyue, what do you mean you want to go to the Ghost Gate?” Li Tianan asked, his tone serious.
“Um… I feel like there should be a ton of ghosts there for Bai Yu to munch on, plus it’ll help clear out some of the nearby spirits. Don’t worry, Store Manager; Bai Yu will only target the evil ghosts; she won’t disrupt the ecosystem.”
“I…” Li Tianan was momentarily speechless. What does “won’t disrupt the ecosystem” even mean? “Mingyue, listen, the Ghost Gate exists for a reason. I don’t know when it appeared or why, but it definitely serves a purpose.”
“You can think of the Ghost Gate as a magnet for lost ghosts nearby. Ghosts from other places can also have a way to reach us through other Ghost Gates. Honestly, I haven’t studied this, only ghosts have that capability.”
“Basically, where there’s a Ghost Gate, you’ll find a crowd of ghosts. These ghosts munch on each other until a ghost king shows up.”
“The benefit of the Ghost Gate is that it gathers nearby ghosts to a specific location, preventing them from roaming and causing trouble. It acts as a kind of cleansing, and there’s a balance too—once the number of ghosts reaches a certain point, they don’t increase anymore.”
“If too many are wiped out at once, others from different spots might migrate here. Whether it’s a red ghost or something else isn’t certain.”
After listening, Zhao Mingyue nodded thoughtfully. “Then Bai Yu and I can regularly take care of them. As they appear, we can eat a few at a time, or let them take care of each other, and when the ghost boss shows up, Bai Yu can take care of it to prevent undue harm.”
Sounded pretty reasonable on the surface.
Even Li Tianan thought it was a good plan.
That previous evil ghost was just too strong; he’d wanted to use Bai Yu to take it down.
The Ghost Gate could be seen as a cleanup tool.
Reincarnation was likely off the table; how to eliminate these extra ghosts? That’s where the Ghost Gate shines.
And every Ghost Gate has a “Gatekeeper.”
The Gatekeeper’s job is to prevent the Ghost Gate from going out of control and to stop overly powerful ghosts from appearing.
Li Tianan himself was the Gatekeeper for this area, but honestly, it wasn’t a glamorous title—rather like a janitor standing watch.
After a moment of consideration, he decided to spill the beans about this and let Zhao Mingyue know the exact location.
“Thanks, Store Manager!” Zhao Mingyue said hurriedly before dragging Bai Yu off.
The Ghost Gate wasn’t far, nestled within an old apartment complex.
The place had been abandoned for ages, with all sorts of supernatural incidents popping up—essentially half-ruined.
“Bai Yu, what do you think this Gatekeeper really is?”
Zhao Mingyue bounced along, humming a tune as she asked.
“Probably some kind of organization. We can find out next time we have contact.”
Bai Yu was intrigued by the Ghost Gate. She wanted to know if it was human-made or had existed from the start. Plus, who exactly was the Gatekeeper? Based on Li Tianan’s words, this organization seemed pretty loose-knit; how did it hold together and pass down knowledge?
What perks did being a Gatekeeper even have?
What was the connection between the Ghost Gate and the Ghost Domain? The names were related, but whether they really were—unknown.
Moments later, they arrived at the base of the crumbling apartment building. Zhao Mingyue looked up at the dense black mist swirling around the top floor, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
Bai Yu had spent so much energy for her; she was on leave for a couple of days and was determined to take Bai Yu out for a proper feast to make up for the loss!
“Bai Yu, if we clean up every day, doesn’t that make us kind of like Gatekeepers too?”
“No way, I’m the Gatekeeper; you’re the ghost king!”
“Evil Ghost Queen Bai Yu, what a lovely name~”
—
That’s the end of the fourth update!
Please give me a vote, whining for rewards!
Considering how hard I’ve worked!
