Chapter 203: Zhao Mingyue with a Stomach Full of Bad Ideas
The first thing Zhao Mingyue did when she got home was rummage around for her old, tattered clothes and pile them in a corner as a makeshift cat bed. Then she trundled into the kitchen, fetched two bowls, and filled them with kitten kibble and some cool boiled water that she just bought from the pet shop downstairs.
Zhao Mingyue had no idea what this little black cat had been eating before, so she could only pray that switching to a new brand wouldn’t lead to an explosive case of diarrhea.
While tidying up in the kitchen, Zhao Mingyue decided to whip up a late-night snack.
After a bit of hustle, she emerged with two bowls of egg noodles.
Just as she stepped out, she spotted Bai Yu crouching low in front of the cat bed with her new body, teasing the little black cat who was still getting used to its new home with a cat toy.
The little black cat was a bit shy but surprisingly cozy with Bai Yu; instead of running away, it was having the time of its life playing together.
Zhao Mingyue said nothing, just plopped herself onto a chair at the dining table and quietly watched this delightful scene. Suddenly inspired, she whipped out her phone and snapped a picture of Bai Yu in action.
Just like she said on her way home, every time she saw Bai Yu so enchanted by a kitten, she couldn’t help but marvel at everyone’s unique side—even Bai Yu had her own quirks!
Who would have thought that a merciless evil ghost like her would be so taken with a little kitty?
“Dinner’s ready! Let her adjust for a bit, alright?”
Hearing Zhao Mingyue’s voice, Bai Yu stood up and casually placed the cat toy on the sofa. She tried to reach out and pet the little cat, hesitated, and then pulled her hand back.
Noticing the way Bai Yu’s eyes drooped, Zhao Mingyue pushed a bowl in front of her, stuck some chopsticks in it, and said, “You’ve got a new body now; surely you can pick up the cat without any issues, right? Don’t worry about it.”
“Look! I made this myself; this is your first real taste of my cooking. Hurry and try it, or it’ll get all soggy and unpalatable!”
Right across from her at the dining table, Bai Yu held the chopsticks in her hands.
“So, have you thought of a name for the little cat yet?” Zhao Mingyue asked.
“Not yet.”
“Come on, think of one. I’m not helping; I’m terrible at naming things!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Bai Yu, head down, chewed her noodles with a thoughtful frown. She seemed incredibly serious about this dilemma—Zhao Mingyue had never seen her that focused, even during their missions.
After a long pause, having finished her noodles, Bai Yu parted her soft pastel pink lips and uttered two words.
“Little Black.”
“Pfft!” Zhao Mingyue couldn’t contain herself and sprayed the half sip of noodle soup she had just taken.
In a hurry, she grabbed a tissue to wipe her mouth, while Bai Yu looked on with a puzzled expression. Zhao Mingyue managed a somewhat embarrassed smile, nodding awkwardly.
“Okay! Little Black is a great name; let’s go with that!”
Bai Yu accepted the name, but she wasn’t a fool. She sensed something off about Zhao Mingyue’s expression and tone. But for the life of her, she couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong—wasn’t Little Black a lovely name?
Seeing Bai Yu’s thoughtful expression again made Zhao Mingyue uneasy; she feared Bai Yu might come up with an equally ridiculous name like Iron Pillar or Dog Egg. So she quickly changed the subject. “The gatekeepers are gone, but we still have no solution for An Que’s situation. What’s our next step?”
“They said An Que is the vice president, so usually he wouldn’t show up. Even if he does, it would be during a major task. But we don’t know if they have any big tasks lined up, do we?”
“Such tasks usually involve top-tier evil spirits and high-stakes situations. For instance, the Evil God from Eternal Life Village wouldn’t really threaten our world, right? So they shouldn’t exert too much energy on that.”
At the mention of tasks, Bai Yu’s expression shifted from confusion to sharp clarity.
She put down her chopsticks and wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Right. The gatekeeper organization is quite loose; it’s not as organized as the Ghost Domain. To gather them, it’s not enough for the evil spirits or gods to be significantly threatening; there also need to be substantial benefits involved.”
“The Ghost Gates exist all around the world, which is why they have jurisdiction distinctions. Communication between the gatekeepers is naturally sparse.”
“The only reason they gathered today was because of that evil spirit in Chen Bingtang’s body getting injured; they’re willing to take a risk.”
“Is there any benefit to killing off evil spirits?” Zhao Mingyue asked, confused.
“No idea, but since they showed up, there must be some upside to it.”
“So what should we do now?”
“If there’s no mission, let’s create one!” Bai Yu leaned back in her chair, fingers rhythmically tapping on the table. “We can leverage the power of the Thousand Eyes Godmother.”
“Wait, are we talking about killing people here?” Zhao Mingyue leaned in closer, taking a seat beside Bai Yu. “If we don’t k*ll anyone, they won’t see it as a threat, right?”
“Threat doesn’t always mean d*ath.” Bai Yu squinted her eyes slightly. “Benefits are the key.”
Zhao Mingyue’s long fingers gently rubbed her chin. Upon hearing Bai Yu’s comment, her eyes sparked with an idea. “Hey! I’ve got a plan!”
“Those gatekeepers all have Ghost Gates, right? Let’s ask the Store Manager where these Ghost Gates are located, then we take some time to clear them all out. If we can pull that off in a short time, they’re sure to get suspicious and start investigating.”
“At that point, we can use the Thousand Eyes Godmother’s power to disguise things and spread the news that she’s about to undergo a transformation. After her transformation, she’ll be even stronger! However, during that transformation, she’ll be pretty weak—much weaker than usual—like an embryo needing to fully merge to become a living being with evil god powers!”
With a mischievous smile growing on her face, Zhao Mingyue poked Bai Yu’s cheek. “We can even use the evil god embryo angle, which is crucial!”
“Your body is the evil god embryo, after all—it surely has differences from an average body. When the time is right, you can show yourself a few times to let them know that there really is an evil god embryo causing chaos.”
“Think about it! News about an evil god embryo would definitely be classified information; an ordinary person would never know about it. Even the Dragon Lady doesn’t know—only Shuang Er spilled the beans!”
“So just like that, as soon as the evil god embryo makes an appearance, they’ll believe at least half of it.”
“Then we’d spread more rumors that merging with an evil god is simple, but achieving complete fusion is difficult.”
“During that crucial fusion period, as long as we interrupt and severely injure them, we’ll have a chance to erase the evil god’s will.”
Saying this, Zhao Mingyue began to tug at Bai Yu’s cheek, kneading her face. Her grin was sly and sinister; it was clear she was cooking up something wicked in her mind.
“It’s well-known that the curse power, evil thoughts, and will of an evil god are separate. Once condensed into a single force, it becomes an evil god. But nobody said that if we erase one of them, it will stop being an evil god!”
“I don’t believe it! They can study evil gods this deeply, right? If worse comes to worst, we’ll just ask the Store Manager if he knows anything.”
“Building on that point, we would announce that if we seize the opportunity, we could erase the evil god’s will during their fusion with the embryo. After all, even if only the curse power and evil thoughts remain, who would be afraid of a kindergarten little girl wielding a kn*fe, right? Especially one as clueless as you.”
“Well then, to their eyes, an evil god embryo that holds curse power and evil thoughts wouldn’t seem like a bad thing; it’s a massive opportunity!”
“A little loli, a blank canvas.”
“As long as they can obtain her, they can paint on that canvas whatever color they want, shaping it however they please, right?”
“A little obedient daughter who could also become a wife, stunningly beautiful and undoubtedly a beauty in the making, also possessing the power of an evil god and infinite potential.”
“If I were them, I’d definitely be tempted—deeply tempted!”
Zhao Mingyue released Bai Yu from her grip, cradling her face and daydreaming. Eventually, her gaze returned to Bai Yu, realizing that what she was envisioning was pretty much Bai Yu herself.
A daughter, a nurturing scenario, transforming into a wife as time goes on, incredibly strong—stronger than an evil god—possessing infinite potential and a tsundere personality; aside from not being a blank slate and not being entirely obedient, she matched Zhao Mingyue’s vision perfectly.
Though she wasn’t a blank canvas, the current Bai Yu was the ideal form; becoming a blank slate would have taken away much of her charm.
In light of that, Bai Yu was certainly a weakened version of herself.
Who could resist such a charming loli?
Bai Yu had her own thoughts; some might not enjoy it, as her strong personality made it impossible to keep her in check.
But an evil god loli was a whole different story!
“Can you imagine? How could they not be tempted?”
“What defines a benefit? This is it!”
“If they dared to take risks for an evil spirit with undetermined injuries, how could they possibly resist temptation this time?”
“Well, we’ll just have to try, won’t we?”
“If we don’t try, the success rate will be zero. But if we boldly attempt it, even with many competitors, there’s at least a chance!”
“And we don’t need to worry about An Que showing up either; we’ve mentioned all the benefits, but wait till you hear the potential downsides!”
“We haven’t shown our hand in terms of danger, but we definitely have potential dangers.”
“Just think about it—a transformed evil god with a human body? That’s terrifying!”
“Evil gods are already fearsome; possessing a human body means common sealing methods won’t work on her anymore, and they’ll lose that embryo weakness.”
“Plus, they have no idea what kind of horrific beast an evil god’s second transformation could result in.”
“It’ll definitely be op, super overpowered!”
“Getting this loli means reaching the peak of life, right?”
“No one’s going to doubt the authenticity of this news, given the real danger of this mission. Who can face off against an evil god without fearing for their life?”
“High risks with high rewards—that’s what we’re dealing with!”
“And there’s one last, most crucial point!”
“Just think—if we make a scene so big that the gatekeepers are intrigued, do you think the Ghost Domain folks won’t be tempted?”
“They swarm like flies to anything dirty, and such a big matter would definitely stir them up!”
“Even if they can’t control this loli, they can’t let the gatekeepers succeed either.”
“For them, seeing the evil god’s plan ‘succeed’ is what they want most!”
“So they’ll definitely take action, whether to take away the mind-erased evil god loli and mold her into their minion, or just to watch an evil god transform before their eyes.”
“Plus, the details of this plan can be easily justified; we don’t need to be afraid of investigations from the Ghost Domain.”
“They’ve got to know where Eternal Life Village is. It’s a place even they don’t dare tread.”
“Perfect timing! You massacred Eternal Life Village, so either the followers of A-She and Fan Yin are dead or fled—there’s no way they can trace it back.”
“And the Thousand Eyes Godmother? She’s like the second sister of Eternal Life Village; even a glance at her can bring on curses, a top-tier evil god.”
“So, the story goes that the Thousand Eyes Godmother betrayed, killed the followers of A-She and Fan Yin to absorb their powers, and then soared out of the Eternal Life Village boundary into the outside world with the strength of both goddesses.”
“Now, armed with such power, it’s perfectly normal for her to snack a bit on some evil ghosts to replenish her strength, right? A little transformation here is just as normal!”
“Doesn’t this all tie in neatly?”
“Solid reasoning, evidence, and truth!”
“Even if there’s a tiny bit of doubt, they can feel free to doubt away—their hesitation won’t change the fact that if it’s true, they’re the ones who’ll lose big time!”
Zhao Mingyue rambled on, outlining her schemes, taking a sip of milk from the table to soothe her throat while watching Bai Yu’s response with anticipation.
She had been mulling over this idea for a long time. Would Bai Yu agree?
She always wanted to share some of the weight off Bai Yu’s shoulders. If brute strength wasn’t her forte, then using her brains would do! This would relieve some pressure for Bai Yu and prove that Zhao Mingyue was no simple pig who only ate and slept.
Bai Yu stared at Zhao Mingyue, and her thoughts were rather simple.
Had Mingyue come out of that mission with a kick?
Wasn’t she just a sweet, innocent little girl before?
Could such a wicked—no, such a brilliantly cunning plan really come from her?
“Is this plan not good?” After waiting for Bai Yu’s response, Zhao Mingyue felt a flicker of disappointment as Bai Yu took her time to think it over.
“No,” Bai Yu said, her expression complex. “Your plan is actually pretty good. We can give it a try.”
Zhao Mingyue was blissfully unaware that in addition to attracting the gatekeepers and the Ghost Domain, this plan also had the potential to draw in a horde of female madwomen.
It was quite a significant scheme, particularly as this girl had already considered a lot of potential details and issues that might arise.
It didn’t have to be too detailed; the more precise it was, the more likely it was to fail.
As long as she nailed down the critical steps, she wouldn’t have to worry about those people not showing up.
However, the plan against An Que was likely to spiral into a chaotic free-for-all.
The good news was, Bai Yu, was definitely the one most prepared for chaos!
“Help me contact the Dragon Lady; tell her I want to chat.”
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